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Embarrassment and Contraceptives:

Chapter 4: The Second Task

Date: Beginning shortly before the Second Task

Place: The Black Lake, Hogwarts

Subject: Hermione Granger

Age: 15

The ball had been a smashing success as far as Hermione was concerned, both Harry and Ron definitely knew she was a girl now, and Viktor had been the perfect gentleman, happy to go with a girl who wasn't a fan girl interested only in his fame. He had kissed her on the cheek as the dance wound down and she had been floating on cloud nine at the contact.

Then Ron happened.

Ron and Harry had ended up going with the Patil twins which would not have bothered her in the slightest...well maybe just a bit. But Ron had stared at her all night...not that she minded, at least not until she had gone to leave the ball and the great prat had ruined her night. Accusing her once again of fraternizing with the enemy and being into "Vicky" only for his fame; and then implying that she would do anything untoward...with Viktor anyway, anything untoward simply to get and keep his attention!

Unfortunately Harry had been caught up in her anger as well and she had sent them both off to bed as if they were little children. She felt awful about it, not the least reason being that she really didn't want them seeing her as a mother figure when she had finally convinced them she was a girl!

She had entered her dormitory in a huff to find Parvati gushing to Lavender and giggling uncontrollably. Normally this girly giggling didn't bother her but she had reached her limit, especially when she thought they were giggling at her! Honestly!

She chose instead to ignore them and quickly stripped and climbed into bed fighting off the tears that were still trying to fall but remaining quiet. She was trying to calm her mind and fall asleep so the dreadful evening would be over with when she overheard the two girls in conversation.

"I was so nervous! I mean first dance in front of all those people..."

"He really? I mean...really?"

"It was ...! ...said he was... Relax! ...didn't understand ...my dress ... Harry Freaking Potter...!"

"So you just let him...you slut!" Lavender exclaimed.

"Shhhhhh! ...Mione ...n't know! ...never forgive him ...like that!"

"So...how was it? Was he any good?"

"Are you kidding? Someone ...taught ...he was ...what I needed...I almost couldn't dance afterward!"

"So you forgive him for ditching you?"

"I think I could forgive anything after that..."

Hermione was shocked, but thought her brain must be playing tricks. Harry wouldn't just do that to a girl he barely spoke to! Bloody hormones!

It was now the day of the task and they were sitting down to eat breakfast when Professor McGonagall asked Hermione and Ron to accompany her to the Headmasters Office. Hermione had no clue why Professor Dumbledore would want to see her, she hoped it was something good and not something he found out...

He couldn't know! I'm getting expelled! Wait, calm down Hermione...why is Ron here? Ron too? With who? The great prat, why wouldn't he do that with me! She waited until their head of house was not looking and smacked him on the shoulder and sent him the evil eye.

"What?" he exclaimed as he rubbed the sore spot.

Hermione didn't get a chance to explain as the Gargoyle leapt aside and Professor McGonagall ushered them to the spiral staircase. Once inside Professor Dumbledore offered them a candy and asked them to take a seat. Soon they were joined by Cho and Professor Flitwick.

Ron and Cho! Harry will kill him!

And not long after that by Madame Maxime and a little girl with blonde hair and startling blue eyes who looked a lot like...

"Ronald!" She smacked his shoulder again. He couldn't get Fleur Delacour so he went after her little sister? What was the prat thinking?

"Have you gone mental?" He exclaimed.

"Ah good, now that we are all here I must ask of you a favor." Dumbledore began with twinkling eyes.

A favor? Then they must not be in trouble...but if that was the case... Hermione blushed deeply but nodded at his concerned look. "Of..Of course Professor. What do you need from us?"

"The Second Task requires the champions to rescue a person."

Hermione gasped, "What they will miss the most! Of course!"

"Quite Miss Granger, now I have asked you here to participate in this task, you will not be harmed but simply made to go to sleep and you will wake up when your champion succeeds or fails. You will not be in any danger."

If the little girl was indeed Fleur's sister, and Cho went to the ball with Cedric...But she hadn't gone to the ball with Harry she had gone with... "Oh... well I suppose; are you certain we are the correct choice? Won't Harry be confused when he reaches us?"

"You certainly have faith in leetle Harry Potter Miss Granger. I hope it is not misplaced." The Headmistress said with a smile.

"Airry Pottair eez great! He eez not as good as mine Seester but he will do well Madame." The little Delacour girl said. Hermione couldn't help but smile, apparently Ginny had some competition for biggest fan girl.

"Yes, well I do not believe it will be an issue for the two of you to be there at one time. The defenders will only allow the champion to take their designated hostage."

That got her attention, "Wait Hostage? That sounds a bit more dangerous than you let on!" Ron said with a gulp.

"Yes Dumbleedore, am I to entrust zis young one to your care only to have her kidnapped?"

He spread his hands placatingly to all of them, "Rest assured that there will be no real danger to any of you. Now if you will take one of these vials you will be placed into an enchanted sleep and will awake once the task has run its course."

Hermione nodded and she and Ron both reached forward, Cho was not going to let a couple of fourth years upstage her and reached for her own. The French girl nodded and took her own vial before looking up at the older students. "Salute!" She said and knocked hers back.

The others did the same and soon the darkness crept into her vision sleep overtook her.

Dark...cold...Ow!...light...AIR!

Hermione opened her eyes and drew in a shuddering breath, Draught of Living Death, she thought to herself. In combination with a charm of some sort to counteract the potion when we emerge from the lake...why does my ankle hurt...

She turned toward a large splash beside her and screamed when the black eyes and gaping maw of a Great White shark greeted her. She began beating on it's nose having read that it was here that you could do the most damage, though you would probably still get eaten. How the hell did a Great White Shark get into the Black Lake? I mean I know we have a Giant Squid but this is ridiculous!

Still screaming and beating against the shark, she didn't realize she was being pushed toward the platform sat in the middle of the lake until a human arm appeared and waved a wand reversing the partial Transfiguration and leaving Hermione feeling rather foolish as Viktor, with a black eye and a bloody nose helped her onto the ladder. However her fight returned when she tried to put pressure on her ankle and found that she had been bitten!

She refused his help and made her way directly to Madame Pomfrey who set her to rights, she then turned around to find out how the other contestants were doing. Cedric and Cho were sharing a blanket and looking sickeningly cute together while Viktor continued to hover but refrained from getting close enough for her to hit him again after seeing the damage he had done to her leg.

That meant that the other four were still in the lake, Hermione began to bite her bottom lip in worry as she glanced up at the clock. There were only ten minutes remaining when Fleur Delacour scrambled from the lake and from the looks of her bathing suit, just barely alive. The girl was lucky there was enough material left of her one piece to remain decent.

But where was her sister? Hermione looked up at the clock again before marching toward Professor Dumbledore who was in a heated discussion with Madame Maxime and Fleur; she paused to find out what was going on.

"Non, vous êtes un idiot! Ils vont tuer ma sœur comme ils ont essayé de me tuer!" Fleur was nearly screaming at him in French. Hermione's brain kicked into overdrive trying to translate even as she continued to listen to the conversation.

"I assure you I had no idea Miss Delacour or I would never have subjected either of you to this...however Mr. Potter is still in the lake..." Her brain caught up at this point providing her with keywords from Fleur's outburst. Idiot, kill sister, kill me. Why would the sisters be in more danger than the others?

Veela...Merpeople... "Oh Merlin!" She exclaimed softly.

"Ze little boy? He cannot fly his fancy broom zis time Dumbleedore! You realize who Gabrielle's Father is non? Monsieur Delacour will cut ties with Britain for this!"

Dumbledore was desperately trying to recover the situation at this point. "As I said Mr. Potter..."

There was a splash from the lake and both Ron and Gabrielle emerged spluttering before they were helped up the ladder onto the platform. Fleur immediately attacked and began to smother her sister with kisses and hugs. Both girls had tears flowing freely.

"Appears to have saved the day." Dumbledore finished with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

That seemed to be Harry's cue because just then he surfaced and appeared to be throwing water up out of his lungs before being levitated up onto the platform to much applause. Hermione had almost completely ignored Ron who was surrounded by his family but the moment Harry had a blanket wrapped around him she attacked him with her famous Hermione Hug.

"You stupid noble idiot! You didn't have to save them both; you might have beaten Viktor back from what I overheard!"

He just shrugged and smiled at her, "Yeah but I didn't know that, I couldn't just leave her down there to die. Besides those Mermaids were a little too aggressive if you ask me." He said rubbing a spot under his chin that she only now saw was bleeding in three places...just like the tip of a Trident.

Before she could call Madame Pomfrey over Harry was bowled over by two blonde missiles that began kissing his cheeks, his forehead and his lips. Leaving him completely dazed.

"You save my Seester! I am sorry, you are not leetle boy. You are my 'ero!" Fleur exclaimed.

"Oui, mon Cavalier! If you need anything from me you 'ave only to ask 'Arry." The seductive gaze and tone from the little girl was giving Hermione very bad thoughts. She couldn't be more than nine!

Both girls were thankfully dragged away by Madame Maxime but Fleur made certain to stop and give Ron a kiss on the cheek as well for helping however involuntarily at the end. He accepted it with the grace of any true Weasley by blushing the color of his hair.

"Sonorus...MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE? WE HAVE THE RESULTS FROM THE SECOND TASK." Dumbledore's voice rang out above the crowd.

"FIRST PLACE FOR THIS TASK GOES TO CEDRIC DIGGORY WHO USED A BUBBLEHEAD CHARM TO GREAT EFFECT!" The Hogwarts crowd went wild.

"IN SECOND IS VIKTOR CRUM WITH 40 POINTS!" Durmstrang was now banging on the railing and stomping their feet. Hermione was upset; he should have lost more points for biting her!

"FLEUR DELACOUR WAS UNABLE TO COMPLETE HER TASK LEAVING HER WITH THE DEFAULT OF 25 POINTS. WHICH LEAVES HARRY POTTER, WHO AT RISK TO HIMSELF AND IGNORING HIS CHANCE TO WIN RESCUED BOTH REMAINING HOSTAGES. ALTHOUGH HE CAME IN THIRD THE JUDGES HAVE AGREED TO AWARD MISTER POTTER 45 POINTS! FINITE."

The crowd went wild once more once Hogwarts realized that both of their champions were tied for first with 85 points total. Hermione really wanted to stay close to Harry but he was promptly mobbed by the student population. Instead she figured she would meet him later, before she could get into the boat to head back for the castle she was stopped by Viktor.

"Herminoninny? May ve speak a moment?"

She turned with a slight glare, still upset with him. "Viktor." She said coldly.

"I am sorry I bite you, my partial transfiguration vas possibly bad idea. I simply vish to remain friends." He said contritely.

With a sigh she lost the rest of her anger, he had not meant to bite her after all. "Fine Viktor, I would like that very much. Just keep your teeth where I can see them."

He smiled a bit crookedly and continued to do so all the way back up to the school.

Not knowing yet what the last task would be Hermione allowed Harry some time off to go play some chess with Ron leaving her free for once to do whatever she wanted. Unfortunately more and more lately what she wanted was to spend time with Harry relaxing. Not that he would have minded but they hadn't had any time to "relax" since before the second task and Hermione had apparently become accustomed to a certain level of "relaxation".

The conversation she overheard between Parvati and Lavender still bothered her but she couldn't exactly corner Harry about his actions. She herself had been the one to convince him that it was perfectly natural for male and female friends to do such things. She hated herself for lying to him but was rather unhappy with her roommate for not putting a stop to it! "Useless, all of them!" She exclaimed quietly.

"Who's useless?" Ginny asked as she sat down on the couch beside her.

Hermione panicked, she hadn't meant to speak aloud. "Oh uh...your brother."

Ginny smiled, "You'll have to be a bit more specific, see I have six of them."

"Ron then, at least for the moment...actually I stand by my earlier statement." She said as she eyed Fred or George offering sweets to a First Year.

"They aren't all bad, Bill and Charlie are the greatest, you just haven't been exposed to all that the Weasley's can offer." Ginny said with a shrug.

Hermione turned back to the girl, "Why can't you be like this around Harry? If he saw the real you he would certainly be interested?" Where had that come from? Was she projecting?

Ginny blushed but spoke, "I don't know, this is how I usually am...I just...when I'm around Harry I clam up, my hands get all sweaty and it's all I can do not to trip over my own feet. It's my mum's fault for telling me those bloody stories." The redhead said with a dark look.

Why am I doing this? She asked herself, only to be answered by another voice. Because she is your best girlfriend and you don't really want Harry...do you? "Well if you can't get over that then you don't have a chance. I'm sorry but that's just how it is...maybe if you dated other people for awhile to take your mind off of him?" Ah, that's why you sneaky backstabber!

Ginny seemed to ponder the suggestion for a moment, "You really think that will work? I can't stand not being able to even be in the same room with him." She looked down in shame.

"I think it couldn't hurt, besides, maybe he isn't the perfect man for you. How will you know if you haven't looked around a bit?"

Ginny leaned in and gave her a nice long hug...too long...long enough for her mother's words to come back to her... "Now if you were to find yourself with urges for one of your dorm mates, or possibly one of your better girl friends, like Ginny. Then Ginny could also use this method on you, or you on her. We won't shun you if you decide you like girls better than boys."

She disengaged quickly from the hug but as she saw the look of confusion begin to form on Ginny's face she used her typical excuse. "Uh, Sorry. Don't know why but you just reminded me of something I needed to look up in the...uh...library. Bye!" With that she grabbed her book bag and ran from the common room.

Later that night Hermione lay in her bed unable to get to sleep, and too worked up to relax... There is that damned word again! She thought to herself. She hated to admit it but Harry's unskilled fingers were ten times better than anything she could do to herself and it had been too long.

Still, she was alone in her dorm for the moment so she drew her curtains closed and slipped her hand into her knickers. She took it slow trying to recreate the feelings Harry stirred within her. Unfortunately the material was getting in her way so she quickly slid the offending garment down her legs to her knees and went back to work.

In her mind's eye she began replaying their last time together though this time after he got her off with his fingers he kneeled on the floor and slid her panties all the way off of her legs leaving her sex exposed to him for the first time. The very thought of it caused a shudder to run through her body. To share something that intimate with someone, especially Harry. He then slowly leaned forward and kissed her, down there, in response to her daydream her body gave another involuntary shudder as she worked furiously on herself.

Her other hand came up and fondled her left breast through the thin material of her nightgown. She tweaked her nipple lightly and stifled a moan as she realized she hadn't silenced the curtains before starting, but there was no way in hell she was stopping now to do so. She was almost there...

Unfortunately she heard the door open and two giggling females entered the room. Hermione quickly stilled the hand between her legs and shoved her left fist into her mouth to muffle the scream of frustration at being interrupted before she began blindly reaching for her wand.

"Lavender I can't believe you!"

"What you started it, I honestly didn't believe you. I mean Harry has hardly noticed that girls are different at all before this year!"

"But you just...in the common room...Oh I am so tense!"

Lavender giggled again, "It worked didn't it? I mean I had to test to see if he was observant enough to catch my meaning, and then to see if he actually thought that the best way to help me relax was...well you know!"

"I do! So you followed him to an empty classroom?"

"Yeah...lucky though that I was already nearly dripping because there wasn't any foreplay! But you were right; someone taught him what parts do what. He didn't even try to go inside."

"Did you want him to?" Parvati asked sounding a bit scandalized.

"Well, I mean my wand is only good for so much..."

Hermione got a mental flash of Lavender using her wand as a phallic object while in a position similar to her current one and felt another involuntary shudder run through her. Then the idea of Harry putting his fingers inside her...

She shoved her pillow over her face and her fingers resumed their actions as she pushed herself over the edge and managed only to moan rather than a light scream.

"What was that?" Oh bugger, oh bugger

"Is Hermione already in bed? Crap, do you think she heard me?"

"I don't know..."

Hermione gathered her courage and rolled over enough to pull the sheet on before sighing as if she were having a nice dream...and indeed the sigh was entirely heartfelt though she wasn't certain about the imagery that led to her current nirvana like state.

"Nice dream I guess, I hope I get one of those." Parvati commented.

"I don't need one." Lavender sing-songed and both of the other girls devolved into giggles.