Chapter 10
"Want to go up to the Owlery?" Harry asked the second Rebecca returned to the common room, leaving before she could answer.
"Sure, why not?" Rebecca called, irritated at the lack of explanation. "Harry?"
"I know it's cold, okay? We need to-" Harry sent her a look. "Just come!" Rebecca followed along, stopping when Harry did in the middle of the bridge where no students were in sight. "I have to talk to you."
"Yeah? I couldn't tell."
"Rebecca, this is serious!" Harry snapped, daring her to make a joke on that internally. "Hagrid's asked me down to his hut at midnight."
"Oh, alright." Rebecca checked the time. "What time should we leave then?"
"'We?'" Harry repeated. "No, I-"
"Yes, we." Rebecca's tone made it clear that he wasn't going anywhere without him. "He must know something about the first event. We'll both go down to see, then talk to Sirius." Rebecca thought for a moment, tallying up the hours those would take. "Then you'll go on to bed and I'll take the cloak down to the library to research whatever it is we learn."
"I can't just go to bed while you're working all night!" Harry said exasperatedly, turning and looking into the distance visible from the height they were had reached on the way towards the Owlery. "That's-"
"That's exactly what's going to happen!" Rebecca's tone was icier than the wind blowing over them. "You're not going to be exhausted for Tuesday."
Footsteps coming up from behind them paused the squabble. The interruptor wore a blue-and-silver scarf and looked at Harry shyly, Cho Chang apologising for interrupting.
"You didn't." Harry said quickly, smiling.
Rebecca looked at Harry and then Cho before looking back to Harry.
"That's good then." Cho said, brushing past Harry on her way up to the Owlery itself. Rebecca said nothing on Harry's change in behaviour, but she found how mushy he'd gone adorable. Harry didn't say anything after Cho had gone, leaving Rebecca to finish their meeting.
"Can we go back in now?" She'd already pulled her sleeves down around her hands and found that even turning away from the window didn't lessen the chill. "It's bloody freezing out here."
Harry nodded, still upset by the idea of being sent to bed while Rebecca worked. He listened though, as Rebecca gave him a recount of her day. Starting with the morning with Fleur and Gabrielle to the hecticness of Hogsmeade and finding a dress, Rebecca finished with her and Fred trying to get back before the temperature dropped further.
"Only you and Fred?" Harry clarified, confused. The Fat Lady let them through, getting her daily dose of tea.
"Yeah, only the two of us." Rebecca purposely kept her attention elsewhere. "Lee ended up sleeping in and George waited for him. I'm going to pop upstairs, you'll be alright?"
Harry sighed. "Yes, Rebecca. Believe it or not, I don't need constant supervision."
Rebecca pushed him lightly, smiling. "It's not supervision, it's compationship. Git." She went up the stairs while Harry found a seat and waited for her, looking around the room. Fred's gaze followed Rebecca up the stairs before turning back to the book he had been holding, Harry noticing how the tips of his ears turned red.
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Upstairs, Hermione was tearing around the room like a whirlwind. "I can't find the book on the history of the tournament!" Hermione's head appeared from the other side of her bed as she popped up to ask Rebecca about it. "Have you seen it? I know I had it in here!" Hermione found no book under her bed, just a surprising amount of Ginny's socks.
Rebecca bent to the floor and looked at Hermione under the bed. "Are you not the one who's been teaching Harry and I the summoning charm?"
Hermione gasped and backed out from under the bed. Accio-ing the book, Hermione's pillow jumped as the book whipped out from under it and soared into Hermione's hands. "That's much better." Hermione said happily, setting it on her desk to save it for later. "Shopping went well, I see. So much for waiting." She gestured to the bag that had been left on Rebecca's bed earlier.
"Well, Fred and I decided to get what we needed since we were right there." Rebecca took off her jumper and went to put it away. "We went into Gladrags and grabbed the first tie and dress we saw-" Hermione looked so horrified, Rebecca rescinded the joke early. "-Only joking. It does look good though. Then we went to the Hog's Head-"
"You're kidding." Hermione's horror was even more evident on her face and in her tone. "The Hog's Head?"
Rebecca shook her head. "Nope. He and George had been there before. No line, cheaper. Dodgy exterior but it was actually rather nice." Hermione considered making a quip about what made it nice, but wouldn't go against the unsaid agreement the two girls had: Rebecca didn't talk about the scarf and Hermione didn't talk about Fred.
"Mhmm." Hermione didn't believe the pub had been nice, not at all. "Did Harry tell you about Hagrid's message."
"Yeah, he did." Rebecca sighed. "It'll be a late night, but I think we'll all feel better once we know what the bloody challenge is."
"And even better on top of that with Sirius' talk at one."
"And then him at one." Rebecca laughed. "A very late night." Hermione and Rebecca knew it was almost time for supper and, back in the hall before they got back to the cold shoulders waiting for Rebecca, she remembered there was something she'd wanted to ask Hermione. "You don't know any French, do you?"
Hermione's brow crinkled. "No, why?"
"Gabrielle has been working on her English, I thought it would be nice if I made an attempt."
Hermione was surprised at the thoughtfulness, though Rebecca tended to act surprisingly. "It is! Ask Sirius, especially if Professor Lupin is with him. They would know."
Rebecca didn't understand the connection. "He knows French?"
"Rebecca," Hermione forgot ever complimenting Rebecca's thoughtfulness. "Rebecca, one of their letters literally had a sticker of the French flag."
Rebecca looked away sheepishly. "Oh yes, I remember. I definitely knew which flag that was."
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"I swear to bloody god," Harry's voice threatened in the night air. "If you touch me one more time I'll-"
"Harry, it's cold." Rebecca retorted. "Therefore I am cold. You are warm. I am warming my coldness on your warmness!"
"Well you're too bloody cold!" Harry looked over his shoulder at Rebecca, she walking right behind him under the Invisibility Cloak. "Why didn't you dress warmer?"
Rebecca looked down at her outfit, wondering what else he possibly thought she could have worn. "I'm dressed very warmly, thank you very much. I'll just let my fingers freeze and snap off, go on--Keep walking."
Harry took only a few steps farther when her hands brushed against him again. Groaning internally, their squabble ended abruptly when they caught sight of Hagrid and Madam Maxine."
Hagrid looked behind him pointedly as Madam Maxine led the way deeper into the forest, making it clear that he wanted those invisible in attendance to follow. Rebecca's cold hands grasped Harry's wrist again, but this time he didn't pull away. A stream of fire lit up the night ahead, followed by a roar that shook the ground under their feet.
"Dragons?" Madam Maxine asked Hagrid. "Ze first task is dragons?"
"I'm afraid so." Hagrid spoke loud enough that Harry and Rebecca knew that he was talking to them too. "But they'll be alright, smart kids who-" Hagrid couldn't speak on, too emotional. He wiped at his eyes as he thought about Harry going against one of the creatures ahead.
"'agrid, come here." Madam Maxine opened her arms and pulled Hagrid into an embrace, patting Hagrid's back gently.
A new set of footsteps came up behind Harry and Rebecca, passing them by just a few feet. Karkaroff stared at the dragons a moment, Harry still frozen. Rebecca put Harry's hand on her shoulder and led the way back to the castle.
Far enough from the adults behind, Harry gave voice to the one thought racing around his head. "I'm buggered."
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The common room was empty, as it should have been minutes to one. Just in case though, Rebecca only pulled the cloak off of them when she had made sure there were no straggling students. Harry was filled with dread at the discovery of dragons, no possible idea as to how he was supposed to weaken one of the strongest magical creatures.
Exactly the opposite, Rebecca couldn't deny that she felt a little relieved. Not that it was dragons, that scared her entirely. But now that they had a direction, a goal, an answer they could be searching for. Seconds to one, Harry and Rebecca stood by the fire.
"Psst!" The outline of Sirius' face was sticking out of the coals. "Sorry, this is the best I can do. The Ministry's tightening everything down."
They knelt down and looked at him, wishing he was there in person but thankful they could see and talk to him at all. "Sirius, we've just found out the first challenge...It's dragons." Harry tried to sound strong.
"That's a challenge for sure." Sirius wondered how much of the comfort he was trying to convey was reaching them with a face made out of embers. "Are you working on a strategy?"
"As soon as we're through." Rebecca answered. Harry gave her a look, a look that Sirius ended immediately.
"She's right, Harry. You will need your rest." Sirius sighed. "I read the Prophet."
"It's all a load of shite." Harry cursed, furious that Rita's lies were being read by the Wizarding world. "I never said any of that."
"I know, I know." Sirius winked at Rebecca. "I know I haven't been able to write in a while. I imagine things are well?"
Rebecca gave Sirius a warning look, thankful that Harry was still scowling about Rita. "Things are as well as they can be. Is Professor Lupin still with you?"
"Moony?" Sirius cleared his throat. "He had to return to Yorkshire last week, something about the trail on Bertha Jorkins picking up again."
"Didn't they find her at the end of summer?" Harry asked. "Her body, I mean."
"Yes, in Albania." Sirius' tone grew somber. "Also known as one of the last places Voldemort had been rumoured to be. Moony's been tracing her steps to try and narrow down where she was grabbed." Sirius looked as if he were thinking something over a nostalgic moment. "You know, I went to school with her. Not the sharpest wand in the drawer, but she was kind."
"I'm sorry." Rebecca and Harry said, meaning it. They wanted Sirius to never be sad a second the rest of his life, if they had their way.
"She did, however, work in the Ministry." Sirius wanted to see if they could connect the dots on their own. "She would have known about the tournament and the World Cup."
"You think she had information that he used." Rebecca stated.
Sirius was nearly overwhelmed with pride. "I think there's a considerable amount of knowledge we still don't know and that you two need to be careful. I mean it! Karkaroff--Rebecca, you mentioned he's there with Durmstrang-"
Rebecca nodded that he was and Harry, deep down, realised that Rebecca had to have been writing to Sirius far more in detail or frequency than he had thought before.
"Karkaroff was on trial after the first war, when the Death Eaters were being tried for their crimes. The only reason he isn't rotting in Azkaban is because he gave names of those high up in Voldemort's ranks. Many names." Sirius stared out at them. "Trust very few and remain vigilant."
Harry stood up and turned towards the boys' dormitory, hearing the quiet sound of a door opening.
"Oh, Sirius?" Rebecca asked, crouching closer to the fire. "You don't know any French, do you?"
Sirius grinned, knowing he was about to get her back for the diversion of the conversation towards Lupin to save her hide. "Only a phrase or two. Here, listen..." Rebecca repeated what he had said to her and he nodded. "That's perfect. I've got to go now, I know you will be just fine. And I know absolutely everything!" He pulled himself away from the fire as he saw movement over their shoulders.
"Who's down here?" Ron demanded from the top of the stairs.
Rebecca stared up at him, wondering if he'd found any sense from earlier. Harry looked at Ron blankly, not reflecting any of the animosity Ron had. "Us two."
Ron scoffed. "I heard someone's voice."
"Well, Ron." Rebecca said slowly. "We do both have voices."
Ron glared at her, seeing how stupid he sounded. "You know, never thought I'd say this, but Malfoy was right. You're both just liars."
Harry clenched his fists and took a step towards the stairs, thinking about the person he'd considered his best mate violently. Rebecca stepped in front of Harry and put her hand on his chest. "Harry," Rebecca said calmly. "If I didn't get to hit Malfoy, you don't get to hit him."
Harry pushed against her a moment before accepting that she was right. Ron stalked back to their room. "I can't deal with him right now." Harry said angrily.
"So don't. You're going to bed, go to bed." Rebecca wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. "Please, get some sleep."
"Don't forget the cloak." Harry said. "I could come-"
"That's so strange. I hear someone speaking but I know it's not Harry because he's gone to bed!" Rebecca called, grabbing the cloak from where she had left it earlier. Rebecca didn't look back to Harry, not wanting to invite anymore conversation when she had research to do and he needed to be well-rested. Harry rolled his eyes and pulled his pajamas on quickly, glad that Ron didn't say a word.
Rebecca was going to grab her bag off her bed that she'd made earlier, parchment, ink, quills, and the other research that had been done on spells for Harry inside so that she could get to the library as quickly as she could. But, surprising to her, Hermione stood in the hall by their door with the bag over her shoulder.
"Ready?" Hermione asked, steering Rebecca right back towards the common room she'd hardly stepped out of.
"For..."
"You didn't really think you were the only one who was going, right?" Hermione smiled. "Now hurry up and tell me what you found out at Hagrid's."
Rebecca unfolded the Invisibility Cloak and hung it over them carefully, the explanation harder to get out without Harry standing their needing Rebecca at her strongest. "Dragons, Mione. The first challenge is dragons."
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Hermione had fallen asleep just after five, her head laying on the table Rebecca continued to work on until the time read half past six and the day was to begin. "Hermione?" Rebecca rolled her parchment up, yawning. "Hermione, it's time to go."
Rebecca's eyes ached. She and Hermione had gone through the Encyclopedia of Fanged Fliers, Dragons and their Doom, and several other large editions of information on dragons and their weaknesses to try and compile any knowledge that Harry could find useful. Hermione had diverged slightly before she'd fallen asleep, searching to see if there were any dragon-related hexes Harry could use.
The sun was beginning to peek through the library's windows as they put their books away and left the library, beginning the climb back to their room. Hermione burnt with the feeling that she'd failed. "I'm sorry I fell asleep, I-"
"I already told you it was fine." Rebecca responded sharper than she'd intended to.
Hermione looked away as they stopped outside of their room's door. "I know, I just feel badly."
Rebecca softened her tone. "I know, I didn't mean it like that." Rebecca patted the bag in her arms. "But you can't feel badly, we got so much done." They found Ginny inside already up and getting ready for the day, curious as to where they had been all night.
"You want to take a shower? Try and wake up a little?" Hermione looked to Rebecca, exhausted herself and she'd taken a rest--Rebecca hadn't.
"Good idea." Rebecca paused at the bathroom door, looking to Hermione. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
Hermione shooed her into the bathroom. "Don't be daft."
Rebecca closed the door behind her and turned the water on, wondering if her pajamas were dirty if she hadn't even slept in them. The water didn't wake her up, not when it was warm and comforting. She sighed and turned the hot water off, bracing herself for the shocking wake up she needed. "He better know I love him." Rebecca thought as she dried herself off, shaking her head at the dark circles under her eyes.
As tired as she was, Rebecca couldn't resist her new favourite game: Trying to see how long Hermione didn't notice her tie was undone.
"Rebecca, you've got to stop this." Hermione was up and in front of her before she had even fully stepped out of the bathroom.
"Stop what?" Rebecca asked, knowing exactly what.
"You know what." Hermione said, pulling her tie to the top a moment later.
"Can't...breath..." Rebecca gasped, falling to her knees and clutching at her throat. "Losing...function..."
Hermione ignored her while Ginny laughed loudly, giving her a moment to act it out before noticing the time. "Rebecca?" Hermione warned, looking back into the room where she was still 'dying.'
"I'm done." Rebecca said, standing up. When Hermione wasn't looking, she loosened her tie slightly.
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Harry was waiting for Rebecca downstairs, feeling that for the first time in a long time he'd actually slept well. Seeing the state of her though, he forgot about it entirely. "Bloody hell, did you sleep at all?"
Rebecca looked at him a long moment, questioning what made him think that was a good greeting. "You know, I think once we get through this trial we're going to work on our manners."
"Sorry, good morning." Harry tripped going out of the portrait hole. "Did you get any sleep?"
"A little." Rebecca thought perhaps at a certain point, blinking had to be considered a form of sleep as it meant her eyes closed. "Doesn't matter. Can you skive this afternoon?"
Harry shook his head. "No, and you can't either. You skived Friday, remember?" Harry couldn't let Rebecca fall behind, not on his behalf. "How're you going to be ready for your exams of you don't go to class?"
Rebecca looked around, searching. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was talking to Hermione!
Harry put his arm around her and hugged her as they walked. "You're not, just someone else you cares about you." Harry kept his arm around her a while longer. "How about this--I'll look over your notes while you go to Charms?"
Rebecca scowled, but conceded. "Fine."
Harry laughed and sat across from Fred and George triumphant. "Brilliant!"
George took a double-take. "What's brilliant? Her zombie makeup?"
"That's it." Rebecca set the teapot back down with a bang. "Every single one of you boys is due for a lesson on how to be nice!"
George only shrugged, defending his words. "I was plenty nice, thank you. I could have said other things like...I don't know, why're you not eating my brains? Which crypt did you crawl out of? Or-" Fred whacked him under the table. "No, hold on, one more-"
"No, that's good." Fred interrupted. The two began to bicker.
Rebecca held a hand out to Harry, the other reaching for her tea. "Can I see your cup?" He slid it to her and she filled it and hers again. Harry tried to grab it to have it back, but she slapped the top of his hand. "It's for me."
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Harry unfurled the parchment he'd gotten from Rebecca quietly in the library, feeling that there had to have been something within that would keep him alive through the first tournament. He didn't want to skive when he knew that Rebecca would end up sitting by herself without him there, but she wouldn't hear a word against it--Harry needed to study.
Hermione nodded at Ron as she sat beside him, gesturing to Rebecca.
Ron only looked away and ignored Hermione. He refused to even consider reconciling with Rebecca.
Professor Flitwick tapped his wand against the podium in the middle of his raised platform for teaching. "Let's turn our attention to the lesson: The Scourging Charm. This is one of the most important charms in any witch or wizards tool box..." Rebecca put her elbow on the desk and leaned her head against her hand, her exhaustion catching up to her as rounded on nearly thirty-six hours awake.
Her eyes drooped lower and lower behind her glasses, her head nodding forwards as she dozed off. The sound of Professor Flitwick's tips on the cleaning charm acted as the perfect lullaby and she was soon lulled off into a sleep that Professor Flitwick didn't notice.
Didn't notice at first, to be clear.
Seamus walked by on his way to the toilet and knocked Rebecca's hand, sending her head straight at the desk. The thunk was loud enough to not only wake her, but also to attract the attention of every person in the class. This, of course, was not aided in the fact that Rebecca shot up, her glasses hanging down her face, with her wand out as she looked for who'd done it.
"Mr Finnegan!" Flitwick scolded. "Detention. One week!" Seamus stopped laughing at the door and continued out the room, muttering under his breath and slamming the door behind him. "Everyone? Begin practising." Professor Flitwick descended his stage, approaching Rebecca's desk with a sad look on his face. "Miss Potter, may I see your spectacles?"
Rebecca handed them over, too upset to attempt fixing them. With her luck, her anger would've sent her magic awry and broken them further.
"How is your head? That was quite a hit."
Rebecca blinked quickly, wishing he'd never asked. It hurt, and she'd caught her cheek on the corner of the desk in a particularly painful manner. "I'm fine, sir. I'm sorry."
Professor Flitwick laid his hand on her wrist and patted it a few times before leaving, trying to give her strength. The staff were all well aware of the hardships the Potter twins had been facing among their peers.
Ron watched Rebecca out of the corner of his eyes as she pulled out a piece of parchment and began to copy down the notes from the boards around the room. Occasionally, she reached a hand up and brushed away a stubborn tear that refused to back down as she wanted them to.
Ron's heart panged miserably.
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"Cedric must be worried, too." Harry thought as he looked up from Rebecca's handwriting and found the Hufflepuff champion entering the library quickly, his face pale and the usual confidence he work missing. "Madam Maxine was there, so Fleur knows. Karkaroff was there, so Viktor knows. Cedric doesn't, he's the only one who hasn't been warned."
Harry knew what he had to do, though he didn't like it after the button-incident. Harry checked the time and found that it was soon enough to the end of Charms that he could go meet Rebecca--They were going to walk down to the picnic table to go over everything she and Hermione had accumulated together.
His belongings collected, Harry went to where Cedric was scanning the titles of books on defensive spells. "Cedric?"
Cedric didn't meet Harry's eyes, searching on. "I've destroyed the buttons already. I know I didn't get them all, but I'm a little busy right now." Cedric picked a book and sat down at a nearby table, finding that Harry wasn't sent away by his harsh tone and instead sat across from him.
"Here's the thing," Harry started. "I don't care about the bloody buttons--I care about how you spoke to my sister." Harry shook his head, wandering off topic. "That's not why I'm here. Dragons. That's the challenge tomorrow: Dragons."
Cedric stared at Harry a long moment. "Why would you tell me?"
Harry shrugged, standing up. "Honestly? I don't know." He put his hands on the table, leaning forward and lowering his voice. "What I do know, though, is that I don't want to ever hear about you speaking down to Rebecca again."
Cedric lowered his head. He'd been a patronising git. "I know. I knew I was being an arsehole then but...you don't understand. Everyone is expecting so much from me tomorrow."
Harry laughed loudly, nearly drawing the attention from Madam Pince. "No, I don't understand. Unlike you, I'm not 'Hogwarts' Champion."
Cedric winced as Harry stood and left, the older boy realising what he'd said. Not even a full second later, Cedric ran to the D-section and began searching for anything regarding dragon weaknesses.
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Harry jogged down the halls, late to join Rebecca. Putting Cedric in his place had taken a little longer than he had expected it to. "Sorry! I got-"
"Potter!" Moody barked from down the hall. Harry turned and walked to the professor, Rebecca walking up behind him to hear whatever he wanted to day. "Walk with me a moment, both of you." Moody took off in the direction with the least amount of students. "First event's tomorrow. Prepared?"
"Preparing, sir." Harry answered for the both of them.
"I won't keep you then. I only wanted to tell you one piece of advice: Play to your strengths." Moody nodded, his piece said. He pointed to his cheek and looked at Rebecca. "And get some ice on that."
"What?" Harry turned on his heel as Moody left them, turning Rebecca towards the light so he could see better. "What happened?"
"It was nothing." Rebecca said, heading towards the path that would take them to the lake. "Come on, we need to-Harry, honestly. It's no big deal"
"It's a very big deal!" Harry shouted. "Was it Seamus? Tell me, we'll go-"
"We'll what?" Rebecca shouted back, raising her voice as she never had at Harry before. "What, Harry? Beat him? What about everyone else?" Harry stared at her, realising just how deeply this tournament had affected her as well as him. "Have them form a line and wait their turn?" Rebecca fell silent and turned back towards the lake, where they should be instead of arguing. "I'm sorry for shouting. We don't have time for this, we need to be studying. I'm just-"
"Tired." Harry finished, walking beside her. "I know." He was quiet a moment. "We could though. A nice, orderly line. Maybe have them take a number and-" Just as Harry had hoped, his joke made her laugh. Turning the final curve of the path to their table, they saw a group of Ravenclaw students in the middle of a heated debate. "Let's just go a little farther, get some quiet."
Rebecca stopped with Harry when they found two trees side by side, the water's edge nearby. "Perfect, yeah?"
Harry nodded, taking her parchment out of his bag. "Quiz me, I'm ready."
Rebecca looked impressed and she skimmed the facts. "How hot does a dragon's fire burn?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "It doesn't say that."
"Yes, it does! I wrote the exact temperature right here!" She turned and pointed for a moment at the answer before realising what she was doing and turning it back so Harry couldn't see the answer.
"That's not a real question." Harry argued. "If I get breathed on by it at all, I don't need to know the temperature. I'm crisped."
Rebecca shook her head, trying to loosen the image her mind had come up with. "That's really disgusting and-"
"I don't know why you can't just talk to them yourself." Hermione's voice rang out in the trees near them, causing Harry and Rebecca to stop their studying. Ron whispered something into Hermione's ear, causing her to sigh heavily and walk the rest of the distance to where Harry and Rebecca sat while Ron lingered farther back. "Ron would like to make sure your face isn't broken."
Rebecca clasped her hands to her cheeks, hiding the fact that it hurt and she immediately regretted doing it. "Really? Harry, he cares! Whatever will I do with this information?"
Hermione broke a little smile before walking back to Ron who whispered something again. "Ron said..." She projected before forgetting the message. "What was that?" Hermione tried to remember the message again. "Ron wants-"
"Just tell them-" Ron interrupted.
"I'm not a bloody owl!" Hermione finally snapped, shaking her head and storming away.
Ron looked from Harry to Rebecca, his eyes lingering on the growing mark on her face before he turned and followed Hermione out of the woods.
Harry sat back against his tree and closed his eyes. "Alright, temperature...how about a million degrees?"
"Not at all." Rebecca changed the section she was picking from. "How about technique? If you had to choose between running under, towards, or away from a dragon, which do you choose?"
"Away." Harry answered as if it were obvious.
"Wrong, towards." Rebecca explained as he looked at her as if she were crazy. "Dragons' eyes are on the sides of their heads. They're practically blind directly in front of them. Besides, if you were to run away...you'd be crisped as you said."
Harry sighed and tried to focus on the next question, feeling less and less prepared for the morning.
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Dinner was a somber event that night. The Durmstrang boys conversed in rapid Bulgarian while the Beauxbatons girls conversed in rapid French. Cedric's friends seemed to be alternating who would be giving advice while he ignored them and read from a book. And Harry and Rebecca? They continued reading through the notes until Harry had it right as they waited for Fred and George to get to supper.
"Away, towards, or un-"
"Towards!" Harry answered.
Rebecca folded the parchment and slapped Harry's shoulder, proud of the work he'd done. "That's them all right for the second round in a row. I don't think the notes are going to help you anymore. You've been practising the summoning charm, right?"
Harry nodded, frustrated just by thinking about it. "Yeah, but I don't know why! What am I going to do with it--Summon my broom? I was thinking about what Moody said earlier, that's it. Flying's my biggest strength."
Rebecca dropped her fork. "That's it!" Conversations around them ceased at her outburst. She raised her hand, nodding slowly. "My bad, eat on." A few students laughed, but they were hushed by their tablemates. No one wanted it to see like they were friendly with a Potter. "Harry, just summon your broom."
He slid a piece of treacle tart onto her plate and then his, pulling her into him to kiss her forehead. "There. We've got the knowledge." He patted the parchment. "We've got the technique."
"Now we just need sleep." Rebecca finished, tired to her bones.
Fred and George finally joined them for supper late, their hands covered in soot. "Sleep would help, wouldn't it creature-of-the-night?" George teased, sitting down and scooping food in large quantities.
"What happened to your hands?" Rebecca asked.
Fred looked at her, staring at the dark tinge at the top of her cheek bone. "What happened to your cheek?"
Rebecca raised an eyebrow, taking a bite of her dessert. "I asked first."
Fred sighed and looked at Harry for support before answering with a low voice. "It's the snackboxes. The Puking Pastilles simply don't like being packaged with the Fever Fudge. Something in them's reacting horribly."
George nodded, shivering as he remembered what had happened in their room. "It was like a minefield."
Fred gestured to her cheek. "Your turn."
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "A mishap. I dozed off and someone knocked my hand."
Harry coughed, letting a "Seamus" go in the middle.
"Seamus did that?" Fred asked as he stood up, looking up and down the table for the dirty bastard. "We'll bloody see if he'll do it again."
Seamus gulped as Fred and George found him down the table. "No, no you will not." Rebecca said calmly, sipping her drink and enjoying how white Seamus was turning. "Please?" She asked, laying her hand on Fred's who hadn't yet backed down.
Harry and George looked at each other while Rebecca looked up at Fred, waiting for him to sit.
"Fred?" Rebecca asked gently. He finally sat with a heavy sigh. "Thank you." She pushed the last of her tart onto his plate, unable to eat a bite more without falling asleep right at the table. "There, drown your sorrows in dessert."
"You made it touch my potatoes." Fred said plainly, reaching for her fork to fix his food.
Rebecca raised her eyebrows at Harry. "Mental." She mouthed. They ate and talk, Fred and George very interested in what preparation they'd manage to secure onto Harry.
When the clock struck eight, Dumbledore stood and addressed the hall. "Now, as we are all well aware, the first event of the Triwizard Tournament is tomorrow morning. Students will be admitted into the stands starting at nine o'clock, champions are to report at eight. I, on behalf of all of the Hogwarts' staff members, wish each and every champion good luck for the morrow." He looked around the room to meet eyes with Fleur, Cedric, Harry, and then Viktor.
The students began to file their way out of the Great Hall, making their way back to the common rooms or respective lodgings. Harry and Rebecca lingered at the back of the Gryffindor group, stopping outside of the window before the stairs. "Look, there's an arena in the pitch!"
Harry shook his head and let out a whistle. "Oliver would be furious!"
George had already continued up to the common room, but Fred waited down the hall behind them. Harry knew that he must have wanted to talk to Rebecca. "I'm going to head up, okay? Sleep well, I'll see you in the morning. You're walking down with me, right?"
Rebecca wrapped him into a tight hug, holding the back of his head. "Harry, I swear that I will walk with you to each of these blasted things."
Harry chuckled and turned to the stairs, catching a glimpse of Fred walking down the hall to Rebecca who was looking back out the window again.
"We seem to stand like this a lot." Fred noted after he thought Harry had gone up completely. "I don't mind though." Fred wrapped his arms around Rebecca from behind and lay his head on Rebecca's shoulder. "Two beautiful sights."
"You're horribly cheesy." Rebecca said, laughing and turning so that her back was against the wall next to the window.
Fred reached a hand up and pushed her hair behind her ear, leaving his hand on her cheek below the mark that filled him with such an anger he could hardly contain it. "And you're sure I can't do anything?" The slightest whinge crept into his voice, wanting to defend her.
"Yes," Rebecca put her hands on his cheeks and pecked his lips. "I'm certain." Harry's mouth opened in shock as he watched their exchange from above. He had assumed they were growing closer by how they'd acted together but he didn't know they'd moved onto kissing!
"It's hard though." Fred sighed and put his forehead against hers. "I think I'm going to have to kill him."
Rebecca shook her head, giggling. "Nope, no killing."
"Maim, then." Fred pushed on as Rebecca vetoed it. "Injure seriously? Injure minorly?" He kissed her forehead, her nose, and finally her lips at the last offer.
Harry blushed, knowing now he was severely invading her privacy. He'd honestly thought he'd see them holding hands and that would confirm their relationship. But when Rebecca smiled at Fred that seemed to illuminate her in a way Harry had never seen before, Harry turned and went up the stairs--He knew that Rebecca couldn't know that he'd seen them like this. Rebecca pulled Fred into a kiss deeper than the pecks he'd teased her with.
Fred turned and glanced up at the stairs.
"Everything alright?"
"Thought I heard something." Fred shrugged. "Probably Peeves." He looked out the window again, holding her. "Did the lotion end up helping?"
"Oh, I thought you forgot about that." Rebecca said, feeling embarrassed all over again. "Yes."
"Don't." Fred warned, sensing it from her. "Please, love. I'm just happy I was able to help."
Rebecca's face burned on, though not because she was still ashamed. He'd called her 'love' now twice and each time it stayed in her ears long after. "Fine."
"Fine?" Fred leaned onto her as if he were falling over. "Thank Merlin!"
"'Thank Merlin' what?" Rebecca laughed, struggling to stand under his added weight.
"You're terrifying to argue with." Fred said, walking up the stairs with her under his arm. "Speaking of terrifying, have you been drinking the draught?"
Rebecca nodded her head, looking up at him. "You were right, actually. I don't want to play our best card in the first round."
Fred leaned closer to her ear as the Fat Lady rummaged behind her box for a bottle of wine. "Say that again?"
"You were right." She sighed.
Fred kissed her temple. "I like hearing you say that." He separated from her as the Fat Lady turned around. "Without the 'actually' though. That, I could do without."
Rebecca laughed. She could hardly believe that the very next day marked the start of the first trial.
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