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Yuletide Blessing in Disguise	By : Gandalfs-Beard Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 122892 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related properties--all rights belong to Rowling. Nor do I make any money from the production of this work.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Taken By Surprise

In a deep cavern, seated around a long wooden table, several Goblins argued noisily, banging their fists on the table to punctuate their points, while the other Goblins took hefty swigs of frothy Goblin Ale from their tankards and chuckled.
The cavern wasn’t a nasty, slimy, wet cavern filled with wriggling worms and burrowing beetles, but it wasn’t exactly a comfortable Hobbit Hole either. It was the main hall of a Goblin Warren, and that meant hard, but clean, smoothed surfaces carved from the stone walls and floor. Highly polished stalagmites and stalactites posed as pillars, glittering in the flickering light of the burning torches and candles.
Intricately detailed murals and pictures were etched into the stone walls, and the wooden table and chairs, rigid though they were, were masterfully sculpted. The tankards which held the ale, and the platters piled high with seared wild boar shanks, roasted potatoes, and boiled beets were made of ornately engraved and delicately moulded spun silver, belying the rough-hewn manners of the Goblin Artisans who had crafted them.
The arguing Goblins didn’t notice when an enormous, fat, jowly Goblin entered the cavern, accompanied by two bodyguards and a slender, sly looking Goblin with spectacles and a goatee, but those drinking ale hastily set their tankards on the table.
“Hem...hem,” the sly looking Goblin coughed to get everyone’s attention. The quarreling Goblins immediately shut up.
“Sorry Chief Bloodaxe!” muttered the one closest to the head of the long table. The rotund Goblin commandingly tugged at the lapels of his finely tailored business suit and narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t care!” Chief Bloodaxe grunted coldly. “I just want to know what Bagman has to say for himself, Grimnut. According to Accountant Gutripper, we lost 10,000 galleons on the First Task...”
“Ten thousand and nineteen galleons, eleven sickles, and six knuts, to be precise...” the goateed accountant interjected, trailing off and gulping when Chief Bloodaxe glared at him.
“Anyone else care to interrupt?” The Chief snarled, his lips curling savagely.
The bodyguards to either side of Chief Bloodaxe leered menacingly as if they were hoping that someone would interrupt the boss, flexing their spindly fingers as they gripped their black market, muggle-made machine guns. The cavern was silent.
“Thought not!” Chief Bloodaxe snapped. “Now back to business,” he growled, “Potter tied for first place in the First Task! He wasn’t even supposed to get past second. What went wrong? And how does Bagman intend to fix it?”
“According to Bagman, the Champions were tipped off that the First Task was Dragons and they had a chance to prepare,” said Grimnut quickly. “Potter still got the Horntail like Bagman promised, and Bagman sabotaged the chain binding Potter’s Dragon as well, but as you know, Potter managed to obtain his broom and out-fly the beast...”
There were a number of raised eyebrows around the table.
“Still can’t figure out how Potter pulled that off,” grumbled another Goblin. “Shouldn’t be possible to out-fly a Dragon - especially not a Horntail...”
“Bagman suspects that one of the Dark Lord’s former supporters might’ve had a hand in that, Skullcrusher,” Grimnut proffered in response. “Apparently, one had infiltrated the tournament disguised as a former Auror subbing as a professor. He was apprehended over the Christmas Holidays - but the whole thing is being kept hushed up by the Ministry.
“Anyway, Bagman thinks that the supporter somehow slipped the Dragon a Mickey to make it easier for Potter to win...”
“That doesn’t make any bloody sense!” exclaimed Skullcrusher as he scratched his head. “Why would a Dark Lord supporter be trying to help Potter?”
“Beats me!” Grimnut shrugged. “Bagman got his info from the Senior Undersecretary, but he’s pretty sure she’s holding out on him. He didn’t press her on the issue though, ‘cause for the time-being she’s on board with Bagman on upping the ante for the Second Task.
“Seems she’s got a beef with Potter too, and she gave Bagman the go ahead to throw something extra at Potter - maybe Kelpies or a Sea Serpent. Bagman’s still working on that, so we should be better situated now that the Dark Lord’s former supporter is out of the picture..”
“Should be?” hissed Chief Bloodaxe, grinding his sharp, pointy teeth. “I don’t want ‘should be!’ I need a guarantee that Potter won’t come anywhere near close to first place this time! See to it yourself, Grimnut - don’t leave it up to those Ministry idiots to bungle things again! Potter needs to go down by any means necessary, even if you have to take him out.”
“Y...yes, Chief!” Grimnut stammered nervously. “No problem! I’m all over it...”

~o0o~
Following Hagrid’s tearful agreement to return to work, Harry found himself flat on his back in the snow, the recipient of Hermione’s heated affections. Hermione’s burning kisses kept him toasty warm even as the snow began falling again, and he returned to the castle with a big soppy grin all over his face.
Both feeling much better about things, Sunday began with a few hours of studying with very little prodding by Hermione, eager as Harry was to catch up, followed by an afternoon which included an hour of flying with Viktor, a game of Exploding Snap with Ron and Neville, and a bit more snogging with Hermione (this time in the boathouse).
The second week of the term was no less busy than the first, but it was a bit less arduous as Harry began to settle into his new schedule. It was during Runes, when Professor Babbling assigned Harry to read up on using Runes to ward against fire, and write a foot of parchment for homework, that Harry found himself considering that he probably should learn a Rune sequence to ward against freezing to death in the icy cold water of the Black Lake during the Second Task. Another thought popped into his head - a memory really - of a brief conversation between Hermione and Professor Babbling during the Yule Ball.
“Psst... Hermione,” he whispered, looking up from his book. Hermione stopped what she was doing, working out the Rune sequence to ward homes and furniture against termites.
“What’s up, Harry?” she murmured back. “Do you need help with the translation?”
“No,” Harry shook his head. “I was just thinking about the Second Task. Didn’t you do a paper about warding boats against Water Sprites and Water Demons back in December?”
“Oh, yes I did!” said Hermione, her eyes lighting up with sudden comprehension. “Are you wondering...?”
“...whether they would work on people?” Harry nodded. “Yeah, I was.”
“Well,” Hermione bit her lip, frowning pensively as she considered the question. “I suppose they might actually, though they would need some adjustments to the sequences to work on living beings - humans specifically - rather than wooden boats. I’d be happy to work some out for you.”
“Brilliant!” Harry grinned. “Then I can practice tattooing them on myself...”
“We’ll have to consider all the most likely creatures you’ll find in the lake, of course - besides the Merpeople - though I don’t think Runes would work against them, not that it would be very likely that you would need Runes against them. There are sure to be Grindylows, though Water Sprites are possible I suppose...”
“What about Kappa, or Sea Serpents or Kelpies?” asked Harry.
“Kappa are very unlikely to be found in the Black Lake as they’re Japanese Water Demons - in any case, there are no Norse or Gaelic Runes to counter Kappa.” Hermione pointed out. “As to Sea Serpents or Kelpies, neither are native to the Black Lake, which is good as they’re extremely dangerous.”
“But what if the Triwizard Committee add some in, just to make things more difficult?”
Hermione paled, her eyes widening with shock.
“Oh no!” she gasped. “You’re right Harry. I doubt the Committee would officially allow it, but with Bagman involved... I’ll look into it right away. If I can’t find any Runes for Kelpies, you might have to learn a Placement Charm - though you’d need a bridle - that could be a problem...” Hermione trailed off and began searching her book bag.
Harry swallowed anxiously and returned to reading his book, Ancient Runes Made Easy. Unable to concentrate now on the fire warding Runes, Harry flipped ahead to find the cold warding Runes. He frowned when he found them, reckoning it might take a few days at least to master them.
Harry had been hoping to use them instead of a Warming Charm, as Professor Moody had said he could return to swimming daily in lieu of regular Calisthenics; but Warming Charms tended to wear off and needed redoing several times during a swim session. Hermione knew cold warding Runes already of course, but she had never practiced inking Runes on a person before.
Resigned to the situation, Harry went on with the rest of his classes with Hermione, which ended with Care of Magical Creatures. Happily, Hagrid was back and he was continuing the lessons with Unicorns.
“I hope yeh were all payin’ attention ter Grubbly-Plank... she’s right on the mark abou’ how dangerous the adult Unicorns can be to mos’ lads,” Hagrid said cheerfully.
“They migh’ not have fangs...” he added, looking vaguely disappointed, “but they c’n still take care o’ themselves with their horns. Right deadly they can be if yer not careful,” Hagrid concluded, brightening up again.
“Anyway, got sump’n special fer yeh today,” he continued, “Brought yeh a couple o’ Unicorn foals, an’ they might let yeh touch ‘em too lads ...if yer real quiet an’ calm like.”
Parvati and Lavender squeaked happily, and even Pansy Parkinson couldn’t conceal her delight when she saw the foals.
“Oooh, they’re so sweet,” said Pansy, sounding most unlike her usual self.
Taking first turn with one of the foals, Lavender and Parvati made little cooing sounds as they stroked its silky golden coat and mane.
Hermione beamed at Harry, feeling a surge of elation as they petted the other foal together. The foal nuzzled them both, nibbling at the shiny red apple which Hagrid had given them as he was passing them around to the class.
Following Lavender and Parvati, Neville and Ron took a turn. Neville was besotted with foal, practically cradling it in his arms, but Ron hung back a bit, giving it a couple of tentative gentle pats as he warily eyed the baby Unicorn’s mother, who was giving Ron an equally wary look. Dean cautiously approached when Ron stepped back to hang out with Seamus.
Spying the mother Unicorn nearby, Harry thought he ought to say hello again, and went to give it a pet, leaving Hermione to it. Hermione knew she ought to get up and give Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson a turn, but she wasn’t quite ready to just yet.
Daphne gave Pansy a little nudge and whispered something in her ear. Pansy shot her a dubious look. Hermione thought she heard Daphne say something like, “...she won’t bite,” and saw her give Pansy a little push. Pansy rolled her eyes, muttering, “fine,” under her breath. She approached Hermione and the foal a bit stiffly.
“Er, do you mind?” Pansy asked, sounding a bit nervous as she knelt down to pet the foal.
“Oh! Of course not. I’m sorry,” said Hermione as she started to get up.
“It’s okay,” said Pansy, heaving a sigh and glancing back at Daphne who was giving her a thumbs up and nodding, “You don’t have to go.”
“Are you sure?” asked Hermione, taken by surprise.
“Yeah,” Pansy nodded as she ran her fingers through the Unicorn’s mane. She hesitated, looking a bit sheepish, then continued. “Er, I... erm, I know I‘ve always been pretty horrible to you, and I know you might not believe it, but I’m really sorry, Hermione! For everything! ... Daphne and I, well, we’ve, er... we’ve sort of been rethinking things a bit lately. We reckon you and Potter... er... aren’t so bad really.”
“What?” Hermione gaped in astonishment, not quite sure that she was hearing right. Pansy reddened.
“Honestly,” said Pansy, “it was when Potter made that comment about liking you just the way you are, and said he was sorry that Draco wanted me to get a nose-job that got me thinking. I know Potter was just getting in a dig at Draco, but it... it was true! Draco did want me to get a nose-job to go to the Ball with him - and I was going to until Potter said that.
“I... er... I think you’re pretty lucky to have Potter as a boyfriend - he treats you right. Daphne thinks so too. ... Zabini’s about the only guy in our year in Slytherin who has any manners at all - he and Daphne are dating now - and we all think that Draco is a knob. ... It made us rethink some, er... other things as well...” Pansy trailed off, leaving the “other things” undefined, her cheeks taking on an even deeper shade of red bordering on scarlet as she bit her lower lip.
“Er... Wow!” said Hermione, still shocked, not sure what else to say; Pansy’s meaning was all too clear, “That’s, er... erm...”
Pansy pursed her lips in a little half-smile,
“Yeah! I know - weird, right? Anyway, Daphne and I just wanted you to know that we’ll be laying off you from now on, okay.”
“Thank you, Pansy,” said Hermione, finally pulling herself together; she warmly returned Pansy’s smile. “I hope the other Slytherins don’t give you too hard of a time for talking to me.”
Pansy snorted. “They can all go stuff their heads in a toilet if they don’t like it, for all I care,” she said, rising to her feet; Hermione stood up as well. “Anyway, maybe we can talk again some time... Hermione.”
“That would be lovely,” said Hermione, beaming as she and Pansy moved out of the way to give Daphne and Blaise Zabini a chance to pet the Unicorn foal. “How about next weekend? Harry and I are quite busy during the week at the moment...”
Draco stood a distance away, fuming as he watched the scene unfold. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing - Pansy and Granger, chumming it up like they were best friends? What the hell was happening?
It was the last straw! Furious, Draco scowled to see Potter stroking the adult Unicorn’s nose again after watching the foal eating out of the palm of his and Granger’s hands. Putting all thoughts aside about the “girlyness” of Unicorns, Draco marched up to take a turn with the Unicorn foal which Blaise and Daphne were petting. The foal squealed when Draco drew near. Daphne and Blaise looked up to see what had upset the foal; Blaise shot Draco a look of warning. Ignoring Blaise’s look and the foal’s squeals, Draco kept approaching.
The adult Unicorn snorted in alarm and strained at its bond at the sound of distress coming from one of its young. Alarmed, Harry stopped petting the Unicorn and turned to see what was going on. At that very moment, the tether snapped and the Unicorn charged at Draco, whinnying angrily, kicking up clouds of snow as it thundered towards him. Draco’s face paled - eyes wide with terror, he ran for it, shrieking like an infant with a wet nappy.
Hagrid nearly panicked when the row caught his attention, but panic quickly turned to outrage. His beard bristling with fury, Hagrid lunged for the galloping Unicorn, muttering “Bloody idiot’s gone an’ done it again,” under his breath. Hagrid only barely managed to catch it in time before it skewered Malfoy with its spiral horn.
Many of the other students began laughing as Hagrid shut the cross Unicorn in the paddock. Draco shot Greengrass and Zabini a malevolent glare, certain that they had spooked the foal. Zabini responded with a smirk and flipped the bird at Draco.
“Bloody Rhinoceros!” Draco spat venomously, eyeing the Unicorn which Hagrid was still trying to calm down. “Crabbe, Goyle, let’s go... I’m done with this! We’re dropping this stupid class...”
Hagrid looked cheered, and a smattering of applause broke out among the Gryffindors at Malfoy’s proclamation. Though a few were mildly disappointed.
“Shame Hagrid caught it,” sighed Ron, a wistful expression on his face as he imagined Malfoy impaled and gored by the Unicorn.
Seamus sniggered and Neville nodded, laughing his head off and gasping for breath as he clutched a stitch in his side. Harry and Dean chortled gleefully. Even Hermione couldn’t help giggling, though she was quite thankful that Hagrid had caught the Unicorn, as she was sure that he wouldn’t be able to avoid being sacked this time if he hadn’t.

~o0o~
After classes had finished for the day, still cheerful, Harry stood with Hermione - in dark blue swimming trunks and a one-piece lilac swimsuit respectively - near the edge of the ice shelf nearly twenty metres from the shore, shivering, before they cast Warming Charms on each other.
Dora kept watch, bundled up cozily in her parka, not envying Harry and Hermione as they both dove into the lake. Seated on a conjured matt to protect her bum from being frozen to the ice, Dora was startled when a familiar figure gracefully glided towards her. She peered at the platinum haired beauty, her cheeks growing hotter and her heart beginning to race when the figure tugged off her robes, revealing a skintight, powder blue wetsuit.
“Er, H...hi!” Dora stammered, growing flustered as she hadn’t really met the other girl properly yet, having only seen her from a distance while keeping an eye on Harry and Hermione. “It’s Fleur, innit?”
“Oui!” Fleur beamed radiantly, taking note of Dora’s blushes. “And you are Dora, are you not? ‘Arry and ‘Ermione, zey speak vairy kindly of you.”
“Er... They do?”
“Oui, zey do,” said Fleur, batting her eyelashes coquettishly as she returned Dora’s gaze with an appraising look of her own. “I mus’ practice sweeming, now zat ze Second Task grows nearer. I theenk to accompany ‘Arry an’ ‘Ermione. ... Per’aps you join us next time, Non?” Fleur concluded, her tone meaningful.
Dora swallowed nervously, goggling in surprise.
“Er, me?” she squeaked. “Really?”
Fleur licked her lips as if they were dry. “Mm... I am theenking per’aps I would like to get to know you better.”
“Er... Yeah! Alright then,” said Dora, feeling a rush of giddiness. “Sure thing Fleur!”
As she tucked her hair into a powder blue swim cap, Fleur gave Dora another little smile, then sauntered slinkily to the edge of the ice and dove into the lake.
A lopsided grin on her face, still not quite believing what had just happened, Dora watched Fleur swim out to meet Harry and Hermione. Suddenly, swimming in the middle of a half-frozen lake in the middle of winter didn’t sound so bad...
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Yuletide Blessing in Disguise