"You're such an idiot, Harry." Hermione ran into the medical tent, nearly knocking over Percy, who was standing there trying to look important.
"I'm not signing autographs until I get to the airport." Harry waved her off, hissing in pain as his head was being treated. Cedric chuckled lightly from his chair.
"And you have no right to laugh!" Hermione snapped at Cedric as well, "You haven't shown much for someone in the sixth year!"
Harry laughed now too. Hermione was ready to lay into anyone else that dared make a noise.
"It's all right, Hermione," Harry tried to comfort her. "We're all alive. We beat the pretentious French-man and shot down the best Seeker of the century in flight. And after all that, I'm no more injured than after the usual Quidditch match here at Hogwarts."
"But that's because there's no such thing as a normal Quidditch match with you!"
"That may be true-" Harry admitted.
"Unimaginable, first they want to drag the dragons here, and next they're summoning the three-headed dog again," Madam Pomfrey muttered under her breath. "You're lucky your head's still attached, Mr Potter."
"That might be because I didn't use it. I figured if I hit it with something less important, you'd be happier," Harry replied.
"It sometimes seems to me, Mr Potter, that your head isn't that important to you anyway." Pomfrey shook her head. "Keep your eyes on my wand."
And so Harry obeyed, and was tested for various injuries and ailments before being dismissed with more mutterings about dangerous tournaments.
"What about them?" Cedric pointed at Sebastian and Viktor.
"Headmaster Dumbledore ordered me to let them rest until the judges agree on the points," Pomfrey snapped. It was apparent she would wake them up as soon as possible and take them to the castle infirmary right away.
"And where is Fleur anyway?" asked Harry as he jumped up from his chair and headed towards Hermione.
"She's dealing with the photographer from the Daily Prophet, and then she went to see the jury that's going to evaluate you. I guess she wants to make sure they don't give you low marks," Hermione answered.
"Since she's not here, I'll let you in on a secret," he said out loud, then leaned in close to her, "Screw them and their points. That was enough for me," he whispered.
"As long as you're okay." Hermione sighed, and Harry just smiled gratefully at her, noticing her scratched cheeks. And that made his smile widen even more. It was nice to see that someone cared, but it didn't look good on her, so he just took out his wand and used a spell to heal the wounds. "What?"
"You had something on your face." He winked at her.
But before she could answer him, Professor McGonagall came into the tent. "You handled that brilliantly Mr Potter, but next time don't forget that in a Wronski Feint, the seeker should pull out of a dive at the last second." She complimented him and outright chastised him in the same breath. "Well done to you too, Mr Diggory. I'm glad to see you're good at transfiguration even in intense moments."
"Thank you," both Harry and Cedric said at the same time.
"I've come to wake the others up as well. In the meantime, you two go back and wait for Mr Krum and Mr Bonaccord outside. Points will be awarded soon," McGonagall ordered
"How many points do you think you'll get?" prodded Cedric as they both went where they were supposed to be.
"Considering you've been doing nothing, hopefully, more than you."
"I don't know... who saved you with the harp?"
"It was the singing that put him to sleep anyway, not the harp. I only told you about the instrument to make you feel useful because I know you can't sing," Harry shot back.
"If it was an ego contest, you'd be first for sure," Cedric grinned.
"Beat Krum in ego? Have you seen his hordes of female fans?"
"Then you'd share first place with him," Cedric amended, still in good humour.
"Good shot," came the deeply toned and broken English behind them, and when Harry turned, he saw Krum walking towards them.
"It wasn't that hard," Cedric shrugged, "you weren't that fast."
"Pfft," Harry blurted out. "I cannot believe that you were talking about egos earlier."
Krum just nodded his head as if his coach had just told him he needed to speed up next time. Professionals take criticism better... most of the time, that is. "And who won?"
"Harry gave up. He knew he didn't stand a chance against me," Cedric said casually.
"Good choice. A good athlete must know his limits," Krum said knowingly.
"No comment." Harry waved them off and waited for Sebastian to reach them with a sour expression.
"Ladies and gentlemen... the moment you've been waiting for is here!" Bagman proclaimed, "Our champions have been treated and will now be rewarded for their efforts. Each of the five judges awarded each of the champions between one and ten points, with ten being the most, of course. Below the judges, you can see the board where all the points will appear, and that's... now!"
Harry couldn't complain. He was in the first place... a shared first place.
"You're second, Cedric," Harry yelled over thunderous applause and cheers.
"What?"
"You're written lower than me, so even though we got the same points, I was better."
"Well, as long as you have something to soothe yourself to sleep at night, Harry." Cedric patted him on the shoulder condescendingly.
Harry just stuck his tongue out like any reasonable person. But hey, forty-six points was a hell of a lot, so he didn't even need to hear the individual judges' comments on why they'd given that much. If some sneaky bastard like Karkaroff wanted to award less, he'd go listen to it. Still, an eight from him was more than he'd expected... like twice as much as he'd expected.
"Well anyway, lads, I'm off. I'll see your names below mine for the next tasks too." Harry waved them all off with an edge of cockiness.
"You won't have it so easy next time," Krum announced.
"Of course, Mr 'twenty points for effort'," Harry said without turning to look at them.
"You're funny," Krum laughed and headed off as well, but as he walked past Harry - Krum simply had longer legs - he added in a whisper, "I'll kill you last."
"What?!" Harry stopped in his tracks.
"Just kidding." Krum laughed out loud, "Or am I?" He retorted, winking at him before walking away with another burst of laughter.
"Are all the contestants' nutters?" Harry asked Cedric, "But why am I asking you? You're a nutter too." He sighed.
"You must feel comfortable among us then, eh?" Cedric patted him again, amused.
His only reply was a rude gesture, but that was enough for Cedric, judging by his laughter.
By the time they walked into the tent together, the reporters were ready, and of course, his favourite, Rita, couldn't be missing.
"Mr Diggory, Mr Potter, come answer some questions for us."
"Make an appointment through Fleur Delacour, and then I'll meet you," Harry said calmly, even trying to smile should some unexpected camera flash come. With those words, he disappeared out of the tent, where the aforementioned stood waiting.
"Well done, Harry," Fleur smiled kindly at him.
"Did I live up to expectations?" He smiled at her as well.
"You certainly exceeded them. Come on. You deserve a moment's rest before your housemates take you away to celebrate your victory."
"I could use that. Do you think Hermione can manage to be quiet for a while so I can relax?" He suggested it with humour.
"I'll try to keep her entertained somehow," came the amused reply, and together they made their way to the castle and towards a better tomorrow.
***
"Potter, stay after class," Professor Moody called to him at the end of the lesson. So Harry just packed up quickly and left his bag on the table. He shrugged towards Hermione, who indicated that she would wait outside, and with those silent gestures he made his way to the professor. "Take your bag, we'll go to my office."
As Harry did so, a remarkable sight occurred to him... Moody's office was a junk shop. He hadn't seen so much junk anywhere else.
"Do you like my little things? Useful, Potter, useful... I had to turn some of them off though, they show when someone's doing something nefarious, but that happens all the time in a school full of teenagers, and I was sick of the sound. Some things still work, like this one to keep me from getting stabbed from behind."
"What about the screaming chest?" Harry prodded, flinching in fright at the furious screaming coming from that chest.
"A perilous thing... perilous indeed... what's in there would finish us both off in a second if it wasn't carefully sealed."
"It won't be part of the next assignment, I hope."
Moody laughed eerily. "Nothing of the sort, that's for my personal pleasure."
Harry just shrugged, and a single word passed through his mind. Madman.
"That's not why I called you Potter. Sit down." Moody kicked a wheeled stool towards him, "I wanted to discuss the last task with you. Brilliant work, by the way."
"Thank you, I did the best I could."
"Exactly!" Moody exclaimed, "Constant Vigilance! You've stuck to my motto admirably, and that's a good thing. A proper Auror must be ready for anything, and you were. Personally, I wouldn't have attacked the dog with my own body, but I would have tried some eye-centred spells, but good job nonetheless. Other than that, you gave it all you had, perhaps helped by the Felix Felicis Cedric requested."
"Felix what, sir?"
"Didn't Diggory tell you? The Liquid Luck Potion, a very rare and expensive potion... not that his father didn't have the money for it. One vial and for an hour or so, you can pretty much accomplish anything you put your hands on."
"So that's why he was able to shoot down Krum!"
"That was a hit, wasn't it?" laughed Moody, "If I knew he did it without the potion, I'd offer him papers to sign right now to become an Auror after graduation because that was pretty damn impressive. I think he got half the points just for that shot," and with those words, Moody took out his artificial leg and placed it on the table. "But I don't know what else is affected by that potion, you can ask Snape, but I hear you're not very chummy with him."
"You didn't seem like his friend either, Sir."
"That's right." Moody laughed again, "We have that in common. But what I was mainly going to say is that everyone on the committee is a crybaby. So your ideas to drag Krum and Bonaccord away gave you a few extra points... moral value and all that." Moody snorted. "You're way ahead now, Potter. Next task you can drop the rescuing puppies from the pond act and try to survive this in good health. So next time, maybe let Diggory get eaten and don't hit the dog with your own body. But that's not the advice of a teacher... As a teacher, I'll do this, twenty points to Gryffindor for helping your colleagues in their time of need." Moody winked at him with a healthy eye.
"Thank you." Harry smiled.
"You're welcome, Potter... and since the first task was about the monsters of the Forbidden Forest, it's not helping anymore, and I can lend you this book. Other creatures live in that forest. Maybe you'll find yourself there at some point, and knowing how to defend yourself will help."
"Why me?" Harry didn't understand.
"I used to go to Hogwarts too, Potter, and you're raising its prestige, so here take this, read it, and return it to me sometime after class."
"Yes, sir."
"Now go."
At that, Harry just nodded and disappeared with the book in his hand, which he immediately handed to Hermione, who looked at him in surprise, so Harry just shrugged again. He still didn't know what the meeting was about, but praise from a teacher was always nice.
***
"Harry, you're famous!" Cedric came up to him at lunch because Harry refused to go to breakfast. So it was more than evident that they were going to nag him now at lunch. "Will you sign my picture?" He laughed, sitting down next to him since Fleur hadn't come in yet.
"As the winner to the one in second place... I can sign it for you."
"Still the same joker." Cedric patted him, "But Rita agrees with you, it says here, look 'first place goes to Harry Potter, who celebrates his victory by sitting on a three-headed dog'."
"If Rita said it, it has to be true," Harry replied, and Hermione beside him just smacked her forehead.
"Of course it is. First-rate journalism on her part."
"Right, she even apparently forgot to mention that you're the champion in the last copy," Harry brought up, and the entire Gryffindor table that had been discreetly listening to them laughed.
"Ah yes, Viktor CUM could tell, couldn't you, brother from the north?" Cedric yelled, still excited and cheerful, to the entire hall, so even Viktor could hear him. Krum downright liked his altered name, so he showed Cedric his middle finger.
"I love you too, Cum!" Cedric laughed, turning to Harry again, "and I have a present for you, look," and handed him the badge that used to say Potter stinks but now had nothing on it.
"A blank badge? Wow, thanks Ced, I'll treasure this one for the rest of my life," he replied sarcastically.
"No, no, look, this is the original... I found the guy who made it and talked him into handing it to me. All I had to say was that if he didn't give it to me, you'd hit him at full speed on a broom." Now everyone laughed, including those from the Slytherin table, "So we can now write whatever we want on it, how about this?"
After a few seconds, letters appeared across the surface. "Vote for Team Cerry as Minister."
"Nope, too long," mused Cedric as he changed everyone's badge. "So how about this... 'Viktor Cum is a loser'... that's shorter, isn't it?" Harry involuntarily had to snicker, and he was glad Karkaroff wasn't here, or they'd probably both be dead.
"How about... 'one shot, one kill'," Harry suggested.
"Brilliant, we'll make a genius out of you, Harry," Cedric praised and promptly wrote it in.
"Would it fit on that badge that the Beauxbatons picked the wrong champion?" A melodious voice echoed behind them, and they both turned quickly to see Fleur.
"Of course, my lady." Cedric jumped up to gallantly vacate her seat, where Fleur immediately sat down. 'Fleur as champion!' appeared on Harry's badge and, of course, everyone else's, earning Cedric a small smile from Fleur. "Seriously though, the Headmaster is looking at me the wrong way, so we'll write on the badge something that will promote international cooperation... 'Glory to the victors, honour to the defeated."
"Good choice, Mr Diggory." Dumbledore raised his chalice.
"Thank you, sir." Cedric bowed and exclaimed aloud. "We have loads of badges, so I expect you all to buy your own. They only cost-"
"Hey, Ced, since I'm the one winning, I'll pay for them out of my own pocket so everyone can read your messages," Harry interrupted.
"You heard my partner. Team Cerry will pay for your badge, come to the Hufflepuff table and collect yours now!" And then he hugged Harry in a friendly manner. "You with the camera... take a picture!" He turned to Colin, who took the picture, surprised because Harry didn't even resist. "Better photo than the one from the first task. We'll send it to the Daily Prophet. Team Cerry needs to be together everywhere." With a final pat on Harry's back, Cedric disappeared back to his desk, laughing.
"How much did he drink last night, for Merlin's sake?" Hermione asked.
"More than he could handle, apparently," Harry said, still smiling. Still, whether Cedric drank through the morning too or not, it had been a lovely afternoon. Afternoons like this were always better than the ones after the Goblet of Fire picked his name.
"And before I forget Harry, you told someone that they should arrange an interview with you through me," Fleur mentioned, "so someone actually sought me out. My deal was that they'd send someone other than Rita and that they'd print what you said, nothing more, nothing less. Plus, I want to see what they write before they put it in print... you are probably one of the dozen people who can get away with something like that."
"Sounds fine. What do you want me to tell them?" Harry asked.
"Good question, I'd love it if you both followed me after class, and we figured something out because whatever you say will be on the front page of the most widely read newspaper. It's a huge opportunity for us."
"Yeah... no pressure..." groaned Harry. Hopefully, the guy who threw his name in the goblet would stub his toe on the nearest edge.
***
"Mr Potter, stay a moment," McGonagall called to him as he tried to sneak away.
"Why me?" Harry groaned tiredly, he had just spent two hours learning to dance, and he still had to stay longer.
"As I'm sure you know, as champion, you'll be doing the opening dance."
"How would I know that?" Harry asked uncomprehendingly, his expression emphasizing his incomprehension.
"You didn't know? Well, now you do."
"Phew, I'm going to go ask if Cedric is available."
"Don't be sarcastic in my presence, Mr Potter," McGonagall gave him a piercing look, "as I said at the beginning of this lesson, Hogwarts is the best magical institution in the world, and no one is going to embarrass it. So dress nicely, pick a partner, learn to dance, and you'll be fine."
"Is it not enough that I have drawn the Sword of Gryffindor?"
McGonagall gave him a blank stare. "While it's also an honour for our school and house, I'll have to insist on that opening dance as well."
"Is there a spell for cursing someone at a distance? Voodoo or something? So I could curse whoever caused this mess."
"Just go find a date, Potter." McGonagall sighed, pointing him to the door.
"Okay, I'll just go through the door to Dateland, where they grow dates on the datestrees." Harry snorted and disappeared through the pointed door. Still, before he had taken a few dozen steps, his badge began to glow, indicating that the message had changed, and it really had. It now read, plain and simple, 'Cedric is free, ladies' and Harry burst out laughing.
***
Harry ran around the Quidditch pitch as he did every evening, guided by Fleur, who sat on a nearby bench and watched him, occasionally lecturing or taking notes.
"You have a visitor," she told him as the entirety of their Quidditch team plus Ron came out of the Gryffindor changing room.
Harry just waved at them and kept running. He still had plenty of laps to go. There was one advantage to practising here at Hogwarts... food. All he had to do was walk to the kitchen when he found out where it was and tell them that he wanted something that would meet his dietary requirements... These were, of course, handed to him on paper by Fleur. Every meal he came to the Great Hall for afterwards, his menu was already waiting for him... and since he didn't have to pay for anything, all he had to do was practice.
"Sir, why are you running?" Fred asked and joined him.
"What?"
"Are you doing this for world peace?" continued George.
"Are you running for women's rights?" followed his twin brother.
"For the elf rights?"
"Or for the environment?"
"I just felt like running," Harry shrugged and continued jogging.
"Then we'll follow you," George or Fred or Gred or Forge, simply one of them exclaimed ceremoniously.
"What those clowns are trying to say," Angelina took the floor, "is that we can't be stopped by the fact that there's no Quidditch match this year. We can't miss our training sessions, so we'll run every day with you like this to keep in shape. We practice on our own anyway. At least this way, we'll be together."
"Sure, at least I'll be more motivated." Harry barely got it out of his system as he wasn't really running in an aerobic zone.
"And Harry," Angelina added, "as much as I don't want to admit it, you're a better champion than I would be," she sighed, "so at least try to win."
"Nothing else is on the table now," he said, and with those words, he smiled at Fleur, who returned his smile before she buried her face in her book again. And Harry knew he was telling the truth. Since he was this deep, it was time to finish with grace.
***
"So, Harry? Have you decided who you're going to the Ball with?" Ron tried to include him in the debate his entire room was having. Ron had apologized to Harry after the first task. Harry had, of course, nodded at him and dismissed the whole thing as ancient history, but either way, he didn't have much time to play chess or anything like that. Hermione or Fleur were constantly giving him things to do when he was with one or the other. If he happened to be free, he still had assignments from Fleur to do... and then, of course, there was school, which gave homework in itself.
"Nope," Harry said.
"No one asked you?" Seamus didn't understand.
"They did... about five third-year girls and one fifth-year girl, but I didn't want to go with someone I wouldn't have anything to say to, so I turned them down."
"And did you try asking anyone out?" Ron asked.
"Not yet. I'm kind of keeping it casual."
"But McGonagall said you had to have an opening dance, didn't she?"
"She did. My plan is that if I can't find someone suitable, I'll invite her at the last minute to have her enjoy it with me."
At that, everyone around laughed heartily. "Seriously, though."
"But I'm serious." Harry stood his ground. "She wants me to improve Gryffindor's reputation? Then let her come with me and do it herself. But perhaps someone will come along in the meantime that I will not want to turn down."
"You and McGonagall, that would be a blast."
"That's exactly why I'd give her a hard time, too."
"And if she turned you down?" Seamus said; still half laughing.
"Filch's cat, Sorting Hat, Fawkes, anything I could get away with," he listed off the top of his head.
"What about Fleur or Hermione? You're always with them, aren't you?" Neville asked.
"Hermione was asked on the first day, and Fleur didn't say, so... What about you? Who are you going with?"
"With Ginny," Neville revealed, "Hermione turned me down because she already had someone, but then Ginny offered."
"I don't have anyone," Ron said, and Seamus told him the same.
"Try the girls in our year. I've heard them say they don't have anyone," Harry suggested.
"That's an excellent idea. Come on, Ron, I'll ask for both of us if you're a chicken," Seamus jumped in.
"I'm not a chicken!" Ron objected and followed, leaving Harry and Neville alone.
"It's nice of you to want to help them even though... well... you know."
Harry just shrugged. "I got over their mistrust of me. I had more important things to do than to think too much about it." It was true. He was annoyed and sad for the first few days, but then Fleur and Hermione came along, and everything was so busy and lively that he didn't even notice who was missing in his life.
***
After guessing the password to Dumbledore's office, he went upstairs, where he knocked politely and waited to be allowed to enter.
"Harry, what brings you here," Dumbledore greeted him.
"Do you have some time, Headmaster? I have something I'd like to share with you... several things, actually."
"But of course, come and sit down."
Harry did so, launching into everything he had to say about the nightmares that made his scar hurt. The fact that he had seen Voldemort and Wormtail in those dreams. The fact that he had dreamt it more than once and didn't know what it meant.
"Sometimes dreams are... just dreams, Harry," Dumbledore said, but you could tell he was thinking about it.
"I suppose so... I have more than one kind of dream, but these... the way my scar hurts, I'd say they're different."
"And you may be right. You know what, Harry? We'll make a deal, I'll think about these dreams of yours in solitude, and after the Ball, we'll sit down like this again, and I'll tell you more."
"Okay," Harry agreed. He was not likely to get a better offer. "And the next thing I'd like to discuss is my interview, sir."
"Yes?"
"I was wondering what all I could say there."
"In what respect, Harry?"
"About my experiences here. I want people to take me more kindly, but I don't want it to cause a stir or a problem for the school, sir."
"Ah, your various adventures," Dumbledore understood immediately and smiled. "Well... I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention Voldemort."
"I wasn't even planning on that. Want to see what we came up with?" And with that, he pulled out a large parchment.
"I'd just be glad to." With that Dumbledore started reading, and Harry just rubbed his hands in his pockets, being nervous and all. "It's good that you left out any mention of Sirius, but you didn't have to praise me so much there."
"People probably wouldn't want to hear that I used love to kill a professor, whether he was possessed or not. And it's true, isn't it? You came in time to pull me away from Quirrell, whether I would have won in the end or not. You told me when I woke up from unconsciousness that you didn't know if you were too late, so you had to save me."
"Your words please me, they really do, but people will believe what they want."
"Just like I believe you saved me," Harry smiled at him.
"In that case, mention it that way if you wish."
"And won't that cause any problems? I don't know how it works here, but in the non-magical world, everything has to be reported to the police. What about here? Do the Aurors know?"
"Of course they do, Harry... Madame Bones was aware of all the fiascos, if we're going to call it that. But both the Minister and I eventually agreed to keep it under wraps as long as we could, not that people didn't know completely. For example, in the basilisk attack, there's not much to hide. The students hear the rumours or, like you and Miss Granger, they figure it might have been a basilisk, these students tell their parents, they tell their friends... it didn't make the papers though."
"But I'll change that..."
"You know what, Harry? I'll go with you to your interview. I'll also answer some questions, so we don't say anything that will make us uncomfortable. I'll also address your concerns to Madame Bones, so she'll be better prepared for further inquiries. What do you say?"
"That would make me very happy, Headmaster." Harry finally smiled.
"Excellent, so that's settled." He handed back a sort of script of Harry's conversation. "I'm glad you came to see me, Harry. I appreciate your trust."
"This was all Fleur's idea, sir," Harry admitted.
"I have always claimed that friends are the most important thing because love for your partner, friend, or relative is our strongest weapon." Dumbledore smiled. "Now I will not deprive you of the precious time you could spend with your friends. I shall look forward to seeing you again."
"Me too, sir," and with those words, Harry disappeared away, glad to have it over with.
***
"So you did find someone after all," Ron grumbled as he struggled into his robes, which looked absolutely horrible and more like something a woman would wear... a very old woman.
"Not yet," Harry replied as he dressed as well.
"So you're going with McGonagall after all?" Dean laughed.
"We'll see. Maybe there'll be someone else."
"Literally find one along the way, huh? The Ball starts in an hour," Seamus warned him amusedly.
"Sixty minutes to find someone." it didn't make Harry nervous.
"You've got someone on your mind, huh?" realized Dean.
"You could say that." Harry didn't want to give too much away, but he grinned into the mirror.
"I'm intrigued then, Mr Champion," Dean teased cheerfully. "I'm quite satisfied. I'll have a babe in my arms."
"I still don't know how a prat like you could snatch someone," said Ron.
"And what about you?" countered Dean.
"Manly charm worked for me," Ron replied.
"Manly charm may have existed before you wore a skirt... sorry ladies' robes... once again sorry, I meant to say men's traditional robe," Dean shot back.
Harry let them banter and fully dressed, bid them goodbye, and headed out first. He didn't have to wait for any date here so he could start off at a slow pace towards the Great Hall. Of course, there was no one in front of it when he got there, so he just went inside to admire the decorations. And what a thing to see, someone had done a solid job with it. He would have to commend Hagrid for the tree and Professor Flitwick for the decorations.
"Mr Potter, you're early. The gathering isn't until about forty minutes outside the Hall. I was planning on closing the door now so no one would come in," McGonagall addressed him as she headed towards him.
"Oh, I'll wait outside then." Harry stood up.
"And don't forget, Mr Potter. You and your date are starting the evening with the first dance."
"That'll be a problem though, I don't have a date."
"I'm not in the mood for your humour," she said scoldingly.
"I'm serious though, I don't have anyone to go with." He smiled at her.
"If you think I'm going with you, you're mistaken, your father already tried that on me, and I sent him to find someone else too."
"Really? I'll have to hear that sometimes." Harry laughed heartily. "Anyway, I'm guessing that the thing my father invited you to was a simple dance. If no one here goes with me, it'll be worse right?"
"Don't even try, Potter," she warned him, "in forty minutes, you'll be standing outside with a partner, or I'll set you up with a partner myself... a male partner."
"I'll try Ced then. I hear he's a good dancer."
"If you ever have a kid, Potter, I'm done and retiring. Two generations of Potters is enough for me." She sighed and gestured for him to go, and quickly or she'd turn him into a map as she'd threatened in his first year. When he walked out, Fleur was sitting there in a dress of silver-grey satin, looking at him.
"Where's your partner?" she asked as he sat down next to her.
"She got lost somewhere on the path of life." Harry sighed. "What about you? Where's your partner."
"A black cat crossed his path, and he had to go around London," she sighed as well.
"I see. I would have done the same," Harry nodded knowingly, but then they both smiled at each other.
"Honestly? I didn't find anyone interesting," she told him.
"I know what you mean. You've set the bar too high." He winked at her. "Plus I was thinking why go looking for a date when I'm going to spend most of the evening with you."
"That was well done. You're getting good at this." Fleur winked at him too and then laughed.
Harry faked a sigh. "I practised in front of the mirror," he admitted, "but it was harder in real life. The mirror can't reject you."
"Want some advice?" She continued laughing lightly. "Don't add that next time."
"So there will be a next time?" He winked at her again.
"Someone's got to keep an eye on you, right?" She just shot back another question.
"You're both such dumbasses!" came from the stairs, where they were unable to see from their position. Still, they both recognized Hermione's voice, who joined them a moment later. They could barely fit on the bench now, especially as both girls were wearing dresses. "I didn't know what to do anymore if you two didn't go together!"
"I'd have snatched Harry from his date," Fleur retorted.
"See? I told you." Harry grinned triumphantly at Hermione. She just scowled at him.
"Did you count on me coming with you?" Fleur laughed, "you don't see an ego like that every day."
"Who wouldn't want to go with the winner of this tournament?" He put his hands behind his head in a manly gesture and leaned back better.
"And if I reject you now? You still haven't asked me."
"I'd go to the party with your biggest rival from your school. I don't speak much French, but I'm sure there'd be a classmate of yours who'd go with me just to give you a hard time," Harry said perfectly calm as if it was a stupid question.
Hermione gave him a cross look.
"That's pretty devious," Fleur said, "I like that. That's the correct mindset. No one turns down Harry Potter... the youngest champion."
"You're just messing with me," Hermione scolded them but smiled anyway.
"And who is it that you're going with? You've been secretive this whole time."
"You won't be angry, will you, Harry?"
"Do you know me so little that you have to ask?" He looked at her.
"Because it's Viktor."
"He finally found the balls to approach you instead of just lurking in the library?" Harry laughed but was only rewarded with a punch in the shoulder.
"Says the man who didn't even ask anyone! Plus, he was just too shy to approach me!"
"You don't need to ask anyone if you know they'll go with you," Harry explained simply.
"Exactly," Fleur agreed, sort of just to give Hermione an amusing jab.
"It's a good thing you're going together because if you didn't have each other, you'd both be single forever!"
"Tsk," Fleur objected, "I turned down like fifty poor boys on the first day alone, most were just 'eee you... beauty... ball... eee' but still, even that counts as a rejection." She mimicked the drooling boys. "The closest was one Roger Davies. He could even introduce himself, at least, but he wasn't introducing himself to my eyes. He was presenting himself a bit further down."
"How much further?"
"Here," Fleur pointed to her cleavage, "not that I'm surprised exactly, there's plenty to look at for sure, but he could at least hold it for a while before lowering his gaze."
"You're awful, Fleur." Hermione sighed, shaking her head.
"Harry, it's so good to see you here," Cedric rushed over to them with Cho Chang. "I even brought a badge to help you find someone, I heard you didn't have anyone, but then I find you here literally surrounded by ladies!"
"I told you, Ced, just be the first, and you get whatever you want," he replied casually.
"Even sharing first place got me what I wanted," Cedric said nobly, then kissed Cho's hand.
Harry gave him back an appreciative look that said, "Not bad," he played this one nicely. But before they could start another game of weird conversations that none of them meant seriously, others began to arrive, and with them Viktor Krum.
"I didn't keep you waiting long, Hermione?" Viktor said immediately in his broken English, which was barely understandable. Still, Hermione would have been in heaven even if he had spoken to her in the Goblin language.
"Not at all." Hermione accepted his hand enthusiastically.
"You look very pretty," he told her.
Hermione just smiled, and when Viktor wasn't looking, she looked at Harry, who could immediately tell she was happy. Harry was always glad to see that. But then came the scene in all the B-grade romance books and movies, not that Harry knew much about it. Among the other couples came Sebastian, and with him some girl from Beauxbatons.
Many people expected them to walk away from them. After all, they had nothing to say to each other. Many people would have been wrong, though, because even as Sebastian headed off, his date headed towards Fleur and started something in French. Harry didn't need to understand their language to know from her superior expression that she wasn't telling her a funny story.
Fleur replied something short, but the other girl didn't seem to like it, so she unleashed something else and even longer.
But then something unexpected happened. Cedric cleared his throat as the girl finished what she had to say with a Draco Malfoy expression. "Excuse me," Harry could still translate that from French, but of course, he couldn't understand the rest of Cedric's sentence. It was probably something strong, though, because the girl looked like her chin was going to drop to the floor. Fleur started laughing, and Hermione looked like it was a bigger PG rating than she could handle. But the miss managed to muster up the last remnants of her pride and headed off back to Sebastian without a word.
"What did you say to her?" Harry had to know this.
"He was being rude," Hermione, who had been learning French for a long time, replied.
When Fleur had finished laughing, she answered Harry. "My classmate came to tell me that she was going to enjoy her date with Sebastian and implied something along the lines that I didn't know what I was missing by ditching our school and Sebastian. And Cedric politely informed her that if she planned on spreading the legs for the champion, she could at least do it for those who weren't in the last place."
At that, Cedric got a smack from Cho, but it was apparent she didn't mind so much because the corners of her mouth twitched.
"And I was afraid I'd never use French," Cedric said to a collective laugh.
AN:
Once again heartfelt thanks to the members of the Harry/Fleur discord server (HonorverseFan, Wish, Whatusername, Matt, DJKopper and x102reddragon) for their beta-corrections on this chapter. This is the first story I am posting in English, which is not my first language and their help was invaluable.
If anyone wishes to join our community, here is a link: "discord . gg / skww8F4RFv" (without spaces)