Chapter Three: Birthday's and tournaments.

September 19th Hermione's Birthday

Harry awoke and instantly sprung into action, today was Hermione's birthday and he was gonna make it special for her. She was turning 14 just like Harry had a few weeks prior. Dumbledore had made an exception when she was in first year considering how close her birthday was to the cut off line.

He went to the owlery to see if Hedwig had arrived yet. When the snow covered owl flew in with a package, he thanked her and gave her some treats. Harry went back inside and hid the package under his bed and waited for Hermione to wake up. Until then he waited in the common room reading a book. The first challenge was close and he was terrified.

One thing that did help Harry or shall I say someone, was Hermione she was the only person Harry felt he could talk to that he still considered to be his friend. Ron all but ignored him now and refused to talk to him and vice versa. He was truly thankful for Hermione's loyalty and guidance as well as her overwhelming kindness and protection of him. He was also partially terrified because Hermione was his date to the Yule ball and the champions are supposed to open the dance with their dates.

Once Hermione had woken up and gotten dressed she went downstairs and was about to leave the common room, When Harry stopped her for a second. "Mione, I got you something." Harry said as he approached her. "Wait here a second." Hermione did as she was told and sat down on the couch with her legs crossed as she waited for Harry to return with whatever it is that he got her. He rushed upstairs into the boys' chambers and returned shortly thereafter with a small box in his hands.

Harry walked down the stairs and sat down next to her on the couch and handed her the box. Hermione inspected the small black box with a gold line running right down the middle.

He put an arm around her and she opened the box. Inside was a silver bracelet with a ruby encrusted in the middle and surrounded by tiny little sapphires. An audible gasp came from Hermione's lips and She quickly wrapped her arms around him. Her hair accidentally flew into his face and Harry felt as if his nose had been flash banged by the most pleasant scent in the universe.

"Oh My God Harry Thank You so Much!" She planted a firm kiss on his cheek and now the two of them were blushing. She carefully put the bracelet on and gave him another hug. "Happy birthday Mione."

"Thank you Harry, this means so much."

They sat on the couch talking for a little bit until a few minutes later, Ginny walked in along with Ron. Ron stayed by the door and Ginny walked over to the two sitting on the couch.

"Ron was told by Seamus who was told by Dean who was told by Parvati that Hagrid needs to see you." Ginny said to Harry who listened to what she said and then turned to Ron. "Are you really being that salty Ron?"

"At Least I had the Good Faith to tell you this."

"No You didn't, you had your little sister do it!"

"Why'd you put your name in that damn goblet anyway huh? It's not like you weren't already famous."

Hermione and Ginny looked at eachother with the expression of this ain't ending well.

"I Told You I Didn't Put My Name In The Goblet Ron Why Won't You Listen?"

"I'm Done!" Ron then stormed off with Ginny chasing after him.

A week later, Harry found Hermione sitting in her usual hidden nook of the library that is almost fully encased by bookshelves. She was sitting in the corner and she was visibly upset and he could see the tears that were all over her cheeks.

He sat down next to her and pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around his sides and she buried her head in his shoulder. She shuddered as Harry held her in his arms and she then started thinking more and more and more about the thing that put her in this state. 'What If He Dies In The Tournament?!'

Harry already knew what the problem was and he was gonna do all he could to comfort her. He gently scratched the back of her head and rubbed her back as she cried on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna die in the tournament." He whispered to her.

'Holy shit he knows me so well.' She thought. She hugged him tighter and nuzzled into Harry's neck. She couldn't believe how good he smelled with the Cologne that he always wore. The two sat there for a while and held each other as Hermione slowly calmed down. Once she calmed down, she still rested her head on Harry's shoulder but she had mostly moved back to her own chair.

A few days later, Harry returned late at night to the common room where Hermione was waiting for him. He took off the cloak and sat down next to her.

In a hushed voice he spoke. "Mione listen up, the first task is dragons." Harry said. Her jaw dropped and she had to hush herself from yelling. "Dragons?!"

"Hagrid showed me, they have four dragons all brought here from Romania with the help of Ron's brother." Harry said in his hushed voice.

Hermione grew scared, her eyes widened and she fought to calm herself down. Harry hugged her and she instantly calmed down being held in his arms.

November 24 Came quickly and today was the day. Harry was terrified and so was Hermione. As he stood there in the champions tent, he saw the shadow of a certain 5'3" girl with bushy brown hair approach the tent door. He went up to where Hermione stood and rested his head against the tent wall that separated them.

"Harry is that you?" She asked with a very worried look on her face. Her eyes were wide and her lip was slightly quivering and her shoulders were tense.

"Yeah it's me."

She took a moment to speak. " H-How are you feeling?"

Harry was silent and before he could speak, she did.

"They Key Is to Concentrate, After that you just have to-"

"Battle A dragon." He finished her sentence.

Panic swept back over her and she just could not take it anymore. She swept through the tent door, her hair flying all over the place, and Harry pulled her into a hug. He held her for a moment and all the other champions knew the kind of relationship that they had and pretended like they did not notice out of respect for Harry's privacy.

Cedric knew that they liked each other, at this point he and Fleur were placing bets on how long it would take them to realize it. Krum was busy standing in the doorway of the tent to keep Rita out of the tent so that way there would not be a news incident about this.

Dumbledore and a few others entered the tent and asked the champions to select their Dragons.

"Ms. Granger, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I was wishing Harry good luck and um-m You know what I should get going." She walked out of the tent but not before she and Harry snuck one last glance at each other. Once it was Harry's turn to reach into the bag he did. He felt something hot and sharp poking him and when he pulled his hand out he was informed that it was a Hungarian Horntail. Then the first champion was called and Harry sat down and waited for his turn.

"NEXT UP IS HARRY POTTER!"

He heard the cheers of Beaux Batons and Hogwarts students and the boos of Durmstrang and Slytherin. He crouched behind a rock and then peered over it to see the golden egg. He vaulted over the rock and ran towards the rock just then he heard the last thing you wanna hear in this situation. A growl and the flapping of wings.

There was a sudden gasp from everyone in the crowd and Harry felt the heat before he heard it. He rolled out of the way and was then swatted by the wing of the Horntail. He saw his pant leg was on fire and he stomped it out. The dragon reached over the rock and used its claws to grab Harry by the back of his collar and fling him over its head and into a support beam.

Many girls in the audience screamed and the guys were in shock. Just then he heard the angelic voice of Hermione. "YOUR WAND HARRY USE IT!"

"Accio Firebolt." A broomstick flew in and Harry hopped on. The crowd cheered as he flew off. The dragon tried to follow close behind but was stopped by the chain. The dragon shot fire at the chain and got it so hot that it melted. Hermione watched in horror as the dragon broke free and chased after Harry.

He dodged, ducked and weaved to try and avoid its shots and slashes. He banked around the Gryffindor tower and felt the heat of the dragon's breath against his broom and then it happened. The broom slipped out from under him and he fell off. He grabbed for the first thing he could see which was the roof.

Hermione screamed when she saw Harry through the binoculars.

She clenched her fist and bit her lip in anticipation of what's next.

All Harry could think about right now other than surviving this, was the impact it would have on Hermione and Ron if he died he knew Ron would be devastated but eventually move on, however Hermione would not be able to ever move on and would probably became depressed if he died and would maybe even try to join him. He also realized his true feelings for her and how much they mean to each other.

Harry's grip was slipping and he could not have picked a better time to fall because his broom was below him. He fell about 30 feet before grabbing onto his broom and he raced around the grounds until it crashed into a building and then he raced back towards the arena.

He flew low, feeling the wind blowing through his hair, and then at the last minute he pulled up and immediately back down into the arena.

The crowd went absolutely crazy and soon the chants of 'Pot-ter! Pot-ter! Pot-ter!' Roared from the crowd.

He scooped up the egg and held it high above his head and the crowd went even crazier and cheered loudly. Harry did not even have a chance to say hi to his friends after the first task as the rest of the House carried and crowd surfed him back to the common room.

Dean and Neville raised him up into the air.

"You want me to open it?!"

There was an incoherent noise.

"I Can't hear you!"

"Yes Harry!" Sounded the entire room.

Harry opened the egg and they were met with the hideous screeching of it. He quickly closed the egg and Ron spoke up. "Bloody hell!"

The entire room laughed at Ron's fitting remark. Harry scanned the common room and Hermione was nowhere in sight. She was probably in the library avoiding all the loudness of the party that was sure to ensue. He went into his room and changed into his usual school robes and went down to the library to check to see if she was there. Of course she was.

He sat down next to her and saw that she was clearly lost in a book like always. Harry gently tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped for a second but then settled down when she saw Harry.

"Hey Mione, I need to talk to you about something."

"Of course Harry, what is it?"

Harry spoke in a low but also surprisingly sweet and relaxing voice. "When I was hanging from the tower and as my hands were slipping, the only thing I could think about was you and Ron and what would happen to you two if I died. I figured Ron would grieve and then move on, but you.. It would break you and then I realized that it would be the same thing if the roles were swapped between me and you."

He took a moment to breathe before speaking.

"What I'm trying to say is that we both mean the world to each other Mione and I don't know what I would do without you and—"

He was interrupted by Hermione pulling him into a soft and gentle kiss. The feeling of her soft lips upon his and her hand on his neck and the other on his shoulder sent butterflies all throughout his body. He returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her. When they broke apart for air they rested their heads against each other. They were silent for a moment before Harry spoke, his heart going a mile a minute. "I was gonna do that but I did not know how to transition into that." Hermione giggled at his joke and they shared another kiss. "So do you want to wait until the Yule ball to tell everyone and keep it on the down low until then or just go public now?" Harry asked.

"I would like to keep the media off my back for as long as possible so for now let's stick with keeping it on the down low." Hermione responded.

Harry agreed and just as they were about to leave the library, Snape walked in. "Mr. Potter, There is something for you in the owlery." Snape turned and left the two lovebirds. Harry and Hermione walked to the Owelry hand in hand since no one other than professors would be in the hallway due to everyone else celebrating.

They passed by Hagrid and Mcgonagall talking about something. Harry and Hermione smiled and waved at them. They waved back and then Mcgonagall noticed them holding hands. "Hagrid look." She said and pointed.

"Looks like Snape owes me money."

"What?"

"Nothing, just a friendly bet."

She rolled her eyes at him.

Harry and Hermione arrived at the owlery. He saw a brownish gray owl fly in and give him a letter from Sirius. Harry opened the letter and read it.

"Well what does it say?"

"It says to meet him at the fireplace at this time and date." He pointed to the time and date. "Oh and the bird bites." She added skimming through the document. The bird then bit at Harry. He jumped a bit and applied pressure to the small amount of blood that had been drawn.

The End Of Chapter Three.