Once inside the pub, Harry wished he'd brought his invisibility cloak. When he was inside Hogwarts, it was easy to forget he was a Triwizard Champion; most people had stopped caring by now. Outside, however, was an entirely different matter. Heads turned, whispers started up, and Harry grimaced.
"We can go somewhere else if you want?" Neville suggested quietly. "Back to Gryffindor or whatever."
"No, it's fine," Harry assured, squeezing through the crowd towards the bar. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny's fingers curl around Neville's as they entered the fray. He smirked to himself. "What do you two want? I'm buying."
"Harry, my boy!" He resisted the urge to groan, turning to face Ludo Bagman, who was making his way over from a table full of unhappy-looking goblins. "Good to see you, good to see you! Had a good Christmas?" Bagman glanced back at Neville and Ginny. "You two don't mind if I borrow Harry here for a quick private chat, do you?"
"Actually, we do," Ginny retorted blithely. "He's about to buy us drinks. Come on, Harry." Without giving Bagman time to argue, Ginny hooked her free hand around Harry's elbow and tugged him away towards the other end of the bar. The man looked baffled by the turn of events, and Harry snickered.
"Nice one, Gin." Ginny dimpled cheeks.
smiled
with "I don't trust that one. He still hasn't paid the twins their winnings from the World Cup — I caught them writing to him about it the other week."
As if summoned by their names, Fred and George entered the pub, and upon spotting Bagman, made a beeline for him. Bagman's blue eyes went wide, and he hurried back to the table full of goblins after a brief conversation with the twins that left them both looking disappointed. Harry thought about calling them over, but then glanced at Ginny and Neville, and stayed silent. They didn't deserve teasing, not while they were still figuring things out.
Instead, he leaned on the bar and flagged down Madam Rosmerta to order their drinks, elbowing Neville out of the way when the boy tried to split the bill. "No, shush, this round is mine," Harry insisted, handing over the coins before Neville could use his extra height to reach over him. Rosmerta giggled, shaking her head at their antics.
"Thanks, Harry," Ginny chirped, sipping at her raspberry fizz.
Crowded at the bar due to lack of seats, Harry had to fight down a grin when Ginny started leaning against Neville, not looking like she even realised she was doing it. It was funny, watching two people start gravitating towards each other like that — after years of watching Ron and Hermione circle in the most uncomfortable orbit in the world, he'd forgotten what it was like for normal people to get together. He didn't say a word about it, keeping up the conversation about the new player the Harpies had just signed.
Where he was stood, Harry had a perfect view of the door, and thus he couldn't miss it when Rita Skeeter walked in, wearing bright yellow robes and trailing her photographer behind her. She didn't seem to notice Harry as she ordered drinks at a small table nearby.
"What's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow, anyway?" Skeeter was saying to the photographer, smirking. "'Showing them the sights', what tosh. He was always a bad liar. Think we should do a bit of digging? There's bound to be something that'll make a good headline — Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Sports, Ludo Bagman — We just need to find a story to fit it."
Harry scowled, stepping forward before he even knew what he was doing. "Trying to ruin someone else's life?" he said loudly, glaring at the blonde woman. Around them, the pub went quiet. Skeeter beamed.
"Harry! How lovely to see you — have you changed your mind about an interview? Come, come sit!"
"I'm not going anywhere near you," Harry insisted. "How dare you write that article about Hagrid! No one cares that he's half-giant!"
"Well, if no one cares, then it shouldn't be a problem," Skeeter retorted, smirk dripping with malice. "Why don't you give me a quote, Harry? About the Hagrid you know." She pulled her lime green quill from her crocodile-skin handbag. "The man behind the muscle. Would you call him a father substitute?"
"Are you so bad at your job that you can't get a headline without making up utter tripe?" Ginny cut in furiously, appearing at Harry's shoulder. Skeeter glared at her, lips pursing.
"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't get involved in matters that don't concern you," she dismissed. Ginny's hands clenched into fists at her side.
"Like you're one to talk!" she argued. "Hagrid's personal life is none of your business, but you stuck your ugly nose in where it wasn't wanted, and now look what you've done!"
Harry recognised the malicious glint in Skeeter's eye, and his heart sank. They were going to end up in more trouble than it was worth. "Come on, Ginny," he urged quietly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let's just go." He glanced over at Neville, who nodded and set his mostly-empty drink down, taking Ginny by the hand and urging her out of the pub. Harry didn't look back at Skeeter as they left.
"She's not gonna take that lying down," Neville said with furrowed brows, eyeing Ginny in concern. "She'll be after you next." "Let her," Ginny replied, scowling. "I'll take whatever that lying cow can dish out."
Harry hoped that was true. If there was one thing Rita Skeeter was good at, it was hurting people.
.-.-.
From books about merpeople, Harry moved on to researching water-based spells, trying to find something that might allow him to be underwater for an hour. He found spells for walking on water, transporting large amounts of water, and plenty of spells to help find water, but nothing that told him how to survive in it past the usual limitation of his lung capacity. There had to be something. He was just looking in the wrong place.
Remembering Sirius' words about asking Remus, Harry donned his invisibility cloak one Friday evening and headed down to the dungeons. Remus was usually around on Friday nights, and he'd mentioned something about being there when Harry had spoken to him last.
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