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 13: Checkmate
By Elanor Gamgee
"I don't know what you're bloody talking about! All I'm saying is that you shouldn't have agreed to go to the ball with that spying git from Durmstrang!"
Ron's words rang through
Hermione's head as she turned over yet again, trying to find a comfortable spot
on her bed. It was four o'clock in the
morning, and, though Lavender and Parvati's giggles had faded into snores
several hours ago, Hermione still couldn't sleep. She kept wavering between anger and confusion as she went over
the evening's events in her mind. It's
not fair, she thought bitterly to herself, I had a perfectly nice time
at the ball with a wonderful partner, and now all I can do is toss and turn
thinking about stupid old Ron and his jealousy! She was beginning to feel a little disgusted with herself and her
own restlessness.
Glancing over at the clock on her
bedside table, Hermione saw that is was now half-past four. With a sigh she heaved back the covers and
crept out of bed, deciding that if she wasn't going to get any sleep, she might
as well at least get some work done. She felt her way to the trunk at the end of her bed and found her
Arithmancy textbook and her wand, which she had left on top. Parvati rolled over and grunted, but didn't
wake as Hermione eased open the door and slipped out of the dormitory.
Hermione lit her wand and crept
down the spiral staircase noiselessly. As she neared the common room, she was vaguely aware that the light
coming through the doorway was brighter than it should be for this time of the
night. She didn't think about what that
meant until she went into the common room and saw the red head bent over the
chessboard in the corner.
Ron looked up when she
entered. He had been playing chess,
apparently against himself. Hermione
froze in surprise for a moment, meeting his eyes, then turned quickly and
headed back to the door without a word.
"Hermione, wait!"
She stopped, then turned sharply,
her earlier anger tightening her chest. "Why, Ron? So you can yell at me
some more? Throw some more unfounded
accusations at me? What, did you think
of another hurtful remark you didn't get in earlier?" She was surprised at the way her voice shook, and at the tears
she could feel pricking the corners of her eyes.
Ron quailed under her gaze. "No…I, er…"
"What, Ron?" Hermione said impatiently. Why couldn't he just say it?
Ron looked up at her quickly, then
stared down at the knight he was clutching in one hand. "I…I reckon I…well, look, just forget about
all that stuff I said last night, I mean tonight, well, you know…" He glanced
up at her again, and, apparently encouraged by the look on her face, went
on. "Just forget about it, okay?"
Hermione stared at him, unsure how
to take this. Was this Ron's way of
apologizing? Or was he trying to tell
her something else? She suddenly
realized that he was looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for an
answer. "Of course," she heard herself
saying, "of course, yes, forget about it." She wanted to ask him what he had meant, ask him how he could have been
so thick, but instead, she found herself smiling and nodding.
Ron was watching her carefully,
and she thought she saw something like disappointment flicker in his blue
eyes. He nodded and stood, reaching
over the chessboard and capturing the queen on the far side. "Well, I've just defeated myself again," he
said with a forced grin, gesturing toward the board. "Think I'll go up to bed now. Good thing we can all sleep late tomorrow, right? Well, goodnight." He moved away from her, toward the stairs to the boys'
dormitories.
"Goodnight, Ron," said Hermione
quietly. She was watching the
chessboard, where the queen he had just captured was sitting in a dejected
heap, her shoulders shaking with tiny muffled sobs.
Unable to think about Arithmancy
at the moment, Hermione extinguished the candles in the common room and went
back up to bed, where she tossed and turned a bit more before falling into a
restless sleep.
It was nearly lunchtime when
Hermione woke up the next day. She got
dressed and went down to the common room, where she found Harry lazily leafing
through Flying with the Cannons in front of the fire.
"Good morning," she said brightly,
wondering where Ron was but slightly relieved that he wasn't there.
"Nearly good afternoon," said
Harry, as she sat down on the sofa across from him. "I just got up a little while ago—Ron's still asleep
though." He looked quickly at her, as
if unsure whether or not he should have mentioned Ron.
Hermione just smiled and let Crookshanks
leap lightly into her lap.
Harry grinned at her. "Your hair's back to normal."
"Oh," replied Hermione, pushing
her bangs out of her eyes, "well, I used loads of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it
last night, but it's way too much bother to do every day." She scratched Crookshanks behind the ears,
and he purred contentedly.
Ron came down the stairs and
joined them.
"Morning," said Hermione in a
voice she knew was more stiff than it should be. She focused on scratching Crookshanks' head and avoided Ron's
eyes.
Ron looked at her quickly. "Hi," he said awkwardly as he sat down next
to Harry.
Harry was looking back and forth
between the two of them as if afraid they would start screaming at each other
any minute. "D'you want to go down to
lunch?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence.
All through lunch, Hermione
wondered if things would stay this strange between Ron and herself. They were being friendly enough with one
another, but the events and the words of the night before seemed to be hanging
between them as if they had physical presence. Ron and Harry told her about overhearing Hagrid talking to Madame
Maxime, and about how Hagrid was a half-giant. Hermione wasn't really surprised, and told them she thought all the
hysteria about giants was just bigotry. Ron looked at her incredulously, apparently biting his tongue to keep
from saying something sarcastic. Hermione half-wished he would say whatever he was thinking; all
this walking on eggshells around one another was beginning to wear on her
nerves.
Things didn't really improve over
the next few days. The comfortable
banter they had once engaged in was gone; now, she felt that they were each
avoiding any mention of any topic that might set the other off. Ron didn't even make a scathing comment when
she mentioned S.P.E.W., and Hermione was surprised to find that she actually
missed his teasing.
The evening after lessons started
up again found Hermione in the library. The awkwardness between Ron and herself had driven her out of the common
room, and besides, she wanted to read up on giants to see if she could find
anything to help Hagrid. A horrible
article about him had appeared in the Daily Prophet that day, and he seemed to
have gone into hiding. He hadn't even
answered the door when she, Ron, and Harry had gone down to his hut earlier to
visit him.
Hermione chose five large, dusty
books from the shelves and went to find a table. Viktor was sitting at his usual table by the windows, and, when
he saw her, he smiled and waved her over. Her stomach gave a guilty lurch. She hadn't really talked to Viktor since the ball. Then again, she hadn't really had a chance
except at mealtimes, and the Durmstrang students always sat at the Slytherin
table.
Hermione smiled at him as she
dumped the pile of books onto the table. "Hello, Viktor. How are you?"
"I am fine, Herm-own-ninny. It is good to see you again."
Hermione felt another twinge of
guilt, which she pushed away. "Are you
staying warm? I suppose it's freezing
on that ship."
Viktor gazed at her absently. "I am accustomed to the cold. It is much colder in Bulgaria. And Durmstrang castle is always cold—ve only
light the fires when ve need them for magic."
Hermione frowned, giving an
involuntary shiver.
Viktor went on. "I think I vould like to have gone to
Hogwarts instead. It is much nicer
here." He looked at her meaningfully as
he said these last words.
Hermione flushed and looked
down. "What…what don't you like about
Durmstrang?" she asked.
Apparently, quite a lot. Viktor told her about the Dark Arts lessons,
and how Karkaroff always singled him out, which made the other students dislike
him. He told her how the castle was
dark and unfriendly, and was home to several restless spirits who constantly
tormented the students.
They had been talking quietly for
some time when Hermione noticed how dark it had gotten outside. Looking at her wristwatch, she was startled
to see that it was almost eleven o'clock. "Oh!" she said, getting to her feet. "The library closes in a few minutes, and I haven't done any research on
giants at all."
Viktor raised his thick eyebrows
at her. "Giants?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," said Hermione
distractedly, and she told him quickly about Hagrid and the article. Viktor gave her a slightly startled look,
but didn't say anything.
She decided to check out the books
so that she could look at them later. Viktor carried them up to Madame Pince's desk for her, and the librarian
gave them both a piercing look as she stamped the backs of the books.
"Thanks,
Viktor," said Hermione once they were out in the corridor. "I'll take them now; I've got to go up to
bed."
Viktor looked
slightly disappointed as Hermione claimed the heavy stack of books. "Vell, goodnight, Herm-own-ninny."
"Goodnight,
Viktor," Hermione called, determinedly ignoring the look on his face, which was
making her slightly nervous. "See you
later then."
Hermione
spent the rest of the week poring through the giant books in her spare time,
but didn't find anything that might help Hagrid. Hagrid hadn't appeared at lessons or mealtimes all week long, and
she was growing truly worried.
She returned to the library on
Friday to get a new batch of books, and found Viktor there as usual. They had another nice chat, and Hermione
reflected that she liked him very much—except when he was looking at her with
that possessive sort of gaze, which she still found a bit creepy.
The next Wednesday evening,
Hermione was sitting in the common room with Ron and Harry, poring over Gigantic
Truths: A History of Giants in Britain.
"Are you three going to Hogsmeade
on Saturday?" asked Dean over the back of the sofa.
"Yeah, I reckon so," said
Ron. Out of the corner of her eye,
Hermione saw him look over at her.
"Absolutely," said Harry.
Hermione felt a slight twinge of
disappointment. She had thought maybe
Harry would stay and work on the clue in his egg. She had half-hoped that the awkwardness between Ron and herself
might abate if they went to Hogsmeade together without Harry. "Oh," she said aloud before she thought
about it.
Harry looked at her in
surprise. "What?" he asked.
Hermione recovered herself
quickly. "I just thought you'd want to
take advantage of the common room being quiet. Really get to work on that egg."
"Oh, I—I reckon I've got a pretty
good idea what it's about now," said Harry.
Hermione forgot her previous
disappointment at this unexpected news. "Have you really?" she said, feeling truly impressed. "Well done!" He's working harder than I gave him credit for, she
thought.
On Saturday, Hermione, Ron and
Harry headed toward Hogsmeade. As they
passed the Durmstrang ship, they could see Viktor diving into the lake, wearing
swimming trunks.
Harry looked shocked. "He's mad! It must be freezing, it's January!"
"It's a lot colder where he comes
from," said Hermione absently, watching Viktor swimming across the lake. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."
"Yeah, but there's still the giant
squid," said Ron behind her.
His hopeful tone of voice snapped her back to reality. She frowned at him, wishing he wouldn't act so petty. "He's really nice, you know. He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."
Ron didn't say a word, and didn't
meet her eyes as he pushed past her to continue on toward Hogsmeade. Harry followed him, and Hermione sighed as
she started after them.
They looked up and down the High
Street and in every shop, hoping to find Hagrid, but had no luck. Finally they decided to go for a butterbeer
in the Three Broomsticks. As they were
getting their drinks, Ludo Bagman saw them and asked for a private word with
Harry, so Ron and Hermione went to find a table.
Hermione pulled off her cloak and
sat down. Ron sat across from her,
looking nervous. He sipped his
butterbeer and avoided looking at her. This
is ridiculous, she thought. Now
we can't even talk to each other unless Harry's around?
"I wonder what Mr. Bagman wants
with Harry," she said evenly, hoping to start a neutral conversation.
Ron shook his head. "No idea," he said. They lapsed into uncomfortable silence
again. Hermione played with the handle
of her mug absently.
Ron gave a sudden chuckle and
Hermione raised her head questioningly. "Look at that," he said, nodding in the direction of a group of girls a
few tables away. Hermione turned and
saw Lavender showing off a large crystal ball she had apparently just bought at
one of the shops in the village.
"Oh, please," said Hermione,
rolling her eyes.
Ron was sniggering now as he
watched Lavender affecting Professor Trelawney's misty manner without realizing
it. "Well," he said, "how else is she
supposed to stay Trelawney's pet? She's
got to get some practice in, you know."
Hermione snorted. "What a load of rubbish," she said disdainfully.
Ron smiled. "You should have seen the look on that old
bat's face when you walked out of her class last year," he said, grinning at
the memory.
Hermione had never really thought
about that before. She had been so
distracted and overworked at the time, she hadn't bothered to think how
Professor Trelawney might have reacted. She smiled sheepishly. "Oh, I
bet she didn't see that coming!"
Ron laughed, and she found herself
giggling too. It felt good to laugh
with Ron again. It seemed like it had
been ages.
"And then she tried to pretend she
had known all along," said Ron, between chuckles. "Oh, I've never been so proud of you, Hermione."
Ron looked startled at himself, as
though he had not meant to say this at all. Hermione's laughter died in her throat at the arrested look on his
face. They looked at each other
wordlessly, unsure of what to say.
At that moment, Harry plunked down
his butterbeer and slid into a seat at the table.
Ron turned quickly away from
Hermione and asked, "What did he want?"
Harry didn't seem to notice that
Ron's ears were bright red, or that Hermione was biting her lip distractedly,
as he told them about his conversation with Ludo Bagman.