The Third Task

“[H]e tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn\'t very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his robes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him.” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

~~~

Harry’s breath hitched and there was a sudden sting in his shoulder where the branches of the hedge had scraped along his arm, breaking the skin. The pain was nothing compared to what he imagined Cedric was facing. There was a twisted look on the boy’s face as his arms flailed against his will, grappling awkwardly at the ground. Harry wondered what it must feel like, and imagined it might be something like knives sliding their sharpened blades over flesh, all in deadly unison.

Cedric jerked upwards, hips jutting forward as another cry was ripped from the dark hollow of his throat, and Harry was startled from his thoughts, remembering quickly that this was neither the time nor place to get distracted, and he couldn’t leave Cedric there, helpless, as he stood by and did nothing. He took a step forward, hand gripped tightly around his wand. Viktor stared dully down at the boy with a blank look on his face that scared Harry more than the effects of the curse itself.

Seconds later, Harry rushed forward, grabbing Krum by both shoulders and shoving him roughly against the maze hedge. It was only then that Harry caught the possessed gleam in the Bulgarian seeker’s eyes. Krum’s gaze was dark and dim and nothing like the one he had worn the day before. Viktor Krum was under Imperius. Harry looked into Viktor’s eyes, feeling his own flash vibrant green, and imagined that Voldemort was in there somewhere, controlling Viktor’s hands, his mouth, his mind. He shook Viktor, fingers digging sharply into the boy’s shoulders and pinning him back against the rough branches of the hedge. He found himself surprised at how little the boy was fighting back. Viktor wasn’t struggling at all, actually. He was just staring straight ahead, gaze locked on Harry’s. Krum’s eyes were glazed with oily darkness and they were looking into Harry, through Harry, staring at him like poison barbs.

Harry twisted Viktor’s wand out of the tightened clench of his fingers, and it fell soundlessly into the blades of grass. Almost instantly, Cedric stopped moving, lying back and panting, his eyes wide like someone who had just narrowly escaped a Dementor’s Kiss.

Harry’s eyes never left Viktor’s face, even as he heard Cedric rising unsteadily to his feet. His first instinct was, of course, to cast a Stupefy and continue on his way, but before he could draw his wand and back away, Viktor had tightened his fingers around Harry’s hand, a bone-crushing squeeze of flesh around flesh. What came next was more unexpected, and Harry gasped audibly at the press of rough, dry lips against his own. Viktor’s eyes flashed with red for a second – just one second – and Harry was sure it had been in his imagination, because now Viktor’s tongue was probing Harry’s mouth, slipping forcefully between Harry’s now-parted lips. It was a warm, desperate sort of kiss, nothing like Harry would expect a kiss to be, but then, he hadn’t really expected his first kiss to come from a boy, let alone one who was quite possibly being coerced by a dark overlord.

Harry faintly made out a sort of whimper breath behind him and felt Cedric’s cool hand on the back of his neck. He wondered if the Hufflepuff intended to pull him away, and wondered if he wanted that. Cedric’s hand felt shaky on his skin, fingers trembling in aftershocks of the Unforgivable, but his breath was warm and stable. Harry wondered if this was what one would call a lapse in judgment, because, suddenly, kissing Viktor Krum didn’t seem like such a horrible idea. His eyelids fluttered closed and he pressed his lips back against Viktor’s, moving his tongue awkwardly into the other boy’s mouth, assuming that yes, that was what one did when they kissed, and hoping that Hermione had actually not really kissed Viktor, because that would mean he was kissing Hermione by extension, and while Hermione was very pretty—

Viktor made a sudden sound that rumbled around Harry’s tongue, a murmur and a groan and a quick breath all at once, and Harry’s mouth suddenly felt hot and muggy with the taste of Krum. Thoughts floated through his mind hazily, the most prominent being that he had a challenge to finish. He was still a TriWizard Champion. But any thought of reaching the center of the maze became irrelevant when he felt another pair of parted lips, soft and smooth and Cedric’s, press coolly over the back of Harry’s neck. He heard Cedric inhale and exhale sharply, and Harry felt sure that the Hufflepuff’s capacity for rational thought must have been affected by the curse, because soon he felt a hand snaking its way around his waist, and then Cedric rocked his hips forward and—

”Oh.” The sound was swallowed by Viktor’s tongue, and suddenly Harry felt like every cell in his body was awake and aware and there was heat curling in his stomach, a feeling like smoke and suddenly his trousers felt far too constricting.

Harry opened his eyes and he was so close now that he could see the pinpricks of red in the center of Viktor’s pupils where the curse had lodged itself. They were like tiny flames dancing blurrily in Harry’s frame of vision, and there was a hunger in that gaze, matched with the rugged movement of Viktor’s tongue, that sent Harry’s pulse speeding up, heart beating against the cage of his chest as he pressed Krum back against the curving wall of leaves to claim control of the kiss. Viktor might have been the more experienced, but Harry’s enthusiasm more than made up for what he lacked in skill. Fueled by the push of Cedric’s body against his back, Harry kissed Viktor recklessly, their teeth clacking in near-painful friction that sent shivers down Harry’s spine, shivers Harry was certain Cedric was close enough to feel.

Any competitive spirit was lost and there was only sweat-slackened breaths of air that fell heavy on Harry’s skin. Viktor was pulling urgently at the front of Harry’s robes, and he heard the hiss of clothing behind him that could only be Cedric’s trousers sliding down his legs. There was a dull brush against his back, slick warm heat probing against his arse and Harry gurgled out a shallow breath, something between shock and arousal.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the three didn’t get much further than that. Harry had never had a sexual experience before that hadn’t involved his own hand and some cleverly improvised spells, and within moments, he was coming hard against the rub of Viktor’s palm. His whole body went boneless, and he pushed forward against Krum, hips thrusting gently against Viktor’s erection until the Bulgarian was coming, mouth scratchy and rough against Harry’s neck. Cedric was last which, in retrospect, Harry thought was rather fitting. The Hufflepuff came with a hiss, rocking erratically against Harry’s arse, the head of his cock pressing into the material of Harry’s robes.

The three of them caught their breaths, the night air ringing with syncopated rhythm of inhale and exhale. As they slipped apart, their clothes sticky from the near-summer weather and their own sweat and come, they avoided each other’s eyes. Harry stared determinedly at the ground for several seconds, trying to regain his bearings.

Then, mind refocused on the task at hand, he raised his wand and, aiming it directly at Krum, cast Stupefy.

~~~