A/N Sorry, but I completely ran out of touch with Harry Potter and EVERYTHING I was writing seemed absolutely OOC until my muse ran dry. But I'll be updating properly from now on. I've got ideas on how to properly make through with this story and all I have to do is write them down. So yippe for me… I had this typed up about two weeks ago but was cruel and wouldn't let me update.

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Harry dropped back and lay on his bed, and couldn't help the wide smile that broke over his face when he looked over and saw the curtains between his and Ron's beds open. The First Task had near killed him out of fright alone, but it was worth it to see Ron trying to apologize, and then laughing with him and Hermione, and not in the too-jovial he did when he was uncomfortable. The party was still going on downstairs but he preferred to be up here where the noise was just a dim buzzing and didn't give him a headache. Ron was snoring already and he was sure he had seen 'Mione go up too, even earlier than them,

Eariler that day, he had been almost numb, emotions coming as if from far away, when he had walked into the arena, until then he hadn't really been able to believe that they would be sent into an arena with only their wits and a piece of wood to defend themselves-"You're a wizard, Harry. A wand isn't just a piece of wood- or else muggles would be able to make them too. Each wand is unique and has to be made, then activated by a special process, because some cores are more sensitive or less cooperative than others."- after he had started flying though, he could feel himself reacting without thinking about what he was doing. And he could have screamed with excitement.

He had then been forced to go to one of the cubicles in the first-aid tent. When the Madam had left muttering, he had gone into the next cubicle where he could see Cedric's shape sitting and had been glad that he hadn't been very hurt, that he had had enough time to prepare.

He had walked in and a hollow feeling had broken into the rush of adrenaline when he saw Cedric, sitting shirtless with a burn from his right elbow to the shoulder. He had absently admired the built form he would never have but most of his mind was filled with horror. He blurted out, "Are you alright?"

Cedric smiled at him and replied, "I should be asking you that but I'm alright," he glanced around and quickly walked over to Harry and said, in a low voice, "Thanks, I don't know how you knew about the dragons or why you helped me, but I would have worse than a burn now if it weren't for you," Harry shrugged uncomfortably, the hollow feeling being taken over by a new, harder rush of adrenaline, or something that felt like it.

Then Cedric stepped back, took a deep breath and held out his hand, "I'm sorry I thought that you cheated and put your name into the Goblet of Fire. I've asked my friends to stop wearing those badges; I'll try to make everyone else stop too,"

Harry took his hand and saw a large smile break out on Cedric's face, then Madam Pomfrey came in and shooed Cedric onto a bed and Harry onto the mat where she had been treating Cedric (seeming to have forgotten that Harry wasn't supposed to be in that cubicle) and that was that.

"C'mon, I can do this," Harry muttered to himself, he had faced a dragon, a basilisk and a Dark Lord's minion for God's sake, he could ask a girl out to dance. 'Or not' he thought gloomily as Cho walked past with a giggling group of girls and didn't even glance at him.

Not that he liked her or anything, as he had told Ron several times but she was pretty and nice and she didn't look as if she would laugh if he messed up a little. Harry was feeling a bit like Ron now, about the whole 'your partners for the Yule Ball, Mr. Potter, your dance partners' thing. He was seriously considering simply hiding until the day of the Ball had passed, and if he was disqualified from the stupid tournament too, he thought, that'd just be better.

At least now, when they saw him the girls didn't walk away with their noses in the air, they still whispered amongst themselves. But the glances were more interested than angry and more than one girl had asked him out themselves, which had surprised him so much that he had said "No," without even thinking, and made a small second-year start crying. Thank god that 'Mione had been around that time, she had taken the girl to wash her face with an exasperated glance over her shoulder.

Cedric sat in front of the fire and looked idly through his schoolbooks, not that he needed to. All the seventh year candidates had been exempted from the exams, and would instead be marked on how well they performed magic during the Tournament. He himself was sure that they wouldn't be marked fairly, but the thoughts of what would happen if he won had overshadowed everything else.

After he himself had finished his Task, he had heard the screams and shouts coming from the arena when Harry had entered to fight the most dangerous of the dragons. He had felt almost even more anxious than when he had had to fight his dragon, because he was prepared for it for God's sakes. He had volunteered for it, they all had but he knew Harry hadn't. He had seen the boy's face when Harry told him about the dragons. He hadn't asked for this. Cedric had felt like saying, like that French girl, Fleur, "'e is too young," He started playing with the golden egg.

Madam Pomfrey had been furiously muttering about how the Triwizard Tournament should be illegal and he had-mentally at least–agreed with her. Seeing Harry walk into the tent on his own legs had comforted him beyond measure though that horrible wound had made him angry again almost immediately.

Cho had been telling him about everything she was planning this next break, just before the Ball. She had apologized because he had asked her to go on a date with him but she couldn't let him see the dress she was going to wear at the Ball, as if he understood the logic. He had looked slightly sad and nodded understandingly, but he wasn't really listening, he was too busy savoring the calm he had been feeling. Ever since earlier in the Med-tent when he had held that smaller, warm hand in his own.

Vaguely he knew what he felt and what it meant but until he had to, he couldn't be bothered to deal with it. Not when Harry to him was still a largely legendary character not quite fitting into normal life. He abruptly stood up and walked out of the common room to go to the Prefect's Bathroom, he needed a bath to clear his head. He was still clutching the egg tightly but hadn't noticed, and no one stopped him, not when he had that look on his face.

Harry felt like he had a stone in place of his heart. He had been sure that all he had to do was get up the courage to ask, and Cho would be his date. It hadn't occurred to him that she was so popular that she was bound to have a date. And somehow, it only hurt more when she told him that it was Diggory she was going to go with. It hadn't even occurred to him that if he were being forced to get a date then surely the other Champions would have to as well. For some reason, it didn't seem right that Ce…Diggory would go out with someone, anyone, he was just so bright and complete in himself. And he was Diggory, not Cedric.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, and wondered whether he honestly didn't like her. Why else did he feel so lost? He felt like Diggory had betrayed him; surely he must feel like that because Diggory -not Cedric! - was taking the girl he liked to the Ball after they had shaken hands and become allies, if not friends. That was why the prospect of taking any girl to the Ball was becoming less and less inviting. Harry left the thought there, he knew he wasn't any competition for Head Boy, perfect student, perfect everything Cedric Diggory and ignored his subconscious that was trying to tell him that he had felt betrayed before and that had had nothing to do with Cho.

He loosened his collar; he had wanted to do so since he walked into the Ballroom, to feel all eyes upon him and the other three Champions. He felt like a phony taking Cho to the Ball and paying her compliments when he, for the first time ever since he had met her, wanted her to just leave him alone. He hadn't felt like such an ogre even when he had first started to use her to forget about Harry, because then he had genuinely liked her, even, he had thought, loved her.

Now, though he knew he still liked her, at this very moment he only felt an overwhelming irritation. There was nothing to do; he would just have to forgo the chat he had been planning (rehearsing for, almost) with Harry and just give him the clue to the Second Task. He excused himself from Cho, and ran up the stairs, "Hey, Harry,"

"Yeah?" Harry asked, Cedric felt the 'Harry effect' stealing slowly over him but even that couldn't counteract the surprise he felt at the irritation in Harry's voice. And that was hurt surely. He glanced over at Ron, who was looking very bad tempered for some reason. Ron shrugged and walked off irritably, Cedric was glad, bad enough that he wouldn't get the chance to chat with Harry, no reason to bring Ron into whatever he would be able to say.

"Ah… I still owe you for telling me about the First Task so about the egg, have you tried opening it? Does it wail when you do?" He lowered his voice, if anyone heard…

"Yeah," replied Harry

"Well, take a bath. OK?"

"What?" Harry sounded as if he thought Cedric was mad. Cedric uneasily started talking as fast as he could, "Take a bath and take the egg with you, and just look at it in the hot water. It'll help…" 'Trust me' he wanted to say, but then why should he?

Harry kept staring at him and Cedric added, "Tell you what, use the Prefect's Bathroom- password's pine-fresh. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Gotta go…." He searched for an excuse, "want to say goodnight…" He flashed a nervous grin and ran down the stairs to where Cho was waiting for him.

Harry was furious; he didn't open his mouth because he was sure he would shout if he did. What did that woman mean "Hagrid is indisposed"? He made a sharp turn and ducked out from beside the main door where there was a door the students used on days when being seen might become…a problem.

And why couldn't Parvati keep her opinions to herself! Her opinions had more to do with him not paying more attention to her during the Yule Ball than what Hagrid was actually like- because everyone who had ever met him knew that Hagrid was harmless. He was sure Hagrid leaving his classes had something to do with that stupid article Rita Skeeter had written. He still couldn't see what was wrong with being a half-giant. After all, Hagrid was still Hagrid and he would never hurt anyone willingly.

He stopped beside the lake, and sat down in much the same position as he had back when the First Task was still some far-off nightmare and he was wondering why he was so bothered about Cedric not believing him. But that was a long time back, and he hadn't come to think about pretty-boy-Diggory this time. He had better things to do, such as wonder what Hagrid was thinking, quitting like that and why the Headmaster had let him. Certainly not think about how wonderful Cedric and Cho had looked together and the white-hot rage he had felt at Ced…Diggory's useless clue when he himself had given a perfectly clear statement of what to expect.

'Probably wants me to fail and look like an idiot, so he can impress Cho,' Harry thought angrily, and certainly, he did not feel at all hurt by the thought because he had no reason to. He was not a friend of Diggory and he had absolutely no reason to expect anything better from him.

"Mind if I sit here?" a familiar voice asked him quietly

Harry looked up to see Cedric (if he would insist on calling him by his first name, then Harry would return the favor)

He shrugged uncomfortably, "No,"

"You look worried," Cedric continued

Harry didn't reply, just gazed on down to the lake and wished his heart would stop beating so hard. He hadn't been that scared by Cedric's sudden appearance, had he?

"Is it about the Second Task?" Cedric asked after a pause when it became obvious that Harry was not going to say anything, finally sounding as uncomfortable as Harry felt. Good! He should feel uncomfortable, suddenly disturbing people for no good reason.

"Sort of," Harry answered because it was the truth, he was worried about the egg, the problem being that from January, February was not (as he had been reassuring himself) months away as it had been before the Yule Ball.

Cedric cheered up "So you haven't taken the egg to water?" he went on speaking before Harry could reply, "Sorry I couldn't tell you what I meant properly during the Ball, I thought someone might hear us. I can explain better now. I guess it must have sounded kind of strange- take a bath." He was grinning now, remembering what he had told

Harry looked up doubtfully, so it had been a proper clue? He turned to sit facing Cedric, "What's the Task then?" he asked

Cedric turned to face Harry fully. "This is going to take some time." He said and almost started grinning like an idiot. Seemed like an excess of the Harry effect could cause recklessness and inanity, felt either like an extremely potent calming potion or something like-he imagined- the Imperius Curse would feel from what he had read of it (not that that was much, considering the thing could get you a life-sentence in Azkaban or worse)

Ah…back to Harry and explanation, which he would make sure took a long time. He hadn't felt so peaceful since the Ball when he had kissed Cho goodnight right after talking to Harry.

He took a deep breath, "When you open the egg in water…

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Next update will be either in the last week of April or first week of May. But no later than that, I vow! And I don't break promises, well, except that one time when I ate all the biscuits, but it was under provocation I swear- they were begging me to eat them!