After a quick chat with Professor Moody, Hermione was both more confused and more determined than ever. Moody hadn't seen anyone in an Invisibilty Cloak, fine. She was going to catch Skeeter doing something illegal, she knew it. Though something about what Harry had said about being bugged stuck with her, and she was unsure why.
After Harry came back late, mumbling about Krum being attacked, Hermione put Skeeter out of her mind.
"Good riddance," George commented. The three jumped, not even realizing that the twins were still in the Common Room, as no one else was.
"You were not supposed to hear that," Harry said very quickly.
"If you hadn't been here with me-" George started.
"-I would've thought it was you," Fred winked evilly at his twin. For a heart beat Hermione thought that after the bobotuber pus incident, the twins had actually decided to go attack Viktor, but then she realized she'd been in the Common Room too. And Fred had not left. Hermione blushed a little that she knew that.
"Listen don't tell anyone," Harry said, "And someone must have told him about that Skeeter business, because he interrogated me about Hermione."
"You didn't," Hermione said softly. George was trying not to smile, covering his mouth with his hand and stepping back a little. His twin shuffled on his feet nervously.
"Well-"
"You careless buffoon!" Hermione said angrily to Fred, "Get out of here before I have Ginny hex you! Or worse I'll do it myself!"
The twins' eyes widened, and George pulled Fred up to the boys dormitory. Hermione rubbed her forehead.
"This is a mess," Hermione mumbled.
"I know," Harry said, "I wish we could just... squash her or something."
"You can tell us in the morning, Harry," Hermione said, "I'm beat."
They all presented their theories the next morning (Hermione rather thought hers the more logical ones, far less fantastical than Ron's). They talked somewhat hushed as they made their way to the Owlery to send a letter to Sirius, asking for help of any kind. It turned dark when talk turned to You-Know-Who, who Crouch had beleived to be getting stronger. Then the boys turned on Snape again, but even Hermione had to admit he was in the wrong here.
"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," Harry said. This was unlikely, he would've use that last year when they were trying to fight of Lupin's werewolf form.
"I wouldn't put it past him," Ron mumbled.
"We need to see Professor Moody," Hermione said, they needed substantial theories too butt..."We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."
"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," Harry said matter-of-factly.
"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," Ron said, his intelligence momentarily surprising Hermione, "because..."
Then Hermione heard Fred's voice, and it was definitely Fred, "Shh!"
"-that's blackmail, that is, and we could get into a lot of trouble for that-" she heard George say.
"-we've tried being polite, it's time to play dirty like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did-" Fred said.
"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing it's blackmail!"
"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"
With a bang of the Owlery doors, Fred and George strolled into view, arguing.
"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred asked at the same time.
"Sending a letter," Harry and George said together.
"What, at this time?" Hermione and Fred asked in unison.
Fred grinned at her shamelessly, "Fine, we won't ask you what you're doing if you don't ask us."
He had a envelope in his hands, and Hermione only managed to make out 'man' from the back of the letter before Fred shifted so no one could see the name.
"Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, bowing slightly and motioning toward the door.
Ron didn't budge, "Who're you blackmailing?"
Fred's smile vanished as he and George shared a worried glance. Then George smiled, "Don't worry I was only joking."
Hermione frowned at Fred as Ron said, "It didn't sound like that."
The twins shared another glance, before Fred said, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but-"
"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," Ron said, and Hermione thought for a moment it was his duty as a citizen more than a interfering brother, "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."
Hermione never thought she'd live the day to hear Ron say either of the twins were right.
"Told you I was joking," George took the envelope from Fred's hand and attatched it to the leg of a nearby owl to prove it, "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made prefect."
"No, I won't!" Ron denied the accusation. Hermione wondered if 'prefect' was insulting in any household other than the Weasley's.
George thoroughly enjoyed pressing Ron's buttons, grinning as he took the barn owl with their letter to the window and let it soar off.
"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later," George said. Ron and Harry were too busy watching George to notice Fred wink at Hermione. They debated how much the twins knew about Mr. Crouch, and Ron expanded on their joke shop idea. The idea of Fred getting sent of to Azkaban was more unsettling than Hermione could take.
She could hardly focus through History of Magic, wondering what exactly they would do to someone caught blackmailing. Then again, it sounded as if they were blackmailing someone who wasn't exactly doing something the Ministry of Magic approved of anyway. Percy probably wouldn't help them anyway, there was too much tension between them all.
After the bell rang, they went to talk to Professor Moody about Mr. Crouch and Viktor. He hadn't been able to find Mr. Crouch. Hermione was pleased to hear the Moody thought it was a good idea for her to become an Auror. She knew her parents might not approve of the dangers, but that appealed to some part of her. Then Moody essentially told them all off, then encouraged them to help Harry with the third task. Moody wanted Hermione and Ron to look out for Harry, and Hermione almost laughed. What did he think they'd been doing since first year? Harry would've been long dead if not for them.
The next morning, as Hermione scanned triumphantly throught the Daily Prophet, Harry said outraged, "Who's he to lecture me about being out-of-bounds?! After all the stuff he did at school!"
"He's worried about you," Hermione said, knowing he was talking about either Sirius or Lupin, and putting the Prophet down, "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"
"No one's tried to attack me all year," Harry said. Hermione sighed, he really was such an idiot sometimes.
She knew Harry felt trapped indoors, but at least he wasn't trapped in his memories. Hermione was constantly going over what she remembered of the day at the lake with Viktor. Hermione was stirred from her thoughts as she adeptly warded off a Stunning Spell that had gone awry. Next was Ron's turn, and Hermione just could've understand why he couldn't hit the cushions like he was supposed to. She wasn't overly fond of Harry's Stunners, they were almost as good as some of Ginny's hexes, though how on earth she had gotten someone to teach her hexes was a mystery to Hermione. She still suspected Fred and George however. Maybe her other brother Bill...
The bell rang a few moments later, and Hermione hastily shoved some of Flitwick's cushions back into the cabinet. Hermione rushed to her next class even as Harry and Ron reluctantly headed up to Divination with the old fraud.
.o0O0o.
To whoever the Guest reviewer was, thanks and I'm really wondering if you'll ever find this ever again.
Once again to Kittyinaz, just wait for Umbridge.
