The night before the First Task, Jake found himself sitting alone in the Common Room of Gryffindor Tower. He was reading the book he'd bought last weekend at Hogsmeade and was learning newer, more advanced Healing Spells. He hadn't gotten very far into reading the book yet, but he so far hadn't seen any spell to help with preventing scarring.
His attention was brought from the Book when someone stood in front of him. He looked up and saw Hermione standing there, the glow of the fireplace making her look stunning, and he didn't like that. He had to stop seeing her as so stunningly beautiful, even if that was impossible to do, "Evening, Hermione," he smiled at her.
"Good evening..." she said tensely, "so... at Hogsmeade last weekend... I saw you and Fleur exiting that Tea Shop..."
"It's true, she and I did go there. Why do you ask?" He asked her.
"Are you and her together?" Hermione asked before she lost her nerve. She had to know the truth.
"What? No, Fleur and I aren't together. I know she and I have been spending a fair bit of time together recently, but she and I aren't together," he explained.
Hermione wanted to believe him, but there was this nagging feeling that made her not believe him, "I don't see how that explains anything..."
"What? Hermione... you and Harry went to the Three Broomsticks together, I saw you both enter-"
"I had planned for Harry and Ron to talk to each other. Ron, being a git, didn't show up," Hermione explained.
"How convenient," he said dryly.
"It's the truth!"
He stood up, and looked down at her, "As is what I said!" He closed his eye and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for yelling... I'm out of line..."
"As am I... but if you and Fleur are dating, just tell me," Hermione said.
"If we were, I would, but we aren't. You're my best friend, Hermione, I wouldn't keep something like that from you if you asked me for the truth... So you and Harry aren't together?" He asked, having to be sure.
"No. Lots of others probably think so, after what that vile Skeeter woman wrote in the Daily Prophet ," Hermione said hatefully.
Jake squinted his eye, "Hermione... did your front teeth shrink?"
"Huh? Oh... yes, they had to be shrunk down, remember?"
"Yes but... I know how your front teeth looked before that, and this isn't it. Did you have them shrunk down to be normal size?" He asked her, sitting back down.
"Yes, I don't see the problem with it, now I don't feel bad about laughing in front of others," she explained.
"I thought they were cute before," he said without thinking.
Hermione felt her face heat up some, "What?"
"It's the truth. Obviously they look great now, but you know I never had a problem with your front teeth," he said softly.
"I-I know that... but you never told me you thought they were cute before," she said, looking at the floor.
"Oh... well... they were then, and still are now," he smiled.
"Thanks," she smiled back, "I think Harry's got a good shot at staying alive tomorrow."
"Really? How's he going to tackle his Dragon?" Jake asked nonchalantly.
"How did you-"
"Fleur told me." 'Although, it was in between a make-out session in a broom closet...'
"How is she going to handle her Dragon?" Hermione asked tersely.
"She's going to lull it to sleep. How is Harry going to get past his Dragon?" Jake asked Hermione, who felt like he was staring into her soul.
"I've been helping him with the Summoning Charm the past couple of days. Just to be safe, I had him summon a Quill out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest while I stood up at the top of the Stone steps. I think he's got a great shot at staying alive," she explained.
"Good, that's good. And I'm sorry for not helping..." Jake said, remorseful.
"Don't worry about it. I doubt Harry would have appreciated it with how harshly you'd have pushed him," she said, sitting next to him.
"Still... I have a bad feeling about tomorrow..." he said.
"You think it will go poorly?" She asked with uncertainty.
"No... but I don't think it will be easy," Jake said, leaning back into the chair. It was barely a big enough chair to fit both him and Hermione.
"Well... I should probably go up to bed and get some sleep. The First Task is in the morning after all," Hermione said, standing up.
"Yeah... I should go to bed as well..." he yawned, standing up a moment later, "I'll see you in the morning, Hermione. Sleep well."
"Okay, you sleep well too," she said, hugging him before going up to her dorm room. When Hermione had got into bed, she began to think, 'He didn't tell the entire truth... I don't think he lied about anything, but it definitely felt like he left out some details... details that you wouldn't want someone else to know... did he snog Fleur? She's beautiful, so I can't hate him for it...'
Hermione laid down and stared up at the ceiling as she felt some tears escape from her eyes. The thing she did hate was being unable to have him all to herself, and she only had herself to blame for that.
*******
The next morning, the First Task was to start at any moment, and Fleur had been sitting across from Jake at the Gryffindor Table as she had been doing frequently during breakfast. Madame Maxime had come over, speaking French, "Fleur, il est temps d'aller préparer la première tâche."
"D'accord," Fleur said, looking up at the tall woman. She turned to Jake, "I 'ave to go. I know 'arry and Cedreec are ze 'ogwarts Champions, but do not 'esitate to cheer for me."
"Only person I won't cheer for is Krum, don't worry," he said with a smirk as she walked off. Hermione had come over to sit with him as Harry had just been taken by McGonagall.
"You still have that bad feeling?" Hermione asked him as she sat down.
"Yeah... I haven't been able to shake it since yesterday..." he took a drink from his Goblet.
"Harry told me that when he was with Hagrid, he saw a Hungarian Horntail-" she stopped talking when Jake began coughing, "Are you okay!?" Hermione asked him in alarm.
"Yeah - *cough* - yeah... did - *cough* - did you say that they had a Hungarian Horntail here?" He asked, his eye had watered a bit from the coughing fit.
"Yeah, trust me, I think they're crazy as well for bringing such a dangerous Dragon in for a Fourth. There was no way the Original Three Dragons could be that dangerous, right?" Hermione asked, a glimmer of hope in her voice.
"Knowing the dirtbags that run our Ministry, I wouldn't put anything past them, especially Bagman... he's too aloof when it comes to danger," Jake said as everyone began to then make their way to the makeshift stands they had surrounding what would be the Arena each of the Champions would have to compete in.
Before it started, Dumbledore gave a short speech, then a Cannon sounded, and Cedric emerged from the tent, ready to face his Dragon opponent. He gave the look of calm and confidence, but Jake was sure that he was afraid, even a little, of facing his Dragon. The weird part was that the Dragon hadn't been seen by anyone in the crowd yet, and that worried Jake.
'Maybe the Dragon is under a Disillusionment Charm until it attacks?' And he was right, when Cedric got too close to the nest of Eggs, the Dragon attacked, which was then revealed to be a Hebridean Black. 'Not the most dangerous, but a Common Welsh Green would've been the better choice native to Great Britain.'
Cedric was quick on his feet and managed to avoid the Dragon with relative ease. Bagman the entire time was giving commentary, but Jake ignored it because it was no Lee Jordan. Cedric had pointed his wand at a Rock, and Jake saw it be turned into a Dog. He thought for a brief moment that it had been Transfigured and left for dead to the Dragon. He was about to hate Cedric for life until the Dragon attacked the barking dog and went right through it with its claw. The Hebridean Black had been distracted long enough for Cedric to acquire the Golden Egg and leave the arena, but not before it had lost interest in the dog and turned to attack. The Hebridean Black breathed some flames, and actually singed Cedric's pants. The Wizards who were on Dragon Duty got control of the Dragon and removed it from the arena after Cedric was clear. Everyone got to their feet to applaud Cedric for his amazing display of misdirection, even if it hadnt fully worked.
"Re-bonjour, Monsieur Keedd," a little girl's voice sounded to his left.
Jake looked over and saw Gabrielle standing there as he reseated himself, "Oh, bonjour, Gabrielle," he was unsure of how to proceed, not knowing much French, obviously.
"Êtes-vous impatient de voir ma sœur affronter un dragon?" Gabrielle asked.
"Um..."
"She asked eef you are excited to see Fleur compete against ze Draygon," Madeleine translated, walking up behind Gabrielle.
"Oh, yes, I am looking forward to see how Fleur handles hers," Jake smiled at Gabrielle, and Madeleine translated for him.
Gabrielle looked back at him, "Tu n'as jamais répondu à ma question de l'autre jour."
"She said you never answered 'er question from ze ozer day," Madeleine translated as she took the empty seat beside him.
"What question?" He asked, not sure what Gabrielle was talking about.
"Quelle question?"
"Je lui ai demandé s'il aimait ma sœur ou non," Gabrielle looked at Madeleine as she spoke.
"Gabrielle, c'est une question personnelle de savoir s'il l'aime comme ça ou pas," Madeleine and Gabrielle then just talked back and forth for a bit.
Jake was listening to their words, but he wasn't understanding anything being said. He heard a loud roar and saw that Krum and his Dragon had been facing off and Krum had used the Conjuctivitus Curse to take care of his, which happened to be a Romanian Longhorn; another Dragon that wasn't overly dangerous compared to others, but still posed a serious threat if not careful.
"Do not mind Gabrielle, she ees just being nosy," Madeleine explained to him, bringing his attention back to her.
"Um... okay," he said, Gabrielle sitting beside Madeleine, "Only Harry and Fleur left to compete... I just... I don't know... something is going to go wrong..."
Hermione looked at him, then down to his hand. She wanted to grab it and squeeze, reassuring him that Harry and Fleur would do just fine.
"Fleur! Voir!" Gabrielle yelled and pointed suddenly out towards the arena. Fleur had just walked out into the arena and Jake had to admit, she looked rather nice in her outfit.
He watched her carefully walk towards the Egg, and his fear for her just spiked. The Dragon revealed itself to be a Peruvian Vipertooth, "WHAT!?" He yelled out in anger, "A Peruvian Vipertooth!? They've lost their goddamn minds!" He tensed up as Fleur began to evade the Dragon.
"Why ees eet bad zat eet ees a Peruvian Vipertooth?" Madeleine asked him.
"It's the most venomous Dragon to exist! One little prick from its teeth and the victim will die in minutes!" He explained to her. He apologized for saying it a bit hostile, but he was just afraid for Fleur's safety, "Bad enough there is a Hungarian Horntail for Harry to face off against, regarded as one of the meanest Dragons to exist... fuck... Bagman, you son of a bitch..."
Hermione tensed up every time the Vipertooth got close to biting Fleur. She might not have harbored any good will towards the French girl, but she wouldn't wish to see her dead, not from a Dragon at least.
Fleur finally got off the spell to put it to sleep, but it seemed unfazed by the spell. Fleur went at it for a few minutes, and the Dragon finally fell over, sleeping soundly.
Jake let out a sigh, not realizing he had held his breath for that long. Fleur had collected the Egg and began walking back, but something unexpected happened, and caused panic amongst not only the crowd, but the Dragon Containment Wizards; the Peruvian Vipertooth woke up, and it was not happy to see Fleur walking off with an Egg. It let out a piercing shriek and Fleur ran for her life back to the tent as the Wizards all tried to control the rampaging Dragon.
It was nimble, though, and maneuvered around the Stunner's sent it's way. It broke off the chain that kept it inside a specific perimeter and charged straight for Fleur. Hermione barely recognized what happened next as things seemed to move in slow-motion. She had heard Gabrielle let out a cry of terror for Fleur as the Vipertooth had its gaping maw mere feet away Fleur. In her peripheral vision, she saw Jake stand up, heard him yell, " No !" And she saw him rear his right hand back before he thrust it forward.
The next thing Hermione knew, the Peruvian Vipertooth was forced to the ground; it was like invisible chains had come up from the ground and then were pulled back into the ground, trying to take the Dragon with it. The Vipertooth shrieked in pain as it was basically rendered immobilized.
Hermione stood up and as she knew it to be, Jake's right eye was glowing red. His hand was slowly closing into a fist, which she didn't understand, but she placed her hand on his upper arm, "Jake, it's okay... Fleur's safe," she said and looked around; everyone in the stands, plus the judges, were looking at Jake, no one except her dared to try and stop him, because she knew that only she could stop him.
Jake eventually relaxed his hand and the Dragon Containment Wizards moved in to secure the Peruvian Vipertooth. His breathing was heavier than usual, and he sat down, closing his eye as he did.
"And that!" Bagman's voice rang out, "Was the most magnificent display of wandless and non-verbal magic I've ever seen! Truly living up to his Ancestor!"
Jake merely tsked.
Hermione felt a pang of sorrow in her chest, 'Maybe he really does love Fleur after all... not that I blame him... I just really thought maybe he and I could've had a chance at something...' She looked back at him from the arena to await Harry's arrival and saw a content look on his face, 'Who am I trying to fool? We never had a chance... he just never loved me the way I love him...' Hermione looked away from him, for if she looked at his blue eye any longer, she would've broken down into tears.
It wasn't long until Harry finally came out, looking unsure of himself, 'Can't really blame him,' Jake thought, 'The news of him being in the Tournament has affected his psyche. He's not been doing the greatest in classes either.'
Harry couldn't see the Dragon, obviously, but he didn't hesitate to go ahead and put his plan into action. Harry raised his wand into the air and said, " Accio Firebolt!"
"So that's what he had planned... he's playing to his Strength, no doubt about that," Jake said and Hermione smiled.
"That's what he came up and asked me to help him with, the Summoning Charm, so that he could summon his Firebolt," Hermione was smiling, even though Harry looked ridiculous standing there, until the Broom finally showed up. Harry swung his leg over it, mounting the Broomstick and he flew a little ways up, but not too high.
Jake watched him move to be over the Golden Egg, then the Horntail attacked. It flew up, roaring viciously at Harry as it did, and he barely got out of its range when the chain brought it back to the ground with a rumbling thud.
Harry had taken a risk and dove for the Golden Egg, but as the Horntail struggled to get back up, the massive tail was thrashing about, and Harry had been unable to get the Egg. He quickly tried to get out of the range of the Dragon, but he wasn't fast enough and it soon breathed fire, which he barely outran; the end of his Firebolt almost got singed.
He flew circles around the Dragon as her head followed him without fail. He was staying out of her range just enough so that she didn't breathe fire again, but he still posed a threat as far as she was concerned.
She was crouched low over her nest, but she suddenly jumped up again, and that seemed to be what Harry was waiting on. He dove as she rose and he swooped in to get the Golden Egg before the Dragon had even come back down to the Rocky surface. He sped off away from the Dragon to be safely out of her reach, and she was roaring savagely at him, breathing fire and thrashing about. The crowd stood up in applause, marveling at the Flying that Harry had accomplished to show off. Hermione probably cheered the loudest, and Jake looked to his right to see her. He didn't know why, but his heart felt a little heavy. Bagman could be heard shouting about how Harry had the fastest Egg retrieval time of all of them.
Then suddenly, like the Vipertooth, the Horntail broke free of the chain that held it to the spot. Though, instead of the chain snapping, it pulled up a chunk of rock that the chain was connected to, and it flew through the air, right towards them. He heard screams all around him, and Jake held up his hand before the boulder made contact with them and killed them. He moved it back out to the Stadium and dropped it, safely impacting the ground.
The Horntail still raged freely as she chased Harry around in the sky, and actually managed to catch Harry's shoulder with its fiery breath, which he quickly put out. The Dragon Containment Wizards had all mounted broomsticks and flew up after her. They tried to subdue the dragon in midair, and it worked, but the Dragon had been hurtling down towards the ground, outside the arena. They might have expected Jake to stop her descent and move her back into the arena, but he did nothing of the sort and watched with everyone else as she disappeared, and half a second later, a loud thud was heard.
Now that the final round had been ended, the crowd was skittering about, just as Harry's score had been announced by the judges: Madame Maxime gave him an Eight, Crouch put up a Nine, Dumbledore followed suit and also gave Harry a Nine, Bagman gave him a Ten, and Karkaroff gave him, unsurprisingly, a Four, "What a biased piece of shit. Only one to get higher than a Five was Krum, and he had been given a Ten by Karkaroff," Jake said under his breath.
Madeleine and Gabrielle went to go and find Fleur as he and Hermione went to go and find Harry. Ron was following them as well, apparently needing to see Harry from the way he was acting. They entered the Med-Tent and saw Harry sitting on a bed with Madam Pomfrey having just walked away to go and check back on Cedric.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled and ran up to him, wrapping him in a tight embrace, "That was amazing! You were wonderful!"
"Well done, Harry, that was spectacular," Jake said, clapping him on the shoulder that didn't get hurt, "and I'm sorry I didn't help any with your preparations."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Harry said and looked past them.
They both turned and saw Ron standing there awkwardly, "M-Mate... I'm sorry for being a prat... someone clearly wants you done in if they are willing to enter you into this Tournament..."
"Oh, finally figured that out, have you?" Harry asked with a bit of loathing in his voice.
Ron clearly was nervous, and was fidgeting back and forth. He looked up at them and his face was paling, "If - If you can forgive me, o-or at least tolerate me... I can live with that until you do forgive me again."
Harry walked up to Ron, and for half a second, Jake thought a fight was going to break out, but Harry pulled Ron into a brotherly hug, "Don't be a prat again, and we won't have this problem again."
They let go of each other and Ron looked relieved, "You got it, mate."
"Potter!" A voice from behind them sounded; it was Professor McGonagall's voice, "Potter, well done, very well done!"
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, slightly dazed.
"Come along please, the Champions are needed to be informed about the after-Task challenge," she said and led Harry to the Tent he had walked out of earlier.
"So, what do you think that Golden Egg is for?" Ron asked them.
"Something to do with the next Task, no doubt," Hermione answered him.
"I'll meet you both back at the Common Room, I'm going to see how Fleur's doing," Jake said and walked away after waving to them both.
He wandered around for a bit, looking for the recognizable Beauxbatons outfits that they wore. It took a moment, but he eventually found them, all huddling around Fleur. He walked up and stood off to the side, not wanting to interrupt.
"Fleur, je suis tellement contente que tu ailles bien!"
"Avez-vous eu peur?"
"Avez-vous vu ce bel étudiant borgne arrêter ce dragon?"
"Il t'a sauvé la vie, n'est-ce pas?"
Jake heard several girls say, but he had no idea what any of them said.
"Laisse Fleur respirer un peu," Madame Maxime said, coming up behind Fleur, "Il semblerait que vous ayez un visiteur, Fleur."
All of the girls suddenly turned and looked at him. He glanced at them all and gave a slightly awkward wave, causing them to giggle uncontrollably. They separated so he could walk up to Fleur, "Congratulations, Fleur, on getting past your Dragon and collecting the Egg."
"Zank you," she said, smiling gratefully, "and zank you for saving my life when zat Dragon got free. Gabrielle also said zat you saved 'er's and Madeleine's life, zank you so much for zat as well," Fleur stood up, walked over to him, and kissed him on the cheek as thanks. The girls around them all swooning at the affection Fleur gave him.
"Ah, don't mention it," he said, his cheeks reddening slightly.
"Go on, I am sure zat your friends weel be missing you when 'arry opens 'is Egg," Fleur said, insisting on him going to see his friends.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later," he smiled and waved goodbye to her, "Au revoir," he said to the rest of them. He had picked up on the words 'Hello' and 'Goodbye' in the time he had spent with Fleur, as well as a couple of others.
Upon him saying that, they all giggled again and crowded Fleur again as he walked off. He found his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room just as Harry had been hoisted into the air by Fred and George, "Who wants me to open it?" Harry asked them.
Jake had just walked up beside Hermione when Harry opened it, and the most eardrum shattering sound was heard. Harry quickly closed the Egg after being dropped by Fred and George.
Jake was rubbing his ears in an effort to stop the ringing, "What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked aloud.
"What!?" Hermione heard Jake ask.
"Well, Bagman did say that the Egg was a clue for the Second Task..." Harry said after standing up, "I just didn't think it'd have to be solved to get the clue."
"Argh," Jake finally stopped rubbing his ears, "can't have it be too easy, can we?"
"Regardless, this evening after dinner, we are celebrating your survival and passing of the First Task," Fred said.
"You've at least got to join us this time and enjoy it, Harry," George said, sounding like he wasn't giving Harry a choice.
Harry couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, alright." The Common Room thinned out enough to where Harry was able to talk to the Three of them, "I'm going to go upstairs and write a letter to Sirius and let him know I survived the First Task."
"Good idea, we'll go with you when you come down," Hermione said, smiling at him.
When Harry did eventually come back down, the four of them made their way to the Owlery. On the way, Harry was informing them all what Sirius had said about Karkaroff, "Fits, doesn't it?" Ron asked them, "Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup... I'll tell you one thing, though, Harry, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the Goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it?" Ron had asked as they made it to the Owlery, "You only got a scratch! Here, let me hold him still," Ron then moved forward to grab Pigwidgeon, but the little Owl started to fly around in circles at the thought of making a delivery, which always excited the little Owl. Ron eventually got a hold of Pig and let Harry tie the letter to his leg. "There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron asked as he walked to the window and tossed Pigwidgeon out of it. The tiny Owl plummeted about twenty feet before he caught traction on the wind and flapped his wings excitedly to the distance.
"Well, think of it this way, Ron, in the First Task, all Harry had to do was get past a Dragon. It's safe to assume that in the future Tasks there'll be more than just one creature to deal with. It's easy to deal with one Magical Creature, but with multiple you have to constantly be thinking about what you're fighting against and how to defeat it," Jake said as they started to make their trek back to the Common Room.
"Well, don't I feel so much better?" Harry scoffed.
"You'll have Hermione helping you. You did great against the Dragon with only her help, don't see why Task Two and Three will be any different. And, if you want, I'll help you as well," Jake offered his assistance.
"You sure you won't be helping Fleur?" Hermione asked in a slightly hostile tone.
"I'll only help her if she asks me to help her. She's older than Harry, meaning that, on average, she'll have learned a lot more than him," Jake explained to her.
"If you say so," Hermione said, basically ending the topic.
Sure enough, after Dinner when they got back to the Common Room, a party was thrown for Harry, just like Fred and George said they would. While at the party, many of them had been debating on what the Egg had contained.
"You know, that Egg sounded like it had a Banshee in it. Maybe you've got to get past one of those, Harry?" Seamus had suggested.
"It was someone being tortured! That's what that sound was... You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!" Neville said, turning a ghostly white at the mere thought.
"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," George said, "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the Champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing... maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry."
"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" Fred came up and offered to her.
Hermione looked skeptically at the plate and then back up to Fred.
"It's alright," he said, grinning, "I haven't done anything to them. If anything, it's the Custard Creams you've got to watch-" Fred had paused when Neville got choked and spit out the jam tart he had been eating, "Just my little joke, Neville..."
Hermione took the jam tart, but didn't bite into it. Instead, she prompted the question, "Did you get all of this from the kitchens, Fred?"
"Yep," Fred said, grinning at her. He then put on a high-pitched squeaky voice in a clear imitation of a House-Elf, " Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all ! They're dead helpful... get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish enough for one."
"How do you get in there?" Hermione asked curiously, but in an innocently casual sort of curiosity.
"Easy. It's a concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it will giggle and-" He stopped and looked suspiciously at her, "Why?"
"Just to see how their conditions are, honest," she said, and her tone sounded honest to Jake.
"I believe her," Jake said, enjoying one of the cakes that was present at the party.
"Of course you would," George said, trying to refrain from grinning.
"Of course I would, she's my best friend, but she is being honest about her intentions. With all the people who have bought an S.P.E.W. badge, Hermione wouldn't dare throw all that effort away," he paused and looked at her, "Would you?"
"Of course not. You made many excellent points in setting me straight on how to go about helping the House Elves, I wouldn't ruin all of your work and effort you put into it," Hermione said, smiling at him.
"See?" Jake asked George, who just shook his head.
"Whenever we next get some time, Jake, we should go and see them down in the Kitchens," Hermione suggested to him.
"Alright, we'll do that, yeah. Whether Harry and Ron go is beside the point, I'll go with ya," he smiled at her kindly.
Hermione simply beamed at him, elated that he wanted to go with her.