Harry Potter & the Dragon-Lord of Atlantis

A fanfic by Alexander Funryuu

Disclaimer: I don't Harry Potter. Any songs mentioned belong to their owners.

'Thoughts'

Signs

TITLES

(Common Atlantian)

(High Atlantian)

Chapter 7

The next morning found Harry and Hermione awake and heading downstairs for the grounds of the castle. As the two approached the doors to go outside, Hermione asked Harry what kinds of things could she expect to learn, and why were they going outside when they could probably find an empty room in the castle to work in. Harry grinned at her.

"We're going outside because we have to work out. Like he told you yesterday, the stronger your body is, the stronger your magic will be." At that moment, Alex entered the hallway the duo was standing in, dressed in workout gear and with a box under one arm.

"Good morning, lady and gent. Are you ready to get started?" When both nodded, he proceeded to lead them outside. Once they reached a clearing, Alex turned to Harry & Hermione. "Okay, you two, it's time to get warmed up properly. Harry, go ahead and show Hermione the stretches I taught you, then we'll take a short run." Harry quickly started by demonstrating several stretches for Hermione, who grinned slightly as she commented, "I know a bit about proper stretching…my mum & I do yoga sometimes in the summer." She then started her own stretches, which absolutely fascinated Harry, as he watched his best friend demonstrating more flexibility than he thought possible. 'I never realized Hermione had such a nice bum,' he thought to himself. Hermione had a small smirk on her face as she caught Harry's appreciative looks. "Enjoying the view, Harry?"

Harry turned bright red, realizing he had been caught staring at Hermione, while Alex snickered at him. "Come on, Harry, ogle your girlfriend on your own time. You're on mine right now!" Harry and Hermione were now both sputtering, while Alex laughed for a few more moments. "Alright you two, we've warmed up, now let's head out. We'll only do three miles for now, just to see where your fitness levels are." After the group finished their warm-ups, they took off at a slow pace (to Harry and Alex, but fast for Hermione). After the first mile, Hermoine was puffing and red, while Harry was cruising along and Alex hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

Alex turned saw Hermoine lagging behind, and frowned as he waved for her to pick up the pace. Seeing she wasn't going to be able to keep up, he slowed the pace down some, but made sure to push her to her limits, and ended up having to cut the run short by a little over a mile. Once they got back, Alex immediately had her start stretching out her legs and going into other exercises and finally, a cool down with Harry so she wouldn't cramp up. "Ok, Granger, not too bad to start with. Now I see where I need to start you at. I'll give you a workout plan in a couple of days that you should follow for about six weeks before you're ready to start learning what I have to teach. Harry will work with you on those days to help you get going.

Hermione glared slightly, as she was too tired to do much else. "What things can I learn to do from what you're teaching? Other than getting in better shape." Alex responded, "You can get in better touch with your magic, and you'll be able to do things like this." Alex then leapt and did a backflip and landed on a tree branch, which happened to be almost twenty feet above him! Alex nodded at Harry, who leapt up and landed on a nearby branch. Then to top it off, Alex waved a hand lazily at Hermione, who quickly found she was floating in mid-air! Alex grinned and said, "Remember: Your focus determines your reality." Harry started chuckling at the stunned look on Hermione's face. She looked like she had just been slapped with a trout. "WANDLESS MAGIC?! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT, ONLY EXPERIENCED AND POWERFUL WITCHES & WIZARDS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TO DO THAT! JEDI AREN'T REAL!"

Alex winced at her volume. "Whoa, turn it down a notch, okay? Whoever said that obviously didn't read the right books. I've been able to stuff like this since I was six, and I've only gotten more powerful over time. As far as your Jedi question, beats me. Besides, I truthfully couldn't classify myself as a Jedi. My personal moral code is closer to the Jensaari, actually. I don't consider myself dark or light. I believe in being honorable, disciplined, and I respect those same traits in an adversary. From the Sith, I learned the power of aggression, and how to harness my emotions without allowing them to control me and push me to the Dark.

Strong emotions are a natural part of life, and should be understood & embraced. After all, any person who strongly believes in what they are doing and in themselves can go farther and push themselves harder than a person who does not have a passion for what they do. Your feelings can give you the will and the power to protect and defend those who need it. With power, you can overcome your physical limitations, and succeed where others would fail. By learning your limits and overcoming them, you can achieve and become the best wizard or witch you can be."

Hermoine cocked an eyebrow. "Mixing Yoda & Darth Vader?" "Nah, more Revan than Vader…he was too emo for my tastes." Alex replied. "Besides, history shows than just because you don't go looking for trouble, doesn't mean it won't come and find you. In which case it's a good idea to be prepared to defend yourself." Considering several of the adventures she had gone through with Harry, she had to concede the point.

Alex said to the duo, "Go ahead and head in out of the cold if you like, Hermione. Harry and I still have practice to do." With that, he pulled out a training dummy from the box and tapped it with his wand, enlarging it to full-size before it and Harry both picked up practice swords. After Harry nodded to indicate his readiness, Alex tapped the dummy to begin, and Harry and the dummy spared, while Hermione and Alex watched. Hermione was left in awe as she watched Harry dancing around attacks gracefully and returning strikes and spells of his own. Alex smirked and whispered to her, so not to distract Harry, "Enjoying the show, Miss Granger?" She flushed and gave Alex a dirty look as he grinned.

"Well, I need to start the harder part of my own workout, Hermione. So just sit down, and gently stretch so you don't cramp up." Then Alex started his own dummy up, and was sparring as well. As she observed, she noticed that the two boys were using very different styles of combat. While Harry was darting around and using extreme agility to attack and defend himself, Alex seemed to be far more aggressive, using sheer strength to power his blows and tightly focused spells. After roughly a half-hour, all three teens went back into the castle to get cleaned up and prepare for the day.

After their morning rituals, Harry and Hermione headed downstairs to wait outside their common room for Ron before they went to breakfast. Harry gave her a strange look before speaking, "Well you know, as part of the Tri-wiz, Hogwarts are hosting a Christmas ball."

Hermione bit her lip, waiting on the rest of the story.

Harry continued, "Yes, and as a champion I have to have a date and lead of the dancing."

Hermione couldn't find her voice.

Harry kept going, "McGonagall also told me I'll be representing Gryffindor, so I've already decided to ask the most beautiful witch in the school to be my date."

Hermione lowered her head until she was looking at her shoes.

Harry was confused, he was sure this would work, just have to do it the old fashioned way then. Reaching out, he placed his hand under her chin and gently raised her head until she was looking into his eyes, "Hermione Jane Granger, I would be honored if you would consent to being my date for the Yule Ball?"

Hermione went from despair to elation quicker than she believed possible, he'd asked her – did he think she was beautiful? She knew she wasn't ugly but considered herself plain at best, and her hair! Her thoughts were interrupted by a certain dark haired boy who was standing right in front of her.

"Hermione, I'm dying here! If you don't want to…" She placed a finger on his lips before he could say any more.

She asked, "Why me Harry? Why me, when you could have anyone in the castle?"

OK, thought Harry, it's not a refusal yet. It's Hermione, you know she needs an explanation for everything. Just don't blow this, it's too important. "Well Hermione, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I hope some growing up, I started asking myself 'what do I want in life.' Every situation that I imagined, you were right there at my side. Do you know that, apart from Hagrid telling me I'm a wizard, every happy memory in my life, you were there with me."

Harry was starting to get really worried at her lack of an answer but just kept talking, "Now I may not be as smart as you but even I can see the connection. My feelings for you just keep getting stronger and I have desperately been trying to figure out how to ask you to be my girlfriend. This seemed like an ideal opportunity so please say something, I am literally dying here," he pleaded.

A beaming Hermione just said, "Kiss me!"

It was now Harry's turn to have serious problems with his vocal cords, though a startled "what?" did manage to escape.

In her best professor voice Hermione replied, "Well if you're going to be my boyfriend I think you should kiss me, don't you?"

As Harry's arms went round her waist, "Absolutely splendid idea Miss Granger, five thousand points to Gryffindor," he muttered.

Her hands seemed to find their way into his hair as their lips travelled towards what would be, for both of them, their first kiss. At this point, Alex walked up to the duo. Seeing what they were up to, he took a moment to clear his throat, and grinned as the two stepped back, blushing wildly at having been spotted.

"Well, that's one way to get your heart rates up! I take it you two decided to try being a couple?" At their embarrassed nods, Alex smiled. "Good on you! At least you two have dates for the Ball then." Right then, Ron exited the portrait and joined the other three teens and the group headed off to breakfast, and then to classes.

As the group was leaving the Great hall after breakfast, Harry though was faced with the unusual sight of Cedric Diggory seeking him out before he made it to the great hall. "Can I have a word Harry, in private?" Harry shrugged and replied, "Sure Cedric. Hey guys, go on ahead. I'll catch up." Once the others had left, Harry and Cedric went off into an empty classroom.

"Harry," Cedric said in a low voice. "Have you figured out the clue in your egg yet?"

"No," Harry admitted. "So far all I've managed is to annoy everyone in the common room by opening it."

Cedric nodded. "I know what you mean. You know, it occurs to me that I never thanked you for your warning about the dragons."

Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Telling you was just the decent thing to do, anyone would have done the same."

"Maybe so, but you're the only one who did. Viktor and Fleur both knew, that much was obvious, but neither of them as much as whispered a warning. Looking back on it, I figured out my egg when I got away from other people and just focused on the egg itself."

"I suppose I could try using an empty classroom," Harry said thoughtfully, "but the noise is like to bring the whole castle running."

"Maybe you should try some other place. Somewhere quiet and soundproofed... like maybe the Prefect's bath. You could take a bath and relax, unwind a bit, and use the time to give your egg your full attention."

"Take a bath?" Harry asked, wondering just what Cedric might be suggesting.

"Believe me Harry, take your egg to the bath and everything will be much clearer. Password is pine fresh. See you later Harry." With that, Cedric left and Harry did as well, quickly rushing to class. During the day, Harry discussed what he suspected with Hermione, who quickly agreed to accompany him to the bath that night to figure out the clue in the egg.

When the two of them entered the lavishly appointed room, Hermione's jaw dropped. "Harry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think it was like this!" She dropped her robe and immediately hurried across the marble floor to the array of golden taps and began trying them out, filling the pool sized tub with different varieties of foamy water. When this was accomplished she grinned back at Harry and walked over to the diving board.

Meanwhile, Harry was temporarily frozen into immobility. Hermione was attired in a dark red one-piece suit that clung tightly to her torso. It had a scooped neck and a very low cut back, nearly down to her bum. All in all, it revealed every inch of her figure.

He couldn't get over the great looking pair of legs that were now uncovered before him, not to mention a very attractive posterior. He gazed in near worshipful silence as she climbed the short ladder and stepped into a simple dive, gracefully plunging into the pool.

He shook his head, somewhat chagrinned at his reaction, and took off his dressing gown, revealing his own form-fitting swimsuit. He had initially objected to the tight pair of dark blue swimming trunks that arrived with Hedwig the day before, but his girlfriend had airily informed him that this style had much less drag than the sort of long, baggy suit he would have preferred, and would help him speed through the water to her rescue. When she put it that way, he could hardly disagree, although the sparkle in her eyes had betrayed a possible ulterior motivation.

"Harry, as much as I'm sure you'd like to enjoy the show, we do have to solve the egg and get your clue." Harry turned bright red at being caught staring. Harry opened the egg again and it started wailing even louder, which startled him and caused the egg to slip out of his hands and sink into the water. He quickly stuck his head under to find the egg and heard it singing!

Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

Harry surfaced and wiped the water and soapsuds from his eyes as he pondered what he had heard. That little song was not ominous at all. Something he valued was going to be taken from him and he had an hour to find it. That much was clear at least. If he did not find it in that hour, then it was gone, evidently forever.

Harry tried to think of things that he would miss enough to really care about... He would miss his wand certainly, the same for his Firebolt, and then there was the photo album with pictures of his parents that Hagrid had made for him first year. Beyond those items, there were not too many things he was particularly attached to. Logically, it had to be one of those things.

That thought gave Harry pause. Was it a good idea to try and think logically about a magical competition?

Where would whatever was to be taken be hidden? "Come seek us where our voices sound," the singers had said... "We cannot sing above the ground,"

Ok, look where the singers are... they could not sing above the ground...

Where their voices sound... He had to submerge the egg under water, and be underwater himself to understand it... Underwater! Something he valued was going to be hidden underwater? In the Black Lake perhaps? Would the Squid have it?

"Fuck!" Harry exclaimed as he closed the egg and lay in on the floor outside the giant tub. "I can't swim."

"Harry, language!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm sure we can get this figured out soon enough. We also need to figure out what they'll take." Harry thought about this a bit more and suddenly frowned as a revelation hit him. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"I think I just figured out what I have to retrieve from the lake," he informed her, in a bit of wonder at the revelation he'd just experienced.

"What?"

"You."

"WHAT!"

"It said I'd have to rescue something I'd sorely miss," he explained. "We decided it would be something very dear to me. Nothing, and no one, is more important to me than you are." Harry held his breath while he waited for her response to this declaration. Hermione blushed brightly as she processed this information, then hugged Harry tightly as a response.

Hermione had her arms once more around Harry and didn't want to ever let him go while berating herself for not saying the one word she was desperate to tell him – love.

Harry was sure she nearly said love and, while he had no recollection of ever receiving any, knew he felt something different for Hermione than anyone else in his life. He placed both his hands on Hermione's head and gently moved it into a position where he had access to her lips, if he was going to face death in this tournament he was at least going to experience his first kiss with the girl he really liked.

This action was so unexpected that Hermione only sussed what Harry was doing seconds before he kissed her. 'Oh my God, Harry likes me!' was screaming through her brain before being mercilessly bludgeoned into silence by her awakening hormones that changed the broadcast message to 'Kiss him back so he knows you like him!' Hermione was used to doing what her mind told her and this was one command she was delighted to put her heart and soul into.

There were no flashes, bangs or earth shattering tremors but both thought that the kiss was magical and glad that they were each other's first.

Harry and Hermione were instantly aware that the kiss had blasted their relationship out of the 'friends' bracket and onto another level entirely, neither had held back and both had poured their feelings for the other into their kiss.

"Wow! I want to do that again, and again."

Hermione smiled, "As long as it's with me I don't see that as a problem."

Considering how Harry had felt moments ago his mood had done a polar flip and was now off the scale on his rarely used happiness meter, "I won't be kissing anyone other than my girlfriend ever again."

Hermione's smile now had an output measured in megawatts as she kissed Harry this time before saying, "You just make sure you stay safe and bring that cute butt back to me."

One final kiss, and the two slowly parted before they got too carried away. He couldn't help but ponder that if she thought his butt was cute then hers was simply beautiful.

"Well, we'll have to hop to it, Hermione. NO WAY am I going to let this get screwed up! First thing's first, how am I going to breathe underwater? I can't even swim!"

Hermione thought about this one for several minutes, before declaring, "I'm not sure myself, we'll have to do some research." She then grew a flirty grin, as she continued, "But in the meantime, I'd like some cuddle time with my boyfriend!"

This was one request Harry was all TOO happy to comply with.