They stared dumbstruck at Hermione, who looked more sheepish than celebratory. Matthew was scratching his head, his arm frozen over the lever he'd just pulled. Harry had his mouth hanging open, rhythmically looking between the egg and his friend's bemused face. Even the Tardis seemed to be standing still, as if it were waiting for an explanation just as much as they were.

"You…you got the egg," Harry barely managed to get out. He wasn't following. He was, in fact, completely lost. Hermione had been more sure than any of them that she would be doing as little as possible when it came to the tournament. But there she was, clutching victory in her grasp. Her knuckles were white and yet her cheeks were flushed, an add combination that was only masked by the Tardis' artificial lighting.

"No," she answered.

"It's looking a lot like it. Seeing as you're holding it."

"No. It was on the floor. In here . I just picked it up when I got my bearings." She turned her attention to Matthew, who had slowly learnt how to move his limbs again. "Thanks for that, by the way! You could have given me some sort of warning about what you were going to do! I had absolutely no idea what was happening! I thought the goblet was punishing me for not participating properly!"

"I like to keep you on your toes!" Matthew argued. "And it's not as if I had the opportunity to preemptively tell you. You should know by now that most of my plans are thought of completely on the spot."

"Guys," Harry interrupted. "You're skipping over the fact that we have an egg." Maybe he was just hallucinating it. It was entirely possible that that was a side effect of whatever Matthew had done to him. He hadn't enjoyed apparition the first time it had been unexpectedly thrust upon him so why would now be any different?

Hermione crossed her arms. "I'm telling you, I didn't get it. For the entirety of my time in the arena, I was basically glued to the entrance. I thought about walking a bit further forward but then the dragon looked at me. They couldn't have paid me to move."

"Well, somebody obviously got it! Unless there's just golden eggs lying about the place all over the shop."

"Ah." Matthew was frowning at something on the screen.

"Is that a good 'ah' or a bad 'ah'?"

"Maybe a bit of both? I was wondering why it was suddenly so dusty in here." He moved away from the console, wiping a finger across the newly acquired dirt. "Remember when I told you that the Tardis hadn't done that for a while and the systems were a bit rusty?"

"The systems were what ?" Hermione hissed. "Did you really experiment with our lives?"

"It was a calculated gamble! And, it turns out, it saved you from a fire-breathing monster but, don't worry, you don't have to thank me or anything." He gave her an easy smile, not that it calmed her down. "Harry…did you happen to be near the eggs when I scooped you?"

"I…suppose so. Yeah. I was just about to lunge for the nest when the Horntail pounced."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "The dragon pounced on you?"

Harry waved a hand. "It missed. I'm fine. No scars or burns. It sounds as if we've done a lot better than Cedric."

"When the Tardis picked you up, the field must have been slightly wider than I intended. That's my bad. But I guess it worked out for the best because it accidentally brought the egg back with you. It's just a miracle that we didn't also bring actual eggs with us because then the people down below would be dealing with a very angry mum right about now."

Harry's brain was processing all of the information, piecing it together. "So…I technically beat the task?"

"Technically the Tardis did, not to take away the shine from your astounding victory, but the spectators will just think that you apparated out of there with the egg. Meanwhile, Hermione did the same, just without taking the egg."

"Which means I'll be bottom of the table," she surmised.

"You sound sad about that." Matthew wandered over to her, looking at her curiously. "I thought the whole point was to survive, not to win."

"I know, I know. But that was when we were losing together! I can't help that it stings a little. If you haven't noticed, I'm rather protective over my academic record."

Matthew feigned shock. "I never knew this about you!"

"We can see it as both our victory," Harry suggested. "Seeing as I didn't really earn it. Whatever clue is inside, we can share it."

"Champions are supposed to work on their own though. That's what the rules said."

"Champions are also supposed to be much older than us and be competing out of their own free will. If the rules have been royally messing with us, I reckon it's about time we got our own back."

They barely reacted as the Tardis began to shudder around them, so used to it they were by now. Matthew had gotten the ship moving again, evidently bored at being stationary for so long. "They're probably wondering where you've got to and I'd hate for you to be disqualified on a technicality. Imagine if, after all the fuss we've gone through, that were to happen. I certainly wouldn't be happy."

It was only a few seconds before they were landing with a customary thud, Matthew rushing over to the doors and making sure that the coast was clear. He'd managed to park the ship in the forest on the outskirts of the stadium, keeping it hidden by the trees. He nodded his head towards the stands. "That's where the judges are. They'll be expecting you. I'll hang back. There's no need to make them any more suspicious than they likely already are."

Everyone was looking at them as they walked up the steps into the stand, most of them cheering as they saw Harry clutching the egg. Hermione couldn't tell if any of the outpouring of love was for her, though McGonagall did give her an approving nod of her head that was just enough for the Gryffindor girl. It was interesting to see the reactions of the professors and headmasters. Dumbledore had that twinkle in his eye as if he somehow knew what had truly happened, not that he made any move to tell anyone else. Barty Crouch was loitering in the background and it was probably the first time they'd seen him wear a smile. Moody seemed rather disappointed, probably because they'd avoided a fight by running away. Maxime didn't look particularly impressed but her reaction was positively glowing compared to the scowl Harry was getting from Karkaroff.

"Oh, here are the cheats!" the Durmstrang headmaster snarled. "They finally grace us with their presence!"

Dumbledore wasn't going to stand for that. "Would you care to explain just how they cheated? There were no rules against leaving the arena. And, as far as I'm aware, being able to apparate at such a young age is a remarkable feat of magical skill. That's something that both should be applauded for."

"We'll overlook that ability for the time being as long as they don't do it again." Bagman appeared strangely happy at their relative success. "Seeing as they technically should have a licence to do that sort of thing."

"What makes it even more remarkable is that the Hogwarts runes normally prevent apparition," Moody remarked suspiciously. Harry wondered if that whirring blue eye was seeing more than he was letting on. "So for them to accomplish that should be celebrated. Unless our defences are slacking, in which case I'll be looking into that."

"The girl didn't get the egg! She doesn't deserve any points!" Karkaroff was going red in the face.

"The point system is determined by magical skill as well, Igor," Dumbledore reminded him. "Your decision to give Miss Granger no points is as insulting as your choice to only give Mister Potter two."

"Judges aren't allowed to question the marks given by their peers, Albus."

"A ruling I am sorely regretting."

Harry and Hermione looked towards where the scoreboard was hovering just above them. Harry had been placed just below Krum, whereas Hermione was sitting at the bottom of the pack, with Diggory managing to beat her despite his apparently extensive injuries. She told herself not to care but it was the first time she had come bottom of pretty much anything. It stung, her ego taking a hit. But they had survived the First Task. Surely that was enough at the end of the day with the way it had started.

Bagman brought all the Champions together, giving them a chance to look at their competitors for the first time. Diggory had an ugly orange paste covering most of his face and his left leg seemed to be double its usual size. Fleur had a few cuts on her face and her cloak had been visibly singed, whereas Krum seemed to be in a similar state to what he normally looked like.

"A huge congratulations to you all for making it through," he said to them. "I won't take up too much of your time. You'll be happy to know that you have a lovely long break before the Second Task, which will be taking place early on February the twenty-fourth - I'm sure you're already planning to mark that date on your calendars. For now, you can relax but also prepare. For those of you who managed to claim the golden egg…" He glanced in Hermione's direction and she bristled at the look. "...you'll notice that it can be opened. A clue waits for you inside, which will help you tackle what we have to throw at you next!"

xxxxxxxxxx

"I might throw this blasted thing out the window."

A month had ticked by and still Harry hadn't managed to figure out the secrets that lay inside the egg. The very first night, everyone in Gryffindor tower had wanted to see him open it, only to regret that decision as soon as it started wailing with a high pitched scream. He'd tried accessing it on his own in the dormitory, only to have his ears suffer in the same way. Each day, he would try a new tactic, even going to Hagrid at one point to see if it was actually some message from a disturbed creature that the half-giant would be able to decipher. No such luck on that front.

The three of them sat in the library, their usual location as they attempted to figure it out. The egg didn't exactly come with an instruction manual. Harry had made the mistake once of opening it as they'd gathered around their usual table, only to be kicked out for the rest of the weekend by Madam Pince because of the unruly noise levels. Hermione had been distraught about that. But that sadness had quickly turned into frustration as they failed to find the solution to the puzzle. Matthew was trying not to focus too much on how he was being intellectually beaten by a piece of metal.

"Don't do that," he said to his friend. "I bet you could sell it and get a pretty nice sum in return. It is actually gold. I'm sure Gringotts would take it off your hands in a pinch."

"You're not getting rid of it until we get the clue," Hermione argued. "We can't afford to be going into this blind like we did with the dragons. You heard what they said. We can't apparate out of there again otherwise the Ministry will be after us for underage magic."

"The Ministry wouldn't do anything to us," Harry responded. "They can't afford the hit it'd give to the tournament. Like you said, this is all for publicity. Bad press is their greatest fear."

"Which is why they'll want us to do better than we did in the First Task, another reason why we need to discover what the clue is."

Harry looked at her earnestly. "Hermione…we'll do exactly what we did last time: survive. We're no closer to unearthing who put us in the tournament, which means the danger is just the same. I wonder whether they would have been happy about us getting through the dragon challenge."

"They probably have a lot more up their sleeve," Matthew commented darkly.

"Do you think they have any sway with the tasks? Like…could they be a part of designing them?"

"It's either that or the people planning the tournament are insanely sadistic. I'm just dreading what they might want you to do in February. What could be worse than dragons?"

"At least we'll have you on standby, right?"

"Always."

Hermione was looking beyond their table to a spot deeper in the library. "She's come back again."

Harry frowned. "Who?" He turned his head, finding that she was looking at the same Beauxbatons girl who had seemed to have an interest in him when they'd arrived via horse-flown carriage. "Oh."

Matthew smirked at his sheepish reaction. "Your admirer, who you still haven't spoken to."

"She isn't admiring me! Why would anyone admire me besides the fame?"

Hermione huffed. "Maybe because you're a lovely person who doesn't even want that fame? If you had a bit more confidence, I'm sure you'd be the most eligible bachelor in the school."

Harry was incredibly embarrassed, not used to such praise. "I don't want to be eligible! I want to be in the background with anyone else getting the limelight for once."

He got a nudge from Matthew. "You also don't want to miss an opportunity like this. She obviously has an interest in you. Dare I say, fancies you?"

"Can you please stop talking like this? It's unnatural and creepy."

"What's stopping you from talking to her?" Hermione asked curiously. "You know, she's come into the library pretty much every time we've visited. I'm sure that's just a coincidence but do you know what isn't? The fact that she barely reads a book with the amount of time she spends looking at you."

Harry attempted to look at the girl without being blatantly obvious that he was doing just that. She was currently rifling through one of the shelves, her back to him. Her black hair was tied up neatly in a ponytail this time, rather than hanging loose. Why was he noticing that? How could he remember what it had been like the first time he'd seen her? Why did everything have to be so confusing? He glanced at Matthew, whose smile still hadn't left his face. He thought back to their conversation in the Tardis, how such a confident person had been turned into a nervous wreck at the thought of pursuing something with Hermione. Harry was sure that there had been little progress on that front. Was it supposed to be like that? Were you supposed to feel nervous?

"Maybe you should stop staring at her before she turns around," Matthew suggested, suddenly by his ear. Harry jumped away at the unexpected sound.

"How come you're an expert on this sort of thing all of a sudden?" he asked.

"I'm really not. Remember what we spoke about?" Had Matthew been thinking of their conversation as well? They usually were on the same wavelengths. "We have to figure out this sort of thing together because we're both as clueless about it as each other. Now, I'm giving you a bit of a shove to help you figure it out."

Hermione was looking at them inquisitively. "Sorry, what conversation was this? What were you talking about?"

"Boy stuff."

"You know, you can't just say that and expect me to keep my nose out."

"I'd never think you'd be capable of that, Hermione."

There was a grin slowly growing on her face as she cottoned on to what they were alluding to. "Were…were you giving each other advice about… girls ?" She was trying not to laugh but the image she'd created in her head was spectacular.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"And why were you needing such advice, Mister Mormont?"

"Haven't you figured that out already?"

Whilst Matthew and Hermione fell into their usual routine of banter that neither seemed to notice was exceptionally flirtatious, Harry continued to question what he was thinking when it came to the Beauxbatons girl. He didn't even know her name. How could you like someone without knowing their name? Matthew was right. He was probably going to need a giant shove to actually do anything. But it was interesting to even have the possibility on the horizon.

xxxxxxxxxxx

By the time that the shove eventually came, Harry wasn't pleased about it in the slightest.

Things had been going fairly well by his standards. December was on its way, always a pleasant time of year. People had mostly been giving them a lot more space than before the First task, seemingly realising that no one in their right mind would willingly want to be a part of such a horror-inducing spectacle. With no progress made with the golden egg, they'd decided to put it on the back burner for the time being. They had plenty of time left to figure it out before February rolled around, though Hermione would still bring it up occasionally, always catching them off guard. It was like they were able to forget the whole thing existed whilst it was tucked safely away in the Tardis. Harry had suggested just leaving it under his bed for safe keeping, before they'd realised that it could easily be tampered with as much as the goblet had evidently been.

They were in their transfiguration classroom, though the tables had been moved towards the edges of the stone room. And they weren't there for their usual lesson, as was evidenced by the fact that all Gryffindors above fourth year were packed inside. That should have been the first sign that something was afoot. The second was the fact that McGonagall had carried what looked to be an ancient gramophone towards her desk, tapping it gently in approval. Harry should have noticed all of this and yet the simple fact that this was interrupting one of his potions lessons that week was enough to keep him happy.

Their Head of House clapped her hands together twice and it was effective enough to get them all to be quiet. McGonagall always looked slightly pleased whenever that worked. "Now that you're all suitably quiet, I have something to say to you all."

She prowled around them much like the cat of her alter ego. "The Yule Ball is approaching. It's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an excellent opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. As you can tell by the classmates around you, the ball is only open to fourth years and above…though you may invite a student from the lower years if you so wish."

A few of the students, namely Lavender and Parvati, began to giggle at the prospect. McGonagall gave them a hard stare. "Dress robes will be worn. You're expected to look immaculate for such an occasion."

Matthew leaned over to talk quietly in Harry's ear. "At least that solves the mystery as to why we needed those robes. Not that I'm happy about it. Have you learnt to dance yet?"

McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "I hope I'm not interrupting something incredibly important, boys."

"No, professor." Matthew moved back, though he was still grinning. He tended to get away with behaviour like that. Harry often wondered whether it was because he still managed to complete his work to a high degree, or whether it was down to his relationship with the headmaster. Harry supposed he often got out of trouble for a similar reason.

The transfiguration professor shook her head at his antics but chose not to comment further. "Where was I before I was rudely interrupted? The Yule Ball! It will commence at eight o'clock on Christmas Day and come to a close at midnight."

Matthew was back again. "But the best part about Christmas is getting to stay in my pyjamas."

"I don't think I've ever seen you in pyjamas," Harry whispered. "What do you actually sleep in?"

"Ask me as your date for this ball and you might find out."

"Boys!" McGonagall hissed. "Perhaps I have misrepresented my festive spirit as a means for the rules to break down, so I will strongly correct you on that. That being said, the Yule Ball is a chance for…hmm…a chance for you to let your hair down after the workload you have been put under." She made sure to look them all in the eye, stopping them from laughing. Lavender seemed to be struggling the most with that. "But that does not mean that we will allow our standards to slip! You are representing the school during this dance, as you have been since our guests arrived. I will be most displeased if it is a Gryffindor student that lets the school down. This is supposed to be a fun occasion, for me included, so please don't ruin it for us all."

She seemed to wait for anyone to risk challenging her on that before she moved over to the gramophone. Harry was only just appreciating how massive it was, not that he'd seen a normal sized one before. It was the sort of thing he could picture his aunt and uncle dancing to when they were younger, though he didn't particularly want to think about when they'd been dating. It made him feel more sick than the ball.

"It is a night that could be aptly described as one of well mannered frivolity," McGonagall. "And I expect every single one of you to put your best foot forward. Quite literally. Because, first and foremost, the Yule Ball…is a dance."

Harry was surprised that more people hadn't realised that by now. What else were they expecting? But there was certainly a lot of uproar from the students around him, most of the responses being ones of fear and dread. Some of the girls looked excited, maybe one or two of the boys as well. Harry could feel his own face going pale at the prospect.

"Silence!" the professor commanded. "For ten centuries, the House of Godric Gryffindor has commanded respect and authority. I will not allow you, over the course of one evening, to besmirch that reputation by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons." She paused, evidently trying to catch her breath after that immense alliteration. She was turning her head constantly, keeping a check on all of them, before her gaze landed on Matthew. "Mister Mormont."

"Yes?" he responded warily.

"Since you've had so much to say during this session, would you care to join me up here?"

"Do I get to say no?"

"What do you think?"

McGonagall was already getting the music started, the record crackling through the air. Harry gave Matthew a shove to get him standing up, the rest of the students commenting and laughing as he trudged up. Harry was of the strong conviction that it was the greatest thing he'd seen as his friend was forced to slowly pounce around the room, one hard firmly attached on McGonagall's waist.

Hermione leaned forward. "Just to make sure, we're never letting him forget this, right?"

"Where's Colin Creevey with his camera when you need him?"

Matthew was quick to get out of the door once that spectacle was done with. Everyone else was trudging out as the bell rang, though McGonagall was quick to stop Harry and Hermione from leaving. "Just a quick word, you two."

They were rather cautious as they approached, wondering what this was about. "I just need to run through a few things. The Champions and their partners…"

"Partners?" Harry echoed.

The professor gave him a disapproving look for interrupting. "Yes, partners. I'm sure you just saw what your friend was being put through. You'll be expected to do the same, just not with me. Unless you really want to, Potter."

"I have to dance…with a partner?" It hadn't really clicked whilst he'd watched Matthew be tortured in front of everyone else.

"Were you listening to a word I said? Traditionally, the Champions and their partners open the ball. It's a great responsibility and truly sets the tone for the evening."

He wasn't liking the sound of that. "But…I can't dance."

"I'd start learning if I were you. Not to put too much pressure on you, but everyone will be watching you."

"That does put quite a lot of pressure on me actually." He was sure she was doing it on purpose. "Can't I just do it with Hermione?" His friend seemed rather taken aback by the proposal, which he'd blurted out without really thinking. It just seemed like the obvious choice. Who else had he ever shown an interest in? He considered the girl in the library but surely that was a bit of stretch

"I'm afraid not. Champions can't go with other Champions." She gave them both a sympathetic look. "I know that this whole thing has already been a great ordeal for you both but this will be fun if you approach it properly. And that involves getting yourself a partner. And promptly. You don't want to be rushing around the day before the Ball, scrambling for whoever is left. Otherwise you might be taking me after all."