A/N: Hello people and welcome to a fun, light-hearted fic with Harry, Fleur and friends! Part 12 with still another 10~ on the way! (There could be a bit more too, maybe!)
A big thanks to my Betas and Discord Staff - Alec, Fox, Metzger, BaptismByFire and Zevoros!
Special thanks to Discord users: Noob Salad, Spooky Seasoning, RedSunSuper, Kyn, 5Firehawk, Guiding Moonlights, Kovacs, Dr Maou-Senpai, Post Mortem, Denduck, Wumjumba, Ac, R3, Shirokama, TrustTube, Zachary, JDH, Avatar, CJ07, Echoh, Elizabeth Wilbrooke, Jacks, Kappe, Kryn_Womble, Mr. E, Pat, Plut0, Presno, Shawnjohn120 and Trop C'est Trop for supporting my writing and commissioning works!
Feel free to join my Discord for updates, giveaways (for those who actively chat), early access, information and now, commissions/free one-shot giveaways, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
(Sorry if you don't like the work!)
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE KIND REVIEWS. We now get so many that it's impossible to respond to all of them, but each and every one of you taking the time to speak your support mean the world to me. Please, by all means, speak with me in Discord!
Harry blinked as he took in the stadium the Pitch had turned into.
It was huge. The word was a bit too simple he reckoned, but Merlin, did it fit. The seats went all around the entirety of the tall, green hedges, and had various holes in the back for people to climb up. Harry hadn't reckoned from the distance he'd last seen the place that everything would be quite as big as it was.
Really, what ever wrapped all the way around the enlarged Hogwarts pitch? Certainly not the stands that usually stood present there. No, they were tall towers that weren't all that wide.
"Blimey, mate, look at that," Ron's exclamation came with an elbow to Harry's flank, but he didn't pay it much attention as he took in what his friend was pointing out.
A great, large pulse as if a dozen people had cast a spell into the air came forth… and a moment later, something was erected from the very centre of the maze. That something detached after rising to its full height, and the ropes or whatever else had been holding it, simply let go, leaving it floating above the hedges. Where one would assume it would move given the lack of an anchor, that wasn't at all the case. It simply persisted in its floating as a great show of light shined forth.
Enough to make him cover his eyes as Ron did the same beside him.
He even heard an exclamation from behind him, where Fleur, Gabby and Hermione were; the trio had taken to going over a spell that Hermione was certain could be useful, but close as they were, he reckoned they wouldn't have the time.
Harry sent a nod Ron's way, and then he allowed his pace to slow. In no time at all, Fleur was by his side and Gabby and Hermione were right close. He spoke then, fixing Fleur with a look. "Ready?"
"Ees zat even a question?" She arched an eyebrow, her robes, enchanted, durable and stylish to boot billowing in the breeze.
"Suppose it wasn't much of one," Harry admitted. "Merlin. I'm just happy it's almost over. No more studying for some stupid task, no more risks of death and no more speaking with people the likes of Rita Skeeter come soon enough. Reckon if it weren't for you or Gabby, this year would be a low."
Fleur kissed his cheek as Gabby raced ahead… just to twirl about and curtsey to him. She giggled when the others caught back up to her.
"Remember to stay by ze entrance," Fleur's words were soft, but there was a certain tenseness in them now as the imposing shape of the hedges grew larger and larger still with every passing step. "Eet weel be easy to get lost by ze look of zeengs. We can't let zat 'appen."
"You won't," Hermione spoke up with all the confidence in the world. It was almost like she'd read such words from a book, their fates already secure and sealed. "You two completed the second task together without issue, and you'll do the same today."
Gabby agreed, nodding animatedly as her eyes flickered between Harry and Fleur.
But then, like before, a burst of lights went off in the distance, and from that same pesky, floating thing in the air. Naturally, the four all looked towards it to see just what it was, and what they saw made them blink.
There, floating above the hedges, was a view towards the very front, where everybody was entering through. One could make out very clearly the shapes of Dumbledore, Snape and others as they gestured and spoke with one another. It was clearer than the cards which had been present in the Quidditch Cup and previous task… and it also seemed problematic, given the exchange of words by those on the 'screen.'
"I've never seen that spell before," Hermione was the first to break the silence that had fallen over them, naturally. Her inquisitiveness would always win out against shocked silence. "I wonder if Professor Dumbledore would teach it to us. Just imagine how useful it could be — second year, third even."
Harry shrugged in response to the bit about Dumbledore. "Maybe. Don't see why he wouldn't, but it seems hard, doesn't it? Might require a lot of energy and focus too, given how many people had to help set it up. Would be dead useful though, you're right."
"Eet ees rare enough to be certain," Fleur said, speaking up as she eyed it with awe and wonder, seemingly only vaguely registering their words, or more specifically, the first which Hermione had muttered. "Ze mastery required to do as 'as been done before us cannot be overstated. Eet 'as to 'ave been Professor Dumbledore."
"Probably." Harry figured that was as good a guess as any.
Whenever something insane happened, magically speaking, Dumbledore was who his mind always jumped to as well. Just made sense, that, didn't it?
"W—"
As if from out of nowhere, or from under an invisibility cloak, Professor McGonagall appeared before them. The sea of peers and people that came to view the final task had made it easy for her to 'ambush' them, as had their distraction by way of the spell and the general noise that came with the aforementioned sea.
"There you are!" Her exclamation sounded similar to that which she'd made before the Yule Ball, when first she'd seen him. "Come, Potter, and you as well Miss Delacour — the task begins within the next half an hour. Miss Granger, Miss Delacour," ever the polite, professional witch that she was, McGonagall gave parting words to the other two present.
"Can we say bye first?" Harry reckoned it was a safe ask.
"Quickly," McGonagall's expression had softened as soon as the words came free of him. She'd always had a soft spot for her students, not just her lions as some might think.
Harry turned and, moving past Fleur and Gabby, hugged Hermione. The kiss hadn't made things awkward, it'd been a spur of the moment accident, and all in good fun; he reckoned kissing your friend wasn't that rare either. It couldn't be.
"Be safe?"
"Of course."
"Don't do anything stupid?"
Harry blinked at her. "Me? Do something stupid?" he scoffed at the thought. "Never."
"I'm serious this time, Harry," Hermione pulled back from the hug and fixed him with as serious a look as she could manage. He could see past the smile she wore; she was genuinely worried.
In response to her words, he raised his hands. "I'll behave. Fleur will be right beside me."
"I weel," the aforementioned Fleur piped up, releasing the hold she had of Gabby as she looked Harry and Hermione's way. "So long as I am weez 'eem, 'e weel be safe — now come 'ere, 'Arry. My leetle Gabby wants a 'ug from 'er 'ero before 'er beeg seester steals 'eem away."
He snickered, especially when he took note of Gabby's flushing; McGonagall was still there after all, and they had no small amount of their peers moving by to get the 'perfect' seats in the circular stadium that surrounded the entirety of the task before them.
"Worried too, yeah?" Harry asked as he wrapped his arms around Gabby. "Don't need to be. I'll be back before either of you know it, and with Fleur right beside me."
"I know zat," Gabrielle's voice was muffled given she was pressed right up against him, her face tucked into his chest. "But I steel 'ave to worry — 'ow can I not when you and 'er go een togezzer?"
He didn't know what he could say to that, and so he settled on rubbing her back before their hug broke apart. When it did, Gabby looked up at him with accusatory and narrowed eyes. It made him snicker. "What?"
She prodded him in the chest. "You better come back."
"Promise," Harry grinned; he'd faced worse odds and been fine. This would be nothing. Especially with Fleur by his side.
Fleur said something rapidly in French then. He hadn't a clue, like always, in understanding any of what she said, but it was as McGonagall led them to another entrance — a private one for people that worked on the tournament, the champions, school staff or the like. He'd seen Gabby nod once she'd finished, and so he figured it was an assurance like those which he'd given.
"We weel do zees weez ease," Fleur said as she slipped one of her hands into his.
"We will." Harry liked her confidence. It boosted his own.
"We weel be fine," She pecked him on the cheek. McGonagall would be none the wiser, looking forward as she was.
Her daring made Harry snicker, and her words boosted him further still. "We will."
"And when return, you weel say yes finally."
"Yea—" he stopped abruptly and laughed. "You almost got me,"
"I weel one day, why not earlier zan later?" Fleur's response was… well, he should've known.
McGonagall slowed before coming to a stop altogether, and after she did so, she turned partially, gesturing before her to the entrance in which the three of them were walking towards. "Go right in, take a left and you'll see an opening. There's a tent in the centre, the very same you've been in twice over," she paused. "Potter?"
"Yes Professor?" Harry was quick to respond.
"Neither you nor Miss Delacour are required to speak with Miss Skeeter or others, regardless of what they might say." McGonagall said such words with a specific look upon her face. One that Harry understood readily and quickly; she might not speak exactly what she meant, but the hidden messages or subtle help she'd give would always be appreciated.
"Thank you Professor," Harry fixed her with a smile, and he hoped she received the double-meaning of his words. He wasn't worried these would be the last he'd speak to her, but still, he desired his appreciation be verbally given to the woman that'd aided him time and time again.
She gave him a nod, a small smile on her face as she did so, and then she started off down a separate part of the stands. He wasn't sure where to, and he didn't ask.
Instead, Harry adjusted the grip he had around one of Fleur's hands, and started off along the path Professor McGonagall had indicated. In no time at all, the pair had passed through the door and past a few reporters from various papers — not so much as one was paid any attention by the pair.
"Feel as weird to you as it does to me?" Harry asked once they were past the aforementioned reporters.
"Weird, no. I am 'appy zat all of zees weel soon be over," Fleur looked around them as she spoke, her eyes passing over the crowd, the Ministry employees, the cameras; everything. She'd desired to show others that she could be more than just a pretty Veela, but the eyes of so many upon her… sent shivers down her spine. Few remained with little more than a kind or inquisitive expression. "We just 'ave to stay togezzer."
Harry wouldn't point out that they'd said as much a dozen times over. He reckoned she was just reassuring herself, or him. "I don't think I'd be able to lose you in there. Doesn't seem too big, does it?"
She shook her head as the pair pushed through the flaps of the Champions tent; Cedric was already inside, Krum wasn't.
"Eet does not," Fleur agreed as she pulled him right alongside her to a couch, whereupon reaching it, she pushed him down and climbed into his lap, sitting sideways and wrapping both arms around him. "I would spend ze day like zees razzer zan compete eef we could."
Harry wouldn't have minded that. With the slight cold of her, she'd keep him comfortable just as long, if not longer than the day which she'd mentioned. He always seemed to be running hot. Ron felt the same way too — reckoned it was a bloke thing. "Could tomorrow. Gotta celebrate somehow, yeah?"
She raised a brow at him. "You zeenk Gabby would allow me to 'ave you all to myself?" she tutted at him. "I zought you knew weetches better zen zat by now."
"Gabb—"
"Gabby plays ze long game as she said, but even zat would 'ave eet's leemets," Fleur laughed and leaned in, resting her head atop his shoulder.
The pair shared a laugh, and then it came time to do as neither ever liked; wait.
Five minutes.
That was all that remained before the third and final task would commence. One person, one of the four Champions gathered, would be the ultimate Champion and receive not only a prize of one thousand galleons, but also 'eternal glory' the likes of which is seldom earned.
Neither mattered much to Harry. His family had set him up with enough wealth and eternal glory would only mean more attention, of which he already had well enough.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
Fleur gestured vaguely to the front of the tent, where the four of them would soon be required to walk out from. "Eef zere are more zan one entrance, I weel go where you go — eef we are not allowed, I weel go as close as zey allow me to. Be cautious and watch for my ice or fire, yes?"
"We won't be separated, and if we are, we'll find each other in one minute, tops." Harry was right confident about that.
"Say you'll watch for eet," Fleur didn't seem content to let that drop. With every passing minute that saw them closer and closer to the start of the third task, her worries seemed to grow.
It was as endearing as it was unnecessary, to Harry. Still, he wouldn't say that aloud — it felt good, really. Just knowing that somebody cared as much as she did, as much as Gabby, Hermione and Ron did, it did wonders for him.
"I'll watch," Harry said, a smile coming to his face at such thoughts when he gave his response.
Fleur pecked him on either cheek. "Good." she rose from her perch atop him and, stretching, held out a hand for him to join her. "Stand weez me?"
He could see the nerves under the surface, only just concealed as he made to stand right alongside her. "Fancy ice cream when we're finished?"
"Ice cream?" Fleur's mind, which looked to have been racing a mile a minute, seemed right and proper confused by the randomness of his words. Enough so that some of that worry washed away as she cocked her head at him. "You zeenk I need more ice?"
"What else then?" Harry asked as one of her hands found its way into his. "Chocolate, maybe? Truffles? Fudge?"
All three seemed to catch her attention, but especially the mention of truffles or fudge. "Weener treats?"
Harry shook his head. "I'll treat, winner or not. Any good bloke would."
Fleur smiled wide as could be at him. "Zat ees why I love you — free chocolates and all ze keeses I could ever want."
The two shared a laugh, and then, the judges and other hosts of the games began to file into the tent. As they did so, Fleur and Harry pressed closer together. Whatever happened next, whatever occurred, the pair would find one another.
They would be fine. They'd made it this far, and there was still plenty of path left to tread.
Harry blinked as he took in the hedges — a maze as it'd been called — before him. The thing was huge, towering, and from what had been said, it housed trials unlike that of the first or second. It would be the most dangerous, enough so that the signal to 'withdraw' from the games was repeated for the sake of the four champions.
Fleur had squeezed his hand tighter as they'd progressed, and as they peered at the place before them, she repeated the action. It was clear what lay before them worried her.
"Togezzer." she repeated the word.
"Together," Harry returned the squeeze, and shot her as wide and happy a smile as he could manage. "Nothing's ever kept us down — this won't be the start."
Despite the presence of so many, she leaned in and pressed a kiss against his lips; it was just a peck, fast as could be, but Merlin did it make him grin like a dork.
And then, what they'd been waiting for occurred.
A cannon shot. The first of them.
The one that signalled it was Harry's time to start.
"See you eenside," Fleur's words were a promise.
One he returned before he stepped inside the maze, and all grew quiet, dark and sickeningly narrow.
What first he noticed as he took cautious step after cautious step, was the fog that seemed to grow with every second that passed. The breeze was next. Despite the towering hedges, it whipped through the overgrowth enough that his robes billowed and his hair, messy as it was, grew messier still.
Harry looked left and right as he continued with his cautiously taken steps. He knew there were creatures inside, and he reckoned there'd be traps and the like as well. With his wand in hand, he sought out where an opening was. There were a good four or five that he cou—
He froze, and nearly jumped back when that breeze came again, but this time, the hedges shifted before his very eyes. It was like the staircases inside Hogwarts, only rather than raising or lowering, they moved from left to right, closing or opening new paths before him, and completely ruining the sense of perception he'd started to build.
There was likely a pattern, just like the staircases if it were the same magic used… but he couldn't really afford to wait it out and see what that pattern was. Not if he wanted to meet up with Fleur and avoid whatever else was in here with them. So Harry searched for trap or beast, looking around as the hedges shifted time and time again.
After the first minute had ticked by, he heard a second cannon. This time, quieter, far quieter. He knew Fleur was in here with him now, and he knew Krum would be next — he was nervous of the latter fact. The other boy seemed overly aggressive from time to time. Who was to say he… no, Harry shook his head.
He was just being too cautious.
Harry looked over his shoulder from whence he himself had come, expecting Fleur to show at any moment, but she didn't. She didn't burst through the hedges or appear through where once a hole had been. He was still as 'alone' as he'd been when first he'd entered, and with the minute of solitude passed, he was no closer to finding her or the centre; he wasn't looking for the latter, but the former, he most certainly was.
A path opened close by, and Harry heard through it a yell. One that was right familiar to him, and so he ran towards it without thinking. Fleur was closeby, somehow, an—
He dodged to the right as a fire burst forth from the undergrowth, fire that almost fully engulfed him, had it not been for his Quidditch reaction speed. The fact that it came from the rear end only added insult to near-injury.
Harry rolled as another burst of flames came forth. He raised a barrier, and next, banished the beast back. With a grin of satisfaction, he watched as it went back and back and back, and left holes in the hedges whence it'd come… and through one of those holes, he saw a familiar face poke through.
"Fleur?" He couldn't stop himself from calling out to her.
Sure enough, she wasn't an illusion, for she waved back as the entirety of her came into view. She'd seemed… apprehensive at first as well. That was good. They couldn't be certain what was in here with — the third cannon shot went off — them.
The two started towards one another, each with their wand at the ready for anything else that might come at them.
And sure enough, something did. Well, not at him, but most certainly at her. It was a beam of light — a spell — and it was streaking towards her person from behind. Harry had only a second's time to react, to raise a shield, and he did.
Right as Fleur turned around with her own raised to respond to the threat.
He saw her falter as his shield took the first blow, and then the second, but as the third was coming forth, this time, she didn't. She used the cover he provided for her, and returned spell after spell whilst simultaneously using the fire that came so naturally to her. He still couldn't see what had attacked her, or who, rather, and he couldn't see why she'd faltered, but he would.
The speed of his sprint would see him there in a few seconds' time.
That didn't mean he was out of the fight. He continued actively defending her as best he could whilst she used the cover he provided, physically and by way of a shield charm, to attack the person that'd started the fight. The nearer he grew, he swore the stronger her spellfire became, and that wasn't to make mention of her fire — it was clear she was using it to contain whoever she was fighting rather than on the person themselves.
As for that person's spellfire in answer to her own, it seemed sporadic, and the spells poorly aimed. He could do better, and he was certain most others his year could do much the same. Hence his confusion on why they'd started the fight in the first place.
Harry pulled up alongside her, and didn't pause his defence. Instead, close as he was to her, he was able to do even better — he could react to spell after spell without hesitation or delay, and he even snuck in his own spells to aid her.
It was one of his own, or perhaps one of hers that struck the person attacking them. The heat made it hard to tell just as much as the flames. But, whoever had done it had stopped the fight, for the spellfire of the aggressor ceased in its entirety.
"Flames!" Harry called out to Fleur.
She heard him and acknowledged his words, and then he watched as her hand that was holding flames, switched to ice. With it, she began to put to ease the flames and stop their rapid growth; it could've been useful, burning the hedges, but not if they were still inside them. Cedric and Krum too, wherever the pair—
"Is that?" Harry wasn't sure if his eyes were lying or not.
He couldn't have been the one to attack them.
"Eet ees Krum," Fleur confirmed as she halted her ice and took hold of his hand. "Zat was why I 'ad paused. I 'ad not zought 'e meant to attack me — maybe 'e zought I was an eelusion or a trap, no? But zen he sent anozzer spell my way after you blocked ze first… eef you 'ad not been able to find me fast enough, I would 'ave been out."
"We promised we'd help each other, huh?" Harry took Krum's wand, and cast the spell that'd see him withdrawn into the air. He bound the other boy next, and now finished with that, he threw his wand some few feet away. "Best get out of here now, yeah?"
She nodded, and allowed him to pull her away, her eyes lingering all the while on Krum's unmoving and bound form.
"Zere was a strangeness een 'eem," Fleur said, not answering either of his questions. He understood why she was focused on it as she was; Krum was aggressive, from time to time, but he'd never been one to attack them. He'd even used his viciousness for their benefit back during the second task. "Eet was clear to me 'e was not 'eemself."
"So that's why you paused," Harry said as it dawned on him. "You recognised him."
"I recognised more zan just 'eem. I saw ze very same… empteeness een ees eyes zat 'Ermione 'ad when you cast eet over her," Fleur went ahead of him, and then, she started to be the one that led them along the path. The pair were, more or less, going aimlessly given they just wanted the safest path they could take. "We weel 'ave to tell somebody when zees ees all over."
"We will. We'll tell Dumbledore, Madame Maxime, everybody who'll greet us when we're back," Harry meant every word. Whoever had done that would be punished, for Krum. "Whoever they are, they're probably nearby too."
Fleur's nose wrinkled at his comment. "Do you smell zat?" Or maybe it wasn't his comment that'd made her wrinkle her nose. "Eet ees… eet smells of rot, no?"
Harry took a long, deep sniff. His heart was still pounding from the fight he'd found himself in, he hadn't registered the breeze, much less the stink that she had. "I guess it does. What is that?" he sniffed again. "Smells like something dead."
"We weel 'ave to be cautious," Fleur's hold tightened around his hand. "And Dumbledore weel know 'ow to find ze one zat got Krum eef anybody can. Zat one might be near, but zere ees anozzer zeeng zat ees nearby weezout a doubt eef ze stench ees anyzeeng to go by."
Harry nodded at her words. Dumbledore would find who it was, and Fleur was right, the stench reminded him of a troll or something of that sort.
That'd not be very fun to fight; not for the sake of challenge — it wouldn't present one in the slightest — but for the damage the beast would likely cause in going down, and the attention it'd bring their way in doing so. Mayhaps a pack of trolls would provide a semblance of challenge rather than act the part of a tedious trial during his final task.
"I'll watch the rear, you watch our front?" he paused. "We can split looking in the hedges too."
The pair scanned the hedges nearby, a momentary silence washing over them as the breeze grew again, and the stink grew with it. But then, as the hedges morphed once again, creating more paths and destroying others, the smell began to wash away. Harry swore as it all shifted around that he caught a glimpse of something hanging some ways up. It looked like an animal, but not one that belonged anywhere up in the hedges as it was.
"I saw eet too," Fleur said, her eyes peering where his own had been. "And we 'ave a deal — eemagine 'ow surprised I am to see zat you 'ave chosen to watch our rear. Maybe I should say my rear, razzer zan our, but eet ees weezout deeference should you say a few words."
He snickered, and took to walking whilst looking over his shoulder. It was only natural he got the better end of the deal. "Not a bad rear, that."
She arched a brow rather than blush at his teasing as she'd done before. "Only not bad, ees eet? Zat ees a strange way to say pa— perfect."
Harry would allow her that. She had a point, after all. "Eet ees odd zere 'ave been no traps or beasts, ees eet not?"
"Oh there was something — a blast-ended skrewt. Came at me from inside the hedges and nearly got me. That was why the hole you looked through when you first saw me was there," he paused. "You didn't see it?"
"Not at all. But at least zat proves zere are ozzer zeengs een 'ere weez us. I 'ad begun to worry we were meant to fight each ozzer," Fleur looked over her shoulder, in the vague direction where they'd left Krum. The path had long since changed multiple times, so he wasn't remotely visible to the pair any longer.
"Even if they told us we were, we wouldn't," Harry looked back too. Not to seek out Krum, but to check the hedges and path they passed by; he didn't want any surprises. "I guess that does mean it's only us and Cedric now though, doesn't it?"
"Eet does," Fleur confirmed. "And we weel naturally get closer to eet eef we carry on as we are. Zere ees only so much space, and we are 'eaded to ze centre."
"Wo—" Harry's first syllable was barely out of his mouth when he stopped speaking altogether.
There was spellfire, literal fire, and a hollered spell very close to where he and Fleur were. The voice was immediately placeable. It was one he'd heard on this very pitch a dozen times over at the least… though, he had to say, it was strange hearing Cedric on the ground rather than in the air whilst on Hogwarts' pitch.
"There's no path to him." Harry said after a glance around where he and Fleur were, his previous words forgotten. "Think we could make one like I did last time?"
"Eef we do we must be careful. Zere was a creature zat lurked een ze 'edges. Eet would not do to make eet fight us at ze same time we go to 'elp Cedreec," Fleur's words made sense, and she joined him in looking around as she'd said them.
Neither saw the creature they'd previously gotten a glimpse of.
Another spell went off in the distance, and this time, no more fire came with it, nor a yell from Cedric.
If it were just the Skrewt though, Harry reckoned there'd be no more spellfire. So what else had the other boy encountered?
"Keep watch over me," Harry said, making a spur of the moment decision. "Gonna try and get to him. If he's as close as he sounds, it shouldn't take very long."
Fleur nodded and pressed her back to his as she raised her wand. With her other hand, bare as it was, she made a wall of ice above them and back whence they'd come. Not a second later, that very same hand brought forth fire, and she used it to see whilst she kept her wand free to react to whatever might come at them.
When Harry started moving forward, brushing back the bush as he moved towards Cedric's voice, he felt her taking steps in sync with his own. It was almost like the pair moved as one being, such was the fluidity of their walking as they kept practically back to back to prevent any further troubles from arising.
"We're through the first one, think there's a second," Harry whispered for Fleur's benefit as they emerged onto another trail.
Just beyond it, he could see a flickering orange light that shined from between the holes the hedges had. He could hear Cedric too; the boy was fighting something. Harry couldn't be certain of what it was, but he heard chittering or clicking — it sounded like an Acromantula almost.
He conveyed that to Fleur. If he was wrong, well, he was wrong and she'd be even more cautious for nothing. Were he right, the dangerous creature would find itself very quickly bested should it jump out at the pair of them.
"Aim for ze legs. Eef eet 'as trouble when eet needs to move, we weel beat eet all ze faster and weezout worry for our safeties," Fleur made a good point, and so he lowered his wand a smidge, pre-aiming should one appear; in general though, he did reckon aiming for the legs was good with just about any creature so long as they weren't magic resistant.
Another few steps and more transfiguring of the hedges — or cutting — saw him breach onto yet another path not too long after the first. This time, unlike that first path they'd found, there was proof of Cedric in the way of a wounded, unconscious Blast-ended Skrewt, and something that looked like blood via an Acromantula not too far from it. There was also fire all over the place, but in small enough patches it proved not to be too worrying.
"I don't see him." Those were the first words Harry spoke after he'd looked up and down the path. There was a barrier further down it made from vines and greenery that looked magically made, like Cedric had attempted to block a portion of the path off.
It went deeper too.
Deeper than the two they'd just passed through to get to where they were.
"Up ze paz," Fleur nodded to where his eyes had fallen upon. "Zere are shoes, no? By ze cover?"
Harry squinted his eyes, and sure enough, after doing so, he saw that Fleur was right. "Let's get him — keep an eye out for the Acromantula too. The Skrewt's disabled, but that doesn't seem to be."
"Eet would go for an ambush as zey often do. Togezzer as we are, eet ees less likely to attack eef eet ees alone," Fleur pressed in closer to him, their arms pressing into one another as they kept their wands sweeping the area in tandem with their eyes. "Look to ze ground and not only above. Some use 'oles and jump out at you."
When he heard her words of warning, he blinked. Acromantulas waiting in the ground instead of in the heights as he'd seen was somehow even more terrifying.
"Thanks," he said in response as they neared the shoes, his voice low in case a creature was near what they presumed to be Cedric's immobile form; this had been the direction they'd heard him and the struggle that'd ensued.
Fleur shot him a smile, seeming to keep to the quiet he'd undertaken as they neared the end of the path, and the only other Champion that still remained alongside them.
One step, two steps… three…
The pair jumped around the corner with their wands raised, and together, they saw Cedric partially wrapped up in webbing with just his lower body not yet covered. They were given only a second to register such a sight before the creature that'd done it, the Acromantula, let out a hiss-like sound and rose up.
By the time it made even the first sign of motion towards them, it was hit by no less than five spells and a ball of fire. Under the weight of so much magic, the creature, already wounded, was all the more so, and it fled as quickly as it could away from the two, leaking that strange blood-like substance all the while.
It wouldn't be a threat again from what Harry could tell; without pause he sought out the hedges above them, then at eye level, and finally, the ground which they stood upon. By the look of it, everything seemed safe enough. That was always hard to determine the truth thereof, but at the very least, nothing else was readily present to fight them.
And so he had Fleur keep an eye out as he worked on cutting Cedric out from the webbing which he'd been wrapped within. She couldn't very well help him unless she wanted to freeze the other bloke.
"Cedric?" Harry shook his Quidditch rival turned fellow Champion. When no movement came, not even the opening of his eyes, Harry shook him again, and this time more violently.
Again, there was nothing. Not even a fluttering of his eyes. It seemed like he was in a deep slumber. Deeper than even that of the second task.
Harry looked around for the other boy's wand then, and seeing it still clutched within one hand, he took it. With a shake of his head at his friend, he raised Cedric's wand and did as he'd done with Krum — he called for the boy to be taken out of the maze, and he felt guilty all the while.
The Skrewt, had it not been there, perhaps Cedric could have handled the Acromantula. Instead, since Harry had banished it away instead of disabling it, the creature had fallen upon his friend in tandem with another, and together, they'd bested him.
"Come, zey weel take 'eem soon," Fleur rested a hand upon his shoulder, and when he looked up at her, she smiled, soft and comforting.
He rose when he saw such a look and returned the best smile that he could despite such thoughts still so prevalent in his mind.
"Just us left, huh?" Harry snorted. "Wouldn't have thought it'd go down like this."
"Maybe eet ees like zees for a reason, no? You 'ad your name entered by anozzer, and just now weez Krum, anozzer 'ad taken control of 'eem," Fleur pulled him tighter into her side. "We weel 'ave to keep an eye out and see eef we can spot ze person zat 'as you een 'ees aim."
"I'm more worried about you than me, I—"
Fleur silenced him with one of those looks he'd oft send Gabby if the younger girl acted up. "Zere weel be no such words — you 'ave reesked yourself for Gabby and I before, now eet ees time to allow yourself to be protected."
"We worked together against Krum."
"Krum only lasted as long as 'e 'ad against me in such a state because I 'ad not wanted to 'urt 'eem. Weez anozzer, I weel not 'ave such a problem. Zey weel get what zey deserve, and eef zat ees fire or ice, zan let eet be," While he'd normally doubt such words from Fleur given how sweet she was, this time, for whatever reason, he didn't. She seemed serious, enough so that her wand arm had begun to shake, her visage one of utmost anger.
Harry looked over his shoulder, and then he took a general gander around them. When he noticed nothing remotely threatening, he nodded to himself and turned his attention back to her. "You're right, we'll give them exactly what they deserve. Especially if it was their fault what happened during the second task," he leaned in then and pressed a kiss against her pale, flawless skin; he loved how cool it felt… how calming it was.
She wrapped her arm around him as they continued, their path seeing them take no small amount of twists and turns.
It was emptier than either would have thought, and towards the centre as they'd gone, the place seemed larger than the view they'd had from the outside had shown. Mayhaps it was like many other places in the magical world — from the outside, it looked small, but there was plenty of space to be used on the inside.
"Did you see that?" Harry asked, tapping Fleur and feeling her jolt as he pointed ahead, betwixt the hedges as they shifted again.
He swore he'd seen a glimmer of light.
"I 'ave not seen a zeeng," Fleur returned, her eyes doing their best to follow where he'd indicated. After a few moments of peering, she shook her head and returned to scanning their surroundings. "Not a zeeng." she reiterated her earlier words.
"It looked like a light," Harry was adamant about what he'd seen. "I sw— there!"
Sure enough, and as he'd been right about to launch into an explanation, the hedges shifted again, and it was then that he saw in its entirety what had caused the light he'd seen.
It was the goblet, plain as day and as bright as last it'd been.
But that wasn't all.
A sphinx came into view, the muscles thereof shifting with all the danger any big cat possessed.
He swallowed when he saw it, and reassured his grips of Fleur and his wand.
This could be a challenge.
Nearly ten minutes later, the pair were standing before the Goblet. They'd taken the peaceful way of passing the sphinx by answering the creature's riddle, and right as they'd been, they'd gone by without issue. It'd even seemed impressed by them, though he wasn't sure if it was the fact they'd opted not for conflict, or the solution they'd worked through with one another.
Mayhaps it was neither fact or both.
It didn't matter anymore though, he reckoned. Not with them staring at the goblet — the literal end of all their worries and the tournament that'd caused them.
"Alright," Harry said, nodding at the Goblet. "Go on and grab it. Have this whole thing end."
Fleur shook her head and raised her nose. "We 'ave been togezzer from ze second task, longer, eef you count just time spent weez ze ozzer. We weel end zees ze same way," she nodded towards the goblet. "Togezzer on zree."
He couldn't help the little chuckle. With all of his worries easing now that the end was in sight, he could appreciate just how adorable — and alluring — her accent really was. Harry hoped she'd say his name next.
"What do you suppose they're thinking?" Harry asked with a nod up above. They couldn't see the screen thanks to a one-way concealment charm, but he knew they were being watched by it. Merlin, what he wouldn't give to see the faces of everybody as he and Fleur spoke, calm as could be, before the 'eternal glory' that awaited them with but a grab.
"Probably about 'ow cute ze boy zat won ze tournament ees, and 'ow beautiful ze bird next to 'eem 'ees."
Harry huffed. "It was on— two times… I think."
Fleur giggled and leaned in, peppering his face with kiss after kiss. Her joy was infectious, as was her smile.
"Now, you are ready, no? We 'ave to claim our prize before we can leave zees place and go to 'Ogsmeade to celebrate."
"Hogsmeade? Really?" Harry snickered. "Why there?"
"Eet ees ze best place zat ees nearby," Fleur cocked her head to the side. "Unless you would 'ave me steal you away to France. Eef zat ees fine weez you, I know my parents weel not mind — you 'ave already agreed to veeset, what ees a few monz' time weez us?"
"Wouldn't mind at all. Sounds pleasant, really."
Fleur smiled, and then she nodded towards the goblet. "Zree…"
He readied himself.
"Two."
His hand stretched out just like hers.
"One."
They pair snatched it, and then, both were pulled away.
Far away.