Harry slammed the book down onto the table in frustration, "Nothing!" he exclaimed, "Not even a single clue that might point me towards anything useful!" He glared at the pages, the tiredness that had been the result of several nights spent in frenzied research and the lack of proper sleep doing nothing but add to his irritation.
He had been scouring the library in his free time with his godfather's help ever since the first task had finished. The golden egg he had managed to retrieve was his only clue for the second task but the only sound it made was an ear-splitting screeching every time it was opened. It wasn't any sort of language either of them recognised so they had been forced to retreat to the world of books, taking as many as possible from the library and then scouring over them in Sirius's quarters but whilst Hermione was completely content to pour over the reference books until she found something Harry had significantly less patience.
He saw Sirius sigh and close his book before coming over to stand beside him, resting a hand on his arm, "How about we try a more practical approach for a bit?" His godfather suggested quietly, "Who knows, casting some spells on it might give us a clue and I could teach you a few curse-breaking spells at the same time." Harry immediately stood, clutching at the table when his head span, his eagerness to go along with Sirius's suggestion plain on his face.
"Can't wait to get rid of the reference books then?" His godfather teased him, chuckling slightly, although there seemed to be a hint of concern in his eyes that was quickly masked when Harry's eyes narrowed playfully and he aimed a blow at the smiling animagus which Sirius's ducked with the ease of long practice. "Hey now," he retorted, catching Harry by the shoulders and pulling him against his side, "Is that any way to treat your godfather?" But although the tone was light Harry instantly looked down, unwilling to meet Sirius's gaze. His godfather was right, he owed far more to Sirius than he could say, and being silly and mucking around was no way to repay the huge debt he owed to his godfather.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, still ashamed, there was no room for being silly when he still had to compete in the tournament. He sensed rather than saw Sirius's frown, then his godfather's fingers captured his chin, tilting his face upwards so he looked into his godfather's eyes. "There's nothing to be sorry about," Sirius said gently, "I didn't mean what I said, in fact I'm pleased that you are comfortable enough to act that way around me and everyone needs to have fun."
Discover moreMobile fanfiction appBooksWriting workshopsCreative writing coursesMobile app subscriptionHarry shook his head stubbornly, this wasn't a normal situation, "But I can't, I've got to solve this! I can't waste any time, I've got to do everything possible to get through the tournament. I don't want to not prepare and then hurt you. I've got to take this seriously!" The anger and frustration that he had been feeling over the last several days was pouring out in his voice. He felt Sirius sigh then he moved to the sofa, sitting down and gesturing for Harry to join him, and after a moment he followed.
As he settled on the sofa by Sirius's side he felt the weariness that he had been suppressing roll over him in a sudden wave, taking him by surprise. He bit back a yawn as his godfather's arm came out and captured him, tugging him gently against the animagus, holding him in a loose embrace. Another wave of tiredness hit him and Harry leant against his godfather, resting his head on Sirius's shoulder, and this time he didn't miss the concerned glance his godfather shot at him, even as he tightened his grip.
There was pause and Harry found himself just beginning to drift off when Sirius cleared his throat, getting Harry's attention before he began to speak. "I agree that the tournament is serious and that you need to prepare, but it's something I will not let you do alone. You're running yourself into the ground trying to research or prepare, and that means," he said, holding up a hand when Harry looked like he was about to interrupt, "You're not getting enough sleep, eating enough and doing things that are not connected to the tournament that relax you or that you enjoy."
Discover moreFan fiction platformWriter communityApp store marketingApp download campaignsFiction writing guidesHe looked sternly down at Harry and he fidgeted a little under the look Sirius was giving him. He knew he couldn't slack off, he had to find out what was happening and then a solution, if he didn't he would hurt Sirius and that was something he was not willing to do, but it seemed that by trying to stop himself from hurting his godfather he was just managing to hurt him more.
"I'm not running myself to the ground," he said quietly, but even to his own ears the words lacked conviction, Harry knew he was completely focussed on the tournament, and that not only had he been staying up until the early hours of the morning to research after he had finished his homework, he had also been having nightmares. The one thing he hadn't been doing was skipping meals, he knew that Sirius watched out for him in the Great Hall and would come and find him if he missed a meal, and once he found him he would take him back to his quarters and give him food and a nutrient potion, making sure he ate and drank everything. Now he thought about it, Sirius hadn't been letting him stay up late either, normally when it approached curfew he would either be sent back to the common room or he would stay in his godfather's quarters and Sirius would chase him to bed about half an hour later. It was only when he was in the common room that he was able to stay up to the early hours of the morning researching.
"You're all but falling asleep on me Harry," his godfather contradicted softly, "It's barely gone six, supper isn't for another hour. It's obvious that you aren't sleeping properly, and haven't been doing so for days." Harry blinked, was it really that early? He supposed he hadn't been paying attention to the time, he'd just been spending all his free time in Sirius's quarters working on the damn egg, and going to meals whenever Ron or Hermione fetched him, or noticed it was time to eat. "When was the last time you flew, played chess or quiddich, or just hung around with your friends?"
Harry paused, trying to remember. He didn't think it had been that long ago but when he was forced to think about it, the only occasions he could come up with were from before the first task. His godfather's voice interrupted his thoughts, "That you have to think about it just proves it has been far too long." Harry didn't say anything, he didn't know what he was supposed to say. He hadn't realised it was so obvious that he was working so hard, and neither did he know how to respond to the concern he could hear clearly in Sirius's voice.
He felt Sirius sigh again and then he was pulled onto his godfather's lap and nestled against Sirius's chest. He relaxed, letting the tiredness he had been fighting to hold at bay sweep through him. Instinctively he burrowed deeper into the embrace, resting his head against the animagus's shoulder. He felt Sirius start to stroke his fingers through his hair as his godfather spoke again, "It hurts me to see you like this pup," he murmured gently, "You're hurting yourself and I have to watch you do it."
Harry felt his cheeks heat as a rush of shame filled him. He hadn't meant to hurt his godfather. "I just want to find a solution," he whispered, voice cracking slightly.
Discover moreBooks & LiteratureCrossover storiesAuthor resourcesAnimeFictionPress integration"I know pup," Sirius murmured in response, "But you don't need to work yourself to the ground doing it. I promised I will help you and I'm going to keep that promise. You will not go into that task not knowing what to do and what you are facing. But," his voice turned stern and Harry couldn't meet his godfather's gaze, "I will not let you risk your health as you try to work out the clue."
He paused before he continued, his words and voice chiding and Harry felt his face burn at the rebuke, "You've been staying up to the small hours, doing nothing but research in your free time and that stops now understood?" Harry just nodded, unwilling to look up and see the disappointment in Sirius's eyes as the man continued, "You will go to bed at decent hours, eat regular meals and remember to have some fun and enjoy yourself, as well as preparing for the tournament, understood?"
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat to croak out an answer, "Yes Sirius," he replied, his voice scratchy. He had never been bothered when his teachers or his Aunt and Uncle reprimanded him, he had never been afraid of disappointing them, only of the beatings that his uncle would dish out, the rebuke itself hadn't usually stung but it was far far different to hear the rebuke in his godfather's voice. For the first time he had an adult who cared for him and conversely who's opinions mattered to him and to hear the disappointment in his voice was much worse than anything any teacher could say.
He felt the arms holding him relax, then Sirius's hand came up and gently started to rub his back, calming him down, helping him to relax as Sirius's voice softened once more. "I know you're worried pup, and I know you didn't mean to hurt yourself but you need to trust me and remember that you are not alone now and that I will help you."
And with those words Harry knew his godfather had hit the issue spot on. He had forgotten that he could go to his godfather whenever he needed to, despite Sirius being there and he had somehow slipped back into the mindset of having to do everything himself and as such he had been working as if he couldn't get help. It was too easy to do, before this year he had never had an adult to help him through the problems he had faced and he supposed he had just been to unfamiliar with everything to let Sirius help him properly. "I'm sorry," he murmured, not quite sure which of his failings he was apologising for but knowing he needed to do so nonetheless.
Sirius smiled tenderly at him, "You're forgiven Harry, just remember I am always here for you."
"I will," Harry answered, completely sincerely, and thankful once again that he had been lucky enough to have Sirius as his godfather.
The animagus leant down and kissed his messy hair, "Good." He said quietly.
Harry smiled slightly, then buried himself deeper in Sirius's embrace, closing his eyes and beginning to drift off in the safety and security of his godfather's arms and the knowledge that Sirius loved and cared for him. He was almost asleep when Sirius shook his shoulder lightly, pulling him out of his slumber. "Sirius?" He questioned groggily.
Discover moreComicsBook recommendationsCookiesAnime & MangaFiction writing guides"You need to eat something before you go to bed," his godfather told him gently, "The house-elves have just brought our supper up here, you can go back to sleep once you've eaten."
For a moment Harry considered grumbling but Sirius's rebuke rang in his memory and he swallowed down his complaints. He had disappointed his godfather and he didn't intend to do so again, the tone in Sirius's voice when he had reprimanded him had filled him with shame and it was a feeling he wanted to avoid repeating. Blinking back sleep he forced himself to sit upright, slipping off Sirius's lap and back onto the sofa, although he was still leaning heavily against the animagus. Now that he had almost fallen asleep he didn't want to wake up again. He had been comfortable, warm and safe, and he didn't want to let go of the feeling. Not to mention all his limbs felt leaden and it was an effort even to keep his eyes open.
A tray was placed in his lap and he looked upwards to see concerned grey eyes looking down at him. "You're worse than I thought," he heard Sirius mutter before an arm slipped back around his shoulders, supporting him as he slowly ate his supper. The instant he was finished the tray was removed and his godfather helped him to his feet. "Bed," he said firmly, leading Harry into his room, "And if I see you up before ten tomorrow morning you will be straight back into bed is that clear?"
Harry was too tired to do anything but nod. Instead of waking him the food had had the opposite effect and he was practically asleep on his feet. A few scant minutes later he was safe under the covers as Sirius reached out to tuck him. He knew he should be embarrassed, he wasn't a little child after all but as Sirius tugged the blankets up and tucked him in, pressing a kiss onto his forehead it was easy to forget his embarrassment and to just enjoy the sensation of having someone who loved him deeply, and actually worried about him enough to look after him when he didn't look after himself because his Aunt and Uncle had never cared. It was his last thought before sleep claimed him.
Harry frowned in concentration as he cast the detection spell at the golden egg. After several nights of going to bed early, eating properly and spending the days doing things that were not related to the tournament whatsoever Sirius had finally allowed him to continue to work on the egg, albeit with restricted hours, only two nights after school and for seven hours at the weekend. He had to admit that he was feeling a lot better for it, and strangely enough, he wasn't as panicky or frustrated as he had been the previous week. It was still slow going but everything was back in proportion now, and he felt a little embarrassed about how worked up he had managed to get in the space of a fortnight.
The spell glanced off the polished metal surface, sharply reminding Harry that he couldn't allow his attention to wander. The detection spell itself was not that difficult, not to mention it was extremely useful because it would list all the spells that had been cast on a particular object however the problem with it was that the caster had to be extremely accurate because the spell would only work if it hit the object in precisely the right place.
He narrowed his eyes as he cast the spell again, focusing all his attention on the egg and a smile of triumph spread across his features as he managed to hit the egg spot on and it started to glow as a quill scratched across a sheet of parchment, recording all the information the spell could glean from the egg.
A few seconds later the scratching stopped and confused Harry reached out and picked up the parchment. He had expecting that it would take a lot longer to discover the enchantments, he didn't think it would have been as simple as to only have a couple of charms on it. He glanced down the paper, noting the ordinary protection charms that were designed to keep it safe when it was in the nest made up the bulk of the spells. Out of the entire list only two things really stood out, firstly a recording charm which indicated that whatever that screeching actually was, it was a real sound not some sort of encrypted code, and secondly a water based charm that he couldn't quite divine the meaning off.
Harry looked at it for a few more moments, puzzling over the clues the parchment had given him before he turned to his godfather who had been standing behind him reading the parchment over his shoulder, a question forming on his lips but Sirius held his hand up to stall him. "I don't know precisely what the second charm is pup," he told him, "But it reminded me of something, sometimes sounds or magical languages can only be understood in a certain environment, and from what I can see here, I'm guessing that whatever that screeching is will be a little easier to understand if you listen to it underwater."
"How am I supposed to do that?" He asked, looking at the large golden egg which was sitting innocently on the table in front of him. It certainly didn't seem like an easy thing to do, particularly as the dorms and Sirius's quarters only had showers. Sirius's brow furrowed for a moment before it smoothed out, "There's a room, behind a tapestry on the seventh floor that will become anything you ask for, and if you asked for a swimming pool or even a deep bath you'd be able to listen to it easily."
"I've never seen a room like that up there, or one on the Map?" He asked slightly puzzled but Sirius was already shaking his head,
"It isn't on the Map, for some reason it would never show up when we tried to mark it, and the room only appears if you walk in front of that tapestry with the dancing trolls on it three times, thinking of what you need."
Harry looked at Sirius oddly for a moment but then, remembering he had seen far stranger things happen when magic was involved and knowing that his godfather was the person he would least expect to lie to him, particularly about something important, he shrugged and complied. "I'll go and try it out, it was the tapestry with the dancing trolls right?" Sirius nodded in answer.
"I expect you'll be back in half an hour or so, unless you wanted me to come with you?" Harry shook his head in response. He knew that the offer was made kindly but he needed to prove to himself that he was able to work on the egg without driving himself into a panic. He saw his godfather smile at him in understanding, "Go and figure it out pup, then come back and tell me what you discovered." He told him and Harry smiled in response. Even though he needed to prove to himself that he was capable of working independently on the egg, it warmed his heart to know of the unconditional support Sirius offered him without a second thought.
Picking the egg up he headed towards the portrait hole but not before he sent a murmured, "I'll be back soon," in the direction of his godfather and saw the man smile tenderly at him in response before sitting down at the desk and starting to work his way through the pile of essays on the desk.
Harry headed purposefully up to the seventh floor, his eyes peeled as he searched for the tapestry. Finding it, he covertly glanced up and down the corridor, checking that nobody was coming, he didn't want anyone like Malfoy seeing him entering the room, as the last thing he wanted was for somebody to come and bother him when he was listening to the egg in the bath. Quickly he strode up and down in front of the wall three times, focussing his thoughts on a large bath, almost a jacuzzi, where he would be able to listen to the egg without going out of his depth, as swimming had been something the Dursleys had never bothered to spend money to teach him to do.
As he complete his third pass a large metal door materialised in the wall opposite the tapestry, and checking his surroundings once more Harry pushed the door open and stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was that the room was exactly what he had asked for. A large stone tub, about as big as the Jacuzzi's he had seen through the windows of the sports centre back in Little Whinging , was sunk into the floor in the centre of the room, tendrils of steam rising up from it. From where he was standing it looked to be about waist deep and the bubbles that covered its surface and the steam rising from the surface made the whole pool look very inviting.
Harry quickly changed into a pair of swimming trunks that appeared helpfully on one of the benches that ran around the edges of the room, before sinking into the warm water. He enjoyed the sensation for a few minutes before his mind returned to the task in hand and he plucked the egg of the edge of the tub, placing it under the water and sucking in a deep breath before ducking his head under the water and opening the egg, braced for the awful screeching he was expecting to erupt.
But instead, beautiful, ethereal music floated into his ears.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour – the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
With a gasp he surfaced, sucking in oxygen as he contemplated what he had just heard. Sirius had been right, the clue was easy to hear once he had put the egg under water, and it seemed his suspicion it was a magical creature speaking was correct. It took several dips and a helpful piece of parchment and quill that the room provided before he was certain he had got the whole message written down correctly.
Thinking about it he realised that the clue was actually quite straight forward and it gave him a lot more information than it first appeared to. To start with he knew the duration of the task, one hour and he knew it would take place underwater, and therefore the Black Lake as it was the only place that could stage a large underwater task in Hogwarts. He would be searching for something, precisely what it was the message didn't tell him, although it did him a clue, namely the fact he would sorely miss it, which indicated it would be something of value to him that the judges knew about. So probably not his invisibility cloak, photograph album, or even his Firebolt. But thinking about it, he realised the precise object didn't matter at the moment - heck they might even ask him to give them something to hide - what was much more pressing was the fact that he had to be able to find a way to breathe underwater for an hour, and that he needed to become a competent swimmer before February.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts. There was no use getting bogged down in everything that he still had to do, that was the sort of thinking that had led to him neglecting his own needs so completely just a week ago, and if he looked at it realistically he knew that he had come a huge way in the last half an hour, not to mention that he knew Sirius would be able to help him, so there was no need to panic. He reminded himself forcefully that he did have nearly two months before the Second Task, and surely that would be long enough to work out some sort of plan and practice one, especially with Sirius's help. After all, he had only had a couple of weeks to sort out how he would get past the Horntail, and they had managed that time so there was no reason why he couldn't be ready this time around, particularly when he had so much longer to prepare.
His intuition had been right; Sirius was easily able to help him out in regards for the second task. The moment he had told his godfather what the clue was, the animagus had immediately come up with several solutions, a bubblehead charm, gillyweed and a potion; seemingly many of the Marauders pranks had required the ability to breathe for long periods of time either underwater or in particularly foul smelling environments.
With solutions provided all Harry had then required was practice and as such he had two swimming lessons a week in the Room of Requirement, coupled with practice sessions for the bubblehead charm, the other compounds and non-verbal casting. It was Sirius's intention that he should go into the task with every possible way of breathing underwater, so if something went wrong he would have plenty of backup, plus the ability to cast spells should he need to. The last thing his godfather wanted was a repeat of the dragon situation.
But the other thing Harry suddenly found himself with was a lot more free time, with only about four hours a week dedicated to the tournament he discovered that keeping up to date with his homework was no longer a struggle and that he even had plenty of time to do his own things afterwards. However free time was something he could never hang onto for very long.
The announcement of the Yule Ball had sent most of the boys, including Harry into a perpetual state of nervousness and gloom, and he had seized the first opportunity after the announcement to escape to his godfather's quarters, knowing that the advice he would get from Sirius would be a lot more useful than anything the older boys or his dorm mates told him. But even if having to ask his godfather would be highly embarrassing, Harry knew it would be far more embarrassing if he got to the Yule Ball and didn't have a date and didn't have a clue about how to dance.
He hadn't been able to look Sirius in the eye when he rather haltingly explained what his problem was but thankfully his godfather hadn't laughed,
"From what you've told me I'm guessing you've never asked anyone out before?" He'd asked kindly, sitting down on the sofa and patting the seat next to him. Face flaming Harry shook his head, perching a little uncomfortably on the edge of the indicated seat. Sirius just smiled gently at him,
"It isn't as hard as you think it's going to be pup, the girls will be just as nervous as you, waiting for somebody to ask them and remember this probably won't be the person you end up marrying, or the person who will become your girlfriend. The best advice I can give you is, unless you are sure there is somebody you fancy who fancies you in return, you should ask somebody you know well, who isn't already somebody's girlfriend and who you will be able to talk easily and have a good time with."
Harry bit his lip, the advice was certainly good, he definitely didn't want to spend the whole evening with somebody he couldn't talk to at all and whilst he had a crush on Cho Chang he realised he actually knew very little about her, and as for her fancying him in return he was fairly sure she probably didn't. He knew that if he asked her he was liable to embarrass himself totally, not to mention he thought he had spotted her at Hogsmede with Cedric, and that probably meant she would be asked out by him and he didn't want the awkwardness of being rejected.
"How do I, you know, um, ask somebody?" He stuttered out.
"Firstly be polite," Sirius answered, "That was probably where James went wrong for six years, yelling 'Evans will you go with me to Hogsmede' across the hall at breakfast is not a good idea if you actually want them to accept." Harry chuckled at that, and some of his discomfort at the topic evaporated as his godfather continued, "And secondly be honest and be yourself. You want the girl to go with Harry Potter, not the Boy-Who-Lived and thirdly be nice about it. Ask her nicely after lessons or in a break or something and if she says no just smile and thank her before considering who else you might want to ask."
Harry nodded, it sounded a lot easier now he had talked to his godfather, and if he thought about it, he knew there were a few people it would be nice to ask and who he thought wouldn't reject him.
There was another problem though, "Um, I also, um, don't know how to dance?" He phrased it somewhat awkwardly but Sirius didn't appear phased in the slightest.
"I'll teach you pup, knowing how to dance was a requirement for any Black, one of the few parts of 'pureblood' training that was even remotely enjoyable. It won't be a problem." Harry smiled, at least now he knew he wouldn't make a complete fool of himself.
"Thanks Sirius," he said sincerely. His godfather had merely smiled and reached over to ruffle his hair.
And so dance lessons had also been added to his schedule, although they stopped being private when both Ron and Neville found out and begged to join, they had quickly become a highly amusing part of the week as the three boys laughed and joked around even as Sirius taught them the basics and Harry found he was immensely enjoying the chance to act like a normal teenager, without having to worry about saving the school or the tournament for a few short hours.
But whilst his dancing was coming along and he was becoming reasonably competent, he still didn't have a date for the ball which was why he was waiting nervously in front of the Charms classroom waiting for the Hufflepuffs to emerge. He'd thought a lot about what Sirius had said and had quickly come to the conclusion that aside from Hermione, who he already knew was going with Krum, the only other girls he really knew were Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott and to a certain extent Ginny Weasely.
But out of those three Susan Bones was the person he found it easiest to talk to and get along with. She, unlike most of the sheep was not enamoured by his fame, and after meeting her Aunt he understood precisely why that was, but over the last term she had also become a good friend, especially when she had been one of the few, along with the Weasleys, Hermione and Neville who believed that he hadn't put his name in the cup. He hadn't a clue if she would ever be anything but a good friend, but for the Yule Ball a good friend and somebody he could have a good time with was somebody he needed much more than a crush.
Spotting her coming out of Flitwick's class he hurried over, swallowing down his nerves as he did so. No matter how easy Sirius had made it sound, asking a girl out, even to a social event where everyone needed dates was still hard! "Would you mind if I had a word with you in private Susan?" He asked politely, if this was going to go belly up, he would rather it didn't happen whilst everyone was watching.
She smiled at him and nodded, turning to murmur something to Hannah before she stepped into a nearby classroom after him. Harry ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture he'd picked up from Sirius as he sucked in a deep breath. Susan was watching him, her eyebrow tilted in curiosity, and he swallowed, it was suddenly much harder than he thought it would be and he dreaded to think how hard it would have been to ask somebody he had a crush on.
"I was wondering if, well, if you would like to accompany me to the Yule Ball?" He managed to stutter out, dropping his gaze the instant he finished speaking, a flush staining his cheeks as he waited for a reply. He didn't have to wait long.
"I'd be happy to Harry," he breathed out a sigh of relief, then she grinned somewhat impishly at him, "The offer couldn't have come at a better time," she told him teasingly, "Ernie Macmillian has been trying to catch my eye, and whilst I've nothing against him as a person, pompous is too kind a word to describe him." Harry couldn't suppress a snort at that, he completely agreed with the assessment, "At least with you I'll be able to have some decent conversation."
"Thanks Susan," he said sincerely. She just smiled at him and shrugged,
"I probably should be saying thanks to you, now I know I'll be able to spend the evening with a friend, just don't step on my toes Potter or I'll get Aunty to arrest you!" They both laughed and the last of the awkwardness vanished as they both headed off to find their other friends and make a start on the homework, that despite it only being a couple of weeks from Christmas, the teachers were still piling on them.
AN, And that's the next instalment folks. And before I get any grief about the Yule Ball, I will say this, I have not yet decided on what pairing this story will have, whether I'll go with canon or do something different, so by that same account, just because Harry is going with Susan does not mean that I'm pairing them together, I just thought as she knows Harry more in my story, she would be a suitable match for the Yule Ball as I think in canon, for Harry the Yule Ball was an unmitigated disaster.