February 1995

"Ah, Miss Granger, Mr Weasley," Dumbledore greeted. "I trust you know why you're here."

Ron shook his head, but Hermione nodded. "We're hostages, aren't we?"

"Hostages?" Ron repeated blankly.

"Beth told us about the riddle," Hermione said. "While you're searching, ponder this: we've taken what you'll sorely miss. We all thought it meant material possessions."

"Too easy apparently," the Hufflepuff said dryly. "I don't think I qualify, but apparently Potter can't be at the bottom of the Lake and compete at the same time."

"So why am I here?" Ron asked. "I mean, obviously Mione's Beth's hostage, but …"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Actually, we were hoping that you would be Miss Potter's hostage."

"Hermione's been closer to Beth than I have this year," Ron said.

Hermione frowned. "So you want me to be Viktor's? That feels a bit presumptuous."

Dumbledore inclined his head to her. "That is very true, Miss Granger. However, with Mr Krum's family in Bulgaria, and any other important person unavailable, you are the only option."

"Not the only option," Karkaroff said sharply. "We can get Karina here quickly."

Hermione flinched, knowing that Viktor and Karina had kept their relationship a secret from most people so she could avoid the media spotlight. "Let's say I do do it. What exactly does this entail?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "I will, with your permission, of course, put you in an enchanted sleep, from which you will only awaken after the task and once you have broken the surface."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Will there be any lasting effects?"

"None to worry about," Madame Maxime answered. "I would not allow young Gabrielle to participate if zere were."

Gabrielle must have been Fleur's sister, and Hermione had to concede that point. She knew from Fleur that her father occupied some position quite high in the French Ministry - they wouldn't have risked an international incident.

Well, Bagman might have, but she didn't think the rest of the organisers were quite so … enthusiastic.

Hermione glanced at Ron, who was looking thoughtful. She couldn't honestly say she was entirely comfortable with the situation - it seemed horribly unfair on Fred for a start.

But the other option was Karina, and she had a feeling Karkaroff wouldn't give her the choice she had. "Alright, I'm in."

"Me too," Ron agreed.

"Wonderful," Dumbledore beamed. "Just take a seat with Mr Shacklebolt and Miss Delacour while we wait for Professor Snape to arrive with the potion."

Hermione took a seat next to Gabrielle and felt the young girl shift closer to her, shaking almost unnoticeably. "Tu va bien?"

The girl started, but gave her a weak smile, chattering away in French so quickly that Hermione couldn't quite catch everything, but she understood enough to know that the girl was scared - Veela magic was rooted in fire and air, not water.

Hermione tucked an arm around her and tried to reassure her, telling her that Fleur would not let anything happen to her, and that the other champions would protect her as well.

There was a knock at the door and Snape entered with a steaming bottle, which he decanted into four glasses.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and they soared over to float in front of each of the four hostages.

Shacklebolt drank his first, swiftly falling unconscious and sagging against the side of the sofa. Ron moved to sit on Hermione's other side, bracing himself against the other arm, before lifting his glass to her in a toast. "So you've got a softer landing," he said. "Cheers!"

As he gulped down the potion, with the same results, Hermione raised an eyebrow. "That was actually sweet of him. Will wonders never cease?"

To her surprise, Madame Maxime chuckled, and she spared the woman a smile, before turning to Gabrielle. "Après toi."

Gabrielle took a deep breath, and swallowed the potion in one gulp, falling sideways into Hermione.

Hermione lifted the potion to her lips, glancing into the corner as Lily appeared, smiling at her.

"It's safe. James took a look at the potion over Snape's shoulder - he got an Exceeds Expectations in his NEWTs, and he always had a flair for spotting poisons - he got extra marks in his Auror exams."

Hermione nodded ever so slightly and downed the potion, letting herself- and Gabrielle - fall against Ron's chest.

When Hermione opened her eyes again, the first thing she became aware of was the piercing cold surrounding her body.

Interestingly, the cold hit her before the wet did. There was a pair of strong arms around her waist and, as her other senses returned, bringing the Black Lake and the cheering crowds on the bank into sharp relief, she looked around and nearly screamed.

Apparently Viktor had risen to the challenge by Transfiguring himself into a shark, except only his head had changed.

Thankfully, her mind was too fast for her, and she trod water until he had reversed the spell.

"Are you alright?" He asked when his head was his own again. "I am so sorry you got dragged into this."

"Not your fault," Hermione said, swimming back to the shore beside him. "I could have said no."

Fred was hovering beside Madam Pomfrey, his face so white that his hair made it look like his head was on fire. He helped pull her up on to the bank, and Madam Pomfrey wrapped them both in blankets, ushering them to sit down with Pepper-Up Potion and hot chocolate."

Fred hugged her tightly. "What the hell happened? You weren't supposed to be out there."

"No, she vas not," Viktor agreed.

"It was me or Karina. What happened down there?" Hermione asked urgently, drying her hair with a towel. She could see James and Lily hovering by the edge of the lake, glancing over at her every few seconds, both worried just as much about her, but unwilling to leave their current posts.

Percy - apparently still filling in for Barty Crouch - was pacing up and down a few metres away from them, and she realised with a jolt that Bethany and Ron must still be under the lake.

"Vell, from vhat I saw, Potter used Gillyveed and Diggory used the Bubblehead Charm," Viktor told her, glancing over her head. "It looks like he beat us back."

Hermione followed his gaze to see Cedric pacing up and down, clearly just as worried as she was that Bethany had not yet returned.

"Fleur used the Bubblehead Charm as well," Viktor continued. "But her hostage vas still there and she is back."

Hermione looked towards the lake again, seeing Fleur being restrained by Madame Maxime, fighting tooth and nail to get back to the water. Her arms were covered in angry red scratches. "Poor girl. Looks like she got caught by the Grindylows."

"I only just escaped them," Viktor said. "How did Potter get past them so easily?"

Hermione smiled wryly. "Third year Defence teacher covered every single magical creature that could possibly be considered 'dark'. And Beth happens to be the top of the class in that subject." She cast another anxious glance at the lake. "Is she still down there?"

Viktor nodded. "She beat me down there and had Veasley free, but it looked like she vas vaiting for something."

Hermione groaned, suspicions proven correct. "I told her! I told her not to be a hero!"

"It's okay," Fred said, rubbing her shoulder. "She'll be okay. She'll be okay."

"My parents vere vondering if you vould like to visit Bulgaria this summer," Viktor said, changing the subject. "Do not give me that look." He added to Fred

Hermione elbowed Fred in the ribs. "Be nice."

"My mother is friends vith the Transfiguration professor at Durmstrang, who is friends vith your Professor McGonagall. Mother vants to offer you a summer apprenticeship. Karina vould like to meet you as vell."

The mention of his girlfriend caused Fred to relax at little, and Hermione pressed a light kiss to his jaw.

"I'm flattered Professor McGonagall thinks that highly of me."

"Of course she does," Fred said immediately. "You're brilliant, you know that."

Hermione blushed. "It would be an amazing experience, but I don't know what I'm doing this summer yet. I don't even know where I'm going to …"

She broke off abruptly as Lily screamed from the lakeside, and the crowd roared. Her head screamed in pain, and she grabbed Fred's arm with a grimace, almost losing her balance even though she was seated.

Fred tucked her head into his shoulder and she heard him saying something about migraines to Viktor. She took deep breaths, taking in his comforting scent, trying to dim the pain in her head.

When it finally subsided, she lifted her head to focus on the lake, where Bethany, Ron and Gabrielle had resurfaced.

The two Gryffindors exchanged a few words, before they seized Gabrielle under the arms and swam with her towards the bank.

Cedric sprinted over to meet them, and Percy, to Hermione's surprise, actually waded out into the water, his face just as pale as Fred's, and pulled Ron the rest of the way, much to his youngest brother's embarrassment.

"You haff a vater-beetle in your hair," Viktor said quietly, explaining the soft tug as he pulled it out.

"Thanks," Hermione said absently.

Fleur had finally managed to break free and grabbed her sister in a hug, sobbing unashamedly, while Cedric helped Bethany on to the bank.

Hermione cursed, seeing how pale Bethany looked.

"What?" Fred asked.

"Beth only had enough Gillyweed for an hour," Hermione whispered, glancing at the huge clock that had been conjured over the stands. Even if the start of the task had been delayed, Bethany was at least ten minutes outside the time frame.

Cedric half-carried her over to the medical tent, where Madam Pomfrey wrapped her firmly in a towel and blanket, before leaving to collect Fleur and Gabrielle, and to rescue Ron from Percy's clutches.

As soon as Bethany was close enough, Hermione hugged her tightly - well, as tightly as she could while wrapped in a thick woollen blanket. "Beth, are you alright?"

"Are you alright?" Bethany responded, shivering slightly.

"I was in a potion-induced sleep, Beth," Hermione said, pushing the Pepper-Up Potion towards her lips. "Drink it."

"Thank you," Lily whispered, as close to Bethany as she could get.

"What happened?" Cedric asked urgently. "You got there before I did."

Bethany didn't answer, drinking the potion. Only once her ears had stopped smoking, did Hermione say, wearily, "You took the song seriously, didn't you."

Bethany turned very red. "Okay, first of all, I'd like to see you think logically in that situation." She paused. "Scratch that - you'd probably manage it. For those of us without super-human brains, it's not so easy."

Hermione smiled a little, while Fred sniggered beside her. "Second of all?"

Bethany didn't answer for a second. "She's just a kid."

"If that Gillyweed had worn off any earlier …" Hermione began.

"But it didn't," Bethany interrupted. "So it's fine."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "But it did wear off before you reached the surface, didn't it?"

"Maybe a little bit," Bethany mumbled.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey returned with Ron, Fleur and Gabrielle, who threw herself into Hermione's arms for a hug.

"'Ermione, zank you for comforting 'er last night," Fleur said sincerely. "She was just telling me about eet."

"It was nothing," Hermione insisted.

Fleur waved Madam Pomfrey away. "Look after Gabi please." She turned to Bethany. "You saved 'er. Even zough she was not your 'hostage."

"She's just a kid," Bethany repeated.

Fleur swooped down, kissed Bethany twice on each cheek, and turned to Ron. "And you too. You 'elped."

Ron looked hopeful. "Yeah! Yeah I did!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as Fleur kissed his cheeks too, and pulled Gabrielle over to a chair fussing over her.

"And how, exactly, did you do that, Ron? By snoring at her?"

The tips of Ron's ears turned red, but Ludo Bagman's voice suddenly boomed across the lake, making them all jump and summoning the champions back to the lakeside.

Hermione shifted closer to Fred, tuning out the announcements. "I didn't want Karkaroff to force Karina into it."

"I get it," Fred said, not quite looking at her.

Hermione sighed, placing a hand on his face to guide his gaze back to her. "I'm not interested in him. He's not interested in me."

Fred kissed her. "Sorry. I'm being …"

"It's okay," Hermione said softly. "I get it."

Friday morning saw Hermione running to the infirmary, her right hand burning with pain.

The day before, a scathing article had appeared in Witch Weekly entitled 'Viktor Krum's Secret Heartache'.

It had accused Hermione - a 'plain but ambitious' Muggle-born - of using a love potion to trap the Quidditch star, and then playing him off against a member of a 'prominent British pureblood family'.

It was not how Hermione had wanted her relationship with Fred to go public, but it was easily ignorable.

That morning, however, the backlash had arrived.

Hermione had been inundated by a swam of very nasty letters, including one filled with undiluted Bubotuber pus. It had burst all over her, and she had immediately run to see Madam Pomfrey.

Within a few minutes of arrival, Hermione was tucked into a hospital bed, her hand soaking in a Cleansing Potion, while Madam Pomfrey wrote an angry report for McGonagall to file with the aurors, muttering about useless mail wards.

But the worst was yet to come.

As Hermione began to compose herself, a horribly familiar owl flew through the window and crash-landed by her feet, dropping a red envelope on her bed.

Madam Pomfrey rose to her feet, but she was too late. The envelope burst open and Molly Weasley's voice filled the room.

Hermione shrank back against the pillows, stunned into silence, as her boyfriend's mother screamed at her, berating her for leading Fred on, for being so heartless, for spitting in the face of their hospitality.

A red beam of light suddenly shot across the room and hit the Howler, making it explode into tiny pieces.

Hermione looked over to see Fred standing in the doorway, his wand still raised, his face as furious as she had ever seen it.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Madam Pomfrey said into the silence.

Hermione burst into tears.

Fred rushed to her side, sitting beside her on the hospital bed, pulling her into his arms.

"Mr Weasley …" Madam Pomfrey began.

Fred glared at her. "I am not leaving her."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "No, I dare say you're not. I was going to ask you to take your shoes off. You're dirtying the sheets."

"Oh." Fred kicked off his shoes and lay down beside her, letting her sob into his chest while he gingerly held her arm up so the Cleansing Potion could do its work.

"I'll write you a note," the Healer continued, "excuse you both from morning classes."

"Thank you," Fred murmured. "Do you happen to have a Dicta-Quill I can borrow?"

Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. "That depends. Are you planning on sending a Howler?"

"Do you have Howler-paper?" Fred asked.

"No."

"Then no." Fred sighed. "I do need to write to Mum though. I'm so … I mean it's one thing to believe these things about complete strangers, but not someone she knows as well as Mya."

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway, and Hermione glanced up to see Viktor hovering.

"I vanted to come and apologise."

"It's not your fault," Fred said, before Hermione could. "Skeeter's a really nasty piece of work."

"Still, I did not intend for this kind of reaction," Viktor said, gesturing to Hermione. "I will send a statement to the papers and explain. Karina vill understand."

"I thought she wanted it to stay private though," Hermione said.

"I vill not be giving them her name," Viktor said simply. "Just that there is a girl I love in Bulgaria, and that you are a good friend who has been keeping me company. And that I do not believe this love potion … rubbish."

"Thank you," Hermione sniffled.

Madam Pomfrey returned with the quill and some parchment, gently shooing Viktor out and drawing the curtains around Hermione's bed.

"Right." Somewhat clumsily, since he clearly did not want to let go of her, Fred loaded the quill and placed it on the parchment. "Mother - I regret to inform you that someone has impersonated your voice to send a Howler to Hermione. At least, I assume that's what happened, because I know that you would never believe the words of Rita fucking Skeeter over someone you know as well as Hermione. But just in case you do believe it, let me set the story straight. Viktor Krum has a girlfriend in Bulgaria. He also has a lot of crazy fans here. He asked Hermione to accompany him to the Yule Ball so he could avoid them. She volunteered as the hostage for the second task, because there was no one else in the country. He did invite her to Bulgaria, but only because his mother has offered her a summer apprenticeship. There is absolutely nothing going on there, and if there was, love potions certainly wouldn't be responsible."

He glanced down at Hermione, his gaze softening. "As for me, well, there aren't any love potions here either. Hermione and I are together, yes, but not because she's playing some game, but because we genuinely care about each other."

His eyes hardened, and he glared at the parchment again. "So I suggest you get out your Howler paper again and send her an apology, because I will not stand for my mother treating the woman I love like this. Finite."

The quill fell still.

Hermione blinked. "The woman you what?"

Fred faltered. "The … oh." He grimaced. "Okay, so I wasn't planning on telling you like this. I was going to tell you Valentine's Day but I chickened out, and …" He sighed again. "Sorry, I wanted it to be special."

Hermione smiled softly, tears still in her eyes but now for a very different reason. "It's always going to be special. Tell me now, and if you want you can do a romantic version later."

Fred grinned, kissing her forehead. "I love you, Mya."

Hermione nestled against him. "I love you too."

The following day, Hermione's hands had healed just enough for her to be allowed to Hogsmeade, and she was trying not to think about it, or the Howler - the sun was shining, the sky was blue (although the February winds still howled through the streets), and she was strolling through the village with Ginny, Ron and Bethany to meet Sirius.

Fred hadn't wanted to leave her side, but she had talked him out of it - even though he knew Sirius was innocent, she wasn't ready for a 'meet the parents', and neither was he.

"So I found some stuff out a few weeks ago," she began quietly, and the other three pressed in closer. "I'm not Muggle-born. My mother's a witch. Padfoot used to look after me so often I used to call him Dad. And your parents were looking after my the night they were attacked."

She could sense the other's shock, but she didn't stop walking, continuing towards the end of the road.

"How?" Ron asked. "How'd you know, I mean."

"Mum placed a Memory Charm," Hermione answered. "It started breaking. I'm a Natural so my memory's brilliant. I remember being there. Jade and Padfoot confirmed it."

Bethany grabbed her arm, but stayed in pace with her. "You mean we should have been sisters?"

"We are sisters," Hermione said, giving her a one-armed hug. "And, as your sister, I need to ask about your boyfriend. He knows you went with him to the Ball, but that's all."

"Cedric knows where I'm going," Bethany admitted. "I mean, technically I haven't told him, but he knows. He's not ready to meet him, you know?"

"Probably a good idea," Hermione admitted. "He was a bit overprotective about it in the first place. I haven't even mentioned Fred."

"My brother will be heartbroken," Ginny said dryly.