Discussions and allusions to child abuse

January 1995

It took nearly a month for the excitement of the Yule Ball to fade away completely.

Ron apologised profusely the day after, and Bethany and Hermione had forgiven him but warned him that he was on his last chance.

Whatever George had said to him seemed to have worked, however, and he appeared to have undergone a personality transport. His emotional range was still about the size of the average teaspoon, but he seemed more tactful now.

The first time Fred had kissed Hermione in front of him, he had pulled a face, but - amazingly - kept his mouth shut.

In that, Ron handled it better than Ginny had.

Cho - to everyone's surprise - had said nothing derogatory to anyone - on the contrary, she had been exceptionally friendly to Bethany ever since, something that made Bethany very uneasy, despite Hermione being fairly certain she wasn't up to anything.

Yet.

Maybe the older girl had just figured that Cedric would tire of Bethany sooner or later and, when that happened, it would be better for her to have taken the high road.

With classes started up again, Bethany barely had time to see Cedric, just quick hellos in the hall and brief goodnight kisses.

Rita Skeeter did not appear to have caught on, thankfully, but she had caught wind of something else.

Ron and Ginny, while walking through the rose garden during the Yule Ball, had accidentally overheard Hagrid confessing to Madam Maxime that he was half-giant through his mother.

How, exactly, Rita Skeeter had over heard as well, since both siblings swore she was nowhere near them, was a mystery, but that didn't change the impact of the article.

Hagrid was still on a temporary leave from teaching.

"You want to be careful, Hermione," Bethany said, flipping through her textbook. "Skeeter's a nasty piece of work. You'll be next."

Hermione had overheard Rita plotting her next 'big story' in Hogsmeade and lashed out at her about ruining people's lives. She was adamant that the woman had to be using illegal methods to get her information, especially since she had been banned from the grounds for months, since the Weighing of the Wands ceremony.

"Oh, she doesn't scare me," Hermione scoffed. "I can't think of a single piece of dirt she could drag up aside from my you-know-what, and we haven't mentioned that since she appeared - and that's the way it's going to stay," she added sternly.

Ginny sighed, closing her own book and glaring at the golden egg beside Bethany as thought it had offended her. "Beth, I don't suppose Jess had another dream telling you what the second task is, did she?"

Bethany laughed. "No. I'd have told you if she …"

"Bethany!" Hermione interrupted. "Did you write to Mandy and Arabella and tell them about the dream? You promised you would at the World Cup, remember?"

"Bugger," Bethany muttered under her breath. "No, I completely forgot."

Hermione sighed, pulling a piece of parchment towards her and quickly writing a letter. "Have you at least been writing to Jess?"

Her eyes had flickered to the right before she asked, so Bethany assumed it was one of her parents who had asked. "Twice a week." She sighed. "Maybe I should just take Cedric's advice."

The other three ceased all activity, staring at him.

"Beth," Ginny said slowly, "did Cedric tell you something?"

Bethany turned a little red. "He suggested I take a bath with it. Gave me the password for the Prefects' bathroom."

"A bath?" Hermione repeated.

Bethany knew that look. "What do you know?"

"Well, nothing yet," Hermione said. "But … sound travels differently in water. What sounds like wailing out of water may well make sense under it."

"So you think I should go for it?" Bethany asked. "In the Prefects' bathroom?"

"It's probably easiest," Hermione said. "Either that, or you go and stick your head in the lake."

Bethany looked out the window at the grey skies and howling winds, and shuddered. "No thanks."

"You've got the Cloak and the Map," Ron added. "You shouldn't get caught. Best do it after-hours as well, so you definitely have privacy."

"Good idea," Hermione agreed.

Bethany gave a mock gasp. "Has the world gone mad?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up."

So Bethany found herself that evening on the fifth floor under the Invisibility Cloak with the egg tucked under her arm.

It wasn't the easiest thing to carry, and she had to juggle it and the Map several times to keep an eye on who was around her.

It was after curfew, but teachers and Prefects were still on their patrols.

Just as she reached the door Cedric had indicated, something on the Map caught her attention.

Cedric was on patrol in the next corridor over - and he was about to enter the same corridor she was in.

Bethany held her breath. Cedric would never get her in trouble, but she could either keep quiet and let him carry on with his patrols, or …

As he rounded the corner, she whispered the password and the door clicked open. She slipped inside and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around her in awe.

It was worth becoming Prefect for this bathroom alone, she decided.

The door clicked behind her.

"You're out past curfew."

Bethany could hear the smile in his voice. "You're the one who told me to do this."

"Not after-hours, I didn't." Cedric slipped his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to her neck. "I assumed you'd do it during the day."

"I wanted to make sure I had privacy," Bethany said.

Cedric chuckled. "Then why did you wait until I was in sight of the door before opening it?"

Bethany turned a little red. "I've missed you."

Cedric loosened his hold so she could turn in his arms to face him. "I've missed you too. Things have been a bit crazy." His eyes fell on the parchment she'd set down on the bench next to the egg. "What's this?"

"Oh, that's the Marauders' Map," Bethany said. "My dad and his friends made it at school, and then Fred and George nicked it out of Filch's office in first year. They gave it to me last year."

Cedric examined it closely. "This is amazing! How did they do this?"

Bethany shrugged. "No idea." She tapped it with her wand. "Mischief managed."

The ink faded away to nothing and she plucked the now blank parchment out of his hand to fold it up.

"Amazing," Cedric repeated. "So you knew I was on patrol?"

Bethany's blush deepened. "Not until I was outside, no."

He dipped his head to kiss her properly. "Do you want me to leave?"

Bethany faltered. The answer was no - she didn't want him to leave - but she also needed to have a bath.

Which would involve getting undressed.

"Maybe I should have suggested a swimsuit," Cedric said, seeing her expression.

"Wouldn't have mattered," Bethany said. "I don't have one."

"What if I show you how to Transfigure one?" Cedric asked. "You can turn your - ah - underthings waterproof."

The fact that he was turning a little red made her feel a lot more comfortable. She took a moment to remember what underwear she was wearing and decided it was no more revealing or inappropriate than a bathing suit (although she had a feeling the Magical World didn't have bikinis - not in Britain, anyway).

"Okay, turn around," she said. "And I'll tell you when I need the spell."

For some reason, undressing in front of him seemed a much bigger deal than him just … seeing her.

"Alright, I'll start the bath while you do."

'Bath' was a bit of an understatement - it was more of a swimming pool sunken in the middle of the floor.

Going swimming together wasn't a weird or inappropriate thing to do.

Even if it was in a bathroom.

Also she might feel a bit self-conscious about him seeing her in a swimsuit, but she would see him too, and that was worth it.

She folded her robes and uniform on to the bench beside the Golden Egg, and then turned around so her back was to him.

"Okay."

The intake of breath behind her would have made her blush, except she suddenly remembered that there would be something showing that no one else had seen.

Not even Jess had seen.

Vernon had been smart enough to wait until she could dress herself, so she wouldn't see anything.

There were soft footsteps, and then warm fingers were tracing one of the scars down her back. "What happened?"

For a second, Bethany considered lying, and then the tremble in his voice registered with her. "I burned dinner."

"You burned dinner," Cedric repeated flatly.

"Or I didn't finish the laundry. Or my uncle was just reminded I existed." Bethany sighed. "I couldn't tell you exactly what triggered all of them. Most of them have healed."

"Most of them have …" Cedric trailed off, wrapping his arms around her waist once more. "I … How do we get you out?"

Bethany choked out a laugh. "We don't. I've told Professor Dumbledore so many times. It's the safest place for me, apparently."

"Safe?!" Cedric repeated. "He calls this safe?!"

"It didn't happen this summer," Bethany said. "I've got a mass-murderer for a godfather and they're scared of him."

"But it happened the summer before," Cedric said, not really asking.

Bethany shuddered. "That was a bad summer. I don't want to talk about it."

It wasn't as bad as it could have been, since she ran away after what happened with Aunt Marge. The summer before on the other hand - that had been close.

If Ron and the twins hadn't come to get her, she genuinely wasn't sure if she would have survived until September.

Cedric pressed another kiss to her neck. "If you ever want to …"

Bethany smiled, covering his hands with hers. "I know where you are. What's this spell then?"

Cedric's arms disappeared and his wand tapped against her hip, Transfiguring her underwear into a single piece swimsuit in the same pale green as her dress robes.

Bethany turned to face him with a smile. "Nice touch."

Cedric smiled, almost disguising the anger still in his eyes. "Like it?"

Bethany nodded, picking up the Egg. "You joining me?"

Cedric grinned, already unbuttoning his robes. "I'm guessing you don't want me to help."

"Absolutely not," Bethany said, turning off the water.

It may have been as big as a swimming pool, but the water was the same temperature as a warm bath, and was filled with bubbles so thick that she probably could have stripped off completely without him seeing anything.

The swimsuit would come in handy in the future though.

A murmured spell caused her to glance over to see that Cedric had Transfigured his own swimming trunks.

She set the Egg on the side for the bath, and rested her chin on folded arms, watching him approach her.

He reddened a little under her gaze. "See something you like?"

Bethany smiled. "You're so pretty."

Cedric chuckled. "Thank you. I think."

The first time she had flown properly, Bethany had been surprised how many muscles ached afterwards. It would be easy to assume that Quidditch players were not necessarily fit, since they were basically 'sitting down' to play, but it involved a lot of core strength just keeping balanced.

Cedric was tall for a Seeker, but lean, with perfectly defined muscles and strong arms.

Yes, asking him to stay was definitely a good idea.

Once he was in the water as well, she turned her attention back to the Egg.

Remembering what Hermione had said, she opened it up underwater. Sure enough, the wailing sounded much different, but still made no sense

She could see Cedric looking at the ceiling and very pointedly not at her.

"Don't say a word," she warned.

Cedric shook his head. "Not even thinking about it."

Taking a deep breath, Bethany ducked her head underwater, and the strange noises turned into a song.

"Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground, and while you're searching ponder this: We've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took, but past an hour, the prospect's black - too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Bethany resurfaced with a gasp of air. "Well, that was ominous."

"It is, isn't it?" Cedric asked.

Bethany listened to the song a few more times to make sure she had it right, and then set the Egg on the side again. "Okay … so … it's something that lives underwater, clearly, if it can't sing above the ground. And … if we have to go down there, that would be the Lake, I assume, because it's the largest body of water at Hogwarts." She pulled a face. "Seems like a ridiculous idea for a task."

"Why do you say that?" Cedric asked.

"Well, that's a whole lot of people staring at the Lake for an hour," Bethany pointed out. "Not much fun for them, if we're underwater. It's not like they'll be able to see what's happening. So something's going to be taken and we have an hour to find it. But what are they …?" She trailed off.

The bubbles were thick enough to actually take her weight, so she floated for a while, gazing up at the ceiling tiles.

The Giant Squid was out, obviously - there was only one of him, and the song definitely referred to more than one creature. It wasn't going to be fish. She didn't think Grindylows could sing.

Bethany put her feet back on the bottom of the bath.

Grindylows couldn't sing because they couldn't talk.

There were two kinds of magical creatures - beasts and beings.

Beasts were animals like hippogriffs.

Beings were creatures with 'near-human intelligence', according to her Care of Magical Creatures book - a term that she hated, because she was fairly sure the goblins were certainly as intelligent as humans, if not more so.

But if the creatures singing the song could speak and had a language humans could translate, they were beings, not beasts.

And that narrowed the field.

Her eyes landed on the mosaic on the wall.

"Mermaids. Are there mermaids in the Lake?"

"It took me two hours to get there," Cedric grumbled.

Bethany grinned. "Really? The answer's on the wall."

"She was awake then as well," Cedric admitted. "Kept swimming around the tiles."

Bethany laughed at that. "So I am right then? Merpeople?"

Cedric nodded. "That wailing is what they sound like out of water."

"They've taken what we'll sorely miss," Bethany said thoughtfully. "Well, if someone puts my Firebolt at the bottom of the Lake, I won't be happy."

"I doubt they'll do that," Cedric said. He glanced up at the clock. "We have thirty minutes until someone notices I'm not on patrol."

"Will you get in trouble?" Bethany asked. "I don't want to get you into trouble."

"I won't get in trouble if no one knows," Cedric assured her, swimming towards her. "Thirty minutes."

Bethany smiled, looking up at him as he backed her into the side of the pool, those strong arms pinning her in place. "Make them count then."

The next evening, Hermione, Ron and Ginny gathered around Bethany in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room.

She had returned much later than Hermione had expected the night before, looking very flustered and with a swimsuit Hermione knew she hadn't had before.

She had begged off questions, and spent the day avoiding them, but now as the Common Room began emptying, it looked like he couldn't put it off anymore.

"Where'd the swimsuit come from?" Hermione asked first.

Bethany turned very red, her eyes flickering to Ron.

Ron sighed. "I'm going to take a slow walk around the Common Room," he said, getting up. "I don't think I want to hear this."

"Cedric Transfigured it for me," Bethany said to the fireplace.

"He was with you?" Ginny asked.

"In the bath?" Hermione added, pretending she couldn't see James covering his ears.

"Nothing happened," Bethany said hastily. "He just showed me the Transfiguration, and then I figured I might as well keep it, and then I figured out the clue and …"

"And that was it?" Hermione asked dubiously. "I wouldn't have been able to keep Fred's hands off me."

"Mione!" Ginny whined.

Hermione grinned. "Sorry, Gin. I mean, I could, because he'd back off if I told him to, but … did you?"

"I didn't really need to," Bethany said. "He's really good at not pushing and knowing where the line is. I mean, we were both wearing less than usual, but he never touched anything … not normally exposed, put it that way."

"Okay," Ron announced, returning with his hands over his ears. "Is it safe?"

"It's safe," Bethany said, tugging on his arm.

"So what does Cedric look like with his shirt off?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny!" Ron whined as the other two giggled. "Why?!"

Hermione shook her head, grinning. "Alright, be nice, Ginny. Bethany - what did you find out?"

"Well, firstly," Bethany said, "we have a mystery on our hands."

Ron and Ginny's eyes lit up, but Hermione, as intrigued as she was, groaned quietly. "Bethany, you've got enough on your plate - don't tell me you went looking for more trouble."

"I don't go looking for trouble, Mione; it finds me," Bethany said patiently. "Anyway, I was coming back from the bathroom, when I saw Crouch's name on the Map."

"Crouch?" Hermione repeated, despite her silent promise not to involve herself. "As in the judge?"

Bethany nodded. "He was in Snape's office."

"So he's too sick to come for the Tournament," Ginny said sceptically, "but he's find to visit Snape."

"That's just it," Bethany said. "Snape wasn't in his office."

"So why was Crouch there?" Ron asked.

"That's what I thought," Bethany agreed. "So I went to have a look."

"Of course you did," Hermione muttered.

"I couldn't help myself," Bethany said sheepishly.

"I don't go looking for trouble," Hermione repeated. "Except when you do." She sighed. "Go on then; what went wrong?"

Bethany blushed. "I got stuck in the trick stair."

"Bethany!" Three voices cried.

"I know," Bethany groaned. "I dropped the Egg and the Map, and the Map was too far away to wipe, and the Egg was wailing. And then Filch, Snape and Moody turned up …"

Hermione sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she felt the onset of a headache. "How many nights of detention?"

"None," Bethany answered to her surprise. "None of them noticed the Map to start with, and I was still under the Cloak. Crouch must have left by then, because Snape was saying that someone had been in his office - Moody's searched it in the past apparently."

"Ha!" Ron muttered.

"That doesn't surprise me," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Moody's so paranoid, I wouldn't be surprised if he searched all the teachers' offices."

"But then Moody said something about spots not coming off," Bethany continued, "and Snape grabbed his left arm like he was in pain."

Ginny looked perplexed. "What's that all about?"

"I was hoping you might have an idea," Bethany said.

Hermione shook her head. "Pass. You said 'to start with' - did they see the Map?"

"Well, Moody can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Bethany reminded her, "so he knew I was there. He pointed out the Map, because he thought Snape had dropped it, so I signalled that it was mine and he Summoned it before Snape could see it."

"But Snape's seen the Map before," Ron said. "He must have guessed you were there."

"He did," Bethany said. "Moody insisted there was no one else there, got the Egg back from Filch, and sent them on their way."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"But that's not all." Bethany leaned in and lowered her voice. "I asked Moody why Crouch would want to poke around Snape's office, and you know what he said?"

"What?" Ron asked eagerly.

"He said that Crouch is even more obsessed with catching Dark wizards than he is," Bethany answered, her eyes glinting. "And then he said that, if there was one thing he hated, it was a Death Eater that walked free."

Ron's mouth fell open. "So Snape is a Death Eater! I knew it!"

"Ron" Hermione chided. "Even if Snape was a Death Eater, he's saved Beth's life before now, remember?"

Ron rolled his eyes, but Ginny cut him off before he could argue. "It's Crouch I'm interested in. What's he doing at the school if he's too sick to work?"

"Maybe he's just too sick to put up with Percy," Ron sniggered. "He's enough to give anyone indigestion."

Hermione frowned. "I suppose we could keep an eye on the Map, and …"

"No can do," Bethany interrupted. "I don't have the Map. Moody borrowed it."

"You gave the Marauders' Map to a teacher?!" Ron and James exclaimed, in near unison.

"I gave it to an auror," Bethany said. "Someone's trying to kill me, remember?"

"Where was this sense of self-preservation last year?" Hermione muttered.

"Look, I was just glad he didn't ask where I got it," Bethany said. "And he did cover for me."

"That's true," Ginny conceded. "So what about the Egg?"

"Well, Hermione was right," Bethany said. "Underwater, the wailing turned into a song. The gist of it is that the merpeople in the Lake are going to take something I'll sorely miss, and I have go down and rescue it. 'Past an hour, the prospect's black; too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'"

"Dramatic, aren't they?" Ginny said. "Can you swim? And how are you supposed to breathe?"

"Not really, no," Bethany said. "As for the second, that's where you three come in."

"Lily?" Hermione asked, taking the book she offered.

"Bubblehead Charm," Lily said instantly. "But it's a NEWT level spell, and I don't know whether Beth can get it in a month."

Hermione repeated this, and Bethany grimaced. "Anything else?"

"Not off the top of my head," Lily frowned. "Unless you try human Transfiguration, but I don't want you trying that until you've had more training."

"We did it," James reminded her.

"Yes, and it took us a few years," Lily said. "She's got a month. Also there's no guarantee that her Animagus form would be able to swim underwater."

"Fair," James conceded. "I can't think of anything else, but we're not walking encyclopaedias."

"Well, you're not," Lily teased. "Sorry, sweets; looks like it's good old-fashioned research."

"I can do that." Hermione reached over and tapped the book in front of Bethany. "Get to it. And don't even think about human Transfiguration."

"Wasn't planning on it," Bethany muttered, opening the book.

The other three followed her example, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, before Ron spoke up.

"I still think Snape's a Death Eater."

"I think Mione's right," Bethany said, not looking up. "Maybe Moody's just as suspicious of Snape as we are. I'm with Ginny; I want to know what Crouch was doing in his office. I wrote to Padfoot this morning, but …"

"Bethany, focus!" Hermione interrupted. "We only have until February 22nd to figure this out!"

Bethany fell silent, but only for a second. "What happens when it happens?"

Her voice was quiet, almost too quiet to hear, but the only noise in the Common Room now was that of the crackling fire, and the other three looked up, confusion painted on their expressions.

"When what happens?" Ginny asked.

Bethany fidgeted slightly. "Someone put my name in the Goblet. They did it for a reason - probably to kill me, as everyone keeps reminding me. Voldemort has something to do with it, I know he does. I can just feel it, you know, in my gut - he's getting stronger. Something bad is coming. When it gets here … What happens then?"

"Exactly what has happened every other time," Hermione said calmly, taking her hands. "Ron and I will be right there, by your side, and we will face it head-on."

"And don't think you're leaving me behind," Ginny chipped in.

Bethany looked pained. "Ron … Hermione … you don't have to …"

"Beth," Ron interrupted in a surprisingly gentle voice. "Do you remember the end of first year? You told us, if we wanted to go back, you wouldn't blame us."

Bethany frowned. "Yes, but …"

Hermione squeezed her hands. "You didn't really think that we were just talking about the Stone, did you?"

"But you don't …"

"Don't be stupid," Ron said with a smile.

"We're coming," Hermione added. "We're not going anywhere, Beth."

A tapping at the window caught their attention and Hermione dropped Bethany's hands, seeing a barn owl on the windowsill, looking thoroughly miserable in the rain.

"That's the owl I sent out," Bethany said, hurrying to open the window.

"Already?" Hermione asked, with a frown. "That was quick."

"Barn owls are the fastest post owls," Ginny said, as the owl landed on her chair, hooting dejectedly. "And the weather's hardly encouraging for a leisurely flight, is it? He probably got here as fast as he could."

Hermione took the letter Ginny handed her, checked the name on the front just to be sure, and handed it to Bethany, who opened it.

Bethany frowned. "I was expecting more advice, to be honest."

"What does it say?" Ron asked impatiently.

"Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend," Bethany read, turning the letter over just in case something else was written on the other side.

"February 25th," Ginny said, glancing at the notice board. "Do you think he's planning on flooing again?"

Hermione frowned as well. "I don't think so. It's not like the Common Room's empty on Hogsmeade weekends. It's more likely that …" she trailed off.

No, just because the owl had taken such little time to return … it was no reason to assume that Sirius was in Hogsmeade.

Surely he wouldn't be so reckless as to return to Hogsmeade, a fully Magical village, where there was a much higher chance of him being singled out for acting un-dog-like - Muggles, after all, would just assume they were seeing things.

To top it off, his form looked so much like the Grim, there was a chance of some idiot deciding he was a death omen and pitching a fit.

"Idiot," Hermione muttered.

"What was that?" Bethany asked, watching her keenly. She had come to the same conclusion, Hermione knew, and the beginnings of panic were flickering in her eyes.

"Ron," she lied. "He's been staring at that same page for the last five minutes."

Bethany chuckled, relief flashing in his expression as she bought into the misdirection. "I don't even know what we're looking for."

"What's going on?" A sleepy voice asked from the stairs.

"Unfortunately, Neville, nothing much," Ginny answered, smiling in his direction. "We didn't wake you, did we?"

"No, just woke up and noticed Ron wasn't in bed." Neville yawned and turned back to the stairs. "I'll just …"

"Nev, wait!" Bethany called, suddenly looking more alert than she had all evening. "I might need your help."

"My help?" Neville repeated disbelievingly.

Bethany nodded. "The second task - I need to retrieve something from the lake. I don't suppose you know of any plants that could help me breath underwater."

Without even thinking about it, Neville's face broke into a smile. "Gillyweed. It's native to the Mediterranean and basically turns you into a human fish for about an hour."

"An hour's all I need," Bethany said with a grin. "Any idea where I can get some?"

Neville thought for a second. "I think Professor Sprout has some. If not, the apothecary in Hogsmeade does owl orders."

"Neville, you're a life-saver," Hermione said frankly, closing the book. "I would never have thought of that in a million years."

Neville blushed. "I probably wouldn't have done, but Professor Moody lent me that book, remember? Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean."

Now it was Bethany's turn to yawn, despite the broad smile on her face. "Time to turn in, I think."

"You guys go," Hermione said, stretching. "I'm going to sit up for a bit."

The others bid her goodnight, and Hermione settled into the chair by the armchair, gazing into the fire. She had stayed up for a reason, and a few moments later there were footsteps on the staircase, and she smiled.

Fred stepped into the Common Room, his eyes lighting up when he saw her. "Well hello."

"Sorry it's a bit later than intended," Hermione said softly. "Beth needed help."

"I waited until I heard Ron go to bed," Fred said, which she already knew.

Hermione shifted in the chair so he had room to slid in beside her, slipping an arm around her waist. "Hi."

"Hi," Hermione murmured, smiling as he kissed her.

"Beth okay?" Fred asked.

"Second task," Hermione answered. "She's okay. She's got it under control."

Fred nuzzled her hair. "You okay?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "Yeah." She could feel his eyes on her. "I think."

"If you want to talk about it," Fred began.

"I can't at the moment," Hermione said honestly, because telling him about Sirius was Bethany's decision, not hers. "But thank you."