The Goblet of Fire: Chapter 4

AN: What an awesome response to the last chapter, I'm glad you all liked it so much! Here's the next chapter, where we get to see the second and third tasks play out! I hope you enjoy it!

Also very excited that we've broken through 1,500 follows and 1,200 favourites on the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else from the wonderful mind of JK Rowling, they belong solely to her and Warner Bros.

Thoughts

"Speech"

'Spells'

My eyes snapped open, the freezing cold water surrounding me violently bringing me to immediate alertness, accompanied by a sharp pain along my left arm. Surprised at the temperature, I instinctively inhaled, only to choke as, instead of air, bitingly cold water flowed into my lungs.

I reached into my pocket, desperately pulling out my own enchanted scarf that I had put there after my final training session with Harry. Quickly wrapping it around my face, I coughed heavily before breathing in deeply, clearing out the last vestiges of the water that had made it into my lungs.

I looked around in the gloomy light, realising that I was deep underwater in the lake, and spotted Fleur floating beside me, small ribbons of blood floating away from her. What the hell is going on?! I looked at my own arm, to see a gash running down from my elbow to my wrist, bleeding steadily into the water.

I quickly cast the Episkey charm on my arm, sealing the cut on it, before I swam over to Fleur. I was becoming increasingly worried at her lack of movement or response, as she floated in the water. As I turned her unmoving body around to face me, my eyes widened as I saw she had no means of breathing and her eyes were closed. If she had been using the Bubble-Head charm as she had in the books, then it must have been popped by something.

I took a deep breath through my scarf, before unwrapping it and carefully placing it around her face. Once it was attached, I pointed my wand at her, 'Rennervate!' I cast the spell non-verbally, and with a flash Fleur's eyes snapped open.

I could see her panicking as she looked around, her hand scrabbling at the scarf wrapped around her face. I grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to look at me as I indicated that it was ok. She looked at me worriedly, before I saw her take a shallow breath. Her eyes widened as she was able to breathe, and I saw her take several deep shuddering breaths as she threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.

I hugged her back, trying to be reassuring as I looked around, unsure as to what had caused the situation. Once she had calmed down somewhat, I gestured to the scarf, indicating for her to pass it back to me. She quickly understood what I meant, unwrapping it and passing it to me.

We floated there for a minute or two, passing the scarf back and forth to breathe. I took the opportunity to seal the cuts I could see on her, getting a grateful look in response. We were about to set off, when I saw a group of twelve Grindylows streaking towards us, a spear-armed Merman swimming behind them.

This must have been how Fleur was incapacitated! I realised as they closed in on us. But why are they targeting her? There was no mention of the Champions getting attacked by the Merpeople in the books. Although Fleur was attacked by the Grindylows. Deciding not to dwell on it now, I aimed my wand towards the oncoming group.

I shot a trio of stinging hexes towards the Grindylows, hitting three of them and causing the whole group to flinch and come to a halt. At the same time, Fleur had tried to fire off her own spell, but strangely it seemed to sizzle out in the water before it reached them. Something about being underwater must be affecting her magic. She looked incredibly frustrated, glaring angrily around at the water and muttering what I assume would have been swear words if I could hear them.

The temporary reprieve didn't last long though, as the Merman shouted something to the Grindylows. This caused them to start to swim towards us again, though they looked more cautious now. Realising that stinging charms weren't going to cut it, I began to fire a mix of stunning and cutting spells at the group. The cutting spells were slowing their approach down, while the stunners took them out one by one.

I had managed to stun four of them, when I had to throw myself to the side to avoid the spear that the Merman had launched at us. I had pushed Fleur in the other direction to help her avoid it, but we were now separated and Fleur currently had the scarf on. Knowing I needed to finish this quickly or risk drowning, I carefully focused and sent the most powerful Diffindo I could towards the remaining Grindylows.

It scythed through them, hitting all of them and leaving them incapacitated in the water. Seeing that they would no longer be a problem, I focused on the Merman in front of me, as he glared at me.

"Leave! I am not interested in you!" He shouted at me, with a strange and distorted accent. "I only want the fire bird. It does not belong!"

I could not properly respond, but my body language spoke for itself as I remained steadfast between him and Fleur.

"So be it!" He growled, before rushing towards me, a vicious looking knife in his hand.

I waited for him to get close and, as he reared back to slash at me, I pulled myself past him using Carpe Retractum to move faster than I would naturally be able to. With his back exposed to me, I sent a stunner point blank into him, knocking the Merman unconscious.

Leaving him there, I swam towards Fleur, desperate for air, as she swam towards me. She mouthed, "Thank you," at me as she pulled off the scarf and handed it to me. I wrapped it around my face, taking deep breaths to recover form the fight I had just taken part in.

With the situation seemingly wrapped up, we began to swim back towards the shore, Fleur leading the way. She must have managed to get most of the way back before being attacked as it was only a few minutes later that we broke the surface of the lake. Once we got there, I pulled myself out onto the platform that had been set up for the task.

Fleur's injuries and the exhaustion from nearly drowning, followed by our fight and swim back to the shore seemed to have sapped her of any energy she had remaining. She was panting desperately at the water's surface looking like she could barely stay afloat. I reached down, pulling her out and up onto the platform next to me. We both lay there, catching our breath and recovering from the ordeal, before the voice of Ludo Bagman echoed around us.

"And here is the final champion!" He announced, his magically enhanced voice booming around the lake, and reaching all the stands set up around it. "Fleur Delacour returns with her hostage, in a time of one hour and seventeen minutes."

I saw the other judges approaching and I stood up. Casting a drying charm on Fleur and I, I looked towards Dumbledore angrily.

"What the hell was that Sir?" I asked him. "You said the enchantment would break once we resurfaced and that the Merpeople would not be hostile once the time was up!"

"My dear boy, was that not the case?" He asked worriedly.

"No, it most certainly was bloody not!" I replied. "I woke up under the lake with a gash on my arm and Fleur practically unconscious next to me having been attacked by a Merman and a group of Grindylows he was commanding."

Dumbledore had been looking increasingly concerned as I spoke, the other judges listening in. "It was a good thing that I had been practicing with Harry or we'd both have drowned under there!"

"Ze Merman attacked me because 'e realised zat I am a Veela," Fleur chipped in. "Ze Mediterranean Merpeople 'ave no issue wiz us anymore, but it seems zat not all of ze ones 'ere have not gotten over the hatred zat used to exist between our two kinds."

So that's why he was attacking her. I wonder if that's why she was ambushed by Grindylows in the books as well. I then spoke up again, "Then we had to fight them again, as they tried to get at Fleur before we could swim to the surface. Only after knocking the Merman unconscious were we able to swim back here."

"I am deeply sorry Miss Delacour, Mr. Longbottom," Dumbledore said, looking very irate at what we had just described. "The injury to your arm must have provided enough of a shock that your magic threw off the enchantment holding you. I was assured by Merchieftainess Murcus that there would be no harm done by them to the Champions or their hostages," he explained.

As he finished, there was a splash from the lake, and a sombre looking party of Merpeople broke the surface, screeching towards us. Dumbledore made his way over to them, before kneeling down and dunking his head into the Lake. He spent several minutes conversing with them, occasionally bringing his head up to breathe, before he finally made his way back over to us.

"That was the Merchieftainess," Dumbledore began. "She has informed me that the Merman who attacked the two of you did so without the knowledge or consent of the rest of the tribe. She has apologised profusely and wishes for me to tell you that he will be dealt with most severely for his crime."

"Good!" Fleur said. "Zat was far outside what was acceptable within ze task. I can only be grateful zat Neville was awoken and able to 'elp me, or I do not know 'ow Neville or I would 'ave survived!"

Madame Maxime looked pained at that admission, and the other judges were looking very nervous at the angry Veela.

After several more minutes of apologies, and having been checked over thoroughly by Madame Pomfrey to deal with any remaining injuries, the judges left to decide the scores.

"They better take your unfair disadvantage into account," I muttered to Fleur. "It would be ridiculous to judge you to the same standard as the other champions given everything that was arrayed against you."

"I don't know," she said quietly. "In truth, I do not know 'ow well I would 'ave faired even without ze attack. I am sure zat you saw 'ow my magic barely functions in ze water. It is a drawback of my kind, we are not meant for ze cold or ze wet, being so closely linked to fire and air."

I put my arm around her supportively as I thought on what she had said. "I don't know. Given all of that, you'd done a pretty amazing job to get as far as you did."

She smiled slightly at that, cuddling into my side. It was a touch awkward because we were practically the same height, but it was nice nonetheless. We stayed that way until Bagman's voice echoed around the stands once again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, with the Second Task now concluded, it is time to award the points!" Bagman began. "In first place, with excellent use of an enchanted item to complete the task, we award Harry Potter forty-seven points!"

The Hogwarts section of the stand erupted into loud cheers as Bagman spoke, the Gryffindor section in particular were chanting out Harry's name. I could see Harry celebrating with Hermione and a very proud Sirius at his victory.

"In second place, returning just seconds after Mr. Potter and making use of the Bubble-Head charm, we award Cedric Diggory forty-six points!"

The Hogwarts students were screaming themselves hoarse, as they cheered for coming in the top two spots of the task, much to the consternation of the foreign schools.

"In third place, with an excellent use of self-transfiguration, but returning three minutes outside the time limit, we award Viktor Krum forty points."

Fleur looked morose next to me as she realised she had come last in the task. I bet if not for Karkaroff she would have beaten Viktor.

"And in last place we have Fleur Delacour," Bagman announced after the cheers from Durmstrang died down. "The judges were split on their decision due to the circumstances surrounding Miss Delacour's performance. In the end, she has been awarded thirty-five points."

"I deserve less zan zat," she muttered bitterly beside me.

"No you don't," I said, trying to keep her positive. "You did a fantastic job given all the challenges you faced during the task."

"That concludes the Second Task of the tournament," Bagman announced. "The overall standings are now: Harry Potter in first place with ninety-one points, Cedric Diggory in second place with eighty-four points, Viktor Krum in third place with eighty points and Fleur Delacour in fourth place with seventy-four points. I look forward to seeing you all for the third and final task on the 24th June."

What we had been through together during the second task seemed to have brought Fleur and I closer to each other, and allowed her to overcome any remaining hesitancy she had about our age difference. After the task scores had been announced, she had pulled me into the Champions tent and kissed me soundly. It was a much more passionate and hungry kiss than the light ones we had shared before, as she pressed me up against the side of the tent.

We'd been interrupted by Harry as he entered the tent, spotting us and wolf-whistling. But where that left me blushing, Fleur only grinned before kissing me once more. She eventually broke apart from me, thanking me for my help during the task, before heading over to the rest of her school, sending me a final smouldering look as she went.

Since the task, we had met up a couple of times briefly and had arranged for our first proper date on the Hogsmeade weekend in March. Harry, Ron and Hermione were going to walk down to the village with us, before splitting off to go and see Sirius. I was feeling quite nervous about it all, having never been on a real date before in this life, and trying to draw on some of the knowledge from my other life. You know she likes you, just don't mess it up!

That was how I found myself wandering through the quaint village centre, the most beautiful woman I had ever met walking with me. We'd wandered around as I showed her all the different shops, and the two of us had indulged in a few small treats from Honeydukes and the local street vendors.

"Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go next?" I asked her, as we walked slowly down the main street.

"Oh! What about zat cute little place zere?" Fleur said.

I looked over and saw that she was pointing towards Madam Puddifoot's, a garishly pink tea house often frequented by Hogwarts couples and equally often moaned about by the male halves. I forced a smile onto my face as I faced the prospect of spending the rest of the afternoon there.

"Ah, Madam Puddifoot's, of course we can go there Fleur," I replied, hoping that my smile didn't crack.

She looked at me for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. "You should see your face," she said giggling. "It is fine Neville. I don't actually want to go zere. Zat is very much not ze type of romance zat I am looking for." I let out a small laugh, partially because of her joke but mostly in relief.

"Zough I appreciate zat you would be willing to go zere with me regardless," she said, smiling at me.

"Of course," I replied. "Even if we did go there, it would hardly be a chore with you," I replied, grinning at her.

She let out a little peal of laughter at my comment, "You can be a charmer, can't you!"

We happily drifted along the street, little flirty comments flowing back and forth between us. I'd become more relaxed as the date went on. It was just so easy being around Fleur. At this point, my magic was fully able to ignore her allure without my input, having spent enough time around it to recognise it subconsciously and purge it from my system.

We eventually came to The Three Broomsticks, and agreed to head inside and get a drink. I'd spotted Harry with Ron, Hermione and Sirius as we entered, and he waved over at us. I waved back, before spotting a nicely secluded two person booth in the corner of the inn. Leading Fleur over to it, I let her sit down before asking what she would like to drink.

"A Butterbeer for me please," she said.

I went to the bar, returning shortly with our drinks. I set Fleur's down in front of her, before sliding into my seat opposite her. I took a couple of sips of my own, before noticing that she had practically finished hers.

"Thirsty?" I chortled at her, I then outright laughed when she lowered her mug, leaving behind a small foam moustache.

She blushed, looking at me with a mock frown as she replied, "I cannot 'elp it zat I 'ave a very sweet tooth."

"I'm sure you can't, though you could probably do something about the foam," I said, gesturing towards her lip. She wiped it off, laughing with me a little as she did.

The two of us chatted for a while, enjoying each other's company. The more time we spent together, the more Fleur seemed to open up, and the more I started to feel comfortable. Harry, Ron and Hermione are my best friends, but it's great to talk to someone a little older, a little more mature. We eventually came around to talking about her family.

"Have you heard from your sister?" I asked, knowing that she was very close to Fleur.

"Yes, she 'as been sending me letters constantly," she replied. "I told her about the Second Task and 'ow you saved me. She 'as decided zat you are a hero like out of ze fairy tales. She 'as been asking as much about you as me in 'er more recent letters."

"I think you might be overstating my role a bit," I replied, as she rolled her eyes.

"You are too 'umble," she said. "But you will 'ave to excuse 'er when zey come 'ere for ze final task. I am sure zat she will act somewhat starstruck when she sees you."

"You want me to meet them?" I asked, somewhat surprised.

"But of course," she replied, looking a little hurt. "Did you not want to?"

"No, of course I am happy to meet them," I hurried to reassure her. "I just wasn't sure how serious this was to you. I have been trying not to think about it to be honest, because I am enjoying it so much, but I'm not sure what will happen once this year ends."

"I am quite serious Neville," she said. "I know zat it 'as not been zat long, but I 'ave never met a wizard like you before. You are mature, powerful and you 'ave never fallen to my allure. More zan zat, the time we have spent together these last few months 'as been wonderful. I 'ave never been so 'appy and open with someone outside of my family."

She looked at me earnestly as she spoke, a little vulnerability creeping into her tone towards the end. I took her hand, stroking the back of it lightly with my thumb as I thought over what she said.

"I feel much the same," I said, as I looked into her gorgeous eyes. "You are the only person who I've felt this comfortable around. My friends are amazing, and I wouldn't change anything about them, but it's not as easy with any of them as it is with you."

"And with regards to what 'appens after zis year," Fleur said. "We will 'ave to see 'ow zings are between us, but I 'ad already planned to apply to Gringotts 'ere in London. Given zat my best field is enchantment and ze subjects surrounding it, I 'ope to get a job apprenticing as part of ze curse breaking team."

"That sounds like a fantastic job," I said, unable to keep the elation out of my tone that she would still be in the country next year. "When will you apply for it?"

"I actually already 'ave, I applied last summer," she replied. "I 'ave not found out yet if I 'ave got ze job, but 'opefully I will find out soon."

"Well I've got my fingers crossed for you," I said.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking. I asked Fleur more about her interests and the job she had applied for. It sounded as fascinating as I had assumed. A great mix of research and practical work, helping with curses primarily on ancient sites.

I opened up to Fleur more about my family and the responsibilities I would have once I reached my maturity, when I would ascend to lord of one of the sacred twenty-eight. She knew that I was by no means a pure-blood supremacist, but was surprised that my family was so old and important that I would inherit a seat on the Wizengamot at that point. I would probably have other interests that I would spend time on after I finished school, but it was unlikely that I would take up another full-time job alongside my responsibilities.

Eventually though, the date came to a natural end as it started to get dark outside. We walked hand in hand slowly back up to the castle, enjoying the last few minutes together. Inevitably though, we eventually reached the Beauxbatons' carriage.

"I had a great time today Fleur," I said happily.

"Me too Neville. J'ai passé un moment agréable*," she said. I had mentioned earlier in the day that I had had some very basic lessons in French during my etiquette lessons growing up.

"Bon, je suis heureux**," I replied after translating her response and carefully formulating my reply.

"Zat is good Neville, well done," Fleur said, before leaning in and kissing me softly. My hands slid around her waist, pulling her a little closer to me as one of her own snaked into my hair, before I deepened the kiss. She pressed herself further into me, before finally pulling away, panting a little. Her eyes were smouldering as she looked at me, biting her lower lip slightly.

"You are very good at zat," she said. "You must 'ave 'ad a lot of practice."

"Not really. You're the first person I've kissed," I said, blushing a little at my admission.

"A natural zen," she said, smiling at me. "Well I zink zat you will 'ave plenty of opportunity now to try it."

I grinned at her teasing expression, before leaning in to kiss her again. After another intense kiss, I pulled away.

"Goodnight Fleur," I said.

"Goodnight Neville. I 'ope that we can do zis again soon," Fleur replied.

"The date or the kissing?" I asked, smirking at her.

"Both I would 'ope," she replied.

"That's good, I was thinking the same thing," I said.

Giving her a quick parting kiss, I finally turned away and headed back up to the castle, my mind wandering as I thought about my time with Fleur. She really is amazing!

I had been euphoric in the days following my date with Fleur, happy to have had it go so well. Unfortunately, it was somewhat marred several days later by Rita Skeeter spewing her normal bile. She had written a scathing and almost entirely made up article, talking about how Hermione and Fleur were ensnaring Harry and I.

The article made disparaging comments about Hermione's Muggleborn status and alluded to her possibly even using love potions to try and woo Harry, quoting some unnamed source. This made the delicate situation between Harry and Hermione more awkward, as they were still unsure about their feelings for each other beyond their friendship. Topping this off was the jealousy that it caused in Ron, who even knowing that there was nothing going on between the two of them, still seemed to be unhappy about it.

With Fleur, Skeeter was even more malicious. She directly questioned Fleur's motive in going after a younger boy who was set to inherit a lordship. She talked about how Fleur's allure could captivate most of the boys in the school with a single look and heavily implied that she was enthralling me for my money. This was of course completely ignoring the fact that Fleur's family were also incredibly wealthy and that I was one of the few people in the castle who was unaffected by Fleur's allure, not that it was something Fleur would ever do regardless.

Hermione and Fleur had both been completely outraged by the article, with their fury only growing as they started to receive hate-mail from people who had read and believed it. For the first time, I think I even saw Fleur start to transform, as I could have sworn I saw her nails elongating and her eyes becoming more hawk like.

She had been slightly worried at first that the article might have soured my opinion of her, but I had quickly put that concern to rest, reassuring her that I knew that it was all lies. The few times she had been confronted in the castle, I had stood by her side and supported her, making it clear to everyone what my opinion was on the matter.

Madame Maxime and apparently the French Ministry of Magic, where Fleur's father worked, were incensed at what had been written about Fleur. The Great Hall had been witness to Madame Maxime yelling at Dumbledore and the Ministry representatives the evening after it came out. Fleur also told me that the French Ministry had sent a strongly worded message to their British counterparts, condemning the article and putting Fudge in some hot water.

Hermione had noticed however, that some of the things that Skeeter had written were actual quotes of what Harry and her had said in private during the Yule Ball and after the Second Task. She was trying to work out how the reporter had been able to hear those conversations as she was sure that they had been alone at the time. Knowing that she would be able to come to the realisation that Skeeter was an unregistered Animagus on her own, I left her to her investigation.

After the fuss had died down somewhat, we began training Harry for the Third Task. As he didn't know what it would be yet, we were just doing general training. With Ron and Hermione, we worked on expanding our spell repertoire and practicing useful offensive and defensive spells. After that, while the two of them would work on the exercises in Ravenclaw's book, Harry and I would focus on our elemental training.

Knowing what he would be coming up against, I was pushing us to train harder than we had before, determined to get our abilities to the point that they would give us some sort of edge. We both had our own individual control exercises that we would go through, before we started to practice using them in mock duels. It was slow going, but we were definitely seeing some progress.

I no longer needed contact with the earth I was controlling and had found that I was also able to manipulate stone in the same manner as earth. I had to actively focus on what I was controlling though, or the stone would go back to being inert. I was pleased with the progress I had already made, but had started working on trying to be able to imbue instructions into the earth or stone. The easiest example was a simple trap. I would try to imbue a small patch of the floor with the intent to flow up and trap the leg of Harry when he stepped on it. It was the only example that I could do so far, but it had proved very useful in our duels.

For Harry, he was focussing mainly on the power and control of his lightning. He had long since mastered firing bolts of power without risking harming himself. The main things he had been working on since then were: increasing the potency of his lightning, refining his control over its direction and finally making it only target those he wishes to harm. The last was becoming increasingly important as his attacks had a tendency to jump from the target to anyone nearby. That could be a very useful effect, as it would allow a single attack to take out multiple opponents, but it could also result in allies being hit.

In May, the Champions were told what the Third Task would be, and so we started to incorporate some anti-creature spells into Harry's training. The Room of Requirement once again proved its value when it was able to create simulacrums of various creatures that he could come up against. By the time the task was upon us, I was feeling very confident on Harry's behalf. He was prepared for any eventuality and I was confident that he would survive what would likely come after.

Given that he had managed to get away from Voldemort with barely any training in the books, I was confident that he would be able to this time as well. Additionally, I expected, and hoped, that the extra training and his points lead from the prior tasks would allow him to finish ahead of Cedric, therefore saving the Hufflepuff from his original fate.

I obviously couldn't be sure of exactly how it would all play out, but I couldn't see a much better alternative plan. This way there would hopefully be no casualties to Voldemort's resurrection. I planned to ambush Barty Crouch Jr. when the task finished, banking on the element of surprise and the extra training being enough for me to take down the Death Eater. With him captured, we would hopefully be able to persuade the public that Voldemort was truly back.

Initially I had thought about stopping the resurrection entirely, but had decided that it could lead to far greater problems down the line. I was sure that Voldemort would gain a body soon enough, even if this first plan fell through. If he did it in secret after failing here, without Harry as a witness, then he would be able to operate completely unopposed, which would be catastrophic. It had only taken him so long to take over the ministry in the books because he had spent a year trying to hide his presence from the wider public, and was being countered by Dumbledore where possible. I also wanted to reap the most possible benefit from my knowledge of the future. Therefore, keeping the resurrection as it had been in the books would be beneficial to that aim.

After deciding that, I had thought about trying to go with Harry to support him, but had stumbled upon several problems. The first was that I had no idea how I would get there. I had yet to learn to apparate, though that was definitely on my list of things to learn this Summer. Even if I had, I expected that the graveyard in Little Hangleton would have been warded against all magical transport, apart from the Triwizard Cup Portkey. The second, and equally important problem, was the question of what would I even be able to do to help, apart from be cannon fodder. I wasn't kidding myself into thinking that Harry or I were anywhere near Voldemort's level, and it was only his need to show off against Harry that would allow Harry to survive. I would not have that protection and would likely be slaughtered as an afterthought by Voldemort the second I showed up.

With the intense training regimen time flew past quickly, particularly as any spare time I did have I spent with Fleur. Our relationship had carried on progressing as we spent more time together, and the two of us were now very close. It was both scary and exciting how quickly my feelings for her had developed, and I could only be glad that it seemed to be the same for her. I'm not quite there yet, but I am truly falling for her.

Finally, after the hectic months of training, the Third Task was finally upon us. I was nervous about a lot of things: how will Harry get on in the task, the resurrection, my impending fight with Crouch, and most immediately of all, meeting Fleur's family for the first time.

Fleur had asked me if I would meet her family, which I had happily agreed to at the time. So, when Dumbledore announced that the Champions' families had arrived, I walked with Harry to the side-room where the Champions had been directed. As the two of us entered, I spotted Sirius grinning towards us. We made our way over, Sirius pulling Harry into a hug, before he looked at me.

"I think you're wanted over there Neville," he said, gesturing over to where I saw Fleur looking at me pointedly. "Go get 'em!" Sirius said to me, giving me a thumbs up.

I walked over to Fleur and her family, swallowing nervously as I approached. Her father was unsurprisingly handsome and had a confident poise to him, his eyes narrowing slightly at my approach. Her mother could easily have passed for Fleur's older sister, with very similar looks to her daughter. She was looking at me a little more kindly than her husband, and had a welcoming smile on her face. Her younger sister was hiding behind Fleur's legs, with just the top of her head peeking out.

Fleur greeted me with a quick kiss as I arrived, before turning to stand beside me as she spoke.

"Maman, Papa, meet Neville Longbottom," she introduced, squeezing my hand tightly. "Neville, zese are my parents, Apolline and Sebastian Delacour, and my sister, Gabrielle."

"Bonjour," I said, making sure not to mess up the pronunciation. "It is a pleasure to meet Fleur's family, she has spoken about you a lot."

"It is good to meet you as well Neville," Apolline replied, before sending an amused smile Fleur's way. "Fleur 'as spoken about you in 'er letters very frequently as well."

I laughed as Fleur blushed next to me. "Maman!" Fleur exclaimed. "Please do not embarrass me!"

"Hello Neville," Fleur's father said, stepping forward and shaking my hand with a firm grip.

"Hello Sir," I replied politely.

He kept a stern expression as he looked me in the eyes. After a few long seconds, he seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for as his gaze relaxed and he smiled at me. "Please, call me Sebastian."

The conversation was much more comfortable from that point. The five of us chatted, with them getting to know me better, and vice versa, with Fleur happily keeping the conversation flowing as she stood by me. Gabrielle occasionally would chip in, but every time I responded to her, she would let out a little 'eep' noise, before hiding behind her mother's legs, prompting laugher from the four of us.

After half an hour, Dumbledore re-entered the room and announced that the task would be starting shortly. He introduced Professor McGonagall, who would be leading the families to the visitors' section of the stands. I said goodbye to Fleur's family as they left, following behind Sirius as they were led out of the room.

"Well, I think that went quite well," I said to Fleur.

She seemed to agree as she pulled me in for a short but deep kiss. "Yes it did, zey seemed to like you which is good," Fleur said, smiling happily at me.

Before we could talk any further, Dumbledore called for the Champion's attention. I looked around, realising that I was now the only other person here besides them.

"If you could all follow me, I will bring you down to the start of the task," Dumbledore said, before glancing at me. "Mr. Longbottom, I trust that you can make your own way to the stands?"

"Of course Professor," I said. "Good luck," I said, giving Fleur one last kiss. I nodded at Harry as I left, receiving one back as he looked to be psyching himself up. I hope this goes well for him.

I made my way down to the stands, quickly finding Hermione and Ron and taking a seat next to them. The three of us watched eagerly as the Champions got ready at the entrance of the maze, the sun starting to set behind it, casting long shadows and adding to the atmosphere. I looked over at the visitors' section, and could see my Gran sitting there. I had sent her a letter asking her to watch Harry compete in the final. I'm glad that she came.

"Welcome Ladies, Gentlemen and distinguished guests," Bagman's voice boomed out across the stands. "We are gathered here to witness these four Champions take part in the Third and final Task of the Triwizard Tournament. Today, this very evening, the victor will be decided. Whoever reaches the centre of the maze first will be crowned champion of champions as they seize the Triwizard Cup, along with the one-thousand Galleon prize."

The crowd burst into cheers as Bagman spoke, each part of the crowd chanting for their respective Champion. I looked over to where he was speaking from, seeing the other judges and Minister Fudge in place of Crouch Sr.

"Entering the maze first will be Harry Potter, who leads the tournament on ninety-one points," Bagman announced. "One minute after him will be Cedric Diggory, who will be followed by Viktor Krum and finally Fleur Delacour!"

The four of them got into the specified order. Bagman let off a cannon blast from his wand, signalling the start as Harry sprinted into the maze. The other three entered, each separated by a minute as Bagman had explained. Once they were all in the maze, Bagman once again spoke to the crowd.

"When the winning Champion touches the cup, they will be Portkeyed back here to the start of the maze and you will see fireworks going off in the background!" He said.

The crowd was restless as they watched the maze, unable to see what was going on within. Whilst the rest were focused on the maze and talking about what the Champions might be facing inside, I was instead focused on Crouch, still in his Polyjuiced disguise as Moody.

I was incredibly tense and could feel my magic reacting within me, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. As the task went on and the spectators in the stand began to relax and mingle, waiting for the victor to be brought in front of them, I slowly made my way down to the edge of the crowd.

The moment the fireworks went off, I zeroed in on Moody, ignoring the cheering people around me. The cheers started to turn to confusion, as no one arrived, and I started to make my way towards where he was grinning gleefully.

Making my way over to him, I called out to him, "Professor, could I speak to you in private please? I'm not sure what's happened here, but I have a suspicion."

He stared at me, eyes narrowing, before he replied, "Right this way then Longbottom, let's hear what you have to say."

I followed him as he led the two of us away from the stands and towards the Forbidden Forest. Once we were sufficiently far away from the crowd, I touched the tip of my finger to my wand, which was still in its holster. I couldn't cast any normal spells this way, but it was just enough to let me set several of the elemental traps in the ground that I had worked on as we walked.

Eventually, he turned around and glared at me. "So, what's this suspicion you have then Longbottom?" He asked me curtly.

Any second now, I thought, before replying to his question, "Well the thing is Sir, I was wondering, if the cup was already set up to be a Portkey, maybe someone tampered with where it would take the winner? Maybe it sent them to a different location."

I could see him tense up as I spoke, before he seemed to force himself to relax, "Interesting theory boy, but I don't know how anyone would have been able to pull that off. Whoever did it would have had to have had direct access to the cup. There's not many on that list."

"Hmm I guess you're right professor, not many at all," I said. "I'd guess just the judges and whoever placed the cup in the maze. Do you know who that was professor?"

I didn't dare slide my wand out yet, knowing that with his magical eye he'd see it immediately. However, I was ready to go at the first sign I'd need to, already going through what my first few moves would be. Moody stared at me, as if seeing me for the first time. "Well that would be me. I was the one who placed…" he started to say, before clutching his left arm, a look of euphoric wonder crossing his face. "He's returned!" He whispered jubilantly.

Now! I thought, taking his momentary distraction and final confirmation of who he really was to draw my wand. He looked up towards me as I whipped my wand up.

I fired off a burst of silent stunners towards him, making his eyes widen at the sudden attack, whilst simultaneously sending a chunk of stone flying at his back from behind him.

I was shocked as his wand burst upwards far quicker than I had anticipated, a powerful shield emerging as it did so. He looked gleeful at blocking my attack and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut-off as the rock smashed into his back, knocking him forwards.

I had rapidly back-pedalled after my opening salvo, creating some space. I then took the opening my elemental attack had created to fire a wide range cutting spell at him. He hadn't been idle though, firing off several piercing hexes before he saw my spell coming and threw himself to the side, avoiding being hit anywhere vital. It had still managed to graze him though, and he was now bleeding from the wound that had been slashed open across his shoulder.

He rolled back to his feet, face twisted into a crazed sneer as he glared at me, while I dodged away from his spells, my time training with Harry paying off.

"Figured it out did you then brat!" He spat at me. "What gave it away?"

"I had suspected after seeing your name on a map of Harry's. I could have explained that away, but you just clutched your arm," I said, taking the lull in the fight to prepare another more powerful elemental attack. "Right where I imagine your Dark Mark would be."

"Clever aren't you," he sneered. "Let's see if you're still clever once I put you through what I did to your parents!"

'Crucio!' He yelled, slashing his wand towards me.

The sickly red beam arced towards me, and a twisted smile seemed to creep onto his face as I didn't move to dodge. Instead I roared in anger as I wrenched my arm up, a wall of earth appearing in front of me and a pillar of stone bursting out of the ground to the side of Crouch still disguised as Moody. As the wall in front of me absorbed the curse he'd sent at me, the stone I was directing crashed into his left side. He was sent sprawling, his arm making a distinct cracking sound as the bone broke from the force of the blow.

I twisted my wand, curling the stone pillar over and sending it hurtling towards his downed form. He went to roll out of the way, only to look down and see his legs held in place by the earth beneath him. Snarling he flicked his wand towards the pillar as it approached. 'Bombarda!' He yelled, the spell crashing into the pillar and detonating, blowing it to pieces and sending shrapnel flying.

I hunkered down behind my wall to avoid being hit, but was knocked backwards as the wall exploded in front of me. Luckily I had only made it of earth so the debris didn't injure me, a lesson I had painfully learnt in training. I scrambled to my feet, wincing in pain as I caught the edge of another piercing hex across my thigh, and hurriedly threw up a Protego to block the next spell.

Damn it! I hoped that the element of surprise would be enough to take him down. I carried on backpedaling, now thoroughly on the defensive as he unleashed a continuous barrage of curses towards me. I was focused almost entirely on raising earthen defences to block them, only occasionally being able to send my own offensive spells his way.

I was not completely out of tricks though. Whilst he definitely had me on the back foot, I was overplaying it slightly to lull him into overconfidence as I slowly backed away, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

I'd taken a couple more glancing blows, my left arm now hanging limply from where he'd hit it with a painful bone-breaking curse, when my opportunity came. He stepped onto one of the traps I'd prepared earlier, the stone flowing up his legs and locking him in place. It caught him off guard, as his forward momentum was violently halted, and the spell he was preparing to fire petered out.

Now's my chance! I realised, as his eyes widened in panic. With him pinned in place, I focused and pulled two twin pillars of stone out of the ground, sending them hurtling towards his right arm. I had pushed as much magic as I could into this attack, knowing that it was my best opportunity to beat him. He tried to sway out of the way with what little mobility he had left, but I adjusted the direction of the pillars in time for them to crunch into his arm, pincering it between the two of them.

He screamed in pain as his arm was crushed between them, bits of his shattered wand falling to the floor. Not waiting for any last gasp tactics from him, I quickly followed up the attack with my most powerful stunning spell, pushing twice as much magic into it as I normally did.

The red bolt slammed into him, throwing him backwards and wrenching him out of the trap around his feet. He thudded into the ground, unmoving as his mangled arm bled heavily with bits of bone stuck out. I walked over to him and kicked him hard in the stomach, finally relaxing when he didn't react. Got you, you murdering, torturing piece of shit! I thought angrily as I stared down at the transformed body of one of my parents' torturers, kicking him again viciously.

I managed to restrain myself from doing any more damage to the unconscious man, but took an unhealthy amount of pleasure in seeing his mangled arm. I hope it stays like that when he transforms back.

I levitated him behind me and began walking back towards the stands with his unconscious body in tow. I winced in pain as the injuries I had picked up started to catch up to me along with the exhaustion that accompanied the end of a massive adrenaline rush. I trudged back over, and was just close enough to see Harry's body slam into the ground when he arrived, the crowd cheering at seeing the winner return.

The cheers died away though, as Harry didn't react, lying still on the ground. No! Please no! I thought as I moved as fast as I could, ignoring the exhaustion I could feel setting in. I arrived just as Dumbledore did, and could see Sirius sprinting over, a terrified look on his face.

Dumbledore looked at me with a piercing gaze as he caught sight of Moody's body floating behind me, before he turned back to Harry, hurriedly checking on him. Around us several others crowded: Professor McGonagall looking worried, Minister Fudge clutching his bowler hat nervously and my Grandmother among them.

"He's alive, though unconscious and with some unpleasant injuries," Dumbledore announced, much to mine and Sirius' relief. "Let's get him up to the hospital wing and you can explain to me why my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is unconscious behind you Mr. Longbottom."

We made our way up to the Hospital Wing and I explained how I had been suspicious of Moody. I then explained what he had said and how we had fought after he clutched his arm, getting a look of horror from Dumbledore and Sirius. I went on to explain how he admitted he was Crouch Jr. and that we fought, with me just managing to beat him. After I finished, I looked round to see my Gran staring at me, a prouder look on her face than I had ever seen before.

"So, he really has returned," Dumbledore said sombrely. "Voldemort once again walks among us."

"Eep!" Fudge squeaked out as Dumbledore said his name. "Merlins beard Dumbledore! Don't say things like that."

"I assure you Cornelius, I am being deadly serious," Dumbledore said resolutely.

"No! He can't be back!" Fudge said. "Just because some madman grabbed his arm doesn't mean anything."

"Do not blind yourself to this Cornelius," Dumbledore said.

Fudge ignored Dumbledore, muttering angrily to himself, as we all walked the rest of the way in grim silence. Once Madam Pomfrey had treated Harry, he awoke with a gasp, looking round wildly.

"Voldemort, he's back!" Harry shouted. "I saw him come back to life, there was some kind of ritual and it gave him back a body."

"Indeed my boy, this is truly grim news," Dumbledore said. At Harry's questioning look, Dumbledore gestured to me. "Mr. Longbottom here has captured a Death Eater who has been disguising themselves as Alastor throughout the year. What Mr. Longbottom heard the man say confirms what you have just told us." Dumbledore turned to Fudge again, "Further proof Minister, what more could you possibly need?"

Fudge didn't answer, nervously turning his hat in his hand as he looked at all of us staring at him. At that point, when it was clear that Fudge wasn't going to say anything, Dumbledore got Harry to talk through exactly what happened once he had grabbed the Triwizard Cup. It was almost exactly as it had been described in the books, apart from instead of Pettigrew, Harry said it was Nott Sr. who assisted in the ritual.

"That would make sense. He is one of Voldemort's oldest and most loyal supporters," Dumbledore said as he thought over what Harry had told him.

"Now see here," Fudge spoke up. "Lord Nott is a very respected member of the Wizengamot and a personal friend of mine. I won't tolerate these unsupported allegations against him."

"Minister please," Dumbledore said, a note of exasperation coming into his voice. "What possible reason would Harry have to lie about this?"

Before Fudge could respond, Moody's body began to shift and bubble like melting plastic. He was grunting in pain despite being unconscious, as his features began to shift. Dumbledore quickly flicked his wand towards him, simultaneously binding him to the chair and pulling off the prosthetic eye and leg.

We watched on as he slowly changed back into the form of Barty Crouch Jr., my Grandmother and I staring with loathing at the man who had tortured my parents. His transformation seemed to wake him from his unconscious state as he looked around blearily. He glared at me as he saw me looking at him, before his eyes widened as he caught sight of Harry.

"No! How did my Lord's plan fail?" He asked, seemingly speaking to himself.

"That's right Crouch," I gloated. "Not only did you lose to a fourteen year old, so did Voldemort."

"I wouldn't say he lost, I barely managed to get away," Harry muttered to me.

"That scumbag doesn't need to know that," I whispered back.

"Minerva, would you urgently go and see if you can locate the real Alastor Moody," Dumbledore said as he stared at Crouch. "I fear that he will not be in the best of states and will probably require urgent care."

"Of course, I'll go right away," McGonagall replied.

Once she had left, a heated debate broke out between Dumbledore and Fudge. Despite all the evidence before him, Fudge was still refusing to believe the possibility that Voldemort had returned. Eventually Fudge seemed to swell in anger.

"I will hear no more of this Dumbledore!" He yelled. "He is not back and this insane man is not a reliable witness anyway. I'm going to have him kissed by the Dementors immediately as an Azkaban escapee!"

"No you will not!" All three of Dumbledore, Gran and me shouted.

"How dare you suggest you would summarily execute this man before he can be held accountable for what he has done. After the harm he caused House Longbottom, the attack on my grandson and the evidence he now holds, I demand that he is tried publicly before the Wizengamot to answer for those crimes!" Gran shouted, glaring at Fudge.

"You cannot just try and destroy the evidence Minister," I said. "We have all heard it and will not forget it."

"They are right Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Not only is it not in your powers to execute people on a whim, but one could argue that you would be directly impeding the law. That would see you impeached and removed from office."

Fudge looked pale at the immediate rebuttals, seemingly having forgotten who he was in the room with. He was looking around desperately, as if trying to think of a way to escape from the situation. Before he could try and come up with any other excuse, a woman that I recognised faintly as Madam Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, entered the room, flanked by a pair of Aurors.

His final opportunity to get rid of Crouch had disappeared, leaving Fudge now resigned to the fact that he would be taken into custody. After an explanation of events from Dumbledore, eliciting horrified and fearful responses from the newcomers, Crouch was escorted out of the room, floating along unconscious, having been once again stunned.

Having averted the crisis of Fudge executing Crouch to hinder Dumbledore's claims, I finally started to relax from the hyper-focused state I had been in since the start of the Third Task. My fatigue suddenly caught up to me and the pain from my injuries in my recent fight flared up. I staggered over to one of the beds, eliciting a worried gasp from my grandmother and resulting in Madam Pomfrey rushing over to me.

I fell onto the bed as my eyes started to close, and I heard Gran shouting, "What is wrong with him? Please fix him immediately!"

I just managed to hear Madam Pomfrey's reply before I passed out, "He is fine. He's only got a couple of minor injuries, but he is completely exhausted, physically and magically."

I had awoken the next morning to find a beautiful Veela asleep in the chair beside me. I tried to roll over, but had found that my body was too weak to do so, an unfortunate side effect of magical exhaustion. The groan that the action had elicited out of me did serve to wake Fleur though, and she leapt up as she realised I was awake.

What followed that was a stream of French expletives as she ranted at me about my recklessness, before she grabbed me and kissed me deeply. After she was satisfied with the kiss and had left me breathless, she proceeded to interrogate me about what had happened after the Third Task.

I explained everything to her, receiving more angry French swearing when I admitted that I had deliberately set out to capture a dangerous Death Eater on my own. Although she had some sympathy when she realised it was one of the Death Eaters who had tortured my parents. She paled when I told her that Voldemort was back and was suitably outraged that the Minister had tried to squash the evidence.

She had visited me each of the next three days while I was in the Hospital Wing, helping me keep up to date with what was going on and just generally keeping me company. Crouch Jr.'s arrest had been announced in the Daily Prophet and apparently his trial was due on the 1st August, which had caused a lot of uproar as people realised a convicted Death Eater had been teaching for a full year at Hogwarts. With regards to Voldemort's return, the newspaper had been worryingly silent. They hadn't put out any articles denying his return or accusing Dumbledore, Harry or I of fabricating the story, but they equally hadn't put anything out that announced that he had returned. Instead they had reported on the lavish award ceremony that had been held to pronounce Harry the Triwizard Champion.

I'd recovered in time to take my exams which, after the intense training we'd been through during the year were easily done. I wouldn't get O's in every subject, but I had absolutely demolished any of the practical tasks set in the exams. The impact of Ravenclaw's book also showed itself in Harry and Ron, who had both improved massively compared to last year. Even Hermione had said that it made how magic worked much clearer and had helped her understanding of it.

I had been morose when Fleur had finally left with the rest of the Beauxbatons contingent, but we had been able to spend some time together in the Room of Requirement before then. The room again proved its value, transforming itself into myriad romantic locations for us to spend time together. My feelings towards her had strengthened even further in the aftermath of the Third Task. The combination of her being at my bedside as I recovered, worry and care evident on her exquisite face the whole time, and the perfect few dates we had had in the Room of Requirement had left me falling for her hard. I wasn't quite ready to admit I was in love with her, but I was getting close, and I think she felt the same judging by her behaviour.

We had exchanged addresses so that we could stay in touch by owl post. Furthermore, we had both invited each other to come to the other's family home. Having checked with my grandmother and her parents, we had arranged for me to visit her in France first, before she would come back with me to stay at Longbottom Manor. While Fleur was staying with me, she was going to take the opportunity to arrange her own accommodation in London for the next year, as she had got the job at Gringotts that she applied for. I couldn't be more pleased about how everything was going between the two of us.

Finally, the term had come to an end. Dumbledore had given a speech on how Voldemort had returned, despite the Ministry not wanting him to inform the students of that. It was very similar to his original speech, but obviously missed the parts about Cedric, who had avoided being pulled with Harry to the resurrection entirely, and so hadn't died.

The school had seemed divided on how to react to the news. A lot were unsure about whether or not to believe it, due to their unwillingness to accept the news, and the lack of reporting on the matter. However, the lack of rebuttal in the news had also led a lot of others to believe what Dumbledore had said. It had resulted in a lot of attention for Harry and I as well, due to Dumbledore explaining our parts in what had happened.

As we rode the train back to London, the four of us sharing a carriage, I was left wondering about how the war would go this time. Voldemort was back, but there were no casualties this time. We were all a lot more prepared than we would have been originally, and I was feeling confident that this time we would do better, particularly given how mine and Harry's elemental training was going. Voldemort won't find this country ready to be taken over as easily as he expects. I thought to myself as the train sped through the rugged British countryside. My thoughts then turned to Fleur and the burgeoning relationship that the two of us were developing. And after this year, I have even more to fight for than before!

AN: Whoo there we go, an exciting end to the Goblet of Fire! Let me know what you thought of it in the reviews, how was the fight scene between Neville and Crouch?

It's going to be at least a couple weeks before I post anything else for this story. My workload has increased a fair bit in the last month and on top of that I'm finding it quite hard to write Neville's fifth year at the moment.

Hopefully the writers block will go away soon, but in the meantime I'll try to work out my plan for the rest of the story. I think from this point, when I do start posting again, it probably won't be weekly, but hopefully I'll be able to keep it to every other week.

Feel free to drop some ideas in the reviews if you have them, can't guarantee that I'll use them, but I'll definitely read them all and maybe some of them will give me a bit of inspiration.

Translations:

* I had a lovely time

** Good, I am glad