Time was flying, it was nearing the end of May and still Snape was ignoring her like his whole life depended on it. Even in lessons he wouldn't make eye-contact or acknowledge her existence in any way. She'd stopped bothering to raise her hand to give answers; it made her feel physically cold every time he ignored her. He was incredibly tense as well, so much so she was sure it couldn't be healthy, but then, that was probably the suspense; he knew You-Know-Who would return soon, he was just waiting for the actual day. She wished she could ask him about his plan for retuning; he and Dumbledore must surely have one. Would she even know when the time came and he left?
The strange events that had been taking place seemed to have reached a plateau; there hadn't been any new developments she was aware of since she learnt the Dark Mark was getting darker. She wished she knew if it had got darker still, or if it was burning more frequently but with Snape behaving the way he was towards her, she didn't think trying to ask him would be a good idea. Holding his hand must have really freaked him out. Hopefully he just needed some time.
Although it had already been weeks and weeks.
With any luck he'd stop ignoring her soon.
Hermione had been sitting quite happily in the Common Room with Ron, expecting Harry back any minute with news of the Third Task when he threw himself through the portrait hole, looking rather manic. He told them everything he knew.
Mr Crouch had broken into Hogwarts once again, this time to warn Dumbledore of something terrible he'd done. He'd said Bertha Jorkins was dead. If that was true it wasn't a huge surprise but it wasn't exactly ideal. He'd said You-Know-Who was getting stronger. That wasn't a surprise either. And something about his son. Could that be the terrible thing he'd done? Sent his own son to Azkaban? But surely Dumbledore would have already known that and wouldn't need warning…. Then he'd just disappeared, leaving a Stunned Victor behind him. She'd need to see if he was ok at some point.
And Snape had been coming out of Dumbledore's office when Harry had gone to find the Headmaster. What had they been talking about? Was it the Dark Mark? Finalising their plan for Snape's return to You-Know-Who? Then she felt a huge stab of irritation at her Potions Professor, he'd let his hatred of Harry cloud his judgement yet again. Maybe if he hadn't argued with Harry, hadn't held him up, maybe Dumbledore would have gotten to Mr Crouch in time.
They went to bed very late and got up very early to send an owl to Sirius.
*It comes down to this," Hermione said, rubbing her forehead in the hope it would wake her up a little more. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."
"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."
"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak - I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."
"You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" She said; being tired made her a lot less patient.
"Okay...how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch - no, wait for it - and then Stunned himself!"
"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" she said coldly.
"Oh yeah..."*
They weren't getting anywhere with this.
*"We need to see Professor Moody," she said firmly. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."*
But they decided to wait till later; waking Moody this early could be dangerous with his track record.
*When History of Magic finally finished, they hurried out into the corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as they felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving his face an even more lopsided appearance than usual.
"Professor Moody?" Harry called as they made their way toward him through the crowd.
"Hello, Potter," growled Moody. "Come in here."
He stood back to let them into his empty classroom, limped in after them, and closed the door.
"Did you find him?" Harry asked without preamble. "Mr. Crouch?"
"No," said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan, and pulled out his hip flask.
"Did you use the map?" Harry said.
"Of course," said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. "Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it from my office into the forest. He wasn't anywhere on there."
"So he did Disapparate?" said Ron.
"You can't Disapparate on the grounds, Ron!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"
"Well, he wasn't invisible," said Harry. "The map shows invisible people. He must've left the grounds, then."
"But under his own steam?" She said eagerly. "Or because someone made him?"
"Yeah, someone could've - could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly.
"We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody.
"So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"
"Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here."
He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing teeth. Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you three fancy yourselves as investigators, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now, Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task."
"What?" said Harry. "Oh yeah..."*
The Third Task. Of course. She really shouldn't be getting sidetracked; they still needed to get Harry through that. It was bound to be the most dangerous one yet. A bubble of anxiety rose in her stomach.
As they exited Moody's classroom she saw Snape down the corridor. He looked right at her for the first time in nearly two months. Oh. So now he'll acknowledge my existence, she thought bitterly. He probably just wanted to know what they'd learnt from their DADA Professor as he was obviously too scared of Moody to ask him himself. Well she certainly wouldn't be telling him in a hurry. If Dumbledore hadn't shared this with him, why should she? She quickly looked away from his cold black eyes, wondering vaguely if the Headmaster had ever bothered to tell Snape about Sirius.
Then she began compiling lists of spells that might be useful and her and Ron started training Harry up in earnest. There was no time to lose.
Harry had had another dream about You-Know-Who. He'd told her and Ron everything he saw in his dream, and everything that had happened in Professor Dumbledore's office afterwards. The boys knew Snape had been a Death Eater, they'd actually taken it better than she'd expected, but then they'd always thought the worst of Snape, particularly Harry, so maybe it hadn't come as a huge shock. It sounded as though Snape had gone through a trial too. That was probably why he was afraid of Moody; he'd said in class that he'd been in charge of Death Eater interrogations. She hoped he hadn't been too hard on Snape.
The man himself had gone back to ignoring her, but it didn't seem quite so aggressive these days. She found she didn't mind as much as she used to, it was a little frustrating but she couldn't be of any help to him if he wouldn't even acknowledge her.
She realised just how worried she was about the Third Task when revising for the end of term exams didn't even seem vaguely important compared to what was ahead of them. This was going to be the last chance for whoever it was to hurt Harry and if she couldn't go into that bloody maze with him, she was damn well going to make sure he was armed. June the 24th was getting ever closer.
Figuring out Rita Skeeter's little secret was one of the best feelings she'd ever had, it was even more heady than figuring out Snape's riddle.
*"I've had an idea," She'd said, gazing into space as she figured out the details. "I think I know ... because then no one would be able to see ... even Moody ... and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge ... but she's not allowed ... she's definitely not allowed ... I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library - just to make sure!"*
And she was right. She knew she was. HAH! She'd have that awful woman now. But first they had the Third Task to worry about. She couldn't believe how quickly it had snuck up on them. But then after tonight, the Triwizard Tournament would be over and hopefully they'd all be able to relax a little.
*"So...on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"
He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.*
Victor entered next, she hoped he'd be alright but she was far more concerned about Harry… Then Fleur entered and all 4 champions were in the maze. Now it was just a case of waiting….
So I was back earlier than I thought I'd be and I'd really missed writing so here's another chapter. I know it's not particularly long, exciting or Snermione orientated but it's a necessary transitional chapter. I've started writing the next one and I can promise it will be a lot more action-packed (if that's the right word ;) ) so stay tuned! It should hopefully be up by Tuesday or Wednesday, I have it outlined but I'm not sure if there's going to be an ideal place to end it so it may end up being a very long one but I'm not sure yet. We shall see :)
In response to a review from Smiler (I can't respond individually unless the review is from a fanfiction account) as it says in the description, nothing sexual will happen until Hermione is 17, I was referring to their relationship in a friendship way. This story will be as compliant with the real version as I can possibly make it - I like AU stories a lot but that's not what I want for mine :)
As always thanks to everyone who reads and to those who review as well. It makes me so happy to know what my story is being read.
*Text in between asterisks* from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling