A/N:

Hey!

Chapter 4 is finally here!

Sorry, it took me about a year to update. By the way, I also revised the Prologue.

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 4

PLATFORM 9 ¾

"Please take care of yourself." Mrs. Diggory tapped her son's cheek.

"Don't worry mom." Cedric grinned.

"Have a good term son." Mr. Diggory patted his son's back. "I'm sure you'll be the top of your class."

Cedric sighed, "Dad…"

"DIGGORY!" someone called out.

The three Diggorys turned altogether.

"Uh.. I meant Cedric." The one who called added, embarrassed.

Cedric smirked, "Forgot that there are also other Diggorys, James?"

James flushed.

"James how are you?" Mrs. Diggory asked.

"I'm alright, Mrs. Diggory".

"James!" Mr. Diggory greeted. "Keep an eye on my boy, alright? Ced here might need your help from his admirers." Mr. Diggory winked.

"Dad!", "Amos!"

Both Cedric and Mrs. Diggory reacted.

"What? It's true. You're the Triwizard winner Cedric."

"One of the winners" Cedric corrected.

Amos shrugged. "Potter's a little boy. He's no match for you my boy."

"Enough Amos." Mrs. Diggory chastised.

James, feeling the need to say something, butted in. "Don't worry . I'll keep an eye on him." He turned to Cedric, "Come on Ced, let's see if Chang and her friends are already on board."

Cedric winced at the mentioned name.

"Chang? Cho Chang?" Mrs. Diggory muttered to herself.

"Chang?" Amos asked. "The girl you went to the Yule Ball with?"

Cedric elbowed James. James winced and gave Cedric a 'what the hell' look.

Cedric returned a 'shut up' look. Cedric sighed inwardly.

"Yeah." Cedric answered quietly and closed his eyes while waiting for his father's loud reaction. His father is a very supportive person. He's sure that his father will compliment him loudly about it. He's usually like this whenever he feels that it is something that everyone should know especially about his outstanding achievements. He's also not wary when it comes to Cedric's dating life. He's been urging his son to let him meet his girlfriend and won't even believe when Cedric tells him he doesn't have one. Now that James mentioned a girl's name...

Mr. Diggory patted Cedric's back. "Chang.. hmmm… Chang's a pretty girl."

Cedric opened his eyes and watched his father nodding his head repeatedly while mumbling about Cho. He saw his father glanced at his mother for a while and turned to Cedric again, "Well son, your mother and I have to go. Have a good term. You too James."

Mrs. Diggory hugged her son, "Take care, Ced. Don't forget to owl us."

"Sure Mum." Cedric replied and kissed his mother's cheek. James also bid his goodbye and the older couple left.

"Come on Ced." James said and walked towards the train.

"Yeah." Cedric mumbled as he continued to stare at the place where his parents apparated. He tilted his head in wonder. He was a bit surprised when his father didn't react loudly about Cho and noted the glance that his father did earlier. "Am I missing something?" He thought.

Cedric walked around the train. He lied to his friends earlier that he needs to patrol and attend a meeting with the Heads. The meeting was true but it will happen 20 minutes from now. It was a routine that the Heads will have a meeting with the new prefects and 20 minutes after, the rest of the prefects will join them.

In the pretense of patrolling, he was actually trying to get a glimpse of a certain bushy haired witch. Unfortunately for Cedric, he didn't see her. He even passed by Potter's compartment twice but she was not with him. He noticed Potter's intense mood and opted not to bother him and subtly asked about Hermione.

Disappointed, Cedric dragged himself to the Prefect's compartment to attend the meeting. He joined the older prefects as they went inside the compartment.

"Everyone, let us all welcome the new prefects!" Ethan Jones from Ravenclaw, Head Boy, announced.

They clapped to welcome them. Cedric roamed his eyes to the new prefects until he saw her. Cedric almost palmed his face for his stupidity. "Of course she would be here! She's Hermione Granger after all." Cedric thought happily.

"Now, let's go over our duties again." Riley Farley from Slytherin, Head Girl, said.

While the Heads discussed the duties, Cedric looked at Hermione who stood across him. He saw her talking to Weasley while subtly glancing at Malfoy. When Malfoy noticed her glances, he scowled at her. She rolled her eyes in return then later on sighed. "Is something bothering her?" Cedric thought.

After the meeting, the prefects exited the compartment one by one. Cedric made sure that he would exit at the same time as Hermione and when they did, Hermione looked up to him in the eye. Hermione took a step back to let him exit first.

"Congratulations," Cedric turned and said to her.

Hermione was taken aback when he talked to her. "Oh! Thank you!" she muffled. Cedric smiled and gestured to her to go out first. Hermione smiled at him politely and went out of the compartment. He intended to continue talking to her but she immediately went to Weasley's side when she exited.

Cedric walked behind Hermione and Ron who complained about Malfoy being a prefect.

"Can you believe it?! Dumbledore chose Malfoy? Malfoy?!" Ron grumbled.

"Who else did you expect it to be?" Hermione questioned sullenly.

"Uhh, not Malfoy?!" Ron groaned.

"It's not really surprising Ron. Malfoy is the best candidate in Slytherin and also one of the top students in our year." Hermione reminded him.

"I bet he used his Father's connection for the badge." Ron said, clearly not listening to her.

Hermione shook her head resignedly.

Cedric listened to their conversation. He noticed the way Hermione talked about Malfoy. "It sounds like she's defending Malfoy." He mused thoughtfully. He was lost in his thoughts when someone tapped him.

"Hey Cedric!" Ernie greeted him. He was wearing the Prefect badge proudly.

"Hey Ernie." Cedric greeted back.

"I was so sure last summer that you were going to be the Head Boy this year but I was surprised to see Ethan Jones earlier." Ernie said.

"Ah yes. Ethan got the badge." Cedric replied.

"Yeah, I noticed and I wondered why.. I mean.. You were one of the Hogwarts' champions last year.." Ernie insisted.

"Well, I think Ethan deserves it." Cedric interrupted him in a polite manner.

"Oh.. Oh yes.. Maybe... Maybe he deserves it too." Ernie stuttered, a little bit embarrassed when Cedric cut him off.

Cedric didn't really want to hear anything bad about Ethan right now. Hufflepuffs are known to be a loyal bunch and when they think that their housemates was robbed of a title or something like that, they'll make a fuss about it. Just like what happened during the early days of the Triwizard tournament.

Ernie stayed quiet after that while Cedric concentrated on listening to the duo in front of them but the duo started to walk fast and made it hard for him to hear them. Cedric sighed as he watched them enter a compartment. "There's no use. They're probably in a hurry to talk to Potter." he thought.

Cedric hoped to have a conversation with Hermione earlier besides congratulating her but he guessed he lost the chance when he let her walk out the compartment first.

"Well, I still have the whole year to find a chance to talk to her." Cedric encouraged himself.

hem. hem.

Everyone was shocked when the new addition, Professor Umbridge, interrupted the Headmaster. They quietened down to hear what she was going to say. After a while, the students lost interest in her long boring speech. Though, Hermione listened intently until the very end. Dumbledore clapped when Professor Umbridge finished and the students followed.

Hermione clapped halfheartedly. She didn't like the speech and wondered if anyone noticed the underlying message. She roamed her eyes until it landed on a set of ice grey eyes. Hermione stared at it for a moment. Just enough for her to conclude that the owner also noticed the underlying message.

"He might have acted bored earlier but I did notice him stopped swirling his finger on the table every time Professor Umbridge emphasized some things in her speech indicating he was also listening intently despite his bored exterior." Hermione thought, "Damn, he acts so well."

Hermione tilted her head as she recalled what happened on the train ride earlier. Malfoy and his cronies arrived at their compartment and boasted about his status. Hermione already got used to his bullying tactics and didn't take it to the heart anymore. What bothered her was the word that he used to warn Harry.

dogging.

"Now that's the word that you wouldn't usually use." Hermione mused to herself. She thought that it wasn't a coincidence that Malfoy used it. Especially when Sirius was in his Animagus form at the platform earlier. Hermione tried to catch his eyes again and it looks like he noticed and stared back at her but only to give her a scowl and glare. She scoffed in return and turned her attention back to her friends. Placing Malfoy at the back of her mind.

Dear Hermione,

Hello. How are you?

I know that you don't like the idea of receiving a letter from someone you don't know but please believe me that I don't really have any intention to harm you. All I want is to be friends with you. And yes, I know that you mentioned in your previous letter that I can approach you anytime here in Hogwarts. Believe me when I say that I tried. I really tried but as you noticed it's already the end of the first week and no one had approached you. I only have my bundle of nerves to blame for that. I'm sorry.

Now that you know about my cowardly actions for this week, I hope you have the pity heart to answer my laid back questions. How was your first week back in Hogwarts? Found something exciting to do for this year? How were your classes? What do you think about our (hem. hem.) new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor? Just so you know I tried to be funny on the last one.

Looking forward and hoping to read about your first week in Hogwarts.

Sincerely,

Someone

Dear Someone,

Hello.

I don't really know how to respond to your letter. I'm actually surprised that you sent another one. I really thought that you stopped sending because you know, I was kind of mean in my letters. And if I may ask, am I hard to approach? Why are your nerves scared to approach me? Do I look intimidating?

Since I asked some questions, my pity heart says it's only fair that I'll answer yours. My first week in Hogwarts was the same as usual with an addition of my friend's unpredictable mood swings. It's my OWL year so my excitement falls under my preparation for the exams. And in regards to our new Professor (hem. hem), I'm sure you heard a lot of things about my opinion about her. She's very fantastic on teaching us how to write and read. As you noticed, I copied your joke.

Honestly, I'm quite curious about your identity now.

Sincerely,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

She's fantastic, isn't she? I think I've improved my writing and reading skills because of her.

I'm glad your pity heart urged you to answer my questions. I'm quite happy you did and to show you my gratefulness, I'll answer yours. To others, I think you do look intimidating to them but it's not because of your personality, it's more on your intellect. You're the smartest witch in Hogwarts next to Rowena Ravenclaw and that's something, you know. On my end, maybe a little bit intimidating but it's really due to my nerves. Not your fault. You're also not hard to approach, Hermione. From what I heard, you're one of the kindest and easiest people to approach. So basically, the problem's on me.

You're curious about me? Does that mean I've piqued your interest?

That's quite a boost to my self-confidence. Sadly, it's not enough to make me reveal myself.

I'll see you at the library.

Sincerely,

Someone

Hermione chuckled lightly as she read the letter during breakfast at the Great Hall. "Library.. Does he always go there too?" she thought and kept the letter in her bag, thinking that she'll respond later after class.

Draco Malfoy was on his way for his next class when he saw a parchment lying on the ground. He picked it up and read it. He furrowed his eyebrows as he read it again and looked ahead of him. He saw the figure that he was expecting to see. He contemplated for a moment on the actions he's about to do.

"What's this? Granger has an admirer?" Draco Malfoy mocked as he showed Granger the parchment.

Hermione's eyes widened in panic, "Why do you have that?!"

Draco lifted an eyebrow, "Funny story actually, I was on my way to class and saw a piece of paper lying on the ground saying 'pick me up, pick me up' so I picked it up and imagine my surprise to read a letter directed to you."

"Give it to me, Malfoy." Hermione ordered and opened her hand.

"Why should I do that?" Draco responded.

"That's a very private letter! You shouldn't have read it!" Hermione reached for the letter.

Draco extended his arm up, taking advantage of his height. "Then you shouldn't have left it lying on the ground in the first place. Do you know what would happen if it was picked up by somebody else?"

Hermione scoffed, "Are you telling me that I should be grateful that you were the one who picked it up and not anyone else?"

Hermione stood in tiptoes as she reached for the parchment. Her body was close to Draco's. She was able to grab it just in time the other Slytherins saw them.

"What's happening here?!" Pansy Parkinson screeched.

Hermione sighed in relief when she felt the parchment on her hands and looked at Pansy. Draco pushed her lightly, "Getaway from me, mudblood." He pretended to brush some dust on his robes, "I don't need some of your filthy germs on my robes."

Hermione glared at him. "Oh sod off, Malfoy."

"What are you holding Granger?" Pansy asked when she noticed the parchment on Hermione's hand.

"None of your business, Parkinson." Hermione scorned.

Pansy turned to Draco just as the rest of the Slytherins did. "Come on man, you tell us instead." Blaise urged and raised an eyebrow.

Draco shrugged and kept his hands in his pockets, "Nothing special. It was just Granger's homework for a certain subject. I was planning to burn it to make her lose some points but guess it's not worth it."

Draco sneaked a glance at Hermione before walking away, "Come on or else we're going to be late." The rest of the Slytherin followed him and sneered at Hermione when they passed her.

Hermione stared at Draco's back then shook her head in disbelief, "Unbelievable."

Hermione was in the library. She was finishing her essays that were due in two weeks time. She also took some time to observe the people in the library, wondering if one of them is Someone.

"I'll see you at the library" She muttered to herself, "I'm pretty sure that it was a hint. He must be here somewhere. All I have to do is identify him." She roamed her eyes all over the place.

A lot of students were in the library at this time. She saw a group of Ravenclaws and Slytherins studying at the long table respectively. She noticed Ernie, Padma, Hannah, and Anthony together in one table. It made her wonder if there was a Prefect meeting in their class that she was not aware of.

She continued to observe and she saw a few younger students talking at the aisle of the bookshelves. Her fellow classmates near the Transfiguration aisle. There were also older students including the Hufflepuff's Golden Boy occupying the individual desks like her.

"How am I able to identify him with all these people around?" Hermione sighed. She shook her head, "I need to focus. It's OWL year. No distractions." She returned her attention back to her essays.

Draco arrived at the library with a determined look on his face. He was curious about Hermione's correspondent. He decided to investigate. Since the letter stated that she will see that person in the library, it was clearly a hint for her to find him there. "Isn't she aware that it's not a good time to exchange letters with someone she knows nothing about? So much for being the smartest witch next to Rowena Ravenclaw." He judged her in his mind.

He saw Hermione occupying one of the individual desks and eyeing the people in the library intently. "Is she serious? Is she really trying to find the twit?" He scoffed in disbelief. Draco walked towards her, scowling. He stood beside her table and captured her attention.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, coolly.

Draco shrugged, "Nothing much. Just wanted to see how you make a fool of yourself."

"Excuse me?" Hermione said sharply.

"Oh? Aren't you aware? You're being an idiot for trying to find that nitwit so called admirer of yours." Draco mocked and crossed his arms.

Hermione glared daggers at him, "Why do you care?

"I don't. If you want to be a fool, be my guest." Draco responded coolly.

"You know it's not very nice to read someone else's letter." Hermione reprimanded.

Draco rolled his eyes, "You should know better than to respond to an anonymous letter, Granger. You never know that it might be someone who's plotting against you or maybe just a prank to laugh at your naivety with his fellow friends." He knocked on her table lightly and stated firmly, "Try not to be stupid."

Hermione stared at him while he turned his back and walked away. She ducked her head and contemplated his words. "Was he right? Is it possible?" She thought. Doubts regarding the letters once again formed in her mind because of Malfoy's words.

As the two students were completely engrossed with their argument, they were oblivious of an older student who hid behind the bookshelf near them.

Cedric Diggory grabbed a book from the shelf to open a space for him to watch the two. Hermione's desk was located at the very corner of the library. It was a very secluded area that is mostly out of sight from the majority of the students. He tried his best to hear the conversation between the two but he couldn't hear the words clearly. "It looks like they're squabbling." he thought as he noticed the glare that Hermione was giving to Malfoy.

Their conversation didn't last long and Malfoy walked away from Hermione. She stared at Malfoy's back with a thoughtful look on her face. He saw her duck her head and slowly reached out inside her bag. She held a piece of parchment in front of her and doubts were forming on her face.

Cedric squinted his eyes to have a clear view of the parchment. He noticed that it was his letter. She conjured another parchment and started writing on it. Cedric felt happy and assumed that she was responding to his letter. "Did she notice the hint I left for her? Is she writing her guesses?" Cedric chuckled lightly and went back to his desk. "Let's see if I'm one of her guesses." He looked forward to her response and forgot about the interaction between the two enemies earlier.

Draco observed Hermione in the following days after their confrontation. His curious nature got the best of him. Did she follow his advice or does she still continue to exchange letters with that twat?

Observing her couldn't really tell him of what she actually decided to do. So Draco went out of his way to check the library after classes for the past days and was satisfied to know that he couldn't see any shadow of Hermione Granger looming inside of the place. Completely unaware that every time he left the library, a few seconds later Hermione arrived. She was held up by her best friend's mood swings lately that made her go to the library at a later time than usual.

One time, Draco went to the library at a later time than usual because he got caught up with his Quidditch conversation with Theo and Blaise. It already became a habit of his to go to the library after classes even though he only did it for the sake of checking Granger's shadow in the place. To his surprise, he saw Granger right away when he entered. She wasn't sitting on her usual desk. She sat alone at a table of four, a book stood in front of her but her eyes roamed around the area. It doesn't take a genius to know that she was trying to find that pathetic admirer of hers. Draco scowled, "Hard headed witch."

Draco sent her a death glare even if she didn't see it and went out of the library fuming. "And here I thought she finally got her senses back." he muttered harshly.

Draco stared blankly into space as he occupied the desk table in his room. Hands clutching on a parchment. It was a duplicate of the letter he picked up a few days ago. He made one before he gave the original to Granger. He doesn't really understand what's happening to him. At first, it was just because of his curiosity about Granger's admirer. Who would have thought Granger will have a secret admirer? He thought it might be a good laugh if he knows more about it.

But later on, as he continued to think about it, he felt annoyed. Why the hell did Granger respond to that suspicious sender? Is she stupid? Doesn't she know that it's a dangerous time to be naïve? The Dark Lord is back. Hiding? Yes. Alone? Bloody No! His followers are out in the open, following his orders to gain more power for the dark side. Maybe this is one of the Dark Lord's orders to his followers: to get close to Potter's best friend enough to lure her. Granger should've known better.

Draco ruffled his hair, more annoyed than before. He already warned her and if she doesn't want to listen... It's her fault for being stubborn and willingly walking into a death trap. To hell with Granger's stupidity. See if he cares. He doesn't even have any relations with her. If she doesn't want to heed his warning then it's her loss.

Hermione was at the Gryffindor Common Room when an owl swept in and handed her a letter. She was alone and revising her notes. Harry and Ron decided to have an early night. "More like Harry got exhausted with his unpredictable mood swings." she thought begrudgingly.

She grabbed the letter from the owl and she noticed that the owl was different than the last time and was even more pretty. "Are you waiting for the reply? Wait for a moment. Let me read it first." she asked softly as she patted the owl. She opened the letter and started to read.

Dear Hermione,

Hi. How are you?

So, I heard about what happened in your DADA class. A lot of students were talking about it. It seems that your best friend, Potter, doesn't get along with our fantastic Professor. Potter's gone off his rocker, they said.

If Potter maintains this kind of scenario during DADA class every time, I'm certain that Umbridge will be the only one happy with it. She likes to stir emotions to get the reaction she wants through her words. Try to learn how to tune out. It might help a lot. Tell Potter to reign his emotions as well as you should too.

Let's not forget why she's here, alright? I'm sure you understood the underlying message of her speech during the Welcoming Feast.

Sincerely,

Someone

Hermione sighed when she finished the letter. It was true about Harry. He tends to blow off every time they have a class with Umbridge. Well, Hermione also doesn't like how she insults people but Harry's having a hard time handling it. Their classes always ended up with Harry arguing with Umbridge which awarded Harry detentions.

Honestly, Hermione and Ron were very lost on how to deal with Harry's temperament lately. They have to choose their words carefully when they talk to him especially when it's about their Prefect duties. Hermione noticed that Harry's a bit miffed that Dumbledore chose Ron to be a prefect instead of him but she opted not to tell anyone about it. She just wishes that Harry would stop directing his anger towards them.

Hermione sighed as she reread the letter. She didn't reply to Someone's last letter despite writing one. Malfoy's words stuck in her head and made her doubt the sincerity of the letters again. Though she still roams her eyes around the library whenever she's there.

Maybe this time she should reply. She should thank him for sharing his input on how to deal with Umbridge. It looked like he wanted to help. She was amused on how crafty his words were in the letter. It made her wonder what house he belongs in. Maybe she'll try to add that in her response.

A/N:

Chapter 4 done!

Hope you didn't get confused while reading it! :)

FAVORITE. FOLLOW. REVIEW.