Chapter Sixty-Three: Non-Tournament Tension

Following the second task, things were almost relaxed for a while. Sure, there was a lot of homework and the Occlumency lessons, but the next task was months away, and Snape seemed to have decided to actually try and teach them Potions properly, resulting in even those classes being manageable. Of course, he still favored the Slytherins, but there was a marked reduction in the number of times he subtracted points for no reason at all.

It therefore came as an unpleasant surprise when, one morning, Mum and Dad sent her a clipping from the magazine Witch Weekly, which carried the title 'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache'.

Daphne exchanged a look with her friends and held out the article to them so they could read it as well. Having been written by Rita Skeeter, it was, of course, as vapid as it could possibly be. It doubled down on portraying Hermione as Harry's girlfriend — apparently Rita still didn't dare to go after Daphne — but also painted her as some kind of evil seductress who was two-timing Harry with Viktor Krum, before insinuating that she was using a Love Potion to win Harry and Krum's affections.

The most surprising part of the article was that Pansy was the one being quoted as saying Hermione might be using Love Potions.

"I doubt Pansy actually said this. Yeah, she's in Malfoy's club, mostly, but ironically, she's the one trying to remain neutral here in school, despite my family being known for that. She doesn't seem to want to be openly provocative since she's also involved with S.I.N.," Daphne said.

Hermione shrugged. "Given the general truthfulness of the rest of this article I don't doubt the quotes are twisted as well. Though something is funny about this…Viktor did ask me to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer."

She glanced at Ron, who looked shocked to hear that. "Before Daphne helpfully told him that we're…y'know…" she said with a blush.

"What did you say?" Ron asked, trying to sound neutral, but coming across very strained instead.

"I never got a chance to reply; I was worried about Harry since he was taking so long to get back and once he did and we resumed our conversation Daphne had already told him about us. I would have told him I'd have liked to come visit, but strictly as friends, though."

Seeing that Ron still looked troubled, Daphne said, "Hey, at least he didn't kiss her. Fleur, on the other hand…"

"It's not like she didn't kiss you as well," Harry said with a smirk. "I'm amazed Skeeter didn't make anything of that little interaction…"

"You saw how the Veela reacted at the World Cup when the leprechauns annoyed them. I think the idea of a bird-woman throwing fireballs at her might have deterred Rita somewhat," Daphne said, grinning at the mental image of Rita Skeeter being set on fire by Fleur.

"Didn't that bother you, though?" Hermione asked.

"What, Fleur kissing Harry? Not really. Can't say I minded her kissing me, either. I mean, she was grateful for Harry 'rescuing' her sister, and me for helping pull her to the shore. Not like she eloped with him, or something. I dunno, since the Yule Ball I'm pretty sure Harry likes me," Daphne said, winking at Harry. "I don't think he'd suddenly run off with a pretty Veela he barely knows."

She didn't add that, if there was any girl at all she might be worried about, it would be Ginny, but that friendship really did seem to be friendship for the time being, even if Ginny clearly still had a crush on Harry.

Daphne wasn't exactly sure what she'd do if Harry ever did begin to develop feelings for Ginny as well. She really didn't want to lose him, after all, not now that she'd finally had the confidence to admit her own feelings and acted on them.

She frowned as she once again recalled the dream she'd had in the lake. 'You are rooted by the fear of loss'. Ironically, it had been dream-Ginny who told her that.

Just after the task had ended, she'd thought she knew what she'd been trying to tell herself — if, of course, the dream meant anything at all to begin with — but now she wasn't so certain. She figured that it meant that she was afraid Harry would die, and she very much was, especially given the visions she'd had. But maybe this would count as a 'loss' too, in a way?

Well, it didn't really matter. For the time being, even though the dream was still on her mind, it wasn't really helping her with anything. She'd written it down to make sure she didn't forget anything, at least.

As expected, Malfoy and the other Slytherins in his little gang had a copy of Witch Weekly with them at Potions that afternoon. Having already read it that morning, neither Daphne nor her friends cared much for it.

Since Malfoy had already tossed the magazine to them, however, it was still on an empty stool at the table Hermione shared with Harry, Ron, and Neville, and Snape spotted it when he walked in.

"Reading magazines during class? Five points from Gryffindor," he said, picking up the magazine.

His eyes narrowed when he saw the header of the article, which he quickly skimmed.

Harry sighed and seemed to be preparing for the worst.

Snape, however, simply scoffed and said, "That's another five points for reading this tripe at all. Now, today's lesson…"

He walked to the front of the classroom, where Daphne saw him incinerating the magazine much like he'd done to Charlie Weasley's letter way back in her first year. She was amazed he'd only docked ten points in total, and Malfoy clearly seemed to be disappointed by the lack of a reaction, though his mood improved over the class as Snape gave him points for a variety of small things, while continuing to not reward Hermione's correct answers.

Not much later, there was a knock on the classroom door.

"Enter," Snape said. To Daphne's surprise, it was Karkaroff who entered the dungeon. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looked very agitated, like he'd done the night of the Yule Ball.

"We need to talk," Karkaroff said abruptly when he reached Snape, who regarded him with an impatient and annoyed look.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape said stonily.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape repeated, his tone more warning than ever.

Daphne wondered what had Karkaroff so agitated, and she saw that Harry and the others were curious as well. Karkaroff remained in the classroom for the rest of the period, which seemed to greatly annoy Snape, and when the bell rang Daphne tried to pack her things slowly as everyone began to move toward the door — and so did everyone else.

It seemed like everyone was hoping to pick up something from the mysterious conversation Karkaroff wanted to have with Snape, but neither of them spoke until everyone had left the classroom.

The only thing Daphne could see, craning her neck back as she began to walk away, was that Karkaroff seemed to be pulling up his left sleeve.

"What was that about, you reckon?" Ron asked as they left the dungeons.

"I don't know, but both Karkaroff and Snape seem to have something on their left arms," Daphne said. "I've seen Snape rubbing it a couple of times as well."

"Well, we're meeting Sirius again tomorrow, maybe he'll know…" Harry said.

The next day, they headed over to Hogsmeade together, enjoying the mild weather on the way there. Sirius was, as usual by now, waiting for them in the Three Broomsticks.

"Another good showing, then," he said once they all had drinks, raising his butterbeer to Harry.

"Yeah. That Bubble-Head Charm really came through for me," Harry said with a grin.

"Your parents would be proud, I'm sure. I am, anyway," Sirius said. "But there is no time to relax just yet. Whoever is after you only has one chance left to do something, during the final task. I've attempted to ask Barty Crouch what the task will be so we can prepare you for it, but of course, he wouldn't budge. Guess he seemed to think I'd tell you everything the second I found out…It could also just be that he still doesn't like me; he was the one who had me sent to Azkaban without a trial, after all."

"He was?" Harry asked, surprised.

"But he works for the Department of International Magical Cooperation, doesn't he?" Ron asked.

Sirius nodded. "He does now, but he used to be the head of Magical Law Enforcement. Good thing he isn't anymore; I'd probably be out of a job, then… He was heading straight for the post of Minister of Magic, at least until his own son was accused of being a Death Eater."

Hermione looked at Daphne. "I remember you telling me about that back in the summer," she said with a frown.

"It cost him a lot of popularity, mostly when the kid died in Azkaban," Sirius said grimly. "He never came to collect the body, either. The Dementors buried him outside the fortress. I watched them do it."

"How can he be such a horrible person?" Hermione wondered.

"Well, I didn't know him before the war, but…I can imagine how he became as ruthless as he is," Sirius said. "You have to realize that everyone lived in a constant state of terror in those days. No one knew who could be trusted, and even people who were trustworthy could be Imperiused out of nowhere, and that's not even getting into the fear that your family or friends might simply be murdered without warning.

"A lot of people were in favor of harsh measures, and Barty Crouch delivered. He even sanctioned the use of Unforgivables, so the Aurors could fight the Death Eaters on an equal footing. Honestly, Crouch is easily as bad as any Death Eater in extremism, except that he hates the Dark Arts with a passion."

"I bet he and Moody get along well, then…" Daphne muttered.

"You'd be surprised," Sirius said. "While Moody is absolutely paranoid, he always tried to take in his targets alive and have them tried fairly. He and Crouch were at odds over quite a lot of things, with Moody even feeling that Crouch was a Dark wizard in all but name. I don't think either of them trusts the other. Of course, I don't think either of them trusts anyone. Moody has seen and been through too much to, and Crouch was disgraced by his own son, so he's probably expecting betrayal from everyone by now."

"And yet, neither of them was able to prevent Harry from being entered into the tournament," Daphne said thoughtfully.

"I thought you didn't suspect Moody anymore," Ron said.

"Less than I did at first, but he's still on the list," Daphne said. She shrugged. "Not that it matters much, I guess. I've got no clue how to find out who's behind it."

"Would be nice if your visions could show you," Ron said.

"Yeah, but for the time being all my visions are of Harry's future…I'm still no closer to shifting my focus in emptiness…" Daphne said ruefully.

"Speaking of that, how are the Occlumency lessons with Snape going? You wrote that you had them and I fully agree, but I didn't think Snape would volunteer for something like that," Sirius said.

"He didn't," Harry replied.

"I…had a confrontation with him," Daphne said. "I discovered why Dumbledore trusts him, and he wanted to teach me Occlumency to make sure it remained a secret. I convinced him to teach it to Harry as well given that his scar seems have some connection with Voldemort."

Sirius nodded, intrigued. "I see. So? How's it going?"

"Surprisingly well," Harry said. "Snape is actually a decent teacher. He seems far less angry than before, so maybe he's just using Occlumency himself and controlling his own emotions, or something. He's even explaining things in Potions class now."

Sirius shook his head in amazement. "Never thought I'd live to see the day where Snivellus is doing a good job as a teacher…" he said. "Probably exactly what Lily would have hoped for him, though. I don't think she ever really gave up on him being anything other than a greasy git."

Daphne shifted uncomfortably. If Sirius realized how close he was to the truth… But neither he nor any of the others seemed to make the connection. Maybe it was because all of them simply thought that when the friendship was over, it was truly over. Given how Pettigrew had betrayed Harry's parents in the end, she supposed it wasn't all that odd for them to think that way, even though Sirius had just outright said that Lily had still had hope for Snape. Still…

"He was a Death Eater," Daphne said flatly. "Nothing he does is going to make up for that."

"He was?!" Sirius said.

Daphne nodded. "Yep. Of course, I'm not sure if that ever went to court, but you could probably look it up. I'm amazed you hadn't already, to be honest," she said.

Sirius shook his head. "I told you, I couldn't imagine Dumbledore ever hiring someone who'd worked for Voldemort. Not like I can hate Snape more than I already did, anyway…"

"Well, he's on our side now. I can guarantee that, at least," Daphne said.

Sirius shook his head. "I guess I'll take your word for it for now… Anyway, Harry, I know the third task is some time away, but given that whoever is behind this wants to hurt and probably kill you, it might be useful to spend some time practicing dueling. I know you've had some training in it over the summer, but I think there are three spells you should learn with some urgency: the Stunning Charm, the Shield Charm, and the Impediment Jinx. All of them are…well, not necessarily simple, but far less complex than something like the Bubble-Head Charm, and they're very useful in dangerous situations."

"As if we didn't have enough homework already," Ron said with a shake of his head.

Sirius grinned at him. "Self-inflicted homework tends to be more fun. You won't have to write essays on it, for one. It just has to work. You didn't think James and I would've bothered to learn half the things we did if we had to write entire books on them, did you? Remus, maybe…"

"How is Remus, anyway? I haven't heard from him in a while," Harry said.

"He's keeping busy. Dumbledore's got him working on some things…can't say too much about it. Last I heard from him he was doing well, though," Sirius said. "In spite of all the dire warnings, though…you should probably just spend the rest of this day having fun. You've earned it, I'd say. If you want, I'll show you some places around Hogsmeade James and I explored when we were at school."

Harry's face lit up. "Yeah, that sounds great!"

Sirius smiled brightly. "Well then, let's go! Where to start, though, we got up to so much…"

The rest of the weekend flew past. On Sunday, the four of them had briefly practiced the spells Sirius had suggested, and found that, while they were indeed far less complicated than the Bubble-Head Charm, they still weren't exactly easy. Still, by the end of the practice session they'd made some good progress on the Impediment Jinx, at least.

Monday morning arrived with its typical lethargy, though Daphne's usual daze was broken by the arrival of a lot of post owls, all of which seemed to be carrying letters for Hermione.

"What on earth is going on?" she asked in bewilderment. "I mean, I took out a subscription on the Daily Prophet so I could keep up with the news without having Malfoy ambush us with it, but this is ridiculous…"

She opened the first of the letters. "Oh, come on," she said in exasperated tone.

"What's up?" Ron asked. Hermione held out the letter to the others, and Daphne saw that it wasn't handwritten, but seemingly composed from letters cut out of the Daily Prophet.

YoU aRE a wICkeD giRl. HArRy PotTER deSErveS BeTTer. GO bAck wheRe yOu CAme frOm mUGgle.

"They're all like it," Hermione said desperately, opening one letter after another. "'Harry Potter can do much better than the likes of you…' 'You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn…' Ouch!"

She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" Ron said, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.

"Ow!" Hermione said, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.

"You'd better get up to the hospital wing," Harry said. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone…"

"What is Skeeter's problem with Hermione, anyway?" Ron asked angrily. "They've never even met!"

"She's the easiest target," Daphne said darkly. "My family is rich and influential, so she probably assumes we're like Malfoy and would go after her. Hermione's Muggleborn, so she doesn't have the same kind of connections in the wizarding world. And even wizards who aren't pureblood supremacists look down on Muggles. Just look at how your dad talks about them."

"Hermione isn't going to take this lying down," Ron said with a mix of admiration and apprehension.

"Good," Harry said angrily. "If anyone can take Skeeter down, it'll be Hermione…"

This is one of those chapters where the downside of being a pantser really becomes apparent. In the book, there are a fair few plot points between task two and three — and even then a lot of time is skipped — but in this fic, a lot of those simply aren't as pressing.

As a result, this chapter meanders around a bit aimlessly. It's not entirely superfluous, but not entirely necessary either. The thing is, I didn't want to have task three directly after task two, nor do I want to focus too deeply on the Occlumency right now. Fortunately, next chapter will be a lot more plot-relevant.

At this point, I'm really just gearing up for year five, and finishing year four is really hard. If this fic didn't have a daily upload schedule, I'd hesitate to put this chapter up at all. Depending on my supply of chapters on posting day — I have a vacation coming up where I won't be able to write, but I will be able to post — I might just post this one together with the next. We'll see.

I'm shooting myself in the foot with this, probably, but I am indeed going to post the next chapter directly after this. (Gabeisawus, I didn't expect to go along with your idea of posting twice at once that quickly...) I just feel guilty about uploading what amounts to a filler chapter, basically. It'll work out, I'm sure.