Author's note: Holy guacamole, we're 90 chapters into this story! There's still a ways to go, but I wanted to thank everyone who has been reading and commenting along the way. I doubt I would have fallen in love with this story and writing more generally if y'all hadn't been encouraging me along the journey. Thanks for following along with me!
Mewpagano - So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting!
GinnyPotter6891 - The idea of having Hagrid join Defense Club got me pretty excited, but coming up with wand elements connected to the Forbidden Forest? One of my favorite moments writing this story in a long time!
It's been fun to juxtapose Harry's successes elsewhere with his spell creation struggles. Banging his head against a brick wall isn't, but I'd hate to have him get too powerful, too quickly. He's got to earn it, which means it won't be easy.
As for Harry's assumptions, several other readers have expressed skepticism about Harry's conclusion. Guess he will hafta run the theory by Ginny in today's chapter to dig up more clues! Thanks so much for the encouraging comment and I hope you week goes really well, too!
scrappy8 - Thanks for the encouragement!
Quill will 1981 - You're not the only one interested in how Hermione is spending her free time. Harry will get to confirm his suspicions soon. As for Ron and Padma (and most of the other non Harry/Ginny relationships), I didn't have a set plan for how their relationship would progress when I began the story. I've been trying to write it in a way that makes sense for these versions of the characters and see where it takes us all. Here's to figuring it all out together as the story unfolds!
Guest - You're the second commenter to suggest that pairing as a possibility. Spoiler alert: this chapter has some answers on the subject. Thanks for commenting!
Chapter 90
When Harry quietly relayed his assumption about Hermione and Cedric into Ginny's ear at breakfast the next morning, he was not ready for her to snort milk from her nose while descending into hysterical laughter. Students from up and down the Gryffindor table eyed her curiously, and even nearby Ravenclaws cast incredulous glances in her direction. For his part, Harry couldn't see what was so funny about the idea.
It took a minute for her to regain her composure, but she eventually calmed down enough to wave her wand to clean the splattered milk from the table.
"Oh, Harry, that's too good," she wheezed, tears of mirth threatening to escape the corners of her eyes. "She is definitely not with Cedric."
Harry was willing to take Ginny at her word, even though he felt like the suspicions he'd shared with her made sense. His girlfriend waved at Hermione, who was further down the table giving Colin a few pointers about revisions for Transfiguration. Ginny signaled for her to come sit with them when she'd finished before turning back to Harry.
"She'll get a kick out of your theory, even though it's wrong!"
"How do you know?" asked Harry. He didn't doubt her, but he also wasn't certain how she could be so sure.
"For starters, because we actually talk about things," replied Ginny with a roll of her eyes. "But also because I have it on good authority that Cedric is dating someone else!"
"Really?" Harry leaned in as Ginny's sly grin made an appearance. "Who?"
"Bill told me that Cedric and Charlie have gone out three times in the last two weeks!" she enthused. "Apparently they talked some at my birthday party and owled back and forth since then. Bill said Charlie's smitten!"
"Huh! Not what I would have guessed," responded Harry with a smile. "Good for them… As long as you approve, of course?"
Ginny scoffed as she took a bite of her waffle. "In my book, nobody's good enough for Charlie. But Cedric's a decent enough bloke, so I'm not planning to hex him into oblivion. At least, not yet."
"I guess Cedric's got a thing for Seekers," offered Harry thoughtfully. "Has Charlie dated much? I don't think I remember much talk about his relationships over the years."
"Charlie didn't come out until his fifth or sixth year, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Mum's brother Gideon blazed that trail on her side of the family, and Dad's always been easygoing about stuff like that." Ginny popped a strawberry into her mouth as she contemplated years long past. "I think Charlie might've had a boyfriend or two at Hogwarts, but never anything major. I do know he never got serious enough with anyone to bring them home from Romania."
"So dating Cedric is kind of a big deal?" asked Harry.
"Let me put it this way: I'll bet Mum's already started planning the wedding." She smiled while swiping some bacon from Harry's plate, her brown eyes dancing with delight.
"But that still doesn't answer my question about Hermione."
"Well, why don't you ask her yourself?" Ginny's mischievous grin looked predatory. "Hey, Hermione! Come sit down with us. Harry has a theory that he wants to run past you!"
She elbowed Harry encouragingly in the ribs as Hermione plopped into a seat across from them. With his friend intently looking at him, Harry felt a sudden rush of color flood to his cheeks.
"Err… Well, Ginny already said I was wrong about it, so it's not that big of a deal," he hedged as he furtively glanced down at his plate.
"He was sooo confident about it when he started telling me," interjected Ginny gleefully. "Explain all the clues to her!"
Hermione looked both confused and intrigued when Harry dragged his gaze back to her. Shaking his head, he attempted to plunge forward.
"So, last night I overheard Seamus and Dean saying that… Err… Lavender mentioned some red marks that you might have been trying to conceal. On your neck." A small groan of realization escaped Hermione, accompanied by a quickly stifled laugh from Ginny. Despite their reactions, Harry continued haltingly. "So that got me thinking about who you might be, y'know, involved with…"
"You're going to love this," added Ginny, lightly smacking Harry's arm.
"At first, I was thinking Anthony since you said he asked you to Hogsmeade last term, but then I got to thinking of how it seemed like you and Cho weren't quite as friendly as last year." Hermione let out a small, breathy noise, but an animated Ginny waved her off. "I figured maybe she was upset because you might have started something up with Cedric."
Hermione's eyes went wide as saucers while Ginny descended into another fit of laughter. Soon, both were giggling at Harry, whose shoulders sagged as he felt very out of the loop.
"Oh, Harry… For someone who's had a lot of wild stories made up about you, I can't believe you'd be that quick to jump to conclusions," laughed Hermione good-naturedly.
"He had it all worked out: you were writing love letters all summer, but you were too much of a rule-follower to use secret passages to sneak him into the castle!" burst out Ginny with glee. "So you met up in secret during the Hogsmeade visit!"
"You really think I'm that much of a rule follower?" she asked incredulously, only to backtrack a moment later. "Though I suppose it wouldn't be safe in this climate to be shepherding people past all the Hogwarts protections…"
"Alright, alright. You've made your point," groused Harry, not particularly enjoying being the butt of the joke. "If not Cedric, is there someone else?"
Ginny muffled her laughter with a hand as she looked at Hermione guiltily. "I was sworn to secrecy, so I'll never tell."
Hermione heaved a sigh, her cheeks reddening. "Okay, it's not a big deal or anything. We're not even officially together…"
She cast a furtive glance over her shoulder toward the other side of the Great Hall to where Theo, Blaise, and Daphne sat amongst a few other Slytherin Defense Club members. Theo noticed her look and nudged Blaise, who met her gaze and gave a knowing smile. His brow arched up at Harry, whose dawning realization finally broke through.
"Blaise?!" sputtered Harry, looking back at the blushing Hermione in shock. "What's happening?"
"Nothing's happening!" she insisted quietly, attempting to keep their conversation less audible as a few more students shuffled into the Great Hall to eat. Ginny gave her a look of absolute incredulity in response. "Okay, something's happening, but nothing I want to be spread around the school rumor mill."
A barely awake Ron plopped down on the other side of Hermione and began loading up his plate with bacon.
"Student lounge?" asked Ginny, her eyes darting to a nearby exit. Harry nodded eagerly, suddenly very interested in Hermione's news. Ron looked much less enthusiastic about whatever plan was about to disrupt his breakfast.
"You two are as bad as Lavender…" sighed Hermione, but she began gathering breakfast onto her plate. Ginny, Harry, and Ron followed suit and soon they were walking toward the lounge. Harry filled in a concerned Ron on the basics of the conversation while they made their way through the corridors until all four were huddled on the comfortable couches and chairs of the student lounge.
"Okay, so I wasn't sure about it at first, but Ginny kept telling me that Blaise might be interested in me," began Hermione cautiously. "After she pointed it out, I started noticing little things that made me wonder."
"Remember how pleased he was about getting partnered up with her to lead the fourth years?" asked Ginny smugly. "I saw it coming for weeks!"
"He always hung around after our breakout sessions to talk," she continued, ignoring Ginny's self-satisfied look. "It was mostly about Defense Club stuff, at least at first. But that progressed into stuff about classes, our families, and what kind of things we like to do. I didn't think much of it for a while, until the Hogsmeade visit.
"I knew you three and Padma would be together for lunch, and that Parvati and Luna were going to be there, too. Then I found out about Neville and Hannah, and it just felt like it'd be a little odd to be the only person there not attached to someone." Harry tried to interject to assure her that she would have been more than welcome to join and Ron looked upset about the situation, but Hermione shushed them and rolled her eyes. "I know none of you would have minded, you've all made that abundantly clear. I just felt weird about not being able to deal with relationship stuff after all this time."
She took a long breath before she continued, drawing herself all the more upright as she spoke. "I really did love Viktor and I'll always remember what he meant to me. But that part of my life is over. Being scared of trying something because I might get hurt doesn't make sense anymore."
She gave a sad smile and Ginny reached across to squeeze her hand, even though Hermione's eyes were dry.
"I think that makes sense," admitted Harry carefully, trying to find something encouraging to say.
"So did he ask you to go to Hogsmeade together?" asked Ron.
"No, we just bumped into each other after lunch," she explained, a bit of a grin forming as she brushed her bushy hair away from her face. "We were walking and talking when the giants attacked. In the chaos of it all, I remembered the secret passage in Honeydukes, and Blaise followed me after I sent you the patronus. After he and I got the other students to safety, I was just so full of adrenaline that I wasn't thinking straight…"
Ginny snickered and added, "You're going to get a kick out of this!" as Hermione's blush returned in full force.
"Well, when the students were all back in the castle, I asked Blaise to come check the passage to make sure no stragglers had been left behind." Ginny burst out laughing in full force, only for Hermione to smack her with a pillow to smother the noise. "You're the worst! The short version is that once it was just the two of us, I just went for it and snogged the boy senseless!"
Harry wasn't sure how he'd expected her story to conclude, but this ending wouldn't have been his first guess. For his part, Ron looked absolutely gobsmacked. Ginny redoubled in laughter after seeing the boys' shocked faces.
Before the four split up to head to their classes, Hermione had to assure and reassure Harry and Ron that Blaise was being gentlemanly. Though she wasn't sure if she even wanted him to be her boyfriend, Hermione said that she was enjoying spending some time with him and that she'd see where things went. She described it as a stepping stone toward being able to be in a real relationship, which Harry didn't exactly understand but decided not to question. Her embarrassed but genuine grin and bright laughter seemed like good signs.
Ron's demeanor was a bit subdued as they left the student lounge. He did his best to be supportive but Harry thought his friend seemed a bit distracted on the way to Transfiguration. There wasn't much chance to talk about it because they almost arrived late to Professor McGonagall's class. By the time the bell rang to end class, Ron had discarded whatever mood he had been in as he slipped out of the classroom with Padma.
~RLM~
The clock on the wall of the student lounge indicated that curfew had passed almost half an hour ago, but Harry was too preoccupied to notice. Instead, he ran his fingers through Ginny's hair while he absent-mindedly scanned one of Nicolas' books. Her eyes had slipped shut with a soft smile on her face as she enjoyed resting her head on her boyfriend's lap, exhausted from a grueling quidditch practice and the piles of work her professors were heaping upon the fifth years.
She stirred gently and pressed her head against his leg, attempting to ward away the brightness of the room as she clung to sleep. Harry smiled as he glanced at the clock.
"We missed curfew again, Gin."
"No rhyming while I'm waking up," she groused, covering her head with her freckled arm. "And I don't care about curfew."
"Fair, but I'd rather not get caught and end up with detention," countered Harry, stowing the book in his bag and retrieving the Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good!"
Ginny sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes while Harry watched the lines of the map form. Most rooms were colored in from the extensive search of the castle, but he was more focused on the various dots outside of the house common rooms and dormitories.
Filch's dot was on the second floor apparently accosting two unfortunate dots Harry vaguely recognized as younger Hufflepuff students. Peeves was bouncing around the Great Hall, no doubt planning future mayhem if he wasn't actively enacting it yet. With a smirk, Harry noted that the dot corresponding to H. Granger was patrolling near the Transfiguration classroom alongside the B. Zabini dot. He shifted his gaze to give them privacy, not wanting to snoop on his friend's activity.
From the lower levels of the castle, Harry witnessed a lone dot labeled D. Malfoy quickly dart toward the dungeons. He scanned the map in the direction the dot was heading before letting out a low whistle.
"Malfoy's on the move," he whispered, pointing out the dot to Ginny as he stood up. "Looks like he's heading toward Snape down in the Potions classroom."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Ginny slyly.
"I wouldn't mind taking a quick detour if you're up for it," offered Harry. "Under the cloak?"
He withdrew the Invisibility Cloak and they huddled together beneath it as they quickly and quietly made their way downstairs. It took a few minutes more than expected, mostly due to them almost running into the Head Boy while rushing down a long corridor, but soon they were outside of the Potions classroom. The door was closed, but the cloak gave them just enough boldness to draw close enough to barely hear the frustrated voices within.
"Not only was it foolish and unlikely to succeed, but you have squandered an advantage by alerting the headmaster," spat Snape in frustration. "There was a modicum of insight within the plan which I could have aided you in molding into a viable strategy, but now-"
"This is my task, not yours!" fumed Draco. "You just want all the credit that I'll get when I do it!"
Harry could vividly picture Snape's sneer as he let out a derisive scoff. "I have served the Dark Lord since before you were born. I have no need to steal glory to win his favor. I am simply offering my assistance as a favor to your mother."
Harry could feel Ginny's breathing quicken as they strained to listen.
"The Dark Lord knows I can do it on my own. That's why he gave the task to me!"
"You know the punishments levied against those who disappoint him," hissed Snape dangerously. "Considering your father's failings, seeing the Dark Lord's displeasure fall upon her only child would be devastating to Narcissa."
"Leave my mother out of this!"
There was a long silence from the classroom, which served as notice to both eavesdroppers that they were breathing louder than caution would reasonably allow. Despite the hurried trek to the dungeons and their heightened nerves from what they'd overheard, Harry and Ginny did their best to slow their breathing and maintain silence.
"Using a cursed necklace had almost no chance of fulfilling your mission," stated Snape, his voice cold and hard. "The headmaster knew something was amiss the moment he set foot into his office and took the necessary precautions to ensure it did not contact him. Believing he would be so reckless as to grab an obviously cursed item delivered unbeknownst to him in an unmarked package was foolish to the point of incompetence."
Draco swore loudly. "I have other ideas. Better ones that will work. You'll see!"
"Insolent child! I am your best hope of succeeding, yet you refuse to see past your own blinding ambition! Do you think I have not spent years considering how best to accomplish this very task? Which of the enemy's strengths to avoid and which weaknesses to exploit? Your arrogance is astonishing!"
"Then how would you do it?" shot back Draco.
"Precisely as instructed and in the way most likely to serve our interests," Snape replied, enunciating each syllable with venom. "The duel in the Ministry of Magic has given rise to an undercurrent of willingness to stand against the Dark Lord's growing power. Many hope that Dumbledore could stem the rising tide because he was able to survive the Dark Lord's attacks until Aurors and other meddlers arrived."
"But once I finish the job, there will be no one left to stand against him!" shouted Draco defiantly, his heaving breaths audible to the interlopers outside the door.
Snape let out an exasperated scoff. "You think yourself wise but understand so little. You imagine glory if you complete this task as you imagine it, picturing yourself standing over his body as the Dark Lord praises you, elevated to a place of honor and power. But then why did he not order Crouch to simply kill the Potter boy and bring his lifeless body to the graveyard for the ritual?"
Ginny squeezed Harry's hand tightly as a bead of sweat rolled down his brow and into his eye. His heart pounded in his chest while he concentrated on the task of hearing every word.
"He wishes his enemies to die by his own hand! Even if you were to succeed, can you not see that you would have robbed the Dark Lord of the chance to finish his oldest enemy, the last foe standing between him and his rightful place? How long before our Master's appreciation turned to unyielding fury?"
Silence lingered in the air. Harry could imagine a look of scarcely controlled panic at war with unwarranted pride painted across Malfoy's face.
"Instead, imagine the reward should you present the Dark Lord with a gift he so deeply covets: the chance to finish Dumbledore, once and for all."
The eerie quiet within the room stabbed at Harry's stomach as he tried to process what he was hearing. Dumbledore trusted Snape but was not immune to making mistakes. As the headmaster had admitted, his mistakes were much bigger because of his power and knowledge. His mind reeling, Harry leaned closer to hear a response.
"If I let you help me, how do I know you won't just steal all the glory for yourself?" whispered Draco, frustration dripping from every word.
"If you think I am foolish enough to defy the Dark Lord's orders when he has assigned a task to you, by all means, disregard my offer."
It took several long moments for Draco to reply with resignation.
"I'll consider it."
"See that you do."
The door to the classroom flew open, nearly causing Harry to give their position away. He barely muffled his sharp intake of breath with his hand as Draco quickly retreated down the corridor, back toward the Slytherin common room.