Chapter 7
Lily and Anakin were looking at the newest copy of The Daily Prophet. Or, more to the point, they were looking at Rita Skeeter's article.
They were laughing.
"This is even worse – or better – than Dad said!"
"I can't believe she actually thinks your dad and Hermione were together! Ha!"
There was also a paragraph on the two of them:
'There are also two mysterious entrants in the Triwizard Tournament. Their names are Anakin and Lily Malter. No-one knows who they are or where they come from. Or, if they know, they aren't saying…'
The Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit Hogsmeade. Lily and Anakin went too.
They saw Hermione sitting alone at a table in the Three Broomsticks. She had a notebook in front of her.
"Do you think Dad would be with her?"
"Probably. Shall we go sit with them?"
Lily bit her lip. "Alright… But remember – we're not supposed to know her!"
They walked over to the table. "Hello. Hermione, isn't it?" asked Anakin.
"Yes," said Hermione, a little warily. She glanced at the corner of the table; obviously, that was where Harry was.
"Do you mind if we sit with you? You look a little lonely by yourself."
Don't laugh… don't laugh… Lily thought to herself. She could smile, though.
"Alright."
Anakin pulled two chairs to the table, and Lily signalled to Rosmerta to bring over four Butterbeers. When they arrived, Hermione gave Lily a strange look.
"One for you," explained Lily. Then she dropped her voice to a bare whisper, "and one for Harry in the corner." She smiled at Hermione's shocked expression.
"How do you – I mean, what makes you think Harry is here?"
Lily and Anakin both laughed. "Oh, we know all about it, Hermione. Plus, you looked to the corner when Anakin asked if we could join you."
"Don't worry, Harry," said Anakin. "We won't expose you."
They made conversation. After a time, Hermione asked, rather tentatively, "Would either of you be interested in joining an organisation. It's too help house-elves. It's called the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare, or S.P.E.W."
Anakin looked surprised. Lily laughed. "I did warn you, Ani!" Hermione looked slightly offended. But, before she could say anything,Harrysaw someone.
"Look, it's Hagrid!" he whispered.
Anakin murmured, "That's Hagrid? I know everyone said he was huge, but I didn't think they meant that huge!" Luckily, Hermione didn't hear.
Moody and Hagrid walked over to the table. "All right, Hermione?" said Hagrid loudly.
"Hello," said Hermione. "Have you met Lily and Anakin? This is Hagrid."
"Rubeus Hagrid, at your service," he said, holding out a hand for them to shake.
"Nice to meet you," said Lily.
"We've heard about you," said Anakin. Lily stomped on his foot, under the table.
"And this is Professor Moody," continued Hermione.
"I've heard a lot about you, Professor." said Lily. Her voice was cold and unfriendly. Anakin glared at her.
Moody seemed to recoil from her animosity.
"What have you got there, Miss Granger?"
"Oh, I run an organisation for the benefit of house-elves…"
She trailed off when Moody muttered, "Nice Cloak, Potter."
Unbelievable! thought Harry. Three people in one day!
"How can you see me?" he asked.
Moody grinned. "My false eye can see through Invisibility Cloaks. And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."
Hagrid was beaming down at Harry, too. He bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well. With a quick glance at Lily and Anakin, he said in a whisper so low that only Harry could hear it, "Harry, meet me tonight at me cabin. Wear that Cloak." Straightening up, he said loudly, "Nice ter see yeh, Hermione," winked, and departed. Moody followed him.
"Why does he want me to meet him at midnight?" Harry said, without thinking. Then he realised Lily and Anakin were still there. Lily was drinking her Butterbeer, trying ineffectually to hide a grin. Anakin wasn't even trying to hide his grin.
"Does he?" said Hermione, looking startled. "I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, Harry…" She trailed off, realising she had almost said "Sirius" in front of two complete strangers.
Anakin spoke, his grin huge. "You should go, Harry," he said. "It's about the tournament." He continued, ignoring Lily's foot-stomping. "But you'd better be quick about it if you want to make you… appointment later."
"I think it's time we left," said Lily, glaring at Anakin. "See you round."
Lily was furious. "You idiot, Anakin! You shouldn't have said that! You'll blow our cover!" she hissed.
Anakin quailed under his fiancé's tirade. "I'm sorry, Lily. I didn't think –"
"No, you didn't think." She sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked, stepping closer.
Anakin embraced her. "I'm really sorry, Lily. I didn't mean to –"
"I know you didn't, love. Don't worry, we'll sort it out. Hopefully, with all the stress about the Tournament, they'll forget about it for a while."
"Hopefully…"
