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 17: The Truth
by Elanor Gamgee
"Wonder what he'll have to do," said Ron quietly.
Hermione glanced nervously at the clock over the common room fireplace. It was nine o'clock. Harry had left a half an hour before to go down to the Quidditch pitch and learn what the third task would be. She and Ron had been sitting in near-silence, both pretending to do homework and completely lost in their own thoughts.
Hermione put down her quill, glad that he had brought it up. "I don't know," she said pensively. "It's bound to be difficult though..."
Ron looked at her quickly, and she saw anxiety flicker in his eyes. However, when he spoke, his tone was bracing. "Come on, this is Harry we're talking about. He'll be fine."
Hermione's natural instinct was to scold Ron for his offhand tone. However, she knew full well that his false confidence masked real fear, so she refrained. "He will be," she said, her voice determined.
Ron nodded, and she saw the same determined expression on his face. "I wonder what it will be, though," he said again. "I heard someone," here Ron blushed, although Hermione had no idea why, "saying something about treasure--that the champions would have to go into tunnels, or something."
Hermione thought this over. "Maybe," she said doubtfully, "but that hardly seems, well, dangerous enough."
"If it is treasure," Ron was saying dreamily, "d'y'reckon Harry'd give some to me?"
"Of course he would," said Hermione absently; she was still thinking through this theory. "Unless there were monsters guarding it...but what lives underground? Snakes, maybe..." Hermione voice trailed off as she realized what she had just said. She looked up at Ron, who had gone slightly pale.
Ron shook his head quickly. "Oh, I'm sure that won't be it. The person I heard saying that...well, she was probably just making stuff up anyway."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. She?
Ron quickly bent over his parchment again, but Hermione could see that the tips of his ears had gone red. Hermione pondered for a moment, then shrugged and picked up her quill again. She tried to focus on the Goblin Rebellion of 1623, but her mind kept drifting back to the third task. If You-Know-Who was after Harry, and there was no doubt in her mind that he was, then snakes would be especially dangerous. True, Harry had managed to kill the Basilisk, but what if You-Know-Who had found something even more powerful? Hermione wished she had never even thought of snakes.
"Oh, Hermione, how's Viktor?" said a sugary-sweet voice at her elbow. Hermione looked up to see Lavender Brown standing next to her chair. Parvati, as always, was hovering nearby.
"We just saw him outside a little while ago, going down to the Quidditch pitch," continued Lavender cheerfully. She seemed to be really enjoying mentioning Viktor in front of Ron. Ron, however, seemed determined not to react. He kept his face bent over his parchment, though Hermione could see that his ears were red again, and he gripped his quill very tightly. Hermione found that she was rather proud of him.
Unfortunately, Lavender wasn't finished yet. "I reckon he can really give Harry a run for his money, don't you think?" Lavender winked knowingly at Hermione, giving her a light pat on the shoulder. Parvati burst into giggles behind her.
Hermione glared at Lavender and returned to her homework without saying a word. Lavender and Parvati, apparently having had their fill of amusement at Hermione's expense, departed.
Hermione stared down at her parchment, unable to think straight through her anger. It had been nearly two months since that horrible article appeared in Witch Weekly, but it seemed she was still being punished for it. She should have known that Lavender and Parvati would never let it go. Pansy Parkinson, too, still quoted it at her at every opportunity. With Lavender and Parvati, it was worse, however; they seemed to think that they were doing her some kind of perverse favor by mentioning it in front of Ron.
After that first day, Hermione had taken Hagrid's advice and left the hate mail unopened. Several of the letters had been Howlers, however, which were not allowed to be ignored. The worst of these had exploded right over the Gryffindor table, and shrieked at her in a high-pitched voice for five full minutes about how she was a temptress who had broken poor Viktor Krum's heart.
"How could you, you horrible girl? An international star turns his attention to an undeserving thing like you, and you repay him by breaking his heart! Shame, shame on you! There are plenty of girls out there who know how special he is and would give anything to be in your shoes, and you just throw him away...not to mention that poor Harry Potter. Oh you horrible horrible girl!...."
Hermione had stared up at the sky-blue ceiling, pretending not to notice the deafening voice. She had felt her cheeks burning and knew that the whole Hall had been staring at her. The worst part had come when the Howler had finished its tirade and burned into ashes, and Hermione had finally looked down. Most of the students had gone back to eating and talking, but Hermione had caught sight of Viktor watching her from the Slytherin table, an unmistakably hurt expression on his face. She knew that this letter had come closer to the truth than any of the others; Viktor had been hurt more than anyone else. She refused to believe she had "broken his heart", but she knew that he had been hurt. When Viktor had seen her look over at him, he had looked away quickly. Hermione had leaned her elbows on the table and rested her forehead on her hands.
"It'll die down, though, if we just ignore it," Harry had said. "People got bored with that stuff she wrote about me last time--"
He just doesn't understand, Hermione had thought bitterly. All he has to do is tell people I'm not his girlfriend. He's not the one being accused of being a "scarlet woman". This is all Rita Skeeter's fault--if she hadn't heard what Viktor said by the lake, none of this would have happened!
"I want to know how she's listening into private conversations when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" Hermione had said out loud, vehemently cutting Harry off.
Hermione had been doing some research about "magical methods of bugging", as Harry called it, but she was no closer to find an answer. She found that throwing herself into this research had helped her to ignore the fact that Viktor would only answer her questions in monosyllables whenever she approached him in the library.
But perhaps the worst repercussion of that horrible article had happened when Mrs. Weasley had sent an Easter package containing enormous toffee-filled eggs for Ron and Harry, and only a tiny egg for Hermione. She had known the reason for this at once, and her heart sank.
"Your mum doesn't read Witch Weekly, by any chance, does she, Ron?" she had asked.
"Yeah. Gets it for the recipes," Ron had replied, busily stuffing his mouth with toffee.
Hermione had nodded sadly. She had obviously been wrong when she had thought that everyone who really mattered to her in the wizarding world would know better than to believe Rita Skeeter's lies. Somehow, Mrs. Weasley's token of disapproval hurt more than she would have expected.
Harry had quickly tried to distract her by showing her Percy's letter. Hermione supposed he understood how she felt, as the Weasleys were the closest thing he had to family in the wizarding world too.
Now, sitting in the common room at the end of May, Hermione somehow felt that the last two months were some kind of bad dream. Viktor was finally speaking to her again, although with none of the warmth and openness he had once shown her. She actually found this something of a relief, as it meant he was giving her those intense looks far less often. They mostly talked about schoolwork, or magical theories, and avoided mention of the article and the trouble it had caused.
"It's getting late," said Ron suddenly from across the table, making Hermione start slightly. "I wonder what's taking Harry so long."
Hermione looked at the clock. Harry had been gone for over two hours. "I don't know," she said, wrinkling her forehead. "They were just going to find out what the task is tonight, right? That shouldn't take this long...unless...well, unless, it's something really complicated...and dangerous..."
Ron looked up at her quickly, then looked down at his parchment again. Hermione could see that he hadn't gotten very far on his essay. The sides of the parchment were covered with little doodles and drawings. Hermione was about to comment on these, when Ron spoke again.
"Oh, I'm sure it's really Harry you're worried about," he muttered without raising his head.
Hermione sighed in frustration. "Ron, please don't start this again." She should have known that his lack of response to Lavender's remarks wouldn't last. "You know I'm worried about Harry."
Ron shrugged sulkily. "How would I know?" he mumbled. "It's not like you tell me and Harry the truth about...what's going on." Ron's ears had gone pink again, and he was determinedly focusing on the broomstick he was drawing on his parchment.
Hermione stared at him furiously for a moment, ready to let him have it, but then she realized that he had a point. She hadn't told them what was going on with Viktor. She knew she had had good reason not to tell them, especially Ron. However, for the first time, she thought about how Ron must have felt when he had seen her at the Yule Ball, or when he had read those things Viktor had said in Rita Skeeter's article. Whatever else was going on between them, they were friends--best friends. They had been through life-and-death situations together; if she couldn't trust Ron and Harry, who could she trust?
"All right," said Hermione slowly. Ron looked up at her, seemingly surprised that she wasn't yelling at him. Hermione took a deep breath and went on. She found that, once again, she couldn't look Ron in the eye. "Well, the truth is, Viktor and I are just--"
But that was as far as she got. The portrait hole flew open at that moment, and Harry burst into the common room. He made a beeline for their corner table and dropped into a chair.
"You won't believe this!" he said breathlessly.
"What is it?" said Hermione quickly. "Is the task something horrible?"
"Oh, that. No, it's a maze," said Harry. "The Triwizard Cup'll be in the middle, and we have to find our way through to it. There'll be enchantments and stuff we have to break on the way."
Ron had still been staring at Hermione, as if waiting for her to finish her sentence, but Harry's description of the task seemed to snap him back to reality. "You mean like all that stuff they had guarding that stone back in first year? That should be easy!"
"Yeah, I guess," said Harry. "That's not what I need to tell you though. After Mr. Bagman told us what the task was, I was walking back with Krum and--"
"What were you walking with him for?" said Ron, at the same time that Hermione said, "Viktor? Why?"
Harry paused and gave Hermione an uncomfortable look. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. "Er....he wanted to ask me about that article," he said quickly, avoiding Ron's eyes.
Hermione felt a flash of anger. After all the times she had told Viktor that she and Harry were just friends, he still didn't believe her. And how dare he act like everything was fine again, and then go asking Harry what was going on. Hermione glanced quickly over at Ron, who was regarding her with narrowed eyes.
Harry hastily went on. "So, anyway, we were standing near the edge of the Forest talking, and all of a sudden Mr. Crouch comes out of it."
"What?" said Hermione, flabbergasted, her anger completely forgotten.
"You should have seen him--his robes were all ripped and it looked like he'd been walking for days. And he was crazy--he kept talking to the tree like it was Percy. But then he seemed to get sane for a couple of minutes and asked for Dumbledore..." Harry continued to tell them his astonishing story. Hermione gasped when she heard that Viktor had been Stunned. She tried to ignore the slightly satisfied look on Ron's face at that information.
The three of them stayed up late talking over the night's events, but couldn't come up with any explanations that made sense. Ron annoyed Hermione greatly by inventing explanations that implicated Viktor, and she found her earlier sympathy for him greatly tested.
The next morning they went to see Professor Moody to find out whether he knew anything more about what had happened, but he seemed to think that Mr. Crouch had disappeared entirely. Hermione thought it best to take Professor Moody's advice and focus on getting Harry through the third task. Sirius expressed the same sentiment in the letter he sent to Harry the next day.
And so, at lunchtime, Hermione dragged Harry and Ron to the library to start looking up hexes. Thankfully, Viktor was not there. Hermione hadn't completely forgotten her anger at him for not believing her, but she was too worried about the third task to deal with him right now.
"I think we should start by looking through these," said Hermione, piling an enormous stack of books on the table where Harry and Ron had taken seats. "Write down anything that looks promising, and mark the page."
"Yes, ma'am," said Ron under his breath.
"Do you want to help Harry or not?" Hermione said sharply.
"All right, all right," said Ron, taking a book from the top of the pile. "Just stop bossing us around, OK?"
Harry seemed rather inclined to stay out of it, as he took a book as well.
Hermione gave Ron a dirty look, then fell silent as she began paging through How the Hex Are You?
Over the next few days, the three friends spent nearly all their free time sneaking into empty classrooms to practice the hexes they had looked up. Hermione had the idea to use the Charms classroom, as Professor Flitwick kept a supply of cushions in there for practicing Banishing Charms. They used these to cushion the ground when practicing Stunning Charms. Fortunately, Harry got quite good at these quickly, before Hermione had to take a turn being Stunned.
On the same day that Harry mastered Stunning Charms, Hermione returned to the common room before dinner to find Ron sitting by the fire. When he saw her, he jumped to his feet.
"Come on," he said.
"Where?" said Hermione in surprise. "By the way, hello to you too. What's going on? Where's Harry?"
"In the hospital wing. Come on, let's go. I'll tell you on the way."
Hermione's eyes grew wide. What had happened now?
Leaving her schoolbag on a table, she followed Ron through the portrait hole and down the corridor.
"Ron, what happened?" she asked, not sure she wanted to know.
"We were in Divination, and Harry just starting screaming and rolling around on the floor. He was holding his forehead." Ron looked sideways at her.
"His forehead?" said Hermione anxiously. "Was his scar hurting again?"
Ron nodded. "He told Trelawney he just had a headache and had to go to the hospital wing, and then ran out of there."
"Oh, Ron, this is bad..."
"I know," said Ron. They walked on in silence for a few moments, then Ron spoke up again. "You should have heard Trelawney though. 'Did you have a premonition, Potter? Did the clairvoyant vibrations of my room stimulate your inner eye?' She didn't want him to leave . That old bat." Ron shook his head in disgust.
Hermione had to agree with him. "What a fraud," she snorted. "Good for him for running out of there, though.
They had reached the hospital wing. Ron pulled open the door and they went in. Madame Pomfrey was mixing up some sort of potion and looked up at the sound of their footsteps.
"Is Harry here?" asked Ron.
Madame Pomfrey gave them a slightly suspicious look. "No," she said. "Goodness, what has that boy done to himself now?"
Hermione and Ron looked at each other quickly. "Er...nothing," said Ron.
"He just mentioned...that he might be coming up here to visit someone, that's all," said Hermione brightly.
Madame Pomfrey nodded. "Well, he hasn't been here all day."
"OK, thanks," said Hermione, turning to leave.
"How are your hands, my dear?" asked Madame Pomfrey.
Hermione turned back to her, smiling. She held up her hands in front of her and flexed her fingers. "All back to normal, thanks."
The nurse gave her a rare smile. "Excellent. Now I hope I won't have to see either of you, or your friend Mr. Potter, in here for a good long while."
"We'll try," said Ron, grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her toward the door.
"He didn't come here at all," said Ron, once they were back out in the corridor. "Where is he?"
They looked at each other. "Dumbledore," they said together.
Hermione felt relieved. Professor Dumbledore would know what to do. "Should we go back to the common room?" she asked.
Ron looked at his watch. "It's nearly dinnertime," he said. "He'll probably look for us in the Great Hall when he gets finished anyway." Ron's stomach growled loudly. "And I'm hungry," he added sheepishly.
Hermione grinned. "I am too. Let's go down to dinner, then we can go back to the common room if we don't see him there."
When they entered the Great Hall, the first thing Hermione noticed was Viktor staring at her from the Slytherin table. She hadn't spoken to him since the night of Mr. Crouch's disappearance. She had, in fact, been avoiding him; she found that she was still quite angry with him for not believing her. Hermione merely nodded at him and continued making her way to the Gryffindor table with Ron.
"Where's Harry?" said Fred, as she and Ron sat down.
"He's..." Ron began.
"...not feeling well," Hermione finished smoothly. "Went to the hospital wing."
"Yeah, he's got a headache, I think," said Ron.
Fred gave the two of them an amused look. "Finishing each other's sentences now, are you?"
Hermione blushed, and she saw Ron go pink as well.
"Hermione, how was your Arithmancy class today?" said Ginny quickly, from her other side. Hermione shot her a grateful look and started telling her about the new equations they had been learning.
Later, as Hermione was finishing her dessert, she looked up and saw Viktor leaving the Great Hall. He gave her a long look before stepping through the door.
Hermione thought for a moment. She knew she had to talk to Viktor and let him know how angry he had made her. She stood up quickly. "I'll meet you upstairs in a bit," she said to Ron.
Ron looked up in confusion. "What? What about--"
"I know," she said quickly, cutting him off before he could announce Harry's troubles to the entire table. "I'll be up in the common room in a little while, OK? I just need to do something first."
Ron gave her a suspicious look, but she ignored it as she walked away from the table. "See you in a bit," she called over her shoulder.
Hermione went out to the Entrance Hall quickly. She wanted to catch Viktor before he got back to the Durmstrang ship.
However, when she pulled open the front doors, she was surprised to find Viktor sitting on the stone steps leading up to the castle, as if waiting for her. Hermione found herself smiling slightly. This was where he had found her the night of the Yule Ball, after Ron had called her a traitor.
Hermione sat down next to him. She wasn't sure how to begin.
"Vill you valk with me?" Viktor asked without looking at her.
Hermione glanced at him quickly. "All right," she said, "but I can't stay out here long. I need to get back to the common room soon."
Viktor nodded solemnly and got to his feet. Hermione did the same, and followed as he set a course toward the Quidditch pitch.
They walked in silence for awhile. It was fine and clear out, and the sun was sinking toward the horizon. The sky was full of pinks and blues. Hermione reflected that it would have been very romantic, if the situation had allowed it.
It was time to say what she needed to say. Hermione stopped. "Viktor," she said, turning to face him. "I'm not very happy with you at the moment."
Viktor stopped also, and when he turned to face her, there was a look of surprise on his face. "Vy is that?"
"Because," said Hermione, her voice rising a little, "I told you that article was rubbish, and you didn't believe me."
"I did," said Viktor defensively.
"Clearly you didn't!" said Hermione angrily. "Otherwise, why would you go asking Harry what was going on? What, you believe him, but not me?"
Viktor looked taken aback. "I...I just vanted to make sure..." he muttered.
"Then next time, ask me," Hermione snapped.
Viktor frowned. "Vell, I knew you vere avoiding me. And you spend all your time vith--"
"With my friends. Ron and Harry are my friends. My best friends. Of course I spend time with them. And if I was avoiding you," Hermione looked away, "it's because you were making me feel so uncomfortable."
Hermione looked back at him, and saw Viktor gazing at her with an unreadable expression. Abruptly, he turned, and started walking again.
Hermione sighed and set off after him. "Viktor..."
Viktor stopped again near the Quidditch pitch. He gestured toward it. "Here is vere the third task vill be," he said.
Hermione looked up at the hedges that had grown up where the field had been. She had known it would be a maze, but the idea was somehow less imposing that the reality. The hedges were about her height, and she supposed they would be magically made taller before the task.
"Vill you cheer for me at this task?" Viktor asked, fixing her with that intense look again.
"Of course," said Hermione.
"You did not at the second task," he said simply.
Hermione flushed and looked down. It was true that she had been so relieved when Harry and Ron had emerged safely from the lake that she had spent most of her time cheering for Harry.
"I told you before that I do not mind people knowing how I feel about you," Viktor said quietly. Hermione didn't look up, but she could sense him moving a step closer to her. "But I vish that you felt something like it about me."
Hermione looked up and opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. What could she say, really? That she felt the same way he did? That she wanted the kind of relationship he did? That would be a downright lie, and they both knew it. But she didn't want to hurt him either.
"I'm sorry," she said finally. "I told you before, I'm not ready for all that, and I'm not. But I want us to be friends."
Viktor nodded, and Hermione could see the hurt behind his eyes. "Ve are," he said. Then he took a deep breath and stepped away from her, looking up at the darkening sky. "You should go. It is getting dark."
"Yes, I need to get back," said Hermione uncomfortably. "I'll talk to you later?"
Viktor nodded again, not looking at her. "Goodbye, Herm-own-ninny."
"Goodbye, Viktor." Hermione made her way quickly toward the castle steps. Before she opened the doors, she turned and looked back. She could see a lone figure walking toward the Durmstrang ship.
Hermione returned to the common room to find Ron sitting in a large armchair, tapping his fingers on the table next to him.
"Where have you been?" he asked impatiently, when he saw her.
"I told you, I had something I had to do," she replied testily. "Where's Harry?"
"Dunno, he's not back yet," said Ron, looking worried.
At that moment, Harry entered the common room with Neville. He hurried over to them.
"Where were you two? I was looking for you in the Great Hall," he said, pulling them over to a table in the corner.
"Up here waiting for you," said Ron. "At least, I was," he added, shooting Hermione a nasty look. "What's happened?"
From the sound of it, quite a bit. Harry told them about going to see Professor Dumbledore, and stumbling across his Pensieve. Hermione was shocked to hear about Ludo Bagman's trial, and that of Mr. Crouch's son. Ron seemed more disturbed by the news that Dumbledore trusted Snape, despite his having been a Death Eater.
As was their custom, the three of them stayed up late into the night discussing this new spate of news. Hermione was shocked when she looked at her watch and saw that is was nearly one-thirty in the morning.
"We haven't done any practicing!" she said. "We were going to do the Impediment Jinx! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow. Come on, Harry, you need to get some sleep."
She watched Ron and Harry head toward their dormitory steps, then went up to her own dormitory. With all the events of the day swirling in her mind, Hermione fervently wished she had a Pensieve of her own.