- The Slytherin Boy Dorms, 31st of October 1994 –
"So let me get this straight," Hermione sighed, clearly frustrated, her head in her hands.
"Don't bother trying to understand him. It's boy logic, Mione." Daphne quipped as she was nibbling on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans while lying on Harry's bed.
"Oi what's that supposed to mean?" Blaise asked after he caught one of the beans Daphne threw at him.
"That is not our primary concern right now, Blaise." Hermione answered. " Why exactly do you wish for Dobby to cease his efforts in removing your name from the Goblet of Fire, Harry? Doesn't it strike you as odd that someone has been persistently attempting to enter your name for the past four hours? That someone might be out there to hurt you? Am I the only one who sees the gravity of the situation?" She asked, crossing her arms as she sat down next to Daphne. The brunette's expression soured when the bean she took from her friend's bag had the distinct flavour of snot.
Draco couldn't help but sneer at how absurd Harry was being. After witnessing the chaos and despair in the previous timeline, he'd instructed Dobby to ensure no one would be putting Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. Since the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students the previous evening, the elf had already magically removed Harry's name five times. Just when he thought that they would be able to avoid the madness of the Tournament, Pothead had announced he wanted to participate in the Tournament just to see what they were up against. He was clearly in the wrong stage of his brain development as a teenager. How could he not see the evident danger?
"No offence, Harry, but you are simply not skilled enough to get through the Tournament." Draco agreed. "It was designed for wizards and witches that are of age. Those that have passed their O.W.L.S. You are nearly two years away from that point. I get that you think that going along with this trap would be some heroic venture against Voldemort, but I do not. Neither does Mione."
"Ginny thinks it's a good idea." Harry said as he lazily threw one of his snitches up in the air, catching it again as it came down. "If someone is trying to kill me, probably Voldemort, then what better way to tell them to sod off than doing exactly what they want? I'll be prepared. Sirius and Amelia can put some charms and portkeys on me. I'll be fine ."
"Harry, I've heard better arguments from a three-year-old. Besides, Ginny is a Gryffindor ," Hermione remarked as Daphne offered her an pink-coloured bean. She was slightly apprehensive to try it, but luckily for her this one tasted much better than the last. Pomegranate, perhaps? "Diving headfirst into a magical contract as serious and binding as the Triwizard Tournament without proper consideration is nothing more than foolish Gryffindor recklessness. You should know better than to-" She saw Harry opening his mouth, ready to interject. Swiftly, she took his pillow and threw it straight at his face. "Don't you dare say it, Harry James Potter. You are Lord Slytherin for Merlin's sake. You have responsibilities now. Start acting like it."
Harry laughed as he caught the pillow and put it under his elbows, laying flat on his stomach on the floor, still nervously twisting a snitch in his hands.
"Just think about it, Mione." he tried to convince her again. "If we train enough during this year, like we have been all summer, then we can finally figure out who has been helping Moldypants get his powers back. You know I'll be perfectly safe if he tries something on me."
"Regardless of your intentions, you have to remember that the Tournament was made for older students. You are not yet at the level of a sixth- or seventh-year student. You don't have enough spells in your repertoire to go through with this. People have died in these tournaments, Harry." Draco backed up Hermione. To some extent, he empathised with Harry. Merlin, he himself had a wealth of knowledge about the future that could alter the war and potentially save lives. The key difference was in their ages, he mused. Harry was still learning to shoulder his responsibilities. He hadn't reached the level of maturity needed to keep himself level-headed.
His best friend smirked at him, throwing the snitch at his face. Draco might not have been as good a seeker as Harry, but he still had the reflexes and caught the ball in his hands, scowling at his friend for catching him off guard. "You're right, Draco. I'm not skilled enough to get through it. But you are."
Draco blinked. What did he just say?
Harry just grinned. "Right, Mione? If I do end up in the Tournament, then Draco could help me train. Tonks and Sirius will also help out. Remus even said that my core is growing larger and stronger every week!"
The brunette nodded in agreement. "You do have a point. If you insist on being foolhardy, then it is essential you are trained. We all need to be trained. I have no intention to sit back while you two get better in Defence and put yourselves in danger."
Agreeing with his mistress, Crookshanks meowed loudly and jumped onto Draco's bed to start making biscuits on his pillow.
"Crooks, that's mine." He lovingly scolded the half-kneazle who flicked his tail at him and turned in a circle after his sleeping spot was kneaded to perfection. He rolled up into a ball and closed his eyes, immediately snoring.
"Don't change the subject by telling off Crooks," Hermione said, crossing her arms. "Will you help us or not?"
"Fine," he exhaled as he sat down on his bed and started petting Hermione's familiar. "But you two should also try and figure out how the Potter and Dagworth-Granger family magic works. Tapping into your ancestors' magic will always make you stronger. You agree, Daph?"
The blonde nodded at him and threw a dark green bean at his face. He barely opened his mouth in time to catch it. Ew. Tasted like kale.
"If you are determined to proceed with this plan, you will tell Sirius, Amelia, and Professors Lupin and Snape." Hermione said, her tone firm yet tinged with concern. "Get their approval, or at the very least their willingness to help you. You need to be trained and it can't just fall solely on Draco to do so. I will not see my best friend die due to his own stupidity."
Harry nodded eagerly. They still had a few hours before the champions would be picked, so he grabbed his cloak and ran out the door, already on his way to the staff room to try and catch professor Lupin and Snape before they headed to the evening feast.
"Why do we have a lion hiding in the snakes' den?" Hermione asked desperately, letting herself fall backwards on Harry's bed, taking his pillow and smothering herself with it in frustration.
"You only noticed that now, Mione?" Blaised asked incredulously.
Draco smiled, noticing that whatever had changed between the different timelines, her concern and love for Harry never had.
"Ced already put his name in the goblet." Daphne stated as she too let herself fall backwards onto the Boy Who Lived's bed. She took Hermione's hand in hers when the witch finally came up to breathe again. "What if whoever is trying to hurt Harry, will also hurt him if he gets chosen by the Cup? Or the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons student?"
"We will help him too," Draco answered as he joined the two girls, flopping down as hard as he could in between them, making them roll to the side as fast as they could. He made their bodies float in the air for a second as he froze them mid-air with his magic. Both girls giggled, before they fell back down on the bed, and it seemed as if all their previous frustrations and worries were forgotten.
He already knew what the tasks would be. Who would be chosen. If Sirius, Remus, and Severus agreed, they would be able to train both Harry and Cedric.
Draco closed his eyes as the girls started chattering with Blaise. He would need to train them too. Daphne had already come too close to becoming a death eater's victim. He would offer them anything he'd learnt during the war. Wandless magic. Silent magic. Transfiguration. Defence as well as dark arts. Hermione was a prodigy in charms and runes so she could probably teach them a thing or two. If they worked together, they would make it. They would be prepared. Prepared for war .
That night, everyone applauded their three champions: Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory. Hermione glanced at Draco and bit her bottom lip nervously, the worry evidently etched on her face.
When the goblet lit up one more time and spat out Harry's name, the Slytherin got up and waved his wand, just like he'd agreed on with his godfather. They didn't need any negative media publicity.
"I hereby declare on my life and my magic that I did not enter my name in the Goblet of Fire or asked anyone else to put it in there for me. So mote it be."
When he cast a casual Lumos charm and walked off with Professor Dumbledore, Hermione leaned over to Draco. "Please promise me that we will do everything possible to protect him."
"Not just him," Draco swore, taking Hermione's hand as he looked at his Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw friends all spread throughout the Great Hall. "We'll do our best to protect all of us ."
- The first task, 24th of November 1994 –
Hermione's hand was clutching onto Draco's arm painfully as they watched Cedric face off against a Swedish Short-Snout.
Daphne was holding onto his other arm and torn between hiding herself behind Draco's back and making sure her boyfriend wasn't being burnt to a crisp.
"This is barbaric!" Hermione huffed angrily as she watched the dragons, desperately trying to protect their eggs from the champions. "Not only did the Ministry think it was alright to stress out the dragons, after moving them and their clutch all the way to Britain, but they also thought it was a wonderful idea to send a bunch of teenagers into a dragon's den!"
Draco had to agree with her, and he grabbed her hand on his arm, squeezing it tightly. He'd never noticed before how desperate the creatures looked. They probably thought that they and their eggs were actually under attack. The dragons didn't realise they were just another challenge for the Triwizard champions to face or that the egg that the champions were attempting to steal was nothing more than an anomaly in their precious clutch. Sadly, they could not help the magnificent beasts. All they could do was hope that both Cedric and Harry were prepared enough in order to survive their ordeal against the dragons.
Unsure how to tell his friends about the first task, Draco eventually decided to make Hagrid spill the tea. All he had to do was ask their Professor the right questions one autumn afternoon when they were visiting him in his hut for a friendly chat. He'd started by asking if Hagrid had heard anything about his dear old friend Norberta who had made Draco end up in the hospital wing during their first year. He felt like scratching his hand absentmindedly, remembering the silver scaly skin that had appeared right under his knuckles the night the small dragon had bitten him.
It didn't take long for Hagrid to casually mention that they were bringing in dragons for the first task, but that Norberta sadly wouldn't be joining them. The gentle half-giant had begged them not to tell anyone else about the magnificent beasts.
Harry promised he would only tell Cedric as they were training together for the Triwizard Tournament.
Hagrid had nodded in agreement, saying it was good to see there was no interhouse rivalry after two Hogwarts champions had been chosen.
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were less than pleased that Hogwarts had two competitors. But once it was discovered that Harry indeed had not put in his name in the Goblet and that he'd been entered under a fourth unnamed school instead, they had reluctantly agreed to let Harry compete for House Potter, rather than Hogwarts as a whole.
Unlike last time, Ludo Bagman was now under scrutiny by the Ministry. An outrage had followed when the Quibbler printed an article describing the events on Hallow's Eve. The wizarding world thought that Bagman and Dumbledore would have protected and charmed the Cup properly, so none of their underage children would potentially end up in such a dangerous event. After all, if it had been that easy to enter Harry's name, then it would have been as easy for their own children to be entered in the Tournament unwillingly.
Amelia had even written a formal level of complaint to the Minister himself, as well as the International Confederation of Wizards. The Ministry better watch themselves now that Director Black was preparing to come back to work again in the next few months. She would do her best to find any skeletons hiding in their closets.
"They will be fine." Draco soothed both Hermione and Daphne. "Even if Professor Snape and Professor Lupin weren't allowed to help us prepare due to the tournament's rules. Sirius, Amelia, and Tonks have been doing a wonderful job teaching us, have they not?"
"Easy for you to say," Hermione huffed. "You didn't take that long before learning any of the spells they taught us."
He ruffled her hair lovingly and laughed the comment off, hoping she wouldn't start asking questions about his apparent skill in learning spells. Using Deandra as an excuse was starting to become old really fast. If only she knew he was so proficient at magic now because he'd spent all of his Hogwarts years trying to beat his Hermione in grades. If anything, she was the reason for his current success. He wasn't sure if he'd put as much time and effort into school if it hadn't been for her.
The crowd cheered when Cedric grabbed the egg while the dragon was distracted by the Labrador he'd transfigured from a rock. The boy started running and jumping through rubble, the egg under his arm. He hadn't been stealthy enough, however.
Daphne's scream pierced the air when the dragon whipped its head around swiftly and looked at the Hufflepuff furiously. Its nostrils flared ominously, and a sudden torrent of deep red flame burst out of its mouth, scorching part of Cedric's face instead.
"You better get down there." Draco encouraged his friend as the Hufflepuff barely escaped alive with his egg. The tamers were trying to hold the dragon back now, and they could see Madam Pomfrey and some healers from St. Mungos rush to meet the boy as soon as he'd reached the edge of the arena.
Daphne didn't need to be told twice. She quickly made her way down in order to go check on her boyfriend, leaving Hermione and Draco alone on the bench they'd been sharing.
"I just hope Harry will be fine," the brunette whispered, her curly hair flying around her in the cold autumn wind, tickling Draco's cheek. "I know that he got very good at the summoning charm, and that he should be able to get his Firebolt to him with ease. But the other spells we practised-"
"He will be alright," Draco shushed her. "Have some faith in him. You worry too much, Mione."
"Someone should worry about the two of you." she quipped back sternly.
Once Harry entered the tournament area, she started biting her thumb in nervousness.
It almost seemed as if The Boy Who Lived and the Hungarian Horntail were having a staring contest, neither one moving an inch. They were merely observing each other, the dragon's dark yellow eyes taking in the teenager in front of her.
"What's going on?" Draco grumbled in frustration, his own worry increasing. This wasn't what had happened last time. Why was Harry not summoning his broom?
The dragon seemed to breathe in deeply, and Hermione yelped and hid her face in Draco's shoulder as she was sure that a large destructive flame would follow once she breathed out. That was not the case, however. The dragon… moved aside?
" What is going on?" Draco asked Deandra and Hermione as Harry casually walked up to the dragon's nest to go and retrieve his egg. "Dragons don't speak parseltongue, do they?"
"Perhaps, she sees him as a whelpling ?" Hermione mused.
Draco raised his eyebrows at her. "What makes you say that? "
"Just a feeling. Harry does look slightly younger than the others, doesn't he? " She shrugged, her eyes still trailing Harry as he and his egg made their way back to the edge of the field. The rest of the crowd seemed to be as dumbfounded as they felt.
"You're right, little one ," Deandra's all-knowing voice spoke to them. "The dragons did not see Harry as a threat, but rather as one of their own… Do you have a dragon heartstring wand, Mione? It is said that the wielders of such cores are sometimes more attuned and empathic towards animals."
Hermione took her wand out of her pocket and twirled it around, studying it closely. " I do, actually. I thought that the bond me and Crooks shared was just that between a witch and her familiar. Are you saying that my magic might have a natural affinity to get a grasp of magical animals feelings?"
Before Deandra could properly answer, the dragon roared loudly and breathed a blue flame of fire towards the stands, right where Dumbledore, Bagman, and the Minister were sitting along with the rest of the judges. Bagman looked as if he had shat his pants, and the Minister was trembling in fear, losing his signature hat as he jumped down for cover. The dragon tamers and the Headmaster raised their wands in time, however, shielding them from harm.
"Shame the dragon didn't burn Fudge's hat off." Draco snorted as he saw the display of power from the dragon. "Or Bagman's eyebrows. Do you think Dumbledore's beard has an anti-flame charm on it? How does that man eat in the Great Hall anyway? There's candles everywhere!"
"Let's go to Harry," Hermione giggled at his comments as she got up and stretched her arms and legs from sitting in the chilly weather for so long. "Sirius and Amelia are already hugging and jumping up and down like a bunch of children now that they realise Harry is safe." She smiled, clearly amused by their behaviour.
They had an easy time getting down, as all of the spectators were still dumbfounded and wondered what had just happened.
"Isn't it nice," Hermione whispered as she leant into Draco, "that Harry finally has two adults taking care of him as if he was their own?"
"It sure is." Draco agreed with a fond smile as he saw Amelia and Sirius hugging Harry close to them, while also checking to make sure he wasn't injured. Parents, right?
They reached the medical tent and talked with Cedric and Daphne to give the Blacks and their godson some privacy.
"What happened out there?" Draco asked as soon as Harry joined them to check up on the Hufflepuff.
"Did any of you know that dragons understand some sort of Parseltongue?" the Boy Who Lived wondered. "As soon as I entered the arena, I could feel a voice enter my mind. It was hard to understand at first, as if the dragon was speaking with a thick accent. She told me that I smelled ." He scrunched his nose, still confused at what had just happened.
"You smelled ?" Hermione laughed in disbelief.
Harry rubbed the back of his head. "She told me that I smelled just like a dragon child," he admitted. "It's what made her stop and not attack me as soon as she saw me. After I explained to her who was behind this Tournament, and that she had a fake egg, she let me pass. I'm sure Bagman, Fudge, and Dumbledore were less than pleased." He laughed.
Hermione smiled at Harry, but seemed thoughtful about the information he'd just provided them with. When Draco tried to reach out to her with his magic, she shook her head.
"It's nothing," she told him. "Don't worry. I was just surprised that she would think Harry to be a whelpling."
"Oh, she didn't," Harry offered. "She only said I smelled like one. But she quickly realised that I wasn't. She told me that one of my clutch mates must be the one she smelled then. Whatever that means. None of you have been secretly raising a dragon in the dorms, have you?" He joked.
Draco laughed along with his best friend, not noticing the silent conversation the brunette next to him was having with the spirit of Malfoy Manor.