A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry for the long wait, it's been a hell of a few months with this virus shit and I've been busy. I apologize for the short chapter also, but I wanted to try a different writing style other than first person. As I've never written a story in third person, I hope that it came out okay and sorry if it didn't. Now enough of my apologies, on with the story.

I OWN NOTHING.

Chapter Seven: Fraud

Harry and Ron stood at the foot of Draco's infirmary bed; white sheets surrounded the three boys, separating them from the rest of the Hospital Wing. Silence reigned supreme as they just stared at each other, each refusing to be the first to look away.

The silence was finally broken by Draco, "What the hell do you two want?"

"We're here to make sure you're okay, you great bloody prat." Ron glared at the blond with his arms crossed, wanting nothing more than to curse the bastard himself.

Malfoy sneered, "I don't need your sympathy Weasley, go die in a hole."

"Why you—"

"Ron, stop." Harry grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, "Why don't you keep watch? I need to talk to Draco."

Ron looked at Harry and then back to the blond, "Fine."

As soon as the red head walked through the sheet, Harry's wand was out casting privacy charms. "Paranoid, Potter?" Draco said with his patented sneer. The young Gryffindor stood there silently for a moment taking in Malfoy's pathetic state. Sunken eyes, pale skin, and unkempt hair; Draco already knew he looked awful.

"What is wrong with you Malfoy? I mean really, fighting with your own housemates?"

"None of your damn business, scar-head." He didn't need to explain himself to this bastard, it wasn't like he would understand. How could he? It wasn't like Potter's father murdered the girl his son was interested in.

Not that he would ever tell this idiot that.

"Is this about Hermione?" Draco flinched and then swore in his head, now Potter knew he had hit the nail on the head. "What was going on between you two?"

"What? What makes you think that I would want anything to do with that Mudblood—"

"Shut up." Potter was beyond pissed and Draco paled seeing the cold fury in his eyes. "I'm going to kill your father Draco."

Malfoy leaned his head back on the headboard, surprised at how nonchalant the words came out of his mouth. "Big words Potter. What makes you think I'll let you?" The raven-haired boy slowly started walking around the side of his bed. Draco shivered as he felt a sudden cold breeze and swore the room had gotten darker, like the sun had hidden behind the clouds. He flinched again when he looked into Potter's eyes, he could have sworn they were glowing.

"What makes you think you could stop me?"

He stopped right next to the bed, eyes never leaving the bedridden blonde's, "Don't you want revenge, Malfoy?" Draco broke into a cold sweat, this wasn't Potter. The green-eyed boy was harmless, whoever this was radiated danger. The scathing remark died in his throat as his fight or flight response kicked in.

"I'm not going to kill my father. You're not Potter, who are you?" Draco was barely able to get the words out before a terrifying laugh echoed off the stone walls and bore straight into his soul. The room grew even darker and the breeze was getting colder. The hairs on his neck stood up and he found himself leaning away from the fake Potter, fear settling in his gut.

A lopsided grin slowly grew on his face, "I am me, Draco. Who else would I be? Besides, I'm not talking about your father. I'm talking about Voldemort. Now, answer my question."

Revenge against the Dark Lord? Draco looked anywhere but at Potter's haunted eyes. He could have sworn the shadows on the bed were writhing. The sound of his heart beating in his chest was deafening and he could hardly hear himself think. "Revenge for what, Potter?"

"Don't be stupid, Malfoy." Harry said, the grin slowly leaving his face. "For your murdered lover of course."

Draco looked back incredulously, "We weren't lovers Potter. What the bloody hell makes you think that?" Of course, they weren't lovers. Draco didn't love Granger, but that doesn't mean he wasn't interested in her. The way she would bite back after he threw insults amazed him. The way she seemed to know everything astounded him. The spark in her eye when she knew the answer to a question. Not like he was watching or anything.

Definitely not.

The thought of revenge was bittersweet. It was his father that murdered her, but then again, it was the Dark Lord's fault. Draco was getting pissed just thinking about it. He never wanted to be like his father, licking the boots of some master that would torture him on a whim. He wanted to be his own man, create his own legacy.

If only he didn't exist.

Harry just stared at him with a bored look on his face, "Whatever, Malfoy. Deny it or not, I don't really care."

As quickly as it came, the oppressing darkness and freezing wind vanished as Weasley's head appeared through the sheets. Potter waived his wand and the silencing charms vanished. "Harry, Madame Pomfrey is coming."

Draco looked back to the Potter doppelganger as it spoke again, "Come find me when you realize exactly what it is that you want, Draco." He watched both Gryffindors' leave and let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Something was terribly wrong with Potter.

Harry found himself back in his spot by the lake after dinner in the Great Hall. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed; everything felt like it was spiraling out of control. The only people in the school that wouldn't glare and openly taunt him were Ron, Fleur, and Emilie. It wasn't like he wanted to be in the bloody tournament; he was a victim here.

Harry couldn't help but think of Fleur. She was an enigma to him. He was trying desperately to push her away, terrified of having her caught in the cascading avalanche that was his life, but she just kept coming back. The young wizard was half thrilled that there was someone who cared so much about him, but half mortified that she would become a target.

Harry was interrupted from his thoughts as he noticed Ron making his way down from the castle, a piece of parchment flapping in the wind as he ran. "Harry!" He yelled, pushing said parchment into Harry's face.

"Merlin Ron, back off." Harry pushed the hand away from his face, grabbing the parchment at the same time. Looking at it he noticed it was the Marauder's Map. Harry looked back up at Ron, "So the twins are done with it?"

Ron waved his question off, "Yeah whatever Harry, look at this though." Ron pointed to the Defense classroom. It showed one Alastor Moody and Bartemius Crouch in the office, Moody was standing still, but Crouch was pacing. Harry just looked back up with his eyebrows raised. "Now look here." Ron pointed to Dumbledore's office.

There was another Crouch in Dumbledore's office. "That's odd." Harry said, scratching his chin. "Maybe the map is wrong?"

Ron shook his head, "The map is never wrong, you know that. Moody hasn't moved a bit in hours. I've been watching."

"I don't know Ron." Harry just shrugged and yawned, "We can look at it tomorrow, we have class with him first thing in the morning." He deactivated the map and shoved it in his pocket as he began to walk towards the castle, "Let's get to training, I don't want to die in this damn tournament." Ron just shrugged and fell in step next to Harry.

The next morning, I found myself sitting next to Ron in Defense; watching as Moody lectured. My mind was wandering, and the sound of Moody's voice had almost put me to sleep when Ron elbowed me in the side. A loud bang and sharp pain in my knee later had everyone's attention on me. Smiling awkwardly, I focused my attention back on the lecture. A few minutes later my mind was trailing off again. In my boredom I decided to discreetly take a look at the Map.

Bartemius Crouch was teaching the class. My eyes darted from the Map to fake Moody and I noticed his shoulders tense. Suddenly he turned around, fury in his eyes. "One-foot essay on ways to block an Unforgivable! Class dismissed!"

Ron and I shot a nervous glance at each other. "Um, Sir? There's still an hour—", a Slytherin in the front of the class began to ask, before being cut off.

"I said class dismissed!" Crouch's gaze landed on me as everyone frantically packed their bags to leave, "Potter, you stay behind."

Oh shit.

"Professor, I can't be late to Potions or—"

"I'll write you a note!"

Ron was slowly putting his supplies back into his bag. "Weasley!", Crouch yelled as he took a step forward, "Go to your next class."

Ron looked nervous, but he made no movements towards the door. "Maybe I should stay. Harrys been a bit of a target lately." I nodded towards the door, telling him it was fine. Hopefully he would get help.

Crouch shot Ron a piercing glare, "Then I'll walk him back myself! Now go!" Ron closed his eyes for a second and let out a large sigh, slipping his wand into his hand. My wand was ready a fraction of a second later, but so was Crouch's.

The Professor's magical eye swirled around in its socket as he moved to the middle of the classroom, while his real eye moved back and forth between Ron and I. "Oh, attacking a Professor, now are we?" Crouch snarled, "That's grounds for expulsion."

"You aren't a Professor." I said, slowly moving around to his flank; wand half raised, ready to cast a shield. "So, who are you? Bartemius Crouch? Why would a Triwizard judge pretend to be Professor?"

The fake just laughed menacingly, "That's a handy Map you have Potter." Before I could pocket it, a silent summoning charm caused the Map to fly into Crouch's outstretched hand. As soon as it touched his hand though, the parchment burst into flames. Quickly dropping it, the bastard narrowed his eyes at me. "That was a waste, Potter. My Master could have made great use of that."

A Death Eater. Of course.

"I would rather no one have it, than for your dirty master to touch it." Losing the Map was a colossal loss, but I could only imagine what could happen if it fell into Voldemort's hands. Glancing over to Ron I gave a quick nod. We both cast quick piercers as Crouch raised his own wand.

Then all Hell broke loose.

"This castle is enormous. My feet are beginning to hurt." Fleur rolled her eyes at Emilie's whining.

"You're the one that wanted to explore." Fleur said, "I was perfectly content sitting by the lake."

"Oh yeah? You mean waiting to see your boyfriend?" The brunette teased, poking Fleur on the cheek.

"He's not my boyfriend." The blonde said, "Yet." She finished with conviction, causing Emilie to stop and raise her eyebrows.

"So, you've finally decided?" Emilie asked.

Fleur had been thinking about it almost as much as she had the tournament. She didn't care about his age; she was comfortable in his presence and that said a lot about the boy.

"I have." Fleur said, rubbing her hair between her fingers, "But I'm not sure about what he thinks." She rubbed her eyes and frowned, "I think he's distancing himself from me. I'm not sure what to do."

Emilie gave Fleur a warm smile, "He obviously likes you. He's just been through a lot this year." Her friend said, patting Fleur gently on the back, "What with his friend dying and then being forced into a deadly tournament. Put yourself in his shoes."

Fleur sighed and nodded. She was about to respond when an earth-shaking explosion rattled the castle. Dust fell from the ceiling and portraits fell from the walls. Pieces of stone shattered against the wall directly ahead of them, shredding the tapestry that had been hanging.

"RON!"

Fleur's heart almost stopped hearing the pained scream. She quickly made her way around the corner, towards the screaming. What she saw caused her to stop dead in her tracks. The entrance to the classroom was in shambles. Stone and wood lay scattered over the ground; broken desks and glass lay everywhere, dark red smears trailed to two figures each on opposite sides of the classroom. A tall brown headed man stood, bloody, in the middle of a thoroughly destroyed room.

"FLEUR, RUN!" Harry screamed at her, holding a bloodied stump close to his chest, left hand missing. Red trails fell from both his eyes and his nose, hair matted with a mixture of dust and blood. Ron lay against the wall with one leg bent at an unnatural angle, holding his bloodied head, trying to blink out of a daze.

Fleur froze as she saw the man's gaze land on her. The sheer insane look in his eyes and horrifying smile caused her to feel a fear that she had never felt before. Like someone had grabbed a hold of her heart and squeezed. The insane man raised his wand, tip glowing bright green with the spell that would end her short life.

"RON!" Harry screamed again frantically, the wild look on his face that was exacerbated by the blood caked to it.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Emilie screamed behind Fleur as a desk just made it into the path of the spell and burst, knocking them to the ground and peppering them both with splinters, giving Fleur a gash across the cheek. A heavenly song filled the air and as if on cue the man sprinted through the office door just as Albus Dumbledore appeared in a burst of fire, wand drawn and radiating power.

"Professor!" Harry yelled, voice cracking from pain. "The office! Not Moody." He lost the fight with consciousness as he succumbed to the darkness.

"Fawkes." Dumbledore simply said, then rushed through the office door, chasing after the imposter. After letting out a short trill, the phoenix flew to pick something up, then jumped on Harry and disappeared in another burst of fire, before showing up again to take the redhead.

Fleur was attacked from behind by a hysterical brunette as another flash of flames appeared in front of her. The phoenix hopped on her leg and Fleur saw fire as she was swept away by the mystical creature.

Harry shot up in bed, eliciting a painful groan as knives shot through his entire body. Looking around quickly he noticed that he was surrounded by white.

The Hospital Wing, again.

The next thing he noticed was the fact that his left hand was reattached, a thick scar circled completely around where it was severed. Harry flexed his hand a few times and let out a sigh.

Magic was amazing.

Grabbing his glasses from the nightstand and putting them on he slowly laid back down and closed his eyes, thinking about the confrontation with Crouch Junior. How they had gotten their heads kicked in by one man. How he had almost died. How his best mate had almost died. How Fleur had almost died.

His uselessness infuriated him. It was only one man. They had to get better; if he and Ron couldn't take a single Death Eater, then the plan would fail before it even really began. Harry opened his eyes and sat up, noticing a glass of water and his wand sitting by where his glasses were. Under the glass was a small envelope.

Confused, Harry grabbed his wand and lit it. Pink sparkling glitter covered the envelope and Harry's name was on the front in very loopy and pink writing. Amused, he opened it and pulled out a card. A unicorn dancing on a rainbow decorated the front of the card; when he opened it, he couldn't help but laugh out loud as the inside was covered in even more glitter. A few sentences in French were written in the small space that wasn't covered in sparkly pink. A large girly signature filled the rest of the space.

Love, Gabrielle.

"Harry?" A voice broke him out of his musing.

Harry put the card down, "Ron?"

"Yeah, mate. You okay?" Merlin, he was glad that Ron was okay. Last Harry saw him, he was covered in blood and broken. Harry's worst nightmare had almost come true. Tears stung his eyes as he thought about it. What would happen to him if he lost Ron too? Harry was sure he would break beyond repair.

"Yeah, I'm alive. If only just." Ron let out a small laugh, immediately followed by a wet cough that definitely didn't sound normal.

"Ron, is everything okay?" Harry heard his friend let out a quiet hum.

"We got our arses kicked." Ron finally said.

"Yeah."

"By one bloody guy."

"Yeah…."

"Why did he take a vial of your blood?"

"No idea mate."

"We aren't even close to ready, are we?"

"No." Harry rested the back of his head on the headboard. He heard Ron let out another long sigh. "At least we're alive and in one piece." Harry tried to be optimistic.

Ron let out a quiet chuckle, "Barely, they had to get Snape to reattach your hand. Apparently whatever spell cut it off was Dark."

"Well if anyone knows anything about Dark Magic, it would be that bastard." Harry grabbed his glass of water and took a drink to sooth his parched throat. "How long have I been asleep?"

Ron was silent for a moment, "About a week."

Harry was immediately alarmed, "A week?!" Harry gripped his glass tight enough to crack it, "FUCK! There's only two weeks until the First Task!" He was panicking, "What the hell is it with this year and all this shit we have to deal with!" Harry threw the glass with all his strength and it shattered against the stone, shards of glass and water flew everywhere.

"Mr. Potter!" Harry winced as he heard the voice of the Matron from across the room.

"Now you've done it mate."

Harry repaired the glass and flipped Ron the bird from behind the curtains.