A/N: Welcome back for another chapter! We're edging closer and closer to the end of fourth year, and it's somewhat frightening! This was the year I was looking forward to the most when I started writing this story, and now that it's almost gone, well I'm going to miss it terribly. We'll keep moving on though. Depending on how you want to count the "end" of fourth year, I think there are only three chapters left before it. They're already written. Once that's done, this story will go on a brief hiatus while I do my notes and such for fifth year, which I expect to be the largest departure from canon we've seen. I hope you're excited! I'll leave you to the chapter now, remember to comment and review!
Harry sat, reading a book in the Sphinx Club room. It was exam day for everyone but the Champions, who had been excused while they were competing. Viktor and Cedric would be taking their NEWTs over the summer, a special secondary session proctored by the ICW's education branch since they were using this time to train. Fleur, being only a sixth year, would be doing hers the next year, while Harry was sitting his OWLs.
Fleur found that very funny, how Harry, whom the Champions all readily agreed was on their level in every subject, was two to three years younger than the rest of them. Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur had all been high achievers on their OWLs, but worried now that Harry would show their scores up completely, being totally NEWT capable in his fourth year.
Reading over the book again, Harry recognized he'd reread the same passage for the sixth time without absorbing it. His focus was elsewhere, the stress of the tournament weighing heavily on him.
Harry knew, academically, that worrying wasn't going to solve anything. He was supposed to be doing something productive with the energy that was being used to worry. That's why he was studying through these books on magical flora and fauna. That was why he practiced rudimentary offensive and defensive spells every day. Basic offense charms like the disarming charm, the banishing charm, and the knockback jinx no longer needed Harry to even say them, he could merely think them and they would fire out of his wand. Shield charms, the water making charm, and the summoning charm? Equally as easy. Harry had even learned how to do low powered versions of the summoning and banishing charms without his wand. He had thought it was prudent to have the ability to pull his wand to his hand if it were knocked away, and given the banishing charm was just the summoning charm in reverse, had learned how to augment his throwing arm with the spell.
Harry glanced over, summoning one of Hermione's balls of yarn to his hand, before having it hover in place above it. When Harry had told Flitwick about his ability to do this wandlessly, Flitwick had let loose an idea to Hermione about an exercise one with this ability could do to work on the skill, one that Hermione happily relayed. The general idea was to be able to manipulate the height of the object without using the standard levitation spell. You were constantly summoning and banishing it, keeping it level. Then you would alternate the heights, banishing it higher, and summoning it lower, alternating where you held it. Harry found tranquility in the exercise, likening it to a Jedi's force abilities. He remembered Luke in the cave on Hoth summoning his lightsaber to his hand, that had been his initial idea for why to learn the skill, and it had proven useful. Pulling his wand to his hand was now second nature, and Harry slightly wondered what would happen when he was home. Would the underage magic alert be triggered if Harry accidentally used wandless magic to pick up a sock he dropped? That would be something he would need to ask Flitwick or someone about before he left Hogwarts.
Harry's attention was pulled from his musings as Luna walked in, a tired, but content look on her face as she walked over to him. "Harry may I use you as a pillow please?"
"Of course Luna." He said, pulling her into his lap as she cuddled close to him, setting her head on his shoulder.
"Much better, I'm sorry Harry, but I really do dislike test days. I know I will do well on them, but they do not fill me with joy." Luna said. She was a free thinker, one who showed her intelligence through her actions and curiosity about the world. She was a good test taker, in so far as she wasn't one to freeze up or forget what she had learned during an exam, but she despised the sterile environment of an exam.
"No need to worry, it's all over for now Luna. No more big exams until next year." Harry said, petting her blonde hair.
"Yes, you all will be frantically studying for your OWLs, although you'll have no issues passing them. I'm sure you could take your NEWTs right now and be acceptable." Luna said, relaxing further into his embrace.
"Maybe, but it won't hurt to be a little more prepared. I might have to put you in charge of making sure Hermione doesn't work herself mad during them though." Harry said with a chuckle. For as much as they all took extra study time when exams were coming, Hermione doubled down much harder than the rest. It was an active effort to get her to take a break, and for this exam they had to break out a trump card to get Hermione to calm down. Padma and Susan had lured Hermione into the secret room Luna had found before the Yule Ball, and Harry had been coerced into calming her down.
That had been an experience Harry enjoyed, and he was certain Hermione enjoyed her first solo session with Harry. The solo encounter had been very different from their first time. When it had been all of them, the energy was best described as frantic. Harry was pulling himself together as much as he could to satisfy all five of his girlfriends who had wanted him that night, and while it had taken two wiggenweld potions, he had done it before he passed out from exhaustion. With just Hermione though, Harry had gotten to go slower, had gotten to take his time as he showed his first friend how much he appreciated her, how much he loved her. It was a sweet thing, one Hermione had expressed wanting to experience again, and it had calmed her from her exam mania.
The other girls had then taken him to that room of their own accord throughout the rest of that week, demanding some of what Hermione had. He was happy to give it to them. Luna hadn't, she still said she wasn't ready for that step, and Harry wasn't going to push her. He loved Luna, and if she wasn't ready, she wasn't ready, and Harry would respect that.
"Are you worried Harry?" Luna asked, her blue eyes gazing into his lovingly.
"What would I be worried about Luna?" Harry asked, trying to put on a brave face.
"The final task. You are going in mostly blind, we don't know what to prepare for." Luna said, her tone matter of fact, but Harry could hear the anxiety in it that others might not. Luna's voice rarely showed her negative emotions, anger and fear were hard to hear in her words, no matter how much she was feeling. Harry knew his girl though, he could hear the subtle differences in her tone.
"We don't, this is true, but I've been preparing as much as I can. I've handled obstacle courses, basilisks, dementors, death eaters, and dragons. Not to mention an encounter with Voldemort himself. I probably have more experience handling dangerous situations than any student in Hogwarts history." Harry said, putting on a joking tone.
Luna smiled a bit at his words, but snuggled closer into his shoulder. "I still worry. I love you Harry, I don't want to lose you."
"You won't Luna. Everything is going to be fine. You know I don't really care about winning anyway. If something dangerous comes up I'll just throw up those sparks they told us and surrender. I'm only going to be really trying in the maze to clear the path for the other three. I'd love for Fleur to win, especially since it's partially my fault she didn't get to finish the second task." Harry said, tightening his grip on her. "Now Luna, can you give me a smile?"
Luna pulled back and gave him a smile, and Harry kissed her, which made the smile wider. "There we go, that's my little Luna. It'll be okay love. I promise." Harry said, petting her hair.
"Okay. I suppose I will have to believe you. I'm going to go to the library and see if I can find any more information about creatures that have been used in prior tournaments." Luna said, getting up from her place on his lap. "You do your part to come back, and I'll do my part to make it easier."
"Deal." Harry said, giving her a playful swat on the behind as she walked away. Luna turned and smiled at him, her face a little red, before walking back out.
Harry hadn't even gotten back to his book when Daphne came in, handing him a list. "What's this?" Harry asked, glancing over the parchment.
"A list of every potion, plant, or ingredient that could possibly be useful in the third task, as well as what they do. Neville and I finally managed to exhaust every potion book in the library with potions with brewing times less than a week." Daphne said, before sitting in his lap. "You may praise me now."
"Yes my Slytherin Queen, all may bow before your greatness. I am unworthy." Harry joked, reading through the list. "This is actually rather impressive, although there's no way we can do all of these."
"I'm aware, but we can pick and choose a few. Wiggenweld and a couple Bezoars should definitely be part of your preparations." Daphne said pointing at them on the list.
"You expect the task to go on long enough for me to get exhausted?" Harry asked.
"It's possible, wiggenweld is easy enough to brew and is too useful to not be included, even a tiny vial to just perk you up could be the difference maker." Daphne said, her tone factual and cold.
"You're worried." Harry noticed. Daphne pulled into herself when she was anxious about something, Tracey had called it her 'Ice Queen' mode. Harry had seen it a few times, most of them during this year, but it had been less than this.
"Of course I'm worried. It's a terribly dangerous tournament someone put you in, we have no idea who or why they did it, and while you've managed so far, I'm worried our luck is going to run out. All it takes is one bad shot and we lose you forever. I've just wrapped my mind around being married to you, about having a future together and I don't want to lose it so quickly." Daphne said, pulling herself closer to him.
"Just wrapped your head around it? What were the last two years?" Harry asked.
"We're still kids, Harry. I love you dearly, but the difference between loving you now, and being married and starting a family is pretty big. But… well after the night of the Yule Ball, and this week. I've doubled down. I know it's what I want." Daphne said, curling up into him. "So what you're going to do right now is hold on to me. Then when the task comes up, you're going to tear through that maze, and make it out of the other side in one piece."
"Far be it from me to argue." Harry said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.
As they continued their embrace, more and more of the Sphinx Club came in. Harry gave each of his girls as kiss as they entered, but Daphne did not move from her spot. She cuddled into Harry, and enjoyed his warmth, his presence. Whatever may happen during the third task, whatever challenges he may face, Daphne knew Harry would succeed. That didn't stop her from worrying though, so she took this moment to simply feel him. To take a snapshot in her mind of his love for her, and her love for him, and how nice it felt to simply cuddle on an old dusty couch in the middle of the Sphinx Club room.