Harry was fairly positive that he hated Professor McGonagall. Really, what had she been thinking inviting the Dursleys to see the final task? He was nervous enough as it was, going into a maze filled with all kinds of potential dangers. Wasn't that enough to worry about without having to look over his shoulder every second of the day to be sure that Uncle Vernon wasn't going to smack him, or that Aunt Petunia wasn't spreading rumors and lies about him? Well, at least he could rest assured that they would never come. They hated magic and they hated him, and he could see no reason that they would turn out in support of him winning the tournament. He couldn't imagine anything McGonagall might have said in the letter to them that would make them come.

Unfortunate as it was however, Harry was shocked to be approached by McGonagall one day after dinner in an empty corridor, wide smile on her face and Muggle envelope in her hand.

"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the envelope.

"It's a reply from your family Mr. Potter. They will be attending the final round of the tournament. The Headmaster himself will be escorting them here. Now, as the other families are coming two days before the start of the tournament, yours will be as well. They will be put up in the guest quarters nearest to Gryffindor tower so that you may spend some free-time with them after their arrival."

Harry simply stood there with his mouth open, feeling as though he'd just been told his mother and father were a troll and he was going to start the transformation any day now.

"They're coming?"

"Yes. I was pleased to see their response."

"What did you say to them to get them to come?" It was barely more than a whisper now.

"I simply informed them of the dangerous nature of the tasks you have been competing in, and that the winner of the tournament will gain a large sum of gold."

Oh, well, that explained it then, Harry thought. Both of the Dursleys main interests would be served by coming: There was a good chance that Harry might gain grievous bodily harm, and if he survived and won, he would be fabulously rich and they probably hoped they could make him give them most or all of the money.

"I shall leave you to your evening then Mr. Potter. I should hope that you're continuing to spend your free-time preparing for the tournament? It is only three weeks away and seeing that you're two years behind your competitors, I would hope that you're taking every advantage you can get."

"Yes maam," Harry said obediently and suddenly feeling down. She didn't seem to notice however, and smiled at him before walking away.

Half an hour later, Harry made his way into the common room in a stupor, drawing the attention of his friends.

"What's wrong? You look like Peeves has been playing jokes on you again," Ron said when Harry walked right past him without giving any notice that he'd seen him standing there at all.

"Huh? Oh. Family's coming to the last task."

"What?"

"Family. Last task. Here."

Ron and Hermione gave each other a look. They knew how Harry had been treated, especially Ron who had seen the bars on Harry's windows when he and his brothers had gone to rescue Harry after first year.

"Why would they do that?" Hermione asked quietly, ignoring a sudden loud outburst from the other side of the room where a first year had just accidentally caught his homework on fire.

"To see me get hurt or to make me give them my winnings, or both," Harry said. "It's the best I can figure. They hate magic and they hate me. I can't imagine them wanting to step foot anywhere near this place. And worst off McGonagall says I'm to spend time with them when they get here."

"Well you're not going to are you?" Ginny asked, coming over to join the conversation. "They sound like ghastly people."

Harry blushed then. He'd had his eye on Ginny all year now, and he was fairly sure she'd been watching him as well.

"They are... ghastly," he said, clearing his throat then. "And I don't want them here."

"Can't you tell Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

"No. I think he's in on it. He's going to pick them up and bring them here two days before the tournament."

"Just fantastic," Ron said. "You don't think they'll try to take the money from you, do you?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, they'll probably say I owe them and threaten to tell people stuff about me if I don't give it to them."

"Why don't you ‘wizard will' it away first?" Ginny asked then, and Harry frowned.

"Do what?"

"Wizard will..." Hermione said, "You write a document that says if you were to win the money, then it's to go somewhere else. Then you bind it with magic. If you don't win the money then nothing happens. If you do, then the money automatically goes to wherever you've willed it to go."

"Where would he put it?" Ron asked.

"Into savings of course," Hermione told him, always the sensible one.

Harry looked to Ginny. It had been her idea and he wanted to know what she thought more than either of the others. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"It's one hundred Galleons, right? I think you should will half of it into an investment, will twenty into savings to pay for the rest of your school supplies until you graduate, and will thirty to someone you trust who will give it all back to you after your relatives leave."

"Right here," Ron said jokingly pointing at his chest.

"Let's put this to paper now," Harry said. "Someone go get Fred and George." Ron didn't ask why, he just went out the Portrait hole to find his brothers.

Harry lead Ginny and Hermione up to the empty fourth year boy's dormitory where he pulled out a new roll of parchment and sat down at his and Ron's shared desk. Ginny and Hermione helped him start the wizard will and Hermione was fairly good at giving him binding legal terms to use so that there could be no mistaking the will or where the money was to go to. "I'm giving thirty to you Ginny," Harry said. "It was your idea, and I trust you."

"I'm touched," she said, and when Harry looked up into her eyes, he knew it was true. Just then Ron came in with the twins though, who were covered from head to toe in dirt for some reason, and ruined the moment.

"You wanted to see us Harry?" Fred asked, brushing some dirt from his right sleeve.

"Don't mind the filth," George said. "It's for a new line of pranks. We're making dirt bombs with Filch in mind."

Hermione rolled her eyes but Harry only smiled. "We're making a wizard will in case I win the tournament money, so that my family won't try to take it from me. I'm putting half into an investment... you guys."

"Us?"

"You're starting a joke shop after school, right? Well you can have fifty galleons of my winnings to get you started."

"Are you sure Harry?"

"I'd rather you have it than them."

Harry scribbled it down then and when the wizard will was done, Harry, Fred, George, and Ginny signed it, and then Ron and Hermione as witnesses. Hermione then took the will and bound it in magic, before giving it to Harry and Ron to do the same. When it was finished, Hermione banished it with her wand and told Harry the incantation to bring it back.

"Good," Harry said, not feeling at peace with the situation, but feeling better knowing that the money would be taken care of at least.

"We'll be off then," George said. "Need to shower before bed and get the dirt bomb off. We'll start giving you our samples first dear benefactor."

"Don't give me anything yet," Harry said. "I haven't won anything and might not."

"We'll make sure you do," Fred said, and then they were gone.

Ginny and Hermione left too to go to their own dorms and Harry lay down on his four-poster, trying to imagine what it would be like with the Dursleys at Hogwarts. It would be even worse if they brought Dudley, Harry thought, and his stomach felt sick then. It had already been a bad year, what with the entire school turning on him after his name had been put in the cup without his knowledge. He didn't need everyone turning against him again just because his relatives showed up and started spreading lies.

"It'll be all right," Ron said from the next bed where he lay reading a Quidditch Magazine. "We'll be with you and if they try anything, maybe we'll give them tails to match Dudley's." This made Harry laugh, and Ron smiled because he was the cause of his friend's smile.

* * *

The only thing that kept Harry's mind off of the Dursley's impending arrival over the next few weeks, was the intensive training his friends had been putting him through. At every opportunity they made their way out onto the grounds and down to Hagrid's hut, where Hermione taught him useful charms, Ron taught him defensive spells, and the twins imparted unto him their knowledge of fist fighting, just in case his wand failed him in the last task. It was his time with Ginny that he looked forward to the most however. Every morning at five am he and Ginny went out onto the grounds in the darkness and ran or did situps and other activities to increase Harry's endurance. The best day however was when they were down by the lake missing breakfast, and Ginny reached down into the water to splash a little back at Harry. "Oh yeah?" Harry had said in response to her grin, and he leapt forward tackling her and taking them both into the cold water.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed at him, and despite the cold and the fog still lingering across the surface of the lake and damp ground, they splashed a great deal of water at each other. Finally Harry grabbed Ginny around the shoulders so she couldn't splash him anymore, and they both stilled, looking into each other's eyes.

"You'll be careful at the tournament, won't you?" Ginny asked him.

"Well, I don't know," Harry said playfully. "Why should I?"

Ginny bit her lip. "Well if you die or something, I won't have anyone to do this with." Then she had moved in shyly and given him a quick kiss. When she pulled away he surprised her by pulling her back in for another kiss however. If the tournament wasn't in three days and the Dursley's weren't arriving tomorrow, Harry would have said that this was the start of a very good week.

* * *

Despite that Ginny was holding his hand, Harry was very anxious. He had no idea when the Dursleys would be arriving today or if he'd be notified. A thousand unpleasant scenarios had run through his mind in the days leading up to it. The Dursleys sneaking up on him, the Dursleys threatening his teachers or friends, the Dursleys conspiring with Filch to lock Harry in a broom cupboard, Dudley trying to get Harry into trouble, Dudley spreading rumors about Harry to the Slytherins... yes, Harry was anxious.

"I just saw Cedric's dad," Ron said as he walked up to where Harry was with Ginny, Hermione, and Luna. Harry was leaning against a corridor wall, Ginny's hand in his the only thing that was allowing him to display a calm exterior to the world.

"I met Mr. Diggory once," Luna said dreamily. "He buys The Quibbler."  Harry and his friends generally didn't hang out with Luna, but she was Ginny's friend, and with Harry spending more time with Ginny, that meant spending time with Luna as well.

"Really?" Ron asked, eyebrow raised, and she nodded.

A few moments later and the twins had walked up to deliver the same news that Ron had. "Guess if we see ol' Dumbly then we'll know they're here," Fred said giving Harry a fake punch in the shoulder.

"But that's not all we came to tell you," George piped in then. "We came to give you our latest official product. The double dirt bomb." He held out what looked like several pieces of brown chalky candy.

"Just throw and it will explode in dirt clods," Fred explained. "If you add a little water before tossing, it will explode in mud."

"Can I have one?" Ron asked, and Harry handed one over to his friend who examined it closely.

"Not just any mud either," Fred continued. "We did extensive testing. If you throw it at someone's feet, it'll keep them stuck to the ground pretty well."

"Who did you test it on?" Hermione asked.

"Filch," they both chimed. Harry gave a little laugh despite his anxiety then and pocketed the ten or so double dirt bombs.

A few minutes later, Severus Snape was displeased to pass by the Potter Fan Club. Four Weasleys, Granger, Luna Lovegood, Longbottom and Seamus Finnegan were all standing around him in a group laughing. He had half a mind to give them detention for loitering in the halls, but there were other students around too as it was after lunch and the school had been given the second half of the day off so that the champions could greet their families. Ugh, Potter's family in the castle he sneered. How wonderful. Just what the brat needed... more pampering. Snape hurried by and out of sight, just before the Dursley's rounded the corner being led by Collin Creevy, who was extolling the virtues and heroism of Harry Potter.

When the Dursleys happened upon the scene of students, they almost didn't even see Potter there in the middle of them with a smile on his face until one of the tall red headed boy's said his name.

Vernon grunted and nudged Petunia, before pointing into the group. "What's this about then?" He asked her, and she closed her eyes. She hated being in this place and didn't want to see or hear any of it. Dudley was standing there next to her, pudgy as ever and staring at Harry's popularity with his jaw hanging open, giving him the appearance of a small hungry hippo needing to be fed.

Seeing that his wife and son seemed incapacitated at the moment, and tired of hearing their tiny blond guide babble nonsense about Potter, he moved forward cleared his throat behind the group.

Ron looked up and with a warning look at Vernon stepped aside. The entire group was looking at him now, and Harry noticed Dudley and aunt Petunia in the back about ten feet behind uncle Vernon.

"Er... boy. We're here."

"Ok," Harry said, still holding Ginny's hand and feeling that he could be non-chalant about it if his friends were all here with him.

"I was just showing them to their room Harry," Collin said. "Want to come?"

Harry was going to say no, but he knew what the Dursleys were like, and didn't want to see Collin get hurt.

"C'mon," Harry said, hoping his friends would come too. Because most of them knew what the Dursleys were like, they did go and Harry was pleased.

"Hello," Luna said to Dudley as they walked, Vernon holding Petunia's hand because her eyes were still closed.

"What?" Dudley asked. He was still staring at Harry and Ginny holding hands.

"I'm Luna," she said. "My father is the editor for a national magazine. Would you like a copy?"

"Your father is important and you're friends with Harry?" Dudley asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Of course I am. Most of us are friends with Harry. Only the Slytherins don't like him because he fights evil."

"Slytherins?"

"The students that live in the dungeon," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "Not all of them are bad, but they don't like Harry very much."

"But everyone else does?"

"Of course."

Dudley frowned. He was at the back of the group with Luna now and nobody else seemed to be aware of the conversation except for Neville, who had hung back to be sure Luna was ok.

"Why on earth would anybody like Harry?"

Neville scoffed then and turned around. "He's the best Quidditch player at the school, year after year he beats back the darkest most evil wizard of our time so that we can be safe, he's friendly, he's fun to be around, he's kind, he sticks up for other people who need it, he's good in school, and he's always off on some adventure that everyone wishes they could have been a part of after it's over. Even the professor's like him."

"Yeah, ok, whatever," Dudley scoffed, crossing his arms. "Did he pay you to say that?"

"I don't need payment," Neville said.

"Harry's got a good heart," Luna continued then. "He's got a vault full of gold, and I'm sure he'd give it to those in need if they asked."

"But nobody's asking," Neville said then. He took Luna's hand then and they headed up to the front of the group, leaving Dudley to catch up to his parents in this unfamiliar world.

At the guest quarters down the hall from Gryffindor tower, Collin opened the door and then presented a map of the castle to the Dursleys that Dumbledore had instructed him to give them.

"Meals happen in the Great Hall three times a day," Collin said then. "If you don't show up for a meal then food will be brought up here by the house elves."

"The what?" Vernon asked warily.

"House elves," Collin said, the smile never leaving his face. "Little creatures with wrinkly faces and big ears that do all the chores around the school. Don't worry though, they're friendly enough. They won't hurt you."

Collin left then without a thank you from anyone but Harry, and Harry took a quick glance around the posh quarters before backing out of the room, where his friends were waiting outside.

"Dinner's in an hour," Harry said. "The Great Hall is on the first floor. Just keep following the stairs down until you find it, and ask a portrait if you get lost."

"A what boy?" Petunia finally asked, opening her eyes and looking pale.

"A picture of a person, hanging on the wall," Harry said. "If you're lucky you'll get Sir Cadogan." Harry turned again and went to the door, hurrying out and closing it before they called him back in again.

Ron slapped Harry on the back of the shoulder. "That wasn't so bad."

Harry shrugged. "Hope they don't come down to dinner."

"They hate it here. You really think they would?"

With a frown, Harry thought to himself, ‘I really hope not.'

Harry was to be disappointed however, as he spotted the Dursleys looking uncertain on the threshold of the Great Hall that night at the start of dinner. Dudley was staring up at the ceiling in awe and Vernon's eyes were scanning the sea of students and staff. Harry could tell he was saying something to aunt Petunia but couldn't tell what for all the noise.

"Better go get them Harry," Hermione said, and he nodded, not wanting to get chastised by McGonagall for leaving them standing there. He should have just skipped dinner altogether he thought.

Fast-walking over to them, Harry said hurriedly, "Come on, over here," and hurried back to the table with his head down, hoping to be invisible. From the staff table Snape watched with a sneer. What, was the little brat afraid his guardians would embarrass him? Yes, he himself thought Petunia was horrid, but that was no excuse for the brat's blatant show of disrespect after all they'd done for him. If the Potter spawn had showed up at his front door, he would not have taken him in even if Voldemort himself was hot on the brat's tail.

"Budge up," Fred said loudly when they approached the spot Harry had left, and the students around them on both sides of the table got up and scooted down. Harry purposely sat on the opposite side, and Ginny got up to be with him, gripping his hand under the table again. Dudley, curious, followed Harry and sat on his other side.

Because this was the first night that the families were visiting, there were extra special foods on the table, including roast duck, rabbit, and several other kinds of meats, not to mention twenty five kinds of deserts.

"This is how you eat every night?" Dudley asked in awe. They never served anything other than cafeteria food at Smeltings.

"They don't serve duck or this many deserts," Harry said quietly, serving himself a second helping of candied carrots and shepherd's pie. "But yeah, we have a lot of food here."

Petunia poked at the salad in the bowl next to her plate as if she expected it to come alive and eat her fork, and Vernon stared at Harry with a curious look as he loaded up his plate with steak and kidney pie.

"Why are some of the students dressed differently?" he asked, surprising Harry. They never made conversation with him at home, and he hadn't expected them to start now.

"This is an international tournament," Harry said. The rest of his friends were cautiously listening to the exchange, wary of any trouble the Dursleys might cause. "The students in red are from the school in Bulgaria and the students in blue are from the Academy in France. One student from each school gets to compete."

"And you're competing for... Hogwarts?" Vernon asked, careful with the last word, one of the many words that was always forbidden at four Privet Drive.

"Two of us are competing," Harry said. "I'm not supposed to be in the competition."

"But?"

Dudley was curious about this now too, and Harry wasn't sure what to say, so Hermione spoke up instead.

"A magical cup decides who gets to compete for each school. You're only allowed to compete if you're 17 because it's all very dangerous. After the cup chose the seventh year from Hogwarts, it chose Harry as well, even though he's only a fourth year."

"And why would it do that?" Petunia suddenly spit out, glaring at Harry, as if it were somehow his fault that she had been dragged here against her will.

"Somebody's trying to kill me," Harry said. "The headmaster reckons someone bewitched the cup to get my name out of it too so that I'd die in the tournament. Probably Voldemort."

Several people gasped at the name then, but Harry was used to it by now.

"Well you're not dead yet are you?" Petunia sneered.

"Harry almost died fighting the dragon," Ron said. "It chased him on his broom all the way out of the arena and to the castle. Harry came back alive though.

"And the merpeople tried to get him at the bottom of the lake in the second competition," Neville put in. "But Harry won extra points because he did his part in the task and then helped the other competitors too. He's tied for first place with Cedric Diggory, the other champion from Hogwarts."

"A dragon?" Dudley asked with a mouthful of food. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad vacation after all. There did seem to be some very interesting things here, including the portraits that moved and talked like they were on a TV show. They'd helped them find their way to dinner.

"A red Chinese Fireball," Harry said. "It caught the tail of my broom on fire."

They ate in silence for a while, Ginny leaning in to Harry beside him despite the odd looks Vernon was giving them. When the main course vanished and even more deserts appeared, Vernon asked, "And what is the last part of the competition?"

Harry looked up from his strawberry orange cake. "It's a maze. We have to make it all the way through the maze first to win. There are dangerous creatures and magical traps. It's a test of magical prowess, wisdom, and bravery. Cedric and I get to go in first since we're both in first place. Viktor and Fleur get to come in a few minutes later."

"Doesn't seem fair does it," Vernon said with a glare at Harry, as if he must have cheated to get to first place to start with.

"Well Viktor Krumm is the star player on the Bulgarian National Quidditch team, we saw him play this year at Nationals didn't we Harry. He's famous and we reckon he's had extensive training. And Fleur is from Beaubatons, where they train them hard for challenges like this almost year round with no breaks. Not to mention all of the other contestants are 17 and have three years more training and schooling than Harry does. Harry, didn't they record the first two tasks?"

Harry looked up and shrugged. He thought he'd heard something like that. "Professor McGonagall probably knows," he said.

After dinner, uncle Vernon asked Harry to take them back up to their quarters, alone. His friends looked reluctant to leave him alone with them, but he gave them a nod and waved them off.

When the Great Hall was mostly empty, Harry lead the Dursleys off.

"What's a Seeker?" Dudley asked as they started up the first set of stairs.

"The star player on a Quidditch team. If the Seeker catches the golden Snitch... a flying golf ball basically, then the game is over and he earns his team 150 points."

"And that's you?" Dudley asked.

"Harry nodded."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Sometimes."

"Hush Dudley," Petunia told him, and Dudley closed his mouth.

"How about a tour," Vernon said, and Harry shuddered as the man clapped him hard on the shoulder. He wasn't sure if it was an order or not. Harry stopped on the stairs and pointed back down to the ground floor.

"Over there is the entrance to the Dungeons. Professor Snape and the Slytherins live down there, and we have Potions class there three times a week. The other way is Hufflepuff house and the kitchens. Hufflepuff is the house Cedric Diggory is in. Ravenclaw tower is up that way by the library and Gryffindor house is right by your guest rooms.

"How about the library then," Vernon said, and Harry swallowed. They had a while until curfew, but there wouldn't be many people in the library at this time of night aside from Madam Pince and some Ravenclaws, and maybe even Hermione.

"Ok," Harry said. He reluctantly pointed out classrooms as they went and explained what they were for, and sometimes pointed out hidden passageways behind a suite of armor or tapestry. Many of the portraits greeted Harry as they walked, and wished him good luck in the upcoming tournament. Surprisingly Petunia kept her eyes open through it all. Finally they reached the library.

Madam Pince was there at her desk as always and Harry was thankful that there was a staff member nearby to keep him from being murdered, though Harry had never seen her do any magic before.

"We don't have a library like this at Smeltings," Dudley said, and Petunia shushed him again. There were students from random houses scattered about studying in chairs or at tables and desks, but Harry didn't think they were disturbing them. He was thankful to also spot Hermione and Ginny at a table a few isles back.

"Hermione said once that Madam Pince has over a million books here. I heard Ravenclaw has their own private library too, but I've never been inside."

"You get good grades?"

Harry looked over at his aunt, surprised that she wanted to know. "Mostly O's."

"O's?" Dudley scoffed. "You must be terrible!"

"O for outstanding," Harry said. "It's the highest mark you can get. The lowest is D for dreadful. The only class I never get an O in is potions because the professor doesn't like me."

"Snape?" Petunia asked with disdain, and Harry nodded.

"Funny that he would hate you," she said. "He was always fumbling over himself for Lily."

Harry frowned. Snape and his mum? Anything was possible he guessed, glancing at the Dursleys, who he was leading on a tour of Hogwarts. Anything at all.

"I better take you back to the guest rooms now," Harry said. "Curfew is soon and I don't want to get detention."

"Will you get kicked out of the competition if you get detention?" Vernon asked.

"No, but Snape's usually lurking somewhere and I don't want to chance it."

"Best get you back then," Vernon said, and he took Harry's shoulder and steered him out the door. They must want the money," Harry thought. Yes, that was it, they were being falsely nice to him because they wanted him to share his winnings. Well, he'd already taken care of that, hadn't he, he thought smugly.

* * *

In the morning the Dursleys appeared at the table for breakfast again, and Harry was unfortunate enough to find himself with a free period to start off the day, so he took them for a very fast tour of the grounds, just down to the lake and back. Ginny went with him, thankfully, and they made it back just in time for Harry to go to defense with Professor Moody.

"Where to next boy?" Vernon asked as they got back into the castle.

"I have to go to defense class," Harry said. "If we hurry I can take you back to your rooms."

"That McGonagall woman said we could attend classes with you."

Harry glanced at Ginny for help, but she said, "Sorry Harry. I heard her telling all of the parents that this morning."

Ginny gave him a kiss on the cheek and then hurried off amongst a crowd of students to Potions.

"Come on then. It's up on the second floor."

Inside Harry took a seat next to Ron and Hermione and was awarded with a sneer from Draco in the next isle, which he ignored. "Slytherin," he heard Dudley knowledgably tell his parents in the row behind him, and Harry and Ron smirked despite themselves.

Moody wanted to do shields that day, and because Harry's family was there he called Harry to the front of the class for a duel, pitting him against Draco Malfoy. Draco sneered, thinking he'd put on a good show and throw Harry on his arse in front of his aunt and uncle, but Harry had other plans. He couldn't show any weakness in front of them, not here.

"Any spell goes so long as it's not a curse or hex that will cause illness or bodily harm," Moody told them as they faced off on the dueling platform that Moody had had installed at the start of the year. "And no unforgivables," he said in a warning growl aimed at Draco.

"First one to be thrown from the platform bodily or otherwise gets to do homework tonight. The victor gets a passing grade for the day. Begin." Moody went to the back of the class where he put a shield up around the room to keep the spells away from the students in the desks, and then crossed his arms. Harry and Draco began to circle, with Draco throwing the first spell at Harry, Harry waving his wand and throwing up a shield to deflect it easily. Harry was sure he heard aunt Petunia gasp in the back of the room as the red beam of light flew off towards the audience, but he heard it fizzle out and gave a little smile, casting several spells in succession at Draco in return. After five minutes both boys were tired, but were still casting an unending series of hexes and shields. Finally Harry saw his chance where Draco had missed a shield spell, and cast a dancing spell at his legs. Draco's legs began to jerk uncontrollably and he danced himself right off the platform.

"Well done Potter. You get an O for the day. Malfoy gets to write me an essay on the twelve classes of shields found in the book. Next!" He pointed at Ron who jumped up on the platform to face Harry. Normally Harry would have been told to get down, but he had a feeling that Madeye was giving him some last minute practice before the tournament tomorrow. Harry tossed Ron off the platform with an expelliarmus after two minutes and Hermione with a water spell that sent a flood her way after four. Before he knew it he'd gone through every student in class, including Pansy who had curses nastier than Draco's, and Neville who surprisingly had given Harry a run for his money lasting the longest up on the platform.

"Been practicing," Neville said with a grin after he shook Harry's hand and then went back to his seat.

"Good Potter. I'd say you're ready for tomorrow. Go back to your seat. Class, open up your books to page four hundred and ninety two."

Sweaty, Harry took a towel Hermione had conjured back at his seat and wiped his face and neck off. He'd forgotten completely that the Dursleys were right behind him. Petunia was silent, and Vernon was thoughtful, but Dudley poked Harry in the back and said in awe, "That was cool! You beat every kid in here!"

Harry shrugged. "Uh, yeah, thanks."

After defense Harry took the Dursleys to Charms, followed by lunch, and then on to History of Magic where he was sure Dudley and aunt Petunia both looked like they wanted to pass out because there was a ghost teaching the class. The last class of the day was with Hagrid out on the grounds, and Harry was happy to be free of the castle on such a nice day.

"There ya are Harry," Hagrid said in a happy booming voice. "Haven't seen ya the last few days." Harry looked back to see that all three Dursleys looked stunned and weary to meet once again with the same half giant who had once given Dudley a tail.

"Don't worry," Harry told them a moment later after Hagrid had gone to the front of the group and motioned for the class to follow them into the forbidden forest. "He's a Professor now. He can't do anything to you."

"Wh- what class is this?" Dudley asked, trying not to let his voice shake or take his hand to cover his backside in front of the other teenagers there.

"Magical Creatures."

"Creatures?" Dudley's voice sounded a little panicked, and aunt Petunia was doing anything but closing her eyes as they walked into the forest down the well-worn dirt path to Hagrid's paddock.

"Unicorns, hippogryffs, grindelows," Harry listed off.

"Giant man eating spiders," Ron said with a tinge of bitterness.

"Flobberworms," Harry, Ron, and Hermione said together before laughing.

"Flobberworms?"

"Nothing to worry about Dudley," Harry said, and he and Ron laughed again.

By the time they got to the paddock, Petunia and Dudley were crowded right up against Vernon, who was determined to be crowded right up against Harry's back. Harry couldn't help but think to himself, ‘So you're mean to me at home but now you want my protection?' but he didn't say anything.

"Gather round," Hagrid said waving them in. "Today we're cleaning Hippogriff hooves."

Harry looked to the far end of the paddock where the Hyppogryffs were waiting, and was glad that Malfoy wasn't here to ruin things this time. The last time they'd covered Hyppogryffs last year Draco had made a scene and ended up getting Buckbeak sentenced to death. Luckily for Buckbeak Harry and Hermione had been given permission by the Headmaster to save him and Sirius from their cruel fates.

"Remember not to insult them or they'll attack you. We reviewed what to do to get close to them last week so I won't cover that again." Hagrid took a few minutes to show them how to clean each hoof, and then sent them into the paddock in pairs, Harry being left without a partner because there were an odd number of students that day.

"Harry, how abou' yeh show yer cousin what ter do."

Harry raised his brows and looked over at aunt Petunia who was resolutely shaking her head ‘no' but Dudley looked interested and was already climbing between the fence posts to get inside.

"Yeah, ok," Harry said. "Just stay back and watch me and then when I tell you, you have to do the same thing. They're dangerous if you don't do it right."

Harry went to a white Hyppogryff named Petey and bowed, and was granted permission to approach him.

"Ok, you now, don't look at him, and don't show fear," Harry said. Dudley did surprisingly well, and Petey gave permission for Dudley to approach as well.

Harry held Petey's front hoof up and Dudley picked up one of the tools Hagrid had given to each group of students, and started to work the dirt out of the hoof. The work went by fast and Harry and Dudley were the first one's done.

"Good, good," Hagrid said proudly. "Want to take a ride? Everyone gets a chance once they're done."

"Can we?" Harry asked excitedly. It wasn't like riding a broom, he remembered. It was scary at first, but you started to feel like one with the majestic beast as its wings beat to carry you skyward. He climbed up onto Petey's back and was about to take off when suddenly Hagrid lifted Dudley onto the winged creature behind him.

"Better go with him," Hagrid said. "He's got experience flying with Hyppogryffs. Harry didn't wait for aunt Petunia to say no, and spurred Petey onward and up to the sky, Dudley holding for dear life.

"We're f-f-flying!" Dudley shouted, scared and excited at the same time. "You get to do this all the time?"

"On a broom," Harry shouted, urging Petey to go down towards the lake, where he flew low enough for his claws to skim the water.

"And Dragons? We watched the video of the first two tasks."

"No, no dragons," Harry laughed. They flew for a few minutes more before Petey turned around and headed back towards the paddock, where aunt Petunia was still laying on the cold dirt, passed out from seeing her son rising up into the sky and out of sight on a large winged beast.

Vernon looked a little white too, but he was still upright when they landed.

"Woo!" Dudley shouted, running over to his father. "There's nothing like it in the world! I want to go again!"

"Better not," Vernon warned.

Aunt Petunia spent the rest of the evening in their room and skipped dinner. According to Dudley she was no longer speaking to Harry for as long as she lived, but Harry seemed to have gained Dudley's enthusiasm and a little bit of his respect, though Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that. Uncle Vernon was still putting on his forced polite act, and Harry was content to let it be. It hadn't been so bad after all, he thought, though the final task tomorrow was starting to make him anxious again. Ginny gripping his hand once more as they ate dinner, he allowed some calm to come over him, and didn't see the sneer Snape was sending at him from the head table.

Harry paced back and forth in the champion's tent. It was five pm and he knew it would be dark before he was done with this final task. He was nervous enough as it was and didn't even want to think about being in the maze by himself at night.

"Harry?"

He turned to find Cedric smiling though looking as nervous as Harry felt. He was peering around a tent flap from his own section of the tent.

"Yeah?"

"Doing ok?"

"Yeah, yeah fine," he said, crossing his arms. He was a big boy, he could take care of himself thank you very much, and didn't need a seventh year coming to check on him. Or at least, that's what he was trying to portray. Inside he was a bundle of nerves.

Cedric came in the rest of the way and said, "Well I'm a bit nervous."

"Yeah?"

"My friends have been training me, but you never can know what to expect can you? I mean, dragons and mer-people and swimming underwater... it's been a wild ride hasn't it?"

Harry nodded. Yes it had been, and he'd been dragged along with it all. Fame and glory be damned, he'd give anything to be up in the stands with his friends right now and have the Dursley's back in Little Whinging where they belonged.

"Mine too," Harry said, letting his arms drop. "My friends I mean, have been training me."

"I've seen you out running on the grounds and dueling."

"I had catching up to do."

Cedric sighed happily and said, "We'll at least we've twice the chance of winning the cup for Hogwarts. Father says if I get the cup he's got a spot reserved on the mantle for it. Not everything goes on the mantle," he said then. "Just the special things. Just the things he wants to remember."

If Harry won the cup, it would have to go in the bottom of his trunk. There was no one who would want to look at it except maybe Ron and the other boys from Gryffindor. The Dursleys certainly wouldn't be taking it and displaying it in their living room where all of uncle Vernon's Grunning's associates would see it at dinner parties and ask questions.

"What about you?" Cedric asked. "What will you do if you win? All that money. Father says I should use it to go to university or study abroad somewhere, maybe get an apprenticeship."

"What kind of apprentice would you be?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I'd like to play Quidditch full time myself, but if I had to go to school more I think I might like to work with magical creatures. Dragon's aren't too bad." He looked at Harry and grinned, and Harry gave a little laugh, suddenly not feeling as nervous.

"I'm giving half of my winnings to a startup business if I win," Harry said. "I don't know about the rest."

"You're ready to be an investor then," Cedric laughed. They heard a loud gong somewhere nearby and both stilled, listening.

"Best get on with it then," Cedric said with another smile that helped put Harry at ease. "Bright futures await." As Cedric left the tent and Harry pondered on ‘bright futures', he could not have guessed that this night would lead to Voldemort's return, a glimpse of his parents, and Cedric's death. By the end of the tournament, it certainly would not seem as if Harry would ever have a bright future. Cedric certainly wouldn't.

* * *

Harry lay on the grass in the darkness sobbing and clutching Cedric's lifeless body, triwizard cup on the grass beside them.

"What's happened?" Dumbledore asked, trying to pull Harry away from Cedric, who looked as though he could just be passed out, but Harry had a firm grip on him and he wasn't letting go. No, I have to stay with Cedric! I have to get Cedric's body back! I have to take him home to his father so his father can have the cup!

"Harry!" Dumbledore was shouting at him now and through his sobbing he looked around. They were back and Dumbledore was standing over him. Snape was too.

"He's back!" he shouted, ignoring the pain in his sliced arm and the other aches he had from battling. "Voldemort he's back! He killed Cedric!"

"Harry its ok, let him go," Dumbledore said, but Harry didn't let go.

"No I have to bring his body back!"

"He's back Harry," Dumbledore said firmly, and this time as he pulled gently at Harry, Harry let go and allowed himself to be dragged backwards across the damp, flattened grass a few feet so that the Professors could get a better look at Cedric. There was a scream from somewhere up in the stands, and Harry wondered who it was. More staff had come down now and someone was lifting Harry to his feet. They said something, but there was too much noise, too much commotion, and too much hurt inside for Harry to hear exactly what or who was speaking to him. He allowed himself to be lead away, looking back at Cedric's lifeless form as he stumbled over his feet.

"Got to be getting you away from the commotion boy," the voice said as he hurried him out of the bright stadium and onto the front lawns. The noise of the frightened crowd dimmed, and Harry finally looked to see Professor Moody hobbling along beside him, giant staff in hand as was his usual and crazy eye bobbing about.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, holding his still bleeding arm. "What's going to happen to Cedric?" As if in answer to his question, he heard a man screaming in the distance behind them, and Harry's heart sank. Cedric's father was with him now.

"I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing," Moody said. "And they'll take care of him."

He hurried Harry up into the castle and Harry wasn't sure if he was glad to be away from the commotion or not. He wanted to stay with Cedric. Cedric had been there with him taking the cup, he'd been there bolstering his spirits in the tent beforehand, he'd been there saving him from Krum in the maze, and he'd been there in the graveyard with his parents, holding Voldemort off so Harry could get out and get Cedric's body. Voldemort had wanted him, Harry, not Cedric. It should have been him that had died. It wasn't like he had any parents to care. Cedric did.

Harry hardly noticed that they were halfway up through the castle now. Moody steered him into his office and pushed Harry down into a chair.

"I thought we were going to the Hospital Wing," Harry started as he watched Moody rummage through one trunk and then go to another.

"They'll have his body there. Best to keep you here until Madam Pomfrey can come down to see to you."

Harry watched quietly, feeling dull as the defense Professor continued to rummage through drawer after drawer, trunk after trunk.

"What is it you're looking for sir?"

"Something for you... something to dull the pain," he said, not turning to look at Harry. His voice sounded... odd. Was he crying over Cedric? Maybe he wasn't crying at all. "Tell me Potter, did you see him?"

"Sir?"

"The Dark lord... did you see him, in the graveyard?"

"It was horrible, he-" Harry paused. "I- I don't think I said we were in a graveyard."

Finally Moody turned and Harry saw he had a flask. He tipped it up and tried to get a drop out, but nothing came out and he began to twitch.

"No? Are you sure?" he asked, and Harry nodded, feeling on edge now.

"Well, it was in a graveyard," he said now, sounding a little maniacal. "On the bones of his father." He pointed to Harry's cut arm and said, "And he took your blood, didn't he? He came back in all his glory didn't he?"

Harry moved sideways in his chair, trying to get up, but Moody had his wand out and aimed at him now.

"Ah ah, boy. You escaped somehow. I'll be the one to do you in and I'll be praised as the greatest servant of all time!" He twitched again and at that moment, the door beside Harry flew open and Dumbledore, Snape, and strangely enough Uncle Vernon came storming in.

At first it seemed like too much for Harry to comprehend, but Dumbledore had Moody by the neck and had his wand aimed at his head, Snape had his wand on Moody as well, though his eyes raked over Harry as if to assess if he was all right, and Uncle Vernon was shouting at Dumbledore about tripling his payment now that his family had been put in danger. Harry heard something along the lines of, "We only came because you said you'd pay, now pay up old codger!"

"Be silent!" boomed Dumbledore, and Uncle Vernon clamped his mouth down, perhaps noticing for the first time that the Headmaster had his hand around another man's throat. Moody was laughing as his face morphed and Harry watched in horror as his fake eye fell out and his clothes began to sag on him as he transformed into a much smaller, skinnier man.

"Barty Crouch Jr.," Snape said with a sneer, and the fake Moody laughed again, his voice different and higher now.

"That's right Snape, you sniveling traitor. You'll be the first on his list when I get back to him."

"I don't think you'll be going back," Dumbledore said. He jabbed his wand into Crouch's throat tighter and he winced. Where is the real Moody?" Crouch laughed and Dumbledore motioned to Snape, who pulled out a phial of something and poured it forcibly down Crouch's throat.

"Damn you Snape," Crouch said.

"The truth now," Dumbledore said. Harry had never seen him so mad, and watched in awe as Crouch told them his twisted tale. He was also uncomfortably aware, as Crouch mentioned putting Harry's name in the cup as a plot to get his blood and kill him, that Uncle Vernon was watching him. Harry's good hand was covered in blood now as he continued to hold tight to his injured arm to try to stem the bleeding.

McGonagall rushed into the room at that moment and gasped at the sight of the Moody imposter.

"Harry, come here," she urged, and he stood up, feeling wobbly on his feet and exhausted in every way, especially emotionally, and went the few steps to her. "Come along, to the Hospital Wing with you."

She put her hands on his shoulders and they left the insane scene behind them and made their way through the dark quiet halls to the Hospital Wing. Harry thought there should have been students there by now, hysterical over Cedric's death, but there was no one. The Hospital Wing was also empty except for Madam Pomfrey who was crying, and Harry sat down on the bed nearest her office.

"I'm so sorry Harry," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because of what happened."

"It's not me you should be feeling sorry for," he said. "Cedric's the one who died." He wanted to say something about Cedric's dad, but didn't, and in truth, Harry did feel very sorry for himself. He should have been the one to have died. Getting up and getting out of bed and going on tomorrow, that would be the hard part. Cedric got the better bargain. Voldemort was back, and Cedric wouldn't be around to witness the coming war.

Harry lay in the white hospital bed staring at the ceiling. The room was bright and quiet as morning light filtered in from the windows at the far end of the ward. Harry didn't know where Madam Pomfrey was, but she wasn't there. His friends hadn't been up to see him either. It didn't matter he thought. Cedric died, that was what mattered. Voldemort was back, that mattered. With a sigh he sat up. This was the day he was dreading. The world had been turned upside down and now he had to go out into it, deal with it, and try to come out of it alive in the end. Maybe it would be better if Voldemort just attacked the castle right now, he thought. Get it over with. It would certainly save him from the rollercoaster of emotions he'd been riding since last night and wanted desperately to get off of.

He reached down and tied his worn sneakers, put his glasses on and stood up. Since Madam Pomfrey wasn't there, he left. He was still fairly dirty from the maze and the graveyard the night before, and his clothes were torn, so he went back to his common room to shower and change. He had expected to find Ron and Hermione there waiting for him, but they weren't. There were a few students, but they were sitting on couches with their arms around each other very silent. A few looked at him but nobody said anything to him. After a quiet shower Harry sat on his four poster bed for long moments. It was almost too quiet. It was eerie really.

‘Best get on with it then,' Cedric's voice replayed in his mind from the night before. ‘Bright futures await.' Maybe not so bright, Harry thought as he stood up.

He made his way back through the quiet common room and down through the too quiet castle. He encountered very few students, and they all seemed sad. On the first floor near the Transfiguration classroom, Harry ran into Ginny.

"Hey," he said quietly, and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying quietly.

"I was so worried," she said, almost in a whisper. Her face was buried in his neck.

"I'm sorry." He held her, but he found no happiness in doing so. "Where is everybody?"

"It's horrible," Ginny said, still not letting go of him. "While you were sleeping a lot of parents came last night to take people out of school. The Patil twins are gone, Seamus left this morning, half of Ravenclaw and a lot of the first year Gryffindors are all gone. I heard a lot of the Hufflepuffs will be going too, but they've mostly gotten their parents to let them stay for the next few days to honor Cedric."

"Why are they all gone?" Harry asked, and Ginny finally pulled back just enough so Harry could see her shining wet eyes.

"Because he's back. Because Cedric died. It's too dangerous to be here right now."

"What about you and Ron and the twins?"

She shook her head. "I don't know but I think we'll be staying. I've heard mum and dad say that Hogwarts is the safest place you could be before. They trust Dumbledore."

"Too bad others don't," Harry mumbled, but he himself wasn't feeling so great about his decisions to trust Dumbledore up to this point. Moody had been a death eater, Cedric had died, and the Dursleys had apparently been paid to come, why he really didn't know.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Everyone's down in the Great Hall. Classes have been canceled and they're all just sitting down there quietly. Even most of Slytherin has gone quiet. The Hufflepuffs are all down in their common room with Cedric's dad."

Harry swallowed then. He remembered hearing the man wailing after his son last night. He bit his lip to keep himself from crying.

"Are you going to the Great Hall?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded.

"I'm just going up to the common room for a few minutes. I'll be right down."

"Ok," Harry said, swallowing hard again to get around the lump in his throat. She squeezed him hard and then let go and hurried to the common room. Harry's legs felt like lead as he walked down the grand staircase and into the Entrance Hall. He'd just reached the bottom when Uncle Vernon's voice called out from across the hall.

"Boy!"

Harry looked up, eyes wide to see his puce face. He was definitely angry. Harry stayed where he was but Vernon stormed up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"This is your fault!" he shouted. It echoed around the empty hall and high ceilings and Harry was sure the people inside the Great Hall were hearing every word. He wondered if any teachers would come out to help him. He didn't get a chance to say anything before Vernon was backing him up against a wall and putting his face inches from Harry's.

"It's your doing that we've been brought to this freaky place and been put in all kinds of danger! Now that old fool that runs this place is refusing to pay us for coming! They told us that you won a bag of gold boy, now give it up!"

"I can't," Harry said. "It's gone."

"What do you mean gone boy?" His voice had lowered into a growl.

"I wizard willed it away. The money was spent before I won it. The contract was binding. I can't get it back."

Suddenly his uncle pulled him away from the wall and shoved him hard back into it and before Harry could shield himself, he'd raised his fist twice and hit Harry in the jaw and the eye. Harry's bottom lip trembled then, to have this happening there in the castle in front of everybody, to have it happening right after Cedric died...

"Get away from him!"

Vernon shoved Harry hard into the wall again and turned to find Amos Diggory striding across the hall. Snape was standing there by the entrance to the Great Hall looking on along with a handful of students including Malfoy and Ron and Hermione. Harry's lip trembled again. No one knew what it was like at Privet Drive, but now everybody knew, and somehow that made it all the worse.

"What's wrong with you?" Amos Diggory demanded. "Our children are precious! Every minute of every day we have with them is precious!"

Vernon smirked and realized too late that it was the wrong thing to do. Amos, being much shorter and slighter than Vernon, didn't hesitate to punch Vernon in the gut. He doubled over but stood straight again. He seemed unable to move though and Harry realized now that it was because Snape was striding across the Entrance Hall with his wand out and aimed at him. His face was impassive compared to Amos Diggory's livid one.

"Go to the Dungeons now Potter," Snape said, and with tears welling in his eyes, Harry did as he was told before they tattled down his cheeks in front of everybody. He was out of sight and through the entrance to the Dungeons running down the stairs. Figuring he was meant to go to Snape's office, that's where he went, and when he was finally there, he sank down to the floor in the corridor and sobbed once. He was unable to control his emotions any longer and felt like he couldn't take anything that was happening, or had happened. He didn't know how much time had passed before Snape finally came down and found him, he only knew that he felt like he could barely breath and he struggled to get breath as the tears fell.

Snape didn't say anything as he lifted Harry from under one arm and lead him into his office. Harry wiped furiously at his tears as he continued to struggle for breath, but the tears continued to fall. After a moment Snape handed something to him in a cup and told him to drink it down. Harry obeyed and it was only a few moments before he could breathe properly again. He wondered what it was before thinking it had probably been a calming draught of some sort.

"Your family have been escorted out of the castle. I believe the Headmaster will be having words with the Muggle authorities." Harry knew the man was giving him a hard looking over, but he didn't look up. His shoes seemed rather interesting right now.

"Is he always like that?"

Harry didn't look up and didn't answer. The question wasn't ‘is he always like that' it should have been, ‘are they always like that', and the answer was yes, they are. He bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

"It wasn't your fault Potter," Snape said, "none of it was." Harry thought the words sounded strange coming from Snape's lips. They weren't friendly, but they weren't downright venomous as they usually were either. Maybe it was just strain Harry was detecting.

"Other... arrangements will have to be made for you this summer," he said then, and though Harry still didn't look up, he was listening. A summer without the Dursleys? He thought that might be nice, but then he thought, oh no, Cedric's dad will be having a summer without Cedric, and that wasn't nice at all. He took in a breath again and Severus mistook Harry's start as crying over what his uncle had done.

Snape sighed after long moments of Harry still not answering and then said, "You'd best go back to the Hospital Wing to let Madam Pomfrey have a look at your face."

"Yes sir," Harry said, and he stood up, aware he must look a real mess. He felt like he hadn't slept at all and was still completely exhausted.

"School is ending early," his professor said before Harry could get his office door open. "Do not worry yourself over where you will go. You will stay in the castle until somewhere can be found."

Harry listened and when no more was forthcoming, he opened the door and headed for the Hospital Wing. No, so far his future didn't look so bright at all.

"No. I assumed he was in the Hospital Wing after what went on this morning." She shook her head and looked as though she was ready to tear up. "Poor boy. I knew those Muggles were trouble when Albus left him there with them. I should have insisted that Albus place him somewhere else."

"He is not in the Hospital Wing or Gryffindor tower."

"Have you asked his friends?"

"I was not certain they were even still in the castle."

"Molly and Arthur won't be arriving until Friday to take their children and Ms. Granger. They should be around here somewhere."

"They are not also taking Potter?"

"Albus thinks he should stay at the castle for the time being."

"Foolish," Severus muttered under his breath.

"What was that Severus?" she asked, looking back down at her list.

"Nothing." After what the boy had been through, he should be with his friends, not left to his own devices.

"Have you tried Hufflepuff?"

He looked up at her. "Why would the boy be in Hufflepuff?"

"It was just a thought Severus. A lot of students have been down in Hufflepuff today. Those that are left are really coming together to support the Hufflepuffs. I've even seen some Slytherins down there today."

Severus frowned and then left her to her list and the group of parents in the Entrance Hall and headed for Hufflepuff corridor. He was surprised that once inside he wasn't able to step inside more than a few feet. There were students lining the corridor on both sides, sitting on the stone floor. Some were reading, others were talking quietly, some were hugging each other, and some just staring at the floor. They looked up and some pulled their feet back to make room for the Potions Master to walk down the corridor. He didn't see Potter, but all of the Weasley children were there scattered amongst the other students. He was surprised to see Ginny Weasley and Hermione sitting next to Pansy Parkinson all writing something on one piece of parchment.

"Sorry Professor," Pansy said, pulling her feet back as he neared.

"Might I enquire what you are doing miss Parkinson?"

She and the other girls looked up at him. "Writing down all the good things about Cedric to give to his dad," Pansy said. "We're all adding things to the list."

He looked at the roll of parchment again and realized it was long and filled to the brim with writing. "Everyone here knew Cedric," Hermione said quietly. "He was nice."

Severus turned to let his eyes scan back down the hall. Draco was sitting on the floor halfway back next to Teddy Nott. Both looked solemn.

"Give me the parchment," Severus said quietly, turning back to the girls.

They looked up and he noted that Granger and Weasley looked worried. Pansy handed it to him uncertainly and he held his hand down for the quill she was using. When she handed it to him he held the parchment against the smooth stone wall and began to write in an empty space. He didn't much care for Hufflepuffs, but he had never minded Cedric, who always sat quietly during class lectures and who always showed up to class on time. He was respectful and Severus appreciated that. When he was finished he handed the parchment and quill back to Pansy and then continued past them to the Hufflepuff entrance. He said the password and it opened to reveal the whole of Hufflepuff house sitting silently in the common room. His eyes scanned the room and found Amos Diggory in the center with his head in his hands, and on the other side of the room was Harry sitting by himself on the floor in a corner with his eyes down. He looked as though he was trying very hard to blend into the stone wall.

A few eyes looked up and followed Severus as he made his way across the room to Harry.

"Potter," he said quietly.

Harry looked up and Severus restrained himself from swearing. The entire right side of the boy's face was one large bruise, and his right eye was fairly swollen.

"I believe you have someplace else to be."

"I invited him," Amos said then from the center of the room, not looking up or moving at all.

Severus sighed. He didn't want to start trouble in the middle of their vigil.

"He can return after he has been seen in the Hospital Wing," Severus said quietly. Amos did look up at that and over to Harry's face. So did a lot of the Hufflepuff students.

"You'd better go Harry," he said. "I didn't realize you hadn't been seen to yet."

Harry looked uncertain, like he didn't want to leave, but stood up quietly and then followed Severus out. He kept his eyes glued to the floor as they made their way through the corridor full of students on the other side of the common room entrance. Severus wondered if Harry just didn't want his peers to see his bruises, but Harry continued to look at the floor as they made their way up through the castle.

"Why did you not go to the Hospital Wing as I instructed?" Severus asked. His face could have been mostly healed by now if he'd gone that morning instead of waiting until dinner. Now his face would be bruised for days because he'd waited.

Harry shrugged.

"I expect verbal answers," Severus said, trying not to let his irritation creep into his voice. He was aware Potter was on emotionally fragile ground with the return of Voldemort, Cedric's death, and his relatives and what they'd done on top of it all. All of the students were fragile but Harry most of all. He didn't want to deal with tears or distraught emotions. Minerva or Poppy were better equipped and willing to handle emotional issues.

"Doesn't matter," Harry answered.

"Healing your injuries does not matter?" Some of the irritation did make it's way out, but the teen didn't seem to notice.

"Heal the bruises, they'll give me more. Fix one broken bone, they'll break another one." Harry finally looked up at the Potions Master, who seemed surprised. "Healing me will make you feel better, but in the end it doesn't help me."

"I have already told you that other arrangements are being made for your living situation."

Harry just stared at him blankly.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Dumbledore will never let me live somewhere else. He never does." He said it as though it was the only thing he believed in life, that he was stuck with his relatives and there was no one who could save him. He turned as if he were going to head towards Gryffindor and Severus frowned.

"Potter, where are you going?"

"To pack."

Severus called after him to stop, even shouting at him that he was about to be in trouble for not listening, but Harry didn't stop or look back or do anything at all to indicate that he'd heard him. Severus followed after a moment, long legs striding quickly to catch up with the boy and get in front of him. Path blocked, Harry stopped.

"Please move sir. I have to pack so I'm ready when the Headmaster comes."

"The Headmaster is not coming for you. You are staying in the castle."

Harry made to move around him, but Snape stepped in his way, and then did so again as Harry tried the other side.

"You have to move!" Harry said, panic rising as his voice rose. "He's gonna be mad if I'm not ready to go!"

"Potter-" Severus started, but the boy surprised him by reaching out forcefully with both hands and pushing into his professor's chest. It hurt, and it knocked him back a little, but he reached forward and forcefully grabbed the boy's wrists as he was coming in to strike him again. Harry struggled, and Severus struggled to hold his arms still while he was careful not to touch the boy's face or shoulders where his uncle had damaged him earlier. "Potter- calm down!"

"Harry!" It was the Headmaster's surprised voice that stopped the child from struggling.

"I- he wouldn't let me go pack. I'm trying to get ready to go, I promise!" Severus didn't miss the way the boy shook as he let go of his wrists.

The Headmaster approached cautiously and said quietly, "You're not going anywhere dear boy."

"But my relatives-"

"It is my hope that your uncle will spend some time in jail given what has occurred. In any case, you will not be returning to them. I must apologize to you Harry. With the tournament coming to a close, and your name having been put into the cup, I feared the worst, and wanted to bring your aunt here so the blood wards could protect you at school during the final task."

"You- he said you paid them."

"It was the only way to get your uncle to agree to come."

Harry began to breathe rapidly, and Severus reached out instinctively and grabbed his wrists, which startled him, though he didn't fight back.

Dumbledore looked up at Severus and said, "Take him to the Hospital Wing Severus."

"And then?" Madam Pomfrey could knock the boy out with a sleeping potion and keep him dosed with a calming draught, but somehow he didn't think that was going to help. He also didn't think she'd want to keep Harry in the Hospital Wing after his injuries healed.

"Take him home Severus."

Severus sent Albus an icy glare, but dared not argue about where the boy would be going for the summer in front of him. He wouldn't survive it he was certain. Letting go of Harry's wrists, he guided him towards the Hospital Wing, leaving Albus watching sadly from the empty corridor.

* * *

Aside from leaving the boy with Poppy in the Hospital Wing for the night after he was given Dreamless Sleep, Severus didn't leave Potter alone until it was time to leave. Harry stayed in the guest room in his quarters, or otherwise was instructed to go in the castle where Severus went. The fourth year asked to return to Gryffindor tower to say goodbye to his friends, but Severus asked an elf to bring his friends to the Great Hall to say goodbye instead. Harry spent breakfast with them Friday, the entire group somber until the Weasleys came to pick their children and Hermione up. Molly hugged Harry tightly for almost two minutes when she arrived, knowing the boy needed it. Severus noted from the empty head table that the boy's eyes were red when she let him go, but he seemed calmer than he had been in days.

When his friends were gone, Severus collected the Gryffindor, the last in the castle, and took him back to the Dungeons, where they'd spent the last two days. All of his things had been brought down by the elves, and he'd been sitting quietly, not even acknowledging that Severus was there aside to ask after his friends.

The one time Severus had to leave him alone, he took Potter to the Slytherin common room, where Draco, Pansy, and the Head Girl were still waiting for their parents to come for them, the last of the Slytherins yet to leave. He waited for Potter to protest, or to ask why he was leaving him alone, but the boy remained silent.

"Potter is to stay here for an hour or so," he informed the Slytherins.

"Yes sir," the Head Girl replied, and then he left. When he came back almost two hours later, all was calm, and the four students were as he had left them.

Two days after the Weasleys and Granger had left, the other remaining students had all been picked up, leaving only Harry and the staff. "We will be leaving this evening Potter."

"Yes sir."

"You need to go to the library and check out several weeks worth of reading material."

"When are we going to the library?"

"You may go now."

"You're letting me go by myself?"

"You appear to have calmed down somewhat."

"Yes sir," Harry said quietly. He left Snape's quarters and made his way slowly up through the castle towards the library. It was strange to be in the school when it was empty like this when there would normally be a month left of classes still before the summer holiday. Mrs. Weasley had said she would have left her children there for the rest of the school year, but with so few students ready to stay, they'd decided to close the school early. Instead the Professors had assigned homework and essays to be done at home for the remainder of the term. Students would have to owl their essays in by June 15th, but Harry had already done most of his assignments in the hours he'd spent in the guest room of Snape's quarters, and had turned them in already.

Harry took his time walking up and down the rows of books in the library, glad to be free of Snape's presence for a while. He'd been distraught, and a little confused in those first few days after the tournament and the incident with his uncle, but Snape had acted like Harry would do himself harm if he left him alone. It surprised him that he was allowed to be by himself now. He wasn't going to waste a minute of this time alone by hurrying back with books.

Harry spent twenty minutes browsing Quidditch books before he picked one, and another forty browsing novels before he found a few he thought he'd like to try. More time must have passed than he'd thought, because Snape came looking for him and found him browsing books in the advanced Charms section. It wasn't a subject he was particularly interested in, but he quickly pulled a book off the shelf when Snape strode over to him.

"You were to return when you had reading material."

Harry held up the five books he had so far. "I was still looking."

Snape looked him up and down, and when he was satisfied that Harry was whole and unharmed, he said, "Check the books out. It is time to leave."

Harry took the books to Madam Pince, who wrote down which titles he was taking, and then followed Snape back to the Dungeons.

"Bring all of your belongings and the books. We will not be returning for more than a month."

"Yes sir." Harry was already packed, so he only had to put his new library books into his trunk and bring the trunk to Snape's living room along with Hedwig and her cage.

Snape came out of his own room a minute later with a black trunk of his own. Harry wondered what was inside.

"My fireplace has been connected to the floo in my house temporarily. It will be open for exactly three minutes starting at five twenty seven. You will go first. Be certain you and your trunk are out of the way as soon as you step through."

Harry nodded. Snape looked at his watch, waited thirty seconds, and then threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace. "Snape residence, London." The flames flared green, and Harry stepped in with his trunk and Hedwig's cage, and then he was gone in a flash of green.

Harry wasn't certain why he'd expected Snape's house to be like his quarters at Hogwarts. As soon as he came out the other end of the floo, he pulled his belongings out of the way and looked around the dark room briefly. Were they in a flat?

The fireplace came to life again a moment later and Snape stepped out with his trunk. He looked at his watch, counted for a few seconds, and then nodded as the green flames disappeared. He waved up the lights with his wand and Harry squinted for a moment at the bright flat they were in.

"This is my home Potter. Respect it and my belongings, and we will have nothing to argue over."

"Yes sir," Harry said.

It was a large open space with a full wall of windows in the kitchen that went from floor to ceiling. There was no balcony that Harry could see. The kitchen and living room were all one large open space, and there were black metal stairs leading up to a second story landing, which was open to the lower story.

"The bathroom is there, the door behind the couch." Snape said. "The two bedrooms are upstairs. The room you will be staying in is the closest to the stairs. Take your belongings up. You may use magic to levitate your trunk."

"I thought we weren't allowed outside of school?" Harry asked, as he began to levitate his trunk towards the stairs.

"Special dispensation has been given by the ministry for the remainder of the school term so students can practice what they are learning with parental supervision."

"Yes sir." Snape had yet to ask him to show him anything from his other classes. He'd made a brief comment about Harry doing his schoolwork a couple days ago, but when Harry had said it was all completed and turned in, that had been the end of it.

Harry took his belongings upstairs and at the first door, found a guest bedroom with two single beds and a wardrobe. There was a window over one of the beds, and Harry looked out over the top of London's buildings. The flat was modern, and the furniture simple and clean. The walls of the flat were brick, though a lot of the fixtures and furniture were black and white. It seemed to fit Snape's personality well - no nonsense. Harry was happy there was no floral wallpaper like aunt Petunia seemed to enjoy.

Harry picked the bed away from the window, and pulled his books out. He stacked them up and set them on the floor next to the bed, and put some of his clothes into the wardrobe. He let Hedwig out and let her out the window, and then put her cage at the foot of the second bed.

Not sure if Snape had other things for Harry to do, he went back onto the landing and downstairs.

"There aren't any house elves here Potter," Snape said. "We will have to cook for ourselves, and you will need to keep the guest room tidy and do your own laundry. There's a machine in the bathroom."

"Yes sir."

"I will get groceries tomorrow. Until then there should be soup in the cupboard."

Harry didn't feel very hungry, and hadn't since before the last task of the tournament, but he moved on automatic to start making dinner, since it's what the Dursley's would have expected of him. He found two cans of tomato soup and a pot and spoon and began heating the soup on the stove.

Snape came back downstairs a few minutes later just as Harry was pouring the hot soup into two bowls.

"You know how to cook?" he asked, giving the soup a wary look.

"I do most of the cooking at home."

"I see."

Harry thought Snape would ask more about life with the Dursleys, but was glad when he didn't, and instead sat down to eat. They ate in silence, and after the dishes were done, Harry went back to his room and started one of the novels. He read until he was too tired to keep his eyes open any longer, glad he had something to do and think about other than Voldemort, Cedric, and his uncle.

* * *

Severus thought taking the boy would be a burden, but so far it hadn't been. The child was quiet, spent most of his time reading or staring out the window, and had so far been respectful. He'd done his own laundry, cooked for himself, and kept the guest room tidy.

It perturbed Severus to some extent that the boy was so quiet. He said a word here or there as was necessary, but other than that, there was nothing. Severus knew the child was having nightmares because he heard him shout out at night occasionally, but he didn't speak about them, and Severus didn't ask.

About a week after they'd gone to the flat in London, the Daily Prophet began printing things about Harry and Albus. Severus considered hiding the paper from the boy at first, but in the end decided against it. He would be doing the boy an injustice if he let him find out about what the Prophet had been printing from people once he returned to school.

Harry seemed to take it in good stride at first, until the Prophet printed a story saying that Harry was lying about Voldemort's return, and was only doing so for attention because he was, ‘a troubled youth who was abused as a child.' The Prophet cited this as a reason not to trust him.

After reading this edition of the Prophet, Harry set the paper down and went quietly to his room, the same blank stare on his face he'd had those first few days after Cedric had died.

Later when Severus went to check on him, he couldn't find the boy anywhere in the apartment. A point me spell led him out of the flat, down two blocks, and down into the underground to a transitline station. The Gryffindor was sitting on a bench watching people board the train.

"Going somewhere?" Snape asked. Harry looked up at him blankly, and then back at the train as it pulled away."

"No."

"You were not given permission to leave."

"I didn't know I couldn't," Harry lied. He'd had a feeling he wouldn't be allowed, but had gone anyway. He'd finished all his books from the library and had nothing left to keep his mind from everything that was going on around him.

"Come back to the flat."

Harry stood up and found Snape giving him an uncertain look. He followed him back to the flat however and when they were inside, Harry said, "Sorry. My relatives never stop me from going out in summer. They like me to leave the house after my chores are done and not come back til' after dinner."

"While Voldemort may be lying low, his followers are not. The safest place for you at the moment is inside. Do not leave."

"Yes sir."

Severus thought that had settled it. As loath as he was to admit it (especially given how many detentions he'd given the Gryffindor in the previous years), the child usually did as he was told. But two days later, after returning home with groceries, Severus couldn't find the boy again and found him at the same underground station watching the trains.

"Potter, did I not tell you to stay at the flat? You're not to go out on your own."

"Sorry sir." Harry followed him back to the flat without complaint and helped put the remaining groceries away.

Three more times over the next two weeks, Severus found Harry at the transit station. It had almost become a game, to try to keep Potter from going out and catch him when he tried, but with underage magic still allowed outside of school for another week, Potter was able to disable his barriers, alarm spells and tracking charms placed on the doors and windows of the flat.

He was always easy to find though.

"What is it about the trains Potter? Why here? Why do you insist on sneaking out just to come to the underground?" Especially if he isn't going to go anywhere, Severus thought.

Harry was quiet for long moments as another train pulled out of the station, before he said, "Because they're fast, and I think maybe someday they can take me away from here... take me to someplace else."

"Because my flat is that bad?" Severus asked warily.

"Because the Hogwarts express did that once." He got up and led the way out of the underground and back towards the flat, Snape following, disillusioned as he always was when in public with Harry so they wouldn't be seen together.

Severus thought on the boy's answer for hours afterwards, and finally came to the conclusion that the Hogwarts Express had taken him away from the Dursleys and their abuse. What was he trying to escape from now? Perhaps reality. Severus looked up towards the empty second floor landing, and for the first time in his remembrance, felt like he understood something about Potter. It was something they had in common. For his entire childhood and most of his adult life all Severus had wanted to do was escape reality.

Harry left the novel on the bed, tired of reading it anyway since it was his third time through, and went down to let Snape in. It wasn't Snape on the other side however. Draco Malfoy stood looking at Harry, startled.

"Is- is Professor Snape here?" Draco asked

Harry frowned. "Erm-" Snape had told him they couldn't be seen together. He'd told him more about his spying duties than Harry and his friends had guessed on their own, and once had been called away to a meeting in the middle of the night. That had been the only time Snape had been genuinely angry to find that Harry had left the flat to watch the trains.

"Could you prove to me you're Draco?"

"What?"

"What's something only Draco would know?"

"I know it was you and Weasley that time in the common room on Christmas in our second year."

"Oh."

"Is he here?" Draco asked again, impatiently.

"He went to get groceries."

"I need to see him."

"I'd let you in, but he has wards up."

"Use your wand Potter."

"School's out."

"You're at an adult wizard's residence. There's no trace for any magic done here."

"You could use your wand."

"I'm not inside the residence."

"Are you sure they can't trace me?"

Draco just gave him a look, so Harry left him to go to the guest room to get his wand. He had the ward down in just a few moments, and Draco had come in, dragging his trunk with him. Draco pulled out his own wand now that he was inside, and put a new ward up.

"He didn't tell you?" Draco asked.

"He was pleased I thought I couldn't pull his wards down anymore and leave."

"You're a prisoner?"

Harry laughed then as he plopped down on the dark grey sofa and said, "I guess it can feel like that sometimes."

"I didn't expect to find you here."

"Me either," Harry said. He used his wand to summon his book and after Draco sat down on the other end of the sofa Harry said, "Do you have any novels I can read? The ones I borrowed from the school library are getting old quick."

"Isn't there a Muggle library nearby?" Draco asked. "A big one?"

Harry looked surprised and then nodded. After going to watch the trains all those times, he hadn't thought about going to the library.

Twenty minutes later, Severus came back with groceries, wondering if he'd find Potter missing again, and was surprised to find him and Draco sitting on the sofa together quietly, one reading, the other looking nervous.

Draco jumped up when Severus came in and said, "Uncle! I have to talk to you!"

"About the misuse of underage magic outside of the term?" He asked sternly, though the question was directed at Harry. Harry only shrugged and kept reading his book.

Harry listened as Draco detailed his last few days for Snape, who was apparently Draco's godfather. Draco's father had gone missing a week ago, and two nights ago his mother had announced she was going to France to visit relatives. She'd begged Draco to go with her, but had said they were going permanently. Draco wanted to return to school in the fall, so he'd refused to go, and she'd left him there at the manor by himself. Instead of following after her, he'd used the floo to get to the Leaky Cauldron, and then walked across London to Snape's flat.

"I'm sorry to invite myself like this Uncle," Draco said sincerely. "If I could just stay until the start of term, I promise I won't be a bother."

"You have a choice to make," Severus said seriously. "I will tell you something, and then you can have your memory modified and go home, or go to stay with your mother in France. Or you can make an oath of secrecy to me and stay here."

"Ok," Draco said quietly. Draco listened raptly for several minutes as Severus described the nature of his deception to Voldemort, and his true allegiences. Harry was surprised he was telling Draco at all given who his father was and how close their ties to Voldemort were, but Snape had also mentioned twice now his duty as Draco's godfather and how seriously he took that duty.

"Now you have a choice to make," Severus said, voice low and serious.

"I want to stay," Draco said. "I'll take the oath. Mother told me once she didn't believe you followed him. She didn't want me to either. That's why she wanted to take me to France."

"Do not make this decision lightly. The consequence for betraying this oath will be death."

"I want to stay with you. I won't be his servant. I never understood how father could make himself one. Malfoy's don't serve."

Harry stopped reading and looked up at the two of them in the kitchen, interested to see how an oath like this worked.

"Give me your wand," Snape said. Draco handed it over, and Snape pocketed his own. Then Snape reached out and took Draco's wand arm. "Repeat after me," Draco nodded and Snape said, "Severus, I promise not to betray your position as a spy to anyone, for any reason, under any circumstance."

Draco repeated it and Severus said, "I promise not to betray any information to Voldemort or his followers that I learn while staying with you, including anything learned about Harry Potter, or his whereabouts. I will not do this for any reason, under any circumstance."

Draco repeated Snape's words again, and then Snape waved Draco's wand around Draco's wrist and his own, and then handed the wand back to him. "It's done," Snape said. Draco pocketed his wand and seemed relieved.

"Thank you, you won't regret this. I couldn't imagine not going back to Hogwarts, and mother told me they'd be coming for me at the manor if I didn't go with her."

"Take your belongings up to the guest room."

Draco levitated his sleek black trunk up the stairs and Harry watched him go. He found Snape's gaze on him a moment later and looked startled to find the man staring at him.

"You let him in."

"Yeah?"

"He could have been a spy."

"I made sure it was him. Besides, it's only Draco. You heard him, he doesn't want to join Voldemort any more than I do."

"But because of his parents, he could have."

Harry sat forward then and gave his Professor a serious look. "He was mad when Cedric was murdered. He was one of the ones who believed me right away. And he was scared that Voldemort was back. Pansy too, and some others. I knew he wouldn't want to join him."

"Which others?"

"Teddy Knott and Blaise."

"Theodore Knott is Cedric's cousin on his mother's side."

"I didn't know that."

"Do not let anyone else in."

"Yes sir."

Harry went up to the guest room a few minutes later, feeling awkward downstairs with his professor, and found Draco sitting on the bed by the window.

"I'll move Hedwig's cage," Harry said, moving to get the cage from the floor at the foot of Draco's bed.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Harry said. He wondered how it was going to be sharing a room with Draco. Just because he didn't believe he would join Voldemort didn't mean he trusted him completely or thought they would get along. A month ago Draco was still throwing insults at him in the hallway at school and throwing rogue ingredients into his cauldron in class.

Harry settled in on his own bed with his novel, and a few minutes later, Draco went back down to the living room. Harry heard him conversing with Snape, but couldn't hear what was being said. He set his book down and wished he could go back to watch the trains. Maybe he would when everyone was sleeping tonight.

* * *

"Where's Harry?" Severus asked a few days after Draco arrived. He'd woken later than normal and was looking forward to a strong cup of coffee.

Draco shrugged.

"Is he in the room?"

Another shrug.

"Are you refusing to answer so that you don't directly lie to me after promising that you would not cause problems?"

Draco's gray eyes snapped up to his black ones. "I haven't caused any problems have I? I've left Potter alone and he's left me alone. Am I his keeper?"

"He's not in the room," Severus said with a sigh, and moved to make himself a cup of coffee.

"How do you know?"

"He's at the transit station."

"The- but why? Where's he going?"

"Nowhere."

Draco frowned. "Am I missing something? Don't you go to the underground to take one of those slow Muggle trains?"

"He sneaks out and goes to watch the trains. Frequently, no matter how many wards I put up."

"I- told him he was allowed to use magic since this is an adult wizard's residence."

"Thank you for that," Severus said, voice flat, yet with enough sarcasm to let Draco know he'd done him a serious injustice.

"I didn't know." Draco took a bite of the toast he'd been having for breakfast when his godfather had come out and then said thoughtfully, "I thought it would be hard to get along with him, but he's so quiet. Except at night." When Severus didn't answer immediately as he took a drink of his coffee, Draco continued. "He keeps calling for Cedric... and his dad."

"Cedric's father?"

"No, just... dad."

"It was a traumatic experience."

"Yeah and then what happened after," Draco said. "I never thought Potter was having to deal with the Muggles like that. A lot makes sense now."

"Such as?" Severus set his coffee down and looked up at the blond.

"Well the clothes he wears. I mean, you've seen them, right? He doesn't have much. I thought it was a Gryffindor thing at first, because Weasley wear's hand-me-down's, but Weasley's clothes are a far sight better than Potter's."

"I had not noticed." Or at least, he hadn't while at school. Since coming to the flat he had noticed that Potter's shoes had holes in them and the bottom hems of his pants were torn up where he had frequently stepped on them.

"Stay here. I must retrieve him."

"Wait, I want to come," Draco said.

"As I have already explained, it is unwise for any of us to be seen together."

"He might be at the library," Draco said. "He said he's been through all his books several times."

"Stay put. I will return."

Harry was not at the library. He was in his usual spot at the train station. "When will you stop going out?" Severus asked tersely.

"It helps me clear my mind."

"Your mind will be perfectly clear if a death eater catches you unawares and you are dead."

"Cedric had a lot to say after he died."

Severus gave the boy a hard look as they left the transit station. Perhaps it was time to take a trip somewhere. With Harry's continued nightmares, the daily lies in the Daily Prophet, and the recent stress of having to end school early and dealing with the boy's relatives, it might do him some good. Draco would probably benefit from a proper holiday as well. Severus knew he was trying hard to appear unaffected by his father's disappearance and his mother's departure, but he was struggling with recent events as well. Perhaps they'd even take a train for Harry's benefit. Maybe that would stop him from sneaking out at all hours to watch them come and go.