Author's Note: None
of this belongs to me. This story is
based on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling and will
feature "offstage scenes" as well as scenes from the book reinterpreted from
Hermione's point of view.
Hermione's 4th
Year
Part 6: To Hogsmeade and Back
By Elanor Gamgee
The next day, Hermione decided to
bring up the topic of Hogsmeade at breakfast.
"So," she said, trying to keep her
voice casual, "There's a Hogsmeade visit tomorrow. Do you want to go? It
might do you good to get away from the castle for a bit."
"Yeah, alright," replied
Harry. He stopped eating and looked at
her. "What about Ron, though? Don't you want to go with him?"
Hermione felt her cheeks turning
pink. Had Harry overheard her
conversation with Ron in Charms? "Oh…well…I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks…"
"No," said Harry with finalty,
turning back to his pancakes.
Hermione leaned forward. "Oh, Harry, this is so stupid—"
"I'll come, but I'm not meeting
Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak." Harry's voice was quiet and certain, as though daring her to challenge
him.
Once again frustrated at her own
inability to change his mind, she snapped, "Oh, all right, then…but I hate
talking to you in that Cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not."
"Well, I'm not going without
it. I'm sick of people looking at me."
"Fine," Hermione said,
fighting down the urge to reach across the table and slap him.
On Saturday morning, Hermione
waited by the fire while Harry went upstairs to put on his Invisibility
Cloak. She was feeling rather annoyed
with him, and was half-wishing she had gone to Hogsmeade with Ron after all. She probably would have had more fun. But she was still hoping she could convince
Harry to talk to Ron once they arrived in Hogsmeade.
She felt a tug on the sleeve of
her robes and knew that Harry was back. She pushed open the portrait hole and waited a moment to let Harry
scramble through. The whole way to the
village Hermione felt incredibly self-conscious. To everyone else it appeared that she was alone, and she was sure
they thought that she was talking to herself.
"Don't move your lips so much,
then," Harry said when she expressed this sentiment to him. Easy for him to say, she thought.
"Come on, please just take
off your Cloak for a bit. No one's
going to bother you here."
"Oh, yeah?" said Harry's voice
from her left. "Look behind you."
Hermione turned and saw a man and
a woman emerging from the Three Broomsticks. The woman, who was wearing lurid purple robes and carrying an enormous
crocodile-skin handbag, could only be Rita Skeeter. Harry had described her to Hermione and no one else could look so
hideous. The man was carrying a large
camera and hanging on Rita's every word. They passed by Hermione and disappeared into the crowd at the end of the
street.
"She's staying in the village,"
said Harry's voice. "I bet she's coming
to watch the first task."
Even though she couldn't see
Harry's face, Hermione could sense the uneasiness in his voice. They hadn't talked much about the first
task. Hermione didn't really want to
think about it; she had a feeling Harry felt the same way.
Hermione cast about for something
cheerful to say. "She's gone. Why don't we go have a Butterbeer in the
Three Broomsticks. It's a bit cold,
isn't it?" Harry didn't answer
her. Hermione sighed impatiently. "You
don't have to talk to Ron!"
The inside of the Three
Broomsticks was packed with students. "I'll be at that empty table in the corner," Harry said in Hermione's
ear. She nodded, suddenly distracted by
the sight of Ron sitting on the other side of the room with his brothers and
Lee Jordan. She quickly went over to
buy drinks, hoping that Ron hadn't seen her. What would he think if he saw her in there alone, obviously avoiding
him?
As she headed over to the table
with the two mugs of Butterbeer, Hermione had half a mind to go sit with Ron
instead. She would certainly have more
fun with them than she would sitting at a table pretending to be alone. She had to admit, it was getting a little
tiresome being Harry's fallback friend.
But even as the thought crossed
her mind, she knew she wouldn't do it. She simply knew too well how it felt to be left out to do it to anyone
else.
"I look like such an idiot,
sitting here on my own," she murmured, slipping Harry a Butterbeer. "Lucky I brought something to do." She pulled out her S.P.E.W. notebook and looked
over the short list of names. She
hadn't forgotten about S.P.E.W., of course, she just hadn't had much time to
work on it between trying to get her two best friends to speak to one another,
ducking insulting comments from the Slytherins, and worrying about Harry being
in mortal danger. She looked sadly at
the top two names on the list:
Ron Weasley—Treasurer
Harry
Potter—Secretary
Back when she had written that,
the three of them had been inseparable friends. She sighed and tried to focus on S.P.E.W. again.
On the way
back to the castle, Hermione and Harry worked out a plan. Hagrid had asked Harry to come down to his
cabin at midnight. Though Hermione
worried that this would make him late to meet Sirius, Harry seemed reluctant to
let Hagrid down.
"I'll just be
quick about whatever Hagrid wants and get back up to the Common Room before one
o'clock," Harry said.
The first
part of the plan went off perfectly. Hermione waited outside the portrait hole and opened it at precisely
11:30. She heard a rustle a fabric and
a whispered "Thanks!", and she knew Harry had gone.
Hermione
entered the Common Room and sat down by the fire with Great Wizards and
Witches of Our Time, a book she had picked up for some light reading. She knew there was no way she would be able
to concentrate on schoolwork tonight; she was too edgy.
She was a few
chapters in when a shadow fell across her page. She looked up to find Ron standing over her.
"Why didn't
you sit with us at the Three Broomsticks?" he asked without preamble.
So he had
seen her there. "Well," she began
uncomfortably, "I had some things to work on, you know, S.P.E.W…."
Ron eyed her
suspiciously. "What, so Harry was there? He just didn't want to talk to me, right?"
Hermione
didn't answer, but shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Ron sighed
and threw himself down on the sofa beside her. He was silent for a moment. "So
I guess he was wearing the Invisibility Cloak?"
"Ron! Shhhh!"
Hermione looked around quickly, but no one seemed to have heard. "Yes, he was going on about not wanting to
deal with anyone."
Ron just
nodded, staring into the fire.
Hermione bit
her lip. "Ron, I'm really worried about
him. The first task is coming up, and
he never really talks about it, but I think he's really nervous. He tries to pretend he's not, but…oh, Ron,
if you could see how upset he is, you would know he didn't get himself into
this!"
Ron gave her
a long look, then turned to stare into the fire again. After a bit he stood up. "Want a game of chess?" he asked, with false
cheerfulness.
Hermione
looked up at him, wishing she knew what he was thinking. "Er…no, I think I'm going to finish this
chapter and then go up to bed. I'm a
bit tired." She actually would have
really enjoyed a game of chess just then (even though she knew she would lose),
but she was afraid the game might drag out and keep her from clearing the
Common Room before Harry got back.
"Suit
yourself, then," said Ron with a forced smile. He turned and headed up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
Hermione checked
her watch. It was half past twelve. She spent the next fifteen minutes watching
the two flirting third-years in the corner over the top of her book, silently
willing them to vacate the Common Room. She was beginning to think she would have to resort to Dumgbombs after
all, when they finally seemed to grow uncomfortable with her glaring at
them. They headed up to their
dormitories, leaving Hermione alone in the room. She double-checked all the chairs to make sure the room was
really empty, and then headed up to bed herself. It was 12:50. Harry should be back any minute. Well, she thought, it's up to him now.
Hermione
fully intended to get a good night's sleep, but as soon as she lay down, her
mind was filled with anxious thoughts. She couldn't forget the fear underlying Harry's voice when he mentioned
the upcoming task, or the worry she was sure she had seen in Ron's eyes
tonight. She truly hoped that Sirius
would have some good advice to help his godson.
Hermione tossed and turned, unable
to get comfortable despite the fluffy comforter and soft mattress on her
four-poster bed. Finally, at 2:30 in
the morning, Hermione decided that sleep was a lost cause for the moment. Maybe Harry would still be down in the
Common Room and she could find out what Sirius had said. She slipped out of her dormitory, wrapping a
blanket around her against the chill of the nighttime castle.
Hermione crept down the stairs to
the Common Room. As she poked her head
around the corner, she could see that someone was sitting in one of the squashy
armchairs by the fire.
"Harry, is that you?" she
whispered, entering the room.
But it wasn't Harry. It was Ron. He was curled up in the armchair, his head on the armrest, fast
asleep. His face looked slightly red,
perhaps from the heat of the fire. One
long leg was tucked under him; the other hung down over the front of the chair,
his bare ankle protruding from his too-short maroon pajamas.
Hermione felt an odd sensation she
couldn't quite name as she stood there looking at her sleeping friend. His red hair spilled across the flowered
armrest like a pool of flame, and his face was oddly expressionless. She realized that she had rarely seen Ron without
some strong emotion showing on his face, whether it be anger, worry, hurt, or
amusement.
Hermione took the blanket she had
wrapped around her and placed it over Ron; even though he was near the fire,
the castle was cold and he wasn't wearing a robe. She sat down in the armchair opposite and looked into the
fire. What was Ron doing down here
anyway? Why wasn't he up in his
dormitory? Had Harry gotten a chance to
talk to Sirius?
She was so curious she almost woke
him up to ask him. But when she looked
at him sleeping so peacefully, she didn't have the heart. She decided to stay down in the Common Room
for a bit to gather her thoughts before going back up to bed.
When Hermione woke up three hours
later, she was still sitting in front of the fire. She sat up quickly, rubbing her eyes, and realized that the room
was once again empty. As she stood up,
her blanket, which had been draped over her, fell to the floor. Hermione picked it up and returned to her
dormitory, smiling slightly.