Chapter 8: The First Task.
Tuesday, November 22nd, 1994.
Head Boy's Quarters, early morning.
Harry was warm. That was the first thing he noticed as his mind started to wake up. The second thing he noticed was that he was laying on his back, and he had a rather prominent morning erection. The third thing he noticed, was that it was wet. Very wet. And somewhere hot. And tight.
As he blinked, one hand came up to rub his face, while the other went down under the quilt to investigate, and quickly found a soft head of bushy hair over his erection. He quickly reached for his glasses and put them on, then lifted the blanket and looked down his naked torso into the smiling brown eyes of his equally very naked bushy-haired bedmate and best friend, who smiled around the hard penis she was gently suckling when her eyes met his, and she winked.
"Mmm…Hermione?" he asked groggily.
Hermione slowly dragged her mouth up his shaft, until just the crown was left between her pink full lips, until it came free of its wonderful prison with a wet 'pop' and she sighed and started to lick and kiss the shaft.
"Morning Harry." She purred, "Hope you don't mind, I woke up a short while ago and found this rather impressive wand of yours poking me rather insistently between my legs, so I thought I'd have a little bit of a pre-breakfast breakfast, if you know what I mean." She ended her statement by taking his shaft back into her mouth and slowly, gently sucking it as she went down, taking nearly all of it.
"Uhh…oh Merlin…I…No…I don't mind…at all…oh man that feels nice…" he replied, smiling as he started to gently caress her head. She smiled up at him again and started to suck a little harder.
She also started to hum while she gently bobbed her head, keeping eye contact with him as much as she could. Each time she drew back enough so that only his tip was in her mouth, she lavished it with her tongue. She was still learning what he liked, and what worked best, but she was nothing if not a fast learner, and she was getting lots of practice.
Then she tried something new. She started humming again, but this time, it wasn't a drawn-out purr, it was a melody, something that reminded her of a John Williams tune.
Harry gasped, tensing, his hips moved of their own accord as he thrust upwards a little, Hermione backed off, but didn't take him out of her mouth. He looked down, an apology on his lips, but it never left them as he met her eyes, dark with lust and hunger, as she descended, taking his entire length into her mouth, even pushing down the flesh of his pubic mound, giving herself an extra inch to enjoy.
"H—Her—Hermione!" he choked, not sure how long he could hold on with the exposed head of his dick being squeezed and massaged by the top of her throat. Her eyes started to water as she felt her gag reflex start to fight back against the object she was taking into her throat, she silently hoped that with enough time, and practice, she'd learn to ignore it. she closed her eyes and continued to suck, pausing every few moments to take a deep breath through her nose, her lungs filling with his intoxicating musk.
She shivered as another surge of arousal shot through her, she felt her nipples tingle and harden even more than they already were, if that were possible. Her erect clitoris, which was protruding from it's protective hood and through her labia throbbed almost painfully, and she moaned, almost whimpered with desire. She wanted him. Badly. And she didn't want to just suck his balls dry, she wanted to mount him. To straddle his waist and impale herself on this delicious piece of meat she was currently devouring as best she could.
She thought back to what she'd said on Sunday in the Hospital wing before she'd straddled his face then 69'd him, remembering the panic she'd felt, and she mentally snorted and rolled her eyes. She'd been an idiot to be so worried. The damage to their reputations that she'd feared hadn't happened. Sure, she and Harry had been forced into living close quarters, and forced to do things that normally, they'd only be doing if they were dating, though not as often, but if she was honest with herself, she was learning to cope rather well, and quickly. Far quicker than she'd first thought, and she'd told the truth the day before, when she'd told Harry, rather bluntly, that she would not only have been willing to do this if he'd ask, and the curse wasn't in play, she also admitted, to him and to herself, that she enjoyed this.
As she worked, she also started to think more about her feelings for him, and she found herself pondering one question in particular: How long would it be before they were officially dating? They were already as intimate, if not more so, that most couples who had been dating a few weeks or months, and it had only been two days! Two days, and despite the few times they'd 'fed' each other, they'd only seen each other naked once; that first time in the Hospital Wing, though Harry at first had been too exhausted to really take much notice, though his minor emotional crisis after the fact had shed light on why he hadn't really looked at her once he was strong enough.
'That's something I really need to work on. And sooner, the better. If it will take me being his girlfriend to convince him that everything he's been told his wrong, then that is what I will be.' She paused her internal dialogue, lifting her head to leisurely suck on his glans, licking his frenulum with long gentle strokes, which she'd learned, he really liked. 'Besides, considering how much we care about each other, and what we're doing, I'm surprised we haven't declared our true feelings to each other yet…and then there was last night…' she paused as she felt his shaft twitch then swell a little, accompanied by Harry's grunted cry.
"Her…Hermione! I'm—" his words turned into a choked gasp as she felt his shaft pulse in her hand, and her mouth was filled with the warm, thick, sweet liquid she found herself starting to crave.
She moaned around his shaft as she hungry yet leisurely swallowed every trace, her fatigue leaving her as soon as she felt that warm, life-giving, and in her case, life-saving, seed settle in her belly. She then slowly sat up, then raised herself up onto her knees, then shuffled forward until she was straddling his hips. The wet, saliva-coated glans of her lover's penis just scant centimeters from her own dripping slit. It would be so easy. Just lower herself an inch, and he'd be inside her. Another two or three, and she'd no longer be a virgin.
She stopped herself, even as part of her, the part that was ruled by her snarling, screaming, howling libido demanded that she mount him and ride him until she screamed in ecstasy, until that same life-giving seed filled her womb, met and fertilized one of her eggs and created new life within her…
'Whoa whoa whoa! Where the hell did THAT come from?! Hold your horses there Granger! You are TOO YOUNG to be thinking about babies!'
She shook her head, shaking that fantasy out of her mind, well, as much as she could, and looked down at him, smiling. "Look at me Harry."
He did, his eyes trailing over her flushed face, neck and chest. Her breasts heaving as she breathed, her nipples hard points that capped each soft, firm mound. Her lips were swollen and red from sucking him, and between her legs, her other lips, still smooth, were wet. So wet in fact, that he could clearly see it, clinging to her labia and her clit, a few drops and even fallen out of her and onto his wet cock.
If he had to be honest, she was a vision of Devine beauty, and he would be perfectly ok waking up like this from now on.
"You're…beautiful…Hermione."
"Thank you. So are you, and sexy as hell." She said, smiling at him, her eyes, still shining with carnal lust and desire, but he could also see another emotion he couldn't quite put a name to. He took hold of her hips and tried to roll her onto her back so he could return the favor, but her next words stopped him cold.
"Shower with me." Her words were a sultry purr as she smiled down at him.
"Are…are you sure?" he asked. She nodded.
"You. Me. Shower. Now."
She then swung to the side and stood from the bed, holding out her hand. Harry took it and she pulled him up, then to his feet as she drew him into a hug, her chin resting on his shoulder, her naked front pressed against his. He pressed his face against her neck as he felt her arms go round him, hugging him tightly. He slowly, hesitantly brought his arms up around her, feeling her warm skin and body under and against his. He shivered, his semi-hard shaft bumped against her left thigh.
"See? This isn't so bad is it? It's perfectly normal and natural."
Harry raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see it. "It's perfectly normal for two teenaged kids who aren't dating to hug each other while naked?" He asked, not bothering to try and stop the cheeky grin that spread across his face.
"Prat!" She huffed, then grinned as she reached down and delivered a single smack to his right cheek.
"Ow! Hey!" He protested, pulling back, seeing the mischievous smirk on her face.
"Don't worry, I'll make it all better for you in the shower. Now come on, we've got about an hour and a half before breakfast." She said as she turned and walked towards his bathroom, his eyes drawn to the firm cheeks as they swayed, despite his attempts to look else where.
-=-=-=-=-
A few minutes later, after they had each seen to their necessities, Hermione stepped into the large bath and reached to turn on the taps, redirecting the water to flow from the shower head as Harry stepped in beside her. Grabbing a flannel and some soap, they both started to lather up, before Hermione turned to him, her eyes once again dark with lust.
"You do me, and I'll do you." She said.
"You sure? I mean…" he paused, caught off guard. Her eyes narrowed.
"Remember what I said last night. If I this is what it takes to prove to you what we're doing is completely normal, then so be it. Now, Harry…Touch me." She said, her last words coming out as a purr, as she stepped out of the spray, facing away from him, arching her back, and pushing her bum towards him.
Harry gulped as he stepped forward, and he started to massage her shoulders with the flannel and a sponge. She moaned, bracing herself against the wall. Harry soon got into it, rubbing and massaging her back, slowly working his way down, occasionally going round her sides, then down her stomach.
"Mmmmm…yeeessss…" she moaned, pushing her hips back until her right cheek collided with his erection, and she giggled. Giggled. Harry blinked, he'd never known Hermione of all people to giggle. Then she did something he wasn't expecting. She wiggled her hips. Feeling the warm smooth flesh of her butt rub against his hard shaft sent tingling sensation through it, making it harden and twitch against her just as she moved her hips to the right, pressing it between her cheeks. She sucked in a breath and pushed back against him as his hands moved down her back.
"Lower…" she panted, as she started to rock her hips, grinding against him.
"Are you trying to make me cum again?" he asked with a strained voice as he did his best not to look down at her bum as it ground against him.
"Maybe…" she grinned over her shoulder, her pupils dilated, "Now, put your damn hands on my arse Potter!" she growled, grinding her rump into his groin insistently.
Not really knowing what else to do, he did just that. His hands, still covered with soap, moved down to cup the smooth, soft and warm globes of muscle, he gave them an experimental squeeze, and Hermione moaned in approval.
His mind was a mass of confusion however, he couldn't understand why or how she was acting this way, as he remembered, she'd been that way the night before as well. 'It's almost like she's been dosed with something…' he thought.
He forgot all about the water spraying over his back as he did as she instructed. 'Wow…This is really…nice…and hot…she's got a really nice bum.'
For her part, Hermione's mind was fogged, clouded with desire. 'Hmm…this feels nice…I could definitely get used to this…but what's up with me? I mean sure, I really like this, but I at least thought I'd ask Harry to be my boyfriend officially before I dragged him into a bloody shower! We haven't even properly kissed yet!' Hermione paused her musings as she gently rocked her hips against Harry's crotch, delighting in the new and erotic sensation of his hard shaft rubbing back and forth against the cheeks of her rump, and for a second, she debated whether or not to reach down and adjust his angle, press him against her dripping slit, then clamp her legs around him…but no, they didn't have time for that, they had to get to breakfast and talk to Cedric. But first…
She turned around, breathing heavily as she panted with lust, her eyes dark and burning as she stared at him, her pupils dilated, her face, neck and breasts flushed. She reached down and grabbed his hands, she relinquished him of the flannel and discarded it, then shoved another bar of soap in his hand, before bringing both up to her breasts, and pressing them almost roughly to the soft mounds.
"Now my front…then I'll do you…" she panted, 'And I don't care if we're late to breakfast, I'm gonna DO you, Potter!'
'Huh, ok, this is getting a little strange…a few minutes ago I was thinking how great it would be to have his kids…and now I'm thinking about just fucking him here in the shower…Something's wrong Granger, you've either been dosed with a Lust Potion, or the Curse is affecting you another way…Either way, you are NOT ready to be a mum!' she thought, but she found it hard to focus on her internal ruminations as Harry's hands moved down her flat stomach, covering her in a generous layer of soap.
Then he was kneeling in front of her, a cushioning charm built into the bath easing any discomfort, as his hands moved down over her stomach, her mons, then between her legs, covering her in soap, then started to glide over her thighs, she spread them and looked down at him. 'Mmm…though his hands do feel nice…'
She giggled as he gently coaxed her to raise each foot which he did his best to wash, then he stood and grabbed a shampoo bottle she'd put on the side of the bath, squeezed some into his hands, then prompted her to turn round. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back and sighed as he started to work the shampoo into her water-soaked hair and scalp.
"Ya know…a girl could get used to this sort of treatment…" she hummed.
Harry raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Is this your way of asking me out Hermione?"
"Ask me again in a day or two…" she sighed as she reached back with a hand and took hold of his shaft, which had softened somewhat with the lack of stimulation. 'Hmm…can't have that.' She thought, and began to gently stroke him.
"In two days I might be dead." He said.
"Then I'll make you a deal. Survive the Task, then you'll get your answer."
Harry thought about it, then nodded, as he reached for the shower head then started to rinse her hair, then the rest of her.
The following few minutes were filled with giggles and groans from his best friend as she writhed under the constant flow of warm water against her back and butt, then her legs, then she turned around again, and Harry started to wash her front. He paid careful attention to her breasts. Taking note of how her nipples had hardened under the gentle touch of his fingers, and the warm hard spray of the water. Once they were clean of soap, he moved the shower head down to her stomach, then leaned forward, taking a nipple into his mouth.
Hermione gasped and brought her arms up around him to cradle his head as he gently bit her nipple, then started to suck on it while he reached around her with his free hand and started to gently stroke her back.
Harry spent a few minutes gently nursing on the breast, before moving to the other one, he started to kiss and lick the smooth warm mound as it rose and fell with her breathing.
He then felt Hermione's hands disappear from his head, only to come back again against his back, and she started to move them up and down his back, over his shoulders, and even down over his butt. He let the shower head move a little further down her front and heard her sigh in bliss as he moved his free had down her back, then started to caress her cheeks.
"Harry...lower...please!" she whimpered, her voice thick with need.
Harry reluctantly broke away from her breast, then knelt again, kissing and licking his way down her stomach, paying attention to her belly button, as he'd found out she liked, before his lips ghosted over the smooth mons above her slit, before he finally reached it, angling the spray of water up to hit her upper thighs as he diligently rinsed her.
Putting down the shower head, he gently took her by the hips, then coaxed her to turn around again, until he was staring at the firm cheeks of her butt. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he leaned in and pressed his lips to the right cheek.
He felt her shiver. He smiled.
He pressed his lips to the warm, soft flesh again, holding the contact for a full ten seconds this time, then he pulled away, and looked up at her as she let out a little moan.
"That's not…what I meant…" she said breathlessly, looking over her shoulder at him. He smiled.
"What can I say? This is the first time I've seen it properly this close since Sunday, I never really got the chance the other times, and I felt it deserved some attention too. Hope you don't mind."
"Oh no…I don't mind…though I'm not quite sure about…" she trailed off. He nodded, then leaned in and kissed her left cheek several times, before gently running his fingers between them to get all the soap off her, then he used his thumbs to spread the globes of muscle as much as he could, and got his first proper look since Sunday morning, he unconsciously licked his lips as he stared, and he felt his hard shaft throb.
He heard Hermione suck in a breath and he looked up, just in time to see her turn her head away, her face tomato red.
"I know, I know, it doesn't look that great." she asked, her voice thick with embarrassment. He raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"It's beautiful Hermione. Just like the rest of you." He said, releasing his grip, he then coaxed her to turn around again and sit down on the edge of the bath. She sat, spreading her legs and letting him get a good look at her swollen labia.
"It's just my arse Harry." She shrugged, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, and I think it's beautiful, I'd happily lavish as much attention on to that as I would the rest of you, if we had the time right now, but we don't. But, I will be giving it plenty of attention in the future." He started to lean forward towards her pussy, he could feel the effects of the curse getting a little stronger, then he paused and looked up to see her smirking down at him, a smug expression on her face.
"What?"
"Still think it's un-natural for you to be doing this? Still think it's not normal for teenagers our age to be fooling around like this?" she asked, a knowing gleam in her eye. Harry blinked, confused. Had she…? Was all this…?
"This was all meant to just get me over my hang-ups, wasn't it?" he asked, looking up at her with a frown.
Hermione bit her lower lip, trying not to grin. "Maybe. Is it working?"
Harry paused a moment and thought. He thought over what he'd said to Hermione in a near hysterical panic two days earlier, and it finally hit him, what they'd been doing since, what they were doing now, sure, it wasn't quite normal in the current context, but overall, it was normal for teens their age and older to fool around, and Hermione had been right. His Aunt and Uncle HAD been referring specifically to him.
Well…he'd show them…he'd show them just how 'freakish' and 'abnormal' he could really be…but first…he'd show Hermione.
Lifting her legs until her knees were resting on his shoulders, he started to kiss and lick his way up her thighs. He felt her shiver again, and her breathing started to increase in tempo. When he reached the junction of her thighs he stared at her swollen vulva, the outer lips parted and flushed with blood, her inner lips swollen and dark pink, and right at the top, her erect clitoris protruded from under it's protective hood.
He was still learning what Hermione liked best, which spots were best to lick, which to suck and which to avoid, but as with DADA, and Transfiguration, he considered himself a fast learner in the academic field of eating pussy. He rolled his eyes and almost started laughing. If there ever was an OWL or NEWT exam for devouring Hermione's fanny like it was his last meal, he'd expect nothing less than an Outstanding with Honours from her afterwards.
He leaned in that final inch, until his nose brushed her labia and clit, and took a deep breath. The musky scent of a nights sleep was gone, replaced by the sweet smell of the soap, but also, he could detect the earthy, tangy female musk that was uniquely her, and her arousal. He shivered in arousal, he felt his shaft start to tingle at the scent of her need.
"Uh…Harry…? Why are you sniffing my fanny?" Hermione asked, her voice thing with desire.
§"Because you smell as beautiful as you look. And taste."§ he hissed.
"Um…why are you hissIIINNAAAIIIEEAAAHHH!" Hermione's question dissolved into a high-pitched cry as what she could only describe, if she still had the mental ability to do so, an explosion of pure bliss erupted from her crotch as soon as Harry's tongue touched her clitoris, her body seized up as pleasure unlike any she'd felt before washed over her and she started to convulse. Reaching down, she roughly grabbed his head and gave it a firm, almost violent shove, pressing his face as tight against her vagina as she could, which only increased the contact, and her euphoria.
Harry would have grinned at his little performance, amazed he could bring her off that quickly, if he'd been able to. He grunted in mild discomfort as she grabbed his head and hair roughly, before forcing his face tighter against her, his tongue going deeper, which only made her more insistent.
Her body stiffened the jerked, her thighs closing tightly around his head, his nose was pressed against his upper lip making it very difficult to breathe. He idling wondered what it would be like to be suffocated by Hermione's fanny, or her rather nice boobs, or maybe even her nice bum, and he found himself deciding, as a rush of sweet, hot liquid Treacle Tart flooded his mouth, that any one of those three options, would be positively the best way ever to die.
Hermione screamed.
-=-=-=-
As they walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry found a new sense of self-confidence flow through him. Hermione's little trick to get him over the self-doubt issues his relatives had instilled in him had worked remarkably well, and quickly. Far more quickly than she thought it would, he reasoned.
As for Hermione, she was still smiling, though it was now just a slight smile, as opposed to the almost Joker-like grin she'd had once she'd regained consciousness. Though her face as still flushed with a blush, it wasn't as noticeable as it had been. And while she could now stand, and walk, as Harry had to literally carry her out of the bathroom when she could talk enough to tell him they had to get ready, as her legs refused to work, she was still walking a little unsteadily, almost with a constant limp, for that reason, she was now hanging on to his arm as he approached the Hufflepuff table, giving a slight nod to Susan, who nodded back, then cast a questioning look at Hermione, who just grinned at her, and gave her a shaky thumbs up.
"You need something Potter?" Cho Chang, a Fifth Year Ravenclaw asked, who was sat next to Cedric. Harry gave her a cursory look. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but there was just something…off about her that seemed to put him on edge for some reason, something that warned him to stay away. He mentally shrugged, then looked at Cedric.
"Dragons." He said.
"What?" Cedric asked. Harry fixed him with a look.
"The First Task is Dragons, nesting females to be precise." Harry said. Cedric blinked, his eyes widening as he realized Harry wasn't joking.
"Fuck…" he muttered.
"Tell me 'bout it." Harry muttered. "They had a…er…" Harry trailed off, trying to remember.
"Swedish Short-Snout, Chinese Fireball, Common Welsh Green, and Hungarian Horntail." Hermione said.
Cedric whistled. "Damn…well…at least now I know what I'm up against. Well…Thanks…Harry, Hermione." Cedric said, offering Harry a smile and a nod of thanks. Harry returned it, then guided Hermione to the Gryffindor table. They sat down, and quickly started to eat. To Hermione's left sat Lavender, who was giving her an odd look, to Harry's right sat Neville, who was looking a little embarrassed, avoiding their questioning gazes.
Ron sat opposite Harry, scowling, his face a mask of jealously and barely concealed fury. Harry ignored him. Ginny looked equally as jealous, for some reason. The twins were smirking, as were some of the other boys, and even a couple of the girls, though the younger years just looked confused.
"You alright there Harry?" Lavender asked, grinning.
"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" he replied as he loaded up his plate.
"Well, you got here from the Hospital Wing pretty fast."
Harry raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lavender, who wiggled her eyebrows and winked at him. "Lavender, I wasn't in the Hospital Wing, I was in Gryffindor before coming down here."
"Oh, I know that Harry, what I meant was, you must have had to go to the Hospital Wing to get your hearing fixed after Hermione's little Opera performance!" she said with a salacious grin.
Hermione froze, her eyes going wide as the blush that lightly dusted her cheeks came back full force, and she had to resist the urge to either spit out the food she was currently chewing or swallow it and risk choking.
'Oh sweet Morgana! They heard me?!'
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, he knew of course, but for Hermione's privacy, he was doing his best as her best friend to protect her.
"Don't play dumb Potter." Parvati said, rolling her eyes "We both know, hell, we all know what that was. Is he really that good Hermione?" she asked. Hermione felt her face set itself on fire.
"I didn't do anything!" Harry deflected, his own face blushing.
"That red face of yours says otherwise Potter." Seamus said, smirking. Dean was snickering, as was Fay and her friend.
"You're many things Harry, but a good liar is not one of them. I highly doubt Hermione would be able to do a passible impression of a Banshee while in bed on her own. I should know, I've spent the last three years sharing a dorm with her." Lavender said, chuckling, noting the almost hostile looks from the two youngest Weasleys, she mentally rolled her eyes. 'Those two need to get over themselves. Especially Ron.'
"I wasn't in bed! I was in the shower!" Hermione ground out, fighting her embarrassment. "You…heard that?" she asked, her voice coming out as a high-pitched squeak.
Fay whistled "Really? That must have been one damn good shower head then."
"Hermione, we ALL heard that! I'd be surprised if the folks down in Hogsmeade, or everyone in the Slytherin dorms didn't hear you screaming your lungs and voice out. The question is, whose shower?" Lavender asked, waggling her eyebrows again.
Ron huffed, glared balefully at Harry, then returned to his food. If there was one thing that would always take priority over almost everything in Ron's mindset, it was food.
'How is he not as big as Dudley or Uncle Vernon already? Where does he put it all?' he thought.
"Sooo…" Parvati said, looking at them, but before she could continue, Ron opened his mouth.
"I thought McGonagall said you couldn't sleep together. So much for you respecting the rules Hermione." He said, glaring at them. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Well, excuse me for not wanting to let Harry sleep alone after finding out he'll be facing a nesting female dragon on Thursday!"
"What?" Seamus asked. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, we're facing dragons, nesting females. I'm guessing there's going to be something hidden in the eggs that we're going to have to get, which means we have to get past the dragons." Harry said in a funk.
Ron actually managed to look sheepish as he swallowed, then cleared his throat. "Oh…uh…knew there was something I forgot to mention." He said, not looking at either of them.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, eyes narrowing.
"Uh, Charlie sent me a letter you see…he—"
"You knew." Harry said, it wasn't a question, he gave Ron a hard look.
"Uh…yeah…sorry mate."
"How long have you known?" Hermione asked, her face darkening.
"Er…since Saturday?" Ron said.
"SATURDAY?!" Hermione cried, her face twisting into a scowl as a look of fury crossed her face. "You mean to tell us that you've known about the first task for the past three days, and it never crossed your mind to come to the Hospital Wing and, oh, I don't know, tell us?!"
"Uh…well…" Ron said, avoiding eye contact.
"Unbelievable! And just when were you planning to tell him Ron?" Hermione growled.
"Uh…" Ron said, not sure what to say. Harry put a hand on her shoulder.
"Easy Hermione, what's done is done, let's just focus on classes." Hermione sighed, then went back to her food.
"Fine."
Viktor Krum had stopped at the Gryffindor table and asked Hermione, rather brokenly, if she would be willing to meet him in the library later to help him practice his English, though Hermione had been a little confused, commenting that his grasp of English seemed fine, it was just her name he seemed to be struggling with. But she did agree, as she reasoned there was no harm in meeting someone just to talk, though she silently promised herself that was all they would do. She told him she would be able to meet him after dinner that evening, and she'd meet him then.
While she ate, Hermione started to feel heat spread through her, a heat she recognized, and before she knew what was going on, one of her hands had slipped under the table and into Harry's lap, and one of his soon landed in hers, fortunately, they were both eating something that didn't really require two hands.
'What the…What's wrong with us?' Hermione though, trying to pull her hand away, as the breakfast table was not the place for such things, but found she couldn't, or rather, didn't really want to, and she gave his thigh a squeeze, before moving her hand higher. She looked to her left and met his eyes, she could see the lust burning in them that she knew he was seeing in her own. She bit her lip to try and fight the blush she knew was forming, fortunately, no-one seemed to notice, she hoped, as she felt herself suddenly overcome with the desire to slip her hand into Harry's boxers and stroke him raw.
At the Head Table, Dumbledore watched them, carefully, noticing the looks on their faces as they ate, and he smiled to himself, the potion was working. That smile faded when he saw Hermione, then Harry, drop a hand under the table, and they both blushed as they shared a look.
He silently cursed. That had not been what he'd intended! Though, in hindsight, he should have expected it. He'd have to be more careful, though he did see Krum's interaction with her, and if they were still under the effects of the Potion later, then Miss Granger might actually make a move.
-=-=-=-
History of Magic was as boring as it ever was, with Harry struggling to focus on Binns, so he decided to focus on his other course work instead.
During his free period afterwards, Harry told Hermione that he was going up to the Room to try and practice the summoning charm, it took a while, with the room creating a table and several objects of varying size and weight, along with a blackboard with clear instructions on wand movements and pronunciation, eventually, he managed to get it right, summoning every object to him.
Except…he did not get quite the result he expected. He aimed his wand at a large bust statue he'd asked the room to make, someone random, he hadn't been too specific, intending to summon only that, and not the various other objects on the table, from a glass bottle to a heavy book.
Everything came flying at him too fast for him to react, including the table.
"Holy Shi—!" Harry yelped, as he moved, trying to doge, but didn't get very far before he was buried.
-=-=-=-
Hermione meanwhile, had sat herself down in the library at her usual table with Viktor, and the two had started talking.
"You are looking vell." He said, offering her an awkward smile. Hermione gave him a courteous smile in return, ignoring the faint giggles of the group of girls who followed Krum around like sheep. 'Is this what it was like for Harry at first?' she thought.
"Thank you Viktor. I'm feeling a lot better now I'm out of the Hospital Wing." Hermione replied.
"So Vhat happened? You seemed very tired during ve veekend, and I did not zee you in ve village."
Hermione nodded, then paused, wondering how well she could trust this man, he seemed sincere, but she had to be sure.
"If you want me to tell you, you must first promise not to spread it around. I don't want the entire school knowing. I shudder to think what kind of reputation I could get if it got out."
He nodded. "I promise." He said, reaching out and placing his hand on one of hers. She frowned.
"Well…" she lowered her voice and leaned forward a little "…It's called the 'Gift of Aphrodite' or the 'Kiss of The Succubus' depending on who you ask, apparently."
Viktor's eyes went wide, and he sucked in a breath, leaning back in his seat. He regarded her carefully, his eyes, which she had noticed carried a certain determination, seemed to dim slightly, as she saw resignation flash in his eyes.
"So…You und Harry Potter?" he asked, she nodded.
"I am sorry."
"For what?"
"For asking you to accompany me to vhe Village during vhe weekend, und for asking you here. I had hoped to ask you to accompany me to vhe Yule Ball, I had intended to approach him and ask his permission to approach you, but now, I think it best if I not."
"What? Wait…you know about this curse? What it…does?" she asked. He nodded, a look of sympathy, and a small amount of envy in his eyes.
"Ja. Zere are books at Durmstrang. It is not taught, but it is discussed."
Hermione felt a spark of hope ignite within her, if Krum knew about the curse, then maybe…
"Do you know of a cure? One that won't leave me and Harry sterile and sexually…stunted?" she asked, struggling for the right word to describe what would happen to them, mentally and emotionally. Krum shook his head sadly.
"I am afraid not." He said, his tone and expression apologetic.
Hermione sighed and rested her head in her hands. "Well, that's just great."
-=-=-=-
Potions was its usual headache, with Snape once again stepping up his harassment of the Gryffindors as usual. Malfoy sent Harry and Hermione menacing scowls, while Daphne did her best to send them her support, though she couldn't do much. She was still expecting Draco to make a move against her for taking the book, as the forgery she'd created would have expired by now.
But still, he had yet to make his move.
As they made their way through the corridors towards the Great Hall for dinner, they spotted Moody ambling towards them.
"Potter!" he called.
"Yes sir?" Harry asked, drawing to a stop, Hermione and Daphne stopping with him.
"So, you know about the First Task I assume? Saw you talking to Diggory at breakfast, good lad, though you didn't hear that from me."
Harry nodded "It was only fair, as he was the only one who wasn't told."
"Wait, you all know? Isn't that against the rules?" Daphne asked. Harry shrugged.
"Maxime and Karkaroff were also there with their Champions so…I figured it wouldn't be right if Cedric was the only one who didn't know. I like fair play."
Moody grinned. "Well, you didn't hear this from me, but…might I suggest you play to your strengths? Do what you're best at." And with that, he turned and headed off.
"What did he mean by that?" Daphne asked. They shrugged.
"By the way, how are you guys coping with…you know." Daphne said, looking slightly embarrassed. Hermione blushed, remembering that morning in the shower, and what Harry had done to her.
"Rather well, actually, we're still trying to work out a schedule, and how many times we need to do it, but on average, we've got it to three or four times a day." Hermione said, as they started walking again.
"Sooo…what's it like?"
"Daphne!"
"What? Can't a girl be curious? I've never had my fanny licked before! I'm curious to know what it feels like!"
Harry did his best to pretend he was invisible, wishing for a moment, that he had his cloak with him, he could feel the heat coming from his face.
"Well, if Luna was serious about that offer on Sunday, my period is coming up next week, so Harry may need some…help."
"I'll be fine! And I'm right here you know." He protested.
"Really?" Daphne asked, her eyes lighting up as she then glanced from one blushing Gryffindor to the other.
Truth be told, she'd thought Luna had only been half joking when she'd made the offer, but she suspected the girl hadn't been joking at any level. Though she had told Susan she'd be willing, if Harry asked.
Hermione nodded.
"Well, I know Susan offered to help, Luna did on Sunday, and I guess yes, I'd be willing too…I guess." Daphne said.
"Look, I'll be fine! Don't worry!" Harry protested. Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Harry James Potter, if I find that you've been neglecting your…diet…after my period is over, I will be very unhappy with you!" he gulped, paling a little, Daphne smirked.
"And an unhappy girlfriend means a boyfriend sleeping on the sofa." She quipped. Both of them blushed again as the approached the entrance to the Hall.
"We're not dating!" Harry said.
"Why?" Daphne asked, genuinely curious.
"Well, we're still working through some of his hang-ups, plus like I told him, a relationship based purely on sex is a very bad idea."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Obviously! But you've already got everything else covered."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
'Seriously?' she thought, sighing. "Well, you trust each other, you respect each other, you care for each other, you care what happens to each other. What more do you need? You've already got all the groundwork covered."
"She wants me to ask her after the First Task." Harry said.
"Well then, I'll be keeping my ears open." Daphne said with a smile as the two Gryffindors took their seats, and she headed for the Slytherin table and sat by her sister.
-=-=-=-
During dinner, Ron continued to glare at them, though Ginny seemed more sullen, choosing to ignore them, which was fine with Harry, he didn't want to deal with Ron right now, especially since he'd 'accidently' forgot to mention the Dragons before now.
"So…" Lavender said as she tucked into her meal, Hermione and Harry sat opposite her.
"'So…' what?" Hermione asked.
"Why did McGonagall feel the need to stick you two in private quarters? She hasn't told us anything, Parv and I even asked, and she said that it wasn't her place to tell, that we'd have to ask you, and not to pester you if you decided not to tell us."
Harry and Hermione looked at one another, then at Lavender, then around the table.
"Well, we were cursed, and the resultant effects of the curse and the means by which we have to deal with it are of a personal nature, and Professor McGonagall felt it necessary. We will give you the details, when we're ready."
"But…" Lavender began, but was cut off by Parvati. "She's right Lav, some things just don't deserve to make the gossip rounds." Her statement earned her a thankful look from the two in question, and a confused, slightly betrayed look from her fellow gossip queen.
"Fine…" she huffed, continuing with her meal.
-=-=-=-
Later, after dinner, as they left the Great Hall, Hermione came up next to him, leaning in. "Come on, lets go to the Room and try the shield charm. Did you have any luck with the summoning charm?"
"Uh…yeah…sorta."
"Sorta?" she asked.
"Yeah…I asked the room to make a few things for me to practice on, but when I got it, I got buried under all of it." he said sheepishly, her eyes widened.
"Show me."
-=-=-=-
Wednesday, November 23rd
The next day, the only lesson on Harry's timetable was for the day was Charms, the rest of the day Hermione had Harry sequestered in the Room of Requirement, practicing summoning and shield charms, as well as conjuring, and trying to come up with a strategy for dealing with the Dragon, which ever one he ended up facing.
They also asked the room to provide them with books on the four different dragon species, and they spent several hours going over each one, occasionally stopping for 'breaks' and asking the Elves to bring them food.
Though as to why Harry's summoning charm seemed to be over-powered, along with his shield charm, which had formed a hexagonal dome around both of them that resembled crystals, Hermione theorized that when Harry had used his Parselmouth on her, he'd performed the power-boosting ritual that the book they had mentioned. Hermione made a point to resume reading it, thoroughly.
-=-=-=-
Thursday, November 24th,
Harry entered the Champion's tent, which was just outside of the specially built arena that would house the dragons for the first task. Followed by Hermione, meeting the eyes of Cedric, Fleur and Viktor. Bagman, Crouch and Dumbledore entered a few moments later, Bagman carrying a small bag in his hands.
"Champions! I hope you're ready! In this bag you will find a scale model of what you'll be facing, each one with a tag baring a number, that number will indicate in what order you will go in. Your objective is to take the Golden Egg from the nest that the creature you'll have to use all your skill, cunning and wit to get past, will be guarding." He then opened the bag and offered it. "Ladies first." He said, offering Fleur his attempt at a friendly smile, but she just scowled at him and reached in, pulling out a ten-inch-long model of a dragon, with a tag baring the number "2".
"Common Welsh Green." Bagman said.
Cedric went next, pulling out a model with the tag "1", and he rolled his eyes. "Figures." he muttered.
"Swedish Short-Snout." Bagman said.
Viktor was next, pulling out a model with the tag "3".
"Chinese Fireball." Bagman said, before offering the bag to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes, knowing which Dragon he'd face. 'Why am I not surprised?' he thought, reaching into the bag and pulling out the model of the Horntail with the tag "4".
"Ah, the Hungarian Horntail, the biggest, most aggressive of them."
"And whose bright idea was it to get one of those?" Hermione snarked, glaring at Bagman.
The Ministry Drone had the sense of mind to look a bit flustered.
"Well…I…urm…" he took his hat off and scratched his head.
Crouch Snr scowled at her. "This tent is for Tournament Champions only Miss Granger, I'm afraid you will have to leave, and you cannot stay here while the other Champions wait their turn."
"It's ok, she's with me." Harry said, Crouch gave him a look.
"The Rules are the Rules Potter." His eyes narrowed "But then, that never really applied to you, did it."
Harry scowled, Hermione bristled, grinding her teeth as her fists clenched, and as the man left the tent, Hermione growled under her breath, glaring two holes into his back.
"Arsehole…" she growled through her teeth.
Harry snorted, as did Cedric, Fleur looked amused, and Krum smirked. Ludo looked embarrassed, Maxime chuckled, as did Karkaroff. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Despite your assessment of him Miss Granger, Mister Crouch was quite correct, you will have to wait with the rest of the spectators in the stands I'm afraid. Come along now." And with that, he turned to leave. "Good luck to you all." He said as he left, followed by Maxime and Karkaroff.
"Go on Hermione, we'll be fine." Cedric said, smiling at her. She smiled back, before giving Harry a quick hug.
"You'd better live through this Potter; you still owe me an answer."
One she was gone, Bagman cleared his throat.
"Ok, here's how it goes. In 10 minutes, there will be a cannon blast, that will be your cue Mr Diggory, once you have the Egg and you reach the edge of the arena, a second cannon shot will sound, signaling the end of your task. 10 minutes after you're done, another cannon will sound and then it's Miss Delacour's turn, and so on."
The Champions exchanged looks, Ludo puffed himself up.
"Right then, good luck!" and with that, he ducked out.
"Sooo…plans?" Cedric asked, feeling nervous, he was going first, after all.
"Survive?" Harry deadpanned. Cedric snorted.
"You faced a 60ft Basilisk in your second year Potter, a little lizard will hardly be any trouble for you." Harry looked at him surprised, as did Fleur and Krum.
"Wait, how do you know about the Basilisk? I never told anyone besides Dumbledore, Hermione and…Ron, about that." Cedric looked thoughtful.
"Weeell…there was the fact that all of the petrification victims were found near a reflective surface, except Justin, who saw it through a ghost. And to my knowledge, very little can affect a ghost. And the fact that Salazar was a known Parselmouth, so his creature would have to be some kind of snake. And the Basilisk is the only species of snake, magical or otherwise, that could live that long down in the chamber."
"Huh…I wonder how many others have figured it out." Harry mused. Cedric shrugged.
A few moments later, there was a low bang outside the tent, followed by a roar and a cheer from the crowd outside.
"Well…show time…" Cedric said nervously. Harry put a hand on his shoulder.
"You got this."
"Thanks." He said, taking a breath, he stepped out into the arena.
-=-=-=-
As Cedric walked out into the arena, the crowd applauded, cheering, Bagman's voice echoing over the arena, but Cedric only had eyes for the Dragon, and what was behind it. There, in the clutch of blue eggs, about 10 of them, was a metal Gold Egg.
'Ok, that's my target…now, how to deal with her…Swedish Short-Snout…Swedish Short-Snout…' he thought, trying to remember what he knew of the species from the books he'd read, thankful that Harry and Hermione had warned him ahead of time.
"The Swedish Short-Snout is an attractive silvery-blue dragon whose skin is sought after for the manufacture of protective gloves and shields. The flame that issues from its nostrils is a brilliant blue and can reduce timber and bone to ash in a matter of seconds. The Short-Snout has fewer human killings to its name than most dragons, though as it prefers to live in wild and uninhabited mountainous areas, this is not much to its credit."
Cedric rolled his eyes at the passage he'd read the day before from a copy of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' While it told him what the dragon was, and how to identify it, it didn't tell him how to deal with it.
The female was about 22ft long, tethered to the ground by a long chain which was attached to a collar. The chain was long enough to give the female plenty of space to move, but it did make sure she couldn't escape.
Though Cedric had to admit, she was kind of beautiful, in a way.
She was also agitated. The noise from the crowd, Ludo's insipid voice no doubt adding to the creature's annoyance, along with the unfamiliar environment, and the fact that her eggs were there, the poor thing's maternal and aggressive instincts were probably on overdrive.
As he approached, she spotted him, hissing and roaring, she snapped her head forward and unleashed a jet of blue flame at him, but he easily dodged it, given the distance between them.
If there was one thing Cedric excelled at, it was Transfiguration. Taking out his wand, he conjured several large rocks, then transfigured them into various animals; goats, sheep, and dogs, which started yapping. As the transfigured animals started running in all directions around the arena, the dragon went crazy, snapping, snarling and roaring at anything that moved. A jet of blue flame caught several of the sheep, setting them alight, and they bleated wildly as they ran in all directions, like small fiery comets. He would have chuckled at the sight, if his life wasn't in mortal danger.
Another flick of his wand conjured some more, cows this time, and the female moved away from her nest. Perfect. Raising his wand, Cedric focused on the Golden Egg and muttered "Accio!"
Nothing happened.
He rolled his eyes. "Figures." He muttered. "You had to know it wouldn't be that easy Diggory." He said, chastising himself, he slowly crept forward, the dragon still attacking the conjured animals, her back to him. He had to be quick. If she turned around now, before he had the egg in his hands, he was dead. No amount of transfiguring or conjuring would help him, she'd ignore everything and come right at him.
"He's almost at the nest!" came Ludo's voice over the loudspeakers.
'Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!' Cedric's mind screamed as he grit his teeth in fury and concentration. Seriously?! Was that brainless dolt TRYING to get him killed?!
If that dragon was smart enough to understand the English word for 'nest', he was a dead man.
He hadn't been wrong though. Cedric was now just a few feet from the nest, another couple of steps, and he was standing next to it. Each egg was nearly a foot long, dark blue in color, with a slightly rough texture to it. The metal one stood out like a sore thumb. Bracing himself, Cedric leaned forward, and grabbed the gold egg with his hands. The metal was cold to the touch, unlike the warm eggs around it. He stood and turned and started to walk quickly away from the nest. The crowd started to cheer.
"He's got it! He's got the Egg!" Ludo said. As he approached the hospital tent, the dragon finally got tired of attacking the animals which had suddenly appeared around it's nest, and had turned back to her eggs, she saw the human walking away, that was good, he was leaving.
As Cedric approached the tent, Madam Pomfrey and Pomona Sprout came out to greet him, the crowd going wild as a cannon blast sounded, indicating he'd succeeded.
He looked back over his shoulder to see a group of Handlers moving to corral the dragon. He sighed.
-=-=-=-
Harry, Fleur and Krum exchanged looks at the second cannon blast. They hadn't heard any of the commentary of course, but they hadn't really said much to one another, all thinking on how best to deal with their own dragon.
Ten minutes later, at the third blast, Fleur knew it was her turn.
"Good luck." Harry said.
"Merci." She smiled.
As she stepped out into the arena, she got her first look at the female dragon she had to get past, she mentally ran through what she knew of the species: Usually very subdued, prefers to avoid human contact almost entirely. Prefers to live in mountainous regions. Melodious, almost musical roar. Adults average length of 18 feet.
It was then that Fleur spied the eggs. Earthy brown with green spots, and in the middle of the clutch, the Golden Egg, her target.
Fleur doubted whether her Allure would work on the dragon, since it was female, and was only trying to protect her young, which Fleur could relate to.
As she got closer, the dragon spotted her and hissed a warning, before sending a narrow jet of flame across her path. A warning shot. Fleur hesitated, while she, like all Veela and part-Veela were naturally immune to fire, her clothes were not, and that last thing she wanted was to be standing here in front of all these people stark naked. She smiled as she got an idea. Pointing her wand at her own throat, she muttered a spell that was known only to Veela, she then conjured a lyre, stowed her wand, then started to play.
When the crowd had quieted down, curiously listening to the music, and she knew she had the Dragon's full attention, she put the next part of her plan into action.
She started to sing.
The song she started to sing was an old French song, sung to her by her grandmother when she was little, it was meant to sooth all aggression in the one being sung to, the spell she'd cast on herself was a spell that allowed her to channel her Allure more directly through her voice, negating the need for her to turn her Allure up to maximum force, which would affect everyone watching her. Still, even with this spell, and her words basically acting like a wandless sleeping spell, she was still using her Allure, so there was a strong possibility that several of the spectators would try to climb into the ring to get to her.
After a few minutes, she noticed that her tactic seemed to be working. The dragon had actually sat down, and was no longer hissing or growling, and in short order, was actually laying down. Fleur watched it intently as she sang, its eyes were starting to drop.
It was working.
She started to approach, the only sounds were her music and her voice, the crowd was completely silent, even Bagman wasn't saying anything, no doubt the weak-minded fool was drooling in his seat.
By the time she was ten feet from the nest, the Dragon's head flopped down onto the ground, it could barely keep its eyes open, but it was trying. And Fleur's throat was starting to get sore, she hadn't sang this long before, and she'd already got through two extra songs, she couldn't keep this up much longer. If she stopped singing before the dragon passed out, it would shake off her spell and attack her.
Finally, as its eyes closed, Fleur moved forward to the nest, still singing, she bent down and picked up the gold egg, then turned away, and she stopped singing.
Fleur quickly walked away from the nest, as quietly as she could, occasionally looking back at the dragon, to check if it had woken up. It hadn't. she walked past the Handlers who were now moving to corral it, looking up at the stands, she noticed most, if not all of the male students in the audience, and even a few female students, at least those from Hogwarts, were staring at her gormlessly, some closer to the barrier were actively trying to clamber over, but were being held back.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
-=-=-=-
As the next cannon blast went off, Harry looked at his watch, he and Krum had been sat waiting for their turns for almost 40 minutes now, and from the sounds of it, Fleur and just finished her task. He was feeling mostly ok, just nervous as hell. He ran through what he'd learned the previous day on Dragons, knowing he had at least another 30 minutes or so before it was his turn.
"Do not vorry, she will do fine. So will you." Came the deep accented voice of Viktor.
Harry smiled at him, nodding. While Cedric had been tackling his Dragon, Fleur and Krum had grilled him on the whole Basilisk thing, the two of them seeming very impressed at his achievement of killing a 20 meter long giant snake at the age of 12.
Krum looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitated, seeming a little uncomfortable, then decided to change his mind, and say something anyway.
"I hear you play Seeker for team." He said, Harry nodded, smiling. Krum grinned.
"Ve have to have game some time, show me vhat you know."
Harry smiled and nodded, feeling more at ease.
"Sure."
After 10 minutes, the cannon sounded again, and Krum sighed and stood.
"Good luck" he said. Krum smiled and nodded in acknowledgement and stepped out.
It was impossible for him to miss the large red dragon that crouched protectively over her nest, her clutch of bright crimson eggs also impossible to miss, as was the gold egg in the middle of them.
The dragon snorted as she saw him, then roared, sending two plumes of flame at him, but he was able to side-step them. Quickly, Krum ran over what he knew of this particular dragon species. Very aggressive, though not as fiercely territorial as other species. Prefers a diet of mammals, specifically sheep and humans.
Krum thought fast, then waved his wand, conjuring several large rocks which he tried to transfigure into sheep, hoping some food would keep it distracted.
"Ah! More conjuring and transfiguration! Lets see if that works as well for Mister Krum!" Ludo's voice echoed over the arena.
As the dragon snapped and lunged at the various animals, Krum moved closer. Unfortunately, he was not as lucky as Cedric, as the dragon turned around, drawn by the noise from the crowd, and saw him.
She snarled, roared, then charged.
"Fuck!" Krum yelped in Bulgarian, jumping back to avoid the sharp teeth of the dragon as her jaws snapped shut right where he'd been standing, and she positioned herself between him and her eggs.
'Ok…now what?' he thought.
"Oooh…that's not good! Now Krum's job just got harder!" Ludo's voice echoed.
"Ja, just like your skull…" Krum muttered.
Krum thought for a moment, then he made his move. He made a feint to the left, then ducked right as the dragon lunged, firing off a blasting hex underneath her that struck the ground to her right, drawing her attention away from him, or at least, that's what he'd hoped it would do. Unfortunately, it only seemed to make her angrier, and her attention remained on him.
'I did not want to do this…' he thought, as he turned, less than 10 feet from her now, though she'd moved away from her nest, she was still close enough to reach him with her jaws if he got close enough to grab it. At least that's what he thought, but he'd apparently misjudged the distance, and before he knew it, she was almost on him.
Reacting quickly, he raised his wand and fired a Conjunctivitis curse at her face, temporarily blinding her.
The dragon shrieked in alarm as her eyes became irritated and swollen shut, and she started to panic. Thrashing around, she moved towards Krum, who rolled to the side then moved towards the nest, unfortunately for him, while the dragon couldn't see him anymore, she could still hear him.
She lunged again, he rolled, her jaws barely missing him, as he got to his feet, right next to the eggs, he reach down and grabbed the gold egg, then broke into a run as the Fireball came up behind him, still charging.
"He's got the Egg! He's got the—Ooooh dear…THAT's gonna cost him some points." Ludo said, Krum looked over his shoulder as he ran, turning in the direction of the Hospital Tent, just as the Handlers came out to subdue her, she fired a burst of flame, which caught his arm.
Krum yelped, he couldn't put down his egg while the Dragon was still mobile, and he couldn't use his wand to put out the flames now burning his arm, so he just had to grit his teeth and bare the pain.
He did notice however, when he looked back at the nest, through eyes which were rapidly filling with tears of pain, that the dragon, in her haste to kill him and protect her young, she'd accidently smashed about half of her clutch. Yellow yoke and the partially developed embryos spilling out onto the ground. He winced.
Ludo was right. That would cost him some points.
As he reached the Hospital Tent, the school's resident Healer came out, brandishing her wand, as the Cannon fired.
-=-=-=-
Harry sat waiting, and thinking, going over his plan for the Horntail, remembering what he'd read from the book in the Library the day before.
He was not looking forward to this.
He also thought about Hermione, really thought. How would she cope if he did screw up and got himself killed? How would she deal with, well…everything. He silently promised himself that she'd never have to find out.
He also thought about the proposal she'd sort of hinted at him.
Did he love Hermione? Sure, as a friend. He was willing to do anything for her if it meant her wellbeing. He thought back to how he'd visited her while she'd been petrified in Second Year, how he'd escorted her alone to the Hospital Wing after her Polyjuice mishap, and Ron had laughed at her.
She hadn't shown it there in the bathroom, but that had deeply hurt her. He'd seen the tears in her eyes as they'd walked under his invisibility cloak which he'd asked Dobby to get for him.
Then there was Third Year, and how she'd helped him not only rescue Buckbeak but Sirius also.
And then there was this year. She'd believed him from the very moment his name had come out of the Goblet and he'd said he didn't put his name in. True, Neville and the Weasley Twins believed him now, but no-one else did. Hopefully this would convince them that someone was trying to do him in.
'Though it's not a very effective way to do it.' he thought.
And how had he repaid her loyalty? By holding her as he was hit with a curse that turned him into a human parasite.
'Though she insists I'm not. I just can't help feel like I'm using her, taking advantage of her…' he thought.
Then the cannon fired again.
'Show time.'
As he stepped out into the arena, the crowd cheered, all of them. Apparently, the Hogwarts contingent had forgotten they believed him a cheat, at least for the moment.
'Or maybe they're just eager to watch me get roasted.' He deadpanned.
He looked through the stands, his eyes quickly finding Hermione, who was sat with the rest of the Gryffindors, her eyes wide with fear, but also excitement.
When their eyes met, she gave him a shaky thumbs-up, and smiled, and mouthed 'Good luck!'. He also saw Neville cheering and waving, as was Hagrid, McGonagall smiled at him, her expression one of worry. He also saw the Twins talking to various students. Harry raised an eyebrow.
Were Fred and George placing bets on him?
He then turned and looked at the Horntail, who was at the other end of the arena, hunched low over her clutch of black eggs, her spiked tail swishing back and forth agitatedly, her yellow eyes focused only on him. The Gold one sat in the middle of them.
'Ok, lets get this show on the road…' he thought.
Walking forward, he ducked behind a rock as the dragon roared and fired a jet of flame at him, just missing him.
"Accio Firebolt!" he called, his wand pointed up in the air.
After about 10 seconds, he looked up and saw his broom sailing towards him, he crouched, getting ready to jump and catch it, when a jet of flame came in from the side and passed between him and it.
Harry briefly averted his eyes from the bright light, and when it cleared, he looked up, yelping and jumping to the left just in time to doge the mass of burning wood that was, ironically, and much to his dismay, his Firebolt.
A small part of his mind found this height of cruel irony amusing. His beloved Firebolt and become a fireball.
He righted himself just as the burning mass of wood slammed into the rock he'd been sitting against and shattered with a small crack and puff of flame, smoke and sparks.
His primary strategy had literally just gone up in flames. The dragon had destroyed his broom.
'Well, that's just great. NOW what do I do?!' he thought.
How about run? An unknown voice spoke in the back of his head, that sounded oddly like his own.
Deciding not to question it, Harry leapt out from behind the rock and ran, barely avoiding another jet of flame from the black Dragon.
He raised and flicked his wand, attempting to transfigure the next stone he was passing into a pile of stones large enough for him to hide behind.
What he actually got, was a neatly arranged wall segment made of white marble blocks, almost 20 feet high, 9 feet thick, and nearly 50 feet long. Each block one meter high, one meter thick, and two meters long.
'Whoa…Where'd THAT come from? I didn't ask for that! Now I can't see where she is!'
"Wow! A VERY impressive Conjuration by Mister Potter! Only problem is, that wall is so long, that it almost completely cuts him off from getting to the dragon!" Ludo's voice echoed through the air.
Harry cursed, he was right. While there was space between the conjured wall and the wall of the arena, there wasn't much.
'I could try putting a gate in it.' he thought, then decided not to, and instead worked his way around the wall.
When the female spotted him again, she once again reared back, getting ready to strike with another jet.
'Have to show her I'm not a threat. Need to distract her, maybe some food?'
From behind the edge of the wall, Harry raised his wand and conjured some rocks and transfigured them into a pile of fish, though he wasn't sure what species he'd been going for.
A mountain of fish appeared in front of the female, and she paused, then approached the mound, sniffing. Then she started to eat.
"Amazing! Potter really seems to be on form today! I'm not sure why his conjurations are coming in so large though." Ludo commented.
'Looks like the book was right…I performed a power boosting ritual the other day in the shower with Hermione, then again, I should have guessed that from practicing in the Room of Requirement…' he thought.
Harry wasn't exactly sure what happened to transfigured objects if they were eaten after being turned into food items, he idly hoped that the dragon didn't end up with a stomach full of rocks, that would not be pleasant.
"Looks like Potter's plan is working! She has no idea he's there!" Ludo said.
Harry wanted to facepalm, or better yet, punch Ludo Bagman in the balls.
Unfortunately, Horntails were not only the most vicious of all Dragon species, they were also apparently the smartest.
Because no sooner had Ludo said those words, the Horntail stopped eating and turned, looking right at him.
Harry rolled his eyes and growled, a growl that was echoed by the dragon.
He turned and stared at the announcer booth, where he could just see Bagman, who was looking down at him. Glaring, Harry raised his right hand in a clenched fist, turned upward, then extended his middle finger.
"Fuck you Ludo! Fuck you very much!" Harry yelled.
The crowd, which had started murmuring when Harry had transfigured the fish went silent as an audible gasp of shock went through them.
Harry smirked as he saw the look on Hermione's face, her hands were over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock and fear, but also laughter. The Twins were sniggering, giving him thumbs up. McGonagall looked shocked, but even from where he stood, Harry could see the slight up-turn of her lips.
Crouch Snr did not look impressed, Moody was grinning, apparently chuckling. Dumbledore was frowning heavily, he clearly did not approve of such language directed against a Ministry Official.
"I say! Now see here young man!" Ludo's scandalized voice echoed across the arena.
"No thank you! Got something more important to do than waste time with a Brainless Ministry Drone!" Harry called, before turning back to the Horntail.
She'd started walking forwards, crouching low, her yellow eyes following his every move.
'Ok, gotta show her I'm not a threat…but how? Wait!'
Harry stopped, about 20 feet from the dragon now. He raised the hand holding his wand out to the side, watching the dragon's face closely. Her eyes fixed on his wand, tracking its movement.
'Every human she's seen has carried a wand. And every one she has seen has fired spells at her, some have probably hurt her…'
Then, Harry did something that, in the back of his mind, he was sure Moody, McGonagall, hell, everyone would yell at him for doing, and Hermione would probably kill him for it, assuming the Dragon didn't kill him first. What he did next was so reckless, so…Gryffindor, that later, Harry would wonder how the Sorting Hat could ever think he'd do well in the Snake Pit.
He dropped his wand.
Another gasp went through the silent audience.
"He's dropped his wand! Potter dropped his wand!" Ludo's voice proclaimed.
'Thank you Captain Obvious. They're not blind you idiot!' he thought.
The dragon had stopped when it saw his wand fall, and was now looking at him cautiously. There was still aggression in her eyes, but also curiosity as well.
Harry suddenly got the impression that disarming himself wasn't enough, he not only needed to show he wasn't armed, he needed to show submission. Trust…he needed to show her that he trusted her not to kill him.
Turning until he was sideways on to the Horntail, in such a way that if he looked straight up, he'd look right into Hermione's wide, terror filled eyes, Harry closed his eyes, and bowed slightly, raising his hand, palm outward, and waited.
"Wha—What in Merlin's name is he DOING?!" Ludo's voice rang out.
Harry felt the vibrations through the ground as the Dragon approached, it wasn't long before he could feel the warm air of her breath blowing over his exposed hand, arm and the side of his face. She was close. If he tried to turn and reach for his wand now, or tried to summon it, she'd likely kill him before it reached his hand.
He also heard the shouts and running feet of people, most likely Charlie and the other Handlers rushing to save him from a gruesome death.
He heard her snort, then sniff, she let out a slight growl, then a faint warble.
"Haaarrrry!" he heard Hermione terrified scream, but he didn't look up, he daren't, all he could think was:
'I'm sorry Hermione. I…I love you.'
Then he felt something. Something he never would have expected. Or believed.
A warm snout, skin thick with scales and a leathery texture, pressed into his palm, as warm air once again washed over him, ruffling his hair, and sending a shiver down his spine.