Harry nodded. It was another secret to keep from Ron and Hermione, but honestly, he didn't mind. He could still be friends with them without having to share every thought that passed through his head.
Draco was already pressing his snake carefully to his left shoulder, which he'd pulled his sleeve back from. Harry watched as it sank into his shoulder and turned the color of his skin. Like Tonks's, it was hard to spot, and even the lines that made it a serpent seemed to break up, so it was just a curlicue kind of scar.
"Can you help me put it on my back, Tonks?" Harry asked, holding out his lion to his cousin.
"Don't you want it on your shoulder, like me?" Draco asked, in the kind of voice that could turn into a pout any second.
"No," Harry said, shuddering a little as Tonks pressed the lion between his shoulder blades. There was a sharp, cool tingle, but then nothing more. He moved a few steps when Tonks let his robe fall back, but there was no sound of the bell ringing, either. "This way, if someone finds out one of us has it, then they won't find it in the same place on the other one of us right away. It might buy us a little time."
Tonks changed her hair to black, and Draco's eyes were wide as he looked at Harry. "I didn't even think of that," he breathed.
"No reason you should have to." Harry gave himself a final shake, and the last of the cool tingles disappeared. He thought that the charm was probably fully embedded in his skin now. He gave Ted a nod. "Thanks, Uncle Ted."
Ted smiled at him. "I do expect you to be ready to practice your offensive spells again the day after Christmas, you realize."
Harry nodded. He realized. But for now, they could gather around the fire and sip hot chocolate and talk to each other like any family.
....
"Hermione, would you please shut up about Professor Moody?"
Harry only realized what he'd said a minute after he said it. Ron, who was at the same study table in the library with them, looked up, startled. Hermione had jumped to her feet on the other side of the table, and for a minute, Harry thought she would run away, crying. He braced himself for it, flinching.
But then, although her mouth crumpled a little as if she was going to cry, Hermione took a deep breath and sat down again, twisting her hands in her lap. "I didn't mean to—I didn't mean to make you upset," she said quietly, lowering her head. "I was just—I know everyone else is getting help with the Tournament from their professors and Headmasters, even though it isn't supposed to happen. I even heard rumors that Professor Sprout was helping Cedric."
Harry stared at her, utterly baffled. He exchanged a glance with Ron, but Ron shook his head and actually held his Transfiguration text up in front of his face to hide from the rest of the conversation.
"What does that have to do with Professor Moody?" Harry demanded.
"It's against the rules for people to get help," Hermione mumbled rapidly. "But if they're all getting help, you should get it, too. Professor Moody said he could help! He said that was why he was trying to get you to come to his office, but you were refusing." She blew a curl of hair out of her eyes. "And I thought if I could talk him up enough, you'd go visit him."
"Why didn't you just admit you were concerned about me not getting help?"
"It's wrong!" Hermione exclaimed, her face darkening with a blush again. "I don't mind breaking the rules to help you, but then I'd have to admit that I knew about all the others getting help, too, and I didn't report them because…" She ran down. "I didn't think anyone would care."
Harry cleared his throat, glad that he had controlled his first impulse to laugh. Hermione would be very upset, and rightfully so, if he had laughed at her for her concerns about this. "Thanks, Hermione. I know you were trying to help. But I'm really not going to do well on the Second Task, either."
"But you don't even know what it is! You didn't get the golden egg from the dragon!"
"So what? I know the date of the Second Task. I'll just follow all the other Champions once I see them going somewhere."
"You think that's going to work?"
Harry shrugged. "I only knew the date of the First Task, too. But I did all right there. And given how calm Krum and Delacour at least looked when they took those miniature dragons out of the bag, I reckon they knew about it before I did, too." He wasn't as sure about Diggory, because he had been too busy mentally rolling his eyes and thinking how mental everyone was, the Champions and the Tournament organizers, and he hadn't looked at Diggory then. "It was nice of you to try to help me. But please don't urge me to visit Professor Moody again. I think he's kind of creepy."
"Just because of the leg and the eye?"
Hermione had that look on her face that said Harry was going to regret it if he didn't speak carefully. He shook his head. "Mostly just because he seems so interested in getting me into his office. He wanted me to cooperate with the Goblet of Fire and go into the waiting room with the other Champions, too, that night."
"That's right. I forgot that." Hermione propped her chin up on her hand. "I wonder why that is?"
Harry shrugged, wondering if Hermione would start trying to figure out the Mystery of Professor Moody now. He was honestly okay with that if it meant that she didn't talk anymore about what a great professor Moody was and how Harry should listen to him.
And if she didn't talk about that, she probably wouldn't talk about how Harry should listen to Dumbledore, either. So that was okay.
....
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