Chapter 4
Chapter 4
(Gryffindor Dorms)
Hermione was growing worried as the argument between her and Ron grew worse by the second. Neville had already moved into a position from which he could protect her should Ron get violent again. She still had no clue how this argument had erupted so quickly, one minute she was reading and the next Ron was in her face and they were going at it. Suddenly she heard the background noise in the common room go silent and a shiver went down her spine as she realized who had come in to witness the whole thing. Turning her head slightly, but keeping Ron in her view, she noted Harry on her other side just behind her. His eyes were dark as he glared at Ron who quickly went quiet as well. The two had stayed away from one another in the last two days, but now it was clear to everyone in the dorm a confrontation was coming.
"What the hell are you doing Weasley?" Harry growled out as he glared at his former friend.
"I'm having a conversation with my friend scar head," Ron shot back, even as he tried to hide his unease at the look Harry was giving him. "So butt out," he added as confidently as he could.
"Looks more like an argument to me," Harry shot back, not liking the way Hermione shifted a little as if trying to move closer to Neville. "The fact Neville is standing between you and Hermione makes me think it is worse than that," he added and he didn't miss the look exchanged between Neville and Hermione at his statement making him frown. "What?" he asked Hermione directly.
"It's nothing Harry," Hermione tried to reassure him not wanting Harry to get into trouble for trying to beat Ron up and she knew he would if he knew Ron had tried to hit her.
"Yeah stay out of it Potter," Ron sneered at him. "This is between me and Hermione not you glory hound," he vented. Every time he saw Harry these days he was overwhelmed by feelings of anger and jealously.
"He tried to hit Hermione," Katie Bell spoke up, causing Harry's head to snap around to stare at his fellow Quidditch team member who almost flinched at the look in his eyes. Hermione also stared at her and the look she gave Katie was one of frustration.
Katie had only wanted to make Harry aware that Ron was possibly becoming dangerous to Hermione. She like the others on the team knew Harry a bit better than most in the school and were not as certain he had put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Granted they had not stuck up for him either. They knew if they had done the rest of the house would be on their backs and that wasn't something they wanted to deal with. Seeing the implosion of the friendship between Harry and Ron had been surprising, especially for the twins, in the last two days it was almost as if Ron had transformed into a ginger replica of Malfoy much to their shock. Then Ron had tried to hit Hermione and would have done so hadn't Neville intervened. Someone had to knock some sense into the boy before he did something he would regret later. Harry was the perfect person to do that which is why she had told him. Now seeing the growing rage in Harry she was not so convinced it was a good idea after all.
"Say that again?" Harry asked in a dangerous tone. He was certain he had heard wrong.
Ron began to sweat as he watched Harry seem to change in front of him. Going from the regular school kid to the fighter who had gone up against things most people would run from. He had seen this side of Harry far more than most and he knew not to push him when he was like this.
He may not like Harry anymore and believed him to be a glory seeker and a betrayer, but he knew one thing would not change and that was Harry Potter was dangerous when provoked. Hell even Malfoy and his cronies knew that, it was why the blond ponce never pushed Harry too far.
"He tried to hit Hermione, but Neville stopped him," Katie repeated herself even as Hermione shook her head franticly. Behind Katie, Dean Thomas sensing big trouble exited the common rooms in search of a teacher. He had a bad feeling Ron may just end up in the hospital ward or worse.
Harry slowly turned his head to see Ron slowly backing away from Neville and Hermione. His eyes seemed to glow as he began to advance on Ron intending to ensure he never thought of doing such a thing again.
"Mr. Potter stop right there," Professor McGonagall shouted as she entered having quickly followed Dean Thomas after he explained what was going on.
Harry paused as he heard his head of houses shout. He glanced back at the imposing witch before turning back to the highly sweating and nervous Ron who had backed into a corner. His fingers itched to pull his wand and make Ron suffer. Hermione seemed to pick on this and quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him away with a little help from Neville.
"Mr. Weasley report to my office immediately and don't even think of going anywhere else," McGonagall ordered as she viewed the scene and was glad she had not taken her time getting here. When Dean Thomas had come to her and explained everything that had happened, she had at first been shocked and then angry. Angry for two reasons, one that Ron Weasley would dare to almost hit another student especially one of the girls. The second reason was that no one, not even Miss. Granger had come to report the incident. Then hearing that Potter had just learned of the entire thing she knew that if she didn't get there quickly Potter and Weasley would be fighting. And in a fight Weasley didn't compare to Potter, not in a magical sense or a muggle one either. She had paid close attention to the two boys in the four years they had been here. Potter was far more skilled than Weasley in all areas. He also had a more powerful magical core. Weasley also had the problem of being a slacker in all lessons. He could perform the spells, but he paid little attention to all that was been taught about them. In fact the only real interest Weasley had was Chess, Quidditch and food.
Ron took one more look at Harry before running out of the common room. He knew he was in trouble with their head of house, but that would probably only end in a detention or two. Had he stayed he had no doubt he'd end up in the hospital ward, even he had been surprised by almost hitting Hermione. The argument had gotten out of hand. He didn't see himself as a violent person and especially not one who hit women. Yet when Hermione had slapped him for what he had called her, his first instinct had been to strike her back in return. 'Why?' he wondered, but sadly he had no answer. It was something that Malfoy would do and he was nothing like Malfoy. He was lucky this time but he hoped there would not be a second time so he would have to closely watch his reactions to Hermione from now on. A second attempt or Merlin forbid he actually hit her, and he doubted he would get off so easily.
McGonagall watched as Harry stared at where Weasley had vanished, she could see it in his eyes that he wanted to make Ron pay. She would have to keep a closer eye on the boy for a short while until he had calmed down. She knew how close Potter and Granger were. She didn't think there was anything romantic between them, instead she felt they shared an almost sibling dynamic between themselves.
"Potter let it go. I will deal with Weasley," McGonagall ordered as he finally looked up at her, having felt her stare. "I don't want any report of you going after him. Is that understood?" she asked.
"Harry please just let it go," Hermione said as she watched her friend.
"Alright Hermione, I'll let it go this time, but if he does it again I will teach him some manners where it comes to women," Harry promised before he turned and headed for his bed.
Hermione let out a breath of air that the situation had not ended in bloodshed. She promised to have a few words with Katie Bell later on. Neville gave her a smile before he followed Harry up to their dorm. She finally turned to their head of house who she finally noted was staring at her.
"Miss. Granger I am disappointed you didn't come to see me as soon as Mr. Weasley almost struck you," McGonagall stated with a frown. "This entire situation could have been avoided had you done so, next time I expect to be informed is that understood?" she asked.
"Yes Professor and I'm sorry for not telling you, but I didn't want to make the situation worse," Hermione answered softly. "I thought telling you would just make Ron madder," she added.
"I can see that Miss Granger, but any acts or even almost acts of violence between students is to be reported no matter what," McGonagall responded. "We cannot have that kind of behavior in this school. Now I suggest you retire to bed and avoid Mr. Weasley as much as possible until he has calmed down," she suggested before she swept out of the common room leaving Hermione to head to her dorm.
+TWS+
(French Carriages)
Fleur sat in her room within the magical enlarged carriages that houses her classmates. Her mind was still going over everything that Harry had shown her and it still made her shiver. She had a total different view of the tournament now and she knew it was not going to be fun as she had once believed. She would have to train hard, because whoever was out to get Harry killed wouldn't care if their traps took out the other contestants. Her first thought was to warn Cedric and Krum, but then she remembered Harry and Dumbledore had shown her his memories in confidence, plus even if she did warn them she doubted they would believe her, considering their attitude towards Harry. No she would keep what she had learnt to herself for now, maybe if Cedric and Krum came to their senses then maybe they could be warned, but for now it was just her.
'I just hope I am up to what lies ahead,' she thought as she curled up in her bed and fell into a restless sleep.
+TWS+
(Headmaster's office)
The next morning Dumbledore listened as McGonagall explained the previous night's revelation. He frowned having never thought Ron Weasley capable of such an act. It made him wonder how things would play out as things progressed, clearly the split between the two friends was now almost beyond salvaging and would only get worse if Harry went on to win the tournament no matter how close to death he came while doing so. Perhaps he had misread Mr. Weasley's character just as he had misread Peter Pettigrew's all those years ago. He didn't need to think to recall what that mistake had cost them all and Harry in particular.
"I've given him two weeks of detention in hope that he never even thinks of doing such a thing again," McGonagall told him still frowning as she relived the shock of finding out about the incident. "It has been almost thirty years since we last had an incident of violence in this school and that was just before I came here. I don't like the implications of it," she added.
"We will have to keep a close eye on Mr. Weasley from this point forward Minerva. We can't allow such an action to be repeated," Dumbledore responded. "We were lucky he didn't in fact strike Miss. Granger, but just the fact he tried is disturbing and could draw a lot of trouble for the school if it gets out," he stated. "I guess we should be lucky Miss. Granger has kept her head and was able to keep Harry from lashing out in revenge," he mused.
"Lucky does not begin to describe it Albus," McGonagall responded with a frustrated sigh. "If it is one thing Harry cares about in this school then it is Hermione. They are almost like brother and sister in the way they regard one another," she pointed out. "Had she been so inclined then she could have let Harry beat Weasley into a bloody pulp," she stated seriously.
"Thankfully Miss Granger isn't prone to violence unless provoked like the year previously when she struck Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said almost with a touch of humour in his voice.
"Indeed, but I still think had Weasley struck her nothing would have prevented Harry from pulverizing Weasley," McGonagall responded. "But I will keep an eye on their interactions for a while and hope Weasley regains control of whatever brains he has," she told him before she got up and headed out of the office.
Dumbledore watched her go with a thoughtful look. Clearly his old friend had lost quite a bit of respect for Mr. Weasley. After his efforts in helping Harry and Hermione over the years it had been felt he would make a valuable mark in the world, now he doubted that opinion would hold if he continued to act as he had done since Harry's name came out of the Goblet. Leaning back in his chair he hoped the young man would come to his senses, but he wondered if Harry would forgive him even if he did so.
+TWS+
(Unused Classroom)
Harry waited inside the classroom he had agreed to meet Daphne and if he was correct in his assumption Tracy. He had woken up still angry over what he had learned the night before. The very idea of Ron almost striking Hermione enraged him and he wondered what would have happened had Neville not gotten in the way. Would Ron have actually struck Hermione? It was a question he had no real answer for, but considering what he had been told it seemed he would have. Walking to the nearby window he looked out over the grounds and the Forbidden Forest.
"You okay Harry?" Daphne's voice made him turn to find her and Tracy Davies behind him. While Daphne met his eyes confidently, Tracy seemed nervous and kept looking away.
"I'm angry," Harry responded. "I learned something last night that really pissed me off and the only reason I did not nail Ron is because Hermione begged me not to and someone alerted McGonagall to what was going on," he admitted, making the two girls glance at each other wondering what had happened.
"What happened?" Tracy asked, forgetting her nervousness for a few moments, but quickly looked away when Harry glanced at her.
Harry had to admit he found Tracy's nervousness amusing, usually people did nothing but stare at him, having one who could barely look at him was strange.
"I'll tell you later, right now I just need something to take my mind of it all," Harry answered with a shake of his head. "And some training will at least give me an outlet for my anger if I use some blasting curses," he added.
"We'll do those first," Daphne told him in response hearing the anger in Harry's tone. "Being angry is not a good way to train, it will only distract you and make you spells weaker and less precise," she explained at his look. "Before we begin though this is my best friend Tracy, she is the other I told you about," she said in introduction.
"Nice to meet you Tracy," Harry replied with what he hoped was a charming smile.
"Hey," Tracy said, having to focus so she did not stutter her response.
"So let's begin," Daphne said as she pulled her own wand and began to set up some targets with the supplies she had brought with her. Tracy turned and locked the door so no one would interrupt them.
+TWS+
(Green House)
Neville tried to focus as he potted the plants he had been asked to help Professor Sprout with, but his mind was still going over what had happened the night before and what Hermione had said to him afterwards. He was beginning to feel guilty for not supporting Harry more openly. He already had not only the whole of Hogwarts on his back, but also the full compliments of the visiting schools. That had to be weighing on him. Hell if he would be in Harry's place then he would be almost at the breaking point already. Now this business with Ron... well Harry's focus on the tournament had to be shot to hell. Hermione, he decided, was right and Harry needed his friends to stand by him. So once he was done here he decided to track Harry down and apologise for his stupidity and promise to help however he could. Who knew, maybe this tournament would include some tasks that involved plants and if it did then he was the best person to help him get through it.
"Hey Neville," Hermione's voice distracted him and he turned to find his fellow Gryffindor before him.
"Hey Hermione, you okay?" Neville responded with a smile.
"I've calmed down a bit now from last night and am just wishing I had told McGonagall what had happened," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "It would have stopped Harry from almost getting himself into serious trouble had he actually attacked Ron," she added.
"Just be thankful no one told Harry what else Ron said and did last night," Neville told her with a grin. "Bad enough he tried to hit you, but calling you a whore was just as bad and I doubt Harry would have liked that any better," he pointed out.
"I know, I think Ron will watch his step now after what happened," Hermione said as confidently as she could. "Anyway have you seen Harry?" she asked, changing the subject as she didn't want to think about it anymore.
"No, can't say I have actually," Neville answered, quickly catching Hermione's desire to change the subject. "He was up before I was and I have no idea where he's gone," he mused. "Did you check his usual hang out near the great lake?" he inquired as he finished potting the last of the plants.
"Yes, I've checked all the usual places he goes too," Hermione replied frowning somewhat. "I wonder where he's got to," she said mostly to herself.
"Harry can take care of himself Hermione, more than likely he just wants a bit of peace and quiet before the day really starts," Neville assured her. "But if you want I can help you track him down. I want to have a few words with him myself," he offered.
"No, if he wants some peace then I'll give him that," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "He'll come find me when he wants to," she decided.
Neville watched as she turned and left the green house. He liked the bushy haired witch. She had always been kind to him and helped him as much as she could. Harry he decided was lucky to have her on his side.