Broken Mirror

Chapter 43

The next morning Harry went down to breakfast half suspecting that he would be ostracised and jeered at like last time even though his own house had been much improved from before he couldn't help but wonder what reaction he would get. As he walked in the whispers rose and suddenly fell as Draco Malfoy approached him.
"Sorry to hear you had to pitcup with that farce last night cousin." Draco said inclining his head towards Harry. Harry knew from the pureblood etiquette lessons from Sirius this was a olive branch from the boy, at least thats what it would look like to others he and Dracohad buried the hatchet and mostly civil. "I am glad Lord Black was able to intervene on your behalf."
"My thanks cousin." Harry said mimicking his motions. "Sirius was most helpful. Thank you."
With that they parted and sat at their respective tables. The day went on as normal most of the students  gave sympathetic looks or whispered words of encouragement for him. It was a stark difference compared to the last time round. Cedric and Harry became good friends and even eat lunch together a few times.Ginny stuck to his side and thanks to a piece of good fortune Harry gathered enough courage to formally ask Ginny to be his girlfriend. The daily profit ran an article about the mix up with Harry's name coming out and the possibility of an attempt on his life. This caused a wave of letters of support and well wishes. Harry in turn wrote a letter the paper thanking all for their kind words and asking the wizarding community to support the real Triwizard Champions. The days passed happily, all too soon the dragons arrived for the first task and once again Hagrid told him about them. Harry in turn told Cedric as once again Igor Karkarof and Madam Maxime found out too.
As before the day of the first task loomed over them. But this time Harry sat in the stands and watched as Fleur, Victor and Cedric faced the dragons. As before Cedric got 38 points, Fleur got 25 and Victor went into the lead with 40 points. All hogwarts houses celebrated Cedric being in second place. Hufflepuff house was the loudest and the house that had the most students heading towards the infirmary the next day for headaches.
Once the Yule Ball was announced Harry wasted no time in asking Ginny to be his date. Thanks to the money the Weasley's had inherited Ron's dress robes were as good as Harry's. Although Ron still had problems asking Hermione eventually he gathered enough courage and asked. Hermione told Harry  that she was pleased Ron asked apparently she had been hoping he would get his head out of arse and admit how he felt. Harry hoped they would be as happy as they were in the future. Neville asked Luna to be his date, Fred asked Katie and George asked Angelina. Dean and Seamus eventually asked the Patil sisters as their dates.

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The morning of the Yule Ball Harry had a pleasant breakfast and spent time with his friends until the girls went to get ready for the ball.
"See you later Harry." Ginny said leaning over and kissing his cheek and made her way put of the room. Harry looked over at the twins the thunderous expressions on their faces reminded Harry that even though he had spoken to Ron he forgot about the twins. Dread made Harry gulp audibly.
"Oh come on guys." Suprising Harry when Ron spoke. "At least we know Harry will treat her right."
Silence descended as the twins looked at Harry thoughtfully.
"Look I really like your sister and would never do anything to hurt her." Harry stated once he had gathered his courage. "Besides if I ever did do anything wrong could you get to me before she does?"
That seemed to make all three of them wince. Smiling to himself he rembered her infamous bat-bogey hex that scared even Bill once she came of age.
The rest of the time passed smoothly and with only a few slight threats from the twins and Ron who joined his brothers fun. Eventually they separated to get ready for the ball. Ron had dark red almost black robes that suited him well. Neville had black robes accented in gold. Seamus and Dean had plain Black robes. The twins robes reflected their unique personalities black over coats were matched with lurid multi coloured waistcoats. Harry had dark green robes and he had to admit despite the twin waistcoats they all looked good. They sat around the common room waiting for their dates except Neville, Seamus and Dean who had gone to collect Luna and Parvati and Padma from the Ravenclaw common room as Parvati wanted to get ready with her sister. Katie was the first down Harry thought she looked lovely in the turquoise dress she had chosen. Angelina followed in a floor length slinky silver dress the perfectly accented her curves and had George drooling. Hermione follow in the same periwinkle blue dress Harry remembered from last time and Ron was seemingly lost for words. But as Ginny descended the stairs Harry's breath caught. She was wearing an emerald green dress with gold stitching perfectly complementing her hair and skin tone. Harry couldn't help but express that he was the luckiest guy at the ball. Which started a mock fight with Ron on their way down to the great hall. As before the hall had been transformed in to a winter wonderland and the nights sky showered with soft snow. Finding a table the waited for the Champions and there dates to enter. Fleur was escorted by Rodger Davis from Ravenclaw who was trying and darling not to stare at his date. Cho Chang was once again hanging off Cedric's arms and Harry had to admit they made a striking couple. Victor was with a sixth or seventh year Slytherin who Harry didn't recognise. After the speeches and a very nice dinner the Champions led the dancing and Harry found himself enjoying the dancing and it was well after 2am when Harry and the others finally made it to bed. The Christmas holidays soon passed by, the gifts he got from his family (god he had a family) and friends surprised him even the quidditch team bought him gifts. Sirius seemed to try and top the gifts from last year, send Harry a note that they would spend two weeks on the Caribbean island the Black family owned.
Harry couldn't believe he had got so lucky, even fumbledork had left him alone. He knew it wouldn't last but until he was absolutely sure Voldemort was gone then he got great pleasure in keeping the old goat in the dark like he had been.

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The year progressed quickly and in the blink of an eye Harry was sitting beside the lake watching the second task. Cedric had needed no help in figuring out the clue and had Harry couldn't be happier. The goblet obviously chose the right Champion. As before Krum turned himself into a half shark, Fleur couldn't get passed the grindlows and Cedric had mastered the bubble head charm. Once the points were awarded Cedric was in the lead and hogwarts celebrated in its own fashion. The Weasley twins let off their entire supply of filibuster fireworks and sang the school song at the top of their lungs with the rest of the Gryffindors joining in. Cedric and Cho were treated to rides on the shoulders of his friends all the way back to the castle. The Slytherin's gave luke warm congratulations while commenting it could have been done with more grace. The Ravenclaws joined the cheers of the two loud houses. Needlessto say many hangover cures were needed the next day. Even Professor Mcgonagall was seen procuring one and only the twins were brave enough to ask her (and got detention for their trouble). The joyful mood in the castle had only improved as time went on and inter-house fighting was the lowest that many of the long term teachers remembered. Harry had made friends with many of the pupils from the other schools including the champions. The third task crept up on Harry as he was having the best year of his life. Dumbledork had left him mostly alone and Snape had been too shocked to call him out to the point he was ignored in lessons. He had made friends with Victor who had a surprisingly dark humor and wit quick enough to match the Weasley twins. Fleur was full of knowledge that had Hermione asking her questions like she was from the Spanish inquisition. All too soon he was sat at the entrance of the maze watching Cedric disappear inside. The view was not so great as you could only see the rows of dark hedges. But at least the band played some music.