Ch. 12-Two sides
I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER
Harry did not come to the hospital wing for a long time. Mrs. Weasley had followed Madam Pomfrey around for a long time, asking her questions about Harry. When the doors whipped open Harry entered with Harry and Sirius in his dog form. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and he squeezed her hand once.
"Harry! Oh Harry!" Mrs. Weasley squealed. She started rushing towards him, but Dumbledore stood between them.
"Molly,please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him," Dumbledore said, looking at them all standing there. "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening." Mrs. Weasley nodded and turned on Ron, Hermione and Bill.
"Did you hear? He needs quiet!"
"Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey interrupted looking at the black dog. "may I ask what — ?"
"This dog will be remaining with Harry for a while," Dumbledore said and she did not argue. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Harry — I will wait while you get into bed. I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge, Harry," he continued. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school."
Dumbledore left and Harry found a bed, he stared at the bed close by and he saw the real Moody. They could hear him whispering to Madam Pomfrey.
"Is he okay?" He asked her and Ron and Hermione stared at him again.
"He'll be fine." She told him, handing him some pajamas and closing the screens around him. Once he was dressed everyone came around the screens and pulled up chairs around him. Hermione looked at him, terrified. She could see that whatever had happened had caused extreme damage. She just kept thinking about poor Cedric and how his life was just over.
"I'm all right," Harry told them. "Just tired."
Hermione stared at Mrs. Weasley as she smoothed out the bedcovers and her eyes filled with Pomfrey returned with a small bottle of purple potion.
"You'll need to drink all of this, Harry," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep." Harry did not hesitate, he took a few gulps of the potions and his eyes sagged almost instantly. He hadn't even finished the potion, when his head slumped back and his breathing heavied. Ms. Weasley removed his glasses and tucked him in further. Only an hour had passed when shouting could be heard from down the corridor. Hermione had slumped in her own chair and closed her eyes, Ron close by her.
"They'll wake him if they don't shut up!" Ms. Weasley said annoyed.
"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?" Ron asked his mother. Hermione, who had been staring at Harry, saw his eyes flutter open. Ms. Weasley stood up to listen better.
"That's Fudge's voice," she whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"
"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva —" Fudge's voice was just outside the hospital wing now. Hermione listened intently too.
"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" Professor McGonagall yelled. "When Dumbledore finds out —" The doors burst open and Harry sat up, putting on his glasses. Fudge walked towards them while Professor McGonagall and Snape followed close behind him. Professor McGonagall looked at Harry.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge yelled at Ms. Weasley. Ron jerked in his seat, but his mother's shrill voice caught him by surprise.
"He's not here," she said angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to —" Mrs. Weasley started to say, but the door of the hospital wing opened again and Dumbledore strode in, looking between Fudge and his staff.
"What has happened? Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch —" He started to say, but the look on her face stopped him.
"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she yelled. "The Minister has seen to that!" She told Dumbledore. Her face grew red and her hands balled into fist. Snape stepped into view.
"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events, he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch —"
"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall yelled again, interrupting Snape. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but —"
"My dear woman!" Fudge yelled just as loudly. His anger pulsed through him strongly. "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous —" Professor McGonagall did not let his interruption stop her, she merely spoke louder.
"The moment that — that thing entered the room," She pointed her finger at Fudge. "it swooped down on Crouch and — and —" Professor McGonagall could not finish her sentence, but everyone around her understood completely. Sirius wined next to Harry.
"By all accounts, he is no loss!" Fudge defended his actions. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"
"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. What happened next, Hermione witnessed happened too quickly. Dumbledore tried to explain to Fudge that You-Know-Who had returned, to which Hermione gasped. Fudge did not listen, in fact he went as far as to accuse Harry of Lying and Dumbledore of plotting against the Ministry. Hermione felt uneasy. She believed Harry. She knew if he said that he was back, then he was back. Goosebumps rose on her arms and she wrapped her arms around herself. If what she had read was true, then she would not be safe for long. Hermione was muggle born. She looked at Ron and his brother and mother and felt a twinge of pain spasm in her heart. Blood traders were next on his list. Then her eyes fell on Harry. The boy who lived. The boy who You-Know-Who had tried to hurt and kill so many times before. She feared for her friends, for her family, and for herself. Her heart thudded in her chest and Ron gave her another squeeze. Harry yelled at Fudge too. He told him he was not lying and then to add to it, he started naming You-Know-Who's death eaters.
"Lucius Malfoy! Macnair! Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle!" Harry yelled and Hermione's heart raced. Ron looked at her and then back at the scene. Had he said Malfoy? Of course they had always suspected this, but to hear it out loud. Was that why Draco said he was unsafe? Hermione felt uneasy. What had his mother told him? If she thought about it, she knew that he was right. If Lucious Malfoy was a death eater and he found out about Draco and Hermione, he was capable of doing unspeakable things to protect his son. Her breath caught in her chest and Ron was too into the scene unfolding to comfort her. Dumbledore finally gave Fudge his advice on how to get ahead of the situation. But Fudge refused. He called them all mad and insane. He backed away from them and finally spoke more pleadingly.
"He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just cant be." He started saying, but Professor Snape stepped forward and pulled up his left sleeve and stuck out his arm. Fudge nearly jumped back.
"There." Snape said. "There. The dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold." Fudge looked at him, with new eyes, stepping away from him.
"I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry." He said reaching the door, but stopping and turning back towards Harry. "Your winnings,"Reaching into his robes and plopping the bag onto Harry's bedside table. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances . . ." He put his bowler hat on his head and left, slamming the door behind him.
Dumbledore then enlisted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's help. Bill volunteered too. Bill left to inform Mr. Weasley. He asked McGonagall to go to Hagrid and Madame Maxime to meet him in his office. Of Madam Pomfrey he asked to help the house elf Winky, in Professor Moody's office. When they were gone he had Sirius reveal himself and Mrs. Weasley yelled strongly.
"Sirius Black!" She shrieked.
"Mum, shut up! It's okay." Ron leapt from the chair beside Hermione and put an arm around her. Snape stared at Sirius. He spoke through gritted teeth and Sirius barked back, but in the end they begrudgingly shook hands at Dumbledore's request. He gave them both assignments. Sirius was to alert the order, an old allegiance against the Dark Lord. Snape was to return somewhere but specifics were not given. Dumbledore left to see the Diggory's. At the end Harry took the rest of the potion and finally started to speak about what happened to Cedric. Hermione had seen it then. A beetle, the same one that was in her hair by the lake. The same one the Slytherin's held in their hands at the oddest moments. She crept up to the window and slammed it shut, causing the beetle to jump into her waiting hands and she clasped around it.
"Sorry." She said as she realized everyone was watching her. Mrs. Weasley then made Harry drink the gulp of potion that was left and he was asleep again. "Grab me that jar." Hermione whispered to ron. He did so and she turned away from them and placed the beetle in the jar, spelling it shut with her wand. She had her. Hermione and Ron left the hospital wing late that evening and Mrs. Weasley remained with Harry until the following morning. During breakfast Dumbledore spoke to the Great Hall and asked everyone to leave Harry alone and not ask him to reveal what he had witnessed. Hermione searched for Draco at the Slytherin table, but he was not there. Ron followed her closely then, unable to let her out of his sight. They saw Harry and told him what Dumbledore had said. Harry was very reluctant to speak about anything.
When Harry returned to the dormitories they tried to avoid the subject and played chess instead. Harry was not up for much of anything and instead chose to keep to Ron and Hermione or speak to Hagrid. One afternoon, while Harry was out, Ron and Hermione walked the perimeter of the grounds, discussing what they could.
"He's not alright." Hermione said. "He's hurting, Ron." She told him. Ron who had been looking distracted, nodded.
"He's been through it, hasn't he? But he's Harry, he always bounces back." He told her. "Hermione, I wanted to talk to you." He said and she looked up at him. His ears turned pink.
"Yes?" She said.
"I want to talk to you about Malfoy." He said, stopping and looking at his feet. "I don't think you should keep it up. No Listen to me." He said, when Hermione shook her head. "He's not good for you Hermione and you heard Harry, His Dad's a death eater." He said.
"We're not together Ron." She explained. "It's complicated." He shrugged.
"He can't be trusted Hermione. Harry's gonna need you. Hell I need you." He said, finally looking at her. "Just think about it." He told her and Hermione paused. She thought about arguing with Ron. She thought about telling him what type of person he was when they were alone, but thought better of it. Was it not Draco himself who had told her he wasn't safe? Did she not have the same fears about his father being a death eater? Instead she chose to say nothing.
"I will." She said and Ron looked pleased with himself. They continued their walk around the lake. During the last Feast, Ron, Harry and Hermione entered the Great Hall to find that the decorations were missing and in their place, black drapes hung on all the walls. In Honor of Cedric, they realized.
"The End." Dumbledore spoke. "Of another year." He said his eyes lingering on the Hufflepuff table. "There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight, but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here,enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."
Everyone stood up and Raised their goblets. Hermione could feel the sad tears filling her eyes. The hufflepuffs looked distraught, having lost a true friend.
"Cedric Diggory." They all sat back down. "Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about." Hermione watched Harry. He tensed as Dumbledore spoke. "Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort." A panicked whisper erupted through the room and Hermione looked at Draco, who was looking at Dumbledore without words to his classmates."The Ministry of Magic,does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so — either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory." As Hermione watched Dumbledore in awe, she noticed Harry scanning the faces in the crowd. His hands balled into fist as he looked upon Draco. Who was scolding Crabbe beside him. He looked up and saw Hermione watching him and turned back towards Dumbledore "There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death,I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter." Everyone turned to look at Harry. "Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort,He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him." Dumbledore raised his glass to Harry and Everyone followed his example. Hermione noticed that many Slytherins did not raise their goblets. "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened — of Lord Voldemort's return — such ties are more important than ever guest in this Hall, will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again — in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory." Dumbledore ended the speech. Hermione watched as nearly everyone started speaking about all that Dumbledore had just revealed. Harry who was not keen to be the object of discussion left. Hermione followed him, but Ron told her not to and returned to the table. Hermione could not eat. She instead walked along the passages and for one last time, went to the library. She was all packed and ready for the morning departure the next day. She walked to the aisle where she and Draco would meet regularly and let the tears fall from her face. Everything seemed so lost.
Draco had followed Hermione, against Pansy's protests. He hadn't been able to speak to her since the tournament and now was at a loss for words. The Dark Lord was back. He had received word from his mother to be on guard. He for once did not want to return to his home, unable to fathom what all of this would mean. He watched as she ducked into the empty library. He followed behind her, making sure no one had followed them. She turned into the aisle and he heard her soft sobs. His heart ached.
"Hermione." He called out to her and she turned startled, wiping her tears away.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him.
"I saw you leave." He told her and took a step closer to him. She raised her hands in alarm.
"I can't." She said. "I'm sorry. Not now. Not with all that's happened." She explained. Draco's heart sank.
"I just wanted to be sure you were alright. I'm not pledging my undying love for you." He tried to joke, but Hermione remained in place, her hands raised.
"I can't trust myself around you." She said, finally lowering her hands from in front of her. "Right now, I have to be there for Harry." He scoffed.
"Of course you do." He said coldly.
"Don't!" She said. "You heard Dumbledore, You-Know-Who is back. Do you know what that means? It means that a fight is coming. Where do you stand?" She asked him. He did not speak. "It's not a difficult question, for me." She said.
"I am not a part of You-Know-Who's army." He said roughly. "You are treating me as if I've been branded by the Dark Lord, as if I've committed to serving him. It's not my fight!" He said.
"It's everyone's fight!" She spat. "You may not be a part of his army, but your father is." She said and he staggered back.
"Potter should really keep his big mouth shut about things he does not know." He said and Hermione flinched away.
"This will never work." She told him. "I have to be the strong one now." She said mostly to herself. "I will help Harry in whatever he needs and if it comes to it, I will fight to make sure that 'the Dark Lord' does not win." She said to him and took a cautious step around him. He took her arm.
"It's more complicated than that." She took her hand out of his grasp and stepped away further.
"It's not." She said and her voice broke. Draco could feel the heat rising in his chest, the pain creeping through him again, threatening him. He knew she was right. They should end. He had made his mother a promise, he had done and said things to her that were unforgivable. And yet, as the thought of never seeing her, of never being with her invaded his mind, he could think of nothing more he wanted than her. She turned her back on him, but he pulled her back again and took her hand in his. Hermione tried to pull it away but he did not let go.
"Hermione, I love you." The words escaped his mouth. It had not been his plan, but his heart's desperate attempt to keep her here with him. His eyes widened as he realized what he had said. He stared at her and she at him. New tears streamed down her face and she pulled her hand from his.
"Draco." She muttered. "I-Draco." She stuttered. "I can't." She said and fled from him. Hermione leaving him there in the empty library, made him immobile. He could not believe how this had ended for him. He could not believe that she had left, after he had told her how he felt for her. His pain was astronomical and when he finally wretched himself away from there and into the common room, no one's words registered. Pansy tried to speak to him, but he again could not stand the sight of anyone. A new feeling crept through him, his anger pulsated. Harry stinking Potter. The perfect Potter and his big stupid mouth! If he had been given the opportunity to tell her about his father's ties to the Dark Lord, maybe she would not question him like it was so simple. He wished Harry Potter Never existed. He wished that Hermione would see that she was too good for such a baffling idiot. His anger continued to pulsate. He loathed Potter and Weasley and anyone else who stood in his way. She thought he was on the wrong side? As if people just woke up and decided to be dark wizards. He sneered. Sleep did not come easy.
_
Hermione raced to her room. She didn't stop for anyone. She landed on her bed and closed the curtains. He had told her he loved her. He had looked her in the eyes and confessed to loving her and she had left him standing there. She yelled into her pillow. He must feel terrible. Of course she had been sure about ending it. She had been sure since her talk with Ron, but seeing him there, so vulnerable, she faltered and she couldn't falter now, not with everything on the line. Hermione pulled out parchment and Quill and scribbled quickly.
Draco,
Forgive me for how I left. I had not expected for you to say those words to me. I feel horrible. There you were saying those lovely words and I did not have the courage to say them back to you. Of course I love you too. I don't want to deny it, but it makes no difference. We are standing on two different sides of this fight. It is, as you said, very dangerous. Your loyalties are to your family and mine are to my friends. You don't know how much it hurts me, or perhaps you do, but it kills me to hurt you. I am sorry and hope that you can understand.
Love,
Hermione
She did not read the letter over, simply placed it in an envelope and placed it in her bag. Sleep evaded her that night. They stood with a waiting crowd in the entrance hall with the rest of the fourth year. They waited for the carriages to arrive to take them back to Hogsmeade station. Fleur appeared and said goodbye to both Harry and Ron. Viktor had come over to say goodbye to Hermione, he pulled her away from the boys and asked her to come and see him in the summer again. Hermione promised to write and only write. The carriages arrived after Viktor parted and when they arrived on the train Hermione, Ron and Harry had a compartment to themselves. Harry spoke more freely to them and she and Ron looked at one another often, as if to say, There he is. When Hermione was returning her money to her bag, a copy of Daily Prophet caught Harry's attention and she handed it to him. Her letter to Draco fell into her hand and she put it in the pocket of her robes.
"There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."
"He'll never keep Rita quiet," Harry said and Hermione smiled. "Not on a story like this."
"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," She told him, smirking now. "As a matter of fact,Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ron.
"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," She said quickly, she was so excited to be telling them.
"How was she doing it?" Harry asked.
"How did you find out?" Ron said, surprised.
"Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea, Harry," She told him.
"Did I?" He asked. "How?"
"Bugging," she beamed.
"But you said they didn't work —"
"Oh not electronic bugs, no, you see . . . Rita Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn -" Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out a small jar. "— into a beetle."
"You're kidding," Ron said admiring the jar. "You haven't . . . she's not . . ."
"Oh yes she is," Hermione showed her excitedly. Ron stuttered at her astonished."It's true.I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears." Harry took the jar and looked at it closely.
"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!"
"Exactly And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year." Hermione took the jar back and smiled at the beetle. Rita buzzed angrily against the glass. "I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London, I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people." Hermione smiled and placed the beetle back in her bag. The door of the compartment slid open and Draco stood there sneering.
"Very clever, Granger." Ron looked at Hermione as Draco spoke and then at Malfoy himself. "So," Draco said, coming into the compartment. "You caught some pathetic reporter and Perfect Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal." Crabbe and Goyled smirked unpleasantly behind him. "Don't you have more important things to think about? Trying to pretend it didn't happen then?" Draco said and Hermione looked at him appalled. Ron edged closer to her, as if to block her from his view.
"Get out." Harry said loudly.
"Don't think I will." He said. "You picked the wrong side." He said, but his eyes flickered to Hermione, who shook her head. "His kind will be the first to go, well second-" Draco started, his eyes malicious. "Diggory was the firs-" He was cut off. Flashes of light flashed from all sides of them and Hermione yelled. Draco's body went limp and Crabbe and Goyle fell back too. She stood, looking at Fred and George as they stepped on Crabbe and Goyle and headed into the compartment.
"Thought we'd see what they were up to ." Fred said "Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor." Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut. Hermione walked past them and into the corridor. She closed the door behind her.
"What's with her?" George asked.
"You know Hermione." Ron said and veered the conversation another way. "You going to tell us, then? Who you were blackmailing?"
Hermione could hear the conversation carry on, but she was knelt down beside Malfoy's unconscious body. He was slumped against the wall. She knew he was acting out. She had been the one to hurt him. Using Magic, Hermione lifted them into the next compartment. She pulled the letter from her robes and placed it in Draco's pants pocket, knowing he would find it later. She was sure she was making the right decision. They were on two very different sides and she needed to be there for her friends. Hermione took a walk and when she returned Harry and Ron regaled her on the blackmailing the twins had done with Ludo Bagman. She pretended to be interested, but her mind was on Draco and what he would do when he read his letter. Harry had told them everything that happened in the maze and Hermione was certain. She and Draco could not be together, not while all this darkness surrounded them. She left the train and caught the eye of Draco's mother. She assumed it was her, they shared the same hair and eyes. The woman stared at her, from the corner of her eyes and Hermione walked past her. She could see her parents now. She looked back at the train, Harry was unboarding, but in the window she locked eyes with Draco's grey eyes for a moment, then turned and hugged her mum and dad.
To be continued...