When Harry woke up it was to a throbbing pain in his shoulder. Even without his glasses he could clearly tell where was. The Hospital Wing again. His searching hand managed to find his glasses. Sliding them onto his nose, Harry sat up for a look around. His struggles unfortunately didn't go unnoticed.
"Mr. Potter, what on earth do you think you're doing?!" Madam Pomfrey bustled over, looking highly put out with her most frequent and intractable patient. "Why won't you ever just stay down and rest?" Her wand was already out and performing diagnostics. Harry never could read his healer but the lack of tutting and clucking gave him hope.
"Well, Mr. Potter, your scapula was shattered to the point where I had to vanish it and feed you Skelegrow. It has healed rather nicely but you will be wearing a sling to give it the proper amount of rest. Are you feeling any pain in that area?"
"Not really." Madam Pomfrey eyed him for a moment before poking him firmly in the shoulder. His hiss of pain didn't seem to surprise her. She fetched an ointment and began rubbing it into his shoulder while admonishing him to always be completely honest with his healer. She finished it off by putting his arm in a sling as she had promised. Harry found the experience rather humiliating and couldn't imagine why Malfoy would have willingly walked around with one of the damn things in third year.
"Your shoulder will be right as rain tomorrow if properly rested. Your magical core is another matter entirely. While I can't help but be thankful for your actions against that dragon, the fact remains that you completely drained your core. You will not perform any magic whatsoever until Monday at the earliest. If you manage to behave today I will release you after classes. If, I said if, Mr. Potter. If I release you, you will be back here Sunday evening after dinner and I will evaluate your magical core and we'll see if you can rejoin your classes the day after. Am I clear, young man?" Harry decided discretion was the better part of valour and simply nodded. "Very well then." A flick of her wand arranged his pillow and few others so that he could lean into them and maintain a sitting position. "An elf will bring your breakfast in a moment. You will eat every scrap of it." She waited for his nod before she moved back to her office.
When breakfast was delivered Harry realized that her admonition had been completely unnecessary; he was ravenous. After polishing off his meal he called for Winky and asked for his Runes book. It would give him something constructive to do while he sat out his sentence. Feeling Madam Pomfrey's eyes on him he made sure to only use his good hand to read the book.
Lunch brought a very welcome distraction in the form of Luna and Hermione coming to visit. Both girls were clearly very happy to see him awake. Hermione had even brought him his post as Madam Pomfrey didn't allow owls in the infirmary. The way they were watching him when she handed it over to him gave a feeling he was about to be pranked, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what kind of prank Hermione of all people would pull on his mail while he was in the Hospital Wing. Added to that was his expectation that she would have ripped into him over recklessly flying out to fight a dragon and getting injured in the process, leaving Harry completely wrong-footed. Hermione handed him what looked like a newspaper with a front page sized note.
Harry,
You are pretty good for business. Keep this up and I won't even regret our arrangement. You still
owe me an interview though.
Rita
Curious what had brought this on he took the note off of what he assumed was the Daily Prophet. He took one look at the paper and he was blushing like a beetroot. There was a picture of him pulling the sword from the Horntail's eye and giving it to Fawkes and it took up the whole front page. It didn't look anything like his recollection of the event though. The spike through his shoulder was barely visible as it was turned away from the camera. When his picture pulled the sword out, it held it over his head just as Fawkes flashed into view. The phoenix's wings were spread wide as it landed on the hilt of the sword before the image repeated itself. To finish of his embarrassment at the bottom of the page was the headline.
KNIGHT OF THE LIGHT
"Wha-…bu-…I…" Harry wasn't even sure how to vocalize his discomfort with this situation. The girls didn't have that problem in the slightest and were having trouble holding each other up they were laughing so hard.
"Have…have you read the article yet?" Hermione managed to hiccup between bouts of laughter. With trembling hands Harry opened the paper and started to read. The article described the amazing flight of a teenage hero against a storybook monster. The whole thing set him up as some kind of fantasy hero and ended with him mourning the noble beast he had been forced to slay due to the organizers incompetence. This assertion was backed up by a picture of Harry standing with his hand on the Horntail's snout with his head bowed for a long time. I was about to fall over. I wasn't being noble. It wasn't that Harry was particularly happy or proud as a result of killing the dragon, the opposite in fact, but the way the article told it was so sensationalized that he could barely cope. Leafing through the paper revealed interviews with a lot of witnesses and finally, on page 8, a report of the task itself. Harry noticed that he was in first place having received the full fifty points. Krum was in second place with forty points followed by Cedric and Fleur, each with thirty eight points. Throughout, Harry's mounting horror was clear on his face and had the girls in stitches all over again. Desperate to change the subject away from anything even remotely to do with him Harry cast about for anything that might distract them.
"So how is Ron taking all of this?" he asked, gesturing at the paper. If Harry had looked for a better way to stop the snickers he wouldn't have found one. Hermione scowled and her breathing returned to normal within a few breaths and Luna just looked uncomfortable.
"Ronald has been absolutely insufferable." Hermione growled out. "The Headmaster apparently asked him to take care of the golden egg for you. Now Ronald carries it everywhere with him. He is constantly answering questions on your behalf that I am sure he can't even begin to guess the actual answers to. I even heard him promising some students that you would give them an autograph. When I told them that you had never given an autograph in your life he just gave me a smug little smile and pointed out that he was the one entrusted with the egg!" Hermione was so worked up with indignation that she couldn't continue her rant. Harry looked over at Luna to see if she had anything to add.
"I'm sure that Ronald is simply fighting of a Floating Blowguard infestation. It is their mating season and they can be persistent while it lasts." It was moments like this that Harry wondered exactly how many of Luna's theories were the truth presented as nonsense.
"I take it Ron is getting a lot of attention from girls?" he asked just to clear up his suspicions.
"Enough that he wouldn't come with us to visit you. He is acting like he hasn't spent the better part of a month being a complete and utter pillock!" Harry just sighed. He had thought that Ron would simply mutter an uninspired apology like last time and they could go back to being friends. This behavior was…well Harry couldn't say it was unexpected. Ron loved the spotlight as much as Harry hated it.
"Well, I'll be out with good behavior after classes. I'll have to take the damn thing back then and Ron will hopefully calm down a little." Hermione looked extremely doubtful about the whole thing but didn't say anything more on the subject. They talked a little about Harry's health before the girls had to leave for classes. When a blushing Hermione asked if she could have his copy of the Daily Prophet since she was putting together a scrapbook Harry had given it to her without hesitation. He certainly didn't need an extra source of embarrassment lying around. Hermione carefully put the paper in her book bag, gave him a kiss on the cheek and left him sitting there staring after her, slack-jawed while a giggling Luna skipped out after her friend. He slowly raised one hand to his cheek where her lips had touched. After a few moments he shook himself out of his daze and grabbed his book to continue studying. He didn't notice when his hand drifted up to his cheek several times during the course of his reading.
:-:-:-:-:
Harry had just finished a chapter when his studies were interrupted by the doors of the infirmary opening to admit a redhead. It looked like Charlie had stopped by for a visit. When the second Weasley brother made a beeline for him, Harry closed his book and put it on the bedside table. The second oldest Weasley son looked incredibly uncomfortable.
"So Harry, I haven't seen you since the world cup." Charlie was being a lot more awkward than Harry was used to from the summer at the Burrow.
"It's okay Charlie, I know you're just here to keep an eye on Krum." Harry told him with a wink. "As far as we can tell Ron's virtue is still intact though."
"You've been spending too much time with Fred and George." Charlied responded with a grateful grin. "They're the only ones who think Ronnie's got a chance with Krum. The rest of us know he's destined to end up with Galvin Gudgeon." Harry snorted at Charlie's reference to the seeker for Ron's favourite team.
"So what brings you here?" asked Harry. He saw some of the levity leave Charlie's expression.
"I'm here to apologize on behalf of the Gemenele Dragon Preserve for our failure. The handlers were supposed to deal with any dragon going rogue, but we fled and left you to deal with the problem. In the process of doing our jobs for us you were injured making our failure that much worse. As compensation we are willing to render and sell your dragon carcass for you free of charge. It's the least we could do." Charlie's speech was delivered in a stiff, formal tone, leaving Harry very aware that he wasn't speaking to his friend's brother but the Preserve's representative. He had a feeling that turning down this offer would insult the Preserve and put Charlie in an awkward position. There was one thing he needed to clear up before he accepted though.
"Charlie, what do you mean 'my dragon carcass'?"
"It's international law. 'The remains of any magical creature with a danger rating of XXXXX that is destroyed in defense of human lives, magical or non-magical, will belong to the one who dealt the death blow.' Since the Horntail went feral and attacked the spectators and you killed it, its remains are yours." That made sense, sort of. The important thing right now was that if he didn't accept Charlie's offer he was apparently still stuck with a dead dragon and no idea of how to deal with it.
"In that case I'd be honored to accept your offer to, er, render and sell the remains was it?" At Charlie's grin and nod Harry felt much better. "What else has that kind of rating?" Hermione probably knew the answer but Charlie was an expert on the subject and, perhaps more importantly, available for a friendly interrogation.
"Well, let's see, there's Manticores, Lethifolds, Acromantula, I think werewolves are technically classed as a 5-X beast..." Harry felt something niggling at his brain as he listened to Charlie list some of the deadliest animals known to wizard-kind.
"Would a basilisk be classed as 5-X?" The niggling was becoming a full-blown suspicion as he watched Charlie's face.
"Without a doubt. Any reason you asked about basilisks specifically?" Of course there was. Here was a chance to get the beast's venom without potentially killing himself.
"Well, how are your team at rendering things beside dragons and can I hire you?" Charlie looked disbelieving.
"Are you telling me you have a dead basilisk stashed away somewhere?" With a grin Harry began to tell his visitor all about his second year at Hogwarts. Charlie had heard the tale from his mother and had written it off as too much wine and a particularly lurid Witch Weekly article. Hearing it from someone who had actually been there was very different. Harry made the story come alive in a way that had Charlie itching to get down there. Eventually they agreed that Charlie and his team would render the basilisk down to useful components and sell them for a percentage of the profit. This lead to a discussion about whether Harry should keep any parts of the animals being rendered and if so which bits might be useful. The conversation rather brilliantly whiled away the afternoon until it was interrupted by Harry's stomach letting out a loud growl.
"Sounds like another 5-X beast right there." Charlie laughed. "I'll get out of here before Madam Pomfrey decides to come over and pop me in bed just in case." Harry felt heat rush to his cheeks as he blushed.
"I know what you mean but unfortunately I'm stuck here. Still, thanks for alleviating my boredom. I owe you one." Charlie grinned at the young man he had just spent a very enjoyable afternoon with.
"No problem. You don't mention how Ron knew to warn you about the dragon and we're even." He laughed for a moment before realizing that Harry wasn't joining in. Looking over he saw that the teenager had gone white as a sheet.
"Ron knew about the dragons?" Charlie didn't think shock like that could be faked, but then again Fred and George might have found a protégé.
"Nice try, Harry, but I saw you take down that dragon. You knew what was coming and so did the others."
"Charlie, Ron hasn't spoken to me since Halloween. I knew about the dragons because I got curious about the flashes of light in the forest about a week before the task." Charlie felt as sick as Harry looked at that revelation. Harry though had just had a horrible thought. "Did you write anyone else in your family?"
"Well, Mum knew that I was coming to Hogwarts for work. Would have been in for a howler if I hadn't let her know I was in the country. Might still be in for one, having made you face a dragon." The attempt at humor fell flat. Harry's head was hanging down, his shoulders were slumped and everything about him looked as if an enormous weight was pulling him down. "There might still be an explanation, Harry. Maybe he never got the letter. Maybe the owl got lost. Ron wouldn't let you face a dragon unaware if he could help it." Harry's head moved in a nod but never really lifted. Charlie spent a few more moments trying to cheer him up but eventually left him to digest everything. Charlie knew Harry was doubting his and Ron's friendship right now and, much as he might wish it otherwise, Charlie was experiencing a tendril of doubt himself. He shook himself and ruthlessly quashed it. There was no way his little brother had done something that was tantamount to attempted murder.
:-:-:-:-:
Hermione and Luna had agreed to meet up after class to get Harry from the Hospital Wing and escort him down to dinner together. Hermione was especially looking forward to getting Harry alone at some point to grill him about the shield he had used to protect everyone from the dragon's fire. It was not on for her best friend to know an impressive piece of magic like that and not teach her. She was prepared to beg, bargain and bully her way into private classes with Harry and that shield would be first on the list. Or maybe the Patronus Charm, she hadn't decided yet but the idea of learning either spell filled her with an immense desire to start studying right away. When the two girls finally got to the Hospital Wing they found a very different Harry to the one they had left behind. He sat hunched over and unmoving on the bed. It was like the very air around him was heavy with somber thoughts. They shared a look before moving over to the bed.
"Hello, Harry. Ready to get out of here?" Hermione had decided to try and pull him out of his funk by being as lighthearted as she had hoped he would be. Being the lighthearted one was awfully unfamiliar for her though. Usually she relied on her boys to stop her from being too serious. When Harry looked up at the sound of her voice she gasped. His eyes were those of a broken man. Something terrible must have happened. "Harry, what's wrong?!"
"Ron knew about the dragons." Whatever she had been expecting, that was not it. The statement made no sense to her. Ron might be a prat sometimes, or more accurately most times, but he was Harry's best friend same as she was. She might not have a lot of experience with best friends but she was sure you didn't let one face a dragon unprepared if you could help it.
"Harry, are you sure? How do you even know anyway?" Harry looked at her for a moment and then started talking, unsteadily at first but more firmly as the story went on. He told them about Charlie coming to visit and their discussion on dangerous beasts and his claim on the dragon's carcass as well as the basilisk's. He told them how he had thanked Charlie and said he owed him one. He told them of Charlie's response and his attempts to explain why Ron would not have told Harry. Both girls were listening with rapt attention as the tale unfolded neither wanting to interrupt Harry in any way.
"After Charlie left I just couldn't get it out of my mind. I didn't think I could face Ron without knowing. So I asked Dobby if he would look through our dorm and see if there was a letter from Charlie there." Hermione almost throttled him when he went silent at the climax of the story except he was already reaching over to the bedside table. "He found this behind Ron's bed." With trembling hands she took the crumpled looking parchment that Harry was holding out to her. She felt Luna sidle up next to her as she started to read it. Phrases kept jumping out at her as she tried to keep her composure. You need to warn Harry…Fireball's weaknesses include…Stay clear of the Horntail…could very well die.
"That useless, scum-sucking sack of shit!" Both Harry and Hermione's heads snapped up at Luna's unexpected cursing to see the little blonde was shaking with tears in her eyes. "He knew. He knew you could die and he didn't once open his worthless gob! We could have lost you because that walking food-stain decided he didn't want to get off his arse!" She looked like she was going to fly apart at the seams and Hermione couldn't have been prouder of Harry than when he held his arm open in a clear invitation that Luna didn't hesitate to accept. She knew Harry wasn't exactly comfortable with human contact and for him to offer it to Luna now was a big step. She quickly joined them on the bed and in the hug.
"I'm sorry, it's just…you are my first and only friends at Hogwarts. I don't think I could take losing you. Either of you." Luna said from the middle of their tangle of arms.
"I know how you feel, Luna. Neither Harry nor I have a lot of friends either and you are very quickly becoming a very good one." Hermione squeezed the two people in her arms a little tighter. "What are we going to do next time we see him?" She felt Harry heaving a sigh as much as heard him.
"I can't speak for you, Hermione, but I don't think I can be friends with R-, with Weasley again, or if I could it will take a lot of time. His jealousy was one thing, but this…" Harry trailed off sounding miserable. It was clear that the loss of his first friend his own age was hitting him hard.
"Well I for one will not miss Ronald's constant insults towards anything that isn't quidditch, chess or food." Hermione sniffed. Levity was certainly more difficult than Harry and- than Harry had made it appear. "What about you, Luna?" Luna looked surprised that her opinion was wanted but in the circle of her friends' arms felt safe enough to give it.
"Ronald is the one who gave me the nickname 'Loony' and I certainly shan't miss him either." That bit of news caused a frown to appear on Harry's face. "Don't frown, Harry. It attracts Umgubular Slashkilters." Harry gave a snort at that and Luna got an extra squeeze.
"Alright, Harry. Let's get you discharged and we can have some dinner. I'll get Madam Pomfrey." When Hermione returned with the healer Luna was sitting in a chair beside the bed discussing the migratory patterns of the Crumple-Horned Snorcack with Harry. Right then Hermione decided that between the three of them they could get through this. Harry was discharged so quickly he actually became suspicious. He was however careful not to voice his suspicions until he was out of Madam Pomfrey's hearing. Hermione privately suspected that after an afternoon of looking at a seriously depressed Harry, Madam Pomfrey had decided that he needed some time with his friends.
When they got to the Great Hall the three friends had just enough time to see that most of the school was in attendance before the Hall was plunged into darkness. A moment later Hermione was blinded by what turned out to be a spotlight.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Please welcome to the Great Hall of Hogwarts-" Fred and George, I should have known.
"the Knight of the Light-"
"the Pride of the Lions-"
"the world's only living Dragonslayer-"
"the one-"
"the only-"
"Harry!"
"James!"
"POTTER!" Her friend's last name had been the bellowing finale to a steady crescendo and was met with thunderous applause. As the normal lighting in the Hall restored itself Hermione was surprised to see that all four houses were on their feet, cheering and applauding. Risking a glance to her side she had to fight the urge to giggle as Harry had once again started blushing. His humility is really one of his best features. And he doesn't half look cute when he blushes like that. The thought passed through her mind unremarked as Harry chose that exact moment to start walking rapidly to the Gryffindor table and she and Luna had to hurry to catch up. It was a good thing they did. When Harry got to the table he was treated to a round of backslaps, handshakes and eager thanks. Collin's camera was clicking like mad and several girls were already jockeying for position on his arms. She moved in quickly with Luna only half a step behind. She had to help Harry, his shoulder was still sore and she was sure this attention would cause him to bolt soon. She slipped in between Harry and a second year she thought was called Romilda Vane, who was practically salivating at being so close to him. She slid an arm around Harry's waist, shielding his injured arm and shoulder with her body and was rewarded with a deeply grateful look that warmed her heart. She smiled at him briefly before aiming a quick glare at the pouting girls that were trying to jostle her out of the way. Luna tried to claim Harry's good arm but was knocked out of the way by none other than Ginny Weasley.
"Harry! You saved my life again! I was hoping that I might be able to thank you sometime soon, in private." Is she…is she rubbing herself on Harry?! Hermione quickly glanced up to see how Harry was taking this newest development and was unaccountably pleased that he looked confused and a little uncomfortable.
"Harry, did you see where Luna went?" The confusion and discomfort dropped off of Harry's face as he started scanning the crowd around them. Ginny took advantage of Harry's distraction to aim a glare at Hermione that clearly said 'back off'. Hermione just responded with a disapproving look that left no doubts of her opinion of the youngest Weasley's tactics.
"There she is. Luna!" Hermione honestly tried not to smirk at Ginny's disappointed look when Harry's arm left her grasp to wave at Luna. "How on earth did she get all the way over there? She was right behind us wasn't she? Come on."
"Ahem! If you could all make your way to your own House tables for a moment." All the noise in the Great Hall stopped for a moment as the headmaster's voice managed to cut through it. It then resumed to a lesser degree as everyone rushed for their usual seats. Harry managed to snag a despondent Luna by the arm before she left for the Ravenclaw table.
"Come on, you're still sitting with us, Luna. If it wasn't a problem yesterday, it's not a problem today." He started pulling her over to their usual seats.
"But Harry, Professor Dumbledore just said-"
"Professor Dumbledore says a lot and the majority is demonstrably nonsense." Harry stopped for a moment to cast a look at Luna. "Unless, of course you want to sit at the Ravenclaw table?"
"NO!" She clutched onto Harry's arm desperately as he grinned and led the girls to their usual places. Hermione noticed that Ginny wasn't best pleased at the treatment Luna was receiving from Harry. Once everyone was seated the headmaster spoke up again.
"I would like to thank Misters Weasley for that memorable introduction of Mister Potter." The twins leapt up from their seats and began bowing extravagantly towards Dumbledore who bowed back every bit as enthusiastically to great amusement of the Hall. "Yes, yes. Well done. It is Mister Potter however that I wished to address." Harry looked up to meet the twinkling blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.
"Mister Potter, yesterday you showed your skill and determination and saved the lives of many of your fellow students as well as several noted guests. This went above and beyond anything we could have asked of you and I am therefore proud to award you a Special Award for Services to the School." The Hall erupted into applause and cheers as the students took the chance to once again thank the one who had saved their lives. Hermione's gasp went unheard amid the tumult as she realized that Harry would be immortalized in her favourite book for being the first student in the school's long history to win two of those awards; well that and a host of other reasons. Honestly, it was a bit disingenuous of the headmaster to single this particular incident out as more than they could ever have asked of her friend. That statement could have applied at any point after the troll in first year and no one had seemed too bothered then. When the noise began to die down the headmaster had one final thing to add.
"I am sure you are all immensely grateful to Mister Potter for his actions but I must ask that you allow him to study and eat in peace. As Madam Pomfrey just reminded me: he is still recovering from injuries sustained yesterday and could likely do without those injuries being pounded on by eager well-wishers. She also mentioned that Mister Potter should eat a full meal to recover." Harry had been casting grateful looks at the head table until that last remark when the look turned decidedly aggrieved. "Now, please enjoy your meal." At the headmaster's pronouncement the plates filled and everyone started trying to eat and stare at Harry at the same time.
Harry had wondered how he was supposed to eat with only one arm and no magic when a plate with food already cut into bite-sized pieces appeared in front of him. He resolved to do something nice for Dobby and Winky in the near future and tucked in. As his plate emptied Harry spent more and more time looking around the Great Hall trying to decide whether he was more disturbed by the people who looked away when he caught their eyes and pretended to be engrossed with their meal until he looked away or the ones who just kept staring. He did eventually notice something that had him turning to Luna.
"Say, Luna, did something happen in Ravenclaw. A lot of them keep flinching."
"Well a lot of things happen in Ravenclaw every day. The flinching is probably just because you scare them." Harry stared at his blonde friend.
"Why on earth would I scare them?" Her gaze was as dreamy as it had ever been as she answered him.
"You did just kill a dragon with nothing but a sword and a broom, Harry. I suppose that they are worried I will ask you to hurt them. A lot of my possessions have disappeared over the years. Quite a few of them have found their way back to my bed today already." Harry could practically feel his blood pressure spike at Luna's casual comment. His glare snapped over to the Ravenclaw table.
"Have they now?" His voice was laced with a promise of violence. The Ravenclaws had noticed the conversation taking place at the Gryffindor table and Harry's reaction seemed to confirm some of their worst fears. Four girls ran from the Hall in stark terror.
"Yes, they have and I imagine when I get up to Ravenclaw Tower tonight several more will have joined them. You don't have to hurt them, Harry, really." Harry looked over at Luna and gave her a single nod. "If they start bullying you again though I am tearing that damn tower apart stone by stone." Luna just smiled at him and continued arranging her tower of Yorkshire pudding with functioning baby-carrot catapults.
:-:-:-:-:
It wasn't until Harry and Hermione got back to the Gryffindor common room that they ran into the confrontation they had been dreading. Despite having just had dinner Fred and George had found the time and energy to set up a party welcoming Harry back, celebrating his win and celebrating the fact that he had saved the school. Any one of these was a good enough excuse for the twins to throw a party; all three at the same time nearly obliged them to do it. Harry and Hermione had taken a route to the common room that passed close by Ravenclaw tower and said goodnight to Luna before enjoying the walk up to Gryffindor tower together. When they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave the password she didn't get the chance to swing open all the way before eager hands were pulling the pair in.
If the party celebrating Harry's entry into the tournament had been loud, this one shook the rafters. After all, Gryffindor's Champion had proven to the world that they were the best house at the best school. Clearly everywhere else was worse if they couldn't beat a Gryffindor, even if they were given a three year head start. Most of the people thinking these thoughts managed to conveniently ignore that they had been ignoring or bad mouthing the champion they were now so proud of. One of those people also happened to be holding a golden egg. Ron knew he had to apologize to Harry. He had never even heard of a picture taking up the entire front page of the Daily Prophet before. If they were going to be printing Harry's photos like that then Ron Weasley knew where he needed to be. It was going to require an apology and Ron knew that. He also knew that he had better make it a good one, but that didn't mean he would be doing it in front of the whole school. Honestly, Ron would prefer to do it in an empty common room, but he couldn't hang on to the golden egg any longer with the Golden Boy returning to the tower. Although, perhaps Harry would let him hang on to the egg since he would be busy with the party. Ron certainly hoped so, the thing was a bloody bird magnet. So when Harry and Hermione were dragged into the common room and cheered he started making his way over. He let the quidditch team go first to soften them up. After all, even Fred and George had believed that Harry had entered his own name and Harry could do with a reminder of that. When the chasers had moved aside it was Ron's time to shine.
"Harry, mate! Here is your egg. Dumbledore asked me to take care of it for you." He shoved the egg into Harry's good hand. "If you ever need someone to look after it again you know you can trust me to do it. Oh, and I'm sorry about the whole, well…you know." He could see it in Harry's face, Harry had missed having his best mate around and being cooped up in the library with Hermione all day. This apology was in the bag. "Hey, do you think you could talk McGonagall into letting me ditch Binns' class too, I can nap better in my bed." Now that he had apologized to Harry he had one more thing to take care of before he got back to the party.
"Herms, care to help a bloke out with some assignments tomorrow? I could certainly use-" Ron was forced to stop speaking because his jaw was almost dislocated by the slap he had just received. He looked back at Hermione in shock only to see her red-faced and trembling with rage.
The whole common room had heard the slap and looked over to see what was going on. Even if they hadn't they would have easily been attracted to the scene by Hermione's tirade.
"How dare you, you miserable, little pus-boil?! You think that constituted an apology? That things will go back to the way they were now? You knew! You bloody well knew and you didn't say a word! You could have gotten Harry killed, you self-centered pile of krup-shit!" You could have knocked the whole of Gryffindor over with a single feather as they listened to Hermione Granger, whose distaste for vulgarity was legendary, blister the air. Hermione didn't have a feather handy but she certainly had a large amount of frustration left and concentrated into one act. The crunch of her fist breaking Ron's nose and knocking him arse over teakettle spurred at least the twins into action. They threw themselves between their little brother and the enraged young witch.
"Hermione! What's gotten into you?" asked Fred while keeping a careful eye on Hermione's fists.
"And what do you mean 'he knew'?" added George. Everyone may have been watching Hermione but it was Harry who answered.
"I had a visit from Charlie today in the Hospital Wing. It came up that he had sent Ron a letter asking him to warn me about the dragons. Ron never said a word." The twins looked at Harry for a second before turning their gazes toward Ron.
"Is that true, Ron?"
"And remember that we can just check with Charlie when you answer." Ron was glaring furiously at Hermione and gingerly holding his nose with one hand.
"Whad does id badder? Hawwy did fine!" he growled out. The twins swooped down on him and a moment later they were dragging him out the portrait hole by his armpits. Before they left George shouted over his shoulder, "You kids carry on. We'll just take Ronnikins here to the Hospital Wing and have a talk with him." The portrait swung shut behind them cutting off any response Ron might have made. It took a while for the party to start up again but it did. Harry received no more apologies that night and many of the girls who had been eyeing Harry up decided that perhaps this was not the right time to make a move. Hermione actually calmed down once Ron was removed from the common room but she kept a careful eye on Harry for the rest of the night. He was still recovering, after all.
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Sirius had been having a terrible day. He knew that last night had been the first task of the Tri-wizard Tournament. He also knew that his pup was going to be put in a life-threatening situation again and not one damn person in Hogsmeade had the decency to throw out their Daily Prophet. How was an escaped convict supposed to properly worry about his godson if the local populace wouldn't bloody well lend a hand. In the end he slunk further into the village in his dog form. When he got to Norton's Newsagents he could see the man was doing brisk business. How the hell was no one willing to throw a dog a bone when there were this many papers being sold. They had left him no option but to take matters into his own paws. He timed his run carefully so that he leaped between old Norton and the customer being handed the paper at the moment of exchange. The paper carefully clutched in his jaws and trying not to slobber too much, Padfoot hightailed it out of there to loud cursing from the men he had surprised.
When he got back to his cave Padfoot transformed into Sirius Black and cleaned his prize off with a wave of his wand. Picking up the paper he received such a shock that he almost dropped it again. What the hell, pup?!There on the front page was his little Harry looking damn grown up and powerful at the tender age of fourteen. Sirius was wracking his mind for any kind of story from his time at Hogwarts that could match up to what he was seeing in front of him. Still feeling shocked he settled in to read the stories attached. At the end he was impressed as hell with his godson and angry like he had rarely been at the organizers and Dumbledore in particular. Wasn't the headmaster supposed to be keeping his students safe? Sirius contemplated writing a howler to the headmaster demanding better care be taken of his godson. Sadly he didn't think today's tactics would work for getting the necessary materials. Taking another look at the paper Sirius started casting various preservation charms, including an Imperturbable Charm. He understood now why nobody wanted to throw this edition of the Daily Prophet out.