Maybe Hermione really was getting paranoid these days but there was something fishy about Mr Bagman offering Harry help, and all those Goblins after Mr Crouch. Her and Ron weren't mentioning their row and she was actually quite pleased, it was clearly something they weren't going to agree on. Plus, it made her feel less guilty about keeping the time she was spending with Victor to herself. All in all she was pleased she hadn't gone to his room that night but that wasn't to say she wouldn't in the future; she just wanted to get to know him better first.

Rita Skeeter walked into the Three Broomsticks.

*"You horrible woman," Hermione said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman -"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl...not that it needs it -" she added, eyeing her bushy hair.

"Let's go," she said, "c'mon. Harry - Ron..."

They left; many people were staring at them as they went.

"She'll be after you next, Hermione," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street.

"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid..."

"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you -"

"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" She said, now striding along so fast that it was all Harry and Ron could do to keep up with her. "And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"*

And just like that she forced Hagrid to speak to them once more, as if anyone cared he was a half-giant, and started planning how to get one over on a certain Daily Prophet reporter. If only all problems could be fixed by yelling and planning.

*Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to themselves. They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today - the Banishing Charm. Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room, Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room - Professor Flitwick, for instance.

This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention. Harry had been recounting his adventures of the previous night in whispered instalments for the last half hour.

"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest."What ... d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"

"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," said Harry, "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something..."

"What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk. "Harry...maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"

"Oh Ron, we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?" She said, trying hard to stem the feelings of panic and indignation on Snape's behalf that were rapidly coursing through her. Then she was a little relieved in spite of herself; Dumbledore had given Snape a second chance, he knew Snape had been a Death Eater but he still trusted him. She'd been right.

"I don't care what Moody says," she went on. "Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit -"

"- evil," said Ron promptly. "Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"

"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?"

"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window.

"You just want to think Snape's up to something," she replied, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.

"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," said Harry grimly.*

She felt a slight pang of guilt because she definitely knew what Snape had done with his first chance and she wouldn't be sharing in a hurry. She'd also wanted to defend Snape far more thoroughly but didn't want to raise awkward questions. Hermione trusted him. He and Dumbledore were obviously on good terms to have been discussing such matters at the Yule Ball and Snape had clearly been reporting straight to Dumbledore. His stricken expression when she'd asked him to be careful came swimming into her mind's eye. She couldn't decide if it had been her unexpected response to his verbal assault that had made him look so shocked or if it had been her actual words; she couldn't imagine that all that many students, and especially Gryffindors, would have requested him to be careful, would have cared enough to. And she did care about him. She cared about all her teachers, although Snape was slightly different because she'd seen him in rather different circumstances. He was her Potions Professor, he was a human and he was someone who she had a lot of respect for, and someone who she'd rather like to have respect for her. But that was it. Oh, that and he was a complete and utter bastard at times; she knew perfectly well that neither Harry nor Victor found her insufferable thank you very much. But then Ron was a bastard sometimes too and she still liked him. Life could be very confusing.

Then she started panicking about the Second Task and buried herself, Harry and Ron in books that may help with trying to survive underwater for an hour.

She started to live in a whole world of panic as the Task drew nearer and nearer. They day before they still had no idea what Harry was going to do. She felt like she was existing in a nightmare. Then suddenly Fred and George came over to inform her and Ron that Professor McGonagall was looking for them. The nightmare intensified. They couldn't just leave Harry. But they did; they hadn't really had much of a choice. Next thing she knew her Head of House was informing her that she was the thing that Victor would "sorely miss" (Ron had not looked happy) and consequently would be put in an enchanted sleep and dragged to the bottom of the Black lake for the Second Task.

Life.

The last thing she felt before being put to sleep was extreme guilt that Harry would be waiting for them in the Common Room, he still had no idea what to do tomorrow and would now receive no help from her or Ron. Shit. She hoped to God he would be ok.

Before she knew it she was in the icy cold water of the lake, Victor's arm around her waist. She looked around desperately for Harry but all she could see was Cedric and Cho. Victor helped her to swim to the side then he was hugging her, excited and happy about finishing the Task. She hugged him back but where was Harry? Madame Pomfrey came over and started fussing with a towel. The hour was over. Where was Harry? Oh dear God where was Harry? What had de decided to do? Had he tried to transfigure himself? Had he tried to make a potion? Had he found something effective but been attacked? She looked around frantically and caught eyes with Snape. She gave him a desperate look and he stared blankly at her. Then he took a deep breath in and out, his eyes still locked with hers. He did it once again; breathing deeply, in and out. On the third time she breathed with him. It made her feel marginally less hysterical. They breathed together once again, not breaking eye contact and it felt rather intimate somehow, even from this distance his eyes seemed to bore into hers, as though he was using Legilimency on her again. She focused on all the feelings of gratitude she was having for him in that moment, just in case. Victor was speaking to her. She turned to him momentarily then looked back at Snape. He was talking calmly to Professor Sprout, he didn't look at her again. Victor was asking her something, she mumbled an answer, not really paying attention, still in a state of panic.

Then Harry surfaced with Ron and a girl she recognised as Fleur's little sister. Why was he with her? Then she felt such an overwhelming rush of relief she thought she might fall over. He was ok.

*Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, went splashing out to meet them. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"

Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!"); Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister.

"It was ze grindylows...zey attacked me...oh Gabrielle, I thought...I thought..."

"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Harry and pulled him over to Hermione and the others and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat. Steam gushed out of his ears and she'd never been so pleased to have him by her side.

"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!"

"Well - yeah, that's right," said Harry. He was a terrible liar.

"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Victor, trying to draw her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but she brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry...Did it take you ages to find us?"

"No...I found you okay..."*

Oh dear. He'd obviously taken the song literally as only Harry would. He'd played the hero. Still. He was alive and well. That would do for now.

*"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision." Ludo Bagman was saying. "Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour. We therefore award him forty-seven points."

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

She and Ron both gave Harry identical half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks.

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However...Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

"There you go. Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all - you were showing moral fibre!"*

And then she was clapping and laughing and so very relieved she didn't notice her Potions Professor finally look in her direction, rolling his eyes but looking oddly pleased with himself, before he turned and headed back to the castle.

Sorry there's not much Snermione action in this Chapter, hopefully will be some more soon ;)

Thanks for reading.

*Text in between asterisks* from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - her majesty J.K Rowling