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December 25, 1994
Alice had been wholly right about one thing, at the very least; a better fish out of the water, he would never find. The way she danced, her liquid-like movement, her calming presence and the gentle music on the wind near her were captivating. Fleur, the pinnacle of beauty for most simply could not compare to Alice. Perhaps it was his own personal bias that raised the Swiss girl to such high regard, or maybe it was truly how perfect she was in so many ways.
Harry didn't care to dwell on what made her so perfect at that moment in time, he was along for the ride and closed off to the outside world while he danced with her. His anxiety, the nervousness he inherently felt with so many eyes on him including those with cameras… all of it could not be buried further in his mind while he gazed into Alice's eyes.
She's beautiful, kind and the nicest any person's been to me in a long time, Harry thought, the gentle swaying and the dozens of bodies joining them making him feel more secure. Lucretia will be completely different when I dance with her, but Alice, Merlin, she's perfect.
It was then that he truly realized the scope of his feelings towards her and Lucretia both. Each of them were older girls from completely different cultures — or so it seemed — when compared to his own, but both had one common trait. They were the epitome of kindness despite the fact that they owed him absolutely nothing.
All of their help, from dance lessons to practical ones, had come at the cost of nothing save for a personal friendship forming. In Harry's mind, that was definitely a plus based on how 'in his corner' they seemed to be. Hermione's weirdness, Ron's aggression and Dumbledore's inactivity could continue as long as it liked if he had people as stalwart as the two Durmstrang girls.
"I hope you are not falling asleep on me," Alice said, finally breaking the silence with her soft, sweet voice. "That would not do for your date, no?"
The little teasing smile she gave him partnered with her hold of him tightening ever so slightly was beautiful as everything else she did. Perfection came to mind, enough so that he had to shake his head to gather his thoughts.
"I'm not falling asleep," He said quickly, putting to rest that idea as he refocused his attention on her in a way that she could see it; that being his own hold tightening around her whilst he formed eye contact. "Really, I'm just thinking about how perfect this night has been. It doesn't feel real. I've had wicked Christmases before and a lot of them were thanks to the Weasleys. This one compares to the best of those. Thank you — Lucretia too — for everything you've done for me so far, this dance and the lessons included."
Alice smiled wide, her teeth — some of them sharper than he'd have thought — sharper than normal when she opened her mouth so wide. "I tell other girls how sweet you are, when I speak with them or when they ask me of you. Of course, I tell the truth, but I have to play it down so that they don't compete for my favourite Hog's wart," Alice leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead, her lips as soft as her hands always were. "You are a kind, gentle and incredibly strong man, Harry. Lucretia and I are thankful as you are, for this friendship."
He couldn't help the sigh of relief that her words caused. For him to know in their own words how much he meant to him was a weight that lifted off his shoulders even if their loyalty hadn't been brought into question; most people's wasn't, not until it came back to bite him in the arse. "I can't ever thank you en—"
Alice waved him off, her smile still present and wide as ever. "Stay yourself, learn from us and live as you are. That is all the thanks we will ever need," her smile turned grin-like then, her hands dropping just a few inches. "You will dance faster with me, won't you? I would like a quick-paced dance before I must turn you over to Lucretia. The mammal will tire you out far more than a gentle sea creature such as myself."
"You two are really playing into that now, aren't you?" Harry asked, fondly shaking his head as their dancing became quicker and their legs brushed one another with far more frequency.
"It is hard not to, now that you know the truth of me. Are you saying you don't enjoy my jokes?" Alice pouted, her bottom lip stuck straight out and with a small wobble about it; small was enough to make him feel as if he'd let down Morgana herself.
Damn, that lineage of hers makes it rough to say no, doesn't it? Harry blinked up at her and when he felt the cloud of relaxation slowly clear up from his mind, his stress returning in equal parts to his anxiety, he found that she still looked as cute and hard to resist. Maybe I should've let that soothing presence of her stay a bit longer.
He nearly huffed, annoyed with himself that he'd interrupted her calming hold of him. It was bothersome, being out in public for all to see.. Her aura or whatever she called it had made him far more agreeable… then again, maybe that meant it was for the best that he broke her hold of him, however minor it was. The last thing he needed was to grow wholly reliant o—
"My turn with our little Lion," Lucretia's voice suddenly declared, deeper and confident as ever.
Alice responded kindly, withdrawing to give him a curtsey and another large smile, that look also being sent to Lucretia over his shoulder. "Return him to me after your two dances, if you would. He is a wonderful partner," Alice darted in after a few seconds of looking around then, her lips once more on his forehead. "Come back to me, Harry. It would not do for another to steal you after Lucretia's dances."
"As if I'll let anybody else get a hand on him," Lucretia declared as she responded for Harry in a louder, assertive tone for those nearby to her. "Harry's stuck by us and we've stuck by him since the start of this whole miserable tournament. None of these fools, least of all those from his school, deserve the chance of a dance with him. As for the Frogs or our schoolmates, I suppose we could let him answer them… after I've had my two dances and you yours."
Harry nearly responded that it was alright, he'd dance with another person or two if they wanted since he didn't think it'd cause all that much of a fuss, but he ultimately decided against doing that. It'd be wicked, he was sure — dancing with other witches and building friendships with them. At the least, it couldn't hurt, but he still didn't really care for the idea.
Alice and Lucretia had done everything for him including teaching him how to dance. The least he could do, as far as he was concerned, was return that kindness with kindness. If they wanted him to have some fun, relax and dance the night away, he could do that.
Merlin, he'd have a blast the whole time.
Slowly and as the night dragged ever on, Harry began to feel the effects of dancing upright for so long. He hadn't expected to get tired, especially not in a way that he could compare to Quidditch, but when a few dances turned into dozens of hours later, he understood why he began to wish for a chance to stop.
Still, that wasn't to say he didn't enjoy the dancing despite how long he'd done it and how tired it made him. Alice was infectious with her delight and enjoyment of such activities. Her smile was beautiful, her presence was calming and those little coo-like sounds mingled wonderfully with the typical musical quality that exuded from her into the air.
When it was joined with the music from the band Hogwarts had hired, it made those dances better every time he thought about them.
Lucretia… she danced as aggressively as she acted, her motions rougher and more forceful with a bit of violence — almost — in them. She was quick, sharp, precise in her movements and forced more contact than nearly all of the other couples he saw; it earned him more than a few envious glares from nearby boys, Ron included despite his seeming dislike for her and a couple of stares from Hermione.
Neither of those facts mattered all that much to him. Hermione had seemed sorry, but she still wasn't willing to respond to him with no sense of dislike towards the two Durmstrang girls. That bothered him more than he thought she knew too and the reason was incredibly obvious, at least it should have been to somebody as smart as her.
Lucretia and Alice had befriended him when nobody else would. They worked with and shared knowledge when nobody else would and after this Christmas, provided him with some of the most wicked presents which he'd luckily use alongside them. Simply put, Hermione and the rest had to rid themselves of their disrespect towards his new friends if he were to extend an olive branch out to them.
"You're dead on your feet, aren't you?" Lucretia asked, an eyebrow arched and her movement had stopped since the song had finished; a clear sign of a breather having been called for the students and other couples who still moved on the dance floor despite the lateness of the hour.
"Can you blame me?" Harry asked tiredly and with a grin.
Lucretia shook her head, a smirk present. "I suppose I can't blame somebody as young and new to dancing as yourself. You had two witches to keep happy, after all, which is a feat I doubt men twice as old as you could manage," Lucretia brought him in close and twisted him so that her arm was around his shoulders and their sides were connected.
She began walking then, the direction was that of the table where Alice was sitting with a couple of other girls. It didn't take all that long for the two of them to get over to their missing trio member, nor that much longer for one of Alice's two companions to speak to him. The look in their eyes was far more worrying than her words.
Whoever she was, she looked at him as if he were a juicy piece of meat and she herself was Fang. It was thoroughly unsettling.
"Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Elana Petrovka, I am from Bulgaria, how are you doing?" The girl, Elana, asked whilst introducing herself.
In response, he dipped his head as respectfully as he could manage on account of her look and his own tiredness. He wanted to be as polite as possible, especially since her accent was near-silent… which he suspected was due to how slow she spoke and the wording she used.
"I'm doing great, brilliant actually," Harry responded, smiling and looking between his two usual Durmstrang friends instead of the new pair that had decided to join them. "How about you two? Everything going well for you tonight?"
Don't sound like an idiot and definitely don't do something stupid. This is definitely not the time to mess anything up for Lucretia or Alice after everything they've done for you.
"Yes, yes, I and my friend — Anna Daling, she is from the Netherlands, we are fine. Alice was talking very much about you. We ask her about you as often as we can, but the three of you are rarely without one another since the start of the tournament. It is them you can thank for passing, not true or true?" Elana asked, head cocked and her body leaning towards him.
"That's not a very polite way to ask him that question," Anna chastised, the other new girl going so far as to flick her friend on the back of the head as she turned her attention over to him. "Don't mind her, she's practised a lot of the sounds verbally and listened to them five times as often as she's practiced them, but her wording leaves a lot to be desired. In the Netherlands, we learn English well enough that we could be considered part of the Native English world — you're very famous to us because of that, so it's very nice to meet you."
Alice nodded then, injecting herself, finally, into the conversation. "Both of them had quite the list of questions to ask you, but Lucretia told me before she took you nearly half an hour ago that you were tired. We could reschedule this talk for another time, I have already said that to them pou— for you."
"What about a dance with the Harry Potter for us? It would be a good way to make friends and ice break, would it not?" Elana asked, her questions sounding as angry as she looked broody. When Lucretia patted him on the shoulder and shook her head, he figured it was just her personality similar to aggression being Lucretia's or kindness, Alice's.
"Another time, please," Alice said, standing up and grabbing his other free hand while she smiled back at the two other girls. "We have much that we need to do tonight and in the coming days, but we promise to make time for you. Harry is a man of his word, Alice and I have learned, and he will meet with you very quickly."
"I will," Harry said, managing a tired smile through squinted eyes as he gave a small wave to send himself off.
Other words were spoken, but they were muffled and hard to hear. Especially when the music came back on, that didn't help his chances any. It didn't matter all that much though, for as soon as he opened his eyes minutes later, he found himself in the cold air of the Hogwarts courtyard and on a bench with the two girls. Alice and Lucretia were both only inches from touching him, they were speaking too.
He shook his head in an attempt to wake up, but he couldn't. The evening had been filled with nervousness and anxiety, then it'd gotten better with the dances being incredibly manageable and finally, after dancing the night away and winning his mental battle, he was done. There was no more fuel for Harry's engines and his body let sleep claim him in the presence of his two current best friends.
It was, truly, a perfect end to a day that'd been equally as perfect.
December 26, 1994
Harry woke up in a room that was most definitely familiar with him more than most others were, especially in recent times. Durmstrang's lounge that was connected to the library, the fireplace was roaring with life and the warmth only it could give off. Around him was something softer than even the best blankets he'd felt and against his right side was a body; one that was feminine, he could feel that much just pressed against whoever she was… whoever she was.
That thought made Harry open his eyes as quickly as possible, the worry that he'd done something incredibly stupid from sleepwalking or sheer exhaustion taking hold of him. Seconds went by as he rolled around in his cocoon and finally, after the longest five seconds of his life, he saw the girl who was asleep flush against him.
She isn't who I thought she was… that's… weird?
"You two were very tired last night," Alice commented, a cup of tea in each of her hands with the left outstretched to him when he turned towards the source of her voice; he nearly jumped at the suddenness with which she spoke, for he most certainly had not detected or felt her presence in the room.
"Thanks, uh, what happened the rest of last night? I don't really remember all that much after the courtyard," Harry thanked her again with a nod and smile when he took the warm, welcome cup of tea into his hands. He was thoroughly confused, still a good bit tired but really, he felt a sense of happiness that so often eluded him.
Anxiety too, the fact that the next task was approaching rapidly was something that he'd never lose sight of.
"You fell asleep on the bench, between Lucretia and I," Alice said, smiling at him with the tip of her tongue peeking out from between her lips. "It was very cute, the cutest. You are precious, Harry, innocent beyond belief in your sleep especially. We watched you for a few minutes before we levitated you down here."
He snorted despite his rapidly appearing blush, the reason obvious. "That couldn't have been very easy, not with a lot of my friends not, well, you know."
Alice shrugged. "It was a trivial matter. Your friends are too limited in the magic they are permitted to learn, you know that thanks to our lessons, no?"
"I know," Harry said, near instantly. "It's still weird, you know. I don't get why we aren't allowed to learn a whole branch of magic or the counters to them — what happens when we need to know a spell that's not solely for good and we don't know it? Or worse, when somebody who does know these horrible spells lands one and we don't know the counter?"
Alice nodded along with him until he was finished and when that came around, she gave him one last firm nod. He knew she wasn't trying to appear arrogant, cocky or anything else under the roof, she never attempted to act that way. It helped a bit too, knowing that she was as in favour of learning new types of magic as he was. None should be limited save for the truly vile ones — the current three unforgivables were prime examples whilst the vast majority of others, whilst not explicitly illegal were still heavily frowned upon.
It was because of that that the 'great' Rita Skeeter and the Daily Prophet wrote a questioning piece in regards to his mental stability as well as friend circles. Hermione, Ron and the others who had once been incredibly close to him showed some small portion of who he originally knew them as; not a single one had dobbed him in.
That was wicked to see a lack of quotes from the lot of them, especially since it would mean Hermione or Dumbledore's involvement to some part. Obviously, even with their silence, a story was still written regarding him. Rita, the vile nosy woman that she was, had simply gone from those who were close to him and known to be so to those who were his enemies or admirers. It certainly had made for a colourful paper the week that it ran and would assuredly be the only copy that he ever read.
"The British are always a bit late to the continental style and ways, no? It's because of the island you all are so fond of, I think," Alice flicked his nose so that he was turned to face her whilst still captive in his spot pressed against Lucretia. "We will go over the strategy for your egg again — height does not matter, heat does not matter and as for runes, I can confidently say there are none,"
"Wicked… help me out from here, yeah? I can probably talk a bit louder and go more in-depth if I'm not stuck against Lucretia, wouldn't you say?" Harry asked, smiling with a brighter, more awake look about him now.
Alice shook her head, still smiling. "No," she chirped.
"Great, th— wait, what? Why not? I thought we were going to work on figuring all the task stuff out?" Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowed but not a bit of anger present in his voice.
"We will go over the strategy later when the others tell me what they find out. From there we will make our strategy — what's the saying, a chef can not cook without his pan? Think of it like that, since it would be a waste of time to focus you on a field of magic that would be useless when we could be working towards a helpful goal," Alice smiled and leaned forward, immediately calming him again as she pulled the comfortable blanket up to the base of his head. "You will sleep longer, three hours, four maybe, but I will have answers for you by then."
He wanted to argue the point and help whoever she had sent. It was probably the two girls they introduced him to late in the evening, the ones that had somehow earned a conversation with him. Well, not earned, he didn't think that highly of himself even if the other two seemed to think speaking with him was something that everybody put some bit of renown towards. Really, he wanted to figure out who else was helping him and what their reasons were, especially since he still had yet to figure out why these two were perfect as they seemed to be. It was thoroughly bothersome and incredibly amazing how wonderful Durmstrangs students seemed to be in comparison to Hogwarts' own.
Guess it's too late for a transfer, he thought as he pressed back into the couch's softness once more, his eyes already heavy with sleep and his body put to rest equally so thanks to the feeling of the warm, soothing, fireplace.
December 29, 1994
Four days.
That was all the time it took for Harry, Lucretia and Alice along with the two other girls to figure out what the next task was. He figured it was faster than it would have been with his old group, especially since this one was collectively a lot older, bolder and thought in a way that wasn't entirely great to have as an influence.
Merlin, those two friends of Alice's or Lucretia's, both maybe, had spied on the tournament staff until a bit of information had slipped out. Why Bagman or the others thought they could speak about it so freely was entirely a mystery too. One would figure… Harry shook his head. He had come to learn recently that if he thought something was common sense, then it most definitely was not common sense. Too many people were so easily led astray or barring that, made themselves too ignorant of facts even if they were presented straight with them.
"Underwater shouldn't be an issue for you in the slightest, now should it?" Lucretia asked, the older girl pacing back and forth with a myriad of books in her arms. "If we think about your level of physical fitness, it's quite high. The Muggle sports that you like to play and Quidditch seem to combine relatively well for your benefit. Swim speed shouldn't be problematic, I wouldn't think so but we'll still give it a test. Magic for you to breathe will probably be our greatest worry and once that's done within the next couple of weeks to perfection, we'll go over additional spells as well as digging into the creatures at the bottom of your lake."
Harry nodded, ready for any preparation they threw at him so long as it kept him breathing. "I'm good for whatever you two decide on. Haven't given me anything bad to go off of and all those spells, they definitely wouldn't be in Hogwarts or if they are, they're buried so far into the back of the restricted section that they'll be impossible to find."
Lucretia stopped pacing and scoffed at him, clearly affronted if exaggeratedly so. "Hogwarts wouldn't have half of these books and those that they do, please, they'd be decades if not centuries out of date. All of the improvements to the spell would be absent as well as ways around counter-curses that currently exist for it."
"You never told me there are ways around counter-curses," Harry said, his interest now completely piqued and his previous thoughts lost to the wind as a new one replaced it; if he had to fight the other Champions, any of them, he would need to learn about ways around counter-curses.
"Move and counter move, that's all anything ever becomes," Alice said, suddenly involved in the conversation as she entered the room with a leaf-wrapped book."You two are not cuddling again, is something the matter?"
"Watch it fish, or I'll be taking pictures of you the next time the two of you fall asleep together. Wouldn't like that very much, now would you?" Lucretia asked, her eyes narrowed and hands on her hips as she forced the books onto the desk in front of Harry.
Alice strode into the room, up to her friend for a kiss on the cheek and then over to Harry within seconds, not bothered in the slightest by Lucretia's picture-filled threat. "If they saw me cuddling a handsome Harry in a warm, fire-lit room with books all around me, every witch regardless of age would be jealous. This fish would be very popular all of a sudden too, miss cow."
"That one hurts," Lucretia answered, deadpan as she sighed, shook her head and sat across from the two of them; as for who the 'them' was, it referred to Harry and Alice on account of the latter squishing herself against him and the arm of the chair he had been seated in.
"What did you find?" Alice asked, more serious but her voice soft and sweet as ever.
Harry seized the initiative and answered before Lucretia could. He had helped her, after all, and when the other girl had entered it was he who took hold of all the books they'd scavenged from the Durmstrang library. Krum, poor Krum, he wouldn't have any of the exceptional resources so long as Harry was using them. Hogwarts wouldn't either, but Harry reckoned he'd give Cedric one more bit of help beforehand.
Hogwarts needed to win twice and Cedric deserved the chance to complete the tournament with his life still intact. That goal was something not many of those who formerly competed could claim success in. Merlin, the death rate and the violent nature of the tournament itself were the main reasons that it'd been destroyed as long as it had.
"We found a bubble charm that should keep oxygen in, but we're not sure how to use it unless it replenishes its own oxygen. I'd definitely like to avoid drowning if I could," Harry went for a chuckle, but neither girl laughed and so he continued, hopefully matching their professionalism this time. "There was a weed or plant, something that would let me grow gills that truly work. It'd be very noticeable if I used it; the main problem is the source. I don't know where I could find gillyweed or the lesser cousin to it, gilgot. The second wouldn't be all that helpfu— I could do transfiguration I suppose and finally, the last option we found while you were gone was to ask for assistance when speaking with the locals. Maybe they could help me out while I use one or two of the other ways. You can trade with them, I hear."
Alice nodded slowly. "Yes, the merpeople are amiable to trades like many older cultures were. It is of primary importance, just as it is for us in regards to wheat or foodstuffs from other portions of the world; Egypt and Russia come to mind, no? It would be worth it to seek them out for this assistance but you will have to be careful. The men among them are not known for kindness."
"I'm sure we'll come up with something," Harry said, smiling as brightly as ever as he stretched and let out a yawn. "What about a cup of tea before we get down to business? I'm pretty tired and… oh. Alice, thank you."
Halfway through speaking, not even, a house-elf entered the room with a cup of coffee for her and a tea made to perfection for him. She had accurately guessed what he wanted before they began their study session. He shouldn't have been all that surprised, not when it came to those two, but curse him, he still was.
'"I think we'll look at this electric spell and a solidifying one while we attempt to narrow down which of the breathing aspects is best for you," Lucretia said, at which point Alice shook her head.
She didn't say anything though, for Harry had already decided what course of action he would take. Decision-making was important to him, more recently even if he did trust the two girls and while normally this would be solely their decision since they were much older and experienced… he couldn't help it.
There was something he wanted to learn above all others and it was exactly what Lucretia had said. He could do wonders with the ability to turn water into solid materials — a boat, a ship, a submarine!
All of those had to be possible for him to utilise, right? Well, maybe not the submarine, but if he could turn water into something solid, he was in business regardless of the situation and how poorly it went.