Harry and Hermione continued the same routine for the next week. They would have breakfast at Hogwarts before sneaking out into Hogsmeade and apparating to the Grangers. Ginny and Neville were responsible for spreading the story that Harry and Hermione had gone the whole day to find somewhere to engage in 'couple-related activities'. That story was believed by most other students in Gryffindor Tower, including Ron, though Ginny said that he took it with a lot of grumbling and surliness. To be perfectly honest, Harry and Hermione could not care less. Nobody in Gryffindor Tower wanted to hear Ron unload his bile, and as long as he kept it to himself, then that was fine by them.

After the rather depressing first meeting, subsequent visits to the Grangers were quite cheerful. Josh had brought the entire family plus Harry to a football game in London. Harry had never seen football before, except for a few rare snippets on television. The Dursleys, of course, never brought him – not that they were interested in sport in the slightest – and almost from the day he had left for Hogwarts, he had been too busy with other things – namely fighting a Dark Lord. For a first game, though, it was quite boring. Neither Chelsea nor Liverpool scored any goals. Hermione sat through the entire game with a look of curious disinterest on her face, no doubt wanting to return to her books, while Helen was bored enough to watch her daughter be bored, the expression on her face somewhere between blank and amused.

Harry spent Christmas Eve with the Grangers. Reluctantly, Helen and Josh let him take part in preparing the dinner. They did not seem to regret it though, after tasting the result of Harry's cooking.

'It's good Hermione…uh…married you,' Josh had joked. 'She can read and memorize the instructions in the cookbook to the letter, but the moment she's presented with a pan and spatula, it's time to call the firemen.'

Harry had joined in the ribbing, for which he received the overly harsh punishment of being given the cold shoulder for the rest of the night.

Bright and early on Christmas Day, they had apparated to the Grangers again for a quick visit to exchange presents before returning to Hogwarts to prepare for the Yule Ball. Weasley Christmases were usually quite chaotic and sometimes a bit overdone, he remembered, and he found that he liked it quite a lot more with the Grangers. They were less…flashy…about the whole affair. A simple exchanging of presents, a cup or two of hot cocoa, and – since Harry and Hermione were technically of age – some flutes of champagne was all there really was to it.

Harry had given Josh a book on Quidditch and Helen a big box of Toothflossing Stringmints. His present for Hermione, however, was the one he most anticipated giving.

Harry handed her a small, inconspicuous package and bade her to open it. She carefully undid the bow tie and removed the wrapping.

Inside was a felt-covered box. Hermione looked up at Harry, wide eyed. Harry said nothing, but simply smiled at her.

She opened the box and inside sat a rose-gold ring set with numerous small, light brown accent diamonds. In the head was set a single emerald.

'Promise ring, Harry?' Helen observed. 'But haven't you already married in the…er…future?'

Harry nodded. 'I know it wasn't really necessary, but I promised I'd give her a ring this time around,' he explained. 'We didn't want to get actually married again, ceremony and all, until after we graduate, so for right now, I thought I'd give her that to wear if she'd like.'

'Of course I'd like!' Hermione squealed, throwing her arms around Harry and squeezing him tight. Only the presence of her parents stopped her from going any further in showing how much she would like.

Hermione held out the box to Harry, pink in the face. 'Would you like to do the honours?'

Harry removed the ring from the box and placed it gently on Hermione's ring finger. She admired the ring for a second before cupping Harry's face with her hands and furiously kissing him.

'Ahem,' Josh cleared his throat. 'I know you're both mentally in your twenties, but I still see my fifteen-year-old girl snogging a fourteen-year-old boy. Perhaps you could save that and…er…related activities until after you get back to school?'

Harry and Hermione both blushed slightly. 'Okay, Dad,' Hermione said sheepishly.

They spent another thirty minutes together before Hermione said that they had to return to Hogwarts. It was still before noon, but Harry suspected that she was not necessarily leaving just so they could prepare for the Yule Ball – and her parents seemed to know that. Sure enough, as they left, Helen gave them a knowing wink, her face coloured slightly pink in understanding, while Josh simply raised his eyebrows and shook Harry's hand a little harder than usual.

They more than made up for the previous night of forced celibacy when they returned to Hogwarts. Two hours later, they were exhausted in every way, and settled into gentle cuddling and tender caresses. Harry remembered the previous Christmas, their first Christmas together alone, hiding in their dingy little flat on the outskirts of Londonderry. Even on Christmas Day, the Death Eaters – or the SES, at that point – had not stopped murdering. A muggle family who lived two streets from them had been dragged out of their home not long after dinner, then tortured, raped, and killed in the most brutal way possible.

But this Christmas, they were ensuring that what had happened in the past that was the future would never happen again.

'Do you remember our fourth year Christmas?' Hermione asked softly.

Harry smiled to himself. 'Of course I do. That was probably the day I started fancying you,' he said. 'Not that I knew it at the time. I don't think I knew what it was until years after the second war. You were so bloody pretty that night. I remember, for years, I'd see you sometimes and my stomach would jump, or I'd get a…er…reaction. I never thought anything of it, though. Always forbade myself.'

'The same dress I wore that night is in my trunk right now,' Hermione said with a giggle. 'You said you got a "reaction" sometimes when you saw me?'

'Well…yeah,' Harry admitted meekly. 'You were pretty bloody hot…and in the tent…I sometimes fantasized about how it would feel to…'

'You fantasized about…sex…with me…in the tent?' Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.

Harry nodded, feeling himself blush furiously. 'I was seventeen at the time, I mean. I couldn't just ignore that I was alone in the forest with a pretty girl, you know. Hormones…and…you were in there with me, so I couldn't just…uh…take care of the issue, which just made everything worse.'

Hermione chortled, growing pink in the face. 'You're sweet in a very you way, you know? Do you wish that we actually became something more back then? Earlier than we did?'

Harry shrugged. 'It doesn't really matter, does it? When we're seventeen again in our bodies, Riddle will hopefully be gone forever, and then I could shag your brains out without needing to worry about Death Eaters interrupting the experience.'

'No. It doesn't really matter.'

'Exactly. Doesn't mean I'm not excited about seeing you in that dress tonight, though.'

Hermione cocked an eyebrow. 'Are you excited about seeing me wear that dress or are you excited about tearing that dress off me at the end of the night?'

'Both?'

Hermione left at three to get ready for the Ball, and Harry made his way out into the grounds to join in the snowball fight with the Weasleys – three of the Weasleys. There was a rather conspicuous absence of Ron, which neither the twins nor Ginny seemed to mind too much.

'We asked if he'd like to come down,' Fred said in a whisper. 'But he said no.'

'Not that we miss him too much.'

'The great big prat's probably beating the bishop up in the Dormitory.'

'Rubbing one out over Lavender Brown, most likely,' supplied George.

'Can't even wait a few more hours to drool over Lav-Lav'

'Someone take a picture of his face tonight.'

'That's going to be a revolting sight.'

'Exactly, send it to Percy!'

'Guys, please,' Harry interrupted. 'I think I'm already going to vomit tonight when I see them. Could you please not make me lose my lunch before that?'

'Sorry, Ickle Harrikins, O Great Horntail's Slayer,' said Fred, kneeling at his feet.

'Won't want the future Triwizard Winner to lose his dinner,' rhymed George, joining his twin in the same position.

Harry rolled his eyes and hurled a snowball at Ginny. She shrieked and ducked out of the way, but not before throwing a snowball that hit Harry an inch away from his groin.

'Sorry, Harry, I'll be more careful next time,' called Ginny. 'Any closer and Hermione would be out for my blood!'

Harry replied by throwing another snowball forcefully at the youngest Weasley.

At just before six, Harry, too, retreated to the Dormitory to change into his dress robes. He went into the washroom to shower and comb his hair – or to make his best attempt at combing his hair. Some things, even a universe that permitted time travel just would not allow, and Harry controlling his hair was one of them.

He pulled on his dress robes and exited back into the Dormitory. There, he found Ron standing in front of the mirror, wand in hand, attempting to remove the lace from his dress robes. Harry was a second away from offering help – he could fix his dress robes up in no time – when Ron shot him the most contemptuous glare. Harry quickly stuffed any passing thought of wanting to give his ex-friend a hand.

'Have fun, then, Ron,' Harry said in parting as he left the Dormitory, trying to not retreat too awkwardly.

'"Have fun." Easy for you to say,' Harry heard Ron grumbling loudly as he descended the stairs. 'Rubbing it in my face for having the money to buy good dress robes.'

Harry rolled his eyes. Only Ron could turn an innocent statement into a personal offence, he thought.

He descended the stairs into the Common Room to find Hermione waiting for him. She was as beautiful as he had remembered, her floaty, periwinkle blue dress robes, her hair elegantly twisted into a bun, her cheeks pink and rosy from the magical blush.

'You can put your eyes back in, Harry,' Hermione chided amusedly. 'You've seen me in this before. And in a lot less.'

Harry chuckled. 'Hermione, you're beautiful.'

'Why, thank you, Harry. You're looking dashingly handsome yourself,' she replied with a smile. 'Shall we go?'

Harry held up his arm and Hermione placed her hand on it. As they exited through the portrait hole, they heard a loud shriek from behind them.

'Won-Won! What the bloody hell did you do to your robes!' Lavender screamed.

Harry and Hermione simply shared a pitying look, and without looking back, headed out of the portrait hole and started towards the Entrance Hall. If Ron had been thinking that tonight was going to end in a trip to a broom closet, he was going to be in for a rude realization.

'Did Won-Won try to "fix" his dress robes again?' Hermione asked in a whisper, smirking savagely, as they descended the Grand Staircase.

Harry nodded. 'It was even worse than I remembered. The fabric was all cut up. I don't think he was wearing much under those robes, either. The skin on his torso and legs were showing through. I hope he's at least wearing boxers.'

'That's revolting!' she said in a loud whisper, shuddering and paling at the mental image of what must have been a naked Ron. 'Was he so confident that he was going to get…somewhere…tonight with Lav-Lav that he didn't even wear an undershirt?'

Harry gagged. 'Please, no more,' he choked out. 'The twins were going on earlier about him…you know…pleasing himself to Lav-Lav. They were joking, but the problem is, I don't think they were far off the mark. I'm not ready to throw up yet.'

'Ah, Mister Potter, Miss Granger,' called Professor McGonagall, beckoning them over to one side of the doors to the Great Hall, saving Harry from any further thought of Ron and Lavender. He was beyond thankful. 'Please stand right over here, with the rest of the Champions.'

Fleur was there. Her date, Roger Davies, was positively drooling over the French quarter-Veela. That was the same as last time. Cedric and Cho waved at Harry and Hermione, with Cho giving an approving wink at the couple. Viktor was there, too, with a girl who seemed to be from Beauxbatons. Harry did not recognize her as any of the denizens of Hogwarts.

The rest of the three schools filed past the Champions into the Great Hall. Neville and Luna grinned at Harry and Hermione as they walked past. Ginny waved to them, and Dean looked a little spooked at the sight of Harry. They spied Ron and Lavender. Lavender was wearing lurid, hot pink dress 'robes' – it was more like a bikini with a little more cloth, Harry thought. She goggled at Hermione as she passed, while Ron simply glared at the two of them before holding his nose up and heading towards the Great Hall without another glance at the couple.

'Looks like Lav-Lav's managed to repair Won-Won's dress robes,' Hermione whispered to Harry. Sure enough, Ron's robes were no longer torn and frilled. They were not very neat, characteristic of poor charm work, but they at least passed the bare minimum of 'presentable'.

A few minutes later, Draco…No-Name arrived with Pansy Parkinson. Parkinson seemed to struggle with herself but finally headed into the Hall, unable to find an insult to hurl at Hermione. Draco sneered, then flashed the 'wanker' gesture at the two of them. Harry simply found this amusing. He wondered if Parkinson knew that Draco was a nameless bastard yet. He hazarded a guess at 'no'. He was sure that Parkinson would not want to be seen within a mile of Draco if she had found out.

'I wonder how we could let the public know about Lucius and Draco,' he told Hermione in a low, evil voice. 'You know, Rita Skeeter was right about some things. The public deserves to know the truth. We should find a way to give that to them.'

Hermione's eyes widened. 'We can, actually! If Sirius can get Gringotts to release the Black account records and the family tree records…that'll prove Lucius was a former Death Eater…maybe it'll weaken Fudge's position at the same time. Who knows how much he's taken in bribes from Lucius!'

'I think it's time to give Rita a job to do, isn't it?'

Hermione grinned wildly. 'That might not be a bad idea. We discuss this after the Ball, all right?'

Harry had no issues with that. Hermione was too much of a distraction for him to think too much, anyway.

The Champions marched into the Great Hall towards the Head Table. Percy pulled out a chair and invited Harry to sit. He took the seat closest to him, shielding Hermione from the pompous Weasley.

'I've been promoted,' Percy began, 'I'm now Mister Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him.'

'Congratulations, Percy,' Harry replied flatly. He knew exactly why Crouch was absent, but be found that there was no way he could tell Percy or anyone else without exposing his secret to potentially untrustworthy people. There was nothing he could do to save Crouch's life without putting himself and Hermione in grave jeopardy.

Percy nodded, a little disappointed, perhaps, at the fact that Harry did not give him an opening to discuss cauldron bottoms, and looked back out towards the Great Hall. Harry, though, was perfectly fine with Percy leaving him alone.

'I feel bad about just having to let Crouch die,' Harry breathed in Hermione's ear.

'He's not exactly innocent, is he?' she tried to assuage his conscience, 'If you think about it, he's an indirect reason for Riddle's return, with him sneaking his son out of Azkaban. He cast an Unforgivable on him, too. And everything he did to Winky. Not to mention throwing Sirius into Azkaban without a trial.'

'Still, he was murdered by his own son.'

Hermione sighed. 'You can't possibly save everyone, Harry. You're going to save Cedric, probably Sirius, too. And Remus, and Fred, all of the DA and the Order, and millions of other people. If you can't do anything about Crouch without putting yourself at risk, then you – we – will just have to live with it, knowing that there was nothing we could've done.'

Harry nodded grimly and turned to his plate. 'Shepherd's pie,' he ordered, and a moment later, his dinner appeared on his plate.

Hermione nudged him. He turned to her and saw that she was wearing a most amused look on her face. She turned and gestured with her chin to a place off to her left. There was Ron, sitting with Lavender. His plate was overflowing with food and he was chewing with his mouth wide open. He and Lavender were sitting with Parvati and Seamus, who looked absolutely revolted by the shocking display. Lavender, however, did not seem to mind one bit, and was staring at Ron like he was a delicious pudding while repeatedly missing her mouth with her fork, leaving food stains all over her cheeks.

'Must you show me this right as I'm about to eat, Hermione?' he grumbled under his breath.

'It's better than you accidentally seeing them while you're eating,' she pointed out sagely. 'Or worse, after you've stuffed yourself full.'

Harry shuddered. He could feel his stomach turning already. 'It's not even been half an hour and I feel like I want to vomit.'

'They're so perfect for each other, though, don't you think?' Hermione asked with a giggle. 'I don't know why I never noticed. To think I was pining after that idiot in our "old" sixth year when he was already sucking the face off of his perfect match…'

'Hermione, if you don't stop planting those revolting images in my head, it's no Christmas night sex for you,' Harry threatened.

She cocked an eyebrow, more amused than concerned. 'We both know that's an empty threat.'

'Fine, it is, but can you please just let me eat without forcing me to think of Won-Won and Lav-Lav?'

Hermione huffed but returned to her salad. Harry tried his hardest not to glance in the general direction of Ron's table, instead turning his glance on Ginny and Dean and Neville and Luna, who were sitting together at one table. He saw that Roger Davies was once more stabbing his fork at the table while goggling dazedly at Fleur. Cedric and Cho gave him a wave when he caught their eyes. Thankfully, soon, the Champions were called onto the dance floor.

'You know, we've never had a proper dance,' Hermione mused as they began waltzing.

'Thank goodness for that. You wouldn't have toes if we did.'

'Rubbish. You're better than you let on,' she said in a sincere voice.

After the first song, more couples began making their way on to the dance floor. Ginny and Dean were dancing together in near perfect sync. Neville was a little clumsier, but his inexperience was matched by Luna, so they took it slow and tried to make the best of it.

'Don't look behind you,' Hermione warned, 'It's Won-Won and Lav-Lav.'

So of course Harry did, and he almost retched the moment he saw them. Ron was barely paying attention to the dance, trampling all over Lavender's feet. His eyes were glued to Lavender's cleavage. His mouth was wide open and his face held a vacant, slack-jawed look. Lavender, too, was looking at Ron with an absolutely dazed expression, her eyes fixed on his lips. There were still food stains on her cheeks.

'That's positively nauseating,' Harry managed to choke out, turning back to Hermione.

'I told you not to look,' she replied in a complacent tone, rolling her eyes.

'Hermione, telling someone not to do something is basically an invitation for them to do it.'

Hermione snorted. 'Sure, Harry. Do you need the lavatory? Is your stomach okay?'

'You can make it okay by kissing me,' he suggested with a smirk.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, but leaned in and pecked Harry on the lips regardless. 'Happy?'

'Very.'

They danced for a few more songs, taking care not to look in the direction of Ron and Lavender before Cedric and Cho appeared.

'May I accompany your fine lady for a dance?' Cedric asked Harry.

'Sure. But only if I get to accompany your fair lady for one, too,' Harry responded mirthfully with a grin.

Cedric laughed, and with a nod, he led Hermione off to a spot a few metres away. Harry placed one hand on Cho's waist and took her hand with his other. He briefly wondered what he would have given for this opportunity back in his 'first' fourth year and how much of a fool he would make of himself when he did dance with her. Now, however, he thought of it as nothing more than a dance between acquaintances. Cho was pretty, but she was not anything close to what Hermione was to him.

'So, you and Hermione?' she asked.

'Yeah,' Harry answered quickly. He remembered how that had been such a sticking point for them during their brief relationship in his 'old' fifth year.

'Not surprised. Always, whenever something happens. Harry and Hermione. Harry and Hermione. There's no mention of "Potter" without "Granger" close behind. Weasley's also in there sometimes, but always you two.'

Harry chortled. 'Ron's a jealous prat. We've sort of…divorced him as a friend.'

'He's always seemed uncouth,' Cho said honestly. 'I took one look at him eating with that…Brown?...and I wanted to retch.'

'You and me both. They really are perfect for each other, though.'

Cho laughed. 'If you mean they're the only ones who can tolerate each other, then sure.'

The song ended just then. 'One more?' Cedric called. Harry nodded his assent. Perhaps the old fourteen-year-old him would have felt some jealousy, but now, he found that he was perfectly okay with it.

'So, how long has this been going? You and Hermione,' Cho probed.

'Oh, since just before the First Task,' Harry half-lied, for technically, that was when their relationship became known to the school. 'I think…well, I told her about the dragons, and she just leapt on me and kissed me senseless. I think she was afraid I was going to die.'

'You didn't, though. You're tied for first!'

'That was all luck,' Harry waved off the compliment, 'If the dragon had whipped its tail in the wrong direction…'

Cho raised her eyebrows. 'You don't need to be modest, Harry. We all saw you pointing your wand at the dragon. What spell did you use? It had to be really powerful. It died a few days later, didn't it?'

Harry had a sudden inspiration. He could tell Cho, but he would ask for a concession in return…a favour.

'Alright, I'll tell you, but I want you to do something for me.'

'Sure, what is it?'

'Well, I have this friend, Luna Lovegood, you see, in Ravenclaw,' Harry explained. 'She gets bullied by everyone in the House. If you could promise me to watch out for her and stop others bullying her, then I'll tell you my secrets.' He wagged his eyebrows for extra effect.

Harry noticed that Cho gaped for half a second before regaining control of herself. 'O-Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll make sure she gets her things back,' she promised. 'And that everyone else leaves her alone.'

'I'll be checking with Luna, you know,' Harry pushed her a little.

Cho nodded. 'I'll do it…as a favour to a friend.'

'Thank you, Cho,' Harry replied appreciatively. He then, as promised, explained the transfigurations on the rock and the Confundus Charm to the eye, a dragon's weak spot. Cho looked quite impressed by the conclusion.

The song ended just as he finished his explanation. Harry bade Cho goodbye and took a pink-faced and panting Hermione back.

'I'm tired,' she said rather breathlessly. 'Want to sit down and get a few drinks?' Harry nodded and lead her off the dance floor to find an empty table.

'What did you and Cho talk about?' she asked as they walked.

'She asked me a few questions about…you know…us. Then, she asked about what I did to get past the dragon.'

'You told her?'

Harry turned and smirked at her.

'Yeah, but I made her promise one thing.'

'Which is?'

'She had to promise me that she would stop Luna getting bullied.'

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. 'And she did?'

Harry nodded. 'She was curious about the dragon, wasn't she? Ravenclaws can't exactly resist knowledge,' he said with a smirk. 'I extracted the promise out of her and told her that I'll be checking in with Luna to see how she did. She said she'll make sure Luna got her things back and was left alone.'

Hermione beamed and pecked him on the lips. 'That's absolute genius, Harry!'

'Just don't tell Luna about this, okay?' Harry said quietly. 'I don't think it'd be best for her to know that I intervened on her behalf.'

Hermione nodded. 'You're right.'

They found an empty table and Harry bade Hermione to sit down and rest her feet while he made his way to the drinks table for two warm Butterbeers. When he returned five minutes later, he saw something – or someone – completely unwelcome standing in front of Hermione.

Harry had forgotten what had happened in the previous timeline. A red-faced, livid Ron was shouting at Hermione, whose face was equally bright scarlet. Her hair had fallen out of her bun, and her hand was twitching towards her wand.

'You really had to rub it in everyone's faces, didn't you?' Ron was screaming. 'Snogging Potter in the middle of the Great Hall like some slag. Can't go a night without reminding everyone that you've caught the Gryffindor Golden Boy. I suppose you need to remind people. Nobody in their right minds would've expected you to end up with Potter.'

'You're calling me a slag?' Hermione hissed. 'What gives you the right to call a woman – anyone – that? And look at yourself, Weasley, drooling over Lavender Brown like some braindead idiot, staring at her chest like the pervert you are.'

'At least Lav's got boobs!' Ron shot back stupidly, completely missing the point. 'What're those…warts…on your chest?'

Harry set down his Butterbeers with a loud bang and drew the wand out of his pocket. 'Ron, get away from her,' he said quietly and lethally. 'Or I'll make you regret it.'

'Potter,' he spat with a sneer in an excellent imitation of Draco Nameless. 'Came here to take back your pitiful excuse for a date? Maybe you shouldn't. She's not worth your time, is she?'

'Wow, Weasley. That's low, even for you,' Harry growled in a low, dangerous voice. He shot Hermione and apologetic look and noticed that her face had gone from scarlet to ghostly pale in a matter of a minute as the confrontation unfolded. 'Why don't you run back to your "real date", then, Ron? I'm sure she's missing the chance to slobber all over you.'

Ron seemed to have only caught on to the words 'real date', missing everything else. 'You're finally talking sense, Harry! Lavender's what a real date should look like!' he continued like an idiot. 'Come, why don't you just ditch the know-it-all and – '

Ron's tirade was cut short by Harry pointing Hermione's wand right between his eyes.

'Leave, Ron. Now,' he snarled.

'Wait, Harry, why the bloody hell have you got her wand?' he asked. Apparently, priorities were not something Ron understood. The redhead's face contorted into another look of fury. 'Oh, I know,' he continued nastily, 'You must've been shagging the slag, and when you finished, you – aaagh!'

Harry's Stinging Hex nailed Ron right between his eyes. Where the hex hit, there was now a sore, red welt.

'Potter, Weasley, duelling?' another hated voice had joined the conversation. Harry recognized it as Snape's. Only the sight of Hermione's frightened face prevented him from turning around and cursing Snape.

'How arrogant you are, Potter. Clearly you are not content with just illegally entering your name into the Goblet of Fire, you must duel another student in front of the entire school as well as our guests to draw more attention to yourself,' Snape drawled with a sneer. 'Just like your father. He, too, would have been arrogant enough to pull a stunt like this. Now…'

'As much as you deserve it, Potter, it would be bad form to assign detention to a Triwizard Champion, however illegal your entry was. So…'

'That will be seventy-five points each from Gryffindor for Potter and Weasley,' Snape said, ticking off his fingers and relishing in the punishment, 'Fifty points from Gryffindor for Granger not intervening, and a detention for Weasley.' He stared at Harry with his evil black eyes. 'A detention for you, Potter, but it would be bad form to put a Champion in detention, so…Weasley can serve your detention for you. Now get out of my sight.'

Harry grabbed Hermione by the hand and pulled her away from Snape as fast as possible. He brought her out into the Entrance Hall before wrapping his arms around her protectively.

'I'm so sorry,' he muttered, 'I shouldn't have left you. I should've remembered what happened at the Yule Ball the last time around.'

Hermione shook her head in his chest. 'No, Harry. It's okay. It's just…Snape! Oh, it's so ridiculous!'

'Don't worry about it,' Harry urged her. 'Snape is nothing but a turncoat who murdered the man who trusted him. What do House Points matter anyway when we've got bigger things to worry about?'

'But we lost them because of Ron's stupidity! If only I'd held my temper and – '

'No! It's Ron who's at fault,' Harry cut her off firmly. 'He's the one who decided to spew all his bile on you. You were defending yourself. I…well…I didn't have to hex him, I suppose, but it's done. I don't regret it. He was being so nasty to you, Hermione. I couldn't just sit back and let it happen.'

'He was being horrible to you, too! All those things he was saying to you…'

Harry gave her a tight squeeze. 'Let's just forget about it. It's close to midnight, anyway. Why don't we call it a night?'

Harry felt Hermione nod. 'Is it okay if we just…went to sleep? I'm not in the mood for anything other than cuddling you tonight.'

'Of course it is,' Harry answered at once. 'Just sleep it off, okay? And don't think of Ron. Everything will be okay tomorrow.'

Harry took her hand and began leading her towards the Grand Staircase when they were stopped by Cedric.

'Hey, Harry,' Cedric said quietly as he came close. 'Listen. Have you figured out the egg?'

Harry nodded. 'Yeah, I have. You'll have one hour to get to the merpeople village and rescue what had been taken from you.'

Cedric looked a little disappointed. Harry knew that he was trying to repay him for the dragons, but he had, for obvious reasons, not counted on Harry knowing all about the Tournament from a previous timeline.

'Cedric, there's something you need to know,' Harry warned. 'The Second Task. It's going to involve a human hostage. It'll most likely be Cho for you. Prepare for that. Good night.'

Harry and Hermione turned and continued up the staircase, leaving a shocked and flabbergasted Cedric in their wake.

A/N: Good Snape or Bad Snape? What will it be? Find out in future chapters.

Thank you to maschl for proofreading this chapter for me and for pointing out the extraneousness of the vow in Chapter XII. If you have not already, check out maschl's story Too Many Champions. It is one of the best takes on GoF that I've ever seen.

Another friendly reminder that posting rude, belligerent, or belittling comments towards strangers on the internet proves nothing except your utter pitifulness and cowardice.