Although Krum had won the second challenge, all the attention went to the rest of them. Having everything broadcast on big screens had impressed everyone, and even Ron was reveling in the attention he'd gotten even though he'd done nothing but run around in a big wheel.

He was embellishing what had happened before the event was televised. Although Hermione claimed they'd simply been called to the Headmaster's office and put into a magical sleep, Ron spun stories of having been kidnapped by mermen that grew wilder and more outlandish every time he told them.

Hermione was irritated by all of the attention, and she grew snappish. It grew even worse after an article appeared in Witch Weekly claiming that she was sharing her affections with both Harry and Steven. The article was written by Rita Skeeter.

"Nobody will believe it," Hermione said. "It's just..."

"What?" Harry asked quietly. They were in potions class and the last thing he needed was to draw more attention to himself from Snape.

"How did she know Steven asked me to stay with him for part of the summer?" she said."Nobody else knew anything about it, and it's not like Steven is big on telling secrets."

Harry nodded absently. Steven was very good at keeping people's secrets. It wasn't that he lied about them; he simply never brought them up.

He stopped chopping beetles for a moment. "What?"

"It was after the second task, after we got on shore," Hermione said. "Rita wasn't anywhere near us...nobody was."

"What did you tell him?" Ron asked.

"It's none of your business," Hermione said primly.

"You know if you stay with him you'll be fighting mutant mummies or giant spiders or something," Ron said. "Steven's a fun guy, but his summers sound like a death trap for anybody normal."

"I'm sure he wouldn't put me in terrible danger," Hermione said self consciously. "besides, there are the gems."

"Like they're any better," Ron said. "Amethyst is a menace, Pearl is scary, and Peridot is crazy. I saw her with Winky the other night, and she had Winky riding in the head of some kind of weird metal golem."

"It was a robot," Hermione said. "And Winky is becoming quite the skilled pilot. Peridot has this idea that she could equip all the House Elves in Hogwarts with combat mecha if she could just find a way for technology to work within the wards."

"It was creepy!" Ron protested. "That house elf had a crazy look in her eye and the leather hat makes her look weird."

"You have no reason to complain about anybody else's looks, Mr. Weasely," Snape's voice came from behind them. "Or about their fashion sense."

The Slytherins in the room sniggered.

"As interesting as Mr. Universe's family may be, I'd ask that you not discuss them during class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Noticing the magazine that Hermione had slipped under her work, he took another ten points off from that.

He grabbed the magazine and began reading quotes from Skeeter's article, much to Harry's humiliation and the delight of the Slytherins. By the time he was done, even Hermione's face was beet red.

It was more evidence that somewhere, someone hated Harry. His life careened from humiliation to danger and then back again.

Steven called them all to the temple. Hermione had a standing invitation to go there, and went there all the time, but Harry and Ron went much less frequently. Harry wasn't entirely comfortable with the gems, especially Pearl, who seemed a little alien and remote.

Ron was even less comfortable, given that Amethyst loved to prank him, and she'd somehow gotten Peridot and Winky in on it. His face turned red very easily, which Amethyst found hilarious.

Still, Steven invited them all for Sunday dinner, and they all went.

It wasn't until they were deep in the temple that Steven saw why. Sirius was there, talking animatedly with Pearl.

"Sirius!"

Sirius looked thin and shaggy, but he was eating a full meal and he wasn't bolting his food. At their look, he shrugged.

"Winky's been helpful about getting food from the kitchens in Hogwarts. She claims it's for Steven."

"It is!" Steven said. "There's no way I could leave you here eating rats when I'm eating great food a few hundred yards away."

"Aren't you in danger here?" Hermione asked.

Sirius shook his head. "The gems have had areas of the temple spelled against detection, should there ever be anything they need to hide. They suggested that the temple might be used as a shelter should Hogwarts ever be attacked and the headmaster seemed to agree."

"We're shielded every way old Dumbles could think of," Amethyst said. "If things get bad we can even make the entrance disappear under a fidelius charm; everything's cast but the last part. Once it's cast the only way they'll ever find us is if they start digging, and its a big forest."

"Let's hope we never have to go that far," Pearl said. She poured more tea in Sirius's cup. She had a cup of her own, but she didn't drink from it.

According to Steven, she enjoyed the smell of tea, but didn't like to eat or drink because that made her have to go to the loo, which she found disgusting.

"We've been trying to figure out who is behind forcing you into the tournament." Sirius said, nodding toward Pearl.

"I'm pretty sure it's Voldemort," Harry said. "It's always Voldemort."

Although Sirius flinched when he said the name, he didn't try to correct Harry like most wizards would. No one else even batted an eyelash. Ron had gotten used to it, and the others didn't have the fear of Voldemort that was ingrained in Wizarding culture.

"But which of his people are doing it for them?" Sirius asked. "If we knew who, we might be able to figure out where the attack will come from, and what kind of attack it will be."

Harry mulled over that for a moment. Knowing that Draco was going to attack him would be different than if Goyle did. Draco would try something social, or maybe he'd attack while Harry's back was turned. Goyle would simply start beating Harry head on. He was a lot like Dudley that way.

They discussed several possibilities, including Barty Crouch. Sirius knew a number of unsavory things about Mr. Crouch, who had commanded that Sirius be sent to Azkaban without trial. He'd mistreated his house elf, and he'd sent his own son away to prison for life.

Sirius seemed convinced that Crouch was a strong suspect, although Harry himself wasn't so sure.

Both Steven and Amethyst warned them not to talk about Crouch in Winky's presence; she still became distraught whenever anyone mentioned him, and was adamant that she wouldn't reveal any of the Crouch family secrets, even to her new master.

Harry was thrilled in any case that Sirius was here. Being able to visit his godfather, and having him so close to the school was a godsend.

Sirius warned him, however, against coming by too often. People noticed changes in behavior patterns, and if he suddenly started visiting the temple every day, especially without Steven or Hermione someone was sure to notice.

They agreed on a schedule; he and Steven and Hermione would meet at the temple twice a week, which was better than the alternative. If Sirius had been living in a cave somewhere he might hardly have gotten to meet with him at all.

At least this cave had running water. A full bathroom had been put in because Steven still had human needs, even if the gems didn't.

The letters began arriving for Hermione almost immediately after Rita Skeeter's article in Weekly came out. The article had portrayed her as a temptress, toying with both the hearts of Harry and Steven. It had talked about fusion as some sort of perversion that she'd seduced Steven into in an effort to gain his power for herself.

In general, it made her look like a gold digger who was hungry for power.

There were twenty letters on the first day, and Hermione winced after seeing the content of the first letter.

Glancing over her shoulder, Harry fought to conceal his shock. He didn't even know what some of the words the witch who'd written Hermione meant, but it was clear that she did. She flushed and quickly stuffed the paper back into the envelope.

The second letter was even more creative in excoriating Hermione.

"It doesn't mean anything," Harry told Hermione quickly. "None of them know you or me or Steven."

"They're all the same," Hermione said, opening one letter after another. She had a look in her eye, like she was hoping to find at least one letter to reaffirm her faith in people.

"Some people believe everything they read," Harry said. "But that doesn't mean everything written is right."

Hermione flushed an even deeper red. She'd believed everything in books for the longest time and it had only been recently that she'd started to realize that history was written by the victors.

"Ouch," she said, as she opened yet another piece of mail.

A yellowish substance leaked from the letter onto her hand, and her exclamation of irritation turned into one of pain.

Her hand began swelling horribly, growing boils.

Harry gingerly handled the envelope.

"It's undiluted bubotuber pus," he said, sniffing carefully. "You'd better get to the hospital wing."

Hermione nodded grimly as she tried to wipe the remaining pus off her rapidly swelling hand.

Those letters were only the first of an ever growing mass of letters, hate mail send to Hermione day after day.

Each passing day saw Hermione's expression grow more and more stormy, until she finally admitted that she was going to find some way to make Rita Skeeter pay for what she'd done, not just to Hermione, but to Steven and Harry as well.

What scared Harry was that she was close to Amethyst, Pearl and Peridot. Between the three of them, and with Sirius, a former Marauder to provide ideas, there was no telling what form her vengeance might take.

Whatever it was, it was likely that it would be epic.