A/N: When would I write if it weren't for exams and deadlines?
I have spent so much time on the Harry Potter wiki this weekend... Did you know Mrs Figg was actually breeding kneazles/part-kneazles for a living?
The summer before their last year was exceptionally boring. The only exciting event was when Krista grabbed the opportunity of her family leaving for the Quidditch World Cup Final to run away with Ymir. Apparently, the money to buy an apartment in London was the only "gift" Krista's family had ever given her. That, and her new name.
Everyone was more than confused when they received the invitation for the "Funeral of Historia Reiss and the Birth of Krista Lenz" but after Krista got drunk enough off Firewhiskey to drop all her acts, they finally understood why she never talked about her family.
Apparently, she was an illegitimate child of the Reiss family, the biggest wizarding mafia organization in Britain, who was taken in by her father as the only heir after most of the family had been murdered. However, her father nor anyone else cared about her; she was only there as a figurehead and the last resort. As the family enemies could take advantage of her existence, she was stripped of her name, Historia Reiss, and given a new name she was to be known as. That was Krista Lenz.
Since her real name had always been connected to awful memories, loneliness and abuse while her fake alias was what reminded her of all her good memories, her friends, and girlfriend, when she decided to run away and cut all ties with her family, she also decided to leave her father's name behind and legally changed her name to Krista Lenz.
And thus, the Funeral and Birth of two names.
Ymir grumbled when she talked about it. It seemed she was against the idea of abandoning your name but Krista was dead set on going through with it. In the end even Ymir had to admit she seemed much happier now, with the burden that was her name gone.
"So what happened to getting married as soon as you're both seventeen?" Eren asked curiously, his chin resting on Levi's shoulder.
Ymir shrugged, her expression turning sour as she swirled her drink. "Well, we realized it would be more trouble than it would be fucking worth," she said bitterly. "Even if we went to Denmark how we wanted, it wouldn't be recognized here anyway so what's the point?"
There was a moment of sad silence. Everyone felt sorry for them, especially since Ymir looked like finally something was able to affect her and no one knew what to say or how to react. It only lasted a few seconds, however, before Ymir laughed like usual and threw herself on Krista. "Doesn't matter, I will marry her anyway, no matter how long I have to wait."
Grins spread on everyone's faces as they watched Krista reprimand her girlfriend as usual. It seemed like nothing was really different after all, even though so much changed for the girls themselves.
They drank the night away in blissful ignorance of the panic happening in Dartmoor right then.
"Fuck this weather," Levi complained as soon as he slipped inside the Entrance hall at Hogwarts.
"What are you saying, it's awesome! I wish I could go across the Lake with the first years!" Hanji cried in excitement.
"And you aren't even wet," Eren added with a pout. Both him and Hanji along with Isabel were wet head to toe as they made it their mission to jump into every single puddle they met on the short walk from the train to the carriage, and then from the carriage to the castle.
Levi sneered at them with disgust, warning them not to come close to him until they dried of, before going to dispel the waterproof charms he had in place all over himself. He shot Hanji a warning glare when he noticed she was grinning and holding her breath in anticipation, but she only grinned wider. He was so focused on the mad girl he didn't notice Eren biting his lip to keep himself from laughing, nor how Armin's eyes widened and fixed somewhere above his head.
And so, the second his protections fell away, he felt something hit his head, and suddenly, he was drenched. The Slytherin stood there in shock as Eren, Hanji, and Isabel rolled around in laughter, Armin backed slowly away and the others were looking around for the source of commotion and only blinking in confusion when they saw the state Levi was in.
"Nice one, Peeves."
Levi spun around impossibly fast just in time to witness Mikasa high-fiving the cackling poltergeist, before it bowed and ran, knowing from hard-earned experience it was a bad idea to linger in place after pranking the grumpy, short seventeen year old.
Levi could only close his eyes, shoot a few choice curses, wave his wand to dry himself off, and storm away, not sparing a single glance at any one of the traitors he had left behind.
Eren swore he'd apologize before the night came to an end but for now he had to savour the look on Levi's face.
Sitting at the Gryffindor table Eren tuned out the Sorting hat in favour of staring towards the other end of the hall at his long-time boyfriend, daydreaming – and occasionally chuckling at the memory of a few minutes ago. He made a mental note to thank Peeves when he next saw him. Somehow, Levi seemed to sense his amusement. Though actively ignoring the brunet for the most part, he sent a glare his way every time a new wave of laughter was about to erupt out of Eren's mouth.
Eren was sure it was the love connecting them.
Levi knew it was the way Eren flailed every time when he tried to muffle himself that drew the attention of half the hall.
The Slytherin rolled his eyes at Eren after his latest outburst, which also earned the boy an exasperated look from Mikasa, and instead decided to finally focus on what the headmaster was saying. He heard something about quidditch and judging by the scandalized faces people were making, he missed something important. Not that he cared.
But then he jerked as the sharp sound of thunder suddenly rang through the hall, much louder than the ones before. Most of the people simultaneously turned towards the main entrance door, which was now wide open, with some guy just standing there for some reason, instead of slipping in carefully like a normal person who's arriving late and in the middle of someone's speech. Nobody dared to say anything, however, as the guy looked particularly creepy. Even some of the teachers looked taken off guard.
Everyone watched carefully as the mysterious man walked – limped – towards the head of the hall and talked to Dumbledore for a minute, wary of what was to come. When Dumbledore announced this was to be their new DADA teacher, Levi felt his stomach drop. Something told him this guy was bad news, no matter what Dumbledore or the students, who suddenly seemed to marvel over the name that was dropped – Moody or something that Levi had never heard of – said. And it seemed he wasn't alone either as he noticed several people shudder. Granted, it was mostly in disgust over his looks.
Even while Levi continued to listen to Dumbledore, he couldn't help his street-trained instincts and watched the new teacher carefully, taking in his body language and behaviour, which seemed to suggest a mindset similar to Levi's, only pushed to the extreme. Careful, watchful, paranoid. Looked like he didn't trust anyone which only strengthened Levi's conviction he couldn't trust him in turn. He also looked like an ends-justify-the-means kind of guy. Not a good trait for a teacher if you asked Levi.
When the words "the Triwizard Tournament" fell from Dumbledore's lips, Levi could tell he was missing something again. Dumbledore had that stupid, smug look on his face while a lot of students stared at him with jaws on the floor and a shout of "You're joking!" came from the direction of the Gryffindor table. Levi had no idea what that was, nor did he particularly care, but he couldn't help but notice Eren grinning from ear to ear or Hanji bouncing in her seat excitedly and giving him suspicious looks all the way up until the students were dismissed.
As soon as she could, Hanji bolted up from her seat and ran straight for Levi, who braced mentally for the onslaught. "Levi! Please tell me you're going to participate!"
Levi tried his best to give her the most deadpan look he could while Farlan barked a laugh next to him. Hanji wasn't deterred, though, her eyes almost sparkling. "Levi, you've got to! If you don't sign up, I will sign you up! And you know Eren is going to sign up, are you going to let him win?"
Levi narrowed his eyes at her before abruptly standing up. "Sign me up and I'll fucking slaughter you, Foureyes. And you," Levi scowled, his eyes darting towards the red head which popped up behind Hanji. "Don't even think about it."
Isabel pouted, "But Big Bro-"
"No Izzy. Over my dead body," Farlan said before Levi could so much as open his mouth.
"But-"
"No," Levi said sharply, leaving no space for discussion.
"Fine!" Isabel snapped, throwing her arms up. She almost ran into Eren as she abruptly turned around before stomping off in a huff, obviously determined not to talk to either of them anytime soon. The other Gryffindor quickly side-stepped her and blinked a few times in confusion, turning questioningly at the others. He had clearly missed the beginning of the short-lived argument.
"What was that about?"
Levi only shook his head as Farlan sighed. Only Hanji grinned at Eren, returning to the issue at hand. "Eren, help me convince Levi to sign up for the Triwizard Tournament!"
Eren frowned and quickly glanced at Levi before cocking his head at Hanji, starting slowly, "Hanji, you know he won't do it. It's pointless to try and convince him."
"But he's the best, he could totally win," Hanji whined, trying her puppy eyes next, but Eren shook his head.
"You're right but there's really no point to it. Not to mention he'd be at the centre of attention for a year at least," he pointed out and Hanji seemed to deflate a bit.
Levi on the other hand could only smirk. He didn't even have to bother arguing with Hanji anymore, if Eren could do it for him. He almost forgave him for laughing earlier. Almost.
Hanji wasn't one to give up easily, however, trying again. "But if you wanted to sign up yourself..." She didn't finish her sentence, mistakenly thinking Eren would connect the dots.
Eren didn't, instead staring at her dumbly, not comprehending, until Levi gave up, gesturing towards his so-called best friend. "She thinks that if you signed up, I'd have no choice but to sign up, too, so you didn't win. No idea where she got the idea I'd bother saving your sorry ass if it really is that stupid."
"If I didn't know you're joking," Eren said, scowling at his boyfriend, "I'd feel really hurt right now, Sun and stars of my sky."
Farlan did a double take as Hanji slapped a hand over he mouth to stop herself from laughing as Levi glared daggers at his boyfriend. Over the holidays, Eren had developed the unfortunate habit of calling Levi in increasingly ridiculous pet names when trying to get a point across – or when trying to be generally annoying.
The Slytherin closed his eyes and started counting to ten in his mind to calm down, right as Hanji burst into uncontrollable giggles, gasping for breath and asking Eren to say it again. Levi turned around and walked away.
It was only with a heavy heart that Hagrid gave Hanji Zoe her first detention of the year after she had made a bunch of first years cry by luring them towards the little artificial pond where they kept the Kappas to "observe Kappa's natural hunting behaviour".
Wednesday came and Isabel still refused to talk to either Levi or Farlan, instead opting to hang out with Petra, Auruo, Erd and Gunther. While being careful to stay in plain sight of the two Slytherins who were at the receiving end of her wrath. Levi could only smile every time he caught her looking to check if they were watching. Sometimes he had to wonder how she could act like a five year old while being only months younger than himself. But than he looked at Eren and thought that maybe it was him who was acting too old for his age.
Levi was eating his lunch, only half-listening to Eren rattle on about some assignment he had for Care of Magical Creatures, when a loud group of fifth years walked by, talking about how awesome Moody's class was. Levi frowned looking up to assess the new teacher, breaking Eren from his wondering if Izzy would let him try to add alcohol or at least sugar into the water atop the head of the Kappa they were caring for to see what would happen, and making him look at his boyfriend curiously.
"You really don't like him, do you," he said, merely stating a fact instead of posing it as a question.
Levi shrugged in response. "He just... reminds me of uncle Kenny in the worst way. I'm not really a good judge of character though. Erwin is the one for that."
Eren frowned, putting a hand on Levi's knee. "Well Erwin's not here. But I trust your judgment, too, you know? Besides, you heard what happened on Monday with Malfoy, right? Didn't sound like a sane teacher to me, no matter how out of line the kid was."
"I guess we'll know by the end of the day, huh?" Levi gave a wry smile as he pushed away his plate, losing his appetite upon remembering how the beloved DADA teacher transfigured a student into a bloody ferret, bouncing him up and down several feet into the air, no less. That really did sound like something Kenny would do if he could. And... Levi did like to say pain was the best way of discipline but not like fucking this.
Eren gently squeezed his knee, leaving his hand there before going back to his kappa musings while Levi casually slipped his hand under the table to grip Eren's. The Gryffindor didn't comment.
By the end of their first DADA class, Levi wasn't the only one who was wary of Moody. After they finally got out of the classroom the whole group shared a look before collectively heading towards the kitchens to let the elves feed them something sweet and/or hot. The elves were delighted to have someone to fret over and the group was just relieved to be somewhere warm and private.
The silence was heavy for a long while, none of them eager to address what Moody had been doing just minutes earlier. Isabel sat curled up into Farlan, forgetting she was actually angry at him, eating a cookie after cookie. Levi was clutching a cup of tea in his hands so hard the other were worried it might break. Sasha wasn't eating. Hanji wasn't talking.
Finally, Mikasa, face buried in her scarf, one hand holding it up, the other playing with the lose end of it, muttered, voice deceivingly calm, "If he tries that again, I'll curse him."
Armin chuckled hysterically, while the other's nodded their consent in varying degrees of hesitation.
"Seriously, what's his problem?" The spell broken, Farlan burst out. "It's one thing to teach us about curses, how to defend from them and shit; completely another to show us how the bloody Unforgivables are done!"
"On us," added Krista with voice full of disgust. "Yeah, sure, it's great to know how it feels, woo-hoo, but how the fuck will that help us? Not to mention I've seen more then enough of that bullshit before I learned how to write. I don't need to see it used on my friends," she spat venomously. "And you know what's the best part? You can't make an Unforgivable work unless you really want it to."
Only Krista's crazed giggle interrupted the heavy silence following her words.
"At least he didn't try cruciatus on us?" Sasha piped up with fake laughter in her voice. Connie winced at the sound leaning over to nuzzle his girlfriends hair in assurance.
Jean snorted, leaning over the table with an expression of ease, like it didn't affect him at all, which would probably seem genuine to anyone who didn't know him well. "Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if next time he had us pair up and practice the curse on each other."
Sasha, Connie and Armin paled in unison, as Marco shot up from his slumped position to give Jean a scolding glare. "Don't say that, Jean. Not even as a joke!"
"It wasn't meant to be a joke," Jean countered, suddenly sounding very serious.
The suffocating silence settled back then, as no one could see a single sign in their new teacher's behaviour that would suggest Jean wasn't right. Not a single seventh year from their group was looking forward to DADA this year and they just couldn't comprehend the rest of the school's fascination with Mad-Eye Moody.
"Hanji Zoe get off that filthy goddarn hippogriff or so help me..."
"You're just jealous because she doesn't like you, Levi!"
When a week before Halloween a notice about the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons appeared under the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall, Eren and Levi exchanged glances.
"You think anyone's gonna be checking the attendance?" Levi asked.
Eren bit down on his lower lip. "I doubt it. Erwin's not here to drag us there anymore either."
Levi nodded, as the decision had been made. He was about to grab Eren's hand and lead him away from the claustrophobic crowd when somebody collided with him, nearly knocking him over. He was about to hex whoever that was but an all to familiar screech of his name too close to his ear for comfort stopped him. As much as he hated Hanji in that moment, he'd be the one who'd have to take care of her and listen to her whine about it later. Not to mention the guilt.
"Get off me," he growled instead, before quickly drawing his wand and casting a silencing charm. "And stop screaming into my bloody ear you Banshee." He took great pleasure in watching her lips move while no sound came out. And an even greater pleasure when she stopped, pouted, and shot him an accusing glare.
The Slytherin was tempted to leave her like that but apparently, others didn't share his sentiment. As soon as Eren stopped laughing, he pulled out his own wand at dispelled the charm, at which Hanji took a sharp, deep, overdramatized breath, as if Levi put her under suffocation hex instead of a simple silencing charm. Levi rolled his eyes as Eren laughed at her attics, before he turned around towards a less over-populated area, leaving the two to scramble after him, though soon he left them far behind, his smaller body allowing him to navigate between the people much more easily than the other two. Not that he'd ever admit to it.
However, Hanji soon caught up to him. "Levi, Levi! Guess what? I'm I mother now! Will you and Eren be the godparents of my child?!"
Levi stared at her expressionlessly for a moment, while Eren raised his eyebrows. Hanji didn't seem to notice how her excited announcement made the innocent passer-by's do a double take.
"What kind of child are we talking about here?" the Gryffindor asked carefully.
"My Jarvey gave birth!" Hanji exclaimed.
"Oh thank fuck, I was worried it was some Tebo or something," Levi sighed, relieved.
Hanji cocked her head to the side, staring him down critically, "Where would I find a Tebo in Scotland? They live in Africa."
"I don't know, where did you dig up a Jarvey?"
"Nevermind that," she sang and the boys eyed her suspiciously. "Anyway, will you be the godparents?"
"Hanji Zoe, care to explain why the fuck is this fucking Jarvey named 'Levi Jr'?"
"Have you heard yourself talk?"
"Stop fucking laughing, Eren."
Farlan raised an eyebrow when Levi joined him on the evening of October 30th, dutifully lining up with the other students to welcome the delegations of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, a scowl firmly on his face. "Weren't you skipping?"
Levi's scowl only deepened as he crossed his arms. "Flitwick caught us."
Farlan smirked as Krista piped up in a kind tone, "At least you won't miss out."
Levi narrowed his eyes at her, "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were making fun of me."
"Maybe I am, what do you know?" her smile was blinding and both Levi and Farlan felt mildly disturbed.
"I'm seriously starting to think you're the scarier one between you and Ymir," Farlan muttered and Krista genuinely laughed.
"You're only realizing that now?" Annie asked, looking over from her conversation with Sasha. "She honestly scares me more than Ymir ever could. More than either of you ever could."
"Gee, thank you so much," Farlan noted bitterly and Annie smirked.
"You're welcome."
Soon after that, the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people arrived and it was as anti-climatic as it could be. At least the house elves were outdoing themselves with the food.
The only eventful part of the evening was when one of the Beauxbatons girls went strutting about, making a point to stop by each house's table during the feast, and always rising a commotion as all (or most of) the guys were left staring and slobbering after her.
It was especially interresting when she chose to come over to the Slytherin table.
"Excuse me, are you wanting ze poulet?"
Levi blinked. "The what?"
"Chicken, Levi," answered Annie with undeniable amusement.
"No, we are not wanting the chicken. Go ahead," he said, bored.
"Can you help me bring it to our table? It'z too 'eavy."
Levi's eyebrows shot up. She hadn't even tried to lift the plate. "Aren't you a bloody witch? Do it yourself."
"Excuse me? Are zere no gentlemen 'ere on top of it being so cold?" the girl exclaimed, clearly offended. And clearly used to people doing whatever she told them to.
Levi was shocked to notice Farlan straighten up opposite of him. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he stared at the girl. He looked like he was about to say something, but before he could someone else did. "Go away, Veela. There's nobody here for you." Krista's voice was colder than either of them have ever heard it.
A beat of silence passed before the girl, with cheeks slightly pinkish now, turned on her heel and stormed off.
All eyes turned towards Krista, even Farlan who now looked half ashamed and half like he was just slapped awake.
"What?" Krista barked in slight annoyance after a moment, apparently thrown off balance by the appearance of the girl, still not back to her kind, sweet self.
"How did you know she was a Veela?" Annie asked in wonder.
Krista smiled bitterly, "My cousin was a part-Veela. I'd been seeing their magic since I was a little kid." Nobody commented on her use of past tense, still remembering well all the bits and pieces Krista's told them about her family.
"Okay, so why was Levi not affected? I felt like I was under imperius for a second there."
Krista allowed herself a small smirk. "It just means he's gay as fuck."
"Like you?" Levi shot back at her and Krista's grin widened.
"Do you think the kids from Durmstrang have brought any high-quality vodka with them?"
"No, Hanji, I'm not helping you sneak onto their ship."
When Eren came down for breakfast the next day, he was surprised to see Armin sitting in a corner of the Entrance Hall in a comfortable-looking loveseat that definitely wasn't there the evening before, Annie leaning onto him and reading a book, a small coffee table with a steaming pot next to them. The blond had a notebook and a pen in his hands and seemed intent to keep staring at the Goblet of Fire until it started talking to him or something.
After his initial pause, Eren walked over to the pair, carefully observing them. Armin didn't seem to notice him, but Annie at least nodded to him before returning to her book.
"Uhm, Armin, are you okay?"
"Yep," the Ravenclaw answered, still not looking at him. "Just taking notes on who's participating in this."
Eren frowned upon noticing the dark circles under his best friend's eyes. "How long have you been sitting here?"
"I don't know. A few hours? I shouldn't have even left, honestly. I'm pretty sure I've missed some people during the night."
"According to the elves, he's been here since four in the morning," Annie informed him, slightly disapproving tilt to her tone.
"Armin, seriously?" Eren scolded, crossing his arms.
Armin just shrugged. "Coffee?"
Eren shook his head at the other, still in disbelief. "If you keep staring at it, you'll burn your retinas. And go crazy. I'm pretty sure you won't miss anyone just because you're not staring into the flames."
"False," Armin shook his head. "There have already been three instances of people throwing their name inside under a concealment charm."
"And I keep telling you," Annie stressed, sounding like this was at least the fifth time she was telling him. "That if they are too scared to be seen, then they have no chance of being actually chosen. You've got to be a big, irritating show off to do this."
"She has a point, you know." Mikasa said, emerging from the Great hall with a plate full of food and a glass of juice, shoving both under Armin's nose. "Eat."
"Put it on the table, please. Thank you."
"Armin, do I have to feed you? Cause I swear I will do it," Mikasa threatened, not moving an inch.
Finally, after a long stretch of silence, Armin relented and took the plate from her, starting to eat, actually looking away from his target. All three of them took a collective sigh of relief. Mikasa then took out her wand and conjured another couch, one of a design identical to the one Armin and Annie were sitting on. Eren started suspecting it was actually Mikasa who made that one as well, probably finding Armin sitting on the floor earlier in the morning.
Eren shook his head, leaving to get his own breakfast.
When he got back into the Entrance Hall, Armin, Annie, and Mikasa were not the only ones loitering in there anymore. There were several other people standing around, all waiting for somebody to show up and throw their name inside.
He was surprised that the couch next to Mikasa was not empty anymore either. Hanji was sitting on the other end as the four of them were chatting lightly. Eren wondered how he had missed her in the Great hall, but apparently she had fallen asleep in the Hufflepuff common room and figured stopping by the kitchens was more efficient than going to the Great hall for breakfast. Eren could only shake his head and conjure his own chair. It was considerably less elegant than the couches Mikasa had made but at least it was comfy. And big enough to snuggle on with Levi while not having either of them sitting on the other's lap as they found out about an hour later.
After watching Cedric Diggory throw in his name, Reiner announced loudly that he 'can't let that twig be the only Hogwarts candidate' and whipped up a piece of parchment already with his name on it. Armin piped up that Angelina Johnson had already put her name in earlier that morning, as did several others, but Reiner pretended not to hear as he strode over confidently, Bertholdt sweating and trying to convince him not to.
Everyone else just rolled their eyes as it was obvious Reiner was just waiting for an apt opportunity. "Come on everyone, don't be such cowards," he boomed, laughing loudly, throwing a look back.
Annie snorted and Mikasa and Levi made an identical, deadpan expression. Yeah, they were so scared.
However, they were not the intended targets of Reiner's jab.
Eren visibly puffed up and Jean crossed his arms in front of himself, sneering. "As if. Jaeger? Sure. But I'm not scared. I could totally own this thing if I wanted to and you know it."
Marco face-palmed and Mikasa groaned. Hanji just grinned, looking at Eren in anticipation.
There was a second of silence before Eren growled. "What did you say, Horseface?"
"I said," Jean drew out. "That you're coward."
"I'll show you who's coward here," the brown haired boy snapped before leaning over to snatch the notebook and pen out of Armin's hands, accompanied by Armin's protests, and ripped out a page to scribble his name and school on it furiously.
"You do realize Dumbledore said to write it clearly, right?"
"Shut up, Sweetest," Eren barked, throwing the book and pen back at Armin and glaring daggers at Jean.
Jean, obviously having to raise up to his own challenge, though obviously unwilling, followed suit and Annie smirked, throwing a meaningful look at Mikasa. The other girl grumbled as she dug out a few golden galleons to press into Annie's outstretched hand. The Slytherin smirked in satisfaction.
Both Eren and Jean were considerably relieved when the Goblet didn't choose them.
Hanji Zoe didn't go to sleep that night as there were two parties to attend.
"Hanji, you traitor, how can you be attending their party, too?" came offended shouts from both Reiner and Sasha with Connie.
The weeks leading up to the First Task in the second half of November were uneventful, despite the growing general excitement. They had a good laugh over Rita Skeeter's writing – terrible as always – and Hanji showed great enthusiasm over the idea of the POTTER STINKS badges. She stole a bunch of them, remaking them to her ideal, and made all her friends wear them.
And so, all of the seventh year and lots of other students (and secretly Snape inside his robes) were now proudly wearing badges that read "Support the TASKS – the REAL Champions of the Tournament" and "PEOPLE STINK" when pressed. Levi refused to admit he loved them.
And Harry Potter didn't even seem to notice there were two kinds of the badges.
On the afternoon of November 24th, the whole student body moved onto the grounds to witness the Fist Task. Huddled together on the stands they listened to Ludo Bagman explain the situation, after which, the first dragon, Diggory's Swedish Short-Snout, was brought over, which resulted in a slight disturbance as Hanji got a little excited.
("Miss Zoe, what are you doing?"
"THOSE ARE REAL DRAGONS, PROFFESSOR!"
"STOP CLIMBING OVER THE RAILING AND GET BACK TO YOUR SEAT!")
(Hanji spent the rest of the afternoon sulking, magically tied to her seat. Levi paid the Creevey kid two sickles to take a picture.)
After this small delay, the event finally started. They watched Diggory try to distract his dragon with a transfigured dog, Delacour enchant hers to sleep, Krum blind his (Hanji cried over this, joined by Petra and Isabel later, when the poor dragon ended up smashing its own eggs as it convulsed in pain and confusion), and Potter... summon a broom to fly around his dragon's head, acting like an annoying fly.
When the points were announced for all the Champions, along with the end results, everyone was disappointed in some way.
"What the hell, Delacour should have won," Mikasa said, a frown on her face. And everyone nodded in agreement.
Erd hummed, "I know right? I mean, putting a dragon to sleep? By herself? It's a difficult enough spell to use on people."
Nanaba joined in. "And Potter and Krum tied up for first place? I know this whole thing is rigged but come on..."
"Yeah, poor girl, cursed with Conjuctivitis and then breaking her own eggs. She has to be so heartbroken!" Hanji cried, baring her teeth. "They should have deducted him more points!"
"And Potter, seriously? Accio and a broom? Like sure, he survived but that's about all I can say about it," Farlan shook his head.
"Oh come on, it was fun and dramatic! Exactly what this is supposed to be about!" Sasha replied, in between bites into her apple, Connie nodding along.
"Dramatic, maybe. But he didn't show much of his magical ability," Levi muttered, catching Eren's hand in his as they walked back to the castle.
Krista kindly argued, "Well, he is three, four years younger than the others."
"Does it matter? In a competition, you shouldn't be giving extra points just because someone is younger or prettier or whatever," Annie stated matter-of-factly. "I agree it was a good idea and in the spirit of the competition, but he shouldn't be first. I'd put him second. I didn't like Diggory, the idea was stupid, and Krum broke those eggs, so."
Nobody could argue with that.
Charlie Weasley blinked stupidly several times. "You... want to pet the dragons...?"
"Yeah, especially the Chinese Fireball; she has to be so sad! I even have a raw pig's leg for her from the kitchens!"
The announcement of the Yule Ball was met with mixed emotions throughout the student body. While most already-dating pairs and many girls in general were excited for the event, others were much less enthusiastic over the idea.
Auruo went through five separate nervous breakdowns before finally succeeding in inviting Petra. Erd received 20 individual letters and 3 howlers from Ymir threatening the safety of his manly parts if he even thought about touching Krista inappropriately. Then she sent a 5 pages long letter to her girlfriend apologising endlessly about her inability to attend due to the expensiveness of the tickets. This resulted in Krista declining Erd (who actually thanked her for doing so) and going to work her charm on Dumbledore, coaxing a free extra ticket out of him to send to Ymir – and getting permission to let her stay all the way through Christmas break as a bonus.
Mikasa got annoyed by the whole thing very quickly as she was forced to decline several offers for a date every day, both from Hogwarts students and from the visiting schools. (Krista was very glad she didn't have to suffer this particular pain as Ymir stated her claim very clearly with those howlers for even the visitors to understand there was no point trying.)
And then... Then there was Levi.
"So, what if we don't want to attend?"
Snape's eyes zeroed in on Levi's bored expression. "Then I guess you don't attend," he deadpanned. Then he turned around, ready to leave the classroom, but something caught his eye and he opened his mouth again. "Though it doesn't look like your boyfriend approves."
Levi blinked, turning to look at Eren. He was faced with the most crestfallen face he'd ever seen. "What do you mean you don't want to attend?"
The Slytherin sighed, "Exactly what I said. You know I hate this kind of thing."
"But... But..." Eren bit his bottom lip.
'Those shitty puppy eyes,' Levi thought as he watched Eren. He couldn't say no to that face. And Eren probably knew that.
It took a few minutes of internal struggle but finally, Levi relented. "Fine, but don't expect me to enjoy this shitfest."
Eren rewarded him with the most brilliant smile and Levi almost didn't regret agreeing to this.
Levi spent most of Christmas Day complaining to Hanji, as she was the only one who didn't tell him he was just being stubborn. She did, however, tell him to at least try to have fun for a bit. He could always leave early, after all. She also informed him Ymir had apparently brought a supply of Firewhiskey and other assorted alcohol with her when she arrived. That lifted his mood considerably.
In the end, the grumpy Slytherin had to admit it wasn't so bad after all. The bottle of tequila disguised as pumpkin juice standing on top of their table since the beginning of the bally might have had something to do with that, however, Eren did prove to be an amazing dancing partner and an even more amazing boyfriend. He made it a point to drag Levi out for a walk in the newly-made gardens every once in a while when Levi was starting to get fed up with all the people and noise. (They might have stumbled onto some making-out couples – or be stumbled upon – several times during the night but aside from that, it was very nice.)
Watching the others dance was actually more fun than Levi expected as well. Particularly Sasha, Connie, and Isabel, no matter who their dancing partner was. Not to mention when they happened to dance with each other. (Nonetheless, he did not want to be an active part of that, no matter how much he enjoyed watching Eren jump around with them.)
Regardless, he spent most of the time sitting at their table with Mikasa, commenting on the others' – and the teachers' – dancing, behaviour, and choice in attire. This past time was more and more fun the further the evening progressed and the more alcohol everyone had had in them.
At one point, long after the younger students were sent off to bed, McGonagall stopped a stumbling Isabel, asked her whether she was drunk, and where she got the alcohol. Isabel, in her inebriated state, directed her towards the table where Ymir's stash was, and which was at that point guarded by Levi, Eren, Mikasa, Annie, and Armin.
One way or another, the uptight head of the Gryffindor house turned out to be an excellent drinking partner.
"Has anyone broken into the Durmstrang ship to see if there was any good vodka?"
"Ymir, where were you when I suggested this?"
"At work, probably."
On the morning of New Years Eve, there was a commotion between the Durmstrang students that none were willing to explain. Unrelated, there was also a Sex on the Beach Party the very same evening.
January was met with hangover, tearful goodbyes accompanied by promises of marriage, and more of Rita Skeeter's shocking discoveries.
("So, Hagrid is apparently a half giant," Farlan said offhandedly one morning at breakfast, lazily listing though a copy of Daily Prophet.
"You don't say," replied Annie, voice full of sarcasm as she bit into her toast.)
Some where slowly starting to panic over their nearing exams and graduation, wondering what they were going to do after, or already preparing for their chosen careers.
Armin in particular could almost always be found buried in books, trying to catch up to muggle high school teachings as he was preparing for college exams, while on the other end of the spectrum, Sasha and Connie were mostly pretending those worries weren't approaching them at rapid speeds.
Life went on.
The first break from reality for the seventh years came in the form of the Second Task on February 24th. They gathered by the lake and, as with the First Task, listened to Ludo Bagman explain the rules.
"So, will we get like, some magical TV, or something?" Farlan asked as they watched the Champions all disappear into the black depths of the Lake. His question was answered some 30 seconds later, when a giant magical clock appeared. But no TV.
They exchanged looks.
And then they collectively got up and left, only leaving behind a complaining Armin. Taking pity on the blond, they all took turns in small groups to keep the bookmaker company.
"Wait, where is Moby-Dick?" Hanji asked during her turn, scanning the water surface suspiciously, seeing no giant tentacles nor arms.
"I dunno, haven't seen him since the beginning," Armin replied.
At that Hanji got up with a resolved look on her face.
Armin called after her, alarmed. "Where are you going?"
"For justice," the girl answered.
Armin exchanged a worried look with Petra before the latter got up and ran after the slightly crazy Ravenclaw girl.
As it turned out, "justice" meant sneaking to the judges' table and questioning Dumbledore about the whereabouts of the Giant squid. And apparently, "it's been shut into a comfortable enclosure by the far end of the Lake" was not a satisfactory answer.
"Moby-Dick is claustrophobic! How could you!" she screamed, and Petra grabbed her arm, dragging her away, apologizing profusely all the while.
"Moby-Dick?" Karkaroff asked after a long minute of silence, confusion much evident both in his voice and face and on his face.
"How does she know the thing gets claustrophobic?" Bagman asked, bewildered as well. "Are you telling me she can actually communicate with the Giant squid?"
More confused and reluctantly-admiring silence ensued.
After the Second Task was finished, Armin joined Eren, Levi, Mikasa, and Annie in the Ravenclaw common room – a neutral ground safe from celebrations of the House Champions – where the girls were watching Levi and Eren play wizarding chess. Admittedly, it was a very one-sided fight with Eren thinking only about offense and never more than two moves ahead.
"So, who won?" Annie asked when she noticed him approching.
"Who do you think?" Armin asked in response.
"Potter," all four of them replied in unison.
Armin snorted. "Nice guess, but no. It was Diggory. Potter is still first in total, though, now tied with Diggory for a change."
"Same thing," Mikasa shrugged and Armin had to agree silently.
"Don't laugh now, but Potter was apparently the first to arrive to the hostages. Apparently he was scared they would die if he left them there or something and refused to leave without all of them, and finished dead last," he summarised instead after sitting down and giving his girlfriend a kiss.
Four sets of eyebrows shot up as they all stared at Armin.
"Is he actually stupid?" Eren asked after a moment of silence.
"Probably," Armin nodded. "But the best part, or more like the worst part, is that he got only two points less than Diggory for his 'moral fibre,'" he finished, making air quotes with his hands.
They all blinked. "Seriously?"
"Yep," Armin nodded gravely.
"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to laugh or fucking cry."
"Moby-Dick, you poor baby, how could they do this to you?"
"Hanji, please, you've been in there for fifteen minutes, you're seriously going to catch pneumonia!"
The next few months were carried on in the name of studying and more studying. As NEWTs drew nearer, everyone was on edge and ready to break down. Mikasa took turns with Annie in forcing Armin to eat. Even Sasha and Connie were seen studying, or more often, crying over their textbooks or playing Battleships over their notes, in the library. The second half of June couldn't come soon enough, in everyone's opinion.
A week before their exams, Eren and Levi were lying in Levi's bed together, taking an afternoon off from studying so they wouldn't go crazy. They've been mostly napping and talking during the past few hours, trying their best to pretend there wasn't any crazy important exam to be had soon.
It was working for the most part, but their conversation did stir in that direction a few times. And in the direction of their chosen careers.
"Have you decided what you want to do after graduation, yet?" Eren asked after minutes of comfortable silence.
He felt Levi shrug from where he was lying on his chest. "Not yet. I still want to open that tea shop though. Tea deserves better than shitty Madam Puddifoot's."
Eren chuckled fondly at Levi's disgusted tone. "So that's a no to taking over Kenny's gang?"
Levi clicked his tongue. "That's been a no since I was fucking ten, Eren."
The Gryffindor laughed, rolling over to lie on his side, hugging Levi loosely and burying his face in the crook of his neck. "I'm glad," he whispered as Levi wrapped an arm around his shoulders automatically.
The other hummed in agreement, returning Eren's original question. "What about you? Going to follow your dad?"
Eren made a face. "God no; you know I can't deal well with people. I'd be a terrible healer," he muttered, a slight bitterness over not being able to fulfil his father's old wish in his voice. "He's not too adamant about it anyway. He told me to just do what I want to."
"And what's that?" Levi asked quietly.
Eren was silent for a moment. "I don't know." There was a undeniable hint of defeat in those three words and Levi pressed a kiss to his temple.
"That's okay. We're still only 18, you know."
Eren hummed non-commitally, still not entirely convinced, closing his eyes and letting Levi's breathing lull him to sleep.
"Hanji, where are you going?"
"To offer myself as sacrifice for the Blast-Ended Screwts."
"Hanji, no!"
To say the Third Task turned out to be pretty grim would be an understatement. With the death of Cedric Diggory and apparent return of Lord Voldemort, finding out their teacher had been a convicted Death-Eater all along on top of that... Everyone was only glad they were not a part of that shitfest.
"Well, things at this school are getting worse and worse with each year," Farlan muttered darkly, a hand wrapped tightly and protectively around Isabel as they sat at the end-of-the-year feast.
"I'm kind of glad we're graduating, to be honest," Levi said, gripping Eren's hand.
Mikasa, sitting on Eren's other side and resting her head on his shoulder, piped up quietly, "How about we all just pack up and move out of the country? Southern Italy sounds nice."
Mike snorted, "Sounds like a plan."
"Well, we can just steal a few thestrals and we're ready to go," Hanji said in all seriousness, looking around expectantly.
She was met with smiles and fond expressions. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really going to miss you, Hanji," Annie said with a crooked smile.
"Why would you miss me? We'll get houses right next to each other on that beach in Italy," Hanji stated, cocking her head to the side in apparent confusion. She still looked completely serious while saying it.
"Sure, you herd up the thestrals while I go rob the fucking Gringotts," Levi told her, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Hanji's face split into a wide grin. "That's the spirit!"
Everyone could only shake their heads. Yeah, they were going to miss this maniac.
"Morning!"
"Hanji what the hell are you doing in our house at 5 goddarn AM?"
"I missed you!"
"We work in the same place!"
"...Levi Jr. missed you?"
"Out."
A/N: (Excuse me now while I go offer myself as sacrifice to the Blast-Ended Skrewts.)
When I reached the last scene, I stared at the doc and my only thought was, "I never thought this far ahead, what do I do now?" So if the ending is weird, that's why. Also, I had a part of this written since April and only started it back on Saturday, so if you felt a weird change somewhere around the one-third mark, that's why.
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