Every head turned to stare at the infamous boy, who in turn appeared to be glue to the bench. Hermione's stomach had sunk at those two words and now she watched as her friend's face flipped through emotions like channels on a TV.
Unlike the choosing of the other champions, there was no applause. Instead the room seemed to buzz like a swarm of angry bees. Students were standing up to get a better look at Harry where he stayed frozen, his eyes wide behind the thick glasses covering them.
Up at the staff table, McGonagall had gotten to her feet and swept past Bagman and Karkaroff to urgently whisper in Dumbledore's ear. "I-I didn't put my name in" Harry said blankly, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or those around him, "You know I didn't"
Back up the front, Dumbledore straighten from where he had bent to listen McGonagall, nodding to the Transfiguration teacher before turning back to the sea of students before him. "Harry Potter! He called again, "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
"Go on" Hermione whispered, nudging Harry to his feet.
All eyes watched him as he stumbled over his feet before he shuffled up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, doing his very best to hide inside the collar of his shirt. Time seemed to stretch on as the buzzing grew stronger. "Well…through the door, Harry" Dumbledore stiffly handed the piece of parchment to Harry who reluctantly took it and shuffled off to the side chamber.
Hermione's beady eyes watched Harry's figure disappear from view as he ventured into the chamber beyond. No sooner had the door closed, did the Hall erupt into chaos. Students let out cries of disgust. How was the famous Harry Potter be allowed to enter into the Triwizard Tournament and not them? He was nowhere near seventeen, nor had he even admitted to putting his name in.
Across from her, Ron's face had turned an ugly sour expression and his cheeks had turned a frightening purplish-red in his frustration. If Hermione listened closely, she could hear the quiet and hurried mutterings of how Harry had entered without telling him how. Every now and then, he would send glares in Hermione's direction as if she had anything to do with this.
And throughout it all, Hermione sat helplessly watching as her housemates and friends turned against the bespectacled boy, all because he had somehow conquered the enchanted Age Line, gotten his name into the Goblet of Fire without anyone's knowledge and been chosen as the fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament. So much for that peaceful year!
Much later, Hermione and Victoria were snuggled up between the saggy cushions of the love seat in the Gryffindor common room. Both girls had dressed in their sleepwear and had stuffed their cloaks between them as they waited for the others in the common room to disappear. Where Victoria had opted for a victorian-style nightgown, that flowed around her figure in layers of sheer pearl material and frills; Hermione had gone for a more modern nightgown.
In comparison to Victoria's nightgown, Hermione's own nightgown practically screamed 'scandalous!', It was a silken baby pink in colour with two simple spaghetti straps placed atop her shoulders. Both the hem and sweetheart neckline were lined with lacy white flowers that extended the length of the nightgown just that little bit, landing at around mid-thigh.
The two girls had easily commandeered the chair in front of the fireplace that night, as most of the younger students had headed up to bed almost straight away, leaving the others to impatiently wait around for Harry's return. Many paced back and forth, commenting about how the hell Harry had been able to pull it off.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Ron just sinking deeper and deeper into jealously and frustration, something that worried her but she still didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. Instead, she selfishly nursed her Doctor Who mug of hot coffee, that was spiked with just a hint of chocolate liqueur taken from Victoria's secret stash. The matching TARDIS kettle sat next to her feet, still leaking steam as it cooled and beyond that, the fire danced hypnotically around the logs in the fireplace.
The sound of the portrait door swinging open and banging against the wall outside, brought Hermione out of her back to reality as her housemates pounced on Harry the moment he stepped inside. Peering over her shoulder, Hermione watched as he was wrenched inside by a dozen or so people before being shoved to the front of the room, where he was presented to those still awake.
Shouts, screams, whistles and applause sounded from the group gathered and Hermione could see that Harry appeared to overwhelmed at all the attention he was receiving—no doubt, wanting to just go to bed and forget the whole thing.
"You should've told us you'd entered!" Bellowed Fred, looking both annoyed and impressed at the same time.
"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" Roared George.
"I didn't…" Harry murmured, though no one seemed to be listening, "I don't know how—"
"Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor—" Angelina swooped in next.
"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" Shrined Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.
"We've got food, Harry, come and have some—"
"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast—"
Hermione watched with growing anticipation as Harry's face contorted into barely controlled frustration. No one seemed to be listening to him and it had been a long day—he didn't enjoy Halloween on the best of days. Hermione silently wondered how long it would take for him to burst. Butterbeer and crisps were shoved into his hands, people peppered him with questions as they crowded in on the young teen, demanding answers no matter how many times he said he didn't do it. "Think we should help him?" Victoria asked, following Hermione's gaze as the two girls watched Harry over the back of the couch.
"I'm tired!" Harry finally bellowed, "No, seriously, George—I'm going to bed—"
"He seems to have it handled" Hermione dismissed as Harry eventually escaped up the stairs to his dormitory only half and hour after having arrived.
"Do you think he did it, Mia?" Victoria asked as the two witches turned back to face the dying fire. By now, the kind-of party was still going, though it seemed to have stuttered for a bit when the man-of-the-hour had retreated upstairs; leaving many unanswered questions and upset people behind him.
"I dunno—" Hermione shrugged and she really didn't. Usually Harry was pretty easy to read—he was outspoken and hard-headed which is probably why he got on so well with Ron. That was to say, despite her best efforts, a bitter feeling curled up in her gut when she thought about it. I just wanted one year—one year!—where we weren't threatened with death or Voldemort or some kind of dangerous conspiracy involving Harry and a dark wizard! Is that too much to ask for?
"—On one hand, Harry's got a hero complex the size of Hogwarts" Hermione sipped from her mug, "But on the other…well, you've seen how he get's 'round Halloween. Most times, I have to drag him outta bed for stuff like this. There's no way he would've done this on his own"
"But what if he had someone else help him?" Victoria asked.
"Like who?"
"I dunno; but just say that he did…"
"…I s'pose if he had some help—I mean, I certainly wasn't approached and, I mean, he barely knows more than two DADA spells…"
"So maybe someone outside of Gryffindor? A 'Claw, maybe? 'Asn't he been ogling that Chang girl recently?"
"You mean Cho Chang? Maybe, I guess…I just—I dunno. We could always ask Luna, I s'pose" And oh! How Hermione hated not knowing!
"Yeah, I guess"
When the spiked coffee in the kettle had dwindled down to its last little dregs, Hermione and Victoria had finally been left alone in the common room. With the clock on the mantel place ticking closer to early morning, the two witches donned their cloaks and disappeared into the night.
"There you two are!" Lila cheered upon noticing the two, "Thought you'd forgotten about us, for a moment!"
"What? Forget this?" Victoria replied mockingly offended, "Never!" The bonfire was roaring in its pit when Hermione & Victoria arrived at the clearing and Luna was helping to set out the many jars of homemade paint for the girls to use. Each jar was enchanted so that they floated listlessly in the air like one of the candles, when not in the tree cabinet and separated into three sections: plants, animals and minerals.
Moving closer to the plant-based group, Hermione saw that many of the jars were labelled in looping scrawl. There was ruby reds created from 'Madder' and blues created from 'Crushed Woad Leaves'. There were several jars of 'Sumac' that ranged in colour from beige to yellow to burgundy to black. A vibrant pink was labelled as 'Pickled Beets' and another that held the pale blue dye made from 'Blueberries'. Two more jars held the yellow and red dyes of the 'Safflower'.
Next was the mineral-based paints. These jars held a variety of earthen colours and Emilia had mentioned on one occasion, that many of these ones had been roasted to get a richer colour in the process. The first jar held red-yellow paint that was made from the ore of iron found in ochre; next came the rich earthly red jar and creamy brown jar which was made from sienna—a limonite clay originally.
The series of blue jars that came next were rather small and hardly looked to used, though this was most likely due to what the paints were created from. First was the royal blue azurite, then came the cobalt blue and finally the ultramarine blue which was obtained from crushing the lapis lazuli gem. Another series of small jars contained more gemstone-based paints that varied in shades of yellow, orange, turquoise and blue—each of these were labelled as 'Spinel-based'
And finally the last, and smallest group was the paints using animal bases. First up, was the red paint that came from the crushed cochineal insects who like to inhabit cacti plants. Next there was the jars that contained the reds that bordered on purple-red and crimson red, these ones were made from the blood of Kermes insects and were labelled as 'Carmine'. And last but not least, the jar of royal purple paint was made from murex, predatory sea snails, and labelled as 'Tyrian Purple'
Sophie had explained earlier that in accordance with the Samhain traditions, the girls would use the paints to 'dress in costumes' so to speak, however instead of conventional costumes, they would use them to paint each other's monikers onto their nude bodies. Whilst the paints were being set out, Lila moved around the clearing as she placed curls of burning incense and swaddles of sage in little nooks and crannies around the clearing, filling it with the scent of burnt herbs.
"Hey Mia, come give me a hand!" Charlotte called from off to the side where she stood leering over a makeshift table laden with all manner of stereotypical witchy items. From the pearl-inlaid athame to the well-worn bubbling cauldron to the pouch of engraved bones and hand-drawn tarot cards.
"What do you need?" Hermione asked, making her way over to the Hufflepuff.
"Can you pass me the absin?" Charlotte gestured towards the tall green bottle of alcohol off towards her right.
"You mean the absinthe?" Hermione spun the bottle around so the label faced Charlotte.
"Yeah, that" Charlotte nodded.
"What do you need absinthe for?" Hermione tilted her head in question. "Isn't this Muggle booze?"
"Oh! That's right you weren't here last year, were you?" Charlotte perked up, as if she had just remembered.
"Uh-uh" Hermione shook her head.
"Well, to answer your questions: yes it is Muggle booze, but it's also part of the Spirporta potion. The veil between the physical world and the spiritual world is at its weakest on Samhain, y'know, and this potion helps us to see those wandering souls better"
"Like how Seers use tea leaves?"
"More like when they hallucinatory ingest fumes"
"Oh" Hermione's brow furrowed in thought.
"It's not harmful or anything, if that's what you're thinking" Charlotte jumped in when she saw the look on Hermione's face. "Just opens stubborn minds to other things" She shared a grin with the short brunette as she playfully bumped her hip against Hermione's.
"Well, c'me on! Take it off!" Charlotte gestured her wet paintbrush towards Hermione who was the only one still dressed in her nightgown.
"I dunno…" Hermione trailed off, her eyes showing how nervous she really was despite her best efforts. In theory, this sounded like something so simple, just stripping down to her birthday suit amongst like-minded women who were doing the same. But in reality…it was a whole other story.
"C'me on, Mia! I can't paint on a covered canvas! C'me on! Where's that Gryffindor courage?" Charlotte encouraged as Hermione's eyes drifted over the clearing for a moment where she was able to see the others already getting their paint jobs done—even Luna had jumped right in.
Even in the well-lit clearing, the waning moonlight still reached its beams down to the forest floor, and bounced off of the curves and slopes of the girls around her. From the milky pale skin of Luna's curved back to the perky slope of Victoria's chocolate-skinned breasts. Down Lila's voluptuous thighs and over Emilia's fair-skinned cheeks; Sophie was bathed in the moonlight that highlighted her freckled shoulders and even Charlotte's wandering hands gleamed in the moonlight.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Hermione slowly began to undress. Kicking her jandals off to the side where they landed amongst the other girls' things; she then moved onto her cloak. Shaky fingers worked at the top couple of buttons that had been done up as she tried to still her wildly beating heart. Though she took her time in neatly folding up the large cloak and setting it atop her shoes, the Gryffindor still couldn't seem to remove the nightgown from her body as she clung to the spaghetti straps in trepidation.
As if sensing this, Charlotte tucked the paintbrush behind her ear, mindless of the paint getting into her hair and moved forward to place both of her hands on Hermione's shoulders. "C'me 'ere" Charlotte spoke softly as she gently hooked her fingers underneath the straps and slowly slid them out from Hermione's grip, "Like this"
Ever so carefully, Charlotte tugged the silken nightgown down Hermione's body as if she were made of glass. When that item pooled at her feet, she waited for the younger witch to step out of it before it was folded up and placed with her other things. Hermione could've melted right there and then at the look of genuine care that Charlotte gave to her before she rose from the ground.
Hermione felt a shiver run up her spine as Charlotte ran a manicured nail up her leg until she reached the hem of her high-waisted knickers. Again, those wandering fingers tucked themselves beneath the unwanted fabric and gently tugged them downwards, leaving Hermione naked in the middle of the forest.
She bit her lower lip when Charlotte pressed in close—so, so close—until they were almost the same person.A gentle kiss, no more than a whisper, was placed on the junction between Hermione's neck, just below her chin where her heartbeat was pounding away. Oh Hecate! Please!
A quiet whimper escaped from Hermione's lips when Charlotte pulled back, replacing her lips with the cool wet paint on her brush. "There'll be more time for that later" Charlotte whispered, her voice husky with barely contained lust as her eyes carefully followed the smooth strokes of the paintbrush in and out of the crevices on the Gryffindor's figure; ignoring the pleading eyes of said witch.
Hermione's eyes fluttered shut as the cold wet paint met her sizzling skin and a quiet breathy moan fell from her lips as heat began to pool within her. The sensual strokes of the paintbrush barely touched her face—save for the quick slashes down her chin which created the image of deadly-looking fangs.
Instead, they moved down her body like whispers of promise; the paint dripped down the valley of her breasts and between her sharp shoulder blades in harsh swooping lines. Oh yes! Hermione moaned quietly when the paintbrush followed the same path that Charlotte's nail had created not moments earlier, surrounding her legs in earth-cracking black. She wasn't sure how she could love someone's hands so much—the gentleness in which they caressed her, turning her this way and that…it was a wonder she hadn't left a puddle on the floor already.
All too soon however, it seemed to come to an end. Hermione's eyes fluttered open once more to reveal a proud Charlotte who had stepped back to admire her masterpiece—hot and heavy though she was. "Right, my turn" Charlotte purred, handing the paint and brush over to Hermione who received them with shaky hands.
Absentmindedly, she noticed that the others seemed to be in similar situations. The sexual tension that blanketed the air was almost palpable, and Hermione would be lying if she said she didn't like it. Oh so close, and yet so far—wanting to touch, to caress, to claim their partner(s), and yet only just holding back with the importance of traditions in mind and the promise of pure bliss later on.
Dipping the bristled brush into the pot of spinel orange paint, Hermione carefully began to paint rings around Charlotte's body. Standing on her tiptoes, Hermione painted looping rings of orange over her brows, around her cheekbones and across the bridge of her button nose, creating a mask that resembled the moniker tattoos that the witch usually wore during the full moon.
Hermione felt Charlotte tremble beneath her soft fingers as the paint ran down her neck and over her sloping breasts in twisting and turning swirls, that framed the Triple Goddess tattoo in the valley between them. Hermione felt hypnotised as she watched the paint wrap itself around the Hufflepuff's toned legs in an earthier ochre. It was almost like the paintbrush had a mind of its own.
"All done" Hermione breathed stepping back from Charlotte, who looked almost disappointed that it was over.
"Right…" Charlotte breathed "C'me on", linking her hand with Hermione before she tucked the paintbrush into a nearby floating jar and led the younger witch over to where the others stood next to the roaring bonfire, all covered in paint and looking at each other with the same barely contained lust in their wandering eyes.
" 'Ere you go" Charlotte gifted Hermione with her stone emblazoned with the otter and directed her over to the point on the septigram surrounding the bonfire.
Standing in between Luna and Sophie, Hermione placed her stone at her feet and stared into the orange and yellows of the dancing bonfire before them. Apart from the painted stones at their feet, a couple of Lila's engraved bones were dotted amongst the ashen dirt as well as a couple of rune-covered stones that lined the spaces between each girl.
The forest seemed to fall into a whispering hush as Lila spoke, her arms spread wide and eyes turned to the waning moon shining in the sky, high above. "Quiet is the night, dark is the Moon. We ask Hecate, the Crone to take her throne. Rise, sisters, rise! Be not alarmed for the Great Goddess keeps you from harm…"
Here she sliced the pearl athame across her left palm, licking the blood from the blade before passing it off to Victoria on the right, who did the same in turn. Passing the athame around the circle, each girl sliced themselves, wincing at the quick pain and allowing the blood to drip freely from the cut as they licked the collected blood from the blade before passing it on.
"…Quiet is the night…" Lila continued as the magical energies around them began to rise like a heatwave in summer. Next came the Spirporta potion. The watery potion slid down her throat like water over rocks, but that need not matter, for the needy feeling that hit Hermione soon after was one she couldn't describe—not even if she had a week to do it or ten feet of parchment.
"…Dark is the Moon. We ask Hecate the Maiden to take her throne. Rise, brothers, rise! Be not alarmed for the Great Goddess holds you in her arms…"
As if answering her call, ghostly figures began to fade into view all around them. Some were dressed in Victorian dresses that were cinched tightly at the waist, showing off their translucent figures whilst others wore medieval bonnets and pinafores that kept them clean from the non-existent dirt.
"…Quiet is the night, dark is the Moon. We ask Hecate, the Mother to take her throne. Rise, magics, rise! Be not alarmed for the Great Goddess will show you the way…"
There were many of them now, layers upon layers of witches and wizards crowded in the small clearing and all of them praying to the Triple Goddess. Raising (what remained of their arms) in sync with the living witches in the clearing, the ghostly community pushed forth their residual magics, some mouthing along silently to the prayer.
"…Quiet is the night, dark is the Moon. We honour Hecate, the Triple Goddess who has taken her throne!"
By this point, Hermione could practically feel the magic surrounding her, like it was a beating pulsing heart. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience as she watched her body sway and dance in time with music she wasn't quite sure was really playing.
"You were the Witch at the beginning
One With Zeus the God Most High
Your hidden Glory in creation,
Now revealed in You our Goddess
What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Hecate, my Mother
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Hecate
The words spilt from Hermione's lips like she had known them all her life. Twisting and twirling around the septigram in time with the other girls, Hermione danced freely, feeling the heat of the bonfire licking at her skin.
You didn't want the heavens without us
So Hecate, You brought the heavens down
My sin was great, Your love was greater
What could separate us now?
What a wonderful Name it is
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Hecate, my Maiden
What a wonderful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Hecate
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Hecate
As she danced around the fire, Hermione caught glimpses of the ghosts doing the same. Many had joined hands and were dancing in rings around them, like children playing Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie.
How sweet your name, Goddess, how good You are
Love to sing in the name of the Goddess, love to sing for you all
Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You
You silenced the boast, of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring, the praise of Your glory
For You, I raised to life again
You have no rival, You have no equal
Now and forever, Our Triple Goddess reigns
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name, above all names!
Here, the clearing seemed to roar with the pulsing of magic and the volume of voices singing together. Generations of witches and wizards joined together in this one act, an act Hermione was glad to be a part of, sharing this ecstasy with so many others.
What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Hecate, my Crone
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Hecate
You have no rival, You have no equal
Now and forever, Our Goddess reigns
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name, above all names!
Hermione could honestly say she had never known power like this before; drunk on the power that surged and flowed around her and through her like it was meant to be there. With hair and body crackling with glorious magic, she cackled care-free, both thanking and praising the wonderful Goddess who looked down upon them with care and grace.
What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Hecate, my Goddess
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Hecate
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Hecate
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Hecate!"
