Just like Brothers

Chapter 75

"That's brilliant!" Hermione said, "Quidditch. I never would've thought of that."

"Yeah," Harry said, "it was Sirius's idea, we just have to find a way to get my broom to me."

"The summoning charm!" Hermione jumped excitedly, "you can use the summoning charm, I'll teach you!"

"You're a lifesaver, Hermione," Harry let out a breath of relief, this was finally coming together. Maybe he'd get through the first task after all.

"Hold on Hermione," Harry caught sight of a certain Hufflepuff, "I'll meet you in Potions."

"Where are you going?" Hermione turned to ask, however, Harry was already gone.

Cedric Diggory was very hard to get ahold of. He was constantly surrounded by a crowd of people. Harry had to follow from behind until the Hufflepuff broke off to go to the restroom.

"Cedric," Harry hissed, "Cedric!"

The other Hogwarts Champion turned and Harry was shockingly reminded of his godfather, both he and Cedric had dark hair, strong features and shocking steel eyes.

"Harry!" He flashed a brilliant smile, "what's up?"

"Dragons," Harry whispered, "the first task is dragons, they've got four, one for each of us, we have to get past them."

Cedric stared at him, a flicker of panic in his gray eyes, Harry could only imagine his eyes looked the same way, "what?"

"Big lizards!" Harry's eyes widened, "fire-breathing dragons!"

"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.

"Dead sure," Harry nodded, "I saw them."

"But how'd you find out? We're not supposed to..."

"Never mind that," Harry dismissed, he didn't want to get Hagrid in trouble, "the others know, both Fleur and Krum, Madam Maxine and Karkaroff saw the dragons too.

Cedric's eyes hardened and he studied Harry, "why are you telling me?" He asked carefully.

Harry wasn't expecting Cedric to ask him that. He didn't ever think of not telling Cedric... he wouldn't even let his worst enemy go up against those dragons without warning. It just didn't seem right.

"It's just...fair this way, isn't it?" Harry asked tentatively, "we all know now, we're on equal footing."

Cedric was still looking at Harry suspiciously when the bell rang.

"Balls I'm late!" Harry swore, "I got to get to Potions, I'll see you later, Cedric!"

"Bye, Harry." Cedric waved uncertainly.

Harry took off at a sprint towards the dungeons. Snape was no longer as hard on him about being tardy to class, in fact he had become a lot more lenient since he became a caretaker. However, lenient for Severus Snape meant getting away without a detention, but instead, a few added inches on your homework.

"Mr. Potter," Severus drawled as Harry closed the door behind him, "I hope you had good reason for your tardiness."

"Yes, Sir, I'm sorry," Harry scurried to his seat besides Hermione.

"I will be expecting an extra four inches on your assignment, Mr. Potter," Snape gave him a stern look.

"Of course, Professor," Harry nodded, getting out a quill and parchment to take notes.

>•<

Hermione nearly dragged Harry to the library after classes. She grabbed every sort of book she could get her hands on that could possibly help Harry and stacked them in his arms.

"Honestly, Hermione, why do we need to go through these, we already know what I'm going to do," Harry complained, his arms were cramping under the weight of all the books he was holding.

"It's called having options, Harry," Hermione huffed, "what happens if you can't get your broom? Or if the dragon attacks out of nowhere and you don't have time to cast the summoning charm? It's better to be over prepared than underprepared."

"Fine," Harry gave in, "but let's start with the books we already have," he eyes her hand, tilting a particularly large book off it's shelf, "we can get more if needed."

Hermione nodded and they found a secluded table in the back corner of the library.

They flipped through various spell books, Hermione speaking a hundred miles a minute from besides Harry.

"Maybe you could transfigure the dragon? But then again... that is very advance magic, I'm not sure McGonagall could even accomplish that. Yeah, scratch that, what about..."

"Hermione!" Harry slammed his book closed, her words had been distracting him and he'd been stuck on the same page for a quarter hour, "can you please just, shut up? I can't concentrate when you're talking."

Hermione fell silent, however Harry still had trouble getting through the chapters.

"Oh, no," Hermione moaned, "he's back again, why can't he just read on that stupid ship?"

"What?" Harry whispered, trying to follow her glance.

Viktor Krum had settled himself in the opposite corner, among a stack of books.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione was already shoving her books into her bag, "we'll go back to the common room, his fan club will be here any moment...twittering away..."

Hermione's claim proved true for as they were leaving, a group of flirty girls passed them.

"Potter! Granger!" A voice called as they closed the library doors behind them.

Mad-Eye Moody came limping towards them, his wooden peg making a clunking noise with every step he took.

"Professor Moody," Hermione smiled, "what can we do for you?"

"Come to my office," Maddy said, his glass eye rolling to the back of his head, "we'll have some tea."

Harry shot Hermione a questioning look but she just shrugged and began walking.

"Sit," Moody ordered, pointing to two chairs.

Hermione and Harry sat.

"So, Potter, any strategies to get past those dragons?" Moody focused on the boy.

Harry couldn't help his jaw from falling open, "Professor, how did you—"

"I overheard you talking to Diggory earlier," Moody said in his gruff voice, "very decent thing you did, telling him. However, you oughta be more careful where you discuss important matters. You never know when someone's listening."

Harry gulped.

"Uhm, actually," seeing Harry's discomfort, Hermione took over, "we're trying to play to Harry's strength. Quidditch."

A surprised smile broke out on Moody's disfigured face, "couldn't tell you a better plan myself, Potter knows how to fly, his broomstick is the way to go."

Harry nodded, he felt reassurance that the retired Auror was approving his strategy.

"Always play to your strengths," Moody said sternly, "it will almost always give you the upper hand without fail."

>•<

Harry didn't sleep too well that night. He was unsure what to make of Professor Moody's words of warning. The way he reminded him that people could be listening made him immensely uncomfortable. If Mad-Eye heard him speak to Cedric, who's to say others didn't. Harry didn't even see Mad-Eye in the hall earlier that day. It was all a bit too eerie for Harry's taste, he didn't need his year to become anymore twisted than it already was.

Tomorrow, he and Hermione had planned to begin practicing the summoning charm.

Harry stressed at the mere thought. That charm would be his lifeline in the task, he needed to get it right, perfect it so he had a fighting chance against the fire-breathing giants.