Disclaimer: I own neither the characters or the story. The first few chapters were written by .BLONDS.. I am simply taking over the story.

:Hermione:.

I was absolutely terrified as I watched Harry dodge the flames again. He had to get on his broom soon or he was toast. Literally.

"Your wand Harry! Your wand!" I yelled, leaning dangerously far over the railing.

He looked up at me with a look I hadn't seen before, something I didn't know how to explain. It was gone just as quickly as it had come as he pulled out his wand. He jumped out of the way of another flame before he could manage to summon his broom.

"Accio Firebolt!" he yelled.

I watched him dodge another fireball before he managed to jump onto the broom. I cheered like crazy with everyone else when he pulled that stunt off. I was still cheering when the dragon snapped the chain holding it in place. Everyone gasped as the dragon broke free and started chasing Harry. He looked back at the dragon following him and flew out of the arena to try and escape it.

The silence was deafening as waited to see if he was going to come back alive. As we waited, I couldn't help but think how cowardly I had been it the champions tent.

Why hadn't I kissed him? It was the perfect time for me to show him how I feel about him. I was planing on it, but I chickened out at the last minute. Now I may never get the chance. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I was internally cussing for 6 minutes, along with worrying myself crazy about Harry before I saw a tiny flying thing off in the distance.

"Look!" I shouted, pointing into the distance.

Everyone turned to see what I was pointing at. As it came closer it became obvious that it was Harry. I scanned the horizon but found no sign of the dragon. He had gotten rid of a Hungarian Horntail. Oh my god.

I got up from my seat and ran to the exit. As I reached it, I turned around to see Harry swoop down and grab the egg. He dismounted his broom and stood up tenderly. He looked up to where I had been sitting and a sad look crossed his face when he saw I wasn't there. I hated that look on his face, so waved to get his attention. He looked up at me and a smile broke out on his face. When our eyes met, I felt like I was in another place, I didn't notice any of the cheering people around me. I only saw him.

That look I'd seen earlier was back in his eyes as we gazed at each other.

I finally manage to break out of my trance and mouth 'good job,' at him.

He mouthed back thanks before slowly making his way to the champions tent.

I ran down the stairs two at a time to get to the tent. When I got there, I pulled back the sheet and ran over to the first aid section. I felt the eyes of the other champions on me, but I didn't care.

When I reached the first aid section, the curtains where drawn around it. Right now I don't really care if the curtains drawn, I have to know if he's ok.

I pulled back the curtain and walked in. when I entered, I saw a shirtless Harry sitting on a hospital bed, while Madam Pomfrey was fixing a cut on his right was the first time I had seen Harry shirtless, and boy, was it a sight. He was toned, with a well defined 6 pack and muscled arms.

He looked up when he heard me enter and smiled when he saw me."Hermione," he said, put his good arm up for a hug.

I sprinted across the small space and flung myself into his arms with as much force as I could muster. Madam Pomfrey had just finished and discretely gave us some privacy.

Harry put his other arm around me and put his head on my shoulder as I hugged myself to his chest.

"Never do anything like that to me again," I said looking up at him. "You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!" I put my head back on his chest to make sure he was actually there. He rubbed my back in comfort, which is really odd, considering he's the one who just faced a bloody Dragon!

"I'm here Hermione, I don't plan on going anywhere in the near future," he said.

"Good," I mumbled, cause I really don't feel like moving.

We stayed like that for another few minutes before madam Pomfrey came in and said we could leave. She handed Harry a new plain white cotton t-shirt. He put the shirt on with his cloak on over it. He picked up the huge golden egg with his good arm and we left the first aid room. I think he felt my need to be close to him because he put his sore arm over my shoulder. The other three champions had left the main tent so there was no one else in there.

When we exited the tent, we saw a swarm of students up ahead, but they didn't notice us. What was more, Harry didn't take his arm from around me like I thought he would have.

"You know, I was rather sad when I thought you weren't there today," he said out of the blue, just before we reached the castle.

I stopped walking and turned around to face him. "I'll always be cheering for you Harry, no matter what I have to do. Never forget that," I said.

A moment later I felt his lips press softly to my forehead. I was about to pass out from shock when I heard him speak. "I know you. That's why I can't lose you, because I know you're with me no matter what people say."

With that we turned and continued walking back to the castle. Harry put his arm back over my shoulder, which I was very happy with.

The halls were all deserted as we made our way to the Griffindor tower. Harry took his arm off my shoulder as we reached the fat lady.

"Dragon," he said, before the portrait swung open and we walked in.

As soon as Harry entered, everyone swarmed to congratulate him and say that they always knew he didn't put his own name in the goblet.

After about five minutes of this he looked over at me and mouthed the word HELP.

I was about to intervene when Fred and Gorge came up and put Harry on their shoulders. The egg was being passed around when Shamus got the egg and kissed it. He then passed the egg to Harry and asked him to open it.

"Who wants me to open it?" he asked.

Everyone screamed in response.

"You all want me to open it?"

"Yes!" the whole room screamed back.

He brought the egg up and twisted the top. The egg opened with a click and a horrendous screeching noise. The twins dropped Harry in order to cover their ears. It was a few seconds before Harry managed to shut the egg. Everyone took their hands from their ears, thanking Merlin the noise had stopped.

"What the bloody hell was that?" everyone turned to arch leading to the boys dorms to see Ron standing there.

People seemed to know when a conversation wasn't for them to hear, because everyone seemed to clear out and do their own thing.

Ron made some sort of half hearted apology to Harry. I thought that this was fate deciding I'd had enough good luck and Harry was going to go back to Ron and treat me like I wasn't even there. But I sure as hell wasn't ready for Harry's response. "I can't accept this apology until you work out what you're apologising for, and mean it."

Ron looked absolutely shocked that Harry had said that and marched up to his room in a fit.

Harry shook his head and came over to sit next to me. "You got a minute?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, taking the hand he offered me.

We walked out of the portrait hole together and down the stairs. When we reached the seventh floor, he pulled to a deserted corridor.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

He turned around to look at me, "Do you trust me?"

I was momentarily rendered speechless and could only nod. He turned back around to face the wall and concentrated on something. A few moments later, a door appeared in front of us where a stone wall had been.

Harry looked over at me and smile at my face, "Come on," he said, dragging me into the room.

When we entered the room, it was pretty much an exact replica of the Griffindor common room, with the only difference being the shelves and shelves of books.

"What is this place?" I asked, looking around at all the books in awe.

"It's the R.O.R., otherwise known as the room of requirements. The room only appears when the seeker has a need of it, and is always equip for the seekers need," he said.

"How did you find this place?" I asked, picking up one of the books closest to me.

"Dobby, the house elf I freed, told me about this place, and I thought it was perfect for me to go somewhere where people wouldn't be starring at me, either thinking I was a liar or a freak," he said.

"It must be horrible, everyone always watching you, talking behind your back. I can't imagine how horrible that must be," I said, putting the book down on the chair next to me.

Harry came over and laid down on the couch I was sitting on and put his head on my lap. I absent-minded started running my fingers through his hair as he looked up at me. "You help," he said out of the blue.

"How?" I asked quietly, not wanting to break the mood.

"You listen and care. You believed me when no one else did. You're my best friend, and I thank you for it."

"What about Ron?" I asked, feeling like a complete idiot when the words left my lips.

"You mean how he can't seem to talk about anything besides quidditch, girls and food. Or the fact that he was one of the worst about me being a tri-wizard champion, then decides to apologise when I'm back to being every ones favourite wizard. No thank you," he said.

"Sorry," I said, moving my hand from his hair, "I just thought you were going to go back to hanging out with Ron and ignoring me."

"Its ok," he said, sitting up and putting his arm around my shoulder. I immediately snuggled closer into his warmth. "You're my best friend. If it wasn't for you, I might not have survived that dragon."

"Why did you bring me here Harry?" I asked after I had been starring at the fire for a few minutes.

"I was going to come down here anyway. I just thought you might want to come," he said.

"Thanks for bringing me here Harry," I said, closing my eyes and snuggling in closer to him.

"Do you want to go back to the common room?" he asked.

"I want to stay here with you," I said, half asleep. He chuckled quietly but didn't complain.

About half an hour later, I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up. I was nearly asleep when I felt the person holding me lay me down on a soft bed. I realised it was Harry and wondered where the bed had come from. Ah well.

I felt Harry try and pull away from me, but that just made me hold on tighter, "Don't go," I murmured. I know it's pathetic that I wanted him to be close to me, butt after nearly losing my best friend today, I didn't want him to leave me.

I felt him sigh, but get into the bed next to me. I snuggled up close to his chest and drifted into the best sleep I'd ever had.

.:Harry:.

I woke up to find a bushy mass of brown hair in front of me. Hermione. She had blatantly refused to let go of me last night, not that I'm complaining.

I looked down at my watch and saw that we had an hour before class started. I got up and though about having a shower and a shower appeared over to the left of the room. I had a quick shower and stepped out to find a fresh uniform waiting for me.

I got dressed quickly and walked out of the bathroom back out to Hermione. She was still sound asleep, hugging the pillow I had just been laying on. It was so sweet.

I walked over and sat down on the bed next to her and watched her for a minute. I finally decide it was time to wake her up and gently tapped her shoulder. She groaned and rolled away from me.

I let out a quite chuckle and shock her shoulder. "I'll do the dishes later mum," she grumbled.

I laughed again and put my lips to her ear, "I'm not your mum," I whispered.

She let out a strange epp sound before turning to me.

"Harry? What happened?" she asked.

"You feel asleep. Now go have a shower, we have classes in 40 minutes," she quickly got up and went into the bathroom to shower.

"Dobby!"

The elf immediately appeared in front of me, bouncing at the prospect of a job to do. "What is it that master Harry Potter sir wants?"

"Could you please bring breakfast for Hermione and me?" I asked.

"Of course, Dobby will be right back," with a crack the house elf disappeared. Returning not a minute later with a tray of food.

"Thanks Dobby," I said.

"You is welcome Harry Potter. Dobby must get back to the kitchen now," he said. With a crack the little elf disappeared again.

About a minute later, Hermione came out of the bathroom showered and dressed. "Who brought this food up here?" she asked, sitting down on the couch next to me.

"Dobby brought it up so we wouldn't be in such a rush to make classes on time," I said, picking up a bit of toast.

"Well tell him I said thank you," she said, picking up a piece herself.

We ate breakfast, talking and laughing the whole time, and it was probable the best breakfast I'd ever had. "We better get going," I said.

"Yeh, lets go," she said.

We walked to the door, picking up our book bags on the way out. We were walking for a few minutes, when Hermione tripped and rolled her ankle.

"I'll take you to the hospital wing," I said, gently sitting her down on the floor leaning against the wall.

"No, we need to go to class," she said, trying to get up but losing her balance and fall into my arms.

"How bout I carry you to class and ask McGonagall if she can fix it?" I asked, I knew there was no point in trying to argue with her.

"Deal," she said.

I knew everyone would still be in at breakfast, so no one would see us. I picked her up bridal style, with her book bag on the opposite arm to mine. I walked through the corridors to the transfiguration classroom. I turned the nob with my hand behind her back and pushed it open with my foot.

McGonagall looked up from her desk where she was grading papers when she heard us enter. "What happened?" she asked, when she saw I was carrying Hermione.

"She tripped and rolled her ankle but refuses to go to the hospital wing and have it checked out," I said, sitting her on one of the desks at the front. "We were wondering if you could help us out."

She came round from behind her desk and looked at Hermione's ankle. "I'm not a healer, but this is simple enough to fix," she said, tapping Hermione's ankle with her wand. The swelling instantly started to go. "Sit down and don't move you ankle for the rest of the lesson Miss. Granger. Potter, a word please."

I helped Hermione sit down before walking up to Mcgonagall's desk.

"First of all, congratulations on a great job yesterday. You defiantly had the most original way of getting past the Dragon," she said. "Now, on to more important matters. Have you thought about who you're going to ask to the Yule ball?"

"The what?" I asked, quietly, so Hermione wouldn't here.

"The Yule Ball on Christmas eve. As a champion, you must enter with the other champions for the first dance."

"But I don't dance," I said.

"You're going to have to Mr. Potter. Now go sit down," she said.

I walked away from her desk and sat down next to Hermione. "What did she want to talk to you about?" she whispered in my ear.

"Talk to you after class," I said, noticing Dean, Shamus and Ron walking into the room. She nodded in understanding.

The lesson passed quickly, with only Hermione and I being able to turn our pincushions into Hedge Hogs.

"I expect everyone to be able to do this by next lesson," McGonagall said, as it was time to leave for the next class.

Hermione and I got up and slowly gathered our books and were the last people to leave the classroom. As we were walking down the deserted corridor to charms Hermione turned to me. "So what did McGonagall want to talk to you about before class?"

"She wanted to congratulate me on a great job in the tournament, and to see who I was going to ask to the Yule ball," I finished quickly.

"Who were you thinking of asking?" dame, she was actually listening.

"I was thinking of asking the prettiest girl in the school," I said casually.

"Oh," she said, looking down dejectedly. Doesn't she know she's the prettiest girl in my eyes?

"Let me re-phrase," I said, stopping and turning Hermione to face me. She still didn't want to look at me, so I put my hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look at me. "Will you go to the ball with me?"

"Me?" she asked, looking shocked. "But I'm not beautiful, I have bushy hair that absolutely refuses to do what I say, I've got buck teeth, I…" I cut her off mid rant by putting my hand over her mouth.

"You're beautiful to me, don't let anyone tell you other wise," I said.

"Why me?" she asked when I took my hand from her mouth. "You could have any other girl in the school. Why pick the plain Jane bookworm?"

"Because you wouldn't go with me just to have your 15 minutes of fame, to go with the Boy-who-lived. No, you're willing to go with just Harry," I said.

"I'll go with you," she said with a smile. I could feel my face break into a huge grin at her response. "But we can't tell anyone."

"Oh," I felt my face fall, she didn't really want to go with me.

"Harry, think about it," she said. "Every girl and their elf wants to go to the ball with you. Think about what would happen to me if they found out you were going with me," she said.

"Ok, I see your point," I said.

"And Harry," she said as we started walking towards charms.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for asking me, it really means a lot be asked by someone the first day a dance is announced," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome," I said. "Can I ask a favour?"

"Sure," she said.

"Can you teach me how to dance?" I asked.

"I'm going to need steel toed boots aren't I?" she asked with a huge smile.

"Most likely," I said.

"Straight after class we'll go to R.O.R. and we can do homework and I'll teach you," she said.

"We better get to class before we get detentions," I said absently.

That definitely got Hermione moving.