5
Hermione, Draco, Lucius and Narcissa spent a month and a half months touring all over Italy. Colosseum, Cinque Terre, Roman Forum. But honestly Hermione's favorite had been the Trevi Fountain. After the first visit she had asked if they could return before they went to Naples and Milan. "Of course, Hermione! We will return in the morning before our departure." The group of four went back to the fountain early enough in the morning to where they were the only ones there. Hermione sighed as she leaned against the stone edge of the fountain "It's so beautiful here. I wish England had something like this." She said. Even though it was still early in the morning, it was rather warm. So Draco had offered to get them a bottles of fresh spring water. Turning her back to the fountain, Hermione observed her oldest and closets friend. He was the small old Draco Malfoy that she had met on her first day at Hogwarts. But he was several inches taller than her now and his face had matured. Usually he had a self righteous smirk on his face, but when it was just the two of them his face always held a kind smile that reached his eyes. Early in the summer he had made the decision to stop plastering his hair down with that horrible hair gel, and his hair now waved gently in the wind; as it was a little long and he was in need of a hair cut. "Here you go 'Mione, one water. Freshly chilled." He said handing her the bottle. For some reason she couldn't explain, Hermione blushed as she accepted the water "Thanks Draco, It is a little warm." Draco nodded as they both took long drinks of water. "Your eyes light up when we come here, you really love it, don't you?" Hermione nodded as she turned back to the fountain "Yes, it's beautiful. Steeped in history and of course it was made by ancient Italian wizards." Hermione just went on and on about the fountain, but she was so engrossed in what she was saying, she missed Draco staring at her. Lucius came up behind the kids "Come on you two, time for the next leg of our journey."
About a month later the group apparated directly back to Malfoy Manor, to spend the remainder of the holidays at home. "Ok you two, go on up to your rooms and put your purchases away. You best get a start on that homework as well. Dinner will be in a few hours." Narcissa said as she gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. Hermione and Draco both nodded before heading towards their separate rooms on the third floor. Once safely inside her room, Hermione leaned against the door and slid to the floor. "I'm tired of denying it. I care about Draco, as more than a friend." She whispered to herself, afraid that the walls would have ears and he would some how hear her confession. It had become painfully clear how much she cared for him during their vacation this year. "I'll have to deal with it somehow this year.." Sighing and standing from the floor Hermione put away her new clothes and trinkets she had picked up while in Italy, before sitting down at her desk and starting her homework as Narcissa had suggested.
Hours later Hermione, finished with her summer potion's homework, was sound asleep at her desk re-reading her essay. She felt her shoulder being shook and she raised her head to see Lucius smiling down at her "It's time for bed" he said kindly. Hermione rubbed her eyes and yawned "But what about dinner?" Lucius helped her out of her chair "Dinner was over an hour ago. It's rather late. Go on to bed, honey." Hermione nodded and as Lucius left the room, she changed into her new pajama's from Italy, snuggled into her sheets and fell into a deep sleep.
As they had been gone nearly all summer Hermione and Draco spent the majority of the last two weeks catching up and finishing all of their homework; they didn't swim, they didn't duel and they didn't race their brooms. However they did have time for a trip to Diagon Alley to replace their school supplies and get new robes. As Hermione was about to purchase a new school bag, Draco pulled her away from the counter. "Draco, Wait! I need that, my old bag is threadbare and about to fall apart." She protested. But he seemingly ignored her as he pulled her to the ice cream parlor and sat down at a table outside. Pulling out a small package he handed it to her and said "I was going to wait till your birthday to give you this, but here. Happy Birthday 'Mione." Smiling Hermione opened the package to reveal an Italian leather bag, with brass fittings. The leather was supple and the bag didn't squeak when she moved it. "Thank you Draco, I love it." Since their shopping was finished, Hermione and Draco sat there waiting for Lucius and Narcissa.
A few weeks later Lucius and Narcissa were dropping them off at the Hogwarts Express. Hugging Hermione, Narcissa said "Have a good term." Lucius waved at them "We'd invite you home for Christmas Holidays, but we have a feeling you'll want to stay at school." Draco narrowed his eyes "Why, what do you two know?" Narcissa lightly slapped her husband's shoulder "Don't go spoiling the surprise. Now kids get on the train, its about to leave." Still full of questions but not wanting to miss the train, Hermione and Draco hoped on and waved goodbye to the adults. Quickly finding their friends Draco went inside the compartment, But Hermione paused "Astoria, would you come take a walk with me?" Astoria and Hermione walked down the corridors until they found another empty compartment "Astoria I confess that this is not a simple walk. Over the summer I realized that I care for Draco, as more than a friend. It was painfully clear while in Italy." Astoria positively beamed "Oh 'Mione that's great!" "I think so too, but Draco is dating Pansy. I don't know how to get his attention." The two girls were silent for a few minutes "Hermione, has Draco given you any jewelry?" Without thinking she nodded "Yes First year. He gave me a crystal bracelet with one emerald colored bead." Astoria smiled even more broadly "Well, why don't you start wearing that this year? Draco may be thick, but even he will eventually notice it." Hermione thought for a moment "I could do that. It will be weird to wear it for the first time." Astoria leaned in and hugged her best girl friend "Don't worry 'Mione, we will work through this together." The two friends walked back arm in arm to the compartment with the rest of their friends.
After riding in the carriages to the castle in a horrible rainstorm, everyone was seated at their house tables. While Draco was pre-occupied with Pansy, Hermione was busy looking at staff table "There is one spot missing, where is the new DADA teacher?" Everyone all looked up at the head table to see one person missing. "Who cares, Hermione. Maybe he got caught up in the storm? It's really getting worse out there." Pansy said as she snuggled closer into Draco. Hermione narrowed her eyes, but as she started to say something Dumbledore stood to start his speech. "Now that we are all feed and watered I have a few start of term announcements. Firstly.." Suddenly there was a large crack of thunder and a flash of lightening, and rain began to fall from the ceiling, soaking the students below. Hermione quickly cast "impervious" over her and her friends. But the rain stopped as soon as it had started. Looking around the room Hermione noticed a rather peculiar looking man; he had stringy hair, walked with a limp while holding on to a cane and was grunting rather loudly as he walked; but the strangest thing was his eye. One eye was normal, but another was set in a band around his face and the eye inside that was swivelling unnaturally. Hermione shivered as the eye seemed to fix on her "Who is that?" Theo put his arm around her "That's Mad Eye Mood, the auror." Looking at her friend in confusion "Auror?" He lowered his voice "Dark wizard catcher, half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him." But Dumbledore had started speaking again "Everyone this is Alastor Moody, he will be our new Defense Against The Darks Arts professor." As acknowledgment to his welcome Moody grunted and took a swig from his hip flask "Stupid ceiling." Dumbledore did nothing but nod "Now for more exciting news. Hogwarts will play host to two other magical schools this year for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The tournament will select one student from each three schools who will take part in three tasks, until a winner is crowned. The other two schools will be here for the Halloween feast. But that is many months away and for now your beds await you warmly. Off you go!" The normal scraping of benches commenced, Hermione held on to Theo's arm to avoid getting pushed over by over excited first years "So the Tri-wizard tournament. That should be interesting. Do you know who the other two schools will be?" Draco turned and smiled at her "Well I'm sure Drumstrang will be involved. You know one of their students is a Seeker for the Bulgarian quidditch team? And the other may be The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, an all female institution." Vince walked up between Draco and Theo, "Draco I know you spent the summer in Italy, but did you see what happened at the Quidditch World Cup?" Draco nodded, but kept his voice low "Yes there was a Death Eater attack. And someone died, the Dark Mark was in the sky. If his Death Eaters are becoming active again, it means The Dark Lord will rise again. And soon." Hermione who was trying her hardest to not listen into her friends conversation felt it best to intervene "Boys this is not the time or place for this conversation. We are getting strange looks." Theo straightened back up "'Mione is right. This can wait till a more private time." All the boys nodded and the rest of the walk to the common room passed in silence.
The next morning Hermione was the last to leave the dormitory. Making sure she was alone, she reached into her trunk and pulled out the bracelet Draco had given her. Plunking it from the box, she placed it on her wrist where it magically sized to her size. Hermione took a moment to admire how it looked on her wrist in the light, before pulling down the sleeve of her robe and going about her day. The first class of year four was Defense Against The Dark Arts with the Gryffindors. Settling in her seat beside Theo, they all waited for Professor Moody to start. "Allastor Moody. Ex-Auror and your new professor. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me; end of story, goodnight and the end. This term we will be talking about unforgivable curses. How many are there?" "Three sir" Hermione said confidently. "And they are so called?" "Because they are unforgivable, the use of any one of them will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban." Moody turned and faced her "What's your name girl?" "Hermione Granger, Slytherin house." "Ten points to Slytherin. Can anyone, besides you, name a curse?" For once Weasley raised his hand "The Imperius curse." Moody nodded and pulled a spider out of a jar "Imperio!" It was as if a invisible string was attached to the spider as it got thrown across the room, jumping from desk to desk. After several minutes the curse was lifted "The next curse?" Neville Longbottom raised his hand "The Cruciatus curse." Moody nodded, pointed his wand at the spider "Crucio!" The animal seemed to scream and writhe in pain, it's limbs were twitching. Moody kept the torture up for several minutes before breaking it "Avada Kedavara!" A flash of green light and the spider was dead "The final curse, the killing curse. There is no counter spell and only one person has been known to survive it. And he is sitting in this room. Homework two feet of parchment on the unforgivable curses." With that they were dismissed "Of course Potter would already be singled out as special!"
Other classes carried on as normal. Hermione had her first advanced potion's class before normal classes. "Miss Granger we will start this year by you taking two exams for me." Hermione frowned as she put away her potion books "At the same time, sir?" He nodded "Yes, one this week and one next week. We will resume brewing in a few weeks. You may begin." It took Hermione more than two hours to finish the first exam, not because it was overly difficult but because she wanted to be complete. Later that evening Snape dismissed her "Come back next week to take the second exam." Wearily Hermione made her way back to the common room, where she collapsed on the couch beside her friends. "How was potions?" Draco asked, much to the annoyance of Pansy "Snape set me an exam and I have to take another next week before we brew again." Theo smiled at his friends as he rubbed her shoulders "I'm sure you did perfect 'Mione. If anyone is suited to a test on the first day of classes, it would be you." Smiling at her friends, she allowed herself to relax "Thanks guys." Pansy seemed to be annoyed that all the attention was off her "Well I'm off to bed. Night everyone." With that she stalked out of the common room. "I think I'm off to, see you guys in the morning." Draco waved goodbye to his friends. Once they were gone, Astoria took a seat on the other side of her friend "Are you wearing it?" Theo looked confused "Wearing what?" Hermione nodded and pushed up the sleeve of her robes to reveal her bracelet. Astoria squealed lightly and Theo stared in amazement "From Draco?" he asked. Hermione blushed and nodded. "Well he hasn't noticed you wearing it, but I am sure he will eventually. And it will probably drive Pansy mad. I'm not going to wear it everyday, I need something that will make him notice." Astoria shrugged "Who cares. This is about Draco and Hermione." Theo nodded before hugging his friend "Go get him Princess. You deserve happiness."
Over the next week classes progressed normally, with their workload and spells they were learning becoming increasingly difficult. Hermione was helping everyone keep up, and even she was confused a few times. The next Thursday Hermione sat another exam for Snape and this one was exceedingly difficult and took no less than three hours for her to complete. Once she was finished he dismissed her "But sir, what about my grade?" Snape looked down his long nose at her "I will owl you with your grade within the next 48 hours." That Friday, during classes Hermione anxiously awaited an owl, but none ever came. Every creak, every whispered word, every footstep she thought it was an owl. Saturday came and her friends convinced her to go sit outside under the trees around the black lake. "Calm down 'Mione, the owl will come when it comes." Draco stated as he played with Pansy's hair; Hermione scowled at him and was about to reply when a soft hoot caught her attention. A midnight black owl with piercing yellow eyes was sighting on the tree branch just above her, clasping a letter in its beak. "You snuck up on me!" she said as she beckoned the owl to come closer. Taking the letter she opened it was trembling hands.
Miss Granger, I had you sit your OWL and NEWT exams these past two weeks. Inclosed are your marks. Professor Snape.
Hermione Jean Granger
O.W.L Potions O
N.E.W.T Potions O
"Well don't keep us in suspense 'Mione, what does it say?" Astoria said. Hermione was silent for a few moment before replying "I got Outstanding in my O.W.L and N.E.W.T potions exams." Pansy snorted and smirked at her "Shows what you know Hermione. We don't sit those exams for another year." Hermione scowled at the girl before handing the letter to Draco "Bloody Hell, it's true! The exams she sat in her private potion's lessons were 5th and 6th year exams!" He exclaimed. All of her friends ran to embrace her on her exam scores; everyone except Pansy who was rather tight lipped. "There's a Hogsmeade trip later this afternoon! Let's go to celebrate!"
Halloween was quickly upon them. "Will all students please report the Great Hall to welcome the delegations of the other schools." Shortly later everyone was gathered at their tables in the great hall. "Will everyone please give a warm welcome to the Drumstrang Institute!" The doors to the great hall opened to see at least thirty young men walking into the hall, bundled in warm furs and hats. The stalked into the hall with confidence not bothering to glance at the other tables "It's him! Viktor Crum!" Draco pointed out his Quidditch hero and Hermione could tell he was in awe and slowly but surely a plan started to form in her mind. Dumbledore settled the Drumstrang students at the Slytherin table and announced the next school "And another warm welcome to The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress. A group of beautiful women all walked into the hall wearing blue robes of very thin silk material. All of the boys in the hall couldn't stop staring, including Theo, Draco and Vince. "They boys act like they've never seen a pretty girl before." Pansy said with a sniff. The Beauxbatons were settled at the Ravenclaw table. "Let the feast begin!" With that all the food appeared on the table. As luck would have it Viktor Crum was seated right next to Hermione at the Slytherin table. "What would you recommend?" He asked her in a thick Bulgarian accent. Hermione smiled and very subtly glanced at Draco who was watching them with a look of jealous. Shaking back her sleeve, so her bracelet was on full view she said "Here, let me make you plate." Draco went pale at the sight of her wearing the bracelet, yet openly flirting with another man. "This is very good, thank you Er-my-knee." Draco butted in "Actually it's pronounced Hermione." Hermione glared at him "Don't be rude Draco. Viktor is just being friendly." But inwardly Hermione was smirking This is the perfect way to make Draco jealous she thought.
After the feast Dumbledore stood beside a jeweled case. "Eternal Glory. That is what the winner of the Tri-Wizard Tournament will win. But to do so they must face three extremely dangerous tasks. As such a new rule has been imposed. No student under the age of 17 will be allowed to enter. No exceptions." Waving his wand the jeweled case seemed to melt away to reveal a silver cup, which the top of burst into blue fire. "Anyone wishing to enter meerly needs to put their name on parchment and place it within the fire. You have two weeks. As of this moment the tri-wizard tournament has begun."
The next few weeks at Hogwarts were abuzz with speculation and rumor over who the champions would be. Classes went on as normal though and soon the professors were tired of the mindless chatter but they could do nothing to stop it. The Drumstrang and Beauxbatons students had classes in abandoned class rooms and studied in the library. "Where's Hermione?" Draco asked one evening. Astoria looked up and smiled innocently "She is in the library studying with Viktor." Draco blanched at the news, but quickly walked away. Astoria smirked, she knew that Hermione's plan was working. Draco started to observe Hermione and Viktor more, why was she spending so much time with Krum? Sure he was a famous quidditch player, but Hermione did not really follow the sport the way he did. One evening, during his spying, Draco noticed something that made him sick; Hermione was wearing the bracelet he had got her and it was in full view for everyone to see. "She can't do that!" He snarled as he quickly disappeared into the shadows. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, had tried to put their names in the Goblet of Fire despite being underage. However their plan failed and they both grew long beards. The evening of the champion selection Draco cornered Hermione outside of the Great Hall. "You can't be spending so much time and flirting with Viktor Crum while wearing that!" He all but yelled while pointing to her bracelet. Hermione narrowed her eyes "Oh really? And who are you to tell me that? You cuddle up with pansy and expect me to wait for you? I don't think so, because this little trinket does NOT dictate who I can and can not be friends with." Scowling at Draco Hermione whipped past him and take her seat at the table. "I screwed that up big time" Draco muttered to himself as he watched her walk away.
"It is time!" Dumbledore put his hands on the Goblet and acted as if he was pulling on a string, the fire turned red and spit out a piece of burned parchment. "The champion for Drumstrang is Viktor Crum!" All the Drumstrang students applauded as Viktor shook hands with Dumbledore and disappeared into an side chamber off the Great hall. Another bit of parchment was spit out "The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" One of the prettier girls from the academy stood up and did the same as Viktor. "The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory!" Everyone at Hogwarts cheered and applauded at their champion. "Yes yes well done champions and good luck to you all…" "Sir Look!" an upperclassman yelled. The goblet spit out another piece of parchment just as Dumbledore turned to look back at it, he caught the parchment "Harry Potter". Instantly everyone was looking around the hall for the boy who lived. "HARRY POTTER! Up here if you please! As for the rest of you, off to your houses. Now!" Dumbledore yelled. Draco was outraged "How is that bloody possible? He is not even 17 and there was already a Hogwarts Champion. He had to have cheated somehow!" Theo was of the same mind "I know mate. But how about some clever wand work and we embarrass Potter? Surely the whole school will be against him at this point." Theo whispered his idea to Hermione who eagerly agreed to help. The group of Slytherins worked all night and were proud of what they came up with.
The next day all anyone could talk about was Harry Potter cheating his way into the Tri-Wizard tournament for glory. Hermione and the rest of the Slytherins handed out their idea; a bunch of badges that said "Support Cedric Diggory" and it flashed to say "Potter Stinks!" soon the entire school was wearing one. In the weeks leading up to the first task Hermione spent more and more time with Viktor. It was clear for everyone to see that the two of them were growing close; the Bulgarian seeker was smitten with her. While Draco spent less time even talking to Pansy; who became sullen and angry. Every time anyone brought up anything about Hermione and Viktor, Draco would angrily stomp out of the room. Vince and Theo both watched him tear down his Quidditch poster and break the Crum figure he had brought from home. "What's the deal mate? You and Hermione don't have an understanding. She is free to date whoever she wants." Vince asked one evening. Draco was quiet for a few second "I just think he is to old for her, that's all."
One chilly Saturday afternoon Draco gathered his courage and asked Hermione "Care for a walk?" Hermione looked up at him and nodded, grabbed one of Theo's jumpers and followed him out the common room. They ended up down by the black lake, walking in silence for several minutes. "I broke up with Pansy!" He blurted out. Hermione raised her eyebrow at him "Good, you can do better than her anyway; jealous cow." Draco come to a stop "I wish you wouldn't flirt so much with Viktor. It makes me jealous." He said. Hermione shrugged "He's nice. And it's not like anyone else was showing interest in me anyway." Draco hung his head "I've been a fool. I should've told you how I felt years ago, but I was afraid. I've been interested in you since first year." Hermione looked into his eyes as she pushed up the sleeve of her jumper "You are actually wearing it!" Draco said quietly as he ran his fingers over the crystals. "Is that ok? I've been wearing it since the first day of term, but I wasn't sure." Hermione replied nervously "Be sure, you can be sure, why didn't you tell me?" Hermione looked down at her feet "I was afraid you would choose Pansy over me and I wouldn't recover from that." For a moment Draco hated himself when he saw the vulnerability in her eyes, he had really hurt her and made Hermione doubt herself. "Only a bloody fool would choose Pansy over you. You are so much more beautiful than she is. You Always will be." Draco wrapped her in a hug and there they stood for what seemed like forever in each other's arms, just listening to the water lap against the shore of the lake; it was peaceful "Any chance you'll kiss me?" Hermione lightly punched his shoulder "Don't push your luck." She warned. Draco laughed and offered Hermione his arm, which they took as they walked back to the castle.
The day after their walk around the lake, Hermione and Draco walked down to breakfast hand in hand. Astoria, Vince and Theo all looked at them with smiles. While Pansy looked everywhere but the two of them, it was apparent she had tears going down her face. In the weeks leading up to the first task all anyone could talk about was what the champions could possibly face. Harry was on his own except for Alice Cyrus, it appeared even Weasel had abandoned his friend. "Why the long face Potter?" Draco hollered as Harry walked into the courtyard. Jumping down from his tree Draco strolled over to his enemy "My father and I Have a bet you see. I don't think you'll last ten minutes into the first task, but he disagrees; he thinks you wont last five." As Hermione and the rest of the Slytherins howled with laughter Harry walked over and shoved Malfoy out of his way "I don't give a damn what your father thinks Malfoy. He is vile and cruel. And you are just pathetic." It was clear to everyone that Draco was angry as Harry turned his back to him. Draco looked as if he was reaching for his wand, but before he could reach the piece of wood there was a blinding light and where Draco had stood was a snow white ferret. "OH NO YOU DON'T! YOU DON'T CURSE SOMEONE WHEN THEIR BACK IS TURNED!" Horrified at her boyfriends appearance Hermione turned and saw Moody limping up behind them; he levitated Draco turned ferret and started to bounce him off the stone walls of the castle. "Stop it!" Hermione cried, but her cries were lost in a sea of laughter. Luckily Professor McGonagall was walking by, heard the commotion and stopped the torture. She transfigured Draco back into human form "Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment. We take points or speak to the offenders head of house." Moody was sullen as the professor walked away, but he tried grabbing Draco by the arm "Come on boy, let's go have a talk with your head of house." Before Moody could get a hold of him, Hermione stepped between the two of them "You won't do that." She said in a low voice. Moody sneered at her "And why is that girlie?" Hermione levelled her gaze "Because what you just did violates about 50 school rules as well as a few laws. I'm sure Lucius would want to know how his son has been treated by a professor today." Hermione and Moody stared at each other for a long minute before he announced "Ten points to Slytherin. That takes guts to stand up to me, girl." And with that he limped away.
Hermione helped Draco back to the common room, by the time the group got there Draco was turning several shades of black and blue; but most of the bleeding had stopped. Getting some of her bruise paste, she started dabbing it on his face and arms. "How do you feel?" she asked. Draco winced as she dabbed some paste on a particularly painful bruise "Like hell. It's not good for one's health to be thrown about a stone castle." They lapsed into silence again and Hermione finished applying the paste "There that is as much as I can do for now. The bruises should be gone in the next 24 hours." Draco tugged on her hand and seated her on the couch with him, kissing her forehead "Thank you love." Hermione leaned into her boyfriend "Evil bastard. I'll get him. We will get him."
The day of the first task dawned overcast and cold. The entire school was herded into circle woodened arena. Their group of Slytherins got a seat right in the front row. "I wonder what the first task is?" Hermione asked as she snuggled closer into Draco's side for warmth. "I'm not sure but I suppose we will find out soon enough." Theo said. And his predication came true soon enough. "Yes Dragons! Each Dragon has been given an egg to protect, the four champions must retrieve the egg; without it they have no hope of figuring out the next task." "Oh I can't wait to see Potter get destroyed by this dragon!" All the Slytherins howled in laughter, but quieted to watch each champion. Cedric Diggory went first against a Swedish short snout dragon. He used a transfiguration spell to turn a rock into a dog, which worked for a short period. Halfway through the dragon turned his attention back to Cedric and burned his face, but he still got the egg and passed the task. Next was Fleur Delacour, who faced a Common Welsh Green. She enchanted the Dragon to sleep, but while getting the egg the dragon snored and set her skirt on fire; for which she was docked points. Third was Viktor Crum, who faced the Chinese fireball, tried to blind the dragon, but was docked points because the dragon trampled some of the real eggs. "Finally, the real show begins." Harry Potter came into the arena and stupidly walked straight towards the eggs, but was very nearly hit but the Hungarian Horntail dragon. The tail caught him and flung him across the arena. Suddenly his broom was there, Potter flew from the arena and the Dragon gave chase. They were gone for nearly 15 minutes "Maybe the Dragon has eaten him and flew far away?" Draco said causing all the Slytherin's to snicker. But sadly that was not the case, Harry flew back into the arena, with a smoking broom and scooped up the egg. "And that completes the first task! The second task will take place after the Christmas Holidays and the Yule ball!" Hermione looked bewildered "The what?"
Professor Snape called all the Slytherins to the common room "The Yule ball is a tradition of the tri-wizard tournament. It is a dance that will be held on Christmas evening. No one under third year can come, unless asked by an older student. If I find out that anyone of my house, has acted in a manner that would embarrass our house or Hogwarts, their punishment will be most severe. This is your only warning." As Snape left with his robes billowing behind him Draco turned to Hermione "Will you go to the ball with me?" Hermione squeezed his hand "Of course. Girls you know what this means, Dress shopping!"
Over the next week there were extra trips to Hogsmeade to allow people to find their dresses for the Yule ball. But after visiting the third dress shop Hermione was at her wits end, so she wrote to Narcissa
Mrs. Malfoy,
It has come to my attention that there is to be a Yule ball and I can not find a decent dress in Hogsmeade. I hate to be an imposition, but would you mind buying me a dress and sending it via owl? I have enclosed the key to my Gringotts vault. Hope you and Lucius are well.
Love, Hermione
Her answer came a week later, when the Malfoy Family owl delivered a large package that could only contain a fancy dress. With Draco peering over her shoulder, Hermione decided not to open it just yet "It'll be a surprise the day of." She said sweetly. The day of the ball finally arrived and the girls of Slytherin house excused themselves at three in the afternoon to get ready "What you need three hours?" The girls all showered, dressed in robes to do each other's hair and makeup. Hermione's makeup was very light and neutral but very pretty. Her hair was piled on top of her head and held into place by crystals loaned to her by Narcissa. Finally she slipped on her dress; it was a royal blue velvet sheath halter neck dress. It was form fitting to her waist where it flared out just a little and fell to the floor, barely grazing it with her black heels on. The only jewelry she wore was the crystal bracelet that Draco had given her. Descending the staircase from the girls dormitory, Draco was standing at the bottom in his black Wizarding suit, but he froze when he saw Hermione. Reaching the bottom, she did a little spin "Well?" Draco reached for her hand and kissed it "You are beautiful." Hermione blushed and tucked her arm into Draco's and followed his lead out of the common room.
Reaching the Great Hall they found it completely transformed. The floor seemed to be made of white marble, white tables were scattered around the room with white flowers. Snow seemed to be falling from the ceiling and candles were gently floating around the room "Wow, this is amazing. But why is no one dancing?" Astoria, who came with Vince, answered her "The champions are the first to dance traditionally." Hermione nodded and refocused her attention on the champions who were just now entering the hall. "Maybe Potter will fall on his face?" But alas that was not the case, while he was not elegant Harry Potter made it through the first dance and soon the dance floor was crowded with the rest of the students attending. Hermione spent the night dancing in Draco's arms; laughing, smiling and being carefree for the first time in a long time. Everyone was looking at them and it would seen be out that Draco Malfoy was dating the Slytherin Muggle born, Hermione Granger. When midnight came no one wanted to leave, but the professors were ushering people out. Stopping just outside of the great hall, Hermione bent over to remove her shoes "My feet hurt." She said. As she started to carry them, Draco took them from her and carried them, while still keeping her arm on his. Once back at the staircase to the dormitory Draco hugged her again. "You really did look beautiful tonight." "Thank you Draco." Hermione and Draco leaned in for a kiss at the same time and their lips met. He dropped her shoes while she laced her arms around his neck. The kiss was sweet, gentle and yearning. Their lips separated far to soon for either of their liking "I better go to bed." Draco nodded "Me too. I'll see you in the morning Princess."
After the Yule Ball and Christmas Holidays, things returned to as close to normal as Hogwarts. Hermione started to wear her crystal bracelet everyday, proudly displaying it on her wrist while her arm was on Draco's. Everyone in Slytherin house had been thrilled that they were finally together and that their feelings for each other had been out in the open "It's about bloody time" Marcus Flint had said when he first saw them together. The only person who wasn't so happy for the couple was Pansy, who could be seen most days weeping in a corner of the common room. While Hermione did feel bad that she had hurt her friend, at that time and place she didn't care; she finally had Draco and she was allowing herself to be happy.
The second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was scheduled for the last day of January. While Fleur, Krum and Cedric were all walking around looking really confident and self assured; it was clear they had figured out the clue that was in the gold egg. Potter, however, was seem most days carrying around his gold egg looking as confused as ever. "Better hurry up with that egg, Potter. The second task is only in a few weeks." Draco taunted one day as they passed each other in the corridor. Harry glared at the blonde "Shove off Malfoy. You have no idea how difficult this is." Hermione rolled her eyes at him "We may not know how difficult it is, but at least we would've attempted to figure it out before now. Preparation is key Potter." Ron grabbed Harry's arm and angrily shoved past the pair "No one asked for you opinion, Granger." As Ron was shoving past Hermione, he bumped her elbow causing her to drop all her books, before anyone could re-act Theo had Ron by the neck of his robes up against the wall. "That isn't how you treat a lady Weasel. Pick her books up, hand them to her and then leave. Be more careful next time." Theo dropped Ron, who looked like he was about to complain, but at the murderous look in both Theo and Draco's eyes thought better of it. Sullenly he scooped down, gathered the fallen books, handed them to Hermione before all but running out of the corridor with Harry and Alice close behind him. As soon as they had left the entire group of Slytherin's burst into laughter. "Theo, why did you do that? I didn't need him to pick up my books!" Hermione said as she tried to catch her breath. "Because princess, he was being tough for that Cyrus girl. I wanted to knock him down a peg or two." Draco high fived his friend "Mission accomplished Mate!"
The day of the second task dawned cloudy and bitterly cold. Hermione was bundled up in one of Draco's jumpers, a scarf and a hat but could still feel the cold through her layers as they were herded down to the edge of the black lake. As Lucius was a judge for the tournament both him and Narcissa were at the viewing platforms once the children arrived. Narcissa immediately spotted the bracelet on Hermione's wrist and smiled broadly as she kissed her on the cheek. "Hermione, Draco. It's wonderful to see you." Lucius said as he shook his son's hand "Yes indeed. That is a beautiful bracelet, Hermione." The blush in her son's and Hermione's faces told them all they needed to know. As everyone finished gathering on the raised platforms, Dumbledore amplified his voice "Welcome to the second task! Last night, something was taken from each of the champions and hidden at the bottom of the lake. Each champion will have one hour to find that item, or it will be lost forever. Good Luck!"
A canon went off and each champion dove into the water. Potter floundered for a bit before disappearing beneath the surface "What is his problem?" Astoria asked as she snuggled closer into Vince's side. Hermione barely had time to shrug before Potter re-emerged with fins, did a back flip and sunk below the surface again "Bloody show off." Draco said as he put his arm around Hermione's shoulder "Guess we better settle in. It's going to be a while." Draco's prediction soon became true as it was a good 45 minute's before anyone was spotted. Fleur Delacour returned to the surface first, empty handed. "Miss. Delacour has been forced to retired from the task and therefore will finish in last place with 25 points." Ten minutes later Viktor Krum re-emerged with is date from the Yule Ball "Mr. Krum will finish in third place with 40 points." Cedric re-emerged five minutes later, followed shortly behind by Harry Potter who came shooting out of the lake with two hostages; Fleur's little sister and Ron Weasley. The judges took some time in deliberation before the final announcement "Even though Mr. Potter did not finish the task in the hour time limit he returned two hostages to the surface at great risk to himself. It has been decided that he and Mr. Diggory will split first place and each will be awarded 45 points!" As the entire stadium cheered for the Gryffindor Golden Boy, Slytherin house quietly left the stands and made their way back to the castle. "It's bloody nepotism. Dumbledore favors Potter so he made sure he got first place someway some how!" Draco howled as they reached the common room. Hermione nodded "I've over heard the professors say they are doing everything in their power to protect Potter. More like doing everything to ensure he wins."
It was announced that the third task would not take place until spring had sprung. So things went back to normal and classes resumed. The champions were seen attending regular classes like everyone else, and Potter was strutting around like he owned the castle; it was almost unbearable. Draco and Theo were in a mood because no one was allowed access to the Quidditch pitch; even with no Quidditch this year they both wanted to fly. One evening while walking back from Astronomy and not paying attention, Hermione accidentally bumped into Professor McGonagall. "Oh Professor, I am so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed as all of the items they were carrying were spilled on the floor. The professor offered her a kind smile, "No trouble at all Miss. Granger. But perhaps you could help me sort all of this?" Hermione nodded and the two set about re-arranging their bags, when McGonagall paused "Such a pretty little bracelet Hermione. Did you know that in some traditional pureblood families, little baubles like that were often considered pre-engagement gifts?" Hermione stared at the old woman "Not that that would apply to you. Did your parents give you that?" "Np, Draco Malfoy did." McGonagall smiled sadly if a tad condescending "I am sure you are bright enough to realize that the Malfoy's would never accept you into their family. They are obsessed with blood status and with you being a muggle born…" The professor trailed off as she and Hermione stood, arms full of their belongings. "Just some friendly advice my dear. Now off to your dormitory." Hermione nodded tightly "Thank you Professor." Turning she walked away, silently cursing the people who looked down at her. I'll show them, I'll show them all.
As spring got closer a mysterious vegetative growth appeared on the quidditch pitch. With each passing week it got higher and higher, until the walls were well over fifteen feet high. On the day of the final task everyone was once again herded down to the stadium around the newly grown maze. Draco positioned himself and Hermione in a seat next to both his parents and Theo's parents. "Mr. Malfoy." Hermione said with a warm hug as she sat next to Draco's father "Hermione, please call me Lucius." Hermione nodded before taking Draco's hand and waiting for Dumbledore to start his speech. "Welcome to the final task! The Tri-Wizard cup has been placed somewhere within the maze, all the contestant must do it place their hands on it and they will be the winner! But this is hardly a straight forward maze, dangers lurk inside. Good luck Champions!" Another canon blast later and all four champions stepped inside the maze. "Well this is going to be boring. We can't even see what is happening." Hermione murmured. Draco laughed and leaned over and kissed her forehead "Don't worry Princess, I am sure it will be over soon enough."
This time Draco was wrong. Over an hour later and still nothing had happened; Hermione was well an truly bored. As she was talking to Lucius, both him and Theo's dad jerked their left arms ever so slightly. "Are you both ok? I have some healing paste in my bag if you'd like it." Hermione offered. Lucius smiled graciously down at her "No thank you my dear, I do think I may go for a walk though." "Care if I join you Lucius?" And with that both adults were gone. Confused Hermione looked over at Draco "What's going on?" "The most boring game ever of watch the hedges grow as far as I'm concerned." He said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. Draco's eyes held a warning that she clearly understood Be quiet and watch the maze. Hermione did as Draco was telling her, but grasped his hand even tighter.
Twenty minutes later, Lucius and Bernard still had not returned; but suddenly Harry Potter was there with Diggory, but something was wrong. Cedric Diggory was dead "Lord Voldemort is back!" Harry all but yelled to the waiting crowd. "Everyone back to the common room, now!" Marcus Flint said. Without a word every Slytherin student disappeared from the stands as one and re-convened in the common room. "What is going on?" Hermione asked. Flint looked at her with a seriousness she had never seen before "The Dark Lord has risen again. He called his inner circle to him." "We will be able to take the mark within the next year or so. To join up and fight." Theo said. Hermione had tears spilling from her eyes "But you are all so young!" Draco clasped her hands and held her tight "We are not evil 'Mione. We just want everyone to be treated fairly. Blood re-form will be part of this war, but the Dark Lord does not wish to kill anyone. You've seen how you are treated, that's what we want to put a stop to. Are you with us?" Hermione looked around and realized everyone was worried about her; worried she would run. "I am a SLYTHERIN." She said. Everyone relaxed, but Theo was the first to speak "Good, because now that you are with Draco I want all of my jumpers back." Hermione pretended to pout but eventually nodded.
The last few weeks of school passed in a blur. Professor Moody was a death eater in disguise, the real Moody had been locked in a chest since the beginning of term. All exams had been cancelled and Harry Potter had been declared the winner of the tournament. Dumbledore gave another speech stating Lord Voldemort was back. How they all needed to come together and hold onto their bonds of friendship to strengthen them during the war and how it was such a tragedy that Cedric Diggory had died. Hermione didn't feel affected by his death, sure it was misfortunate; but there were casualties in every war. Her side was chosen.
As they were boarding the Hogwarts Express to head back to London, Hermione felt the need to stop and warn Potter "You've chosen the wrong side Potter. You've been groomed like a lamb to the slaughter. You'll lose." Everyone in his compartment glared at her before Weasley stood up, closed the door and the blinds; effectively shutting her out. Hermione knew that he would not heed her warning, but at least she had tried. Not that it mattered in anyway.
Finally back in London after an uneventful train ride home, everyone unloaded their trunks and promised to either write or visit over the summer holidays. Even Pansy offered Hermione a small smile; it wasn't where they used to be, but it was a start to get back to their normal friendship. As they pushed their carts through the crowd they spotted Lucius and Narcissa. Immediately the two adults rushed to the children's side, but before they could say anything Hermione hugged them both. "I am with you. Always." The tension in the two adults faces instantly melted away, it was clear to Hermione that they were afraid of what she would say after what had happened. As Narcissa vanished their luggage back to the manor, Draco grabbed his girlfriend's hand "Come on, 'Mione. Lets go home."