TW: Hogwarts!AU, Past Violence, Triwizard Tournament 

Ross opened his eyes slowly. He could see the painted birds on the ceiling of the large hospital room flying back and forth from one side of the mural to the other. The leaves on the tree branches in the mural were almost completely gone, and those that remained were orange and brown.

He had been in here before, several times. He had gotten over his amazement at the beautiful ceiling at the beginning of his second year, although it was always a delight to see on the rare occasion he found himself in here. But why...

Suddenly the recent memories returned to him.

The Tournament. The Chinese Fireball. Being hit in the arm and the side of the face by the end of the dragon's tail when it twisted around to chase after him, snarling, spitting fire.

Ross used the arm that wasn't bandaged to push himself up. He instantly noticed someone else, someone familiar. Someone who had fallen asleep on the edge of his hospital bed.

Chris Trott.

Ross watched Chris' sleeping form guiltily. His boyfriend was right when he had screamed and shouted at Ross and Alex about the dangers of the Tournament. He was right when he said that, despite all the claims of making the Tournament safer, people still got hurt. Ross had now seen firsthand just how intense and demanding the Tasks were.

He hadn't made a big deal over his arm and face back in the stadium when he knew the judges were watching. He remembered how he had been encouraged to act as if he wasn't badly affected by any injuries he might suffer, in order to keep a good appearance in the eyes of both judges and spectators. Ross was a Hufflepuff and a Muggleborn, and it would be the most amazing legacy to win the Tournament and beat the other competitors, both purebloods.

Still, now Ross was shaken from the extremity and magnitude of this First Task. Only the first challenge and he had already broken his arm. Who knew what the other parts of the competition would be like?

Ross lifted his gaze from where he had been watching his good hand pull at the ends of the bandage on his healing arm. Trott was still sleeping quietly.

Chris seemed to know about the Tournament. But Ross was scared to ask him anything right now. He didn't know if Chris had come here to yell at him more, or to cry, or to be around when Ross awoke.

Ross looked away again and noticed, for the first time, a small pile of notes on the small table beside his bed. He reached over and brought them into his lap and sorted through them.

Most of them were written in Alex's handwriting. It looked like there was one from his Head of House and a few from some of his Hufflepuff housemates as well. Ross set aside the notes that weren't from Smith and started reading.

Ross
Looking for Chris.
I'll be right back if you wake up.
Alex

------------------------

Ross
When you wake up, let us know somehow.
They've starting to kick us out and I don't
know if I can convince them to let me stay.
Alex

------------------------

Ross
Professor Grizwald says the next thing is a dance.
It's on Christmas, so better start thinking
about your date. We'll have to delay the
ride back to your place to spend the holidays.
At least a dance isn't deadly!
I'll be back in a couple hours to check on you.
Alex

------------------------

Ross
(delivered using Randy)
Chris wasn't happy when he heard what
happened...
Hope you see this note before he does.
Get better soon.
Alex

Ross put the stack of notes back onto the table. He sat up a little straighter.

Most of Chris' face was hidden from view on account of his crossed arms upon which his head was lying. In one hand, he loosely held his wand. He was turned away from Ross and his hair was a mess, looking as if he had been pulling at it, which Trott always did when he was anxious and nervous.

Ross braced himself with his good arm and leaned towards Chris. Awkwardly, he reached out his bandaged arm and managed to brush it against Chris' mussed mop of hair.

Trott jumped when Ross touched him. He pulled himself to attention quickly in the chair he was sitting in and he stared at Ross, blinking.

His eyes were red.

He had been crying.

He might have cried himself into an exhausted sleep.

Ross felt a pang of guilt worse than before over the realization that his own situation and choices had done that to Chris.

"I'm sorry," Ross blurted out.

Trott looked confused, so Ross continued, trying to explain himself. "I'm sorry I got hurt. It wasn't anyone's fault—just a small mistake! I wasn't paying attention to its tail and it swiped at me just as I was almost done. But," Ross stammered, "I still did well! I got 39 points, which is just one point away from a perfect score. The other two champions didn't get as much as I did..." Ross trailed off. Chris was grimacing. He looked like he should be the one in the hospital bed.

"That's... good?" Trott muttered. His expression hardened. "I still think you should withdraw yourself from all of this. It's just not worth it, Ross. You're focused on these stupid tasks instead of school a—and the three of us."

Ross shook his head vehemently. It made him a bit dizzy. "No, listen, Chris. I can do this. It's important and I think it can help me in the future."

Chris' grip tightened on his wand, a motion that Ross didn't miss. "It's enough that you were selected out of all the other students, Ross. That's enough fame. Everyone respects you so much for this. Yes, even the purebloods. You don't have to prove yourself to them, or to Smith's shit-eating shite parents, or to the other Houses. You're amazing and everyone knows that now."

Ross wanted to argue, but it would just bring them back to where they had been during the weeks before the Task, when Trott barely saw Ross and Smith. The last thing he wanted right now was Chris working himself up until he was an emotional mess.

At least Alex gave him a bit of warning that this might happen.

Remembering Alex gave Ross an impulse idea.

"Chris," Ross said softly. "I want you to know I'm sorry about making you worry. I'm not dropping out of the Tournament, but I don't want that to affect us. You and Alex inspire me, and even if you don't agree with it, I still want to be able to see you." This wasn't working. Chris still looked upset. "Ah, Alex says there's some sort of dance next month—"

"The Yule Ball," Chris interjected, then he nodded for Ross to continue.

"Yeah, that," Ross said. "I want you to go with me, Chris Trott. I want to walk into whatever place the school is having it, with you at my side. I want to share the first dance with you."

Chris stared at Ross for a long moment. He stood up and pushed the chair out of the way.

"I'm going to find Smith and tell him you're awake," Trott said. He had broken eye contact with Ross.

He was going to leave.

"Chris."

"My answer is no. Ask Smith to go with you. I don't want anything to do with this murderous Tournament. If that means I'm not going to see you around as much, then fine."

"Chris!" Ross shouted, but Trott was fast as he fled from the bedside, out the door.

———————

Ross' arm was back to normal. As soon as he had left the hospital wing with Alex, he had been approached by dozens of Hogwarts students of all ages. They were all asking him the same questions, about the dragon, about his injury, about what the dragon's treasure was like, about the other champions. There was even a girl from one of the other schools who came up to him and asked him if he would take her to the Yule Ball. Smith stepped in and turned the girl down for him.

And then Ross and Alex bumped into Sparks at the Great Hall. Sparks stepped away from his squad of Parv, Leo, and Kogie and headed towards Ross with a faint smile.

"Ross Hornby," Sparks said. "It's nice to see that the Hufflepuff champion is out of the hospital. I would hate to hear that the dragon bumping you with its tail resulted in any lasting damage."

"Thank you," Ross said cautiously. Trott's housemate talking to him was not a good sign. The fact that Parv didn't seem to want to come forward to throw insults at Ross made him even more apprehensive.

"You know, I've been noticing a certain someone spending an unusual amount of time in the Ravenclaw common rooms in the evenings," Sparks continued. "I guess that dear Chris Trott is still avoiding you?"

Ross and Smith both rushed at Sparks, but the four standing behind Sparks instantly moved in front of him, holding their wands threateningly, although they weren't pointed at Ross and Smith. Smith hesitated, but Ross continued forwards and tried to shoulder past Parv and Kogie. Sparks laughed and his friends joined in, enjoying the conflict.

"Come on, Hornby," Sparks taunted. "Let's take this to the dueling club room. We'll see who's really worthy of being named the Hogwarts champion."

"You're on!" Ross shouted.

Leo chuckled again. "You sure you're up for it, Hornby? We wouldn't want to aggravate your injury. I know Muggleborns aren't used to facing off against real magical beasts like dragons."

"We're more than up for it," Smith growled.

"We? Who do you think is the one dueling—" Kogie began.

"I'm doing this too. Two on two," Smith said sharply. "Ross and me against Shiteating Sparks and who else?"

"Me," Parv said, dark eyes fixed on Smith, much like a shark would watch a young seal.

They practically raced each other to the dueling club room. As Ross fumed, he also questioned the point of this impulse-driven duel. This was all just fueling Sparks' desire to see Ross feeling insecure and second-guess just how good of a wizard he was, being Muggleborn. He was just using Trott as a way to provoke Ross, which made Ross even angrier about the whole thing.

Trott probably had his own reasons for avoiding Ross and Alex. Ross just hoped he would be willing to explain them someday. Maybe not today, but someday. But that situation had absolutely nothing to do with Sparks.

Ross and Parv reached the door to the dueling club room at the same time and they pushed on them with all their might, glaring hatefully at each other. A few paintings behind muttered at the unnecessary force being used, but Ross didn't care. The sooner he crushed Sparks and Parv in a duel, the better.

There was someone sitting on the long dueling platform. A large glowing blue patronus in the shape of a small horse was standing peacefully by the figure, its long hair flying around its body. Ross felt his heart skip a beat and he stopped in his tracks, feeling several people run into his back.

That patronus...

Chris Trott turned around and stared at the intruders in surprise. The patronus bent its neck to brush its face against Trott's hair before it disintegrated in a gust of blue wisps of magic. Trott looked from Ross and Smith to Sparks and his friends. Slowly, he stood up and got off the dueling platform.

"You're here to duel without a teacher?" Chris said dryly.

Sparks headed over to Chris and Ross hated how he didn't back away from him when he went closer than Ross would ever have liked. Even if they were housemates. It was more antagonising that Sparks' entourage followed after him and formed a half circle around Trott.

"Relax, mate," Sparks said calmly. "We were going to get Kogie to oversee the duel, but now that you're here, dueling champ, you can moderate with him. Two judges, each partial to a side. Sound fine?"

Trott looked at Ross, but quickly averted his eyes. "I can be impartial, Sparks. I do this professionally. Who's dueling?"

"Me and Sparks against Hornby and Smith," Parv announced. He shrugged off his robe and handed it to Leo. "It's not going to take long. Smiffy's only just learned how to hold a wand the right way and Hornby's still dizzy after being knocked brainless by a big bad dragon. I almost feel sorry for how badly we'll beat them."

Ross clenched his fist around his wand and leapt up onto the dueling platform. He caught a quick glance of Trott biting his lips and looking away from Sparks with a fearful expression, but before he could get a better look, Trott was moving into place, expression passive.

"I would suggest you go easy on them," Leo said to Parv and Sparks with a smirk, "But that would just be prolonging the duel, which isn't good for poor Hornbaby's condition. Finish it quick."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Parv said slyly. He ran a hand through his hair and stood ready at Sparks' side.

"You motherfuckers are going down," Smith said, words tight with anger.

"Are the two sides going to keep slapping each other with insults, are you going to start dueling?" Trott asked tiredly.

"Whenever you're ready, Chris," Sparks said.

"You all know the rules." Trott said. "No physical contact, no switching opponents at any point, no illegal spells, no use of potions, no audience interference or assistance, no dangerous spells. Dangerous spells include all dark spells and charms, curses, as well as all spells described as 'able to deal life-threatening injuries and harm' in your Hogwarts courses. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Trott looked at Kogie. "Anything to add?"

"Smith and Parv duel first," Kogie said. "After that, it's Sparks and Hornby. If there's a tie, then whoever wins the match between Sparks and Hornby is the winner overall. Unless you want to duel someone to settle it, Trott?"

Trott shook his head. "I have no fucking idea what you're fighting about, so I'll pass on that."

Alex stepped in front of Ross. "Right then, let's do this."

"Bow," Trott ordered. Smith and Parv barely moved, but their heads jerked down the tiniest fraction. "Now hold your wands at the ready."

"Duel!" Kogie said.

"Stupefy!" Smith shouted and pointed his wand at Parv.

"Finite," Parv said, and the blast of magic from Smith's wand was extinguished. He twirled his wand around and said, "Incendio."

An impressive ball of fire erupted from the end of Parv's wand and shot towards Smith. He tensed for a split second, then dropped to the surface of the dueling platform and rolled out of the way. Trott pointed his wand at the fireball, moved his lips, and the fireball flew upwards and scorched the stones on the ceiling of the room, thereby missing Ross.

Still on his side, Smith pointed his wand at Parv again. "Ventus," he snapped.

Parv pointed his wand at his feet just as the gust of wind burst forth from Smith's wand. "Immobulus," he said quickly. Parv's feet were rooted to the floor as the wind blew fiercely at him for several seconds.

Smith moved quickly. He swung his wand at Parv again and said, "Carpe Retractum." The wind stopped and Parv was suddenly yanked forwards towards Smith by a long rope of orange light. Alex seized the front of Parv's uniform when he was close enough and poked the end of his wand into Parv's chest.

Parv drew back his fist and punched Smith squarely in the face.

Suddenly both Smith and Parv were pushed apart by whatever spell Trott was using now, glaring tiredly at them.

"Right, both you fuckers are disqualified for that. No touching each other, no punching each other."

"He grabbed me first," Parv protested, outraged.

"You could have stopped, because you know that's terms for disqualification," Trott explained. Kogie just shrugged behind him. "Get off the stage and if you want to fistfight, do it on the floor and don't fucking taint the dueling platform with your unsportsmanship," Trott continued sharply.

Smith jumped off the platform silently, while Parv was still grumbling. Leo threw his robe at his face and he was instantly distracted by his annoyance at that unwanted gesture. Smith leaned against the wall to watch as Sparks and Ross moved into position.

"We assume you heard the rules, because they apply to your duel too," Kogie informed them.

Ross breathed evenly. This wasn't a dragon. This was an asshole who was still enjoying how worked up Ross and Smith were over his words. Finding Trott here was a surprise, but at least he hadn't asked what the reason for the duel was. Ross just hoped Chris wouldn't leave right after the duel was over. Or if he did leave, he would leave with Ross and Alex.

"Bow," Trott reminded them. Ross bowed his head much lower than Smith and Parv had, and he assumed Sparks did the same, based on how he had to flip his hair out of his eyes when Ross laid eyes on him next.

"Ready?"

"Duel."

Ross spun his wand above his head quickly and shouted, "Verdimillious!"

At the same time, Sparks spun his own wand. "Vermillious!"

The red and green balls of sparkling magic met in the middle of the dueling platform and smashed against each other with a painful ripple of clashing energies before exploding.

Quietly, behind the shimmering explosion, Ross whispered, "Ascendio," then pointed his wand up and was shot upwards just short of hitting the ceiling. Before he could fall back, he pointed his wand at Sparks and hissed, "Aguamenti."

A strong jet of water shot out of his wand and hit Sparks in the face. He sputtered and backed up, then covered his face with his non-wand arm.

Ross kept up the stream of water as he was falling, but Sparks pointed his wand blindly at Ross and shouted, "Avis!" A flock of brightly colored magical birds flew out of the end of Sparks' wand and made for Ross.

"Waddiwasi," Ross blurted out, mentally kicking himself for the stupid impulsive choice of spell. He swung his wand wildly back and forth, and somehow the charm still worked and fired the magical birds backwards and to the side, each crashing into the walls of the dueling room.

Sparks shook his head to flip his very wet hair out of his eyes. He waved his wand and screamed, "Expelliarmus!"

"Reducio!" Ross countered. Once again, the two spells met in the center of the table and resulted in a small magical explosion, although the explosion was much closer to Sparks' side than Ross'.

"Diffindo," Sparks spat, sending waves of slashing arcs of magic at Ross.

Ross stepped back and waved his wand quickly. "Protego," he said, and a wall of clear bluish magic formed in front of him. Sparks' spell hit it harmlessly and disappeared. Ross let go of the shield spell and pointed his wand at Sparks again. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

He swept his wand and guided Sparks upwards, then smashed him into the ceiling. He released his control and watched, satisfied, as Sparks fell down to the ground. Parv and Leo ran towards Sparks' twitching body.

"I'd say that's a win for Ross Hornby," Trott said evenly.

He looked at Kogie, who sighed and said, "Yeah. Can't say there won't be a rematch someday, but we're done."

Trott started to leave the room. Ross and Smith quickly followed after him and let the door slam behind them.

"That was stupid, grabbing Parv like that," Trott finally muttered, still not facing either of them. He started up the stairs. "Did you just want to end the duel quickly? You know that bastard doesn't care about personal space, even with dueling opponents."

Alex shoved his hands into his robe pockets. "I forgot, alright? Heat of battle. And in hindsight, I knew Ross would beat Sparks' smug face in with all his awesome spells." He bumped his elbow into Ross' arm and Ross smiled.

"Chris," Ross said softly. Trott stopped at the top of the stairs and turned around to face them both.

"What?"

"I'm going to be okay," Ross said. Trott's face fell. "Whatever happens in the Tournament, I'll have Smith and... and you. If things get bad, from now on, I want to know that you'll be there to say 'Fuck the rules' and jump into whatever I'm doing. Another monster, or some stupid other task I have to complete. I'd rather us all be safe and together than win this damn thing. It's not worth it if it drives us apart."

Trott looked from Ross to Smith for a long moment.

"And if you feel uncomfortable about anything," Alex added. "I'm going to be there. I'll hold your hand or whatever you want."

Trott looked down at the floor. His lips moved for a few seconds, then stopped. He tried again. "I love you two. For you... okay."

Ross surged forwards and pulled Trott into a warm hug, Smith a split second behind. Ross kissed Chris' cheek as many times as he could. Meanwhile, Ross heard Smith whisper the silly little charm for messing up Trott's carefully combed hair.

"Hey!" Chris protested, trying to wriggle out of Smith and Ross' grasp.

Smith let go eventually. As Ross reluctantly let go of the beloved young man who he hadn't properly hugged for so long, Smith said something else.

"Chris Trott, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Trott gaped at Smith.

"Jesus, man, pick the right fucking time to ask things like that!" He turned to walk away again, but this time he waited long enough that Ross and Smith could walk by his sides.

"I thought it was a good time..." Alex mused. "When would be a good time? When you're in the bath?"

"No!"

"Is that a no to my request to take you to the dance, or a no—"

"Both."

Ross smiled. Things were mostly back to normal. Just one thing left.

"Chris," Ross said.

"What do you want?"

"I want to take you to the dance."

Trott's groan of frustration brought a beautiful light to Smith's eyes and a cute smile to his face.

"I guess I'm going to have to say yes to one of you. Okay. Yes, Ross. I'll dance with you." He sighed heavily. "Probably going to end up dancing with Smith too. Damn it."

Ross paused in his stride to blow a kiss at Smith.

———————

It was late in the evening and Trott was sitting by the window in his dorm room petting Eric when Sparks arrived. His housemate appeared undamaged from the battering Ross had given him earlier. Trott still thought it was funny as he remembered Sparks' face when Ross had thoroughly doused him.

Sparks saw Trott and waved at him.

Trott didn't wave back, but he excused it on the fact that he was holding his owl.

"Hello, Trott."

Trott watched Sparks approach him with a faint sensation of unease. "What's going on?"

"I'm just wondering," Sparks said causally. "Why would a book on the Triwizard Tournament be in the Restricted Section of the library?"

Trott was still apprehensive. "To keep the champions from cheating by looking up the spells and techniques used in the past? I don't know."

Sparks shook his head. He sat down a short distance away from Trott. "Maybe. Or maybe it's because it's a history of a Triwizard Tournament not too many years ago. Maybe because it talks about a former student, the champion of Hogwarts, being brutally murdered by a dragon during the First Task. Hmm, I think the dragon was a Ukrainian Ironbelly? I can't remember."

Trott felt like he was frozen. Eric was poking at his hands but he was only distantly aware of it.

"Anyway, the school might have put it in the Restricted Section out of respect for the dead student's family. Especially because there's a student at Hogwarts right now who is related to that former champion."

Sparks examined Trott's face as if he were examining an animal in a field study. Trott knew his breathing was out of control, his eyes were wide, Eric was biting at him now to try to get him to think of something else.

"I wonder if the picture they sent back home to your family was the same as the one in the book." Sparks said thoughtfully. "I can see how something like that would traumatize you. I can see why you don't want anything to do with the Tournam—"

"I swear," Trott said shakily. "I will hex you with so many hexes that they won't be able to fix you for a week. Just get out of my sight."

Sparks stood up. "I haven't told anyone."

"LEAVE!" Trott screamed. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it shakily at Sparks. "Don't think I won't curse you."

Sparks raised his hands defensively. "Okay, okay. See you around, Trott."

Chris somehow made it to his bed before he started crying. Eric perched on his upper back and preened Trott's hair.

Credit to mani on Ao3