alone, and shudderingly cold. Her dirty clothes were covered in snow, and she figured that such weather began while she was unconscious; she had no recollection of the snow falling before she was hit over the head.

Wincing as she put a cold, snow-covered hand upon her head, she stared wide-eyed at her fingers when fresh blood became present on them. Gazing confusedly at her surroundings as her vision had faltered, she squinted through the darkness and managed to make out a mass of trees. "The Forbidden Forest," she whispered in realisation.

Beginning to trudge along the forest floor, darkened leaves crunched underneath her shoes as she walked - holding her head with her hand as an unpleasant pounding sensation surfaced through her skull. Through the trees she saw light, squinting at the sudden change of weather where the sun glistened upon the snow, melting it slowly.

She gasped in delight when a wooden mast came into her view; a mast belonging to the Durmstrang ship.

Arabella travelled further, attempting to ignore the sensation of the blood flowing from her head. She just wanted to get to the ship. She wanted to get to Viktor.

She stumbled along the wooden dock, knocking on the door that was now familiar to her. A Durmstrang student answered, of whom she didn't recognise, but his eyes became shocked and wide when he saw the bleeding, shivering and snow-covered girl."Viktor! Ela tuk!" He called, and although she didn't understand the Bulgarian, his language became clearer as to what he had said when Viktor approached him - standing beside his Durmstrang friend in the doorway.

"Bella," he choked out in shock at the sight of the Ravenclaw in front of him. "What happened to you?" He questioned, taking off his fur coat and wrapping it around her shoulders when he noticed her body shivering from the cold.

She said nothing, pulling him suddenly into a hug with her head upon his shoulder. He returned the grasp, holding her tightly despite being taken aback from the abrupt embrace. The other Durmstrang boy - who was seemingly younger than Viktor and still standing beside him - shuffled his feet awkwardly as they hugged, finally releasing each other when a tear began to fall down Arabella's cold cheek.

Viktor gave her a sympathetic look, wiping away the tear with his thumb and cupping her face in his hands. "Tell me what happened." He demanded, gesturing for the snow-covered girl to follow him inside the cabins of the ship. She obeyed with a nod and passed through the doorway, staring in awe when she noticed they had clearly used the Undetectable Extension Charm inside; she expected the rooms to be very small and consisting of only the essentials (she figured that there was not much use for anything else on a boat), but was pleasantly surprised when an array of rooms were presented in front of her.

There were Common Rooms, dormitories, kitchens, libraries and even a private study room. She peered through an open doorway, expecting to see classrooms as well, but was only met with the scowling face of Igor Karkaroff (she then realised that there obviously wouldn't be classrooms on a boat when they had a whole castle back in Scandinavia to house the classrooms - and the extra dormitories for when they weren't travelling, and therefore wouldn't need to sleep on the ship like they were currently).

Karkaroff immediately entered the library as Arabella tried to look away from his intimidating gaze, and placed his left hand on Bella's shoulder and his right on Viktor's. They both stood there awkwardly at the touch, exchanging a single and uncomfortable glance. "Ah, who is this, Viktor? New lover?" He teased. Viktor was about to respond when the Ravenclaw interrupted.

Bella sighed loudly. "No, sir. He's a friend. Please don't just make assumptions like that." She turned and gave the man a smile; grateful that he didn't shout at her like she thought he would.

"Of course, Miss--"

"Flannery."

As he left and the doors closed with an echoing bang, Viktor sighed with relief. "I am very surprised he took that so well. He must like you already, because if that was anyone else I'm sure that he would react differently." He commented with a low chuckle. "Take it as a compliment that he reacted the way he did - Karkaroff isn't exactly a man who easily warms up to people."

Arabella took a seat beside Viktor, on two armchairs parallel to each other. They were both of a burgundy hue, though tattered and worn in some places, and one leg was broken on Viktor's chair, which meant it was only stable due to leaning it against the large bookshelf behind. "Tell me, then." He asked, summoning a bucket of water and a cloth over to him with the Accio spell. He began to dip the cloth into the water as he spoke. "What happened to you, Bella?"

"I was going out with Erin to the Forbidden Forest, as you know, and then I lost sight of her. The next thing I knew I was jumped on and knocked unconscious. I think somebody hit me on the head, which is why I'm covered in my own blood." She winced as the warm cloth was pressed to her head, stained with her now-dried blood that was once dripping from the cut on her head.

"So it was Erin who did this to you?"

"Mhm, I think so. But I can't understand why she would all of a sudden want to beat me up. I haven't said or done anything to her to make her want to do so."

"I can't understand it either." He rubbed the excess blood from her head with the water-soaked cloth, pulling her red hair back to observe the wound. "Your cut doesn't look that bad. I've cleaned it, so just leave it to heal over and you should be fine."

She punched his arm lightly. "Whatever you say."

But as she laughed about her experiences, and told him stories about her times inside and outside of Hogwarts in exchange for stories about Durmstrang, he quickly became lost in her cerulean eyes when her words rang in his ears.

No, sir. He's a friend.

●

Arabella took Fred by the hand, the both of them running up the stadium where George promised he would meet them. The First Task had apparently already started, but luckily Cedric went first, so Bella was not going to miss Viktor's or Harry's turn. She decided that she would be supporting both of them, secretly rooting for Viktor a slight bit more, but she would never tell Harry that.

They raced up the steps, Bella almost tripping over her own feet as she eagerly made her way into the stands. She released her grip from Fred's as they both spotted George, exchanging a smile when he waved at the two.

Fred sat down beside his twin, with Arabella to the other side of him. Cedric had just finished his task by the appearance of the barren stadium, a slight charring in the ground and a round hole that looked as if something had been there beforehand. A dragon egg. The Ravenclaw thought. They have to retrieve a dragon egg.

A small vibrating of the rocks underneath made people in the stadium slightly startled; murmuring and whispering in anticipation until a green snout emerged from the shadows. A Common Welsh Green dragon padded into the grounds, snorting from its bulky nostrils but not letting out a single roar. Its emerald eyes widened at the sight of the people watching in awe, smoke blowing from its nose as it tapped the earthy-brown egg with its clawed foot.

Fleur Delacour stepped into the arena, her expression consisting of pure fear. The dragon was seemingly entranced by the egg it was presented with, taking no notice of the scared and confused girl in front of it until she shrieked a spell at the dragon which hit it on the tail. It roared melodiously, trudging over to Fleur who darted behind a large boulder.

The crowd gasped when she cast another spell - one inaudible to Bella since she couldn't understand her thick French accent - and the dragon fell instantly the ground. Its eyes were closed, its nostrils puffing and its mouth wide open as it snored contently. Fleur Delacour had driven a Common Welsh Green into a sleeping trance.

Arabella heard Hermione chuckle to herself from the stand behind where she was sitting. She began muttering something about Fleur and her technique, claiming her theories to be pathetic and her morals to be utterly pompous, according to the curly-haired girl.

There was a sudden burst of cheering echoing around the stands, and the redhead caught sight of Fleur leaving the rocky grounds with the earthy-brown egg in her hands and a proud smile on her face. The dragon remained stuck in a deep sleep; so deep in fact, that Hagrid had to venture onto the grounds and charm the creature to awaken so that it could follow him out of the stadium. It was led - just like Cedric's dragon - to its temporary home in the Forbidden Forest.

George tapped Bella on the shoulder, making her glance towards him, rolling her eyes when he shot her a wink and pointed to the arena. Viktor Krum emerged into their view, and she felt her heart drop at the sight of him. He drew out his wand when the Chinese Fireball began stomping towards him, with molten substances dripping from its fiery mouth, and the Bulgarian staggered into one of the rocks with his back pressed firmly against it.

He began panting heavily; his irregular breaths heard amongst the crowd. He gazed towards Bella, and she gave him a weak smile and nodded her head in encouragement. He returned the smile - though he was unsure whether she could see him clearly from such a difference - and pointed his wand at the dragon who was nearing closer.

Remember, Viktor. Remember what Bella said. Your wand is your best friend in this.

Why is this chapter so short ew

Tbh I just wanted to get a chapter to you guys since I haven't updated in literally a month since I've kinda just lost my flow a bit unfortunatelyyy