Hey guys, I have finally started my Harry Potter fic that I've been talking about in my prompts fic. If you're new, welcome. I have had a WONDERFUL beta reader helping me with this story and doing a little writing of their own. So a HUGE thank you to Sam1107 for being absolutely amazing.

Harry didn't have a lot of friends and that was okay. At the start of his fourth year the Triwizard Tournament was announced and under no circumstances was he interested in joining. Ron told him that joining the tournament would be fun, he disagreed. Then his name was called from the goblet and now he had even fewer friends than he started with, so when a girl a couple years older than him suddenly started hanging out with him, he wasn't complaining.

She just kind of showed up out of nowhere, he'd never seen her before. He'd originally thought that she was from one of the other schools, but then she didn't wear their uniforms. She barely wore the Hogwarts uniform. She was taller than him by a couple inches and was way skinnier than he was, but in a healthy sort of way. She had coppery brown hair that was cut unevenly around her shoulders like she had cut it herself. She also had the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen. She usually wore muggle clothes- band and graphic T-Shirts and tight jeans of varying colors, and a worn pair of red converse. She wore an unmarked Hogwarts robe over her muggle clothes and never had on a tie so Harry didn't know what house she was in and he never asked her. She wore glasses much like his and they were always perched low on the bridge of her thin, pointed nose.

She always looked like she was judging you, her stare tearing you apart, searching for all of your hidden flaws and insecurities. And she always knew! If Harry was feeling bad, she knew. If he was happy, she instantly knew why.

She was a better friend than any he'd had.

So when she suggested he skip class so they could hang out by the lake, he was more than happy to comply. That's where he now found himself, skipping rocks across the surface of the lake, shivering slightly in the crisp breeze that promised a white winter, and watching the tentacles of the giant squid try to catch the stones. Every now and then it would succeed and throw them back and Harry and Max would jump out of the way shrieking with laughter. That was her name. Max. He had found out after about a week of her just showing up.

"Hey, Scarhead, why don't we head in? Your lips are blue." Max didn't even have Goosebumps. She was out here in just her ACDC T-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans, robe bunched up on the ground beneath a tree.

"Okay." Harry replied, his teeth chattering. The pair headed back towards the castle, Max throwing her robe back over her shoulders. They walked through the silent and empty corridors. Everyone was in class. Every now and then they would have to duck behind statues or suits of armor as Filch or Mrs. Norris made their way past them.

"Should we get back to class?" Harry asked, brows furrowed in thought. Skipping class was alright but getting caught skipping class was a whole new ordeal.

"Nah, we'll be good. Unless you want to. Don't you have potions next?" Harry shuddered as he remembered that he did, in fact, have potions. Max raised an eyebrow in his direction. She hopped down from her position on the one-eyed witch statue and sauntered off. Harry started after her once she'd rounded the corner but she was nowhere to be found. That's how it usually went with Max. Harry sighed and dejectedly made his way down to the dungeons for potions.

He had gotten there a bit earlier than usual so he walked in and took his usual seat, pulling out his potions book from his bag. Harry looked around him at all of the shelves of potions ingredients. He was very excited to learn potions in his first year… until he met Snape. Harry sighed and rested his head on his arms.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Potter." Snape snarled as he entered the potions classroom. Harry's head shot up and his eyes met Snape's. "Have you decided that your own bed isn't comfortable enough so you're trying out other furniture? Well, maybe you should just stand for the remainder of class." Snape sneered at him as the desk vanished and Harry landed on the rough stone. The rest of the class was filing in now, just in time to see the show. Harry grumbled under his breath as he rose to his feet, eyes never leaving the floor. That was always the best course of action with Snape on occasions such as these.

"Yes, sir." Harry finally managed to get out past his clenched teeth. Not only was it humiliating, but falling on the floor had hurt. Nothing new though, after the Dragon Harry had been bruised all over for a week.

The rest of potions had gone fairly well and after potions he had a break until dinner. As he was making his way to the tower, a figure rushed past him, bumping into his shoulder.

"Hey, watch where you're-" The figure turned around mid sentence. "Oh. It's you." Ron didn't look any more pleased than he had a few seconds ago. He looked good though. Healthy.

"Ron." Harry said, hoping that his friend had forgiven him. He hadn't put his name in the goblet but nobody else believed that, except for Hermione and Max.

"Potter." Ron bit back. Harry physically flinched back at this and turned away from his former friend as the tears began to flow. It wasn't fair. Hermione had tried to get Ron to see but then he won the challenge with the Dragon (sort of) and Ron went straight back to hating him.

"I-I'll see you around, Ron." Harry said, trying to hide the fact that he was crying. He strode off in the other direction, away from Ron and the tower. Who needed sleep anyway? As he rounded the corner he noticed Max sitting on the stairs.

"Hey, Scarface." She called over to him. There was nobody around or else he would resent the nicknames she gave him. There was never anyone around when Max was. Harry liked it though.

"Hey, Max." He still hadn't found a nickname for her that didn't sound stupid. He walked over and sat down next to her, scrubbing the tears off of his face with the heels of his hands. He wasn't afraid to cry in front of her. She never cared, just let him finish and then listened as he told her what was wrong. "I saw Ron just now. He-uh- he bumped into me in the hall on the way up to the tower." He sniffed a few times, clearing his nose. "He didn't even really say anything. Just called me Potter. But he never did that and I guess it got to me." Max looked up at the ceiling, she did that a lot when she was frustrated.

"Well, kid, he's a dick. End of story." She pushed her glasses up and turned to him. Their faces were so close that he would be able to count the freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose. She always did this when she REALLY wanted him to pay attention to what she was saying. "If he doesn't know you well enough to know that you would never have put your name in that goddamn cup, then he was never your friend." She leaned back, adjusting her glasses so they were perched back on the very end of her nose. "None of it matters anyway if you don't figure out what that golden egg wants from you." She stood, brushing off her jeans. Then she held out her hand. "Come on, I know someone who can help. He's been looking for you all day."

Harry took Max's hand, letting her help him off the worn stone steps. He brushed off his school issued trousers and followed the older girl down the steps and into the courtyard where several people were lounging around.

"I have to go, the giant squid won't entertain itself." Harry was about to argue that the squid could, in fact, entertain itself but when he turned he could already see Max's robe disappearing around the corner.

"Potter!" Harry turned back towards the courtyard as someone called his name. "Harry!" Finally he spotted Cedric Diggory from across the yard. He was waving his arms and motioning for Harry to come over. Harry crossed the now silent yard, feeling the stares of his classmates. "Alright guys, show's over. Leave the kid alone." Cedric yelled out at the few students who were still glaring in Harry's direction. They looked away and conversations resumed. Cedric turned to his friends. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Harry. I'll be right back." The older boy then gently steered Harry away from the courtyard and into a secluded hallway.

"Um…' Harry started to protest the awkward situation.

"Sorry about that, Harry. I've been trying to tell people to quit being so harsh on you. Anyway, I think I have a tip for you. Well, I mean, it worked for me. So uh, go to the prefects bathroom and have a bath when you get the chance. Bring the egg with you. Sometimes the water helps to figure things out." Cedric winked at him before striding off to join his friends. "I'm just trying to repay the favor!" He called. Harry was grateful now that he had told Cedric about the dragons.

ALRIGHT tHaNK YoU So MuCH FOR READING ~LHH