I do not own anything from the harry potter universe, unfortunately.

"Normal Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Parseltongue"

Okay, Harry was not ready! Not in any shape, form, or stretch of the imagination! He had studied everything about the four dragons to such an extent that he felt he had practically grown up with the damned species. He barely got any sleep yesterday and probably have gotten none if it wasn't for Demona helping him calm his nerves.

Earlier in the day he spent the morning with Hedwig and Demona constantly going over the information and plans he had drawn up in his mind. However after lunch and he was led along with the other champions to the arena that had been erected for the event all that seemed to be draining right out of his head.

While Harry was pacing around the room, Krum had a stoic look of determination on his face. His eyes focused reminding Harry of a falcon homing in on its prey. Though he was just as nervous as Harry as shown by the beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Fleur was also sitting down her hands constantly ringing themselves her knuckles and fingers going white from how hard she gripped them together. Her eyes tried to remain focused but he caught her eyes flicking to the other champions as if to gauge if they were nervous as well.

Cedric was on his feet along with Harry just as nervous as the rest. Harry had found and told him the other day about the dragons and what species they were. The boy had been very thankful and rattled all at once. He even went about getting people to stop wearing potter stinks badges.

Harry had honestly not noticed spending much time outside of training and his newfound friends. Though even so, he was thankful, and it seemed the two Hogwarts champions were starting to become united in a way.

"You should aim vor the eyes." Krum advised the tent looking to them for the first time since entering. "They are not as protected as the rest of the Dragon." He stated, this aid was not unfounded or from the goodness of his heart.

Harry had not only sought out Cedric but the other two champions as well. He had informed both of them and while they both knew about the Dragons already, he did provide useful information with the species. It would seem that the action of aiding the other champions earned him some respect and gratitude.

"Oui, that is true." Fleur agreed having done some last-minute research herself.

"That's good but it could also piss off the Dragon as well." Harry said going towards the middle of the two followed by Cedric as they had a bit of an impromptu huddle.

"Do you all know some water-based spells?" Cedric asked looking around, but all three champions looked towards Harry who nodded.

"Are you sure? 'ave you practiced?" Fleur asked and Harry felt rather comforted that the others were concerned for him.

"Yeah, don't worry about me, or else I might just steal this whole thing out from under your noses." He said with a smirk which was met by chuckles and grins.

"Ve shall see, Potter." Krum said challengingly. They discussed for a short while longer before the flap was flung open by an enthusiastic Bagman.

"Welcome Champions!" he greeted followed by the Headmasters and Headmistress of the schools and Rita Skeeter and her reporter. "Today is the day you shall be facing the first task! In this task you shall be facing some of the most fearsome beasts of our world, the first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament is… Dragons!" he announced and expected shocked expressions and wide eyes but all he was met with was steely faces and narrow eyes filled with focus.

"Yes, now these dragons each shall have a golden egg to protect in a clutch. Your goal shall be to retrieve the golden egg while ensuring that as little damage comes to the rest of the clutch as possible. You will be scored based on your time, your employed strategies, and execution of said strategies." He said coming forward with a bag which he opened with a few tendrils of smoke unfurling from the opening.

"If you would all gather around." He instructed urging the champions around him and once they were all situated in a circle, he offed it to Fleur who was on his immediate right. "Miss Delacour." He said as the French Veela tentatively reached in and pulled out the Welsh green dragon with a number two around its neck.

"The Common Welsh Green." Bagman said as Fleur looked towards her Headmistress nervously but mentally Harry was cursing, that was going to be the easiest dragon out of them all. Bagman then went to Krum who was next to Fleur. He reached in and pulled out a familiar crimson dragon with golden spikes with a three around its neck.

"The Chinese Fireball." He announced as Krum just stared at the dragon with Hard eyes and the miniature sent one of its signature balls of fire into the air in challenge. Bagman then went to Cedric who reached in and slightly flinched as he pulled out a silver-blue dragon with a two around its neck.

"The Swedish Short-Snout." Bagman said but the other champion's eyes went to Harry, they all knew. Thanks to the information that Harry had provided they knew exactly Dragon that Harry was going to face and Harry knew it as well. He really had the worst luck.

Reaching into the warm bag he felt a prick on his finger and grasped the only Dragon that was left. Unfurling his fingers he saw the familiar black hide and bronze spikes and venomous yellow eyes.

"The Hungarian Horntail." The other champions looked towards Harry, concern clear in their eyes at the fact that the youngest of them was going to face the most vicious of all Dragon species. Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from the Dragon as Bagman continued his instruction of the task but Harry was just too shocked at his luck to listen.

He walked over to a bench sitting down the mini-Dragon still snarling in his palm. He examined it but just couldn't come with any form of coherent thought. He had seen this Dragon in its full terrifying majesty. Words could not express the amount of worry and sheer terror coursing through his body right now. That was until he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

Looking up he saw Cedric with the other champions smiling down at him reassuring him.

"It's going to be alright Harry; besides didn't you say you were going to steal this whole tournament right out from us? Not going to let some cranky Dragon get in the way of that are you?" Cedric asked as Harry had to laugh. He looked down towards his Dragon one last time before nodding. He was ready for this. He had trained and studied with the help of his friends, and he also had Demona at his side, his ace in the hole if he needed to call on her.

Taking a few breaths and nodding he stood placing the mini-Dragon on the bench.

"Your right, I got this!" he said shaking his head and slapping his cheeks a few times.

"You've got to vait your turn, Potter." Krum said with a smirk which Harry matched. Cedric then took a deep breath himself and walked towards the front of the tent as the Headmasters and the other judges all left for their place in the stands.

"You got this Cedric!" Harry playfully cheered clapping his hands earning a laugh from the Hufflepuff boy as the Cannon went off signaling his entrance.

Harry wished he could at least hear how his fellow competitors were doing but the tent was enchanted to keep all the other noises out. After the Cannon sounded for a second time Fleur took her place and Harry and Krum both wished her luck. Then the third blast came, and Krum went with a good luck from Harry which he nodded at.

The wait was excruciating, especially with the silence he couldn't even guess if the task was going well for the others or if it was drawing to a close for them. When the cannon went off for the fourth and final time Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing up he looked around the empty tent with a beating heart.

"Good luck Harry." He mumbled to himself as he exited the tent and was immediately blasted with a sudden roar of sound. A cheering crowd with more than a few jeering members in the audience as Harry had to shake his head to get his focus back. Walking forward he approached the edge of the Arena as the audience went quiet.

It was too quiet as Harry scanned the area he could see and didn't see any sight or hint of the Dragon he was to face. He did however spy the clutch of eggs with the Golden Egg he was tasked with retrieving among them. Gathering his courage he took off at a sprint heading for a boulder he wanted to use as cover.

Turns out sprinting out was his best idea as he suddenly felt a rush of air behind him and a sudden crash as the crowd gasped and groaned in response. Harry quickly turned to see the Horntail; it was clinging to the wall of the Arena near the entrance he had just come out of. The bloody thing was trying to ambush him!

When their eyes locked Harry saw a familiar flash in the Dragons' yellow eyes as his own widened as he bolted to the boulder he had been running for and all but dove behind it. If not for the padding on his uniform he would've had quite the number of scrapes but that was preferable to being barbequed. Harry registered the tongues of flame that flicked out from the side of the boulder and the sound of roaring flames as he could feel the rock warm even through his robes.

"Alright time for plan A." He said peeking out from the Boulder seeing that the Horntail was making to move to get a better shot at Harry.

"Can you hear me?" Harry hissed out as loud as he could causing the crowd to gasp out in shock at his brazen use of Parseltongue. Harry for his part nearly wanted to jump in joy when the Dragon abruptly halted its advance and a flicker of recognition passed in its eyes.

"I do not want to harm you! I only seek to obtain a false egg that has been placed in your clutch!" He hissed out as he saw the Dragons' eyes flick over to its nest and back to Harry. It then roared at Harry. In all honesty, he had not known what to expect when he thought of using Parseltongue to try and converse with a Dragon, but it certainly wasn't what was happening now.

Images were flashing in his mind, of a mountainous region with rivers in the valley and great green trees. He could even feel something with the images, a sense of home. Then he was assaulted with more pictures of chains and ropes. People casting spells and a great steel cage with hard cold bars. Then he saw images of Eggs in boxes with Wizards pouring some sort of potion over the Eggs along with four Golden Eggs and a feeling of anger passed through him.

All this happened in the single roar the Dragon unleashed at Harry as he looked towards the beast then over to the Eggs.

"You know…" He surmised as the Dragon simply grunted in the affirmative "then let me take the golden one! If I do that then this task will be over and you can return home." He tried but was met with another roar and a flooding feeling of rage, filled him as the Dragon took off and hovered over to the Egg clutch and landed over them. She roared at Harry again and a feeling of challenge overcame him as she pounded her foot on the ground and slapped her tail against the rocks with a mighty thump. The message was clear to him, the dragon was pissed, and she wasn't just going to take this lying down.

Earn it. She didn't speak the words, but he could feel them in his bones and soul as she stared him down, venomous yellow meeting determined emerald. Harry then bowed to the Dragon who, to the crowd's immense surprise, bowed back with a slight downward tilt of her head towards Harry.

Though the moment was short and fleeting as immediately the Dragon's eye's flashed and Harry dove for cover as a jet of flame rushed towards him. He quickly moved out of cover when the flames died down and brought his wand up.

"Glacius!" he yelled out casting the spell out normally as a sudden jolt of icy blue light shot out of the wand streaking towards the Dragon. With a slight flourish, the light became a sort of muzzle of ice that wrapped around the Dragons maw. It didn't last long but it gave Harry the precious moments he needed to draw the magic around him into himself.

"Metelojinx!" he called out raising his wand to the sky as a there was a pulse of energy from his wand as a dark blue ball of light shot into the sky. Harry ducked behind a boulder as he felt the spell take hold and the familiar wave of tiredness flooded through him.

The crowd gasped seeing the sky begin to swirl and darken and suddenly the whole Arena was assaulted with a ferocious gale and heavy rain. Bolts of lightning arced across the darkened clouds bathing the arena in flashes of light. To most, this might have seemed like an impressive but wasteful display of magic but it was by design.

Now Harry has rid the Dragon of one of its greatest assets, its air superiority. The Dragon roared in rage as now it too understood that, with the winds as they were, flying would be too difficult when trying to fight both Harry and the wind so now she would be forced to stay on the ground. She began to scan the Arena for Harry but saw instead a flock of black ravens suddenly shoot out from behind a boulder.

The ravens seemed undisturbed from the storm and as they flew the crowd could see what looked like black dust flowing from the bird's wings and glowing bluish-purple eyes trained on the Dragon. The Dragon growled as all the ravens suddenly began to dive towards her.

She roared, more in frustration than rage, as the Ravens all began to flutter around her head and pecking her snout and around her eyes. She began to back up shaking her head and snapping her jaws feeling a few of the ravens getting caught in her fangs. Though through the flurry of wings and feathers she did spot Harry making a mad dash towards the nest.

Taking in a breath she shot a torrent of flames in his direction forcing him to dodge and the Ravens all scattered startled by the sudden light and heat. The horntail then began to thrash her head around wildly sending the gout of flames all across the Arena scorching the remainder of the ravens and startling the onlookers who were only saved due to the warding that protected them.

It was quite a sight to see the arena glowing with heat and scorched in some parts despite the heavy rain and winds. The flash of lightning only seemed to add to the Dragon's terrifying presence as her eyes glowed in the dimness brought on by the storm.

Harry for his part slightly regretted the storm for that very reason though he still was glad for it. With the Dragon grounded she couldn't just go to the air and get a clear shot on him. And thanks to the Shadow Ravens he had summoned he managed to get her to back off her clutch.

"Glacius!" he called out again, but this time aimed for the clutch and surrounded it with a dome of thick ice. Quickly ducking back undercover, he wiped his face to keep the water from blinding him but suddenly found himself flung from his position.

The horntail had forgone long-range and instead came to him grasping the boulder in her maw and tossing it clear out of the arena. Harry barely had time to get up on his feet as she suddenly spun in place and caught Harry in the side with her tail. While the protective gear helped, he could still feel a single bronze spike sliced across his chest as he was all but flung aside.

Harry for a moment had a feeling of weightlessness as he flew through the air until it came to an abrupt end with him impacting the ground. His sight was swimming as his brain tried to catch up to the fact that he stopped moving as he desperately looked towards the Horntail who was charging forward again.

His body ached, he knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time and his body was still rattled by the impact.

"DEMONA!" he cried out and in a flood of shadows and flickering crimson fire Harry suddenly felt himself being hoisted up as the hell hound formed beneath him. Without missing a beat the wolf jumped out of the was just as the Horntail's tail came crashing down on the position he was just in.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats with everyone becoming quite shocked at the sudden appearance of the very dark and demonic-looking wolf that Harry had called. Demona was a sight to behold as she almost effortlessly bounded across the Arena deftly dodging blasts of flames sent her way.

Harry for his part came back into focus as he held onto Demona's fur as he turned to look at the Dragon who appeared quite annoyed with the fact that Harry was still alive. Demona never stopped and never slowed as she continued to run around the Arena. This wasn't going to work he needed something to throw the Dragon off so that he could get in and grab the Egg.

Suddenly a flash lit up the Arena as he looked up and saw the storm he had summoned still raged overhead and his eyes widened. He only had the strength for about five or six bursts of super magic in his system. But if he would instead store up all he could and release it all at once… it wouldn't kill the Dragon but it definitely would give him the perfect chance he needed to grab the Egg and Demona could run out of the Arena with him in tow.

"Demona! Fire!" he called out as the Hell hound suddenly jumped high into the air her body twisting in the air, droplets of water flinging off her fur as the rest suddenly began to steam and her chest and throat began to glow crimson beneath her fur.

As tongues of flame snaked their way out of her snarling maw, she opened her mouth and a sudden ball of crimson fire blasted forward splashing against the Dragon who gave a surprised hiss as it shook its head. While the flames barely even scorched the Dragon the force of the attack was what he wanted as he could see it cause the Dragon to stagger.

Harry then closed his eyes as Demona continued to move occasionally shooting out balls of fire towards the Horntail to keep it from forming any form of offense. Harry felt the magic swirling in his storm, in the arena around him and even the surrounding earth as he began to draw it into himself.

In his mind, the tendrils of his magic all but lashed at the magic around him sucking it up and empowering him. He could feel his body practically thrumming with magic as when he opened his eyes the crowd was greeting with brilliant glowing emerald eyes. As Harry suddenly stood on Demona's back and jumped off just as she reached the peaks of one of her jumps effectively launching himself into the air.

Holding his wand forward he drew upon the power he had sucked up and his wand began to crackle with electricity as he converted it into the energy he needed for the spell. The crowd gasped as they watched Harry sail through the air the Dragon's eyes following him.

"FULMENIS!" he roared out as a sudden bolt of blue lightning shot from his wand. Blasting its way towards the Dragon who had reared up hoping to catch Harry in her maw and crush him. The bolt of lighting was too quick for the Dragon to react as it found its target in the Dragon's chest.

With a sudden flash of light and thunderous crack, the lightning impacted the Dragon, and the resulting boom was deafening as the rain was pushed back in a dome from the force of the spell. The force had sent both Wizard and Dragon careening in opposite direction and the Dragon crashed shaking the arena as she hit the ground crushing some boulders along the way.

Harry was lucky as Demona expertly caught him on her back and went charging towards the nest, the ice dome he had created melted away as he approached. Harry gathered what strength he had left and leaned over her sidearm extending down as he grasped the Golden Egg as they passed and Demona made a direct B -line towards the exit reaching it just as the magical exhaustion his Harry full force and that exhaustion filtered to Demona as she was forced to melt into his shadow. The sudden loss of his companion and the weakness he felt left him with little choice but to fall.

He clutched the egg close to his body as he rolled across the floor for several moments due to the momentum Demona had built up. He did come to a stop on his back as he just laid there his body aching and screaming at him. The exhaustion he would've felt in waves after using his super casting came to him all at once as he struggled to even keep his eyes open.

He went to lift his head but found he couldn't even muster the strength to do that. Suddenly he found the other champions standing over him.

"'Arry! Are you alright!?" Fleur asked kneeling down the other champions quickly following her example.

"Blimey Harry that was bloody incredible!" Cedric said placing his hand under Harry's head lifting him to a sitting position. It was here that Harry's fingers lost their strength as his egg rolled out of his grasp but Krum quickly caught it.

"It seems vat there is more to you than meet the eye da?" Krum asked holding Harry's egg for the moment. Harry for his part managed a weak smirk but as the adrenaline left his body he was suddenly very aware of a stinging burning pain across his chest.

He hissed in pain as Fleur gasped as the others finally took notice of Harry's chest wound. This was where Pomfrey came over.

"Quickly get him to a bed!" she ordered as Cedric brought one of Harry's arms around his shoulders with Krum taking the other. Harry groaned the entire way there as the pair placed him on the bed as gently as they could with Fleur helping get his legs up on the bed.

"Dragons! How on earth could they give the clear on such a bloody mad idea!" Pomfrey growled out as she went about getting the protective gear off Harry. She quickly went to work muttering incantations and waving her wand over Harry's body. After becoming satisfied with her findings, she quickly went about healing the large gash across Harry's chest.

"You're lucky Potter, besides your chest your just going to have some light bruising. I'll get some salve for your chest, won't even have a scar." She said as Harry could feel some of his strength returning under Pomfrey's skilled hand.

"Well, that's not good, that would be a really cool scar." He lightly joked as Pomfrey just rolled her eyes and Cedric and Krum chuckled while Fleur just followed Pomfrey's example. Feeling a bit better Harry finally took notice of the state of his fellow champions.

Krum looked rather unharmed despite a few scrapes and bruises. Fleur still had her perfect appearance, but it would seem some of her skirt was singed and burned but no actual wounds. Cedric seemed to be just as well off as Harry was. With bandages around the side of his face and one of his arms.

Speaking of, Pomfrey came around with a roll of bandages as she indicated for him to raise his arms which he did and she helped him get his shirt off. If Harry wasn't so tired he would've thought about it before he allowed that to happen. A series of gasps came out as he looked around and saw wide eyes.

Pomfrey just looked sad, but the other champions were quite surprised. Harry had scars, more than he should at his age. On his shoulders with a few dotting his upper arms and a series of slash-like scars littering him back. Pomfrey quickly went to work to wrap him up and once she was done, she conjured a shirt for him.

"H-harry?" Cedric asked and Harry just shook his head, he wasn't quite ready to talk about those scars to anyone just yet.

"Champions!" one of the tournament organizers called as he entered the medical tent "You're needed in the arena to receive your scores." He said waiting at the entrance for the four champions to gather themselves. Harry tenderly swung his legs over his bed and tried to stand but was pretty wobbly. Cedric was there ready to help if needed but Harry thought he would be able to make do.

He regretted that decision as he took just two shaky steps before falling to his knees. Cedric and Krum quickly were at his side helping him to stand. Fleur came in with a pair of crutches from Pomfrey. He took them and found that they did help a bit but Krum and Cedric stayed with him just in case.

The four champions made their way back out to the stadium which was cleared of all debris left with nothing more than a dirt floor. They were met with a round of very enthusiastic and energized cheers. Harry looked around before spotting his friends all in a group cheering for him.

Well except Daphne, she just smiled and was clapping, he expected that, she didn't seem like the jump up and down cheering type. Though Susan, Hermione, Tracey, and Blaise all made up for it as they had their hands in the air screaming out his name. It was here Ludo Bagman got the attention of the crowd using the sonorous charm.

"What an absolutely riveting and excellent show by our champions!" He called out his voice echoing as another wave of cheers followed. "Now going by order we will start with Mister Diggory! Using a masterful form of transfiguration to create the dog to distract the Dragon from the clutch and retrieve the egg, however, he failed to defend himself properly on the way out. Even still having the fastest time and a skillful display of transfiguration the judges have agreed to an award of thirty-three points!" he announced as Cedric got a cheer from the crowd as Harry and the other champions smiled for him.

"After that, we have Fleur Delacour, who through a wonderous display of enchantment managed to put her dragon to sleep and retrieve her egg without fail of issue. Only coming in with the second shortest time after Mister Diggory. Even upon being singed, she has received no real damage to her person there for we the judges shall award her with thirty-seven points!" Fleur smiled proud of her score and the crowd showed their appreciation as well.

"Mister Krum! Coming out with a fast aggressive tactic using the Conjunctivitis curse to blind his Dragon he, unfortunately, did not take into account his Eggs as the use of the curse caused the Dragon to damage many of the eggs in the clutch. As such we the judges have agreed that he shall be rewarded with thirty-five points!" he said as the crowd roared Krum for his part look disappointed.

"I do not deserve that." he stated, Krum knew his performance here was poor and was deserving of a much lower score Cedric certainly outperformed him.

"Now, last but certainly not least we have Harry Potter!" Bagman cried out and the resulting cheer was nearly concussive in response. "Using a brilliant display of elemental magic and weather manipulation to hinder and distract his Dragon. As well as a breathtaking display of conjuration conjuring a flock of birds as well as a fiery hound to aid him in his task. He did, however, take the longest out of all the champions but taking his displays of magic to heart we have decided to award him with thirty-six points!" he announced and the cries that followed were not cheers but cries of outrage. The crowd was making it very clear that the score was far below what it should've been.

"That is ridiculous!" Fleur cried out "' Arry out preformed me in every way!" she said.

"I agree!" Krum said with an affirmative cry from Cedric. Bagman had expected this.

"While the magic mister Potter used was exemplary, it was made to point that he took the longest out of all champions as well as using a dark form of magic at the beginning of the task warranted low scores." He tried to explain, and the crowd still wasn't pleased.

Harry couldn't believe it, he knew his performance was worth way more than just that, no offense to Fleur but he definitely displayed a lot of magic hear and great technique. Harry just shook his head as he made his way back out of the Arena followed closely by the others.

"Harry, that's crap and we all know it after what we saw." Cedric said in a supportive way.

"Indeed, to take points off for using a special ability like the snake language is, pardon moi, but it is merde!" she said and huffed. Krum didn't speak but his body language betrayed his unspoken thoughts. It didn't seem like they were going to have to find the judges to vent their frustrations as they came to them.

"Who gave 'Arry such a low score!?" Fleur demanded as they approached "I will not accept first place when I know I don't deserve it!" she said as Dumbledore and Maxime and Ludo all looked towards Igor and Barty.

"His use of Parseltongue and the other dark spells should've warranted disqualification!" Crouch said firmly his lips tight.

"I agree!" Karkaroff said but it was clear he was not the kind of man to care about the use of Dark magic, more than likely he gave harry a low score here for the same reason he probably gave Krum a very high score.

"I thought we were free to use whatever means necessary to complete the tasks ahead?" Cedric asked remembering very clearly, they made it a point to ensure the champions understood that they would have to pull on everything they had to compete in this tournament. Long before their names had even come out of the goblet, they had told them this.

"Guy's it's fine." Harry said trying to placate his fellow competitors.

"Ne, it is not, He deserves first place in this task." Krum said firmly as Karkaroff looked a little annoyed at his student.

"Be that as it may the scores have already been cast; I am sorry." Bagman stated while Crouch simply looked at Harry with his chin up and staring at him down his nose. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"In any case, well done to all of you!" Dumbledore stated his eyes twinkling though Harry noticed a slightly pensive look on his face as his eyes fell on him, but it disappeared quickly. "The Golden Egg you have retrieved from this task hold's the clue to the next task. The second task shall be held on February the twenty-fourth, you must solve the riddle of the egg by that time or else you will be ill-prepared for the next challenge you shall face. I wish you good luck and again well done!" he said and the champions nodded as they made their way to the medical tent for some final checkups.

Pomfrey was more than happy to give Harry a few energy potions to get him back on his feet but also gave him a vial of dreamless sleep so that he could get the rest he needed for the night. Returning the crutches he was provided with he exited the Arena.

No sooner than he did he was suddenly hugged by two girls, one a bushy-haired brunette and the other a strawberry blonde. They were hugging him a little too tight though.

"A-Air, I need it!" he gasped out as Hermione and Susan quickly let go.

"Sorry, we're just, really glad your okay." Hermione said as Susan nodded. Then Daphne came forward with a critical eye, almost like she was inspecting him. She gently placed a hand across his chest feeling the bandages underneath.

"That was one of the stupidest, Gryffindorish things I think I have ever seen." She said while she would never admit it she wanted to follow Susan and Hermione's example and wrap her arms around him. But she was able to restrain herself, he was hurt after all. Though she still couldn't help touching him in some way.

"Well," Harry grinned at her "I tried the Slytherin way but that didn't work out." He admitted as Daphne withdrew her hand.

"How did that work anyway? Did it talk to you?" Blaise asked and Harry shook his head.

"Not, really… I think it just sort of impressed its intent on me like it could understand me but didn't have words to talk back so it just spoke through emotion and instinct."

"So what did you say to piss it off?"

"Nothing! She was already angry at being dragged here in the first place, she was upset at what happened and made it my problem." Harry stated with a chuckle that caused him to wince.

"That score was a bunch of tripe though!" Tracey said speaking up for the first time getting affirmative nods from the rest of the group "You should've been in first place easy!"

"Yeah, why did they deduct your score so much?" Hermione asked curiously as to the reason.

"Oh, Crouch and Karkaroff didn't like that I used 'dark magic'" Harry explained using air quotes when he said dark magic. "I don't know the actual score they gave me but based on how Ludo, Dumbledore, and Maxime reacted it wasn't near what they thought I deserved."

"Well, we know that you deserve a much better score than what you got, the whole school knows. Plus I don't think anyone is going to be messing with you anymore." Susan said gently squeezing his arm in reassurance.

"Yeah, maybe I can stop by classes again. I have four months until the next task after all." Harry said getting a very big smile from Hermione.

"Good, you've been missing far too much this year as it is." She stated with a nod and Harry couldn't help the grin that came on his face.

"Well, I could've died Hermione, though I guess being expelled is worse right?" he asked as Hermione blushed at the reminder of what she said to him in their first year.

"In what twisted world is being expelled worse than death?" Blaise asked as Hermione just did her best to look as small as she could. Harry laughed and again slightly winced as his chest ached at the motion.

"We should go unless you want to be devoured by those piranhas." Daphne said indicating to the hungry eyes of the media with Rita skeeter at the forefront.

"Retreat!" Harry exclaimed earning him a laugh from his group as they quickly walked off, Harry mentally apologized to Fleur, Krum, and Cedric as he did not give them any warning as he saw all three of them disappear in a sea of flashing lights and a chorus of questions.

It was later in the evening after dinner when Harry found himself surrounded by a cheering Slytherin common room. Blaise and Tracey had accompanied him and he expected Daphne to follow but Susan had dragged both her and Hermione away for something. He found himself a bit disappointed at the lack of their presence.

However, the other Slytherin students were more than making up for it.

"I have got to say, I expected some crazy things from you but that didn't even come close!" Jones said coming forward the mad glint ever-present in her eye.

"Pay up jones you lost!" another older Slytherin student called out as Jones scowled and reached into her pocket and tossed a bag of galleons towards the boy who caught it with a whoop.

"What's that about?"

"We took bets on how you were going to get past the task."

"How I would get past? Not if I was going to die?" Harry asked and Jones rolled her eyes.

"Only Malfoy and his lot were dumb enough to bet on you dying." She explained.

"So then how did you lose?" and now her scowl was fixed on him.

"I bet, that you would use your broom and try to outfly the Dragon."

"And I told her that was a barmy idea!" the same older boy shouted as Jones just flicked her wand to him causing the chair, he was in to spin rapidly eventually leading to him falling.

Harry thought about it though, it was a totally mad idea seeing how the Dragon would've flown all its life and while Harry was good, he doubted he could outmaneuver something that had maybe centuries of experience. Plus, his broom was made of very flammable wood.

"You cost me twenty galleons by the way." She muttered bitterly with a flick of her hair.

"Well sorry to disappoint, tell me what you bet on next time, and I'll try to do that instead." He said getting a grin from Jones.

"Oh! Good idea!" she said with a cackle.

"Speaking of the next task have you checked your clue yet?" Blaise asked getting a few pouches of Galleons himself along with Tracey.

"You guys bet on me too?" he asked and they nodded.

"We saw you train once remember it plus after all the hard work you put in it would be a shame to not at least show off a little." Blaise explained shrinking the pouches and putting them in his pockets. Harry shook his head and brought up his Egg. He hadn't checked it out all that much anyway so with a shrug he unclasped the claw at the top.

That was a mistake.

Because not even a second after the four sides of the Egg had fallen did a horrid screech suddenly fill the room. Everyone soon found themselves on the ground hands covering their ears in a desperate attempt to save their hearing.

Harry struggled but was able to close the Egg and re-seal it. His ears were still ringing slightly as he shook his head surrounded by many strained faces who seemed to be in the same state of post agony as he was.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Jones yelled out not realizing she was screaming, or maybe she did.

"I have no bloody idea." Harry said looking at his Egg like it was a ticking time bomb.

"IS ANYBODY ELSE'S HEARING GONE?" Jones screamed out again fingers rubbing her ears in an effort to soothe them. After the fiasco with the Egg, it took a minute for everyone to get their bearings but even still, Jones insisted on talking more loudly than necessary.

For the remainder of the evening, he was asked many questions about his task, he wasn't really assaulted with questions but the Slytherin students were curious nonetheless. He divulged just a bit being pretty vague just stating that he had been training and researching new magic and kept the fact that the Hell hound he had 'summoned' was still resting in his shadow.

After he was able to satisfy their curious appetite Jone's was more than Happy to suddenly produce bottles of fire whiskey and celebrate.

At the same time Susan, Hermione, and Daphne were all making their way to the second-floor bathroom to talk some things over. However, they were cut off by a familiar head of red hair which earned a scowl from Daphne and, to Hermione's surprise, Susan.

"What do you want Weasley?" Daphne asked, well demanded more like, her voice cold and dangerous but Ron didn't seem to care as he focused on Hermione.

"Where's Harry?" He asked her but she didn't like how he asked, it was demanding in a way.

"None of your business." Daphne said again answering before Hermione could. Finally, Ron turned his attention to the Slytherin girl, but his expression was murderous.

"I wasn't asking you snake!" he spit out.

"He doesn't want to see you, I thought he made that pretty clear the other day." Susan instead offered up and his gaze turned to her same expression.

"Shut up! He only said that because of you two probably." He again spit out.

"Ron that's not fair." Hermione tried and now his gaze fell back to her.

"You're defending them!? Hermione, they don't care about Harry, they just want him for his fame."

"I wasn't aware you were looking in a mirror this whole time, because you just described yourself." Daphne replied with no small amount of snark.

"Shut up snake!" Ron screamed out his face becoming an unhealthy shade of red.

"No! You have kept Harry on a leash since he got here! You snapped at anyone that ever tried to get close to him! Now he's finally opening his eyes and stepping out on his own! I am not letting you sink your disgusting fingernail back into him!" Daphne hissed out as she and Ron engaged in a very intense glaring match.

"I…"

"You what! You know you're nothing but a pathetic weasel! Let me guess the first time you met him the first thing you asked about was his scar. Wasn't it." the slight flick of Ron's eyes was her answer "That's what I thought, you don't care about him, you want to possess him. I mean just look at first year, you tried to bully Hermione out of his life the first chance you got. You sufficiently scared off Neville and the other Gryffindors don't want to deal with you enough to hang around Harry. Not to mention the other houses, including Susan and myself; there were many students who wanted to get to know Harry, wanted to meet him. The older students especially but you were always in the way, always slobbering over Harry like a dog guarding its favorite bone!" she said heatedly.

Hermione for her part reflected on Daphne's words and found that she was right to a startling degree. It was Ron that had initially driven her off and away from Harry's side with his cruel words. If it wasn't for Harry himself, she doubted she'd even be alive right now after that event with the troll. And she did remember Neville trying to be a part of their group many times but was always ignored by Ron or driven off.

Now that she thought about it Ron did quite a lot of things to monopolize Harry's time, stealing him away from conversations, keeping him from studying, always insisting on being around him, and leading Harry everywhere for their first few years at Hogwarts. In fact, it was third year when she and Harry went on their time jumping adventure that she really spent any amount of time with Harry alone just the two of them.

"You don't deserve him, I may not have known him for long. But even I can tell that he deserves better than to be treated like some sort of trophy for you to parade around. Even Hedwig, an animal, is more deserving of his attention than you!" Daphne finished her eyes cutting into Ron like a knife as he just looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.

"Ron, just leave him and us alone." Susan said gently nudging Daphne along and pulling Hermione along with them. The three walked away towards the bathroom and Hermione looked back seeing Ron look after them with a murderous rage set on his face.

Thankfully they were able to make it to the bathroom without any more incidents. Once in Daphne just huffed while Susan looked after her.

"That wasn't necessary you know." Hermione said walking forward.

"Oh yes, it was. Ronald is not the type of person to get the message unless you make it very clear and in his face." Daphne stated simply. Hermione couldn't argue that as she had to deal with Ron's stubbornness firsthand for three years.

"Hermione, you can't honestly say that anything Daphne said wasn't correct." Susan said squeezing Hermione's shoulder. "I mean think about it, if Harry didn't seek you out do you think you would be friends with him? Or even know him?" Susan asked and Hermione had to shake her head.

"Probably not." She admitted.

"Hermione." Daphne said looking towards her "you tasted a little of what Susan and I had to deal with for three years on repeat. You only got past Ron because of Harry and even then, he still kept you from hanging out with him too much." She explained walking over to the other two girls.

"I for one am not going to go back to that again. I know what I want, and I want Harry, I want to know him, to understand him. I want to be with him, Hermione." She explained her electric blue eyes becoming very soft as she spoke.

"So do I, I can't go back Hermione, I don't think I would be able to take never talking to him again. I know that we've only been around for a little while now but… it's hard to explain." Susan said and Daphne scoffed.

"Not for me, I've wanted him since first year and now that I have a chance I'm not losing it." she said before smiling "Well, we're not losing this chance. That is if you've finally made up your mind about our deal?" Daphne asked as Hermione couldn't help but blush a bit. But smiled despite herself.

"It's absolutely mad, you know that right?"

"It's a Hufflepuff Idea, what do you expect."

"Hey!" Susan cried out indignantly. That earned a round of giggles from the girls. Hermione for her part took a moment to think, of all the things that she and Harry had been through so far. How she fell in love with him on the back of a Hippogriff flying over the skies of Hogwarts. Seeing just how much he could grow and how strong he was with the Dragon. Just the thought of him alone made her heart warm.

"Yes, I don't want to lose him either. So, even though it's completely mad, I agree. Oh gods my parents are going kill me." Another round of giggles resounded through the bathroom as Susan spoke up.

"So, Hogsmeade. Next weekend, he should rest for this one." She said and Daphne nodded.

"Personally I think we should just drag him to a broom closet and make our desires clear but if you want to take the long road." Daphne said with a smirk and shrug as Hermione blushed at the implications.

"Oh forgive me for wanting to be a little more romantic than that." Susan said dryly. The girls talked a little while into the night about what they wanted to plan for the next Hogsmeade weekend. By the time they bid each other goodbye Hermione's worries about her decision had all but faded from her mind as she walked towards her dorm with a smile on her face. Thought's of an emerald-eyed wizard on her mind.

_Scene_

There it is the fifth chapter, again I hoped that Harry's power seemed a believable, while he called upon that power if it wasn't for Pomfrey's medical expertise he would basically be paralyzed for hours, to weak to move. I also hope that the fight scene between Harry and the Horntail was done to everyone's liking. I also the confrontation between the girls and Ron felt good as well. Now we have bit of time before the ball and the second task so I'm hoping to truly flush out some little plot points, such as the feelings of the older students towards Harry and where they come from. As well as developing the relationship between Harry and the three girls I will try to make it seem as natural as possible. Until next time this has been you Average, Ordinary, Everyday Fallen Angel.