Unofficial Portkey Archive

~A/N>Okay, here's the second half of their fourth year. This chapter is over 7,000 words, and it seemed to take forever to write. It's only because I'm so excited to write the next chapter; I already know exactly how I want it to progress. Just like the last chapter, this one follows the book most of the time, with my little wanderings thrown in. Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter, and happy reading!!!! :)

Harry, Ron and I were sitting on the Hogwarts Express, quietly watching the scenery pass by. It had been another rushed morning and we were tired already; Amos Diggory's head had shown up in the fireplace this morning because he needed Mr. Weasley to take care of a problem. It was something to do with a man named 'Mad-Eye' Moody. With everything that had been happening, the Ministry couldn't spare any cars that could take us to the station, so we had to take three taxis. It wasn't very much fun riding in the back seat, stuffed between my two best friends while Ron held Pig's cage and I held Crookshanks on my lap.

The compartment door opened and Seamus, Dean and Neville came and sat with us. The boys started talking about the Quidditch World Cup, so I picked up my new book of spells and started to read through it. While they were discussing Krum and how we got to see him in the top box, another pretentious voice broke the air, saying "hope you enjoyed it Weasley; I doubt your family will ever be able to afford seats like that again."

My eyes went wide as I felt fear course through me. 'It couldn't be...' I thought, almost afraid to look up. Finally I steeled my courage and looked toward the door of our compartment; there stood Draco Malfoy with his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. When he saw me looking at him, a sickening smile appeared on his face as he said "hello Granger."

I watched as Harry jumped up from his seat next to me and practically ran at Malfoy. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and spinning him around, Harry slammed him against the wall of the compartment. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What's the matter Potty? Aren't you happy to see me?" drawled Malfoy, taunting Harry. I watched as Ron, Seamus and Dean walked over to stand in front of Crabbe and Goyle so that they couldn't easily get to Malfoy.

"You didn't answer my question" said Harry, so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. "The last time I saw you, the Ministry had taken you into custody."

"You actually thought that they could keep me in custody?" asked Malfoy, looking at Harry like he was daft. "My Father had me free that same night."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing; I was attacked and the culprit was caught, but because his Father was a prominent wizard in the community, he had gotten off Scot-free. All I could do was sit frozen in my seat controlled by a combination of fear and anger. As I watched the interaction between Harry and Malfoy, Malfoy looked me straight in the eye and asked "what's the matter mudblood, didn't you like playing with me?"

Before I could respond, Harry had drawn back his fist and punched Malfoy in the face. As soon as he did that, Crabbe and Goyle tried to make their way over to their fellow Slytherin, only to be stopped by Ron, Seamus and Dean. As all hell broke loose, I had unconsciously scooted back on my seat, pressing back as much as possible against the wall. All I could see were flying fists and all I could hear was a lot of swearing; my face burned at some of the words that were being yelled.

After what seemed like forever, Malfoy had gotten away from Harry and had ran out of our compartment. Seeing their leader flee, Crabbe and Goyle quickly followed and the four boys started high-fiving and congratulating each other. I just sat where I was, feeling as if I couldn't move.

~*~

I couldn't believe that we had fought Malfoy and his goons; I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. As Ron, Dean, Seamus and I celebrated, I looked over to where Hermione was and I froze. She had pushed herself up against the wall as much as she could, and she was staring at us. Her eyes were glassed over and she looked completely scared out of her wits.

"Hermione?" I said quietly as I walked towards her. She didn't blink and she didn't look like she even saw me. I sat down next to her and gently placed my hand on her shoulder. She jumped and flinched away the minute my hand made contact with her skin. "Hermione" I said again, hoping she would snap out of it.

I looked over at the three other guys and asked "hey Ron, could you go get Hermione something to drink?" I gave him a significant look and he looked past me at Hermione, a worried expression dawning on his face. He gave me a nod and ushered the other guys out with him. When I looked back at Hermione, she was looking at me and I could tell her eyes were focused on me now. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"No" she whispered as tears pooled in her eyes. She looked so scared at that moment, so I reached out and grabbed her hand, hoping that the contact would somehow make her feel better. She looked down at our hands and quietly asked "why?"

"Why what?" I asked, trying to draw her out of her fear.

"Why do men like to hurt me?" she asked, sounding so sad.

I squeezed her hand and said "Hermione, Draco and your Dad aren't all men. Ron and I are around you all the time and we've never hurt you, have we?" When she shook her head no, I continued on. "You haven't done anything to deserve this; I don't understand how anyone could even think of harming such a great girl like you." 'Whoa, did I just say that out loud?' I thought as I saw a small smile form on her face. I watched as she swiped the tears from her eyes almost angrily.

"I hate feeling scared and helpless" she said "and how is it that Draco is even on this train? He punched me until I was unconscious, and he wasn't even held overnight by the Ministry."

"You heard him" I said, "his Father probably bought his way out." I looked her straight in the eye and said "he won't hurt you again Hermione, I promise."

~*~

We finally got to Hogwarts amidst a very strong rainstorm; everyone got soaked just running into the castle. It didn't help that Peeves the ghost was pegging everyone with water balloons as they entered either. We went to the Welcoming Feast and watched the sorting; finally Dumbledore told us we could eat and once everyone was done, he stood up to make his start of term announcements. Everything he said was the same as every other year, until he announced that the Tri-Wizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts that year. The Hall erupted in noise as everyone started talking all at once. I had read about the tournament in Hogwarts: A History, but they had stopped holding them a long time ago.

Dumbledore went on to explain that there would be two other schools coming to Hogwarts to participate and that the champions, one from each school, would be chosen at the Halloween feast. He also explained that no one under the age of seventeen would be allowed to enter; Fred and George about had a duck when they heard that. They were sixteen and wouldn't turn seventeen before Halloween; they immediately started planning on how to enter anyway. Dumbledore said the two other schools would be arriving on the thirtieth of October and that he would explain how to enter at that time.

The other big announcement of the night was that our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was Mad-Eye Moody. He had to be the strangest person that I had ever seen, and by the expressions on Ron and Harry's faces, they felt the same as I did. He had a wooden leg that made a clunking sound whenever he took a step and the strangest thing about him was that one of his eyes spun completely around in its socket. That had to be the creepiest thing I had ever seen.

The time between the welcoming feast and the thirtieth of October seemed to fly by without much incidence. The one thing that did happen was the greatest I had ever seen. Ron and Harry were trading insults with Malfoy one day and Harry had turned his back on Draco while he tried to calm Ron down and walk away. Malfoy had shot a spell at him at him when his back was turned and Mad-Eye had witnessed it. Moody got so angry that he had turned Draco into a white ferret and started bouncing him around the entrance hall of the castle. Moody kept yelling how you never attack someone when his back is turned, the entire time the ferret would bounce higher and higher, squealing the entire time. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall had came down the stairs and figured out that the ferret was a student. She made Moody change him back and chewed him out for being so reckless.

On October thirtieth, we were released from classes early so that we could put our bags in our rooms and assemble outside the castle to greet our guests. At six o'clock that night, the entire school was lined up outside, waiting for them to arrive. The first to come was Beauxbatons; they arrived in an enormous blue carriage that was being pulled by twelve giant, winged Palomino horses. Shortly after, Durmstrang arrived in a giant ship that seemed to appear from the middle of the lake.

After a feast to welcome the two visiting schools, Dumbledore presented the Goblet of Fire, which would be used to choose the champion from each school. He explained that there would be an age line drawn around the Goblet and that anyone underage that attempted to enter would 'pay an obvious price'.

Fred and George decided to try and fool the age line the morning of Halloween by taking an aging potion; when Fred put his name into the Goblet, there was a popping sound and a long white beard appeared on his face. George had put his name in immediately after Fred and had suffered the same fate. Dumbledore came in chuckling and told them to go to Madam Pomfrey to get the antidote.

That night, you could feel everyone's excitement; as soon as dinner was over, we would find out who the three champions were. Finally, the time came and the Goblet flared to life with red sparks and flames. Dumbledore had extinguished the lights in the hall so that the only light came from the floating pumpkins overhead and the Goblet of Fire. The first name flew out and Dumbledore grabbed it and announced that the champion for Durmstrang would be Viktor Krum; Ron seemed pretty excited about that. The second name flew out and Dumbledore said that Fleur Delacour would be the champion for Beauxbatons; Ron was excited about that also. Finally it was time to announce who the champion of Hogwarts would be; the entire Hall grew silent as the third name flew out of the top of the Goblet and Dumbledore announced "Cedric Diggory!"

I was hoping Angelina Johnson would be the champion for us, but I guessed that the Goblet thought otherwise. Everyone was clapping for the three champions and Dumbledore started to explain exactly when the first task would be; suddenly the Goblet flared to life once again and spit out a fourth name. Everyone in the hall sat stock-still, waiting to hear what name the Goblet would spit out when there were only supposed to be three chosen. Dumbledore read the name on the piece of paper, and then looking over the Hall with a serious expression on his face, said "Harry Potter".

~*~

I couldn't believe my ears; 'did he just announce my name?' I thought. When I looked at Ron and Hermione, they were just sitting there staring at me with their mouths open in disbelief. How could this have happened? I never put my name in the Goblet. After Dumbledore called me up to the front along with the other Champions and told me to go into the room off to the side of the hall, I walked in and saw the three other Champions standing there. They looked at me funny, as if questioning why I was there. I didn't have a chance to say anything because Dumbledore, the judges of the tournament, Professor McGonagall and Snape all walked in at that moment.

After a lot of arguing, it was decided that I would participate in the tournament along with the other three students. I was in shock as I made my way back to the Gryffindor common room; I just wanted to find Ron and Hermione; I wanted to make sure that they believed that I didn't enter my name into the Goblet. When I walked into the common room, it looked like everyone in Gryffindor was there, waiting to celebrate. I came to find out that it was everyone except my two best friends. Finally I was able to break away from the party and make my way up to my room; when I walked in I found Ron lying on his bed.

That night Ron Weasley, my best friend, accused me of putting my own name into the Goblet because I wanted the attention. I couldn't believe that he would turn on me like that; we ended up arguing and both of us went to bed extremely angry that night.

The next morning, Hermione had met me outside the portrait hole with some toast and asked if I wanted to take a walk around the lake. As we walked, she asked me if I had entered myself, and I had told her no. I was almost elated to hear her say she believed me. When I asked if she had spoken to Ron at breakfast, she said she had and that I needed to talk to him. I made it clear to her that I would not be the one to patch things up. I wouldn't admit it, but it hurt to know that my best friend believed me guilty.

I wrote to Sirius that day, telling him that I was picked as a champion and everything else that had happened the night before. He wrote me back stating that he wanted to talk to me through the floo at one o'clock in the morning. On the night I was supposed to meet him, Hagrid had asked me to meet him at his hut; he ended up showing me what the first task would entail, and it was dragons.

I made my way back to the common room for my meeting with Sirius; thankfully the common room was empty when I got there. I noticed Sirius's head floating in the flames and we talked about everything that had been happening. It felt good to have an adult I could confide in; I told Sirius about everything I had been going through and how frustrated I was that Ron had believed that I could enter myself. He was just about to tell me how to get around the dragons the next day when I heard someone coming downstairs. I told Sirius that he had better leave quickly, and when I turned around, Ron was standing on the last step. I couldn't remember the last time I had ever felt this angry at someone, especially him. I yelled at him for coming downstairs and we argued some more. I ended up storming up to my room and jumping into my bed, trying in vain to get some sleep.

The next day 'Mad-Eye' Moody called me into his office and helped me figure out that I would need to use my Firebolt in the first task the next day. Unfortunately, that would require that I perform a summoning charm, which I was horrible at. I went to Hermione and asked her if she would help coach me on how to summon my broom. She happily said she would and worked with me during every minute of free time we had that day.

The next morning I walked out to where the first task was to take place, confident in my newly acquired summoning abilities. We had stayed up into the early hours of morning, but I had finally mastered the charm. I met up with the three other Champions and Mr. Bagman, who explained the rules and had us draw, for which dragon we would get and the order we would go. I of course got the biggest, meanest dragon out of the four and I would also go last. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

When it was my turn to challenge the dragon, I walked out and summoned my Firebolt, praying that it would work. After about five seconds, I heard a sort of 'whooshing' sound and looked up. My firebolt flew to my side and hovered there, waiting for me to mount it. I flew all around the dragon, trying to get her to fly up to get me so that I could swoop down and grab the golden egg that I was supposed to get. Finally, it worked and she left her nest long enough for me to swoop in and grab the egg. I landed on the ground and went to the tent to have my arm looked at; the horntails tail had left a good size gash in my arm.

As I was in the tent, Hermione ran up to me and threw her arms around my neck, squeezing me really hard. "I was so worried about you Harry" she said, pulling back a little so that I could see her face. There were claw marks where it looked like she had dug her fingernails into her skin. I smiled at her and then noticed that Ron was with her. I looked at him and he was as white as a sheet.

"Y-You could have died" he said "I'm sorry I thought you put your name in."

I looked at him for a moment and said "finally realized that, have you?" We stared each other down and when he started to open his mouth to apologize, I said "forget it."

He and Hermione stood there staring at me for a couple of minutes before Hermione launched herself at me, hugging me fiercely. "I am so proud of you" she whispered, her hot breath on my ear doing strange things to my body. I held on to her, replaying the words she had just said over in my mind. No one had ever told me they were proud of me before, and it felt great.

I ended up tying with Krum for first place and that night there was a huge party in Gryffindor tower. I sat on the couch with everyone gathered around, trying to open the golden egg from the first task. It was supposed to be a clue to the second task and when I finally opened it, there was a horrible screeching sound emitting from it. I hurriedly closed it and set it down on the table, figuring I had three months to solve the clue.

~*~

After Harry had survived the first task and made up with Ron, it seemed like things were back to normal between the three of us again. It was announced that there would be a Yule Ball during Christmas break and it seemed like all of the girls started to go crazy. They immediately started talking about getting a dress, how they would do their hair and who they wanted to go with. I sat in the library one day wondering who I would like to ask me to go and I was surprised when the only person I thought I would be comfortable with would be Harry. I knew there wasn't a chance of him asking me; he had been staring at Cho Chang a lot lately. I figured he would probably ask her to go with him.

While I sat thinking about all of this, I didn't notice that Viktor Krum had walked up next to me. He had cleared his throat to get my attention and had actually asked me to go with him to the Ball. I faltered for a moment, my thoughts lingering on Harry, but my doubts about him came rushing back and I accepted Viktor's invitation.

I was slightly surprised when Ron asked me to go with him a couple of days later. I could tell I was a last resort, and I noticed he became angry when I told him I already had a date. When he asked me who it was, I decided he didn't need to know and told him so, which made him even more mad.

After that, everyone was trying to get me to tell them who I was going with, but I never told anyone, not even Harry. I had been right about Cho Chang; Harry had asked her to be his date and she had said that she had already told Cedric she would go with him. I had felt strange when Harry told Ron and I that he had asked Cho, but I decided not to think about it; there were too many other things happening at the time.

The day of the Yule Ball came and I got really dressed up; I think that was the first time that I felt remotely pretty. Viktor seemed to be a perfect gentleman, and he complimented me when I went to meet him at the doors of the Great Hall. Harry had walked up with one of the Patil twins and hadn't even recognized me as I stood next to him. I watched as recognition dawned on his face after he had stared at me for a little while. I felt myself blush as he told me how lovely I looked; his compliment seemed to mean more than the one Viktor had given me.

Ron had gotten really mad when he found out that I was Viktor's date; I didn't really want to explore the reasons why that could be because it made me uncomfortable. Ron had come with the other Patil twin and halfway through the Ball, he and Harry were both dateless; I had seen the twins flirting with some boys from Beauxbatons. Afterwards, when I had returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ron was there waiting for me and we got into one hellacious row. We didn't talk to each other for a couple of days after that.

~*~

After trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with the egg, Cedric had tipped me off that I needed to put it under water to hear the clue. He had told me to repay me for telling him in advance about the dragons being the first task. He also gave me the password to get into the Prefects bathroom so I could have some privacy while I listened to the clue. With some help from Moaning Myrtle, after I realized she was there spying on me, I figured out that the clue had to do with the lake and the Merpeople that inhabited it.

I spent two days trying to figure out how I was supposed to breathe under water, with no luck. Ron and Hermione helped me as much as they could before they were called away by McGonagall. I spent the entire night in the library and was woke up the next morning by Dobby. He had brought me some gillyweed and said that if I ate it right before going in the water, I would be able to breath under water like a fish.

When the second task started, I popped the gillyweed in my mouth and ate it as quickly as I could. When I felt the need to jump in the water so I could breath, I swam down to the bottom of the lake to see Ron, Hermione, Cho and a small eight year old girl tied up down there. I later found out the little girl was Fleur's sister. I ended up saving Ron and the little girl after Viktor saved Hermione and Cedric saved Cho. I had it in mind that if I didn't rescue them both they could possibly die; it never entered my mind that Dumbledore would never let any harm come to any of the four students in the water. I was actually awarded extra points for the extra effort, which left me tied for first with Cedric.

The four months between the second and third task seemed to fly by. I had been in contact with Sirius a couple of times; I even got to see him in the shrieking shack on one of our Hogsmead weekends. He had been hearing rumors about Voldemort's increased activity and wanted me to be on guard just in case. One day in divination I had fallen asleep and had a vision of Wormtail and Voldemort; I had woke up on the floor with my scar hurting really bad. I went to Dumbledore and let him know; he said I was to stay in the castle and not to let anyone know, not even Sirius.

The day of the final task arrived and the castle was abuzz with anticipation; we were to make our way through a maze to the center, where the Tournament Cup would be and whoever touched it first was the winner. After spending the day with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, who had come to support me in place of my relatives, it was time to make our way to the maze. I met up with Cedric, Viktor and Fleur and received our instructions from Mr. Bagman. Cedric and I would be going in first since we were tied for first place, Viktor would come next and then Fleur would be the last to enter. Mr. Bagman blew the whistle and Cedric and I entered the maze.

We ended up going separate ways and I heard the whistle blow two more times, announcing that Viktor andFleur had now entered the maze. As I walked, Cedric came barreling through the shrubbery on my right, his robes were singed and he was breathing heavily. "Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts" he said, and that was all the explanation I needed. He barreled away from me again and I continued on; suddenly I saw a Dementor floating up ahead of me. I started to feel cold, so I summoned a memory of Hermione, and produced my patronus. When it stumbled back, but didn't disappear, I knew that it was a boggart. "Ridikkulus!" I said and watched as it popped out of existence. I continued on and was faced with a golden mist that turned the world upside down, one of Hagrid's skrewts and then I heard Fleur scream. Looking for her as I made my way through the maze, I heard Cedric yell, and when I turned the corner, I heard Viktor cast the Cruciatus curse. I heard Cedric yell out in pain, and when I finally found them I pointed my wand at Viktor and said "stupefy!" Viktor fell stiffly to the ground as I helped Cedric up off of the ground. Making sure he was ok, we both went our separate ways once again, knowing we were both close to the Cup.

After walking for a little while longer and solving the riddle of the Sphinx, I looked up and saw the gleam of the cup. I started to make my way towards it when I saw someone stumble into the path ahead of me. He started for the Cup and he didn't notice the huge spider coming at him. I yelled out to him, and he dove in time to avoid it, but his wand went flying out of his hand. I started to fire spells at it, but it only made it angry and it came at me instead, picking me up with its front legs. I fought and Cedric fired spells until finally I was free and we both shouted "Stupify!" at it. Finally, the spider fell sideways, and I pulled myself up from the ground. My leg was bleeding and couldn't support me, so I leaned up against the hedges. I told Cedric to go the rest of the way and take the Cup; there was no way I could make it that far on my leg. He fought with me about it, and when all was said and done, we had both agreed to take it at the same time.

He helped me walk the rest of the way, and we counted to three and both grabbed one of the handles. Next thing we knew, we were being whisked off by a Portkey. We landed in a cemetery, completely alone. I saw a man walking towards us out of the darkness, holding a bundle of what looked to be robes. As he approached us I heard a voice say "kill the spare". Next thing I knew, the man in front of me drew his wand and used the killing curse; Cedric died immediately.

I didn't have time to process what I had just witnessed because the stranger pulled me away and took me to one of the headstones. He tied me to it and walked away to set the bundle down; next thing I knew he was dragging a cauldron over in front of me and started adding ingredients to the liquid inside of it. He took dirt from the grave under me, he cut off his own hand to put in, and then he walked over to me, slicing my arm and taking some of my blood to add to the potion. He had added whatever was in the bundle to the cauldron and suddenly a blinding white light shone from inside of it. Next thing I knew, a tall, skinny man was rising from the cauldron, and when he looked at me I knew it was Lord Voldemort.

He summoned his Death Eaters by placing a finger to the Dark Mark tattoo that was on Wormtails arm. Wormtail screamed louder than he had after he cut his hand off; Voldemort just smiled a horrific smile and waited for his faithful servants to arrive. Soon there were a series of 'pop's and there, in a broken circle, stood the Death Eaters. Voldemort spoke to them for a little while and then turned his attention back to me; he cast the Cruciatus curse on me and I felt like every cell in my body was on fire. It was so horrible, I remember wishing I would die, and then he finally lifted it, laughing at me. He turned to Wormtail and said some spell that gave him a silver metal hand in place of the one he had sacrificed for his master. He ordered Wormtail to untie me and to give my wand back to me. He said we were going to duel so he could kill me fair and square. After breaking an Imperious curse he had placed on me, trying to control me, he became angry and yelled "Avada Kedavra!" at the same time I yelled "Expelliarmus!"

The spells hit and connected our wands; a beam of golden light formed between them and we rose into the air. Suddenly, shadows started to appear out of Voldemort's wand, I almost cried out when I saw a shadow of Cedric emerge. After he and two other people formed, I saw my Mum and Dad come out of the wand, and they both spoke to me. My Dad told me that the shadows could help me escape; I was to break the connection and run for the Cup and Cedric while they tried to block Voldemort from coming after me. I did just as he said and ran for my life; Voldemort was right behind me as I skidded onto the ground, grabbed a hold of Cedric and the cup at the same time, and disappeared. I heard Voldemort yell in anger as we traveled back to Hogwarts; next thing I knew, I hit the ground face first, and there were a bunch of people running towards me.

~*~

Something had gone wrong; Dumbledore had been pacing around the maze with a worried look on his face. Next thing we know, Harry appeared out of thin air, clutching the cup in one hand and holding onto Cedric's arm with the other. Neither of them moved, they just lay on the ground, and I ran as fast as I could out of the stands and down to the field. As I got closer, I heard mumblings that Cedric was dead. 'Oh God, what if Harry is dead too?' I thought, running faster into the gathering crowd.

I couldn't get close to Harry because there were so many people rushing towards him; I saw Dumbledore talking to him and I felt a little bit better. Ron caught up to me and I explained that Harry was ok, but Cedric was dead. We started to get jostled around in the crowd, and when I looked for Harry again, he was gone.

I watched as Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape ran for the castle; I knew then that something bad was happening. I broke free from the crowd, pulling Ron with me, and headed towards the castle also. We searched all over for Harry and Professor Dumbledore, but they weren't in any of the usual places. We had found Sirius waiting in Dumbledore's office and he said that he was told that Harry would be there, but he didn't know if it would be before or after Harry went to the Hospital Ward. I decided to go to the ward and wait; Harry had to show up there sometime. Ron and I met up with his Mum and Bill, who were also waiting to see Harry, when we walked into the ward. They wanted to know if we knew what had happened; I told them what I knew and it was the same that they had been told.

About an hour later, Harry walked in with the Headmaster and Sirius in his dog form, looking exhausted. His eyes looked more haunted now than before and I watched as Mrs. Weasley rushed up to him and gave him a hug. They put him in a bed and gave him some dreamless sleep potion which put him to sleep immediately. We sat around, watching him sleep, until the doors burst open and Professor McGonagall burst in with the Minister of Magic, shouting something about him allowing a Dementor to give Crouch Jr. the Kiss. I was completely lost, as was everyone else. There was a huge row, Dumbledore came in and asked what was going on. The Minister and the Professor were both talking at once; poor Dumbledore was having a hard time sorting out what they were saying. Finally, he understood what Fudge had done and words were exchanged; it ended with Dumbledore telling Fudge that he would no longer support him if he though he and Harry were crackpots for saying that Voldemort was back. The Minister, who had woke Harry up with his yelling, basically looked at Harry and said he didn't believe him. I don't think I had ever felt more angry before in my life.

All of the adults had gathered around Dumbledore and he started giving out assignments; it almost sounded as if he were readying for a war. Once they left, Ron and I sat with Harry, who had gone back to sleep. We stayed with him throughout the night and into the next day, when he was released. The rest of term was horrible; everyone kept talking about Cedric, and Harry always looked so sad. One night I had found him in the common room at one in the morning, just sitting on the couch and staring into the fireplace.

I walked over and sat next to him, hoping he wouldn't ask me to leave, or leave himself. "Are you ok Harry?" I asked.

He turned to face me, and I knew in that instant that I had asked the wrong question. He glared at me as he angrily said "of course I'm not ok, Hermione. It's not as if I can just pretend nothing happened and go on with my life as usual!" He got up and started pacing back and forth, muttering to himself about how he wished people would leave him alone and how could I ask if he was ok. I felt horrible for upsetting him and without knowing it, tears had started falling down my cheeks.

He looked at me, and immediately his expression softened. "Merlin Hermione, I'm sorry" he said as he sat next to me. "I know you're just being a good friend; I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

I looked at him and saw the pain and sadness in his eyes; before I knew what I was doing, I reached out and placed my arms around him, hugging him to me. I held him tightly, trying to convey how I felt to him, letting him know that he was not alone. I was surprised when he held me just as tight; we sat that way for quite a while. Finally he pulled back from me and wiped the tears from my face. "I'm sorry I made you cry" he said quietly.

"It wasn't you Harry; I'm so sorry you had to go through this." I took hold of his hand and said "just know that if you ever want to talk about anything, I'm here for you, ok?" He nodded his head slightly and gave me a small smile. I leaned in slowly and placed a kiss on his cheek; "goodnight Harry" I said, and then started to make my way back to my room. When he didn't try to stop me from leaving, I turned around and smiled at him, and he said "goodnight 'Mione." That was the first time he had called me that; I kind of liked the sound of it.

It was finally time for the Leaving Feast, and I sat next to Harry, holding his hand under the table. Dumbledore had toasted the memory of Cedric and Harry for his bravery; I could see that Harry thought he didn't deserve it. I squeezed his hand for support and he looked at me, squeezing my hand back.

Finally we were back on the Hogwarts Express, heading home. Dumbledore had told Harry that he would have to go back to the Dursley's because of something to do with the protections his Mum gave him the night she died. I would be going back to the Burrow since no one had heard from my Mum yet; I was so afraid to think about what might have happened to her. As far as I knew, my Dad was still locked up for attacking me, so the Weasley's offered to put me up for the summer again.

Right before we pulled into the station, Malfoy and his cronies came into our compartment, talking bad about Cedric and Harry. Before we knew what we were doing, the three of us had pulled our wands and fired spells at them. Besides us, Fred and George had been in the hall and had heard what was said, and had also fired on them. They fell unconscious to the floor and the boys pushed them over by the next compartment and closed the door.

When the train stopped, I got up and grabbed my things. I made my way out to the group of waiting parents and noticed that Harry hadn't followed. I waited for him, and as I waited I scanned the crowd for Mrs. Weasley. I almost fainted when I saw my Mum standing there, waving at me. She was really thin and had dark shadows under her eyes, but I was so glad to see her alive and well. Harry had stepped off the train just before I had ran over to her; he followed me over to say goodbye and I kissed him on the cheek again.

Mum said she would be taking me home, so I ran over to Mrs. Weasley to let her know. I met back up with Mum and we walked out through the barrier. I saw Harry ahead of us, walking with his Uncle and pushing the cart with his trunk and Hedwig on it. We walked out into the sunlight and as I followed Mum, I had kept an eye on Harry, so I didn't notice the car I was getting into. I opened the door and slid in the front seat, expecting Mum to get behind the wheel. When I heard a door open, I looked over and noticed that she was getting into the back seat. There, to my horror, was my Dad sitting behind the steering wheel. He sat there staring at me with hate filled eyes as he said "hello Hermione. Did you miss me?"

~*~

I followed Uncle Vernon out to the car, trying to block out all of the horrid thoughts that kept going through my head. I tried to focus on Hermione, and I smiled a little when I remembered her kissing me on the cheek. She had stood by me since...well, since the last task and had been there for me, comforting me. I looked over and noticed her and her Mum walking towards their car. We had walked up to my Uncle's car and I put my stuff in the backseat. Once we were settled, Uncle Vernon made his way out of the parking lot, and when I looked over to the car Hermione had gotten into, I did a double take.

There was a man in the driver's seat; I could barely see his features, but from what I saw I figured this had to be Hermione's Dad. What was he doing out of jail? I wondered if she knew he would be picking her up, since she had happily left with her Mum. As we drove by the car, I saw Hermione's face and I got my answer. She had a look of fear on her face as she stared at her Dad and I begged my Uncle to stop the car, but he just ignored me and kept going. My mind went into overdrive; what if he hurt her and her Mum again? What if he was so mad at Hermione for sending him to jail that he attacked her again, or worse? I knew I had to get to her, and I went over all the different ways to do that on my way back to the Dursley's house. By the time we pulled into the driveway, I knew what I had to do.

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