Ben had been completely right about the next day being difficult for Harry.

All the boys from their dorm woke up earlier than usual, and left without them, even though Ben was already awake. He took his old sketchbook, and a pencil and an eraser that Marina had given him from a Muggle store, and stayed in his bed, with Boots and Snowie purring beside him.

It was quite early, and he didn't want to wake Harry, because he assumed that he would have had a hard time falling asleep the night before, and that this would be a hard day, so he wanted to let him rest.

He began to look through some of his old drawings, from before he even started going to Hogwarts, and remembered the time when his days consisted precisely of what he was doing now; staying in his bed, drawing, waiting for the day to end, and praying that his parents wouldn't take out any frustration on him.

There were many drawings of the same landscape: that of the forest around his house. They were always from the same point of view, that of her room, and the only thing that changed were the colors. Above all, he liked to paint views at sunrise and sunset, because the tones of the sky gave him the freedom to let his creativity fly.

In all of them, a small fragment of the lake could be seen in the distance. It wasn't even that far away, but he had only been there once. He had wanted to go there all his life, wondering what the lake was like in its entirety. At night, he dreamed that he escaped and visited it, and discovered hundreds of creatures accompanying him along the path to the lake through the forest.

And, during the day, he would draw exactly what he had dreamt. They weren't very good drawings, it was evident that Ben had improved a lot since then, but the essence of the boy's desperation to visit that lake was present in every stroke, in every silhouette, in every color.

"Good morning," Harry's sleepy voice came from the bed next to his, startling him. Ben looked at him as he rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. "Has everyone left already?"

"Yeah," he replied, closing the notebook, and placing everything back in his trunk. "They told me to join them, but I said I wasn't leaving you here on your own."

"Thank you," he said. Ben smiled at him.

"I think it's too late for breakfast, though."

They still got dressed as quickly as possible, just in case there was still a chance to be on time. They went downstairs, and Harry asked Ben to look around the common room to see if there was someone there. After he shook his head, they pushed the portrait hole open, and climbed out of it, finding themselves face-to-face with a worried looking Hermione.

"Hello," she greeted, holding up some toasts, which she was carrying in two napkins. "I brought you this... Want to go for a walk?"

"Good idea," said Harry gratefully.

They went downstairs, crossed the entrance hall quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water.

"Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself," said Hermione when Harry was done telling them everything that happened the night before in the chamber off the Hall. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Harry... I don't think any student could have done it. They'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's-"

"Have you seen Ron?" Harry interrupted.

"Erm... yes, he was at breakfast," she answered hesitantly.

"Does he still think I entered myself?"

"Well- No, I don't think so... not really?"

"What's that supposed to mean, 'not really'?"

"Oh Harry, isn't it obvious?" Hermione said despairingly. Harry and Ben exchanged confused looks. "He's jealous!"

"Jealous?" Harry repeated incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a fool of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"

"Look," began Hermione patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is."

"How's that his fault?" interrupted Ben.

"It's not his fault," the girl continued. "I know you don't ask for it, but... Well, you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous... He's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many."

"Great," grumbled Harry bitterly. "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it... People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go..."

"I'm not telling him anything," refused Hermione. "And Ben's not, either. Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" shouted Harry, making several owls in a nearby tree take flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or-"

"That's not funny," Hermione scolded him. "That's not funny at all." She looked extremely anxious. "Harry, I've been thinking... You know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"

"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the-"

"Write to Sirius," she corrected him. "You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me."

"Come off it," said Harry, looking around to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the grounds were quite deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament..."

"He'd want you to tell him," insisted Hermione sternly. "He's going to find out anyway."

"How?"

"Harry, this isn't going to be kept quiet," said Hermione, very seriously. "This tournament's famous, and you're famous. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing... You're already in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know . . . and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would."

"Besides, surely, in the prophet they say that you voluntarily joined the tournament," added Ben. "Of course, Sirius will believe you if you afterwards tell him that it's not true, but it would be better if you explained everything to him from the beginning."

"Okay, okay, I'll write to him," Harry gave up, throwing his last piece of toast into the lake.

———————————————

It seemed like almost everyone thought Harry was lying, for better or worse. Some Gryffindors had begun treating him as a hero, and kept asking him how he had done it. The rest of the students from other houses, however, weren't happy in the slightest, and didn't even try to be discreet about it.

The Hufflepuffs were specially mad, since they thought Harry had taken away Cedric's spotlight, and his opportunity to bring honour to his house by being the Hogwarts champion.

Speaking of Cedric, Ben spent all day trying to speak to him, but he didn't manage to. He had promised Harry he would stay with him whenever they were around school, and it was impossible to approach Cedric if the older boy was surrounded by people who were angry at Harry.

Everyone the boy went to, people began whispering. And, every now and then, a "Cheat!" or a "Potter stinks!" was heard.

People seemed to have caught a liking for the second quote and, by monday, mostly everyone was wearing some sort of bright badges with the words 'POTTER STINKS' written in bold letters on them.

They found out as soon as Harry, Hermione and Ben approached Snape's dungeon that morning. The Slytherins were waiting outside for them, wearing their badges, although there was a different message on them: 'SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY, THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION."

"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do... Look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green:

'POTTER STINKS'.

The Slytherins began howlering with laughter, and they pressed their badges, too, until the message was completely surrounding Harry.

"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty."

Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either.

"Hilarious, actually," added Ben, glaring at Malfoy.

"Oh, by the way, Walker," he smirked, amusement sparkling in his eyes as he looked at him. "I've got a lovely little surprise for you."

"If it's not a letter from your parents saying you're moving away from the continent, I'm afraid I'll be quite disappointed."

The blond completely ignored that comment, and searched in his pocket before extending his arm, and holding out one of those badges. "I saved this one specifically for you."

"So cute, but what makes you think I'd want to have this?" he asked. "Or anything related to you, in general?"

Malfoy blinked. "I saved it for you so you could also show your support to the real Hogwarts Champion."

Ben breathed in deeply.

"So, do you want the badge or not?" insisted Malfoy, reaching out further so Ben could take it. The boy took a step back, as though the mere idea of being close to him disgusted him, something that wasn't too far from reality.

"No, I don't," he stated. "But I do want you to shut the fuck up for once, though."

And, with that, he swatted Malfoy's hand, making the badge fall to the floor with a clang.

"Let's go, you two," said Hermione, talking to both Ben and Harry.

"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out another badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

Before anyone else could react, Harry had pulled his wand out of his pocket, eyes glowing in anger.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.

"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy whispered, slowly drawing out his own wand. "If you're not a coward."

For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.

"Furnunculus!" yelled Harry.

"Densaugeo!" shouted Malfoy.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles. Harry's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up. Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.

"Hermione!" screamed Ron, hurrying up to her to see what was wrong. The girl was shaking slightly, as he gently took her hand, and moved it away from her mouth.

"Oh, Merlin," exclaimed Ben, approaching them, too. Hermione's front teeth were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin... Panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.

Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."

"Potter attacked me, sir-"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" shouted Harry.

"And he hit Goyle, look!"

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape instructed calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" cried Ron. "Look!"

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth. She was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

The girl let out a whimper, her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight. It was lucky, perhaps, that all Harry, Ben and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.

"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter, Weasley and Walker. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

———————————————

The following days were absolutely miserable for Harry. He kept pretending he didn't care about anything, but Ben could see how his eyes got glossy and he clenched his jaw everytime Ron walked past him without speaking to him, or when someone called him a cheat, or showed him their badges.

As soon as Hermione got out of the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey had brought her teeth back to normal, she and Ben made sure Harry would never be completely alone. Hermione had to split her time, though, since she didn't want to abandon Ron. Ben didn't, either, but he didn't want to be away from Harry.

So they began spending much more time together. Ben took him places where they wouldn't be found that easily so he could relax. And, sometimes, they were joined by Neville or Thomas, who had made it clear from day one that they believed Harry was innocent.

"Wouldn't you rather be in the common room with everyone else?" Harry quietly asked him one afternoon, as they were sitting up at the Astronomy tower, watching the light in the sky slowly fade.

He didn't hesitate. "No, because you aren't there."

Harry turned his head to look at him, only to find out he was already watching him. Ben would've normally gotten embarrassed and looked away, but he couldn't now. He couldn't find the strength to. He had been enchanted by the look on Harry's eyes.

"What's going to happen now?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper.

"Regarding what?"

"Everything," he said. "Will people stop hating me if I get killed during the tournament?"

"If you get killed, I'll be the one who hates you," he joked. "So you better not."

"Well that's a good motivation for me to stay alive."

Ben grinned. "I'm glad it worked."

It reached a point where, everytime someone approached Harry just to make fun of him, the boy stopped reacting. It's not like he showed much care before, but he would glare at them. However, now, he simply waited for them to finally shut up, or to move away.

So, since Harry wasn't reacting, and people still bothered to attempt to humiliate him, Ben began getting so mad that he snapped at every single person who dared to try to hurt his best friend. It became some sort of entertainment for him, to see if he was able to

Then, when Harry didn't react and people still bothered to try to humiliate him, Ben got so angry that he started snapping at every person who dared to try to do it. It became a kind of entertainment for him, to see if he could improve himself and his comebacks. Sometimes his responses were so brutal and sharp that Harry would burst out laughing.

One day, when Harry and Ben were on their way to the Great Hall for lunch, they apparently walked past Malfoy, who was sitting on a big tree in the clock tower courtyard.

"What are you even doing up there, Malfoy?"

"That's none of your business," he replied casually, jumping off it. "My father and I have a bet, you see!"

"Is it a bet to see which of the two is more pathetic?" wondered Ben. Harry chuckled. "You win, without a single doubt."

Malfoy, as per usual, ignored his comment and continued speaking.

"I don't think you're gonna last ten minutes in this tournament," he said, stepping forward, with his band of baboons snickering behind him. "He disagrees. He thinks you won't last five!"

"I don't give a damn what your father thinks, Malfoy!" shouted Harry, pushing Malfoy violently, making him stumble backwards. "He's vile and cruel, and you're pathetic."

Ben smirked to himself as they began walking away.

Malfoy scowled at them while reaching for his wand. But, before he could do anything with it, Mad-eye Moody, their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, came stomping on the grass, pointing his wand up at Malfoy.

"Oh, no, you don't, Sonny!" he bellowed, and a shot of yellowish light came out of his wand.

With a loud yell, Malfoy suddenly transformed into something small that looked like a very long and white rat. Ben realised it was a ferret at the same time as Malfoy did, too, letting out a squeal of fear.

Harry burst into laughter, followed by Ben and many other students who were around to watch the scene.

"That'll teach you to not cross someone when their back is turned!" exclaimed Moody, with an air of triumph in his voice as he swung the ferret in the air, causing it to let out squeaks every now and then. "You stinky coward!"

Professor McGonagall came running through the courtyard, and past the crowd of laughing students. "Professor Moody! Professor Moody, what are you doing?"

"Teaching," he answered simply. McGonagall's eyes widened.

"Is that... Is that a student?"

"Well, um... Technically, it's a ferret," he smiled, taking the white ferret from its neck, and shoving it down Crabbe's pants. The boy began shouting crazily, making everyone's laughs increase in volume.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the grass with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," Moody scratched his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock-"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," nodded Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy... You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son, you tell him that from me... Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes."

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape. Come on, you..."

And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.

Harry and Ben continued laughing, tears forming in their eyes from doing it so hard, all the way to the Great Hall. Unconsciously, they ran up to Hermione and Ron.

"You won't believe what just happened, Ron!" exclaimed Harry, happily. "We were on the courtyard, and-"

"I don't care."

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence after that. Until Harry walked over to sit on the other end of the Gryffindor table without saying anything else.

"For Merlin's sake, Ron," said Ben sternly, before following Harry.

A tiny owl Ben wasn't familiar with came flying by, and landed on Harry's shoulder, dropping a rolled letter on his lap. "Looks like I've got a letter."

The mention of the word letter reminded him of the letter from Alycia he had received the night before. He had to make sure he finished his reply that afternoon.

"From who?"

"Him," he replied, unrolling the letter.

So it was from Sirius. The last time they had heard from him was when he told Harry he would travel to Hogsmeade, so he wasn't as far away from him, since he was worried about Harry's scar hurting every now and then during the summer.

Ben watched Harry as his eyes went from left to right, reading the letter. "He's now hiding in a cave, not far from Hogsmeade... And he told me to meet him tomorrow at one in the morning."

"Meet him?" Ben repeated, eyebrows furrowed. "Does he want you to sneak out and go to that cave at midnight? If so, I'm going with you-"

"No, no, he told me to meet him in the common room," he explained. Ben calmed down. "I wonder how he's going to be there, though..."

"I don't think he'll actually be there, Harry, it'd be pretty much impossible."

"Yeah, I know."

———————————————

That afternoon, Hermione suggested going for a walk around the castle, but Ben preferred to stay at the dorm, since he wanted to finish Alycia's letter, so Harry and Hermione went on their own.

'Dear Alycia,

I knew the word would spread around quickly, Harry, Hermione and I talked about it. But, the problem is, the word is not completely true. Or not true in the slightest, actually. What they're saying about him is nothing but lies. I know you don't know Harry in person, but I do (although Mother and Father don't know, so please make sure they don't see this), and I can assure you he's nothing like that. He didn't put his name into the Goblet, it was someone else. But we don't know who it was.

Speaking of something different, you're saying that Audrey's been at home? Do you know why? Has she even talked to you? I still don't understand why she did what she did, to be honest.

I can't wait for you to be here, then I will finally be able to be completely calm. Stay safe, Alycia, please.

I love you so much,

Ben.'

The door opened as soon as he stopped writing. Ron walked in, looking sorrowful. He looked at Ben, and Ben looked at him, but none of them talked. Ron approached him, sat on the bed closest to where he was, and was greeted by Snowflake, who jumped right next to him.

"What are you writing?" he asked.

"A letter to Alycia," he replied, slightly surprised by how calmly he had spoken. "I was about to go to the Owlery."

"Can I go with you?" he asked, hopefully.

Ben got up to his feet, folding his letter and placing it inside an envelope. "Um, yeah, sure."

"You can use Pig to send it to her, if you want to," suggested Ron, happily, standing up.

"That'd be nice. I really like Pig, he's so cute."

Pig, short for Pigwidgeon, was an incredibly small owl which had been gifted to Ron by Sirius, after the loss of Scabbers.

"He is, but he's also very annoying."

Ben smirked. "Like father, like son."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped, holding back laughter.

Both boys walked out of their dorm, and began their way to the Owlery. "Ron, can I ask you something?"

"Mhm."

"Do you really think Harry put his name into the goblet?"

Ron was silent for a while, so Ben was, too, allowing him to think. "No. I don't think I ever did, actually."

"Then why are you not on his side?" he asked. "You know he's having a terrible time, don't you?"

"Yeah, I bet it's incredibly hard to deal with being so cool and so famous."

"Ron."

"Sorry."

"He doesn't want his fame, Ron," he said. "He never wanted it nor asked for it. Who would even want to be famous for a reason like that? He's famous because He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named murdered his parents, and tried to kill him, too."

"I know."

"And he didn't want to be part of the tournament, either. I know we all talked about how amazing it would be to be the champion, but that doesn't mean he'd want to risk his life unnecessarily just for it. He doesn't need the money, or the glory. And he doesn't need to be put in more danger, he's already had a fair share of it throughout his life, and Merlin knows what's coming to him in the future. Especially now that Pettigrew escaped, and there's been a death eater attack."

"I know he didn't."

"Then why aren't you on his side?" exclaimed Ben. "Why aren't you with him? You're his best friend, Ron-"

"You two are closer."

"That's not true. You two are always together, and I know you've told each other things you haven't told me- But that's okay, I don't mind it, I understand, I guess."

"What'd you mean by that?"

"Well, uh... For example, I know Harry likes someone. Like as in fancy, I mean. And I'm sure you know who it is, but he didn't tell me."

"But that's because..."

"I know why it is."

Ron's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened.

"WHAT?" he pretty much shouted, giving a young Hufflepuff girl quite a fright. "H-H-He told you?"

Ben frowned, befuddled. "Er- No, I just figured it out."

"So you know he fancies..."

"Marina, yes, I do," he replied. "And he won't tell me because he thinks I fancy her, too, although I certainly don't."

Ron burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at, weirdo?"

"At how stupid you both are."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Nevermind, I don't even wanna know."

"You eventually will."

"Okay... Well, my point is that you and him are best friends. You care about each other, even when you're mad at each other, and it shows. Deep down, you need each other. And he needs you more than ever now that everyone's against him, and now that the first task of the tournament is taking place in less than a week."

"Regarding that... I- Uh. I know something," he stuttered. "I know what it will consist of."

"Woah, how?"

"My brother Charlie told me," explained Ron. "He works with dragons, you know. And he told me they were bringing them here."

"So the first task is taking down a dragon?" exclaimed Ben, horrified by the idea.

"No, I don't think so," he shook his head. "I don't know what it is, exactly, but it can't be that."

"Thank Merlin."

"So, as I had some... Valuable information regarding the tournament, that could be useful for any champion, I made sure Harry knew."

Ben's eyes widened in excitement. "You talked to him? Oh, Ron, that's wonderful, I'm glad you-"

"No," he denied. Ben's smile dropped. "I asked Hagrid to show him the dragons himself."

"Huh?"

"The dragons are somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, at least that's what Charlie told me," he clarified as they went up the stairs to the Owlery. "So, I told Hagrid everything I knew, and asked him to show them to Harry. I wanted him to know, but I, well, can't talk to him right now."

"Why not, though?"

"Because I'm sure he's mad at me, too."

"Rightfully so."

Ron looked down, and Ben could tell he wasn't feeling proud of his actions. He understood where he was coming from, as Hermione had told him and Harry, but he didn't understand why he was taking it that far. And, especially, he didn't understand why he couldn't just talk to Harry, now that he had admitted that, deep down, he knew he was innocent.

"I will talk to him."

"Really?"

"Yes, I promise. But not yet," he nodded. "After the first task is over."

"Why?"

"I bet he'll be busy preparing for it. I don't want to interfere."

Ben didn't see how talking to him and making up would cause Harry any harm, but at least he had promised he would eventually do it.

"Don't tell him I talked to you about this, though, alright?"

"Alright."

A/N: i hope you enjoyed!

also thank you so much to everyone who comments on this book, there's nothing i love more than getting comments <33