Harry Potter and the Scīenra Cwēna
Chapter Seven
AN: Thank you all very much for the continued support for this story; I'm still a bit amazed by all the feedback I've gotten! I've read a number of reviews with comments and suggestions about the nature of the principal relationship I'm writing here; suffice it to say that I think I have a pretty clear idea of where I am going with things, and I believe it comes across more thoroughly in this and subsequent chapters. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story!
HPHPHPHP
"Happiness is no laughing matter." - Archbishop Whately
The remainder of the Christmas break was extremely pleasant for Harry, Hermione, and Fleur. Although most of the student body was ultimately unsure what to think about them, they did not seem inclined to comment overly much. There was so much post-Yule Ball gossip that even Harry taking two girls to the ball was not incredibly outstanding; no one knew that they were dating per se, and as their relationship in public did not seem largely that different, they had no reason to say anything about it. Ron had offered an apology to Fleur, and although he was no longer spending all his time with Harry and Hermione, he was at least friendly and mostly polite.
Harry was glad for the change. Ron was his first friend, and he was not the sort of a friend himself to be disloyal or hold a grudge.
The trio spent time with each other; Fleur reviewed a good deal since it was her final year at Beauxbatons, while Hermione and Harry kept her company by getting well into their work for the new term. Hermione was so pleased by the progress they were making she even managed to forget largely about Fleur and Harry's eggs, which remained mysterious to both of them. Oddly enough Cedric Diggory caught Harry alone the last evening of break and advised him to take a bath with his; Harry thanked him for the advice and planned to tell Fleur and Hermione that week.
Harry had had a wonderful time over the holiday, even taking Hermione up on his firebolt while Fleur flew alongside them. Physically they did not progress any farther than the kisses offered in the garden at the ball; kissing was quite exciting enough for Harry. Nevertheless he did feel closer to the two girls by the day, as did the girls to each other. They each felt moments of withdrawal when not together, but counted it worth the happiness they felt the rest of the time. All three of them were very relaxed and refreshed for the first Monday of the new term, which was very fortunate, since it turned out to be quite an awful day.
Harry heard some whispering at breakfast, but had ignored it in favor of retaining his good mood. Once he and Hermione arrived at Care of Magical Creatures to see a brand new professor, though, his good mood began to evaporate. Almost immediately Malfoy was there, grinning and shoving two new articles by Rita Skeeter in his face.
"Did you read the news then, Potter? Good stuff in there these days!" The boy did not even try to contain his glee as he handed Harry a copy of the Prophet.
One held the revelation that Hagrid was half-giant, and seemed to be the cause for the professor's absence.
Bad as that was, the other one had Harry fit to murder someone.
Harry Potter, Led Astray!
This intrepid reporter, loyal readers may recall, was forced to retract an article last year in which Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived, was indicated to be dating muggleborn witch Hermione Granger, while also being manipulated by the French part-veela witch Fleur Delacour. At the time, it was rightly pointed out that our young hero was dating no one at all, and was certainly not under the influence of Ms. Delacour's veela charms, the effects of which are well known among the wizarding world.
However, this is no longer the case! Young Harry Potter in fact escorted both witches to the Yule Ball at Hogwarts on Christmas day, dancing all evening with them. This reporter, though, has it on good authority that the brazen witches not only danced with young Mr. Potter, but also rather intimately with each other, to the horror of some students.
"It was just appalling to see them draped all over each other like that," commented a distraught fourth-year girl, Pansy Parkinson. "It turns my stomach."
Hers was not the only report of this behavior; in fact it was established by multiple witnesses, including several Hogwarts professors, that the two girls danced in each others' arms before leading the innocent young wizard into the gardens. There, among high hedges suitable for private revelations (see Dumbledore's Giant Mistake, p.2), the two young witches had young Harry kissing both of them and confessing his uncertainties before they proceeded to kiss each other!
Naturally we in the British wizarding world are all too aware of the reputation of muggle habits of relation between young people, which are dubious at best; we are also well aware of what happens to a young man entranced by a veela. Our young Mr. Potter, already bereft of the love of his parents, seems to be entangled by not one but two witches bent on drawing him into a highly suspicious relationship!
This reporter calls for the muggleborn and veela witches to halt their entrapment of young Harry Potter...
The article continued from there, but Harry was already practically seeing red while Malfoy looked on, smirking.
As soon as class ended Harry shoved the paper at Hermione, who was already feeling apprehensive after seeing her boyfriend's expression. Reading the articles herself, Hermione began to feel ill. "Oh Harry, this... I don't know what to say!"
"I do," Harry growled, having been thinking about it all through class. "How did she know about that in the garden, for us or for Hagrid? There was no one around!"
Hermione tried to be rational. "An invisibility cloak, maybe?"
"There wasn't that much room, was there? Plus the privacy charm, and we weren't very loud about our conversation either."
"Harry," Hermione commented worriedly, "We need to talk to Fleur about this."
"I know, I know," he said, running his hand through his unkempt hair in frustration, "I'll have Dobby leave her a note to meet us later, all right?"
HPHPHPHP
Harry was pleased to find that Gryffindor House, notably the Weasleys and Neville, seemed unwilling to take the offensive view put forward by the article. Ginny made no promises about her mother, though. After an awful day of harassment by a newly reinvigorated Slytherin House, combined with skeptical glances from many of the students, Harry and Hermione left the great hall with Fleur for a chat.
"How did she know, Fleur?" Hermione asked desperately. "This is awful, for Hagrid more than us! We have to pin that Skeeter woman down!"
"Well," Fleur noted cautiously, "All 'Arry can do is deny it zen. But after ze last one, zis will get very ugly."
"I'm so sorry you two, I feel like I'm making you both look bad." Harry sounded frustrated.
"Nonsense! It's that awful Skeeter woman Harry." Hermione frowned. "I wish there was something-"
"Ms. Granger, Ms. Delacour, Mr. Potter." Behind them, from the direction of the hall they had already left, came Professor McGonagall. Harry could not help but sigh. "Come with me for a moment."
Glancing at the Gryffindor pair for confirmation, Fleur followed as McGonagall led them into her office silently. Once there, she gestured for them to sit down, and then surprisingly turned to cast a series of silencing and privacy charms.
"Professor, what-" Hermione began.
"Ms. Granger, wait a moment." The older woman frowned. She cast another two or three spells that Harry did not recognize before speaking.
"All right you three. I was pleased to see you behaving well at the ball, and it is terrible that this article came out. What I want to know is whether it has a few points of truth in it?" When Harry bristled, McGonagall fixed him with a condescending glare. "Really Mr. Potter, do you think I suspect either of these girls of entrapping you? How ridiculous."
She leaned over her desk and said, "I want to know whether that Skeeter woman really saw you there in the gardens together."
All three students looked uncomfortable, but Fleur replied first. "We believe zat she did, Professor. We do not know 'ow she did eet, 'owever."
McGonagall leaned back and nodded. "I suspected as much. I do not appreciate my students being spied on, any more than I do my fellow professors." She looked extremely irritated. "Ms. Granger, I believe I overheard you saying you wanted to do something about her?"
"Yes, professor. I do." Hermione replied grimly.
McGonagall nodded. "This is not usually something I would recommend, but it might be a good idea to consider... baiting her."
"Baiting her, Professor?" Harry asked. "Like drawing her out?"
"Precisely Mr. Potter. I know that you," she cocked an eyebrow, "Have been known to disregard the rules on occasion." Harry looked sheepish. "If Ms. Skeeter were to be led to follow you under some pretext, she might well betray herself, or you might give her some false information."
"You are suggesting zat we entrap zis woman, zen?" Fleur asked with a hint of amusement.
"I am not pleased with her presence here, Miss Delacour. You three have her attention. Be cautious, but consider it. If anything should occur, know that you have my support… within reason." She stood and began dispelling the wards she had placed. "Now, be on your way, all of you."
Harry stood and looked at his head of house in a whole new light. "I, well, thank you Professor. Thanks."
She nodded in reply. "Do what you need to do, Mr. Potter."
HPHPHPHP
Over the next few days the trio were too occupied with attempting to rouse Hagrid from his isolation and dealing with the fallout of the article to pursue the clue Cedric had given Harry, but they did discuss the matter of Rita Skeeter. All three agreed that further political pressure from Fleur's father would not be immediately useful, as Hagrid was unable to deny Rita's claims and Harry did not know how to answer them successfully. Nevertheless, Hermione believed that with time and the Marauder's Map that they could locate her, even if she was invisible.
Fleur reported that Madame Maxime was no longer trying to regulate her activities; the headmistress was frequently to be found weeping, and Fleur imagined she knew quite well why that was. As for Fleur's parents, they had already exchanged letters about the matter and resolved to see what materialized before taking any further action.
Both girls had received a number of howlers, including one each from Molly Weasley, but Harry and Professor McGonagall's efforts saw them largely annihilated before they could do much harm.
The trio planned to take advantage of Cedric's hint Monday night in the prefect's bath, after the Hogsmeade visit that weekend. The visit, though, turned out to be one unpleasant surprise after another. Ludo Bagman, while meeting with a pair of goblins, offered Harry unauthorized help with the tournament before revealing that Mr. Crouch had been missing work.
As if that were not awkward enough, Rita Skeeter made an appearance in the Three Broomsticks as well. They managed to remain civil, but all three of them had developed pounding headaches by the time she finally left. Hermione finally led them away from Hogsmeade, enraged by Skeeter, to confront Hagrid.
"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted as she pounded on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being —"
Her rant was interrupted, though, when Albus Dumbledore opened the door. "Hello Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter, and Ms. Delacour. Perhaps you would like to come inside?"
Harry thought he noticed Dumbledore frowning a bit as Hermione entered, but his expression quickly returned to an even sort of happiness. "There Hagrid, did you hear Ms. Granger?" He said when they were all inside. "Living proof of what I have been saying to you."
Hagrid was lying in bed and looked absolutely miserable, but he did seem to perk up at that remark.
It took a bit of convincing for Hagrid to feel better, but in the end Harry and Hermione were satisfied that he was going to return to work. Fleur also noted in passing that Madame Maxime seemed very upset herself, which put a thoughtful look on the half-giant's face. Fleur privately hoped that the gentleman could help Maxime get over her own issues; if he could, then that article at least might end up being something of a blessing.
Dumbledore continued all the while chatting with the trio, and did not mention the other article, or Harry's relationship with the two girls, at all. It was very awkward for Harry to imagine that he could no longer trust Albus Dumbledore; even more so when the old wizard was here, alone, trying to cheer up Hagrid with letters from parents and tea cakes.
Could such a man really have gone against the wishes of his parents, or deliberately left him with the Dursleys who hated him?
Harry had no answer.
HPHPHPHP
Ginny Weasley was not sure what she was supposed to be feeling. Ever since that horrible Skeeter woman had published her article, Ginny and her brothers had been standing by Harry and Hermione. And Fleur, of course.
Harry had denied that the girls were doing any entrapping, but it was becoming very clear to everyone that, entrapped or not, Harry had some sort of real relationship going with both girls. Ron refused to ask for fear of alienating his friends again; already he was not in their confidence as he had been before. The twins just smirked and slapped Harry on the back, but said nothing further about it.
Ginny offered support and defended them from criticism, but she could not help but feel brokenhearted. Hermione was Harry's best friend, so a relationship there was never an impossibility. But Fleur Delacour? That had been a bolt from the blue.
Both at once? Ginny was sure that her hero was now quite beyond her.
She wanted to be happy for them, really, but it was difficult. Then a few moments ago it had gotten more difficult still.
Ginny had been up in the common room reading, unable to sleep, long after everyone had gone to bed. She had actually been dozing herself, slumped in a chair, when she heard someone descending the stairs, and then a voice asked, "Got the egg?"
Hermione. It was Hermione. And the one with the egg could only be...
"Right here, Hermione," she heard Harry whisper.
"Let's go then. Only about twelve minutes until Fleur's supposed to meet us at the bath. We need to be careful."
"I've got the cloak here, come on."
The whispering died off as they exited through the portrait. A now awake Ginny bit her lip and retrieved her book to walk up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She tried not to cry but nevertheless felt a few hot tears on her cheeks as she walked toward her bed.
Harry Potter was well and truly taken. She'd best get over it if she wanted to remain friends with him.
HPHPHPHP
Harry and Hermione proceeded quietly and carefully under the invisibility cloak to meet up with Fleur. Dobby was apparating her into the one-eyed witch passage; Winky was occupied in keeping watch on the prefect's bath, confirming the password in the bargain. When they had cautiously retrieved the shivering Fleur, they moved on to the bath.
Winky reported no entry or exit in the past two hours; the Marauder's Map confirmed they were alone. Harry leaned forward and said "Pine Fresh," and the doorway opened.
Hermione nodded at Winky, who was set to keep watch for them as an added security measure, before following the other two inside. What she saw there had her gaping.
The extravagance of the bath bordered on the absurd; it was enormous, covered in ridiculous decorations and elaborately tiled. There was even an ornate mermaid statue which seemed to be visibly sleeping. "This is a bit much, don't you two think?" She asked as she looked around.
Harry had to agree. "It's a bit crazy, really."
"Looks like a pleasant place to relax, I think," Fleur commented, "Even eef it eez a bit overdone."
The trio noted labelled changing rooms and Fleur led Hermione into the girls' side. "We'll be out zere in a minute, 'Arry."
Harry blinked and set his egg down next to the edge of the bath where Fleur had placed hers. Entering the changing area - just as over the top as the rest of the baths - he quickly put on some shorts he had acquired at the last Hogsmeade outing along with a dark shirt. He stepped out and entered the bath, watching as it gradually filled with pleasantly bubbled water. It was quite relaxing, and Harry was beginning to wonder whether he was going to be made a prefect next year when he heard the girls walking across the tile.
He turned and looked, catching a glimpse of Fleur's ankles disappearing into the water. Sweeping his gaze upward he found that she was wearing a dark green two-piece bathing suit. On some level he knew that it was really quite conservative, but he had an extremely difficult time tearing his eyes away from her hips and then her chest.
When he did so he naturally found himself looking at a very embarrassed Hermione, who was wearing a similarly cut suit in dark red. Although she was naturally not as developed as Fleur, Harry did note that she was very lovely; in fact he had just as much difficulty looking away from her as he had from the veela witch.
Clearing his throat audibly, Harry turned to regard the two eggs by the bath. "Well then," he said, his voice, he knew, betraying his distraction, "Let's see what these are."
"A moment, 'Arry," Fleur called. A second later he felt her arms fall around his neck as she drew him into an embrace. "Isn't zis nice?"
Harry was sure he had stopped breathing. Hermione, watching the two of them, was faring little better. As she moved a little closer to them in the bath, she saw Fleur plant a gentle kiss against Harry's neck. Suddenly she felt quite a bit warmer than the bath warranted.
In Fleur's arms, Harry was trembling. He was so distracted, in fact that he did not notice her hands proceed under his shirt and begin wandering over his back. He did notice when she stopped suddenly and tensed. "'Arry, can you take off zis shirt, please?"
Hermione was a little confused by Fleur's tone. "Fleur, are you all right? You sound angry."
Harry though turned to face them and began backing away. "I, I'd rather not," he said, looking away from both of them.
"Harry," Hermione commented, moving closer, "Is something the matter?"
Before he could reply, Fleur beat him to it. "Zere is something we need to see, 'Ermione." Her voice was strained. "'Arry, we will not 'urt you. Please." She looked at him with concern.
When he did not respond, the motioned for Hermione to come closer and they both took his hand. He was looking away and taking quick, shallow breaths, but he was not running away.
"Please, 'Arry?" Fleur asked again.
Harry was shaking. Not this, not this, don't look… Coming down from the elation of a few moments before was too much; the memories of Vernon striking him made him cold and ashamed. He felt resigned. It was normal, after all. He had spent most of his life feeling that way. The girls would see. They should see, he thought, because then they would know the sort of person he really was. He swallowed, then after a moment he nodded. "OK. Just, please..." His voice died and his shoulders slumped. He pulled his hands from theirs, then turned and began taking off the wet shirt.
Hermione gasped as she saw Harry's back. Two dozen white scars criss-crossed him from his shoulders to his waist, the flesh welted where they had clearly been left untreated. In an instant, she and Fleur were holding him.
"Harry," Hermione asked, trying to keep her anger in check, "Did they do this to you?" The they was understood.
Harry bit his lip and nodded.
"Your uncle?" She confirmed.
He nodded again.
Harry looked up to see tears in Fleur's eyes. "Zey will never 'urt you again, love." She hugged him tightly. "Never."
Hermione kissed him lightly on the cheek. "We don't think any less of you Harry. I know you're uncomfortable, but we love you." It felt natural to say it, but the moment the words left her, Hermione felt her pulse quicken as all three of them tensed.
"I," Harry spoke softly, "For a long time I thought everyone hated me," his voice was thick with emotion. "I know that's not true now. I'm not sure how to say this." Rubbing at his eyes, Harry faced the two girls as he withdrew from their embrace. "I love you, Fleur, Hermione. I think I love both of you."
The younger witch could not help it and burst into tears as she threw herself at him. Fleur gave her a moment before drawing them both into an embrace as they all three sat down in the warm bath.
"We will be 'ere for you, 'Arry. I love you." Fleur was unsure how she had found herself here, with these two, but it felt very comfortable. It felt like she was meant to be there.
"I, I love you, both of you! I don't know what we're to do about this." Hermione sounded overwhelmed, so Fleur and Harry comforted her as best they could.
"We'll just see what happens, all right? I know what I feel." Harry said, still feeling a bit overwhelmed himself. "It's not going to change."
"Zere is no 'urry," Fleur added, smiling.
Hermione took a breath. "I just, well, it's hardly what I expected to be doing this year."
Harry had to laugh at that, his scars forgotten for the moment. Fleur joined in and began teasing Hermione in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"'Arry," she said with a grin, "Do you know zat 'Ermione 'ad no swimsuit? I just transfigured ze clothes she was going to wear in 'ere."
"Well of course I didn't!" Hermione exclaimed. "What would I need one for at Hogwarts?"
"I think I should 'ave made it a bit more daring, yes?" Hermione backed away at the gleam in Fleur's eye.
"Fleur, you can't go about changing it! It's already so small!"
"Who eez to stop me, hmm?"
"Certainly not me," Harry said loftily. "You've already taken off my shirt, after all."
Fleur actually fell back laughing at this comment and Hermione's gobsmacked expression.
"No fear there, eh Mr. Gryffindor?" The brown-haired witch replied after she recovered, "Better watch out or we'll see how brave you are when I take this off myself."
Harry's wide eyed shock provoked another round of laughter before Hermione broke it up.
"We really need to look at those clues," she indicated the eggs.
Fleur, Hermione, and Harry ended up taking a few turns underwater to make sure they had the clue down, and checked the eggs against one another. Hermione rushed out of the bath to write the verse down.
"So something will be taken from us."
"Seems so," Harry assented.
"But what will it be, I wonder?" Hermione asked.
"Well whatever it is, I need to know how to get to the mermaid village without drowning."
Fleur looked pensive. "Zere is ze bubble-head charm, 'Arry. It is difficult, but you may be able to do it."
"Well," the black-haired wizard replied with a tone of relief, "At least now we know what we need to do. Worlds better than I was feeling earlier."
At that, both witches leaned in and gave him a kiss. "It's all right Harry. We'll think of something before summer."
"Yes, 'Arry. Do not worry."
"Thanks, you two. And about the other thing," Harry looked a bit nervous, "I meant what I said. I love you, Hermione, I love you, Fleur." He took their hands and squeezed, feeling as he did so a little echo of the embrace he had received earlier.
"I feel ze same about both of you, as well." Fleur said with a meaningful glance.
"Me too," Hermione added. "Although I do worry a bit what my parents will think..."
Harry visibly blanched at this, but Fleur patted him on the arm calmly. "Another trouble for another time, oui?"
HPHPHPHP
Hermione had Winky apparate Fleur back to her bedroom in the Beauxbatons carriage after scouting for trouble. Then she and Harry headed out of the bath under the invisibility cloak, map in hand.
Though things had turned out well, it had been quite a busy and stressful evening for all of them; as a result, Hermione was distracted and Harry was not paying as much attention to the map as he might have. When he happened to catch something on it, he came to a complete stop, causing Hermione to run into him and the egg to fall onto the ground with a clatter.
"Harry!" Hermione hissed at him as she knelt and quickly retrieved the egg. "What is the matter with you! You're going to get us in trouble!"
At that moment and before he could reply, they heard the voice of Filch down the hallway. Muttering a curse, the young witch dragged Harry against the side of the hallway. "What?" She whispered.
"The map!" He replied. "It showed Crouch around here somewhere; Snape's office I think. What do you think he's doing here at this hour? Bagman said he wasn't even coming in to work!"
Suddenly they heard Snape's voice coming up the corridor as well. Hermione's heart sank. "Hide the map, Harry. We may be about to get caught." She muttered a silencing charm before he could reply, and they both stood very still.
Snape and Filch met each other only a few meters from the concealed pair. "Where are they, Professor Snape? I know I heard somethin' clanging over here, and that was after Peeves earlier. Sounded like a pot fallin'..." He looked around the empty corridor suspiciously.
"Someone has been in my office, Filch. Have you seen no one?" Snape sounded extremely irritated.
Filch now had a wide-eyed expression of glee on his face, no doubt thinking of torturing the students who had dared cross the personal space of the most foul-tempered professor in the school. "No, not yet, professor."
"Well keep looking!" The potions master grunted.
"Looking for who, Snape?" They heard a raspy voice call in time with a sudden thunking. A moment later Alastor Moody entered the hallway as well, with a decidedly cranky expression on his face.
Snape was silent, but Filch quickly replied, "Some students, Professor Moody. Out after curfew, making a racket with something out here. Professor Snape found someone had been in his office too-"
"Shut up, Filch!" Snape ordered furiously. Filch backed away.
"Is that right, Snape?" He proceeded to look the other man over carefully, his magical eye darting around until it was looking directly at Harry and Hermione.
With muted horror they watched the grizzled man's eyebrows raise as he whispered. "Potter?" Moody caught himself and stopped.
But Snape had apparently overheard. "Potter? You think that arrogant brat was in my office?" He paused, then stared at Moody fixedly.
"So someone was in there then?" Moody replied quickly.
Snape bit his lip. "It is not important."
"Of course it's important! Someone broke into your office."
"It may have been a student. Potter has, I believe, stolen potions ingredients in the past."
"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" said Moody. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"
"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said angrily "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."
Moody's face twisted into a smile. "Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye —"
"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"
"He can trust you all he wants, but I know there are spots that don't come off." Moody glared at him. Snape grabbed hold of his left forearm with a pained expression.
"Go to bed, Snape."
"You don't have authority to order me around, Moody." Then he looked at the old man curiously. "You seem anxious to have me out of here." His eyes narrowed. "Potter. Why did you say his name, Moody?" Suddenly Snape looked around, angry.
"He's here, isn't he? Under that blasted invisibility cloak! Potter, damn it, where are you!"
"Got it out for the boy, haven't you Snape? You know Dumbledore's still wondering who put his name in the Goblet and confunded it." Moody looked at him appraisingly and Snape stopped cold.
Under the cloak, Harry was glad for the silencing charm. He was sure he'd gasped out loud when Snape yelled his name.
Finally Snape backed down under Moody's glare and stalked away. Filch did the same, looking around hopefully as he departed for some sign of the offender.
When it had been quiet for a moment, Moody called out softly. "Close one there, eh Potter, Granger?"
"You can see through invisibility cloaks?" Hermione asked after she dispelled the silencing charm.
"Comes in quite handy, too," he replied. "Looking into that egg, were you?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Well, stay out of Snape's way, Potter."
"Sir," Harry asked, "What did you mean about Snape?"
Moody eyed them both cautiously. "Let's just say he and Karkaroff have a few things in common," he growled. "Now, did you go into his office, either of you?"
Hermione and Harry shook their heads. He nodded, then looked at them closely. "Do you know who did?"
Harry wanted to tell him about Crouch, to ask what was going on, but he had no way to do so without revealing the map. Though he rather liked Moody for bouncing Malfoy up and down the halls, he was still not sure he could trust a man who put his class under the Imperious.
"No sir, we don't."
"Granger?" The auror asked.
"No, sir," she answered, following Harry's lead.
He watched them for another moment. "All right, you two."
"Sir," Harry asked hesitantly. "Who do you think did it? Does it have something to do with Karkaroff, or the Goblet?"
"Wasn't me, Potter, if that's what you're asking," he answered, then stared down the hallway after Snape. "But if there's one thing I do hate it's a Death Eater who went free."
With that revelation, Moody motioned them along. "Back to your tower now and don't get caught. Worked out that egg, by the way?"
Hermione favored him with a slight grin. "Yes, Professor."
"Sharp girl," he chuckled. "Keep that one, Potter. Stay safe."
Harry and Hermione were left alone and began walking back to the tower, this time with rather more caution. "What was Crouch doing here? And Snape, a Death Eater?" Harry queried.
"Well," Hermione said, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't know."
"Maybe Fleur's father can find out," Harry commented.
They made it back without further incident.
HPHPHPHP
Fleur Delacour woke up the next morning with a headache; after the stress of the previous night she had felt unable to sleep, and had not been able to drift off for a full hour after she returned to her room. Even then her dreams had been strange: inconstant flashes of images, some familiar and some not, accompanied by an omnipresent whispering.
Yawning, she fancied that she could hear the whispering even now.
The veela witch got up and began her day, all the while thinking about the two people who had turned her life completely on its head: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Hermione's hasty declaration the night before had been all the more genuine for its unexpectedness, and Fleur admired her for not backing down. Harry had certainly needed some kind of reassurance.
She frowned at the memory of his naked back. She had felt something off when she touched him, but had not imagined it was anything as horrible as what he had showed them. Fleur had a hard time imagining that he had lived with that uncle of his for over a decade with no one to help him.
He was never going to live with him again if Fleur had anything to say about it.
As she dressed, Fleur thought of Harry at the first task, giving her courage and then demonstrating it handily himself. She was in love with him; she could admit it. He might be younger and a touch shorter, but she had never known anyone with the same gravity about him. Except perhaps for Hermione Granger.
The younger girl had been a wrinkle for her since the day they had first entered the Room of Requirement together, but the brown-haired witch had demonstrated time and again a level-headedness and sense of caring that rivaled the green-eyed wizard for whom they had both fallen. At times Fleur forgot how much younger Hermione was in fact; the younger witch could converse with her as an equal on any subject she could name. She had asked around and heard several Hogwarts professors seriously call Hermione the brightest witch of her age.
If Harry's daring and kindness had won him Fleur's affection, then it was Hermione's steadfast brilliance and loyalty that had won Fleur for her.
Fleur was under no illusions that they were to have an easy time of things. She had not described the situation in full detail to her parents even though she believed they would support her; they were generally very tolerant people and her father had not married a part-veela without facing his share of criticism for his chosen relationship. Of Hermione's parents she had no idea; muggles could be very open-minded, but certainly not all of them, and then not always about their own daughters.
And then of course there was Harry, whose fame made everyone in the wizarding world into a potential complaining in-law. They had already seen some of that from Molly Weasley (though her children seemed to have come around). It was going to be a battle, Fleur expected.
She hoped they could get through it. Harry did not need anyone else failing him.
Realizing it was a bit earlier than she had thought, Fleur elected to take a walk before breakfast. Just outside the carriage she spotted Madame Maxime, who was in turn watching a distant Hagrid give the horses their single-malt.
Fleur walked the other way. She was not the only one with issues outstanding.
HPHPHPHP
On Friday, the trio met in the Room of Requirement. Harry had had an absolutely awful afternoon of potions during which Snape had hovered over him offering continual criticism. Hermione had been powerless to prevent it and had watched with growing irritation; fortunately class ended before she exploded and they could be assigned detentions.
"The nerve of that man! I can't believe he was treating you that way, Harry!" Harry noted absently that Hermione had been taking Snape's criticisms of him quite personally of late.
Hermione had been rather strongly affected by the implication that Snape had been a Death Eater. It was one of the many questions that she wanted to ask of Albus Dumbledore.
"Nothing new, Hermione. Let's just forget it." Harry commented. "I'd rather get some work done."
Fleur had already written to her father about their suspicions regarding Snape; she had still not mentioned anything about her relationship. There were other things to worry about after all.
All three of them had been reading about potential dangers in the black lake; Harry had personally voiced the hope that they simply would not run into the giant squid. Even apart from that though, there were plenty of things to be concerned about.
At the top of the list was learning to breathe underwater.
"I saw Viktor Krum diving into ze lake zis morning, 'Arry," Fleur said.
"Well good then, we all know," Harry replied. He had been worried about whether to tell Krum or not.
This afternoon Fleur was going to demonstrate the bubble-head charm to them both. She also needed to work on the charm, since this would be a circumstance where her life would depend on it being functional and long-lasting.
She described it to the other two, noting Hermione's intense note-taking with fond amusement. The charm was quite complicated; it not only created an impermeable barrier but also a continually replenishing supply of fresh air. It took a fair bit of magic to employ for long periods of time, but none of them had managed to find anything better.
Both Harry and Hermione tired themselves out trying to cast the charm, which Fleur was able to demonstrate without trouble. She recommended that they take a break, so Harry spent some time working on banishing charms, for which he seemed to have a natural flair.
They also spoke of the mysterious appearance of Mr. Crouch in Snape's office. Harry had asked whether they might ask Winky, but the little elf had wailed and carried on so piteously about not revealing her old master's secrets that Hermione hadn't the heart to order her to disclose what she knew. Giving orders to Winky was bad enough for Hermione in any case; orders she was obviously hesitant to follow were just impossible.
With no further information, they had to assume that it had something to do with Snape's past.
Later, Hermione outlined her plan to discover Rita Skeeter, which she had been developing after hearing McGonagall's suggestion.
"This may take time," Hermione said, "and we'll need the map, Harry." He readily agreed. "Basically we are going to wait until we can see her present at the school or on the grounds, and Dobby and Winky will see whether she is visible. When we get the chance, we'll lead her along with some gossip to get her attention."
"And once we 'ave her attention?" Fleur asked.
"We lead her here, and ask the Room to be someplace she can't escape. Once she's inside we reveal her. McGonagall will back us up; she's spying on underage people. Plus, who knows how she's doing it anyway? It might be illegal."
"What if she escapes?" Harry asked, concerned.
"She will not, 'Arry." Fleur said icily.
"All right," Harry agreed. "So Winky will be watching the map then?"
"Yes, switching shifts with Dobby. We need Skeeter isolated, so it may be a while," Hermione cautioned.
Harry nodded. "It will be worth it."
HPHPHPHP
Weeks went by as the trio continued monitoring for Skeeter while keeping ahead of their regular work and making progress on the second task as well. It was quite busy, and all three went around a little grouchy when they were not in the presence of the others. Harry had sent off a letter to Sirius advising him of what was happening, but had received no reply.
Fleur suffered a few more headaches, and commiserated with Hermione over strange dreams brought on by stress. They were all feeling a little worn down.
It was two weeks before Hermione managed the bubble-head charm, and another three days before Harry managed it. Fleur was pleased; it was two years ahead of their current work and difficult even then. They resolved to spend the remainder of the time working on testing the duration of the charm. Harry secured knives for the two of them as a just-in-case measure, and focused on banishing charms to be used underwater.
Shortly after they had mastered the charm, Winky popped in excitedly and advised them that Skeeter had finally been spotted on the grounds with no one around. Within a hectic few moments, Harry had been apparated along by Dobby under his cloak, map in hand. The dot showed Skeeter near the greenhouses. He stood in silence and saw no sign of her, but then watched carefully as the dot with her name began to move.
He saw nothing at first, but then looked closer and walked forward a bit to cement his suspicions.
Dobby apparated them both back and Harry pulled off the cloak, grinning at the two witches.
"She's a beetle."
"What?" Hermione asked. "Are you sure?"
Harry nodded. "I saw her indicated on the map, and the beetle flying followed its course perfectly. No footprints or depressions in the grass or anything to indicate a concealed figure."
"Zis is excellent, 'Arry," Fleur said with a rather dark smile on her face.
"Why, Fleur?" Hermione asked.
"Because she is an animagus, but when my papa got 'is dossier on 'er, zere was no mention of a license for it."
"So it's illegal then?" Harry asked hopefully.
"With a very steep penalty, I believe," Hermione noted. "This is wonderful. We can stun her and capture her in an unbreakable jar, then interrogate her."
"Keep her from escaping in the Room of Requirement?" Harry hazarded. Hermione and Fleur nodded in reply.
"When do we do it?" Fleur asked.
"Next time she's here, I guess. We'll have Winky and Dobby on the lookout."
HPHPHPHP
The effects of Skeeter's article on the three of them had not gone away, but many of the students were coming around to their side thanks to the efforts of the Weasleys in Gryffindor and Cedric and Cho in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, respectively. Hate mail was a normal fixture of breakfast, but in the hallways it was mostly the Slytherins who harassed them.
Hermione was feeling a little tired after a late night and some more strange dreams when she was approached by Ginny Weasley one evening in the Gryffindor common room. "Hermione, can I have a word?"
The girl looked anxious and Hermione hoped this would not be a conversation about Fleur, Harry, and herself. "Sure Ginny, what's up?"
"It's Luna, you know, Luna Lovegood." Ginny frowned. "I think she's being bullied by some of the Ravenclaw girls."
Hermione recoiled. She had had no idea. "Really? Has she gone to any of the professors?"
"She hasn't said, but I'm sure she's worried that would make it worse. I was thinking that since Harry knows Cedric, and she's dating Cho..." The redhead looked at her hopefully.
"I'll have him ask, Ginny. If that doesn't stop it, we can always try something else."
HPHPHPHP
In the short term at least there seemed to be some relief for Luna, who was smiling happily a few days after Harry had a word with Cedric about the situation. She was still on bad terms with the Viktor Krum fangirls, but they all hoped it would die down soon. Ginny had contracted Neville to help out in watching for further harassment, and it seemed to be working. The blond Ravenclaw was only too happy to have Neville Longbottom around, and continually talked his ear off with what he described as "an odd line, but sort of cute, you know?"
Neville was smiling a good deal more these days.
In the meantime, Harry and Fleur buckled down for the second task, and Hermione with them. Harry received a reply from Sirius asking for the next Hogsmeade dates (with no further comments), and sent off a reply. He was not certain what Sirius was planning, but was rather worried nonetheless.
It was not until the evening before the task, however, that they were able to find an opportunity to bait Rita Skeeter.
Winky popped into the Room of Requirement and hurriedly announced her findings, waving the map. "Mistress Hermione! The awful bug lady is outside the castle, look!"
She was, and Harry and Fleur quickly put their plan into action as Dobby popped them some distance from Skeeter while Hermione followed with Winky, under the cloak and with the map in hand.
Rita Skeeter was out for any news she could find of the trio prior to the second task. To her immense irritation though, they had been like ghosts in Hogwarts, disappearing for hours at a time; she had gotten little from them except in the library. About to call it a night and head for her room at the inn in Hogsmeade, she stopped when she overheard something fantastic.
"But Fleur, are you sure? I've never, well, you know..." His voice trailed off nervously.
"Oh 'Arry, I will make eet very very good for you..." Fleur said in a husky voice as she trailed her index finger over the front of his robes.
"Well," he temporized.
Rita was ecstatic and moved to get a better vantage point. This was going to be her next killer article, she was certain. She could already imagine the story of the French veela going behind the muggleborn's back and having her way with the boy-who-lived!
It was the last thing she thought before Hermione's well-aimed stunner sent her into dreamland.
Rita awoke to find herself still in her animagus form, contained in a glass jar. In front of her stood an extremely angry looking Fleur Delacour, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter.
"I don't think you should try anything, Rita," Hermione commented viciously. "That jar has an unbreakable charm on it."
"What do we do wiz 'er tonight?" Fleur asked. "Eet iz getting late already."
Harry sighed. "As much as I want to deal with it now, we can't. Fleur and I need to rest for the task tomorrow. Want to talk with her after that?"
"OK Harry," Hermione said. Then she leaned close to the jar, and Rita could not help but back away from the young witch's fierce expression. "You'd better hope nothing happens to those two tomorrow or I might not be feeling very charitable. It would be easy to drop you in the lake and let the giant squid try to pry you out of that jar."
"Scary girl," Harry said with a smile. "But we'll be fine, right Fleur?"
"Of course, 'Arry," the beautiful witch tossed her head. "We'll deal wiz 'er later."
Rita was not at all sure she wanted to know what they had planned for her.
