Apologies for the lack of updates recently, uni and work have been so hectic and I had to take a break to see where this was going. I hope that you enjoy!
As Harry appeared in front of them with the cup and with Cedric everyone began to cheer but Hermione could tell by the look on Harry's face that something was wrong.
"Something isn't right," she told Fred quietly.
Sure enough, as Amos Diggory began to cheer for his son's victory Harry let out a horrific wail and Dumbledore was at his side in an instant.
"He's dead! Voldemort killed him!" Harry screamed and Hermione felt her chest tighten at his words.
The entire crowd had turned silent as Harry's words rang out across the stadium and took in the sight of their friend and peer, dead in front of them.
"Ron, he needs us!" Hermione hissed, her eyes welling up as she said it.
"Moody's got him now; we'll catch up with him at the castle." Fred nodded towards where Professor Moody was leading Harry away, probably for his own good.
By now it was Amos Diggory who was wailing for his son and Professor Dumbledore was instructing the staff on what they should be doing. Professor McGonagall began to lead the task of ushering students away from the devastating sight in front of them and Hermione was more than happy to leave.
"Miss Granger!" McGonagall called over the crowds.
"Yes Professor?"
"Did you see where Potter ran off to?"
"Professor Moody took him back towards the castle, was he supposed to still be here?"
"Y-yes, we wanted to get him checked over and calmed down. I'll let Professor Dumbledore know, thank you Miss Granger you may head back to Gryffindor Tower now."
Professor McGonagall left in a hurry before Hermione had a chance to reply and caught up with the others who were already on their way back to the Tower.
"They're worried about Harry." She told them as she caught up with them.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"I mean McGonagall's worried about him. She's off to find Dumbledore."
They heard commotion behind them and sure enough Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were racing past students everywhere. They passed Hermione and the others in a flurry of robes and shouts and that only worried them more.
"This doesn't feel right." Ginny piped up from between her brothers.
"I know, but all we can do is wait." Hermione sighed and they finished their trip to Gryffindor Tower in silence.
It was hours before Harry returned, his eyes bloodshot from crying and his cuts all cleaned after the task. He looked so drained that Hermione guessed that he should have been asleep and resting hours ago, let alone just returning to his dorm now. He sat down in the space that Hermione and Ron made between them and stared blankly at the fire in front of him.
"Are you ok?" Hermione asked after a moment or two.
Harry shook his head and then got up and started in the direction of his dorm. Ron followed shortly afterwards to check on him and soon Hermione excused herself to make her way to bed; it had been far too much of an emotional evening.
Harry had barely mentioned the evening to Hermione and Ron, aside from explaining that Voldemort had returned and that he had killed Cedric. As soon as he had explained it he had changed the subject and fallen rather silent about his evening in the maze.
Hermione worried about him in their final few days at Hogwarts and he disappeared as soon as they had reached Platform 9 and 3/4. Hermione had said goodbye to the Weasleys and found her own parents waiting to see her. She had already owled ahead to explain the events that had taken place so that they would know why there was a far more serious feeling when they returned.
She had no contact with her friends until Remus Lupin and (the real) Mad-Eye Moody had shown up at her door a few weeks later to escort her to stay with the Weasleys. As Harry Potter's best friend it was no longer safe for her to travel without some sort of protection but she still found it a little ridiculous. She kissed her parents goodbye, promising that she would keep them updated on her year and that she loved them. As Remus escorted her by side along apparation she realised that they weren't going to the Burrow. They arrived in central London in a relatively normal looking muggle street. It wasn't until Mad-Eye shoved a piece of parchment into her hands did their destination arrive. The grimy and run down looking building squeezed itself in between two muggle houses and no one but themselves seemed to notice. All that Hermione could do was hope that the inside was a little nicer than its dirty exterior. Her hopes were dashed as she discovered that the house barely looked lived in at all. The wallpaper was peeling from the wall, everything was covered in a horrible thick layer of dust and Hermione feared that if she touched any of the ornaments she might possibly contract some sort of illness. She was ushered down into the kitchen, after which Remus and Mad-Eye swiftly left, murmuring something about Sirius.
Ron and Ginny were sat at the table, helping their mother to prepare an enormous looking dinner.
"Hermione!" Ron grinned and left his place to run and give her a hug.
"How have you been?" she asked
"Fine. Yeah, good. Did you just get here?"
"Yeah Remus and Mad-Eye picked me up from my house. Where am I?"
"12 Grimmauld Place, it's the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix." Ginny told her as they sat down around the table again.
"The what?"
"We'll explain later, Mum isn't too keen on us knowing a lot but we know a lot more than she realises." Ron said quietly as Mrs Weasley herself entered the kitchen.
"Hermione dear it is so lovely to see you!"
"You too Mrs Weasley!" she smiled at the older witch who turned back to her cooking that she had come down to start.
"Ginny, show Hermione up to your room so that she knows which one it is!" Mrs Weasley told her daughter.
They made their way up to the second floor and Ginny showed her into one of the large bedrooms that the house boasted – or so she was told. They sat for several minutes catching up on the news of their summer so far until an almighty crack echoed around the room, causing Hermione to jump from her seat on the bed with her wand in hand, and the Twins appeared two feet away from her, apparently thy had passed their apparation test.
"You two can't just apparate into a girls bedroom!" she shrieked at them before smacking them both upside the head.
"Nice to see-"
"-you too Granger!" George finished before he and his twin tackled her onto the bed and placed her firmly between them.
"You two are ridiculous!" she huffed a little at them.
"Now Granger-"
"-how could you ever-"
"-be mad at us?" The gave her identical charming grins and she sighed as she knew she was defeated.
Over dinner that evening Hermione was informed all about the basic concept of the Order of the Phoenix before Mrs Weasley firmly cut Remus and Sirius off, much to their disgruntlement.
"That is enough! They are only children Remus! Off to bed now, all of you, you're all to be up early tomorrow to start cleaning this house with me."
And with that Hermione and Ginny retreated to their room with the boys in tow.
The next few weeks passed with very little excitement. Each morning they trooped down for breakfast before getting ready for yet another day of cleaning, which was a far more difficult task than Hermione could have imagined. Each room that they had tackled was infested with all manner of magical pests and as Mrs Weasley directed them from one of her many books Hermione found herself wondering if she would have been having a better time at home with her parents.
It was the stolen moments with Fred that she treasured the most. On several occasions they had fallen asleep in his bed after being up half of the night talking with Ginny and George, she loved the feel of his arms around her and the way that he kissed her face to wake her in the morning. Most of the time, however, they were far too busy to have a lot of time together.
It wasn't until Harry turned up, with a prospective hearing at the ministry in tow, that there was interest in the house once again. However, Harry was furious at being kept out of the loop and barely spoke to them for the first couple of days.
It wasn't until he returned victoriously from his hearing that he finally spoke to them properly again.
"I'm sorry I've been a bit of a…."
"Git?" Ron threw in helpfully with a smile.
"Something like that," Harry laughed before he pulled both of his best friends into a hug.
"I'm glad that everything worked out, I don't know what we would have done otherwise." She told him afterwards.
Harry then confided in them the strange behaviour that Dumbledore displayed at the hearing.
"Mate, You-Know-Who's just returned, I'm sure his plate's just full." Ron said with a slap on the back before they were called down for dinner.
The rest of their summer passed so fast that none of them were even able to dwell on Dumbledore's strange behaviour or the uneasy feeling that the wizarding world was on the brink of war. But yet, as they arrived back at Hogwarts and their new defence against the dark arts teacher was revealed to be none other than one of Fudge's close advisors it was very clear that things were changing, and not necessarily for the better.
At the beginning of October the trio, along with a lot of the other students, had had enough of Professor Umbridge's theoretical teaching and fear of the class actually practicing any sort of defensive magic. Instead, Hermione had rallied all of those who were interested to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. By the end of the hour they spent in the dingy pub, Hermione had a list of every student who wished to be a part of their society, and had charmed their signatures to give the signatory quite a nasty experience should they betray their trust and confess their practicing to anyone at all.
Another week passed before they found their venue for practicing. Neville had stumbled upon the room of requirement and within the week Harry had hosted their first lesson, to great success.
"We need to be careful not to get caught leaving from here!" Harry told the group loudly as they began to get ready to leave.
"Don't worry mate-"
"-we never get caught!" Fred and George laughed before Fred gave Hermione a wink and dragged her by the arm out of the room behind them.
Sure enough, they didn't get caught on their way back to the common room and Hermione actually found herself having fun. When she told this to Fred and George they stopped dead in the corridor.
"Granger are you having fun!?" The Twins asked together, surprised at her sudden admittance.
"Don't act too surprised!" she laughed as they finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
Hermione felt positive when she finally got herself into bed that night. They were finally making a secret stand against Umbridge, but more importantly she felt as if she and Fred were finally in a happier place too.
I'm really unhappy with this chapter and I've rewritten bits and pieces of it over and over again. I felt as if things were moving too slow, which is why this chapter covers several months and events. Either way I'd really appreciate some feedback on this, it's been driving me crazy for weeks!
L x