Facing Dragons

Harry continued to avoid everyone and the stress of the situation along with his lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll.

It was during this time that he became acquainted with some new people that he had never had the opportunity to be around before and it was all thanks to Dobby.

In his role as a spy, Dobby was listening throughout the castle for Harry's name to be spoken and would pop in to hear whatever was being said.

He mostly heard the normal grumblings but was unfortunate enough to catch several conversations amongst those Harry once called friends.

It was a very distraught Dobby who fretted for quite a while about how to tell Harry that his friends were just using him and were helping the Headmaster try and control him until he finally just told him and sat with him as he cried.

A few days later, Dobby overheard Cedric saying how much he really wanted to talk to Harry but he could never find him since the only time Harry was seen was in class.

Dobby saw this as a chance to help Harry and started watching for an opportunity to get the two wizards together.

Dobby had watched Cedric while he was at Hogwarts and knew he was an honorable young man who might be able to help Harry get past the pain of his broken friendships.

While preparing for the first task, Harry spent quite a bit of time in the library and one of the things Dobby had done for Harry was to use his elf magic to hide him.

He had one table that Harry could go to and everyone would pass right by without even seeing it. During these times, Dobby would retrieve any books he needed so Harry wouldn't draw attention to himself.

Cedric appeared in the library and was looking around for Harry and when he didn't see him, he started to turn around and leave until Dobby popped in and took him by the hand.

Cedric looked down in confusion and saw the elf pointing over to the corner where he saw Harry. Cedric nodded his thanks and then went to join Harry at the table.

As he sat down, Harry looked at him in panic. "How'd you find me?"

With an easy smile "It hasn't been easy but an elf just grabbed my hand and pointed you out to me."

"Dobby?"

"Yes Harry?"

He asked harshly "Would you like to explain?"

Dobby's ears lay down and he spoke apologetically "Dobby heard Mr. Cedric saying he wants to talks to you. He didn't feel like the others so Dobby allows it this once."

Harry reached out and patted Dobby's shoulder. "I'm sorry Dobby; I should have never doubted you."

With a sad smile, Dobby replied "That's okay Harry, its Dobby's job to look out for you."

Cedric asked "You have your own house elf?"

Turning to Cedric, Harry said "More or less. Not to be rude but what do you want? The only time I'm looked for is when someone wants to harass me some more."

Cedric gave him an apologetic look. "I know and I'm sorry about that. I'm doing my best to get my house under control. I told them you wanted no part of this."

"Thanks."

Cedric smiled "Listen, I was wondering if you needed any help with getting ready for the task. I don't know what it is but the way I see it, its normally dangerous without being made even more so being three years behind us in school."

Harry smirked "Thanks but I think I've got it covered."

Cedric's looked at him for a minute before his eyes grew wide. "You know what it is don't you? How?"

Harry replied with a smirk. "Yes and I have a very good friend who looks out for me?"

Dobby popped in and hugged Harry's leg. "Harry takes good care of Dobby too."

Harry smiled down at the elf "So it is your opinion I can trust him?"

"Yes Harry, Mr. Cedric is a good wizard."

"Very well, I will take your advice. Um….Cedric, the first task will be us facing dragons."

Cedric rocked back in his chair and muttered "dragons?"

"Yeah, it's only fair you know because I'm pretty sure Fleur and Krum know judging by the superior smirks on their faces."

"Damn, thanks Harry, you didn't have to tell me that."

"Yeah I did. You're the Hogwarts champion; I'm just someone who got roped into this."

"Any idea what you're going to do?"

Harry smirked "Yeah, I'm going to do it the Gryffindor way."

Cedric laughed "So you're just going to charge in and fly by the seat of your pants?"

"Pretty much, it's worked for me so far."

"I'll make sure to watch that if I'm not horribly maimed by then."

"Well, I don't want to toot my own horn but it should be entertaining."

They sat and talked for about another hour just getting comfortable with each other and realized they shared a lot of common likes and dislikes.

Before he left, Cedric said "Harry, you can come to me any time if you need anything."