Happy Friday! Hope y'all had a great week and that you enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much for being here!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't anything y'all recognize, I just like playing in the world J. built.

Chapt. 4: Fourth Year Fiascos

As selfish as it was, Hermione was glad that Harry had decided to continue living with Professor Snape during the summer time instead of moving in with Sirius after he had been found innocent because it meant that she only had to walk a few streets over to see her best friend instead of having to schedule and time to meet up with him over owl like she would have had to do had he decided to stay with Sirius. There was also the fact that the house Sirius was staying in, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, was creepy as all hell with its screaming portrait and the house elf whose beady eyes watched her as though she were a mystery he had trouble figuring out and the room Sirius refused to let either teen into because she "wasn't ready yet" and Harry couldn't keep a secret from her. Despite all of this though, the house was familiar to her. Whenever she stepped into its wards, she felt as though nothing could touch her while she was there. Like she was home. And that terrified her more than anything.

"Where's your head, love?" Harry asks, breaking her from her thoughts as he plops down beside her on rickety old steps that lead up to Professor Snape's house. A place that had become more of a home to the two teens in the past couple summers than either of the houses they had grown up in. Harry's for obvious reasons and Hermione's because she had felt like something was missing ever since she had come home for the summer after her first year despite how much she knew her parents loved her and how much she loved them and appreciated them for always accepting her. Here neither of them felt like anything was missing, they both felt safe here. Safer even than they felt at Hogwarts.

"I'm just thinking about Sirius," Hermione sighs, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"About how he knew your name again?" Harry asks, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb where his hand rests on her waist.

"Kind of…" Hermione bites her lip, trying to think of how to explain to him exactly what she'd been thinking about.

Harry just waits quietly for her to finish thinking and the fact that he knows now isn't the time to push her, that she'll tell him when she's ready, makes her love him even more than she already did.

"I know in my gut that now isn't the right time to hear what it is that Sirius needs to tell me but I also know that when he finally tells me exactly why he knew who I was that night that all the questions I have will be answered. Like why Grimmauld Place feels so familiar to me, so safe, even though I've never been there and I'm a muggleborn. Or why Kretcher follows me around like a lost puppy but never actually says a word to me. Or why Sirius won't let us go into that one room in his house."

"He's going to use me as an excuse isn't he?" Hermione asks when she, Draco, and Harry are finally alone which hadn't happened until Draco's parents had dropped the three teens off at Platform 9 ¾ after the Malfoys had picked Harry and Hermione up for the World Cup.

"Most likely," Draco states, his voice devoid of emotion though his eyes scream apologies.

"I'm not angry, Draco. I knew this day was coming when Harry faced the Dark Lord our first year. Another war is coming and most of the people I know are going to be on the side that wants to eradicate people like me from the Wizarding World. We're all going to have to choose a side. I can't fault people for following their family and whose families are continuing on with choices they made before I was born," Hermione explains calmly.

Draco stares at her for a long moment, his eyes hardening with more determination than she'd ever seen come from him before. "I'm going to protect you, Mya. I can't speak for everyone else, but I will make sure you are alright," he tells her, grasping her hand tightly in his.

"What about every other muggleborn, Draco? Am I just supposed to sit back while the rest of the people like me are dying? Am I supposed to help kill and torture them all? That's not right, Draco, and you can't promise me protection when I'm going against the Dark Lord because you need to stick by your family and they are going to be standing by the Dark Lord." Hermione gives him a sad smile, gripping his hand just as tightly as he was holding hers.

"I don't care, Mya. You and Harry are the only two people who I've never been afraid to show weakness to, who I have never doubted will always have my back and protect me with everything you have. You are just as much my family as those related to me by blood, if not more, and if I have to choose between standing by the part of my family who has always supported me and the part of my family who has tried to mold me, I will always choose the people who support me. I will always choose you, Mya." The determination continues to grow in his eyes throughout his speech. His magic flaring as he speaks.

Another hand, Harry's hand, covers both hers and Draco's, drawing their attention to their other best friend. "We will look out for each other. We're safe under Slytherin protection for now but as soon as they find out we will not be fighting for the Dark Lord, we'll have to be ready for anything."

"We need to figure out who we can trust this year even if they are outside our house," Hermione states, her eyes on their combined hands which seemed to be glowing on their own.

"Especially if they are outside our house," Draco replies. "We don't even know if we can trust Professor Snape at this point and he is the person who could make or break our safety both in Hogwarts and outside of Hogwarts at this point. He is the only magical safehaven outside of Hogwarts we may have and if he turns out to be against us, we would need someplace to go."

"We'll figure it out," Harry says. "Together."

"Together," Hermione and Draco reply together at the same time a bright light flashes from their hands as three golden string of magic (one from each of them) braid together and wrap around the combined hands of the three teens, binding them together.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Hermione whispers to her two best friends after hearing about the TriWizard Tournament.

"Can't we just have one normal year?" Harry sighs, leaning his head against her left shoulder.

"Not with you around," Draco laughs, slinging his arm around both their shoulders.

Hermione laughs, grinning at the blonde on her right.

Harry flips them both the bird, glaring at his two best friends though both teens can see the laughter hiding in his eyes.

"Bit over the top, don't you think?" Harry states, staring at the golden carriage with disbelieving eyes.

"It's a show of power to try to intimidate the competition subtly. Intimidation can win a competitor the competition if the other competitors let it get in their heads," Hermione replies, watching the newcomers with calculating mahogany eyes.

"Now would be a good time to make friends in other countries, don't you think? It might interesting seeing other parts of the world and learning their culture." Draco watches the crowd with the same gaze as Hermione.

War is coming and this competition gives them the chance to make connections that could one day save their lives. One never knows when they'll need a safe place to land when the shit hits the fan after all.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore calls the name and every face at the Slytherin table goes blank, the true emotions of each person hidden by the masks they'd been forced to master the moment they were sorted into the snake den (many before then).

Harry stands gracefully from his seat and strides towards the door behind which the other champions reside, his head held high despite the boos and hisses coming from every other table in the Great Hall.

Hermione's eyes follow her best friend even though he doesn't look back. Whether he does that because he doesn't want to show weakness or because he knows that his two best friends will stand behind him, she doesn't know but it's probably a bit of both.

Draco and Hermione stride hand in hand to the dungeons where they seat themselves on the couch to wait for their best friend, ignoring the looks shot their way from all the students and teachers as they go.

It isn't until Harry is back, nestled safely between the two of them that someone approaches the three of them. That someone is actually three someones: Daphne, Theo, and Blaise.

"We know you didn't put your name in the cup. That conclusion was unanimous across our house when asked. And we will stand by you as our house always has because Slytherin protects its own," Daphne states.

"Dragons! Dragons are the first task! What am I supposed to do with that?!" Harry stresses, running his fingers through his already unruly hair as he storms into the room with Draco and Hermione on his heels.

"I think I can help you there, Harry," Luna's voice, floats toward the trio from the other side of the common room where her feet are thrown over the back of the cozy chair in the corner near the fireplace. Her head hangs off the seat of the hair and her long blonde locks splayed across the floor.

The trio's eyebrows shoot up in surprise but their shoulders immediately relax as they quickly make their way over to their blonde friend. Though Luna appeared spacy, she had the craziest range of knowledge out of anyone they had ever met and she was someone that had never let them down.

It surprises none of them that Blaise is with Luna, lying on the floor in front of her chair, the bottom half of his body hidden underneath the coffee table while his head is nestled in Luna's hair. One of his hands absentmindedly twirls a blonde lock while the other rests on his stomach. The two of them had been more touchy feely lately than they had ever been before (which was saying something because neither of them had any boundaries when it came to physical contact).

"Where's your head at, Miss Luna?" Harry asks, flopping over the back of the couch and copying their blonde friend (just barely managing to catch his glasses before they fall off his face and land on Blaise).

"Daddy's old dorm mate is the head of the dragon sanctuary in Australia, you might have heard of him actually. His name is Steve Irwin, he's really popular on muggle TV. I think they call him the Crocodile Hunter or something like that. It's really amazing how muggle can confuse certain breeds of dragons for their everyday reptiles...Steve Irwin's sanctuary though is a lot more humane than the one in Romania and he lets us work with the dragons there at least once a year. Dragons are extremely intelligent creatures, their knowledge exceeds humanity's by millenia. All they want is an acknowledgement of that intelligence. The best thing you can do when you get into that ring is drop your wand and kick it as far away from you as possible before turning your gaze to the ground and spreading your arms out, palms toward the dragon, in the most intimidating stance possible. Do you know what the purpose of the dragon is?"

"It's supposed to be protecting something. They're using nesting dragons so they can hide the protected item among their eggs," Draco supplies their other two friends with the information his father had managed to smuggle him.

"That's disgusting!" Blaise huffs, the same fire in his eyes that had ignited in Hermione's when she had been given the information.

"Utterly barbaric," Hermione agrees.

"It is," Luna nods in agreement with her two friends. "But it also makes it easier for you, Harry. You just have to stay calm and slowly make your way toward her eggs. Never turn your back on her, never make eyes contact, and always make sure she can see your hands. Once you make it to her nest, carefully knock on each of her eggs so that she can tell the difference between her real eggs and whatever it is they hide there. After you've knocked on each egg, carefully take what isn't hers out of her nest and back out of the ring."

"So I just have to stay calm in front of a giant, fiery, reptile that could break every bone in my body with one of her paws," Harry says with nervous laughter in his voice. "Easy enough."

"Hermione?" Harry's shaky voice comes behind her, drawing her complete attention because he never uses her full name and his voice never shakes when he talks to her because he knows that he has no reason to be nervous around her.

"Yes, Harry." She spins around on the bench in the Great Hall and freezes upon seeing her best friend kneeling on one knee before her. If they were older and in a relationship, she would think he was proposing.

"Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" He pulls out a box from his robes and opens it, revealing a delicate silver bracelet with a single emerald charm hanging from one of its links.

Her eyes widen as she stares down at the bracelet, her voice lowering so only he can hear, "Harry, do you have any idea what giving me something like this means in the wizarding world?"

"I know exactly what it means, Mione," Harry replies with a mischievous grin and a twinkle in her emerald eyes. "I know we haven't talked about it but I know that you're it for me. I've been working up the courage to actually ask you out since last year and I know that we could be great together if you'll just give us the chance. I just want you and everyone else to know that we're serious and that I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh Harry," even as the words escape her lips and she throws her arms around his neck in a tight hug, she knows how cliche it sounds but she couldn't care less because to her this moment is perfect. "Of course I'll go with you."

"They all think he slipped her a love potion," Harry laughs quietly in her ear as the two of them rotate slowly around the room, her head resting on his shoulder and his resting on top of her head.

"It's just because he's Slytherin. Merlin forbid we actually have hearts and treat people with enough respect to actually get them to go out with us," Hermione replies, a smile tugging at her lips when she thinks of the looks on everyone's faces when Fleur and Draco had entered tonight.

"He didn't look all that Slytherin tonight with the Beauxbaton colored robes you transfigured for him so that they matched Fleur's dress."

"I think we more than make up for his lack of Slytherin tonight, love," Hermione laughs, pulling back just enough to gesture towards her emerald green dress and silver shoes which she had transfigured to match the courting bracelet Harry had given her. She'd also charmed the flowing layers of her dress the sparkle when she spun which Harry took full advantage of to spin her whenever he felt like it. Harry wasn't much better with his dulled silver dress robes and the green bow tie that matched both his eyes and her dress.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" Harry brushes a stray curl from her eyes and cups her cheek softly.

"Only about a million times," Hermione laughs, hugging him closer and once again resting her head on his shoulder.

"To be fair, she never would have said yes had it not been for you," Harry states, changing the topic back to their best friend.

"I just told him to treat her like he treats me. She may have an otherworldly beauty but she's still human, she's just like everyone else."

"Which is why her and Krum both like you so much. Both Draco and I were starstruck the first time Krum asked us to fly with him, it was you who knocked some sense into our heads and accepted his offer on our behalf. The only reason we've become such good friends with him is because you made us see his humanity. There aren't many people who don't blink at beauty and fame in the world Mione, you're one in a million."

"Merlin knows you three are going to put me in an early grave," Professor Snape grumbles as he pushes past Madame Pomfrey and begins administering his own potions to the three Slytherins before him. "Can't you just go one year without a Gryffindor stunt, Potter?"

"To be fair, Krum helped me out this time around. If he didn't help me bring the three of them to the surface, it could have been a lot worse," Harry replies, gesturing toward the Bulgarian who was currently being showered in kisses by Fleur as a thank you for saving her sister. "Besides, I couldn't pick between Draco and Mione and neither Krum or I could just leave Fleur's sister behind."

Professor Snape gives another huff of exasperation. "We will discuss this more when we are home for the summer."

The bad feeling Hermione had had in her stomach since the day the tournament was announced tripled the day of the final task. She's sure Draco's hand hurt from how tightly she squeezed it but he didn't show it, his carefully calm mask held perfectly against the fear she knew he had just as hers did. The only indicator that either teen was worried were their tightly clasped hands that were hidden by their school robes.

When Fleur came back, clearly traumatized, both teens gripped each other a little tighter and forced themselves to stay in their seats and not go to their friend. When Krum came back with eyes clouded over by an unforgivable curse, Draco put their clasped hands on Hermione's knee to keep her I place. When Cedric came back alone with the cup in his hand and a look of confused horror on his face, Hermione knows that Harry is in danger and that there is nothing she can do to stop it. When Draco's father slips quietly away from the stands, Hermione sees her chance. Draco doesn't question her as she drags him through the stands, the two of the reaching his father's familiar figure just in time to catch his robes right as he apparates.

"What have you done?!" Lucius whispers in horror the moment the world stops spinning.

"LUCIUS!" Voldemort's voice echoes through the darkness, drawing their attention to the monstrous figure surrounded by silver masks. "What have we here? New recruits?" Voldemort hisses as he ambles toward the trio, revealing a shivering Harry at his feet.

Lucius's back straightens, the emotion completely draining from his face as Voldemort closes in on them, "Yes, my lord."

Both Draco and Hermione stiffen, their grip on each other's hands tightening exponentially at the older man's words before one of the few adults they had ever trusted pushes them toward his master. The teens stumble but don't lose their footing. They won't kneel to this creature.

"So young," The noseless creature circles them slowly before pausing in front of Draco, his bony hand coming up to grasp the young man's chin. "So much…" He trails off as his eyes first meet Draco's then Hermione's as both teens refuse to break eye contact. "Gumption…" He trails off again, turning his attention back to Draco. "You are clearly your father's son. There's none of your mother in you, you're a carbon copy of him at your age. Hopefully you will serve me as well as he has," Voldemort drawls, gripping Draco's face with bruising force before finally releasing the young man and turning his full attention to Hermione. "But you… I don't recognize you...What's your name, child?"

Hermione lifts her chin in defiance, her eyes never leaving his, and something like recognition flickers through his gaze, "Hermione Granger."

"As in the Dagworth-Grangers?" Voldemort asks, his eyebrow raising in query.

"As in the first muggleborn Slytherin in the past _ years," Hermione states matter-of-factly.

Voldemort grimaces, stopping in front of her and gripping her chin tightly as he forces her face to stay trained toward him as he invades her personal space.

She can feel him probing her mind but doesn't try to force him out. He's a master at legilimency and she's a child, a gifted child but still a child. Instead, she lets him think he is seeing everything. She pretends to fight him when he tries to see certain things so that he thinks he sees everything. Because he is currently making the same mistake so many others had about her: he is underestimating her because of her age and because of her heritage. She may be a child but she knows her strengths and she knows her weaknesses.

A smirk tugs at his lips and that light of almost recognition flares through his gaze as he rifles through Hermione's memories. "So much going on in here," he purrs, turning his attention to her once more. "Righteousness. Defiance. Bloodlust. A thirst to prove yourself. And more than enough ability to pull it all off." Voldemort releases her face and slowly circles the pair once again.

The teens say nothing, their gazes never leaving Voldemort though they can both see that Harry has stop shaking from the corner of their eyes though his wand is still resting on the ground to their left.

"You are so much more than your mudblood deems you to be. With you on my side, we could do beautiful things," Riddle purrs once more as his hand comes up to touch Hermione's face for the second time.

If Hermione's being honest, she prefers the death grip to the creepy ass brush of his fingertips against her skin that's going on right now.

"You have two choices: join me or die beside your betrothed," Voldemort states simply and Hermione can see the green glow already beginning to emit from his wand out of the corner of her eye.

Draco squeezes her hand in silent support. They can't look at each other right now but she knows that he is on her side no matter what. She just hopes he can forgive her for this very Gryffindor stunt.

"I'll join you when hell freezes over," Hermione hisses then dives out of the way as the dark lord shoots a killing curse at the spot she had previous stood in.

Throwing a blasting curse at the ground behind her as a distraction, she sprints toward Harry from the right. Draco is sprinting in from where he'd dived toward the left, pausing only to scoop up Harry's wand. Both teens grip Harry tightly before Draco latches onto her bracelet and Hermione activates her portkey, the three of them spinning away moments before another curse hits the spot they had once resided in.

"We need to get you out of here quickly," Professor Snape urges as soon as the three teens land in Spinner's End where Hermione's emergency portkey was set to take them. "This is the first place they will look for you." He forces a multitude of potions into Harry's hand, all of which Harry drinks without hesitation, after deeming Hermione and Draco well enough.

"Where will we go?" Harry asks though Hermione, as well as Professor Snape and Draco judging by the incredulous looks on their faces, think the answer is rather obvious.

"To Black's place. You can come up with some excuse for how you got there but I would suggest keeping Miss Granger's portkey a secret for as long as you can, it may come in handy again," As their Head of House states, giving them one last look over.

"Draco, you should probably call Blinky and have her bring you the things you can't live without. I don't know when the next time you'll be able to go home will be and she's the only elf that is trustworthy since she's bonded to only you," Hermione tells her best friend, squeezing his hand in comfort.

Hermione and Harry both hesitate to step forward but Draco doesn't. He strides forward with the confidence and grace if someone born into aristocracy, stepping up onto the table coffee table without fear.

"At the beginning of this year I realized that I would have to make a choice to stand by the two people who had become my family since being sorted into Slytherin in my first year or to stand by the people who raised me to follow in their footsteps and the footsteps of the many generations of purebloods behind them. I chose to stand by the people I love, my true family. When we are placed into this house, we are taught that Slytherin protects its own. But that doesn't mean that we should follow blindly behind people just because they are from the same house that we are and we think they share the same views as us. We should stand by people because we care about them or respect them or know that what they are doing is the right thing. Tom Riddle, that is Lord Voldemort's real name if you didn't know, is a half-blood using blood-extremists as pawns in his attempt to gain power and take over the world. He doesn't care who lives or who dies. He isn't protecting anyone. He finds joy in the pain of others. Our parents are either blinded to that or are in too deep to get out. Now is the time for you to choose your side. You can choose to stand by your parents and the man they have either chosen to follow. No one here will blame you if you do, they are your family. You can also choose to join the Order where you will never be forced to take a life and where you will be used to fight for the Light side. Or you can join us, be a part of our family. We can't promise that you will never have to kill any one or that it will be easy but we will always stand together. If even one person has doubts, we will find another way. We are a democracy and we are a family. We will never leave our own behind," Draco stands tall, commanding the attention of everyone in the room even though he can just barely see over the heads of some of the people in room from his perch on the coffee table.

Pride swells in Hermione's stomach for her best friend and she shoots him a smile before determination flares through her eyes and she holds her hand up to him. He helps her up onto the table and she turns to face the crowd, "We aren't asking you to decide today, you can take as long as you need to decide and if you need help before then because someone is trying to force your hand, you can use these to contact us and we will get you someplace safe." She holds up one of the little coins the three of them had spent weeks perfecting to send messages back and forth as well as turn into a portkey at either hers, Draco's or Harry's command.