◄✩༄*∗"Boys are so much weirder than girls."∗*༄✩►
☼
◄✩༄*∗ This is good loving
you and me are golden,
we are golden
I ain't going anywhere ∗*༄✩►
— Golden | Travie McCoy & SIA
【 ✧ ☾⋆☼⋆☽ ✧ 】
THE FIRST TASK DREW STEADILY NEARER, and a sense of dread nestled in the pit of Y/N's stomach. She could only help Harry so much—most of the task would be on pure nerves. Of course, they'd been in dangerous situations before, but this? Well, this was in front of a huge crowd of important witches and wizards, not to mention the whole school, plus Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.
Rita Skeeter had released an article about the Triwizard Tournament nearly ten days ago, and it, without a shadow of a doubt, was horrible.
It had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.
Y/N had learned through one of their late nights in the closed-off Astronomy Tower that Skeeter had reported him staying an awful lot of things that he hadn't ever said.
I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. . . . Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. . . . I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me. . .
But Rita Skeeter had gone even further: She had interviewed other people about him too.
Harry has at last found the golden girl to his golden boy at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Y/N Andilet, a stunningly pretty quarter-veela girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. With a quick temper, she's reported to be sticking up for the underage Champion as the rest of the school—including best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger—shun him for entering.
Harry and Andilet, daughter of famous Magizoologist, Joseph Andilet, seem to find comfort in each other late at night in the Gryffindor common room (aw!) reports Dennis Creevey, brother to Colin Creevey. Glued to the hip, the closely-physical relationship seems to result from a lack of parental affection in Harry's childhood . . .
From the moment the article had appeared, Harry had had to endure people—Slytherins, mainly—quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering comments.
"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"
"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"
And Y/N's favorite:
"Oh look—it's the golden couple! Make way, peasants!"
Then, her least favorite interaction:
"Hey—Harry!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Harry shouted as he wheeled around in the corridor, shrugging Y/N's warning hand off his shoulder. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more. . ."
"No—it was just—you dropped your quill."
It was Cho. Harry's cheeks flushed, and a sick feeling found Y/N's stomach as she saw the way he looked at her.
"Oh—right—sorry," he muttered, taking the quill back. Y/N wondered why a quill was so important for Cho bloody Chang to feel the need to give back.
"Er. . . good luck on Tuesday," she said. "I really hope you do well."
Y/N quietly mocked her under her breath, out of earshot from Harry, before snatching his hand and dragging him down the corridor.
Y/N had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, she thought she handled the comments quite well.
"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Y/N after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against—a snotty pig?"
"You know, it takes one charm—just one—for me to turn your wildest dreams about becoming a pug into a reality," Y/N sneered at Parkinson, displaying her wand. "Come to think of it, I'm fairly good at Transfiguration—tied to the top, actually."
"McGonagall wouldn't let you," Parkinson screeched, despite the flicker of fear passing through her beetle eyes.
"Says who?" Y/N grinned maliciously, despite Harry's grip on her arm tightening to hold her back. "I am her favorite, after all."
Parkinson hadn't spoken a word to her after that.
Hermione was furious with the three of them; she went from Ron to Harry and Y/N, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Harry was adamant: He would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that Harry hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling him a liar. And Y/N? Well, she was furious that Ron could even think to act the way he had been.
"I didn't start this," Harry said stubbornly. "It's his problem."
"You miss him!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I know he misses you—"
"Miss him?" said Harry. "I don't miss him. . ."
But Y/N could tell that that was a lie. She could see it in the way he hardly laughed at their sex jokes anymore, or barely spoke as he laid on top of her before the common room fire, her fingers playing in his hair. She might've been Harry's best friend and all, but Ron was his person. And, quite frankly, there's only one position and Y/N didn't fill it well.
Besides that, the fact that he still hadn't mastered the Summoning Charm slightly worried Y/N—usually, he'd be able to master a difficult spell within the week, but it was like he had a mental block about it.
Finding private places to get away from the jeers of the students proved to be a difficult task, but the pair of them had discovered quite a few hidden gems that separated them from the student body. There, they worked on mostly homework and Harry's Summoning Charm, which still wasn't any better than when he first tried it.
The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. So much so, that the Saturday before the first task came in no time at all, as well as the first Hogsmeade trip of the year. Hermione told Harry that it would do him good to get away from the castle for a bit, and Harry didn't need much persuasion.
"What about Ron, though?" he said. "Don't you want to go with him?"
"Oh. . . well.. ." Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks. . . ."
"No," said Harry flatly.
"Oh Harry, this is so stupid—"
"I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak."
"Oh all right then. . ." Hermione snapped, "but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not."
"You coming, Y/N?" Harry asked after retrieving his Invisibility Cloak from his dormitory.
Y/N, who was laying across their loveseat in front of the fire, looked up from the knitting project for Hermione's S.P.E.W. movement laid across her lap, her head against the armrest.
"I think I'll stay here for the night," she said quietly, her head pounding as the thought of the first task invaded her thoughts. "You two go ahead."
"You sure?" Harry asked, his face worried as he bent over her, hands on either side of her head on the armrest. "It's the first Hogsmeade trip."
"I'm sure," Y/N gave him a tight smile. "Be safe. Have fun, I'll be here when you get back."
"Always waiting so obediently for me," Harry muttered jokingly as he lightly pressed a chaste kiss to the skin of her cheek. "I'll bring back some Honeydukes sweets and butterbeer for you, all right?"
And he and Hermione left, Y/N fingering the kiss she'd received.
【 ✧ ☾⋆☼⋆☽ ✧ 】
Y/N had fallen asleep on the loveseat by the time Harry and Hermione returned, arms laden with gifts Harry had bought for Y/N.
"Take these up to Y/N's bed, would you?" Harry asked Hermione, who muttered her agreement. He dumped his armful into hers and she disappeared up the steps to the girls dormitories.
His invisibility cloak over his arm, Harry passed the number of Gryffindor students to the fireplace. He crouched in front of the loveseat Y/N laid across and carefully pulled the knitting needles and yarn from her hands, noting that her skills were far more developed than Hermione's.
Putting it in a basket by the armrest, Harry admired Y/N's content face and slipped a red and gold blanket from across the back of the couch and laid it over her, pulling it over her body and tucking it under her.
Sitting back, Harry felt his heart swell and his stomach squeeze as his eyes roamed every centimeter of her features. He looked past her veela features to find the girl underneath; she, he thought, was very pretty, and for some reason wished everyone else saw what he saw, despite wanting to keep her all to himself. Maybe they could grow old together, simply as friends, and live in the country—near a beach, maybe with a Quidditch Pitch—without having the difficulties of a romantic relationship. He was fine being just friends with her—that way, they would never break up and he would always have her there with him. She would never leave because friends didn't leave each other, right?
Well, it wasn't as though Harry had romantic feelings for her, anyways. He couldn't. He already had feelings for Cho, right? Sure, she was dating Cedric and was sort of annoyingly meek to him, but she was also nice-looking and played Quidditch.
Y/N didn't. At least, she didn't play for the school.
Harry didn't understand why she didn't play for Gryffindor. She was great! A fair Chaser and Seeker, hell, even as a Beater she played better than most. Perhaps he would bully her into playing next year, when Quidditch would resume.
Harry sighed and brushed her hair out of her face, planting a kiss on her temple. Writing her a quick note and placing it on her lap, he gave her one last look over her before heading up to his dorm, pretending to go up to bed early so he could sneak away to Hagrid's privately.
【 ✧ ☾⋆☼⋆☽ ✧ 】
Y/N awoke twenty minutes past eleven to a still somewhat-packed common room. Quite a few people were still in there. The Creevey brothers had managed to get a hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggory! Badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say Support Harry Potter! Instead. So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS.
A slip of parchment tumbled from Y/N's lap as she sat up and, picking it up from the floor, she read it through half-open eyes.
Pix,
I'm going up to Hagrid's at midnight because he said he had something to show me. I reckon it involves the Blast-Ended Skrewts, but he was very adamant that I meet him. Sirius'll also be in the fire at one in the morning, and I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight so you can go up to your dorm for the rest of the night because I don't want to keep you up. Also, some stuff from Hogsmeade I bought you is on your bed so I'd get up there before the Divination dimbos steal it because Mars and Jupiter aligned or whatever rubbish they think. I don't know. Goodnight!
Glumbie
Muttering her thoughts of the note, Y/N stood and stretched, yawning before picking Keke up from the pillow near the fireplace. She climbed the steps to her dorm, tripping on the fifth one, and entered her room, finding Parvati and Lavender hunched over their Potions homework at the desk between their beds. They shot Y/N quizzical yet envious looks, their eyes drifting over to the sizely stack of bags on the foot of her bed.
Shaking her head with a slight smile at Harry, Y/N and Keke sat in the middle of her bed and started opening the bags. Loads of little trinkets were in them (that Harry saw and probably bought just because he could), such as a limited edition Triwizard Tournament poster, or a redesign of the Gryffindor jumpers, but there were also more thought-out things, like the book she'd mentioned one evening in the common room, and a candle she'd said she wanted. Harry wasn't shy with his money; without her there to limit his spending, he practically bought her a whole store.
So far, he'd bought her more jumpers (this time a Tutshill Tornados one, her favorite Quidditch team, and a Honeydukes exclusive, limited-edition jumper), ink that changed from scarlet to gold, a miniature bumblebee jumper for Keke, her favorite type of parchment (as she was low in stock), yarn for the S.P.E.W. projects she was working on, a whole bagful of Honeydukes sweets, tons of Gryffindor decorations for her four-poster bed, more school supplies, and a scarlet and gold string bracelet.
She'd been halfway through her pile when Hermione walked in, her eyes nearly sunken as she yawned. Y/N's brows raised. Had she not been getting any sleep?
"That boy has no budget," Hermione rolled her eyes as Y/N unearthed two butterbeer bottles. Hermione sat on her bed next to her, tying her thick hair back. "Seriously—just as I think he's used up his last Galleon, he pulls out another pouch full of them and says, 'No Y/N means no budget'."
"He's crazy," Y/N concluded, the tiniest smile on her lips as she cracked open her butterbeer.
The two of them worked the rest of the night on several essays, assignments, and extra studying; so much so, that the nearly-broken bookshelf between their beds sagged with relief as they removed books almost every ten minutes, aiming for perfection on their work.
Y/N felt a strong sense of déjá vu as she and Hermione sat on the warm floor of their dorm, their notes and textbooks laid out before them as they talked and laughed about nonsensical things. It'd been a while since they had spent time together and even laughed about it, poking fun at the dramaticness of their friends and how ridiculous they're being.
"Honestly, it just sounds like a bitchy cat fight to me!" Hermione said indignantly and slumped against the post of her bed, her cheeks flushed from smiling so much. Y/N giggled.
"Boys are so much weirder than girls," she said, shaking her head as she thought about them.
Y/N and Hermione only went to bed once they realized it was already midnight and, while Hermione had fallen asleep almost instantly, Y/N found herself still awake for another two hours. She tried—really, she did, but something was nagging her to stay awake, to wait for something.
So she did.
And what greeted her, at about two in the morning, was shouting from the common room.
Slipping out of bed with a sigh and throwing on a jumper from Mrs. Weasley over her nightdress, Y/N grabbed her wand off her night stand and shakily stood. Light appeared at the end of her wand as she performed the Lumos Charm under her breath, her surroundings illuminated; Keke and Crookshanks snored in the corner, facing away from them, and the rest of the girls slept soundly in their beds. Only Y/N was awake at that hour, along with the shouting match in the common room.
Descending the stairs to the barely-lit room, Y/N found Harry hastily retreating up the boys dormitory, and Ron standing in the middle of the room, frowning. She watched as he picked up a POTTER REALLY STINKS badge and tapped it with his wand, turning it back to its original SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY! face. He stepped over to the pile of the modified badges and started charming them, shaking his head as he grumbled under his breath.
"Need help?" Y/N muttered, descending the rest of the stairs and crossing the room to him. "Nox."
Ron looked down at her, frowning, before stepping to the side to let her help him. Neither of them spoke, despite neither of them fighting—it was an unspoken agreement that, while friends, they weren't to speak to each other under obvious conditions. But Y/N helped him charm all of the rest of the buttons and, once they finished, they parted ways without another word and Y/N went up to her dorm, Ron staying in the common room.
【 ✧ ☾⋆☼⋆☽ ✧ 】