Harry had barely slept last night. Today was the day of the First Task and he had spent all the night tossing and turning in his bed. He was nervous, but like really nervous and even a bit afraid. No matter how many life threatening situations he had faced in the past, he was still human and they were forcing him to face a dragon. Yuri, Fleur and himself had been training constantly for the past weeks. Fleur teaching him rather nasty offensive spells while Yuri taught him to cast Lightening spells with the Pyromancy Glove.

Casting with the Pyromancy Glove still felt a bit weird to Harry. Usually when he casted a spell with his wand it felt natural, like the power came from within him, from his core if there was such a thing. With Miracles however, like Yuri had explained, the power came from the Flame in the glove. The first week he had a lot of trouble even conjuring the lightening. Yuri had sat with him and explained him how to focus on the flame: One had to be calm and collected to conjure it, otherwise no lightening would appear at all.

Which had happened the first week to Harry's great frustration. No matter how hard he concentrated he couldn't cast it. "I think it is time we take a little bit of a break, Harry, getting frustrated will only hinder your ability to cast the spell." Yuri had said, leaving him in the care of Fleur again who continued teaching him hexes, curses and jinxes.

In the beginning of the second week he had finally been able to conjure lightening in his hand. He felt the sheer power of it in his hand, waiting to be released. Yuri however had ordered him to not throw it just yet. During the second week Yuri had taught him how to control the Lightening. He had Harry shorten the bolt, enlarge it, diminish it in power, increase it in power and so on. "You are doing really well, Harry, you have control of it now, next week we'll focus on throwing it and perhaps even learn the more powerful version: Great Lightening Spear." Yuri had praised him at the end of that week.

And indeed, in the third week, Yuri and Harry had stood side by side, casting and throwing Lightening Spears all over the little meadow they were in. They improved the throwing distance and accuracy, Yuri even used himself as target once for him to practice. Something Gabrielle had quickly shot down after a Lightening Spear came real close to hitting him. At the end of the Third week, after he had perfected casting Lightening Spear, they had talked strategy. "It is very good that you can cast the Lightening spell now, Harry, and as proud as I am now, Dragons are still ferocious beasts. I think it is best to have a backup plan, perhaps even a backup plan for the backup plan." Harry had been really touched by what his friend had said. No one had ever said before they were proud of him and he couldn't even put into words how much that meant to him.

So they had formed a plan, of course, with the help of the two French Veela. They had decided that it would be best for Harry to already have his Pyromancy Glove when he entered to arena. It was very possible the Judges would conduct points for that but they reasoned better losing a few points than being eaten by a dragon. Second, Fleur had suggested Harry using his amazing flying skills to use in the ring. She had suggested she taught him the summoning charm 'Accio' so he could summon his Firebolt if the need would arise. Yuri had thought that over for a couple of minutes before eventually agreeing. "That is indeed a very solid backup plan, I reckon they won't give the dragon free mobility. It will be grounded or at least be restricted in movement to some degree. The broom could give Harry the advantage of speed." He had said. The summoning charm wasn't that difficult of a spell as he managed to learn it to cast it consistently in little under two days.

But right now, he was getting ready to go to Yuri's room to collect him so they could have some breakfast. However, as soon as he left the Gryffindor Common Room, Yuri was waiting on him, casually leaning on a wall with his arms folded in front of his chest. As soon as Yuri saw him he nodded friendly and pushed himself off the wall to join his friend's side.

"Good Morning, Harry, How are you?" Harry noticed the concern in his voice. He gave his friend a weak smile.

"Okay I suppose, barely had any sleep last night though." He admitted openly. Yuri put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder to try to offer some comfort.

"I understand, no worries, Harry, I am sure you'll do fine. Even more, I know you'll do more than fine. Gabrielle, Fleur and I believe in you, my friend."

"Thank you, Yuri." Harry said rather emotionally, to know that people were proud of him, believed in him, was something he never thought he would have. Yuri just smiled as they made their way towards the Great Hall in comfortable silence.

"Harry, Yuri!" Someone suddenly exclaimed, both of them turned around to see the three Gryffindor Chasers make their way over to them, with Katie in the lead. "How are you two doing today?" She asked as soon as they had caught up.

"Good morning, Katie, Alicia, Angelina." He started by greeting them. He saw Yuri just nod his head in greeting. Which is something he had noticed. Not a lot of people actually greeted Yuri but those who did only received a nod in return from his Undead Friend, never a vocal greeting. Harry even noticed that besides himself, Fleur and Gabrielle, Yuri never talked to anyone else unless absolutely necessary. "I'm doing okay, a bit nervous but otherwise fine." The three chasers gave him a sympathetic look as they joined them on their walk to the Great Hall. Katie turned to Yuri.

"How are you, Yuri?" Yuri raised an eyebrow in surprise or confusion, Harry couldn't really tell.

"I'm doing fine, Miss Bell." Came his short but, as always, polite answer. While Harry was engaging in some small talk with the other two chasers, he noticed that Katie was trying to do the same with Yuri.

"So if I may ask, Yuri, what are you going to do during the Task?" Harry nearly chuckled out loud when he saw the rather annoyed look on his Undead friend's face. A look that went completely unnoticed by the Chaser. Harry had to contain his amusement all the way toward the Great Hall.

XXX

Fleur was pretty sure she had never been this nervous in her entire life before. Today was the day of the First task, the day she had to face a dragon, something that quite honestly, scared her. No matter how prepared one is to face a dragon, they still remain dangerous and ferocious beasts. She was currently seated in her usual spot in the Great Hall to have breakfast, although she didn't really have an appetite at the moment. Her Sister was seated in front of her, regarding her with a look that contained both concern but also supportiveness.

"You'll do great, Fleur, I'm sure of it." Fleur smiled at that. The both of them had always been close, counting on each other for support while the people around them shunned them, mocked them or straight out insulted them for who they were. Since coming to Hogwarts, however, they had grown even closer if such a thing was possible. "You have practiced a lot, Fleur, you can do this, I know you can."

"Thank you Gabrielle." She replied. She would show the world what she was capable of, she would make her sister proud, her parents proud, she would make her two friends proud.

Now that she paid attention to her surroundings she noticed that her two male friends weren't here yet, which was very unusual of them. It seems that Gabrielle noticed the same.

"Where are they now?" Thinking back to the other time both of them had been first in the Great Hall, that time when Harry had told them what they had to face in the tournament.

Just a few minutes after her sister had asked that question the door opened, revealing Harry and Yuri, in the company of the Three Quidditch players. It seemed that Harry was in a pleasant friendly conversation with two of them. Yuri, however, seemed to be annoyed to no end. A rather funny sight that made her chuckle lightly. She could even hear Gabrielle chuckle too. Although when she looked at her sister, there was a look there she hadn't seen before, a look she couldn't quite place either. It looked like Gabrielle was observing the Quidditch Player's every move. Fleur made a mental note to ask her about that later.

They saw the men bade their farewells to their company and make their way towards them. It looked like Harry was teasing Yuri along the way.

"C'mon Yuri, she only wanted to make some small talk." Yuri groaned.

"I was not interested in small talk, she talked about the most mundane things. Not that I could say anything If I wanted to, she just kept rambling on." Fleur heard him reply which made both her and her sister chuckle. "Besides, talking to her didn't feel the same like talking to you or Fleur. And especially not like talking to Gabrielle." That last comment went right over Harry's head as he gave his friend a friendly pat on the shoulder before taking his usual seat beside her. Of course, not before giving her a quick hug. The comment however didn't went unnoticed by her, and one quick glance at her sister told her it didn't went unnoticed by her sister either. In fact, fleur was pretty sure she saw a feint blush across her sister's cheeks. Interesting indeed She mused silently. This was definitely something she would pay attention to more.

"Not happy about the company you were in Yuri?" Fleur asked to lift the mood a bit, more precisely to get their mind of the tournament for a moment. Yuri's response was a groan, making the three of them laugh.

"She was trying to be nice, Yuri. You saved her life after all." Harry said, still very much amused.

"If everyone I save reacts like that it might be the last time I saved anyone." He replied sarcastically which made all three of them laugh. Fleur had noticed that Yuri's sense of humor was often very sarcastic in nature. "I know she is your friend, Harry, but I'm sorry I'm not good in this stuff when it isn't the three of you." Harry waved him of.

"You don't have to apologize, Yuri, I know Katie can be much sometimes."

After that they ate while engaging in talk about strategy, going over their plans again to make sure they would be okay. Soon after Breakfast was done the Headmaster announced that everyone should make their way towards the arena where the first task would take place while the contestants had to go to a small tent to receive their objective. Before they departed ways Yuri spoke up.

"You both have trained hard these past weeks and I am sure you two will do great. I probably won't mean a lot coming from me but I'm proud of both of you." He started. Fleur had noticed that since his return he seemed a lot more open with stuff like this, especially when it was only the four of them. "But no matter what happens in there, think of your safety first." Fleur was touched, beside her parents and her sister there weren't a lot of other people who cared about her like that. "Stay safe and may the Flame guide your way." He finished while giving Harry a friendly hug. He seemed to hesitate to do the same to her but she shot forward and embraced him anyway. Her sister both gave them a hug as well and told them to be careful as well and with that they parted ways. Yuri and Gabrielle making their way towards their seats and Harry and Fleur followed Professor McGonagall towards the tent.

XXX

Yuri was usually calm and collected. He had taken down beings some would consider gods. He had faced against gargoyles, giants, dragons and other monstrosities of all kinds. He had witnessed war first hand, seen his brethren die in the midst of battle. But never in those situations had he felt disturbed or even slightly nervous. Never had he known fear before this very moment. Because right now, as he was walking beside Gabrielle, knowing that two of his friends had to face a dragon, he was very much afraid. There was so much that could go wrong, dragons remained unpredictable ferocious beasts, adding the fact that they would most likely be in a confined state made their behavior that much more unpredictable.

He was almost certain Gabrielle picked up on his nervousness as she gave him a weak smile. It was a touching attempt to console him but it was clear she couldn't hide her fear either. They were both very concerned for what was to come.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Gabrielle?" An unknown voice asked behind them. Both he and Gabrielle turned around. He saw a very nicely dressed man and a woman who was almost a carbon copy of Fleur and Gabrielle. Gabrielle immediately smiled upon seeing them.

"Maman, Papa! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed as she rushed towards what Yuri now knew were her parents. He saw them exchange hugs in greeting, he very wisely kept his distance, not wanting to intrude on a family moment. He noticed however that the father kept a close eye on him. Perhaps it was because he was already on edge because of the Tournament but he immediately assumed a neutral and emotionless stance.

"Your father and I decided to surprise you and Fleur." He heard the mother reply. "Now are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Gabrielle immediately motioned him to come closer.

"Maman, Papa, this is Yuri." He nodded politely in greeting and offered his hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Yuri, my youngest daughter has told us a lot about you." He threw a questioning glance to Gabrielle who looked away, probably in embarrassment. "I'm Appoline Delacour, Gabrielle and Fleur's mother." She introduced herself, politely and warmly. She seemed really nice to him. Something that rather surprised him.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Mrs. Delacour." He answered politely. "I am Yuri." He concluded that if Gabrielle had told them a lot about him that they probably knew what he was. Appoline gave him a friendly smile.

"I am Guillaume Delacour, Gabrielle and Fleur's father." The man, apparently called Guillaume introduced himself. Yuri clearly noticed the lack of warmth in his voice compared to the greeting of his wife. Yuri shook the hand that was offered to him but Mr. Delacour quickly let go, earning him a glare of both his wife and his daughter. Yuri immediately knew why he was reacting like that. They knew he was Undead, and he was clearly not happy that his daughters had spent their time in the presence of an Undead. He politely greeted the man anyway, this was Fleur and Gabrielle's father, it would do him no good to turn hostile towards him. Besides, Yuri was kind of used to this behavior anyway so he didn't really mind. He only hoped that it wouldn't create a rift between the family Delacour.

"Pleased meeting you, Mr. Delacour." The only thing he received was a nod, gaining the man two more glares from the women in their presence.

"You catch up with your daughter, Guillaume." He heard Appoline say. Yuri saw the underlying meaning. She was trying to diffuse the situation. Her husband was clearly not happy that he was here. So as Gabrielle and her father walked in front of them, engaging in what Yuri could tell was a very heated discussion in French. Mrs. Delacour and himself stayed a bit behind, walking towards their seats to watch the first task.

"I apologize for my husband's behavior, Yuri." She started to say, Yuri immediately waved her off.

"There is nothing to be sorry for, I understand. In fact I'm quite surprised you didn't act the same way." Before she could say something however, Yuri continued. "I can promise you however that I mean no harm towards you or your family, Mrs. Delacour." She looked quite surprised at his last statement.

"Please Yuri, don't ever think I consider you a danger to either myself or my family. Both my daughters have told me a lot about you, Gabrielle more so than Fleur, and they had only positive things to say about you." That made sense, after all, he and Yuri had spent a lot of time together lately. Whenever Harry and himself hadn't been training they would sit together and do her homework while Harry and Fleur were doing Gods know what. "Besides, I would really be a hypocrite if I were to judge you just because of what you are, Yuri." Of course. Yuri suddenly thought. She is Veela too, just like her daughters.

"You are Veela too then?" he asked. She nodded in response.

"I am, so I understand what it feels like to be judged for what you are. I thought my husband would know better after being married to me after all these years but apparently I was wrong." It sounded to Yuri that she was rather disappointed in her husband.

"Don't be angry at your husband, Mrs. Delacour. I understand, don't worry, it's only normal after all the tales the Ministry wove around Undead. Our reputation definitely doesn't help either." He said. It seemed like Appoline wanted to refute his point but quickly interrupted her. "Please, the last thing I want is to create a divide in your family, Mrs. Delacour." Her face softened at his last statement.

"Don't worry, Yuri, you won't. I'm sure Gabrielle has already knocked some sense into him." Both of them looked in front of him to indeed, see Gabrielle heatedly talking to her father, most likely about his behavior previously. "So how did you four meet?" She asked, Yuri had to smile a little at that, as he retold how he met his friends from the beginning battle with the Death Eaters all the way to the present day.

XXX

"What was that all about, Papa?" Gabrielle asked heatedly at her father in French, as she folded her arms in front of her. His behavior towards Yuri was inexcusable, to say she was less than pleased was an understatement.

"Gabrielle, I was just.." He tried to justify himself but she didn't even let him.

"You were just what? What were you trying to achieve by behaving like that? You didn't even greet him properly." Guillaume Delacour knew that both his daughter and his wife were angry at him. But they didn't understand, he had heard the stories about the Undead on his work. He worked for the French Ministry of Magic and he had heard what Undead were capable of, he was just trying to look out for his family.

"I'm just trying to look out for my family, Gabrielle, is that so hard to understand? I'm being cautious." He justified himself, this only made Gabrielle angrier. He was glad there weren't other people around because his daughter was almost yelling at this point.

"BEING CAUTIOUS OF WHAT? MY BEST FRIEND?" He winced but she continued. "I've written both you and Maman countless of letters how happy I was to have met Harry and Yuri. I've written how glad I was to have Yuri, my first ever best friend who didn't care that I still look like a 12 year old. I've told you how excited I was for you to meet him, and then you treat him like that?" Guillaume lowered his head.

He indeed remembered how fondly Fleur and Gabrielle had spoken about their new male friends. Fleur about Harry and Gabrielle about Yuri. And of course, he as a father immediately assumed all sorts of things. His daughters had befriended the Boy-Who-Lived and an Undead, they couldn't have chosen a more dangerous duo. And then there was the fact that Fleur had been writing separate letters to Appoline, which meant that she was troubled by something, and again his mind went all over the place. He was their father, he only wanted what was best for them.

"I've heard the stories about Undead in the Ministry, Gabrielle, and they aren't pretty." His daughter gave him a deadpanned look.

"So you rather believe some stories about Undead your colleagues and friends in the Ministry tell you instead of your daughter's own personal experience with the man?" She countered. Guillaume realized he had just dug the hole he was in deeper. Merde. He cursed to himself.

"Of course not, I was just being cautious."

"Well, you shouldn't be Papa. He is a kind man and wouldn't hurt a fly unless provoked. He is funny and keeps me company throughout the day. He is my best friend , so you better apologize to him after the task." And there it was again, Gabrielle speaking highly of Yuri like she had done so many times in her letters. The tone in which she had said that last statement was one he knew very well, a tone that his wife often used in little fights too. His daughter was now walking in silence beside him, not paying him any mind.

XXX

Harry and Fleur followed Professor McGonagall in relative silence. Not really uncomfortable silence, they both were just extremely stressed for what was to come. Just before they entered the tent they looked at each other and give the other a reassuring smile and nod.

As soon as Harry entered the tent he could see that Ludo Bagman was already there, holding some sort of pouch in his hands. The other two champions were also already present. Cedric was sitting on one of the couches, Harry couldn't help but notice the slight shake in the Older Ravenclaw's hands. Viktor Krum, however, stood with his back towards them, not giving a simple care in the world, that's how it looked to Harry. Perhaps he is just very good at hiding his nerves? He is a professional Quidditch player after all. He reasoned.

"Ah, the two final champions have arrived, it is time. Gather around." Bagman exclaimed, sounding way to cheerful in Harry's opinion. Harry and Fleur remained by each other's side while Cedric and Krum made their way over. "In this pouch is the clue to what you will face out there, your task is to collect the Golden egg, ladies first." He opened the pouch slightly and offered it to Fleur. She took out a small green dragon with the number 2 around its neck.

"Ah the Welsh Green, you'll go second, Miss Delacour." Informed Bagman. Krum took out the Chinese Fireball and would go third while Cedric got the Swedish Short-Snout and had to go first. Harry noticed briefly that he went a bit pale at the thought, he couldn't blame his fellow champion.

"And that just leaves our youngest champion." Bagman offered him the pouch. As he retracted his hand from the pouch, he could see a greyish looking dragon that was starting to spew small breaths of flames.

"The Hungarian Horntail, a feisty one indeed. You will go last, Mr. Potter." He still thought that Bagman was way to cheerful for sending teenagers against fully grown dragons, but Harry held his tongue. Bagman had informed them they would prepare everything and would call out the names whenever they had to go in. Cedric went back to sit on the couch he was seated on earlier. Looking intently at the little dragon in his hand while seemingly murmuring to himself. Krum turned his back on them again, apparently not keen on having a conversation.

Harry and Fleur still stood next to each other. If someone were to give him the option between facing those dementors again or facing this dragon he would choose the dementors any day. At least they could be dealt with by a simple Patronus charm. He unconsciously started to pace around.

"Hey, we'll be okay." Came Fleur's soft but reassuring voice, he turned around to face her, she had stepped closer too. "We have trained hard, Harry, we'll be fine."

Before Harry could respond however, they called out Cedric's name. They could see how he took a deep breath, probably to keep his nerves under control and then stepped outside the tent.

30 minutes later they could hear the crowd cheer loudly, indicating that Cedric had completed the task. Harry's nerves immediately skyrocketed again, it was Fleur's turn. He faced her, concern evident in his voice.

"Please be careful out there Fleur, I can't lose you." She stepped closer and immediately threw her arms around him. Now, they had hugged quite a lot over the time they had known each other. But they had been short and brief hugs, in greeting. This, at least to Harry, felt like so much more. It felt like both of them were clinging to the other, afraid to let go. Eventually after what felt like hours, Fleur pulled away but still had her arms around him, they were still incredibly close. So close that Harry could feel her breath against his cheek.

"I will, Harry. You too, please, I can't lose you either." Before Harry could respond, Fleur leaned slightly forward and pressed her lips gently against his. Even if it was just for a couple of seconds, Harry felt like he was in heaven. "Now Is perhaps not the time but after the task I really want to talk." She said seriously but in a really low voice. The only thing Harry could do was nod, as he was still recovering from the small kiss they had shared. Not soon after, Fleur was called to enter the arena. "Good luck." He whispered her before she disappeared behind the flaps of the tent.

XXX

They had eventually found their seats. Appoline was seated next to Yuri, with Gabrielle on his other side and Guillaume next to his daughter. While they had made their way up here, Yuri had told her how he met Harry and her daughters and she had to admit, it was a rather interesting tale. Especially the way how he arrived here at Hogwarts. He had also told her what they did in their free time for these past months. She noticed that Yuri focused on the things that happened since he arrived at Hogwarts. Not once did he mention his life before. Which was only normal, she reasoned. They had only met barely 2 hours ago. But she also knew that the life of Undead was rarely a happy one. She had heard to stories her husband had told her, of course. And she had also read the very few chapters one could find in a book about dark creatures. They were branded as highly dangerous, vicious killers. She had only seen the exact opposite in Yuri. In fact, she had observed the interactions between him and her daughter and it looked like Gabrielle was really comfortable around him. Something she had never been in the past, except around her parents of course.

Truth be told, she couldn't be happier. She always knew her daughters were rather lonely in school. Both of them had only each other, they didn't have friends back in Beauxbatons, she knew this, it was the same when she attended school. But to see her two daughters finally making friends made her the happiest mother alive. And if Fleur's letters were anything to go by, there might even be something more going on between Fleur and Harry. She couldn't wait to meet the young man.

"He made a lot of mistakes." She was brought back from her internal thought by Yuri's voice. "He tried to conjure sheep, probably intended to trick the dragon in mistaking it for food, but we are dealing with protective mother dragons here, they don't care about food." He elaborated. "He also targeted the most protected parts of the dragon." Now Appoline wondered just how he knew so much about dragons. "I still can't believe they would put teenagers against dragons." He sighed disappointedly.

"You seem to know a lot about dragons, Yuri, may I ask why that is?" She didn't want to prod into his private life, she was merely curious. Gabrielle had heard her question but didn't react.

"Lordran is a dangerous place, Mrs. Delacour, let's leave it that." He answered politely. She smiled lightly at him, understanding that he didn't want to go into detail about it. "Look, it's Fleur's turn." He said pointing towards Fleur who was indeed walking through the flaps of the tent, entering the arena.

Appoline had mixed feelings about her eldest daughter participating in the Tournament. She was, of course, very proud, but on the other hand, she was also extremely worried. The Tournament was known to be dangerous. However, she understood why Fleur had wanted to enter and had supported her fully. No matter how worried or concerned she was, she was first and foremost, incredibly proud. It seemed that the young Undead beside her had picked up on her sudden change of mood.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Delacour, we have trained a lot these past months, we have back up plans just in case. Fleur also has a very strong plan to get past the dragon."

"Thank you Yuri."

"No need to thank me, Mrs. Delacour, I am merely stating facts. You can be very proud of your daughter." She was. She saw him briefly looking at Gabrielle with a little bit of a teasing smile. "Both of your daughters of course, we can't forget little Gabrielle now, can we?" Appoline had to chuckle lightly at that, especially when Gabrielle playfully smacked Yuri on the arm for calling her little.

Appoline could immediately guess what her daughter's plan was, as she felt her daughter releasing her allure, full power at that. Resulting in every boy wanting to get closer to the sides of the tribune to get a better look at her. Of course, not all of them, the teachers weren't affected, so wasn't her husband. But what surprised her the most was that the young man beside her wasn't affected as well. He just sat there, watching Fleur as she focused every bit of her magic to put the dragon to sleep.

"If I may ask, Yuri, how come you aren't affected by my daughter's allure?" She kept her eyes on the arena of course, watching how her daughter dodged the attacks of the dragon. Attacks that were becoming weaker and weaker as the dragon became more tired. Yuri briefly looked at her, as if he was surprised at her questions. Appoline could see that Gabrielle was listening in too.

"Undead have naturally pretty good defenses against the mind arts. I still feel Fleur's allure pull at me though." Appoline could see Gabrielle's slight alarmed look when he said this. Interesting, perhaps there is more going on here. She frowned internally. "But it doesn't really do anything for me. You see, I'm Undead, we lack the, uh, let's say urges others have." Appoline had to hold in a chuckle, the poor man was blushing like crazy, clearly uncomfortable that such a thing came up.

"So you don't have hormones is that what you mean?" He nodded.

"That is correct, Mrs, Delacour. I feel the allure but there is nothing there to activate if that makes sense?" Both Appoline and her daughter nodded, Her husband seemed to listen in to the conversation too but didn't react. "Although I still disdain their lack of self-control." Now that got the attention of all three Delacours sitting around him. "Harry isn't Undead and he is perfectly capable of controlling himself, even when Fleur releases her allure. We have done it multiple times during our training, to test how much power she would have to put into it. And not once was Harry reduced to a stuttering mess like most of the male population here." Gabrielle nodded, confirming what Yuri had just said. With this knowledge, Appoline couldn't wait to meet the boy who had stolen the heart of her eldest daughter. The group had gotten silent again, continuing to watch how Fleur slowly but surely tired out the dragon.

XXX

Harry was nervously pacing back and forth when Fleur was inside that arena against the dragon. Especially when the commentator said things like: "Oh that was a close call." Or "Smart idea, pity it didn't work." The moment, the kiss, they shared moments prior was also still lingering on his mind. She wanted to talk after the task. He had noticed that over the months their relationship had evolved significantly. From complete strangers to friends. And yet, lately, he felt it was more than that. He liked Fleur but more than a friend. Was that what she wanted to talk about? He asked himself. He had noticed these past week that she had responded in kind, the hugs in greeting and goodbye, the perhaps awkward but sweet moments they shared from time to time. The hand holding whenever they went on a walk. Small things like that, gave him hope that she in fact felt the same.

He was soon shaken out of his internal thoughts as the audience sheered and clapped loudly. She did it. He thought relieved. He always believed she could do it of course, he was just worried. His nerves were still in full swing though, because after Krum, it was his turn. Daring to steal a glance at the Bulgarian seeker, Harry saw that he remained undisturbed. He has nerves of steel. He thought.

When the Bulgarian seeker eventually entered the arena, it was with guns blazing. Harry could hear how the commentator described Krum's actions. He could also hear the very loud roaring of a very angry dragon. Harry had to give it to him though, his aggressive style sounded like it worked because barely 20 minutes later the audience erupted in cheers and applause.

He stood before the flaps of the tent doing a last check up to make sure he had everything. His wand in his right hand to summon his broom, the Pyromancy glove already on his left hand. He took a deep breath to steel is nerves as the commentator announced him.

XXX

Fleur watched with worried eyes how Harry entered the arena. A 14 year old boy forced to face a dragon. She was standing on the side lines, close to the exit where the champions would leave through after the task had been done. She could see the determined look in his eyes, his unwavering bravery. Those were one of the many things she liked so much about him. She saw him waving his wand in the air, the same movement they had practiced for days before. It looked to her he wasn't taking any chances and was immediately summoning his broom. Good, the less risks he takes the safer he'll be. She thought to herself.

If someone would have told her she would worry about someone like this, she would have hexed them into oblivion, but now, after meeting Harry, she just couldn't help herself. She cared about him, she cared more than normal friends should care for each other. Which is why she wanted to talk to him about it. By observing him these past weeks she was certain he felt the same, and she was getting a bit tired of dancing around each other. She liked their new relationship, oh she really did. But she wanted it to become real, established.

She saw as he carefully stepped forwards, checking around him as much as possible, wand and his gloved left hand at the ready. For such large creatures, dragons could be really sneaky when they wanted to be. The fact that the arena was littered with big rocks and such wasn't helping either. Not much later, the Hungarian Horntail announced its presence as it roared loudly. Without hesitating harry rolled away from the beast's maws and released a lightening bolt from his left hand. It slammed into the dragons neck, making it roar, most likely in pain, giving Harry enough time to escape from the corner he had been trapped in.

At the sight of Harry casting the Lightening bolt, the whole audience became silent, in awe, because most of them had never seen something like that before. The teachers however, that is the few she could see from where she was standing, were sending disapproving glares to the place where she assumed Yuri was seated.

She saw how Harry kept up his advance, slowly but surely getting close to the golden egg he was supposed to retrieve. He kept sending lightening bolts at the dragon, making it roar in either anger or pain, Fleur didn't know. The dragon suddenly took to the air, making it easier for it to dodge Harry's lightening bolts. Fleur knew quickly what it was about to do however, it was preparing to fly over and breath fire all over the arena. She saw how Harry stopped throwing the lightening and instead did the summoning charm one more time before making a run towards the golden egg.

The dragon was returning with an open maw, fire already forming in it. When suddenly something zoomed right above her head. It was Harry broom, and judging from his reaction, he had seen it too. Fleur saw how he quickly pocketed his wand, grabbed his broom and sped away just in time to avoid the all consuming flames of the Hungarian Horntail. He held the broom with his right hand and continued casting lightening bolts with his left hand.

One of the bolts had struck the dragon right between where its wings meet its body, it must have damaged something because the beast pummeled towards the ground all the while roaring. Harry didn't let his guard down however and quickly sped towards the golden egg, grabbed it with his left hand and zoomed back up to a safe distance to be sure.

She could hear the commentator announcing the end of Harry's task, thanking everyone for watching. Harry quickly made his way towards her, still on his broom with the golden egg tightly clutched against his chest. Her own golden egg was sitting by her feet because as soon as Harry landed she ran over to him and enveloped him in a hug, a hug he gladly returned. Harry's golden egg made it a bit weird but she didn't care, and he didn't seem to care either. It was a hug that said: "I'm glad you are okay, you did well and I am proud of you, but most of all I'm happy you are okay." After what felt like an eternity but in reality was only a couple of minutes, they pulled away. Harry smiled at her, she would never tire of seeing him smile. She was pretty sure her smile reached beyond her eyes, but she didn't care, she was just so happy everything went well.

Before either one of them could say something, she heard an unknown voice inside of her head. It was like nothing she had every experienced before and actually gave her a little bit of a headache. Judging from not only Harry's reaction but all other people around her, she wasn't the only one who heard it.

"You call that a fair fight, Mortals?"

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait again but this chapter took me ages to complete. I think I rewrote Harry's task like half a dozen times, as compensation I give you one of the biggest chapters I've written yet, with over 6,5k words. This chapter really marks the 'AU' aspect of this story, as you may have seen from the little cliffhanger.

I also want to thank everyone who has followed, favorited and/or reviewed this story. Honestly, I never thought I would receive such a large amount of support for this story when I first started writing it, so thank you everyone. We are sitting over 200 followers which is almost insane, so thank you.

As this is my first fanfiction I've written I would love feedback, about anything really. So if you want, leave your thoughts in the reviews and as always, have a nice day!