"No comments about horrible decorations and how it's better in your school?" Harry mischievously asked as he escorted Fleur to the dance floor.
"I can't complain about the view," she whispered seductively, leaning in closer.
"One day, I'll be immune," he promised her as he shook off the allure, trying to will the blush from his cheeks.
"I'll look forward to that day, 'Arry," she said his name as alluringly as she could on purpose. It was obvious she was having a great time. "If I don't dump you right after the first dance, that is."
"You'll be begging for more," he said superiorly.
"Oh," she said, "who did you practice with?"
"With Ced," he replied, which made Fleur laugh and look at Cedric, who winked at her, which only reinforced that what he said was true. Whether it really was so was up for debate.
But now, they took their place in the centre of the dance floor along with the other champions. "Lest I forget," Harry began before the first tune hit, "you look absolutely stunning. I'm the luckiest guy to be going with you."
"Took you a while," she replied, feigning hurt before smiling at him.
"A proper man doesn't need to shout it out to the world." He returned her smile, and then the music started up. If she was surprised by his initiative in taking the lead, she hid it well. Were they in a different universe, he probably would be led by a different girl now. Still, since he practised every day and believed he had the prettiest girl in school as his date, he couldn't be led around like a puppy at a dog show.
Harry managed to glance around at the others and saw that they were all handling their steps with grace. He probably wasn't the only one who practised until he had nearly worn out his shoes. They ended their dance to a huge round of applause. Harry bowed to his dance partner before offering her his arm. They walked over to their assigned table along with the judges and the rest of the champions. They sat to polite applause from the committee. Though Karkaroff seemed to do so very reluctantly and Percy wore an expression of... what? What was Percy doing there? Where was Crouch?
"Hey Harry, I didn't know you could dance that well," Cedric said immediately.
"Now you've ruined it, Cedric. I told Fleur you were the one who taught me all along." Harry sighed.
"Oh... in that case, brilliantly done Harry. You had a good teacher, of course."
"You should be more mature," scolded Percy..
"Bloody hell, Percy, I didn't even notice you. Aren't you at the wrong table? Your family's over there somewhere." Cedric pointed somewhere towards Ron.
"I'm here instead of Mr Crouch," Percy said proudly, puffing up his chest.
"Yeah yeah, Crouch is sick at home," Bagman took the floor, "he's been sending Weasley here or sending letters to us, the man never takes a vacation, so it's not like anyone can blame him for taking the time to recover. It's not easy to organise something like this. I know what I'm talking about."
"And he'll be back for the second task?" Harry asked.
"That's a long time from now. I'm sure he'll be fine by then." Bagman smiled at him.
"And if he doesn't, I'll be filling in for him again."
"You, Percy?" Cedric laughed, "Don't get me wrong, you're a clever bloke, but how can you judge something you don't understand?"
The older boy said nothing, and proceeded to order dinner instead. Harry followed suit, ordering the Coq au Vin at Fleur's insistence. At least he'd found out how to do it. And so they enjoyed a moment of peace as they all dined. Surprisingly, Hermione did most of the talking over the meal. Any other time she would have been scolding Ron for not eating and chatting, but now she was so engrossed in telling Viktor something that she occasionally missed the plate with her fork. He was really happy to see her relax and enjoy herself. She spent so much time worrying over his sorry ass, that he worried she'd end up prematurely grey.
But soon enough, the meal was over. They made their way to the dance floor again, while Dumbledore moved the tables aside, opening the area for a band. Fleur pulled Harry right to the middle so they could be seen as clearly as possible, and in a few seconds, they were dancing together to a slow song.
Harry had to admit that it wasn't bad at all to be as close to Fleur as possible, especially when he could have his hands on her hips. She didn't mind, if the teasing smirk on her lips was an indication
"I appreciate you trying to hold back the drool," she said between laughs.
"I'm doing the best I can, but some things are just impossible."
"Like what?"
"Your beauty and charm, of course." He grinned at her.
"You've read too many romance novels, Harry." She laughed again.
"They don't work? Well, I'll return them to Hermione. They might need a couple of cleaning charms though, they're a bit sticky… he said thoughtfully.
A few nearby couples eyed them curiously as they laughed out loud. "Want me to make a fool out of anyone?" At his inquisitive look, she continued, "I could dance with them and 'accidentally' forget to tone down my allure."
"How about Sebastian?" He suggested cheekily.
"You think he won't grope me?" She winked exaggeratedly.
"I'll crash my broomstick into his backside if he tries."
"Okay, we can all take turns. At least you get to dance with Hermione and the Asian girl." Fleur smiled, gesturing towards the Ravenclaw seeker.
"Cho," Harry corrected her.
"You know her name, huh?" she teased.
"I know the names of everyone I regularly beat in Quidditch."
"Careful, Harry, your head is starting to swell," she whispered in his ear.
He shivered in response. "I'm here dancing with you, trust me, my ego couldn't get any bigger right now, and I happen to be winning the tournament to boot," he whispered back.
"Remember, I'm only doing this for the money because I'm an evil gold digger," she shot back.
"I could give you the five hundred galleons right now, but you still wouldn't leave. You want to be here with me."
"Would you bet on it?"
"In a heartbeat, just like you bet on me before the tournament," he said, breathing on her neck and watching with amusement as goosebumps appeared.
"Um..." was all she said, before she stepped away from him a little so they could continue dancing as if the last few minutes never occurred. This kind of friendship was entirely new for Harry, and he was enjoying every second of it.
***
Harry had enough, to be honest. Yes, he danced with all the beautiful ladies. He even had a dance with Sebastian's date, who spent its entirety speaking in French and probably insulting him, but he didn't understand her that much, so he was fine. He enjoyed intentionally butchering French words he knew and watching the outrage. Yeah yeah, long live multilingualism.
Now he was tasked with fetching something to drink, while Fleur waited. He filled two glasses and made his way back to Fleur when Karkaroff rushed past him, obviously in a serious hurry.
Fleur probably saw it too and headed towards Harry, though she could have sat comfortably and waited for him to reach her with the drinks.
"Come on," she told him, taking a sip to quench her thirst before leaving the cup on the nearest table and dragging him from the room. He quickly downed his drink in response, surprised at her urgency.
"Don't you want to dance anymore?"
"If I want to dance with you, I can anytime. This is more important," Fleur replied to him, "I've never seen Karkaroff this stressed, so let's see where he's going."
"You do know what it looks like, right? Finishing our drinks in such a hurry so you could drag me off somewhere don't you?" he asked cheerfully.
"I don't care about any gossip. The important thing is that you make it through this tournament, and maybe even win," Fleur said seriously, and Harry was honestly touched by this, it showed that beneath all of the playful and exaggerated flirting, she really did care.
"We can hide under my cloak," he offered, "but there's not much room."
"After all that dancing, you gonna start worrying about being too close to me?" She laughed softly. "And where did you even put your cloak in this robe?"
Harry just used his free hand to take out the bag from the first task. "No one told me to return it," he shrugged.
"Good thinking."
In a moment, they were both under the cloak and heading after Karkaroff, who had stopped in front of Snape. He was probably just making his rounds of the castle. They walked side by side for a while without a word, but once they were in a quiet enough area, Karkaroff stopped Snape by grabbing his arm forcefully.
"Have you seen it, Snape?" Karkaroff said in a whisper, but loud enough.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"The mark! It's getting stronger all the time! More and more every day."
"You're delusional." Snape batted Karkaroff's hand away.
"I'm not delusional, and you know it! You must see it too," pleaded the man, already desperate. It was evident that he was terrified.
"Then run away, Igor," Snape snorted, "but I'm staying here, where it's safe."
The Durmstrang headmaster was about to say more, but the two of them came across a couple who had snuck away from the ball to make out. "Twenty points from each house," Snape took their points, "get back to the ball or go to bed." He shooed them away like insects and then continued on.
Harry stopped Fleur from following them further.
"We'll use this," he said, pulling out the Marauder's Map. Fleur flicked her wand under his cloak to do so. "It looks like they went their separate way." He pointed to the names of Karkaroff and Snape who were heading down different hallways. "I guess they told each other everything they needed."
"I'll try to find out what they mean about marks," Fleur said thoughtfully.
"Whatever it is, it's got Karkaroff terrified…"
Fleur just nodded in response but then brought her wand closer to the map. "Where is this?!"
"It's...Crouch!" Harry read immediately, "and in Snape's office!"
That was enough for Fleur to drag him off once more...this time towards Crouch's name. But when they were barely halfway there, the Crouch on the map began to walk out of the office and head off somewhere. "We need to speed up."
And so he took off his cloak, stuffed it back into that bag, and ran as fast as he could towards Snape's office, but Crouch was faster anyway and left the castle.
"Harry!" She alerted him to another name approaching them.
"Bloody hell," Harry cursed, knowing that if he hid the map, he wouldn't find out where Crouch had disappeared to, and if he didn't, Snape would see it. "We need to take a chance," he sighed, deciding to keep the map out.
"Potter! That was you in my office!" Snape yelled, almost to the point of hostility.
"Before you start accusing me, come take a look at this!" Harry shot back with equal hostility.
"How dare you talk back to me! Fifty points-," Snape couldn't say more, though, because Harry shoved the outstretched map in his face.
"Mr Crouch! See? He's running away from this direction!" He pointed with his hand to where Crouch would be for a few moments before disappearing from the map's reach.
"I'll be taking that, Potter!"
Before he could grab it, Fleur's wand was pointed at him. "You haven't the slightest right to do that. According to the tournament rules, all of the champion's personal possessions are theirs alone, and no one can take them away from him to decrease their chances of winning. The only exception is the panel of judges, and since you're not one of them..."
"Either you accept what I and this map are telling you, that it was Mr Crouch who broke into your office, or I'm going to go back to the ball and tell the headmaster everything in person," Harry gave him a choice.
"I'll see what you stole from me, Potter, and then I'll take you to the Headmaster myself."
"You're out of luck," Harry stood his ground. "Someone who shouldn't be here just broke into the castle, and I'm going to go tell the Headmaster straight away." With that, he walked away, still keeping an eye on the map, as well as Snape, to see if he'd curse his back. But the latter headed angrily to his office, and they hurried back to the ball. One thing Harry appreciated about Fleur was that she was taking this all seriously. If she was as vain as everyone thought she was, she would hardly be running around with him in this dress and these shoes.
When they ran back to the ball, they became the centre of attention again. After all, the champion and his date don't usually sprint thoroughly flushed into the Great Hall. Harry stopped only at Headmaster Dumbledore's side.
"I need to speak to you, sir... immediately," Harry got out.
"Follow me," the Headmaster understood the urgency and led him and Fleur to the room attached to the Great Hall, where he'd met the other champions for the first time. When Hermione saw them, she quickly apologised to Krum and ran after them as well. "What's going on?"
Harry quickly glanced at the map, but Crouch was already off the map, so he just swore obscenities. Now he had no proof. "You know about this map, right?" Harry showed it to him.
"Of course I do." smiled Dumbledore.
"And you also know that it can't be fooled and that we found Wormtail because of it... so now Mr Crouch was on it, robbing Snape's office!"
"Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore corrected him. "Are you sure you saw Bartemius Crouch there?"
"I even showed it to Professor Snape, but he didn't believe me and accused me, but he saw it too, I'm sure of it... and of course Fleur, she was with me!"
"Apparently, Bartemius Crouch is seriously ill and hasn't come to work. Only answers through letters, and doesn't even answer the door," Dumbledore began pacing around the room, "and even though I know what the man is like, it doesn't make sense for him to be here today."
"Headmaster," Snape rushed in, probably directed here.
"I heard, Severus," Dumbledore interrupted, "the map isn't wrong," he added emphatically, making Severus understand that he believed the map and not his regular accusation against Harry. "I'm going to have to ask you to do something vital, Harry, though I know you will not be happy about it."
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm going to have to borrow the map, I can't ask you to watch it every step of the way, and I need less sleep after all, plus my office is full of portraits that can watch it all the time."
"Okay." He handed it to him, though he didn't really want to.
"I promise I'll give it back to you as soon as this is sorted out."
"Of course," Harry smiled weakly.
But now Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Polyjuice again, Severus?"
"Yes," Snape admitted reluctantly. "I brought Veritaserum. We can give it to Potter here."
"That won't be necessary. Harry has my full confidence. Come on, let's move to my office, I'll need to use the Pensieve." He now turned to Harry. "Our meeting with the press tomorrow is still on, Harry. When you have time in the next few days, please come and see me. We'll have to rush our conversation about your dreams a bit." To this Harry just nodded. "Enjoy the rest of your night." With those words, both he and Snape disappeared.
"What a night." Harry slumped back in his seat.
"What exactly happened?" Hermione asked, so Fleur explained it all to her.
"So Crouch wants to kill me?" Harry let out this bombshell.
"You can't know that, Harry," Hermione said.
"Someone threw my name in the Goblet to hurt me, and from the looks of it today, it wasn't Karkaroff. He's scared as a puppy, and who has a better chance than someone on the committee?" asked Harry. "And did you hear Dumbledore? Again... he said again, someone broke into Snape's office at least twice and stole the ingredients for a Polyjuice potion! Crouch might as well have transformed into me and thrown my name in there, and even if someone saw it, it would only look like I threw it in there!"
"I'm not saying it doesn't make sense, Harry," Hermione said placatingly, "but what would he get out of it?"
To that, Harry just shrugged. What did anyone really get out of his death? A good feeling? A stamp in his diary?
"Go to Viktor, Hermione," Fleur said, "I'm sure he's nervous without you there. I'll wait here with Harry, and if he wants, I'll walk him up to your common room."
"Harry is more important than my date!"
"Go ahead, Hermione." Harry smiled a little. "I'm safe now, and I don't have to ruin another person's date."
"You really don't mind?" she asked softly.
"I insist," he said with a slightly wider smile, "say hello to Viktor, tell him not to do anything I wouldn't do, and enjoy this evening together."
Hermione gave him a quick hug and then, still turning to Harry to see if he had changed his mind, before making her way back to the Great Hall.
"This was the most original date I've ever had," Fleur said after a moment.
"Interesting, for me, it was the first date I've ever had... and honestly, I imagined it a little differently," Harry said, still a little dejected. However, when Fleur didn't say anything, he looked at her, and she just offered him her hand.
"Let's dance here then, shall we?" She pulled him closer to her. "Good company makes a good date, remember that, Harry. Everything else is just a bonus. Besides, when are you ever going to get tangled up in international trouble, theft and the fear of the headmasters on one date?" Harry gave her a slight nod in response. He could either mope about here or get up and do something about it all... and the latter sounded better, a hell of a lot better.
***
"You said one interview," Harry hissed at Fleur as he sat at an extended table in the room, with her on his left and Albus Dumbledore on his right.
"One interview, but with three papers." She smirked at him.
"We can start whenever you want," Albus Dumbledore, who had the most experience with the press, began. Harry was still silently arguing with Fleur, though, and hadn't even noticed when the first of the reporters introduced himself.
"My name is Xenophilius Lovegood, and I represent a newspaper called The Quibbler."
"Andy Smudgley, I'm here at your request from the Daily Prophet, and since we are the official newspaper of the Triwizard Tournament, I'll go first." Before anyone could voice a complaint, the man began. "Let me start with a question, Mr Potter. A question that will interest our readers above all else. Why now? Why give the first interview at this time?"
"There are many reasons," Harry said as he swallowed his bitter spittle, "everyone knows of my fame. I have been under scrutiny since I first appeared in Diagon Alley."
Harry eyed the man seriously, "Let's be honest, the Daily Prophet has a habit of twisting the truth as it pleases, especially when it's Rita Skeeter doing the writing. That's why you're here and not her."
Mr Smudgley opened his mouth to reply, but Harry wasn't finished yet.
"I didn't want to say something and be treated like an idiot the next day because some reporter found something in my sentence that wasn't there. But of course, that's not the only reason. I'll mention two more. I'm part of this tournament whether I wanted to be or not. EVERYONE knows I didn't enter unless they want to question the ministry and the Veritaserum. Still, once I'm here and I'm on the front page of your paper again, it seemed more reasonable to give you an interview than to then deal with the fact that I was eavesdropped on or something."
Harry glanced to his left with a smile. "The third reason, and probably the most important, is sitting next to me," he pointed to Fleur, "Fleur became my teacher and assistant at this tournament. She wanted me to sit here... so here I am."
"Thank you," Andy Smudgley said in between writing.
"It's common knowledge that you two were together at last night's event. Does that mean you're a couple?"
It was Fleur who answered this time. "We're just good friends and business partners if you want to call it that. I will say that I had a great time last night though, Harry is a perfect gentleman and a man that any single woman would want as an escort on an evening like this."
"One last question, which may be of most interest to our readers. So no steady partner on the horizon? What about Hermione Granger, for example?"
"Hermione has been my friend since my first days at this school, and she too has been a tremendous help and support in my various tasks. She did enjoy the company of Viktor Krum last night though, if you want to know how things are between them, you'll have to ask them. As for the other girls... no, there is no one I have any romantic relationship with, and honestly, I don't plan on it during this tournament."
"Mhm," the reporter thanked him.
"The Quibbler is known for its fondness of magical creatures, so I'd like to focus my questions on them," Mr Lovegood spoke up. "How did you know what would work on that three-headed dog and the magical wolves?"
"Experience," Harry began, "it's no secret that Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures professor in this school and I are friends. If one can call someone in the position of professor a friend. In any case, I was intrigued by magical creatures as soon as I entered the magical world, and Hagrid was always happy to tell me about them even before he became a professor. You can't be surprised that I was able to learn something. When he told me about three-headed dogs in the first year, I listened very carefully," he laughed lightly, "I know it will sound bizarre to people who come from magical families. Nevertheless, any of these creatures sounded mysterious to me, and I wanted to know more. That's not to say that the other classes here at school are boring. I was just more excited about something big, magical and alive than how to make a needle out of a piece of wood."
After this more extended monologue, Harry looked at Dumbledore, who smiled at him, probably pleased by his words.
"You mentioned there was more to the experience," continued Mr Lovegood.
"You see, when I was younger, I was a curious child, and I've already managed to meet one such three-headed dog... and that magical harp is exactly the reason why that dog didn't eat me then or in the first task. And as for the wolves, that was the advice of the Sorting Hat, who knew about them and told me everything I needed to know... and then it only took a bit of luck for my plea to be accepted."
Lovegood only laughed lightly and wrote down everything he needed to know.
"And what else did you encounter in your curiosity, as you put it yourself?" Smudgley asked inquiringly.
"I think it'll be easier if I answer that question," Dumbledore took the floor and shifted his glasses, "I think it's time everyone knew what happened at our school two years ago."
"You mean the fiasco where some students were petrified?"
"Exactly," Dumbledore agreed, "that fiasco, as you called it, gave life to two new heroes. Everyone has probably heard of Professor Pomona Sprout. Her Mandrake Restorative Draught saved all the paralysed students. If it weren't for her vast supplies and abilities, it would have been much harder to acquire enough for that many students. But you haven't heard of the other hero because he didn't wish to be mentioned, and as you can guess, of course, it is Harry."
"So a magical creature was behind the incident?" the reporter put two and two together.
"Yes, it was a basilisk," Dumbledore agreed sadly, "and I'm terribly sorry I didn't find out before I was temporarily removed from our school. I was discussing the matter with Madam Bones, of the DMLE. But before we could intervene. The problem had already been solved by young Harry here.
It was evident that few people could dispute Dumbledore's words, and so suddenly, all three quills were raised in the air, they all wanted to hear the same thing. How did Harry do it?
At Dumbledore's nod, Harry launched into a long explanation starting with how Hermione had found out that the creature was a basilisk before her own paralysis. How his Parseltongue ability allowed him to reach its lair saved them ALL, how they'd have all been screwed without it so they should shove their problems with Parseltongue. When they'd asked why he simply didn't go to a teacher for help, he explained that they had. But the professor they'd gone to, which happened to be Lockhart, turned out to be a fraud, and by then it was too late to get another.
He went on to reiterate how the cowardly man made to flee, and eventually even tried to obliviate them. Which led to how Harry and Ron were separated, and how after a lot of running around, he had managed to kill the basilisk with the help of the Sorting hat, a phoenix, a sword, and stupid levels of luck. No mention of Voldemort, the diary or possessed Ginny anywhere, just a clean job that couldn't possibly incriminate anyone or cause more of a stir than what he'd said so far.
It was hard to say it all, though. However, Harry had two powerful weapons with him, Albus Dumbledore's smile that showed pride and the fact that Fleur had been secretly holding his hand under the table the whole time. And so he had managed to tell the almost complete story he had refused to present more or less since it had happened and told it to the whole world. He had done it without looking like a crybaby. And if a tear rolled down his cheek? There was no photographer, so he could always use the excuse that everyone around him was only dreaming.
***
"Are you ready for the day that will change your life?" Fleur asked him when they were in sight of the Great Hall.
"It's just a newspaper, whatever it might say," Hermione said.
"I made sure that before reporters left that they all understood that if there was anything extra that you didn't say that they would never come near you again. Luckily they understood, they even let me see the notes they had written, and there was nothing wrong with it. I think everyone still sees you as a hero, Harry, and only a few people want to write something that would tarnish the memory of your parents' sacrifice," Fleur continued, more or less ignoring Hermione.
"I can't believe I said all that in there anyway," Harry said quietly.
"It was perfect, Harry." Fleur squeezed his hand quickly, "I think you'll have more admirers after today than just the two of us." She smiled at him. "And most importantly, it'll be for something you've accomplished yourself."
"As long as it doesn't change your view of me."
"I'll always be here with you, Harry... you've been with me from the beginning, and I'll be with you until the end." Hermione smiled at him.
"And I'll send you a letter from France now and then too." Fleur grinned playfully at him.
"No introductions to your parents?" Harry tried to joke as well.
"That may be sooner than you expect." She winked at him.
"What do you mean?" Harry didn't understand.
"Did I say something?" She played her innocence. "Just that we're standing in front of the Great Hall."
Hermione laughed at that and nudged him to continue on his way again, so Harry kept going and then walked in amongst his friends. He immediately had the attention of literally everyone present. No one was missing lunch, and no one was missing a copy of at least one newspaper on the table.
The silence was broken by applause, admittedly only from one person. Still, Hagrid was clapping like fifteen people put together. Harry gave Hagrid a quick smile, but before he reached his table, Fred and George joined in the applause, followed immediately by his Quidditch team, then the entire Gryffindor house, then Cedric, then everyone who had been paralysed by the basilisk, and then more or less everyone from all the houses. Slytherin kept quiet, but the Durmstrang students clapped from their table, though maybe they were only clapping because Krum had started, and he was clapping more for Hermione. Either way, Harry got the biggest applause in his life, and he kind of didn't know what to do. When it quietened down, he felt he needed to say something. The small nudge from Fleur helped to settle his nerves.
"With this interview of mine, at the Headmaster's request, I wanted to put an end to the mystery that fell on what happened two years ago. Now everyone knows what attacked their friends and mates and how that basilisk did it. I didn't want to mention any of those who ended up paralysed, but if anyone has anything to add, please do so. It was a painful experience for all of us, whether you were a victim or not. I'm not going to tell you that it made us stronger. I don't know if that's true, but what I do believe is that you all deserved to know what exactly happened... and I'm sorry I was only able to say it out loud after two long years," and with those words, he sat down.
"I trust no one thinks you have anything to apologise for, Mr Potter," Dumbledore said respectfully, "but what is my pleasant responsibility as Headmaster is this." He gestured to something. Still, since Harry was sitting far away, he couldn't quite make out what it was.
"It is a commemoration for the noble deeds that Mr Potter has done for this school. I had it prepared two years ago, but now is a good time to put it in its place, amongst the other students and professors that our school holds in high regard."
Harry got another round of applause, this time smaller and shorter. Then, everyone moved on to eating or having quiet conversations about what had just happened. But Harry felt a strange feeling in his body, like he had stolen glory that didn't belong to him. It weighed quite heavily on his chest, but when he looked at that chest, he noticed his badge, which read: 'Killer of basilisks for hire. Price negotiable,' and Harry had to laugh almost a little hysterically. Wondering if he deserved the fame or not... he could do that in the quiet of his bed. Now he was here, among people who appreciated what he had done, and those people wanted to see him smile.
AN:
Once again heartfelt thanks to the members of the Harry/Fleur discord server (HonorverseFan, Wish, Matt, OfficeSloth 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)