It was some time after the task had begun that she started to feel really uneasy. Everyone was excited and cheering all around her, but she found herself feeling on edge and cold, despite the warm summer air.
She had purposely seated herself and all the Weasleys as near to the judges and teachers stands as possible and her eyes kept finding the back of Professor Snape. He was seated next to Dumbledore and, from what she could discern from their backs, they were both very tense. It was when Dumbledore got up and started to patrol the maze as well that she knew something was really wrong; she just knew.
Hermione looked over at the Weasleys; they were all chatting and laughing and not paying her the slightest bit of notice. Good. She cast a quick Disillusionment Charm on herself, snuck down a couple of rows and slid into the seat next to Snape, casting a strong Distraction and Avoidance charm around them both before she revealed herself. He didn't look particularly surprised to see her.
"What's going on?" She asked him without preamble.
He looked at her coldly.
"I believe this is the Third and final Task of the Triwizard Tournament Miss Granger. You really should be paying more attention."
If she hadn't been panicking she might have actually found his response quite amusing.
"Sir I know something's going on, something bad. You and Professor Dumbledore are on edge. I need to know -"
"No you do not need to know anything, you stupid girl. This does not concern you. Go back to your seat this instant." He snapped.
"Doesn't concern me?!" She asked, angry and frantic and really not in the mood to be treated like a 5 year old. "How can it not concern me when it'll be people like me that will be most affected by his return? How can it not concern me when it all revolves around my best friend?!"
She knew at once that she should not have mentioned Harry. Snape's face, which had been showing surprise more than anything else, immediately shifted and curled into a furious sneer.
"This may come as a shock to you girl but the world does not revolve around your precious Potter." He snarled at her, spit flying from his mouth.
"I'm perfectly aware of that thank you Professor." She answered coldly, nearly 2 months worth of him ignoring her finally making her blood boil. "But You-Know-Who has shown on more than one occasion just how important Harry's death is to him. If he returns, when he returns, we both know he'll go straight for Harry, if he hasn't already. Someone put his name in that Goblet for a reason Professor."
Her own words caught up to her and she suddenly felt completely out of her depth. The something bad that was going to happen was You-Know-Who's return. She'd figured that out. But ages ago, ages ago she'd been sure that whoever had entered Harry into the competition had been trying to kill him and You-Know-Who had been behind it.
Snape was saying something but she ignored him.
Could the two be linked? Could You-Know-Who trying to kill Harry, and his return somehow be connected?
"Professor check how many people are in the maze, that spell to check, do it! Now!" She yelled, suddenly sure that someone was in that maze who shouldn't be, someone who was going to hurt Harry.
"Miss Granger don't you dare speak to me -"
"This is more important, take every point from Gryffindor if you want, whatever just listen to me! Do the spell, I can't remember it. You have to check Professor! Please, please! I'll do anything, just please check. PLEASE!"
Snape looked rather alarmed and she was sure she would start crying or hitting him if he didn't act soon, she had to know, she had to know. This was a bad, bad time for her memory to fail her. With a heavy frown he pointed his wand directly at the maze.
"Homenum Revelio" he said softly, then his eyes widened in alarm and he repeated the spell. She felt the blood drain from her face.
"What is it? How many people are in there?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Snape looked confused and worried and that terrified her more than the awful feeling she had in her stomach.
"One." He said. And for a while she had no idea what to think.
"One?" She asked stupidly.
"One." Said Professor Snape, his black brows knitted together. "Krum was brought out Stunned…"
Stunned?
"So there should be 3 in the maze?"
"Yes. I need to talk to - "
But he never finished his sentence. At that moment, when he was halfway through standing up, he made a low, animal noise of pain in the back of his throat and fell back into his seat, his right hand gripping his left forearm and she knew. She just knew.
Snape was nearly bent over double, his head close to his knees. He was panting. His whole body was trembling.
He'd been Summoned.
For a while she just sat there, completely paralysed. She knew she had to speak to Dumbledore. Snape had just been Summoned by You-Know-Who and 2 champions were missing. But then the man himself was sat beside her, in so much pain he could barely breathe. It seemed so cruel to just walk away. But she knew she had to. She had to.
"I'll be right back Professor Snape," she said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder, "I'm going to get Professor Dumbledore."
And then she ran from the stands as fast as she could until she got to the Headmaster.
"Professor Dumbledore!" She said, gasping for breath. "Professor Snape's been Summoned."
And with that they both began walking briskly back to the stands.
"And 2 of the Champions are missing sir." She informed him, once she had enough breath to talk.
He stopped dead.
"And how do you know this Miss Granger?" He asked her, his voice steady but urgent.
"I made Professor Snape cast the Homenum Revelio spell sir."
She waited for more questions that never came. Dumbledore turned to the maze and cast the spell himself. She watched as his face paled.
"Get back to Professor Snape, I will be along shortly." Said Dumbledore and he swept off in the other direction leaving her standing alone.
She didn't know how to help Snape. She'd thought Dumbledore would.
Disillusioning herself once more she went and resumed her seat next to her Potions Professor. He was a little more upright by the time she'd got back and he'd opened the buttons of his sleeve, rolling it up and revealing the jet back Mark on his pale, bony arm. She quickly renewed and strengthened the charms around them.
"Dumbledore knows sir. He says he'll come along soon." She told him gently but didn't get any form of acknowledgement. "Is there anything I can do?"
He shook his head, staring with a look of mingled fascination, fear and disgust at the Mark, his right hand just below his left elbow.
"Does it hurt any less?"
He shook his head.
"How long will it hurt for?"
He shrugged. It was a very un-Snape-ish gesture.
"When will you go back to You-Know-Who?"
She knew she was pushing it.
"Mind you own bloody business." He ground out through clenched teeth.
She smiled to herself a little. At least she'd annoyed him enough to distract him momentarily.
Hermione looked at his sallow face, taut with pain and dread. His old Master was back and he'd have to go and face him soon. She wished he wasn't going back.
"Do you have to go back?" She whispered, feeling truly afraid now, for herself, for muggleborns, for Harry and for Snape.
He looked at her oddly.
"No." He said tightly. "But I will. It is right."
She had no argument for that.
He was still looking at her. His eyes were desperate in a way that made her heart clench almost painfully in her chest.
She wasn't sure what made her do it … especially after last time … in fact she wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. But she watched, as if in slow motion, as her left hand reached across her and placed itself gently around Snape's right hand, the one that was gripping his left arm so tightly.
They both stared in silence at her hand. She waited in a slight state of shock for him to pull away or shout at her, but he didn't. She forgot to count. They both just sat side by side, staring at her hand. Their heads were really rather close together.
Harry.
Was Harry still in the maze? If he wasn't, then where the fuck was he? Oh dear God. Harry. Please be ok. Please please please.
You-Know-Who had returned.
Her mind felt ready to explode.
Dumbledore came over to them both eventually, or it might have been seconds later, time had gone a bit funny in all her panic, wild thoughts and feeling Snape's fingers under hers. She didn't remove her hand in the presence of the Headmaster and Snape didn't pull away. To her surprise she didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest.
Dumbledore merely gazed at Snape impassively and Snape nodded his head. Apparently that was communication enough.
She felt quite rude for not offering to move so that Dumbledore could sit down but she didn't much feel like leaving Snape, and Dumbledore was far too busy dashing off here and there and then pacing to do much sitting anyway.
Suddenly there were two bodies lying motionless on the floor by the entrance of the maze. Cedric Diggory and Harry.
HARRY.
Why wasn't he moving?
HARRY.
There was a torrent of sound, cheering, confusion, screams as people realised what they were seeing.
Dumbledore grabbed Harry and roughly turned him over.
He opened his eyes.
He was alive.
He was alive.
He was alive.
And dimly she became aware of five things.
1) She was crying.
2) Both she and Professor Snape were standing up.
3) She was gripping onto his arm hard enough to leave marks.
4) She was holding onto the skin of his arm which was branded with the Dark Mark.
5) She didn't much care.
They looked at each other briefly and she knew what to do. Giving his arm a quick squeeze which she hoped would be affectionate or reassuring to him rather than painful, she left his side and slipped back in amongst the Weasleys as they rushed towards the two fallen Champions.
*"My God - Diggory!" whispered Fudge. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"
The words were repeated ... and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night - "He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! Dead!"*
Harry must have been with him when he died. She stared down at her best friend, still lying on the floor. He seemed to have aged a ridiculous amount. He looked years older. He looked like a soldier of war.
Girls were sobbing. Diggory's parents were screaming. It was a scene of devastation and chaos and although she probably had a better idea than most, she still didn't have the faintest idea what was going on. She was still crying.
Then she heard a voice screaming louder than any other
"WHERE'S HARRY? WHERE'S HARRY?"
She realised it was her own.
"WHERE'S HARRY WHERE'S HARRY WHERE'S HARRY WHERE'S HARRY?" She screamed over and over again, sobbing and shaking and more afraid than she'd ever been in her life because Harry had gotten safely back to Hogwarts only to disappear.
Professor Snape appeared by her side, sleeve done up, black and forbidding as ever. He leant close to her and told her to be quiet because he was going to get Harry. He would keep Harry safe. And then she stopped screaming. Because she trusted Professor Snape. He would keep Harry safe.
She wiped the tears from her sopping face just in time to see the Potions Master dashing off across the grass with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore.
Ron and Mrs Weasley were shushing her and whispering reassurances that she no longer needed.
But where was Harry?
At some point or another she found herself in the hospital wing with the others, demanding to know where Harry was. Then he entered with Dumbledore and Sirius in dog form.
Well that was the last thing Snape needed right now.
*Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream.
"Harry! Oh Harry!"
She started to hurry toward him, but Dumbledore moved between them.
"Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him," he added, looking around at her, Ron, and Bill too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."
Mrs. Weasley nodded and rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed, "Did you hear? He needs quiet!"
"I'm all right," he told them, once he was in bed. "Just tired."
He really didn't look all right.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed his bed-covers unnecessarily.
Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet.
"You'll need to drink all of this. Harry," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."*
He took a few gulps and fell asleep at once. She settled in a chair beside his bed, resigning herself to not knowing what the bloody hell had happened and just being thankful he was alive.
*"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva -" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly some time later.
"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out -"
The hospital doors burst open.
Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.
The door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward, looking more powerful and impressive than she'd ever seen him before.
"What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"
"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"
Hermione had never seen Professor McGonagall lose control like this. There were angry blotches of colour in her cheeks, and her hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.
"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch -"
"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but -"
"My dear woman!" roared Fudge, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous -"
But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.
"The moment that - that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and - and -"
Barty Crouch was worse than dead. Barty Crouch?
"By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths'."
"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."
"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Fudge. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"
"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those peoples deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."
"You-Know-Who...returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore..."
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," said Dumbledore, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort - learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins - went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."
Wait… Barty Crouch junior?
"See here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, a slight smile dawning on his face, "you - you can't seriously believe that You-Know-Who - back? Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore..."
"When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore steadily. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office. I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."
Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Harry, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are - er - prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"
There was a moment's silence, which was broken by Sirius growling. His hackles were raised, and he was baring his teeth at Fudge.
"Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore. His eyes were blazing now. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."
Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Harry before answering.
"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who...well..."
Fudge shot Harry another look.
"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," Harry said quietly.
They all jumped. None of them had realised that Harry was awake.
Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.
"And if I have?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place -"
"Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, taking a step toward Fudge, "Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."
Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn.
"You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before..."
"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy -"
"Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family - donations to excellent causes -"
"Macnair!" Harry continued.
"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"
"Avery - Nott - Crabbe - Goyle -"
"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! The boy can talk to snakes Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"
"You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"
"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"
"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation."
But Fudge was beyond reason.
"You - you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore.
"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now - take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"
"Insane," whispered Fudge, still backing away. "Mad..."
And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs Weasley was still standing over Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising. She, Bill and Ron were staring at Fudge.
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."
Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.
"He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be..."
Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.
"There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."
That was very brave of him. She quickly tried to gauge how much pain he was in now but she couldn't tell. The way Fudge had recoiled from the Dark Mark … was that how he had expected her to act when she'd realised he was a Death Eater?
Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."
Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Harry's bed.
"There is work to be done," he said, "it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius ... if you could resume your usual form."
The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, turned back into a man.
Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed.
"Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.
"Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled. "It's okay!"
Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror.
"Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal dislike. "What is he doing here?"
"He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."
Hermione thought Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing.
"I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any us."
Very slowly - but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill - Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.
"That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."
"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready ... if you are prepared..."
"I am," said Snape, his voice calm and steady and she had so much admiration for him in that moment she felt like she was swelling from it.
He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely. She knew he was scared and she wished she could say something to him, anything, but it would have felt wrong somehow in front of all these people. Hermione held her tongue.
"Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.*
And then Harry was sobbing in Mrs Weasley's arms. For the second time that night she felt as though the world had gone into slow motion while she carried on at normal speed. There was a beetle by the window. She knew it was Rita Skeeter. She'd be damned if that hideous excuse for a human being was going to write one single word about this. She grabbed a glass on a nearby table and cautiously approached the window the beetle was perched on and allowed all the fear and worry from the day, from the year, to turn into anger. A hot, boiling all consuming anger than left her feeling beyond murderous. She slammed the glass over the beetle hard, relishing in the bang it made. It had taken every inch of her self control not to turn the glass around and crush Rita Skeeter like the bug she was.
When Harry and the Weasleys were all safely asleep a couple of hours later, she rushed back to her dormitory to collect more clothes, dump a trapped Daily Prophet reporter under her bed and hurriedly summon the Marauders Map from Moody's desk – from fake Moody's desk – she was going to need some time to process all this. Casting her trusty Disillusionment Charm once again she snuck back down to the Entrance Hall but then froze in alarm, Professor Dumbledore was right by the front doors. To her surprise he looked right at her and his blue eyes twinkled.
"Going to wait for Professor Snape, Miss Granger?" He asked, his voice tired but jovial once again.
"Ummm," she stuttered, blushing, "well, yes sir." She finished; there seemed little point lying.
"Very well." He said softly, surprising her once again. "I'll send Fawkes down to you so he can fetch me if I'm needed."
Of course, Harry had told her all about the Headmaster's phoenix.
"Thank you."
He nodded then looked suddenly very solemn.
"Take good care of him."
And then he was gone.
Did Dumbledore know everything?
She settled herself down by the main gates, still Disillusioned and smiled a little despite herself when Fawkes landed next to her; he really was beautiful.
Her thoughts turned back to the man she was waiting for. He was with You-Know-Who. God she hoped he was ok.
Then she remembered the incident with Sirius. Why had he pretended that he hadn't already known about him? Or had the fury simply been because Sirius was present? But then he'd seen his Animagus form before – well sort of, he'd seen it in her head. Maybe he'd been too preoccupied to notice him?
She sighed. Maybe one day he'd answer the hundred million questions she wished she could ask him. Being a know-it-all could be really exhausting.
This chapter did not want to end! Hope you enjoyed it, I know there's quite a lot straight from the book so I'm sorry to those who don't particularly like it when I do that but I felt it was necessary for this part.
Tiny point, in the actual book, Dumbledore says to Harry "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed."
Obviously I've deviated from this slightly - but there is a significant amount of time before Dumbledore actually gets to Harry and I just loved the idea that in all the commotion it was Hermione that noticed and went a little hysterical on us.
Thanks for reading :)
*Text in between asterisks* from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling