A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONEEE!! here's a quite long chapter as my christmas gift for you 💋💋 hope you enjoy, love yaaa

Ben was incredibly glad to find out that everyone had already gone to bed when he arrived at the boys' dormitory. He and Thomas had skipped dinner, and had spent hours talking.

They had spoken about what had happened in far more detail, but they had also ended up talking about unrelated things, something which had helped Ben relax and forget about everything for a while.

That night, he surprisingly fell asleep very quickly. He had expected it would take him forever, but it seemed he was way too tired to even overthink.

The next morning, Ben left the Gryffindor tower before his dorm mates even had even woken up. As Thomas had suggested, they had breakfast together very early, before the majority of the school went downstairs for breakfast. Then, he walked around the corridors, and waited until everyone had already entered their classrooms before entering, too. He sat as further as he could from his friends, who watched him leave the class right after the bell had rung, without waiting for them.

He didn't like what he was doing. He wasn't proud of himself for avoiding them. But he couldn't help it.

Now it wasn't only the fact that he was scared of being seen with them, but the fact that he knew he wouldn't bear looking at Harry now.

What if he tried to talk about what happened? What if Ron mentioned what he had seen? He assumed Harry told him everything after Ben had run away like a coward. He wondered if Hermione knew, too.

After classes, he and Thomas hung out in the exact same spot they had talked in during the previous night. He was the only person he wanted to have around then.

However, after Thomas left to finish some last-minute homework, and Ben went to the Gryffindor common room, he found it empty, except for Ron, who was sitting on the couch, eyes fixed on the entrance as he pretended not to be tickling between Crookshanks' ears.

Ben nearly had a heart attack when he saw him there. "Merlin, Ron!"

"Oh, so you still remember my name, that's nice to know!"

Ben gulped as Ron got to his feet and approached him.

"Erm... What?"

"It's just that it seemed you had forgotten about us," he said, very seriously. Ben didn't reply. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"I don't know what to."

"Are you avoiding all of us or just him?"

"I'm not avoiding any of you," he stammered, trying to get past him, but failing. "I've just been busy this afternoon. Thomas came up with a new idea for a comic, so..."

"Ben, please."

He breathed in, deeply. "I don't want to talk about what happened yesterday."

"He thinks he has ruined your friendship."

"He hasn't," he replied instantly, "I'm the one who has. I'm the one who kissed him, after all."

"You haven't ruined anything by kissing him, Ben. But you might actually ruin it if you keep avoiding him."

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Why are you making this so complicated?" asked Ron, sounding so confused it seemed his mind was about to explode. "I know he's in love with you, because he has told me, and you're very clearly in love with him, too... So I really don't understand what's the problem!"

"I just don't want anything to change."

"A change doesn't always imply something bad," he reasoned. "You can be boyf-"

"But I don't want to, not now!" he exclaimed, a shiver going down his body at the mention of that word. "I want us to continue being friends."

"So you want to forget?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ron gave him an odd look. "Then you should tell him."

"I don't want to hurt him, or make him lose focus on the next task. And I really don't want to talk about this now..."

"Tell him after the task, then," suggested Ron. "But stop avoiding us. Stop avoiding him."

"Have you forgotten about Rita Skeeter?" Ben reminded.

"Okay, well, then just stop avoiding us in private," concluded Ron, calmly. "I'll talk to him, to let him know you aren't mad or anything. I'll tell him you don't want to talk about what happened, for now."

"Alright."

———————————————

So that was what he did. The following days, he did his best to act as casually as possible with Harry. He could barely look at him, but Harry wasn't trying to talk or even look at him, either, so it wasn't that hard for Ben to go back to talking to them.

Despite Ben's fear of being seen with them, he slowly began hanging out with them in public again. Mostly because it had been over a month, and Rita hadn't acted yet, so perhaps he had only been overthinking.

The afternoon prior to the second task, the four of them were at the library again, desperately trying to find something useful for him. He was supposed to breathe underwater for an hour, and they still hadn't found anything.

"I don't reckon it can be done," announced Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table. "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."

"There must be something," Hermione muttered as she moved a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes with her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable."

"They have," said Ron. "Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."

"There's a way of doing it!" insisted Hermione. "There just has to be!"

"Maybe we can ask Cedric if he had some idea he won't use tomorrow," suggested Ben, and turned to the girl who was sitting beside him. "Or you can ask Kru-"

"No," said Ron, at once.

"Alright, then."

"I know what I should have done," Harry rested, facedown, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."

"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!"

"But how would you take whatever the merpeole took from you without hands?" wondered Ben.

"Well, a frog, then," said Harry.

Ben laughed under his breath, covering his mouth in an attempt to stop him from seeing. A failed attempt.

"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," explained Hermione vaguely, now squinting down the index of Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions. "Professor McGonagall told us, remember? You've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office... What animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it-"

"Hermione, I was joking," Harry interrupted her. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning."

"Oh this is no use," groaned Hermione, snapping shut the book she was reading. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

He and his twin brother George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves.

"What're you two doing here?"

"Looking for you," replied George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."

"Why?" asked Hermione, quite surprised.

"Dunno... She was looking a bit grim, though," shrugged Fred.

"We're supposed to take you down to her office," added George.

"Is there anything wrong?" asked Ben, worriedly. "Are they in trouble?"

"Nah, I don't think so," commented George. "If so, you probably would've been called, too."

He smirked playfully at Ben, who rolled his eyes.

"We'll meet you two back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Ron. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"

"Right," said Harry uneasily.

And they left, leaving them on their own. There was the most uncomfortable silence Ben had ever experienced. He hadn't been alone with Harry since the evening it happened, and he honestly wished he had been called, too, so he wouldn't have to be there. Harry's eyes were fixed on the book in front of him, although it was obvious he wasn't reading.

He looked so handsome it was infuriating.

Ben looked around the books on the table. "Er- We've already read all of these, right?"

"Yeah," replied Harry, his voice raspy, and not looking away from the book.

"I'll go search for another, then."

Harry didn't comment on that, therefore he simply got up and walked over to take a look at some books. He didn't think he'd find anything, but they needed  to keep trying to fin some spell or potion or something that helped him.

He caught a glimpse of a mane of shiny brown hair that belonged to someone who was looking through some books at the end of the bookshelf, and he was instantly happy.

​"Marina!" he whisper-called.

Luckily, the girl heard him, and turned around, smiling brightly. She waved at him, and walked over. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to help Harry with the task tomorrow."

"Oh, that's sweet, I can't wait to see what happens!" she said. Ben smiled at her. "Hey, has anything happened lately?"

"Er- Why?"

"Well, you've barely spoken to me since Valentine's day, and I was wondering if there's something wrong."

"No, no, everything's okay, don't worry."

She nodded. "So, did you receive it?"

"Huh?"

"The card, I mean."

"Oh, yes," he replied. "Yeah, thank you. It was very pretty, but not quite as much as the one who made it."

It had felt quite strange to force himself to say that last thing, but it was the least he could say after literally kissing someone else right after receiving her card. Marina went pink, and giggled.

"I think I need to go," he said, since she wasn't saying anything else. "We haven't got a plan yet for tomorrow, and Hermione and Ron aren't here, so..."

"Maybe I can help you-"

"No need!" said Harry, all of a sudden, from behind them.

Ben wondered how he had heard them if he was still sitting, though he didn't turn to him.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think we can do it ourselves," he explained, trying to be as kind as possible.

"Oh, okay..." she said, sounding slightly hurt. "Well... Bye."

"See you."

Ben walked back to Harry, who was watching, a smug look on his face. "Why are you so rude to her? She could've helped us, she's smart."

"We don't need her help."

"We still haven't got a clue of what to do tomorrow, Harry," he reminded him, sitting in the chair next to him.

"If what you want is to just not be alone with me, that's alright," he snapped. "If you don't want to stay with me, leave."

Ben blinked. "I want to stay with you. Of course I do."

Harry let out a short, bitter laugh. "Mhm, it shows."

"What do you mean?"

"You're back at acting dumb, I see," commented Harry, flipping the pages of the book in front of him.

"And you're back at being mean."

Harry breathed in, and looked back at him. "Look, Ben, if you don't like me, you could've just said so," he whispered, glancing at their surroundings to make sure nobody could hear him but Ben. "You didn't have to kiss me out of pity."

"I didn't kiss you out of pity, Harry" he mumbled.

"Then why did you kiss me?"

"Sorry?"

"Why did you kiss me, Ben?"

Ben hesitated. "Because that's... That's what I had been wanting to do for months."

"You're lying to me."

"I'm not," he insisted. "I'm really not, I promise. I didn't do it out of pity. I did it because I..."

The sentence died off in his lips.

"Because you..."

"I don't think it's a good idea to talk about this right now."

"I would've talked to you earlier, if it wasn't for the fact that you've been avoiding me since it happened."

"That's not true," he frowned. "It was only for a day."

"Merlin, Ben, you know what I mean," he groaned, tousling his dark and beautiful hair. Ben pretended it didn't make the butterflies in his stomach go crazy. "Ron told me you didn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, because I don't."

"So what do we do, then?"

Ben gulped. "Forget."

"I don't want to forget."

"Harry, please..."

"So you want me to pretend it didn't happen? To... To act as though there's absolutely nothing else than a friendship between us?"

"I don't want to, but it's what's best, what's s-"

"I can't stop being in love with you."

"Harry, do you think it's not difficult for me, too? Do you think it's easy for me to pretend I don't want to kiss you every single time you look at me? It hurts me, too, because I can't stop being in love with you, either."

"Then why can't we-"

Ben got to his feet. "Because we can't! We simply can't, this can't happen."

Harry stood up, too, and got closer to him. But Ben couldn't look at him. He physically couldn't. He heard Harry call his name, but he didn't react. He was facing downwards, not daring to look up.

"Ben, look at me, please," he whispered, and reached out a hand to very carefully push his chin up, lifting his head so he could look at him. "What are you so afraid of?"

His eyes were so beautiful they drove him crazy. They made him want to completely lose his mind again, despite the fact that they were in public.

But he couldn't, because he knew it was not okay. And it was not safe, either.

"I can't tell you," he whispered back, and took a step back, distancing himself from Harry. "But all I can say is this is for the better, for both of us."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me, it really is," he assured. "Something like this isn't safe for either of us right now."

"Right now?" he repeated, his eyes sparkling with hope.

Ben paused. 

"It might be in the future..." he said, very slowly. "Maybe someday. But I don't want to make you w-"

"I will wait as long as I have to," he replied, immediately, sounding so sure it made Ben want to cry.

"What if you meet someone better? Or what if waiting for me is not worth it?"

"I know it will be worth it. You are worth anything and everything."

———————————————

When Ben woke up the next morning, he was asleep on the sofa in the common room. At first, he felt completely confused and disoriented, until he remembered the previous night. He had stayed up until quite late, helping Harry with their search, and Ben had been half lying on the sofa, almost leaning on him, while turning the pages of a gigantic book. He didn't remember exactly when, but his eyelids had started to feel so heavy that he could barely keep his eyes open.

And the fact that Harry's fingers were unconsciously playing with his hair was not helping his battle against sleep.

He had a vague memory of the boy telling him he was going to sneak into the library to see if he could find something else. He was quite sure he had tried to stand up and to join him, but Harry had told him to stay there.

Did he insist on going with him? Probably, but he didn't remember.

"Oh, here you are!" exclaimed Neville, going down the stairs.

"Where's everyone?" he asked him.

"They left already," he replied. "The task's about to start."

"What?" he jumped to his feet. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"I didn't know you were here, I just woke up, too... And Ron and Harry are nowhere to be found, but I guess Harry's already at the Black Lake."

Ben began closing and organising all of the books he and Harry had been reading the previous night.

"Why are there so many books here?" wondered Neville.

"Harry and I were trying to find out what he could do for today's task," he explained. "I would've taken them to the library, but there's no time now."

"Yeah, that's right... We should get going, or we'll miss it!"

So, Ben and Neville rushed out of the castle, and nearly ran down the fields, heading towards the edge of the Black Lake. Everyone was there, gathered in three stands. As soon as they arrived, they saw Harry frantically looking for someone.

"Harry!" called Neville and Ben at the same time.

The boy's eyes widened, and he visibly relaxed, at the sight of them. They hurried up to him. "Thank Merlin you two are here!"

"I'm sorry we're late," said Ben.

Neville was panting as he catched his breath after the run. "We overslept."

"It's alright..." Harry said.

"Do you know where Ron and Hermione are?" asked Ben.

"They might be in the stands already," hypothesised Neville. "I'll go see if they're there..."

They watched Neville leave.

"They aren't there," commented Harry.

Ben's eyebrows furrowed. "How do you know?"

"Dobby told me," explained Harry. "They've taken them."

Panic drained all kinds of colour from Ben's face. "W-What?"

"They took someone important to each of us, and left them at the bottom of the lake. This task consists of rescuing them in under an hour."

"But Dumbledore won't let them die if something goes wrong, right?"

"I don't know."

"Have you figured out how to do it, then?"

Harry nodded. "Dobby gave me some Gillyweed."

"What even is that?"

He drew out of his pocket a ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails. "This."

"Do you have to eat it?"

"That's what Dobby told me."

"Yummy."

Harry let out a nervous chuckle. "He said this will allow me to breathe underwater for an hour."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Not really, but there's nothing else I can do."

Ben nodded in understanding. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't go with you to the library last night."

"I'm the one who told you to stay in the common room," he reminded him. "So don't worry."

Harry smiled nervously at him, and the first thought to sparkle on Ben's mind is how much he would love to see that smile every day during the rest of his life, in any sort of way. All of a sudden, he thought of the possibility of that being the last time he could see it, if something went wrong with the Gillyweed.

"Don't be afraid, Ben," Harry whispered. "I will be alright."

"You're going to do awesome," he assured. "I know you will."

"Thank you," he grinned. "I think I'd better go."

"Yeah, me too," he nodded, beginning to walk away, though not looking away from him. "See you soon, Harry."

"See you soon, Ben."

Ben rushed to the stands, trying to find any of his friends. It didn't take him long before seeing Thomas' curly hair, and he approached him. He was sitting next to Neville, Leah and Delilah. The Gryffindor waved at him, but the two girls were so busy chatting that they barely noticed him joining them.

"Just in time," commented Thomas.

"I was talking to Harry," he said, readjusting his hoodie.

"Of course," whispered Thomas, teasingly. Ben rolled his eyes and nudged him playfully. "Why aren't Ron and Hermione with you?"

"You'll find out really soon."

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle!" Ludo Bagman's voice boomed. "They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One, two, three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air, and the stands erupted with cheers and applause as the Champions jumped into the lake.

"Am I supposed to have found out already?" wondered Thomas, so Ben explained to him and his friends everything he knew.

"So we're going to spend an hour watching the lake without knowing what's happening inside," commented Leah.

"That's right."

"Such an entertainment."

Delilah giggled at her comment, and Leah shifted in her seat, holding back a smile. At first, people were trying their best to see something, but everyone soon gave up, and began chatting amongst themselves, though they didn't miss a single word said by Bagman, who didn't really have much to say.

"Hold up, I just realised something," commented Thomas, around fifteen minutes after the beginning of the task. "If Harry is going to rescue Ron... Whose hostage is Hermione?"

"Well, I doubt it's Delacour, I heard her little sister Gabrielle is at the castle, so I assume she'll be the one she has to rescue," answered Delilah. "Maybe Diggory?"

"They don't know each other that much," noted Ben. "I think Cedric'll have to rescue Mei-Xing." He looked at the Ravenclaw girls. "Has either of you seen her this morning?"

Both Leah and Delilah shook their heads.

"She was asked to go to McGonagall's office," said the blonde, "last night, when she was about to go to bed, and she didn't come back."

"So I guess there's only Krum left."

Thomas frowned. "Are they dating, then?"

"I have no idea," he shrugged. "Hermione barely mentions him. I'm glad about it, I don't really like him that much."

"Why not?" asked Delilah. "He is such a gentleman."

Leah gave her an odd look.

"Yeah, and he is also eighteen," he pointed out, eyebrows furrowed. "And she's just fifteen!"

"Wow, that's true, I haven't thought about that!" exclaimed Neville, sounding quite surprised. "It's quite weird."

"Yeah," they all agreed.

"Besides, I'm team Ron," added Ben, sounding satisfied.

"So am I!" shouted Ginny Weasley, from the row behind them, next to a Ravenclaw girl with light blonde hair. "But don't tell them, though..."

Ben laughed, and the girl gave him a fist bump.

"Oh, I didn't know you two were friends," commented Leah, referring to the Ravenclaw girl.

"Neither did I," spoke the girl. Her voice sounded like a soft, airy melody. "Until recently, I couldn't believe I had made a friend... My name is Luna Lovegood, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," smiled Ben, holding out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Ben Walker."

Luna Lovegood, instead of shaking his hand, observed it as though she found it fascinating. She then gently took his index finger, and her big, bright blue eyes met his. "Has a pixie bit your nails?"

"Um- No, I did it myself..."

"Why?" she asked, sounding very confused. "Were you hungry?"

Ben glanced at Ginny, who was simply watching Luna, a dreamy look on her face, and a sweet smile plastered on her lips. Oh, he thought. Got it.

"No," he replied, chuckling. "It's something I do whenever I'm nervous, you know."

"Oh," she said, nodding in understanding, and let go of Ben's finger. "When I'm nervous, I play with my bracelets."

The girl moved her hands so they could admire her bracelets. There were many, of many different colors and shapes, that didn't exactly combine well. Some were simple strings, others were made of rainbow-colored beads, others were crisscrossed threads, similar to the bracelet Ben was wearing.

There was a bracelet that especially caught his attention; it was a tree twig, leaves and all, braided together around her hand.

"They're very cute!" said Delilah kindly.

"Thank you!" beamed Luna, and instantly took out one of the bracelets, and gave it to her.

"Really?" she asked, eyebrows lifted up. She nodded effusively, so Delilah put on the bracelet, of intertwined silver and pink threads. "Thank you very much, it's beautiful!"

Luna answered as a response, and the now bigger group went back to talking. Ben ended up learning a lot of gossip from his classmates, and even from people he didn't even know. For example, he discovered that Parvati and Padma Patil had danced with some boys from Beauxbatons at the Yule Ball, and that they had been on a double date at Hogsmeade, so now they were dating, or something similar to that.

Just some moments later, a blonde head popped up from the lake. It wasn't followed by another one. Fleur Delacour was desperately trying to catch her breath, looking panick-striken and quite ashamed as people booed at her.

As soon as she was out of the lake, her friends and Madame Maxime welcomed her with thick towels. Ludo Bagman said something about the girl having retired from the competition.

"Poor Fleur," whispered Delilah sadly, looking around at the people who were making fun of her. "Why's everyone being so rude?"

"Right?" agreed Thomas. "I bet most people would've shat their pants at the thought of even jumping into the lake."

"I wonder what's going to happen to her sister, though," commented Leah.

"Dumbledore won't let her be in danger," shrugged Ben. "How much time is there left?"

"Er... Two minutes."

None of the remaining champions had returned with their hostage yet. People were starting to get worried. What if there had been an accident?

All of a sudden, the crowd erupted into cheers, signalling one of the champions had already completed the task. It was Cedric, with Mei-Xing on his side. The boy gently but decisively grabbed her, so that she could catch her breath, and he began swimming towards the bank where the judges stood watching.

The third champion to make an act of presence was Krum, around five minutes later, who brought Hermione with him. Ben breathed out. At least she was okay. He still couldn't manage to relax completely, though.

Why wasn't Harry there, yet? Had something gone wrong with the gillyweed? He was so scared he could barely stay still. His hands were starting to tremble, and he couldn't stop his own leg from bouncing up and down nervously. He couldn't bear the idea of losing both Ron and Harry.

"What if he..." he began, but Thomas cut him off at once.

"No," he said. "He's okay, I'm sure. They both are."

"But what if-"

"Dumbledore would never let Harry die."

"He better not."

And, finally, a black-haired head appeared in the lake, followed by a red-haired one, and a platinum blonde one. Ben almost cried out of both happiness and relief. He and his friends clapped louder than anyone else in the stands.

Around Harry, Ron and Gabrielle, the merpeople's green-haired heads emerged in the water, and accompanied them on their way to the platform where all the other champions and the juries were.

Ben turned to Thomas. "I'm gonna go find out if I can see them."

He needed to see them. Half of his favourite people were there; Ron, Hermione, Cedric, Mei-Xing and, most importantly, Harry. He could've lost all of them in one single task.

"I'll go with you," said Ginny, who had been as scared as him.

Both of them rushed their way through the crowd, and went down the stand as quickly as possible. They ran across the platform that led to the center, and saw Rolf Scamander, who was hurrying in the same direction, but coming from the other stand.

Cedric saw them as they ran up to him, and immediately met both boys with a hug, while Ginny went past them, towards Ron. Cedric was still a bit wet, but neither Ben or Rolf minded it. Mei-Xing was standing next to them, her hair damp, and shaking slightly, so she joined their hug.

"Thank Helga you're alive, Ced," was saying Rolf, sounding like he had been close to crying. "You did wonderful."

"You did," agreed both Mei-Xing and Ben at the same time.

Ben didn't exactly remember when he had last hugged Cedric. He was quite sure it had been back in his second year, when everyone had started hugging and clapping for Hagrid. He had a memory of the older boy congratulating him for what he and his friends had done, and then pulling him into a hug.

Back then, Cedric was way taller than Ben. But, now, their height difference wasn't really that much. The realisation of how swiftly time went by was a bittersweet sensation.

When the four members of the hug had separated themselves, Ben turned around to find his other friends. And, the first thing he saw was Fleur kissing Harry twice on each cheek.

Hm.

At first, he felt a confused rush of anger, but it soon faded away when he realised she was probably just thanking him for saving her sister. His suspicions were proven right when, as he walked up to them, Fleur bent down to kiss Ron, too, before leaving to join Gabrielle.

"What a flirt, Ronniekins," he teased. Ginny let out a laugh, and Hermione's face was drawing a frown.

"How did you even find out about that nickname?" complained Ron.

"I told him," said his sister.

Ron and Ginny started bickering, and Harry stood up. Ben looked at him. "Hey."

"Hey."

All of a sudden, Ben didn't know what to say. He wanted Harry to know how proud he was of him. How scared he had been at the thought of losing him. How glad he was that everything had gone right, and how happy he was to be able to see him and talk to him again. But he would probably scare him if he went and told him all that out of the blue.

But he couldn't simply pretend nothing important had just happened. Harry had just risked his life, he maybe could've died.

He hesitated for an instant. Harry's eyes were fixed on him, and his lips drew a small smile. Ben felt as though he could see what he was thinking of, although he wished it wasn't true, because he had just started thinking about how beautiful he looked- No. How beautiful he was whenever he smiled or, to be honest, simply existed.

There was a warm sensation in his heart, like a burning butterfly was flying around his insides, and set it on fire the moment he pulled Harry into a heart, despite the fact that anyone could see it. Well, he was certain there was, by no means, nothing wrong with two best friends hugging right after one of them had just taken part in a life-risking competition.

Hugging Harry felt different than hugging any other person in the entire world. He wasn't sure if it was the hug itself what was different; or it was actually his feelings. Or their feelings.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision!" Ludo Bagman yelled with his magically magnified voice, making everyone jump, and causing them to pull apart. "Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows..."

All of the champions got very tense, listening carefully.

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

An energetic applause came from the stands.

"I deserved zero," she mumbled, throatily.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour. We therefore award him forty-seven points."

Enormous cheers came from the crowd, and from Ben and Rolf, who grinned at their friend.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Ron grumbled something under his breath.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Ben's eyes widened as he looked at him. "Did you really?"

Harry gave him a quite embarrassed look.

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

"YES!" shouted Hermione.

"There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the applause. "You weren't being thick after all, you were showing moral fiber!"

Harry smirked at him. "See? I'm such a hero."

"Nah, you're still a dumbass," teased Ben.

Harry approached him, grinning. "Oh, am I?" he whispered.

"Mhm," he replied, playfully nudging him so he wouldn't see his flushed cheeks.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twentyfourth of June," concluded Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions." 

A/N: I hope you guys have been enjoyed Ben's optimistic, social and joyful personality because, as soon as fourth year is over, it'll all be gone 🤗

that being said i wanted to announce that i might start a ron fic very soon! the mc's named is killian scamander and it'll start in first year (yes, another incredibly slowburn, i can't wait to drive myself crazy over it!!) 

well byeee