Albus looked at Harry somberly, as though he wasn't surprised and had merely waited for the news as calmly as one waited for an owl. Fudge however rushed over, only seeing two TriWizard Champions and some extremely unsavory large man, who happened to be tied to Harry Potter.

"What? What did he say? What's happened?" Fudge asked loudly, trying to hear over the crowd.

Hermione squeezed her brother's hand in the firm support that he needed, even as his arm was being chaffed by the rope.

"Voldemort is back and he – he –" Harry tried to tell the Minister, but for some reason he started to choke on his words as his vision started to blur.

"Sweet Merlin – Diggory! Dumbledore, Diggory is dead!" Fudge yelled, turning the crowd into hysterics.

"He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! DEAD!"

Hermione ended her disillusionment and surprised those surrounding.

"OH! Get off him, girl! Can't you see he's dead! You perverse monster!" Fudge yelled at the curly haired witch, "How dare you try to desecrate his body!"

Hermione looked at the minister incredulously. Her hair was as crazed as the situation and curls and frizz was sticking up every which way. Her face was pale and her pupils were dilated, her adrenaline was still high.

"Excuse you!" she shouted, sitting up straight, which did not help her situation as it pressed her bum directly on Cedric's face. Her face flushed as she realized what she just did and with as much pride as she had left, she removed herself from the older boy's face. The witch brought her broken wrist close to her chest as she reached over and grabbed her wand.

She cleared her throat, "As I was saying. I am not a perverse monster, thank you, Minister Fudge. And he is not dead," she finished with a glare.

"He is deathly pale and he's not breathing, do you think I'm daft girl!?" he shouted at the young witch.

Hermione glowered at the wizard, refusing to openly admit that she did indeed think he was a daft fool.

"Finite Incantatem," she said, with a large display with her wand.

Immediately Cedric's chest started to rise and fall with deep breaths. He was still unconscious, but he was very much alive.

"They'll need to go to the hospital wing immediately!" Fudge yelled, neglecting to apologize entirely to the witch.

"He's ill, he's injured, she's injured – Dumbledore I must insist!" Fudge continued to talk loudly as the crowd continued to rise in their hysterics. Witches were wailing over the news that the prefect was deceased that was spreading like wildfire.

With the situation no longer a life or death moment, Harry started to shut down from shock. Hermione looked over concerned for her brother, but decided to let his mind handle the excessive stimuli the only way it could think of. He had just dueled one of the darkest wizards of their time, he had just thought he'd seen his classmate die, a madman was resurrected, he saw his parents for the first time since infancy that wasn't a photograph, and there was now a monster back and ready to start where he'd left off. They were at war.

"Harry stay here," Dumbledore instructed, completely ignoring his bushy haired friend… relative… whatever she was, was not of consequence, Harry was important not her.

Barty was on his last dose of polyjuice potion as he walked over as quickly as he could. He had felt the burn of the Dark Mark, it felt like a white hot poker stick being pressed into his skin, all the while his blood turned ice cold. The war was back, He was back. The only way to kill him was for him to be alive, so he hoped beyond all hope that he was doing something right and he wouldn't live to regret it.

He saw his pupil and she looked back at him. Even though he was sure that she hadn't suffered a round of the torture curse, considering that she was alive, the witch still looked like she had been put through the wringer. She obviously suffered a heavy physical injury with the way she was cradling her wrist, but seeing who she brought back with her, well…

He spun the magical blue eye and checked her down carefully, relieved that at least she was alright. There were no signs of dark magic anywhere on her person and for that he was grateful for. He had sent her into one of the pits of hell, into a circle of scared Death Eaters, and she came back unmolested. She even brought evidence with her, something they hadn't talked about, smart lass.

He stopped by next to the witch he had grown so fond of, but had to keep his distance. He was about to be revealed to the masses as alive and an escapee. At least he wouldn't be the only one who was surprisingly not dead this night, and both were marked Death Eaters.

The wizard was impersonating Mad-Eye however and had to play the role of an insanely paranoid retired top auror. He untied his pupil's ropes, impressed by the tightness of them, and recast them on Pettigrew. It would be a shame if the rat found a way to escape again, at least this time he was unconscious. Yet, so was the other Champion…

"Reneverate," he incanted, reviving the young Hufflepuff.

Cedric groaned, moving his hands to his chest to feel his heartbeat. He had seen his life flash before his eyes in the venomous green that was the Unforgivable Avada Kedavra. There was nothing he could do to stop it, he was so caught off guard. Cedric was sure he was dead, but he felt his heart beating, his body ached terribly, and the crowd around him was going wild.

"Diggory, get up and show your fans that you're alive," the wizard growled.

Cedric looked at his Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor before closing his eyes and groaning as he struggled to get up and do as he was asked. The young Hufflepuff took in his surrounding and the people around him. Minister Fudge was yelling and fussing, Headmaster Dumbledore looked a bit disappointed, Harry Potter was shaking and in a serious state of shock, and Harry's … cousin? She was there too, but she looked like she had been to that awful place and back with them.

The hysterical crying in the crowds quickly turned into cheers. Amos was running as quickly as he could to check on his boy.

Barty looked at Granger… Hermione, he looked at his pupil Hermione Granger and she looked back at him with a trust that almost made him cry.

"Miss Granger, you seem to be in walking shape. You can make your own way to the hospital wing, I'll take Potter, he's in no condition and looked like he'll be dead weight until Poppy can take care of him," he said.

"Yes, sir," she said with a deep breath, relieved that he was alright for now.

"It's all right, lad, I've got you… come on… hospital wing"

"Dumbledore said stay," Harry replied around his tears, his scar was pounding and made him want to start retching again as his vision started getting blurrier.

"You need to lie down… Come on now…"

Hermione watched as her professor dragged her brother away, knowing he was going to play his part to the end. She watched as people shouted at the two of them, mostly at her professor who was still disguised as Professor Moody. She knew it was Professor Barty Crouch Jr, by the way he licked his upper lip when he was nervous. The witch looked over to see the minister's reaction now that Cedric was alive, if disoriented.

"Diggory! You're alive, boy!" The Minister yelped as the boy swayed on his feet.

"Yes, sir. Somehow…" he said, and he looked at Hermione through the corner of his eye. He would figure it out later, because his magic was telling him that she was important to him now.

"Cedric! Cedric!"

The Hufflepuff turned as his father bowled into him, hugging him almost as tightly as the bind that was on his chest felt. He hugged his father back however, crying, not knowing until now how afraid of death he really was. He treated the tournament as a joke, a way to fame, and a way to get money. He never thought about the consequences since there were always a few people around to help if things looked like they were really getting bad. There were always safety checks in place, even though half of them did Harry almost no good. Cedric thought he was ready to be a man, a wizard of age, and facing death the way he did… he wasn't ready. He was ashamed and felt so much regret for not telling his family that he loved them as often as he could.

"I love you, Dad," he said, muffled into his dad's neck.

"I love you do, Cedric, I love you too," his father replied, hugging him tighter.

Hermione watched the scene with a small part of detachment. She was sure that she should be having a reaction like that, but for some reason… she didn't find that she wanted one. She had already expressed to her parents that she was going to war. She told them that she loved them and they reciprocated through actions, words, and support. They even got their own owl.

Speaking of family, the Dursleys weren't far behind from Amos, and Snape was there with them. Yet instead of the shadow that he had been for most of the day, he was once again his regular imposing self. His presence was definite as soon as he walked in the area, he looked taller, stronger, and his eyes looked colder.

"Headmaster, Minister, I see you have found a living dead man," he said clearly.

Even without raising his voice the two were able to hear him with an astounding clarity.

"What do you mean by that, Snape?" Fudge sniped.

Severus however sneered in return before explaining himself, "That large man over there, happens to be Peter Pettigrew. A man long thought deceased."

The minister paled at the potions master's words.

"Pettigrew, but I thought Black killed him?" he said in a harsh whisper.

"Indeed we all did, Minister. However he is there and… wheezing as it. Obviously quite amongst the living," Severus said.

He noticed that Granger had two wands in her wand hand, even as she cradled her broken wrist. The dark wizard bent down to be at her eye level, knowing that she had probably gotten herself mixed up in whatever crazy mess this turned out to be.

"Miss Granger, I see that you've injured yourself," he said with a smaller sneer.

Hermione pursed her lips at her professor, "Yes, sir."

"Let me see your wrist, Miss Granger. I doubt we'll have time for you to see Madam Pomfrey with such important things going about," he instructed smoothly.

Hermione bit her lip quickly thinking about the possible repercussions and hesitatingly stretched out her broken wrist towards the dark potions master. Severus gently grasped it with feather light touches, which caused the witch to flush at contact. His fingers were calloused from constant use, but they were extremely warm and the light touch, while slightly painful was also embarrassingly pleasurable.

Severus handled Granger's broken wrist as one would an injured wild animal. Her wrist was so thin and fragile, he could have easily mistaken it for a small bird. It was a clean break so he would be able to do what he could here and then give her a potion later to speed up the healing process, but for now he would be able to set it back properly.

"Brace yourself, Miss Granger," he said softly.

He gave her a few seconds before he swished his wand over her wrist, softly muttering a healing spell he had invented for broken bones years ago. It hurt, but it would help with the healing process, and be fine on its own until the injured was able to see a real doctor or healer.

Hermione hissed at the pain she had braced for and was pleased that it didn't hurt as much as the cruciatus. Compared to that spell however, a lot of things didn't hurt as badly. Being put under the spell as often as she had been had given her a higher tolerance for pain. She would be more than sure to have Thimi give Harry one of her special potions to help with the aftereffects.

The witch and wizard looked over and saw that the Minister and Headmaster were looking over the captive with a fine comb. For all of his years, Albus could be a poor actor at times. He didn't seem as surprised to see the rat animagus as he should have been. It also wasn't something they could simply cover up considering there were a few hundred witnesses and a large amount of them were foreign.

While they could have claimed that most of the students at Hogwarts were probably seeing something else, they couldn't claim that for two other esteemed schools in the wizarding community. They would simply have to go with the best truth they were willing to give, either way would see Sirius Black free. Albus wasn't sure how much of a wrench that would be in his plans, more so since he did not do his best to get the estranged pureblood out of the hellhole that was Azkaban.

Severus stood up to his full height thinking quickly and carefully, knowing that Albus knew that the Dark Lord had already called his faithful followers. He only hoped he would be able to get out of the next meeting alive by claiming that he was trying to keep his cover to remain useful to the cause. He would be able to dredge up memories of him being cruel to Potter to help support his case, while also being able to give a large mass of truth of how he helped Slytherin win the house cup through excellence, cultivating the purebloods to be the best as they were the best. Such information like this would be sure to please the mad man, new and fresh recruits that were of equal intelligence to their purity would hopefully be a fine way to keep his sorry arse alive.

"How do we know if it's really him though?" Fudge hissed, he was grasping at straws.

Severus looked Granger directly in the eye, something he had been avoiding for most of the term now, and something he wished he continued to do. He was looking for silent permission to take hold of the wand that was so obviously the rat's even if it would give Black a new lease on life, but instead almost found himself drifting in a calm river. He stared into hazel eyes that were more gold than brown now with the flecks of green that he had seen in other eyes before… they were mesmerizing, and infused with such emotion he could spend hours trying to decipher it. They weren't kind and they weren't scared, they were soft, but hard with a steely determination, it was an odd combo for sure and he loved a good puzzle.

"Miss Granger, his wand," Severus said instead, holding his hand out for the important piece of wood.

Hermione looked into her professor's eyes, almost as though she was trying to reach out to him, begging him to read her mind, pulling him in, while finding herself distracted by his own dark orbs that seemed darker than the death eaters' cloaks. Yet the witch still heard the wizard and pressed the offending wand into his hand, hard, as though trying to impress in him the importance of the wand.

Severus nodded, understanding her insistence.

"Minister, I seem to have found Pettigrew's wand," he purred, "Surely Mr. Ollivander would be able to confirm if it is really his or not?"

Fudge felt as though Snape had placed a hot spotlight on him, and it wasn't a place he was ready to be just yet. However he also saw the slim silver rope that the potions master had given him. He wouldn't have to verify whether the shady looking man was Peter at all, he would be able to have Ollivander do it in his place! All he had to do was have the old wandmaker look at his wand, hoping that he had sold it to him, as nearly all Hogwarts students and alumni had their wands made by him. If he remembered the wand, as he did all his wands, it would be a simple case that he wouldn't have to go deep in. He would even be able to force the brute into taking the max dosage of veritaserum to admit if it was really him or not.

"Of course, Snape. We will get to the bottom of this!" He tried to say as confidently as possible.

Albus watched the interaction between the minister and his potions master. He was staring at the backstabber while trying to see if it would be possible to disguise him as someone else, but with his wand as proof it was a dead end. He had to have Black as thankful to him as possible, being a free man made that harder than it did hiding a fugitive.

"Where is Harry?" Albus asked, now assuming that Cornelius Fudge had chosen his course of action. The Headmaster was positive that the minister would see him about the final decision, as he was Chief Mugwump, and decided to move on to more pressing matters.

He had deliberately stated that he wanted the boy to stay. So whoever moved the boy against his explicit orders was surely not one of his men.

"He went with Professor Moody, Headmaster," Hermione answered.

She too had a part to play and wished it wasn't her that was sending her professor back to a place that he almost died.

"Alastor Moody would not move him if I insisted it, Miss Granger. I'm afraid that's not Moody at all," he said sharply, "Severus where would he have taken the boy?"

"I'm not sure, Headmaster. We were of the opinion that he was to be taken to the hospital wing, but that may be false now."

"We must find him!" Albus said harshly.

"We can call Minerva, she knows what the boy smells like. I'm certain she can track him," Severus replied.

Barty had Harry retell the story, asking questions like one of the Dark Lord's mad followers. He kept insisting things, ignoring the foe glasses as best as he could. The old man and him had planned on it. The grizzled wizard tried to talk him out of it, to find a way that would keep him from going back to Azkaban, but Barty knew there would be no other way to convince the Dark Lord that he was true and loyal to the cause.

Even as he rambled at his pupil's best friend, he didn't feel nearly as emotional as he did for her, and he had been trying to help the boy out as much as possible. However it wasn't the boy who tried to look for extra lessons on how to survive, even though he was a natural. He had the chance to learn from a top auror and never looked as it being an opportunity to learn things he would never be able to learn from another regular DADA professor. Granger did though, she sought him out and got her private lessons. She was the one who was brave enough, bold enough, to ask for extra lessons with the terrifying paranoid retired auror.

She was the one who was brave enough to train to become a warrior… He was glad that he was able to see her one more time. She was fine for the most part, she was strong and able, he did his part, he helped. He only hoped that he helped enough.

Barty continued to play the mad death eater, going on about conquering The-Boy-Who-Lived. He was simply going to stun him if they didn't arrive soon, but he was planning on being stopped 'just in time', keeping a half eye on the foe glasses.

"Stupefy!"

Albus stood in the doorway with his wand pointed at the imposter Moody, knowing without a doubt that his spell hit. He had known that he used excessive force, he was a strong wizard. So it wasn't entirely called for to knock him back a few feet with a stunner. However it was someone who didn't listen to him, and they had to be taught a lesson.

He was radiating power, knowing that it would impress the young boy. Harry would be easier to handle if he felt safe with him. It was imperative that the boy listen to him now that the war was upon them.

Minerva walked around him and ushered the boy to the hospital wing. Dumbledore stopped her, and with some feeble protests she understood that Harry had to see what they were up against.

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest truth potion you have and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."

Both witch and wizard left to follow their orders, leaving The-Boy-Who-Lived, the Headmaster, and the Moody imposter alone.