Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own the sandbox the is the Harry Potter Universe. (If I did, I definitely wouldn't have student debt.) Said sandbox belongs to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter Four: Shit was Bound to Hit the Fan

October

Hermione

"Maybe we should start with getting to know the house elves here at school." Luna suggests and Hermione grins.

Ginny and Luna had ended up staying in Hermione's room the night before and, though her strangeness had initially made her wary, Hermione quickly realized how much similar to herself Luna was. They both spent more time alone than they did surrounded by people, they had both been bullied for being seen as different (though Hermione was bullied for her love of books and Luna was bullied for her eccentricities), and they both cared fiercely about those around them, especially the helpless. She was also the second person to really care about SPEW, which thrilled Hermione.

"That's a good idea. Maybe they would be willing to open up about their pasts if we befriended them first. We have to know the best and worst conditions house elves work in before we can help them. We also have to make sure that we make it clear to them that we don't want to take them away from their jobs but that we want to make sure that they aren't forced to hurt themselves or do things that they don't want to do."

Luna nods, giving Hermione a rare genuine smile, but Ginny interrupts her before she can reply.

"Look, look, look!" Ginny jumps up and down, gripping her two friends' arms as she stares at the sky.

The carriage and flying horses honestly don't impress Hermione. "A bit over the top, don't you think?"

Ginny looks scandalized but Luna, Neville, and Harry all laugh at her comment. What does make Ginny laugh (along with Hermione, Neville, and Luna) is how Harry uses Hermione as a sort of human shield, burying his face in her unruly curls in an attempt to hide, when many of the Beauxbaton girls notice who exactly Harry is and start shooting him goo-goo eyes.

"All the scary, big, bad, beautiful girls are gone, Harry. You don't have to hide anymore," Hermione teases her best friend as she lightly pats his hand (which she hadn't realized had been resting on her waist until that moment).

"They weren't that beautiful," he grumbles as he pulls away a bit but leaves his hand on her waist.

The three girls all shoot him disbelieving looks but he just blushes and looks away.

Hermione's eyebrows shoot up and she moves her gaze to Neville, because Ron's attention hadn't been on their group since Hermione and Luna had started discussing SPEW, who is conveniently looking anywhere but the three girls. Her eyes move to Luna and Ginny who look just as curious as she does. Hermione doesn't miss the look of relief on both boys' faces when the sound of roaring water catches Ginny's attention and Ginny pulls their group's attention to the arrival of the Durmstrang students.

"Bloody hell." Ginny whistles softly as the Durmstrang boys pass their little group and both Hermione and Luna burst out laughing. Harry and Neville look down at Ginny in shock but the feisty redhead just shrugs at them, her smirk firmly in place.

The Hogwarts students fall into line behind the Durmstrang students, heading toward the Great Hall like they had been told to before the other schools had arrived, with Hermione breaking away from her group to go to the bathroom.

A muted thump catches her attention and pauses her steps as she takes a turn down an almost abandoned corridor. Tilting her head to the side, she turns her full focus to the noise. The sound of glass shattering comes from the same direction and Hermione takes off in a sprint, palming her wand as she goes so she's ready for anything.

"Three more years and then you're free, just three more years," the sound of Malfoy's voice makes her freeze outside the boy's bathroom door and even though she knows it's wrong, she leans in to listen.

"God you're pathetic," he sobs, his hands smack against something.

Hermione slowly pushes the door open as she slips her wand back into her pocket.

"You're not pathetic, Draco," Hermione's voice is soft and understanding as her gaze takes in the broken boy in front of her whose chest and back are covered in scars and still healing cuts.

"What are you doing here, Granger?!" he yells, wincing when the small of his back hits the edge of the sink because he tries to back away from her.

"I just heard the glass break and I wanted to make sure you were ok," she explains, keeping her voice and gaze soft. "Do you want me to heal those for you?" She gestures toward the newer marks on his chest much like the one he'd hit against the sink and winced from.

"I don't need your help," he growls, snatching his shirt from the floor and shoving his arms through the holes.

"Well, I'm going to help you anyway," she replies.

Draco freezes, his steely gaze searching her molten chocolate orbs for any sign of deceit. His entire stature relaxes when he finds none, his fingers dropping from his half buttoned shirt. "Why?"

"Because I know what it's like to fear the people you're supposed to trust the most," she replies, untucking her shirt and pulling it up just enough for him to see remaining bruises from her summer at the Grangers that were having a hard time healing because she kept disturbing them. If anyone asked her later, she wouldn't be able to tell them why she had done it. Why she had shared that part of herself with him so easily. Something in her told her she needed to. The same thing that had pulled her to fix Harry's glasses that first day on the train.

"Granger-" he begins but she cuts him off:

"We're going to figure out a way to get us both out safe."

Sirius

"Shouldn't you be out with the rest of the school, getting to know the new schools and their students?" Sirius questions, running his fingers gently through his lover's hair.

"Hmm. Probably," Remus replies, staring up at Sirius from where his head was resting on the other man's lap as he places his book on his stomach. "But it's close enough to the full moon that I can get away with it." He grins wolfishly up at Sirius.

Sirius laughs, bending down to kiss Remus lightly on the lips. He'd missed his best friend while he was in Azkaban and he'd been so afraid that Remus was going to forget about him and move on but he hadn't. Remus still loved him today as much as he had thirteen years ago and, even though he was still being forced to hide away from the rest of the world and they still had a lot of shit they had to deal with, he was happier than he had been in a long time.

"I think we should wait until break to take Harry to Gringotts to have the will read," Remus states, pulling Sirius's attention to the present.

Anger flares through Sirius at his lover's suggestion and he quickly sets his fork down on his dinner plate, giving his lover his full attention.

"Why?" he growls.

"Don't you growl at me." Remus glares at Sirius but Sirius doesn't back down. "It's the smart thing to do. Clearly something's going on here and if we pull Harry out of school, it will send out red flags to anyone who's looking. I doubt we'd even make it out of Hogwarts without getting caught. The break gives Harry the perfect excuse to leave. He'll probably be invited to the Weasley's and he can tell them that he wants to do some extra shopping in Diagon Alley and that I offered to take him so that he would be safe."

The anger leaves Sirius's body though he can't shake the bad feeling that comes with this plan. "It makes sense."

Hermione.

"Harry Potter." The voice echoes through the hall even though the Headmaster's voice was quiet and horror clenches at Hermione's chest. She was starting to think she should just hide Harry away every Halloween because this is absolutely ridiculous.

"I didn't do it!" Harry whispers frantically, his wide eye flickering from her to Neville and Ginny who were sitting across from him and Hermione.

Hermione's eyes connect with her other two friends whose shocked looks were slowly morphing into worry before she looks her best friend straight in the eye, her hand gripping his tightly under the table.

"We know," she tells him, her voice unwavering even though she was currently screaming inside.

"HARRY POTTER!" The Great Hall shakes under the power of the Headmaster's voice, the buzzing of voices that had started when Harry's name had come out of the Cup going deadly silent. "Up here if you please!"

Harry sits frozen so Hermione pulls him in for a quick hug, he almost instantly relaxes and grips her almost painfully tight as he returns the embrace.

"Go," she whispers, her lips brushing softly against his ear. "I'll wait up for you in your room. I have a feeling this is going to go for a long time."

Harry nods into her neck before taking a deep breath and pulling away. Voices buzz around him as the majority of students glare at him but Hermione can't help the pride that wells inside her when Harry holds his head high as he strides to the front of the room, ignoring the rest of the student body.

Hermione waits for him to disappear behind the double doors before turning her gaze to Professor Lupin. Surprise flickers through her at the fury clearly present in his eyes but slowly fades away as she takes in the rest of his expression. His concern for Harry etched onto every other feature of his face. Hermione lets out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, glad that one of the two adults they trusted actually believed Harry.

Hermione pulls her gaze away from the professor and to the two friends across from her. Both Gryffindors nod to her and the trio rises from the table, quickly exiting the Great Hall. Luna catches up to them moments later, her hand instantly clasping Hermione's right in a reassuring grip.

"He's going to be ok," Luna tells her quietly but with more clarity than Hermione had ever heard the blonde say anything and Hermione feels herself relaxing.

Behind her, she can hear Neville and Ginny murmuring between them, already trying to figure out who in the school would go after Harry this way. The near viciousness of the protectiveness coming from Neville was slightly surprising to Hermione but it also made her think that befriending Ginny was just as good for him as it had been for Hermione.

On her left, however, was silence. Her redheaded, male best friend walked in a tense sort of stewing silence but Hermione knew from experience that he was about to burst.

"Did he tell you?!" Ron whirls on her the moment their group reaches the Gryffindor common room, drawing the attention of everyone present (which was everyone from their house and then some because they wanted to see the reactions of the other two thirds of the Golden Trio).

Hermione flinches at his ferocity as he invades her personal space (When had he grown so tall that he could tower over her like this?) but she doesn't back down, even as her fingernails bite into the palms of her hands so that she keeps her nerve.

"You can't seriously think that he wanted this?" she snaps back.

"Of course he did! Who wouldn't want this?" Ron's face is rapidly reddening to match his hair.

"Anyone who doesn't have a deathwish, you idiot!" Hermione huffs in exasperation.

"That's why you didn't help me, isn't it?! Because you've always thought you and Harry were smarter than me!" Ron's voice reaches a new level as he takes another step into Hermione's space.

This time when she flinches, Hermione takes an actual step back as fear bites at her spine because she had never seen him this furious in any of the fights they'd had before. "What are you talking about?"

"He couldn't have figured out how to get his name into the Cup without you. It's clear you were more than willing to help The Great Harry Potter but your other supposed best friend wasn't worth the effort," Ron growls, taking yet another step forward so his body is nearly pressed against hers.

Hermione freezes and her voice cracks as she speaks, "Ron…you can't believe that…I would never…"

Her eyes flick from Ron to the rest of the people in the room and it's clever that the only people who believe her are Neville, Ginny, and Luna.

"This is ridiculous," she snaps when she finally finds her voice again before whirling away from the redhead and storming upstairs.

She ignores everyone she passes as she makes her way up the stairs, snatches her night gown from her trunk, gets ready for bed, and then charms the curtains of her bed closed so no one could bother her even if they were tempted to try right now.

Pulling her copy of Hogwarts: A History from under the pillow she didn't use on her bed, she settles down to read for a bit before she sneaks over to the fourth year boys' dorm.

As soon as her dorm had quieted down, she disillusioned herself and made her way to Harry's room with her book in her hand considering Harry would probably be a bit longer.

A smile tugs at her lips and she silently thanks Neville when she sees that Harry's bed curtains are closed because she knew Harry hadn't closed them this morning and she really hadn't wanted to hold her charm up for however long Harry would be away.

Crawling into what was becoming her side of the bed, Hermione settles in and attempts to focus on her reading again but she doesn't have to wait long before familiar steps are pulling her attention away from the text.

A shuffle of clothes, stumbling, and quiet cursing happens before Harry is sliding into bed beside her and pulling her into a tight hug.

There is a moment of silence before either of them talk but eventually Harry begins because they bother need to know where tomorrow could take them and to say Hermione was unimpressed by what she had been told would be an understatement.

"There is one positive thing that came out of this," Harry states in response to her telling him that Neville, Ginny, Luna, and herself were the only students who believed that he hadn't placed his name in the Cup after he had finished telling her how Fleur Delacour had treated him like a child, how Cedric hadn't believed that he wasn't trying to steal Hufflepuff's thunder, and how the Ministry was forcing him to compete.

"What's that, Harry?" Her head cocks to the side in question as the two of them sit across from each other on his bed, their knees brushing slightly against each other.

"We don't have to worry about who we can trust anymore."

"I'm so sorry, Harry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Harry replies, a soft tugging at his lips as he tucks her hair behind her ear and his hand lingers on the side of her neck. "You are all I need…You're my best friend, Hermione…You've stuck by me through everything, even when I didn't deserve it. You have never doubted me or taken your anger out on me just because you needed to take your anger out on someone. You listen to me and do everything in your power to help me. Going into the girls' bathroom to save you from that troll was the best decision I've ever made. I don't know what I would do without you, Mione."

Tears well in Hermione's eyes as she reaches out with her left hand, gently running her fingers over his cheek before softly cupping the right side of his face with her hand. She doesn't know who leaned in first but their noses were softly brushing against each other before she could completely comprehend what was happening, she does know that Harry was the one to close the distance though. It was a little awkward at first, both were stiff and they kept their mouths closed. This was her first kiss and she was almost 100% sure that this was his first kiss as well. Summoning all her Gryffindor courage, Hermione relaxes and opens her mouth slightly. She feels Harry relax against her, his right hand sliding into her unruly curls and his left arm wrapping around her waist as he deepens the kiss. Hermione's left hand slips into his messy hair as her right hand snakes around his back, pulling him closer.

The two teens finally break apart, their noses still brushing against each other as they attempt to catch their breath.

It's not surprising that Hermione is the first to find her voice as she stares at Harry with wide eyes. "Wow."

Harry grins widely at her in agreement before pulling her in for another kiss.