Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Harry Potter, or HBP would have been different!
A/N: This is my response to an old challenge, "The Second Task: Your take" by Aurabolt. Seeing GoF movie gave me good ideas for this one. I'm starting from First Task, though, leaving it as in the book, but rewriting it in my way. Not really necessary, but I thought it would be nice. Please, if you read, leave me a comment, it makes my day! Oh, you may find a mixture of book and movie in some parts…that's because I tried to insert in the way the book tells the things some scenes I loved from the movie!!
The Second Task
As soon as he got to the castle, Harry closed himself in the dorm, and opened the egg again. That nasty sound was once more filling the room, and he found himself closing the egg hastily.
He stood there all night, till his fellow dorm mates went to bed, thinking about what it could mean. But he understood nothing.
Days later, he and Hermione went for a walk, as they had the afternoon free. Ron had to do an essay for Snape as punishment, so he couldn't join them.
Walking on the grounds, they eventually got to the bridge linking the castle to the park. There they stopped walking, leaning on the bridge's edge while chatting.
"I thought you had solved it already! It's just two days before the task!" Hermione said, shocked.
"I didn't know that" Harry said sarcastically. "Bet Krum has solved it, uh?"
"I don't know. We never talk about the Tournament. Actually, we never talk at all. He's more of a physical kind"
Harry chuckled, catching the double meaning.
She did too, and giggled.
"Harry James Potter, take your mind out of the gutter! What I meant , is that he's not a very talkative person" she said, still smiling.
Harry chuckled again, like he was saying her "Yeah, I'm just buying that"
"Really, he just looks at me while I study. Quite unnerving, if you think of it…"
Then she suddenly became serious. "You are trying to solve it, aren't you, Harry?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, now serious too.
"It means, that these tasks are made to value you, and" Harry looked away from her, so she suddenly rushed on the other side of him.
"I'm scared for you" she said intensely, looking him straight in the eye. "You made it the first time thanks to your nerve, but hey, I'm not sure this will be enough this time" she added then, still looking in his green orbs.
"Hey Harry!" they heard someone calling.
It was Cedric Diggory.
"Do you have a moment?" the Hufflepuff said, then noticing he was alone with Hermione, added "Am I interrupting something pleasant?"
Harry shook his head, but actually, chatting with Hermione HAD been pleasant. However, he sighed and walked to reach the older boy.
Hermione shook her head in frustration and walked away.
"Harry, Viktor won't be pleased if you steal his girlfriend" Cedric teased him.
Harry said nothing.
"So, how are you doing, Harry?"
"Spectacular" he said sarcastically.
"Now, now. I have not thanked you enough for the information on the dragons, Harry"
"No problem. You would have done the same"
"In fact. That's why I'm here. If you haven't solved your Egg yet, well, maybe the borders of the Forbidden Forest will be a nice place to think about it. It's secluded, no one will annoy you, and you can think as long as you want, without disturbing someone with it"
Harry looked at the boy like he had grown a second head.
"Well, I've got to go, Harry. See you soon"
And with that, Cedric was gone.
"The Forbidden Forest? That's crazy" Harry thought.
But hey, he had no clue of what to do with his egg, so it was worth a try.
That night, slipping his Invisibility cloak on, he took his egg and walked out of Gryffindor common room. Then, being careful to not be caught by Snape or Filch, he left the castle and walked to the edge of the forest.
There, he opened his egg, the nasty sound starting once again.
"I'm definitely gone mental" he said, closing it quickly. He was ready to leave when a voice stopped him.
"You may want to open it into the forest, Harry Potter"
Harry turned to see the centaur that had taught them Divination for a short time.
"Firenze!"
"Yeah, it is me. As I said, you may want to open it inside the forest" and with that the centaur was gone.
"Inside? Well, I'm here now, so I guess I'll go a bit further"
So he did, and finally opened the egg again.
This time he could hear words, like brought by the howling wind.
"Come to search us where we sing,
because in the open we can't say a thing,
and while you search, remember that,
we took something you'll miss
and just an hour you'll have to search
what we stole. Don't hesitate, `cause
after an hour it bad fate will have
what we took will never return"
Harry listened to it for many times, but he didn't understand it completely. However, at least now he had a clue.
The only thing he was sure about was that something would be taken from him, and he would have to take it back. But what?
Once back in the castle, Harry checked the Marauders Map to see if the way was free, and noticed a point labelled Crouch near Snape's office.
He was curious about it, so while walking up the stairs he continued looking at it, till he tripped in the step Neville always forgot to jump. He fell, the egg slipping from his hands and falling down the stairs, then opening, releasing the nasty sound.
Filch was there in moments, with Mrs. Norris, his cat.
"Peeves! What re you doing, blasted poltergeist!"
Then the caretaker saw the egg.
"Peeves! This is an egg of the Triwizard! You stole! I'll have you thrown out for this, mark my words!"
Soon later Snape arrived too.
"Filch, someone entered my office. Come help me find him"
"But Professor, I can have Peeves…"
"I don't care a thing about that cursed poltergeist, Filch, this is my office that…"
Then they all heard it.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Moody arrived.
"There's a night party going on here?" he asked.
The other two explained the situation, and Moody, who could see Harry through his cloak thanks to his magical eye, managed to steer them away from the boy.
Then he helped him get out of the hole in the stairs, and gave him back the egg. About the map, the professor was extremely interested, so asked if he could borrow it.
After all what Moody had done for him that night, it was the least Harry could do to accept, then he went to bed, after Moody's suggestion that he entered the Auror division.
"Interesting idea, but maybe it's better to check how many scars the other Aurors have…" he thought drifting to sleep.
It was just the day before the task, and they were in Charms.
Harry wanted to tell Hermione about Snape and Moody, and their fight while he was hidden by the cloak. The fight that led Snape to go to his office, without seeing him.
Ron was really interested.
"So you say Moody checked Snape's office too? Do you think he's here to control him?"
"I don't know if Dumbledore asked him to, but that's what he does"
"Maybe he thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet" Ron suggested.
"Ron, we thought once he was trying to kill Harry, and it came out he was saving him instead" Hermione said annoyed, while Banishing a cushion to the other side of the room.
Their petty fight continued till the end of the lesson.
All day he kept thinking about what the task would be about, exactly. Hermione and Ron tried to suggest him things, but to no avail.
No one could guess exactly what he would have to face till the day. The only thing he knew was that he would have to enter the Forbidden Forest to retrieve something.
That night, they were in the library searching all the creatures that lived in the forest, so Harry would be ready to face them, when Moody entered.
"Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but Professor McGonagall wants to see you"
All of them got up.
"Not you, Potter. Just Weasley and Granger"
So Ron and Hermione wished him goodnight, it was quite late after all, and then they followed the ex Auror.
Harry sighed.
For hours he stood there, reading, scribbling, searching, waiting for his friends to return.
He slumped in his seat. Their long absence was suspicious, and he started thinking maybe, just maybe, they were what he would need to retrieve.
Without Hermione he had no chance to be ready enough for the forest.
***
In McGonagall's office, Hermione and Ron found themselves with Cho and Gabrielle Delacour.
"Hi. Do you know why we are here?" Hermione asked.
"No. Nobody told us" Cho explained.
Then, four hexes hit them.
"Well done, Severus. No one of them was aware of the reason they were here, and no one got the time to see the spell hit them" McGonagall said, leaving the shadows with the Potions Master. They had frozen the students, and levitated them to the forest, where with Dumbledore, Hagrid and the other judges, they put them on their places where the Champions would have to retrieve them.
***
Harry passed all the night trying to get as much information on the forest as he could, but at one point he fell asleep.
He woke up in the morning thanks to Dobby, and remembered about the night before.
"Hermione…I need you. I miss you already…but no matter what, I'll save you" he said. "I have no idea how, but I'll do it"
So he walked to the edge of the forest, people staring at him. Some cheered him, others insulted him, especially the Slytherins, but he didn't care.
His only worry now was to save Hermione as soon as he could.
When he arrived at the edge of the forest, however, he saw what would be probably the bigger obstacle to him saving her. Viktor Krum. Dumbledore had explained the rules to the crowd, but the Champions had heard too.
"Of course" Harry thought, groaning. "Hermione is Krum's hostage. My one is Ron. After all, Dumbledore said they stole a thing from every champion. Very well, Viktor. We'll see who'll save her"
Dumbledore gave the signal for the start, and the four champions ran into the forest.
Harry kept dodging the branches that he would often find on his path, while Krum showed no mercy for the trees, simply blasting them away. The two of them were by far on the lead, probably Cedric and Fleur had been attacked by some creature already.
Viktor was gaining some advantage.
"Oh no. He's going to get to them first. I can't allow that. I can't let him save Hermione" Harry thought, so he hexed the Bulgarian. Nothing painful, just a minor spell to bind his feet together.
"You vant war, Potter? And var you'll have" Krum hissed. The standing up again, he aimed his wand at Harry's back, since the raven haired wizard had now surpassed him.
"Tarantallegra!"
Harry's leg started to feel like jelly while he could not stop himself from dancing stupidly.
Krum's laughter sounded in the forest, while the boy ran ahead of Harry.
After some minutes, Harry regained control of his body and started running at top speed, but suddenly something attacked him.
He rolled on the ground just in time to avoid being bitten by a wolf.
Others surrounded him.
"Wolves" he muttered. "Very well"
He steeled his resolve, as he hated to hurt any living creature, but regaining ground on Krum was vital for him. He would not allow a stranger to save Hermione. He would do it.
So he fired hexes at the wolves, making their furs burst in flames.
"Sorry guys, I'm a bit in a hurry" he said, while the beasts retreated howling madly in pain.
He kept running behind Krum, now seeing his form. He was gaining on him.
A sudden thought invaded his mind. "Why do I care so much if Krum gets there first? After all, Hermione would still be my friend, even if Krum saves her"
Then he cursed. "Why did they choose Ron for me? Bloody Hell, they should know without Hermione I'm lost!"
Still trying to gain on Krum, he understood why.
He had missed Ron lots when there was that rift between them. So he cared a lot for him. But he had never been without Hermione before. Well, she had been petrified in second year, but that was different. So he did not understand how much he needed her in his life before he understood she had been taken hostage, and the risk he would never see her again.
"Petrificus Totalis!" he cried after Krum, who dodged the hex.
"Stupefy!" the older student cried. Harry dodged the red light, it was a spell he had never witnessed till that moment and did not want to test it on himself.
"Engorgio!" Harry cried on the tree in front of Krum, effectively delaying him as the tree grew in width, blocking the Durmstrang Champion's path.
Harry grinned.
"Great! I'm almost even with him now!"
He kept running, his sides aching for the long effort, and that reminded him he may want to fit his resistance.
Krum didn't seem to have a problem instead, so soon Harry lost him again, as he had to slow his pace a bit.
He did not surrender tough, and soon started running at top speed again.
He felt his ankles being grabbed by something, and noticed that the plants on the ground were growing all around him.
"Diffindo!" he cried many times, slowly moving trough that part of the forest.
Krum must have found it more difficult, as Harry found himself just few meters behind the other boy.
"It's desperate, but I'm never going to reach him if I don't try" he thought. "And I will do all what's in my power to reach my most loved one"
As soon as he thought that, he blinked. "Loved? Now, where did that come from? I mean, I love Hermione, but as a friend, nothing more. Or not?"
He noticed Krum was vanishing again. "I'll dwell on this later"
"Accio Krum!" he cried.
The older boy flew backwards toward Harry, and collapsed on him.
"Leave me, Potter!"
"No way! I won't let you save Hermione!"
"Hermy-own-ninny is my target, not yours! You have another to save!" Krum said.
"You don't care for her like I do. She's my most precious, not yours!" Harry spat back.
They started wrestling on the ground, punches and kicks were thrown from both parties, and Cedric took advantage of that.
He had silently gained on them thanks to their hexes to each other, and now surpassed them, gaining the lead.
Fleur, instead, was nowhere to be seen.
Soon Krum managed to place a well directed punch on Harry's nose, and to run away again.
Harry got up swiftly, not caring about the blood dripping from his nose. He simply wiped it with his sleeve.
Just then an howling of wind brought them some words.
"You've got an hour to search
what we stole. Don't hesitate…"
"I'll get you, Krum, don't worry. I'll get to her before you" he said, starting to pursue the other boy.
He then tried banishing him toward a tree, but missed the target so the boy simply fell on the ground.
"…half your time you've spent, now don't slow down
if what you care for you want to get back…"
"Off with you, Potter!" Krum growled, then aimed his wand at him. He muttered a spell Harry did not know, and soon the Gryffindor boy found his shoulder bleeding from a deep gash.
"Bloody bastard!" Harry muttered, running wildly and holding his shoulder with his hand. Harry, however, knew the forest a bit better than Viktor, having been there other times too. So he took a path on the right, and few minutes later he found himself in a clearing, his opponent coming there just in that moment from the other path.
"Potter? How is it possible? You were far behind me" Krum said.
"There are shorter paths, Viktor" Harry said smugly, but then he heard some ominous clicking.
He recognized it, and doubted that it was a predicted part of the task.
Probably the same one who put his name in the Goblet was now adding this thrilling event just to kill him.
"Acromantulas. Viktor, we're not going to exit this forest alive if we don't team for the moment. Our rivalry will continue after we get rid of them" he said.
Krum nodded, just when the first of Aragog's sons came into view.
"Poor Ron, hope he has not to see them" Harry thought. "And Hermione too"
He knew the spell to get rid of them, but he needed help. There were lots of spiders to deal with.
"Viktor we need to use this spell" he said, explaining it to the Bulgarian, who nodded.
"I know it" Viktor said.
"Very well, then. Let's start"
"Arania Exumai" both cried over and over, and streaks of blue light hit the spiders, blasting them away.
After some time, they managed to leave the clearing.
They could see a mist in the distance, probably it was there that the hostages were kept.
As they ran toward it, Krum was attacked by the plants again, while Harry managed to dodge them.
He was now in the lead in their personal race. Cedric had probably already taken his hostage, but Harry didn't care.
Soon Harry understood what the mist was for.
There were Dementors all around the hostages, sucking on their happy thoughts. Some were dangerously near to them, probably ready to give them the Kiss.
Harry thought quickly to the happiest moment in his life, and this time, it was no more with his parents like in third year, but it was a moment with Hermione.
They were alone, in the common room, and they were sitting on a couch holding each other after practicing the Accio Charm. He grinned at himself, then cried "Expecto Patronum!"
From the tip of his wand a silver stag erupted, and charged against the Dementors, and Harry caught a glimpse of a drained Cedric touching one of the Portkeys they had to go back to the edge of the forest, bringing an equally drained Cho with him.
He then saw her.
Hermione was with Ron and another girl he didn't know, head resting on her shoulder. She seemed peacefully sleeping now.
He hesitated one moment to look at her, the image he used to conjure the Patronus finally making him admit his feelings for her, and when he focused again it was too late.
Krum had surpassed him, taking Hermione's hand and a Portkey.
"Nooo!!" Harry screamed, while Krum looked at him smugly.
"Ok, then. I'll take back Ron and this other girl, since Fleur hasn't showed up and the hour is finished" he said, dejectedly.
He noticed wolves circling him again, so he swiftly grabbed the two hostages and with a Portkey he was back near Hagrid's Hut.
Once there, Madame Pomfrey attended at his wounds like she had done for the other champions. Cedric had reported the presence of Dementors, and Krum spoke about the Acromantulas.
Hermione was looking at them in awe but worried too since Harry had not come back yet. Well, she didn't know he had, at least.
Then he saw something that made his blood boil.
Krum placed his arms around Hermione, and kissed her on the lips.
He stormed away, not caring about healing his wounds anymore.
Far deeper wounds had been opened in that moment.
If he had remained, though, he would have seen her pushing him away gently, refusing his kiss.
Soon later, she found Ron, still dazed because Fleur had kissed him on the cheek as a thanking for having helped Harry in saving Gabrielle, her little sister.
Harry had gotten her kiss too, as soon as he had arrived, but Pomfrey had taken him away.
"Ron, have you seen Harry?"
"Just stomped away. Guess he wasn't happy about you and Vicky kissing" Ron said dreamily.
It struck Hermione.
"Crap! If Harry has seen us, he's going to think I fancy Viktor! I need to find him soon!"
So she ran toward the castle, barely hearing that Harry was first even with Cedric.
Almost an hour later, she found him, flying in circles over the Quidditch pitch.
"Harry, come down, we need to talk" she shouted at him.
"What are you doing here, Hermione? Why aren't you celebrating with Vicky and snogging him senseless in the nearest broom closet?" Harry spat angrily, without looking at her.
"You're starting to sound like Ron. Even nastier if possible"
Harry did land in front of her, but simply walked away, ignoring the girl.
She spun on her heels at full speed.
"Harry James Potter, don't you dare to ignore me!" she shouted, fully angered now.
He stopped in his tracks, then turned and stomped toward her, throwing his precious Firebolt on the ground in the process.
Then he grabbed her wrists tightly, almost painfully. She winced.
"Hermione, did you know you were taken as one of the champions' most precious person?" he asked.
"No, I didn't but…" she said weakly, scared by his reaction.
"Very well, then. Listen to me for once. You were Krum's hostage, and mine was Ron. Wanna know why? Because I had missed so much the git at the beginning of the year, that I felt like I couldn't live without him. Oh, I was wrong. Yesterday night, when you didn't come back, I understood. You were taken as an hostage, and I might not have been able to see you again. That made me realize something, Hermione. YOU are my most precious person. Not Ron. It pained me to see him not talking to me, yes, but I had you. Till I had you, I was ok, somehow"
He stopped to breath.
"Harry…"
"No, Hermione. Let me finish. Without you, I'm lost. This morning I swore to myself I would save you. I would get you out of that forest. Then I remembered, seeing Krum. You couldn't be my hostage. The only champion caring for Ron was me, so he had to be my one, while Krum had you. I couldn't let him save you in my place, so during the task we raced for you. We hexed each other, gave nasty bruises to each other, and my shoulder is an hint of that, then we had to face the spiders. We teamed against them, but then the race started once more. We even wrestled for you, Hermione. That's how I probably broke my nose. Then I got to where you and the others were. And found Dementors sucking away your very soul, ready to give you the Kiss.
I blasted them away, Hermione, but Krum took advantage of that to reach you first. Now you know the full story" he continued releasing her wrists, his tone now calmer, his eyes teary eyed, as he refused to look at her.
"Now you can go, as you obviously fancy Krum, so you go, and celebrate with him, and thank him for saving you, and kiss him…" he was rambling now.
She looked at him smiling. She had always thought he was cute when he rambled, with that spiky hair and green eyes…
"…but I couldn't let you go without telling you, Hermione" he kept babbling.
Then he looked at the stars now starting to appear in the sky, and sighed.
"Harry" she said, still smiling.
He kept rambling about her supposed feelings for Krum.
"Harry" she said louder, restraining her amusement.
He still kept rambling, lost in his thoughts.
"Harry!" she nearly shouted, mirth evident in her twinkling eyes.
"What?" he finally said.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and closer.
"Shut up and kiss me"
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