Keogh

~***~

If she had to spend another hour with Draco Malfoy she was not going to be responsible for her actions. The prat should be on his knees thanking his maker that she had decided to leave her Sais at home; otherwise he would already be roasting over an open flame.

To be fair, he was trying to be charming. It was just that she couldn’t stand braggarts and his drawling, nasal voice was like nails on a chalkboard to her. Severus and Mr. Malfoy were talking amongst themselves, Lucius having suggested that the ‘children’ be allowed to become better acquainted. But she didn’t want to become better acquainted with Draco. He was a rude, annoying little snot!

“Of course, Father felt that it would be foolish to spend money on new brooms for the Slytherin team this year, considering there would not be any Quidditch played at all. Not with the…”

“Now, now, Draco. You know that is supposed to be a secret.” Lucius gave his son a stern look before turning a polite smile to Hermione. When he spoke, however, it was to Severus. “I understand your daughter finished last year top of her class again. You must be pleased.”

“Of course. Hermione is a joy to all her parents.” He always made certain to include the Grangers when talking about her family so as not to ruffle her feathers. She gave him a small, grateful smile in return. Lucius, however, did not seem impressed. She knew that he’d rather the Grangers be taken out of the equation completely, the thought of them raising a magical child abhorrent to him.

“He was a total arse when he was younger, too. Guess no one ever got the balls to beat it out of him. Knew I should have done it when I had the chance.”

The thought of Kathryn beating the crap out of Lucius Malfoy had a certain appeal. Harry’s father and godfather could’ve sold tickets. She conjured an image of her very scary birth mother in her biker boots and leather duster standing over the elegantly pale Lucius Malfoy, a foot on the back of his neck to keep his face pressed firmly to the floor of a boxing ring. Now, if only she had popcorn. Of course, Mr. Malfoy was probably one of those deviants who secretly enjoyed being dominated by a woman.

Ugh. There was a mental image that didn’t bear repeating.

Draco had started it on some new topic, the first part of which she missed entirely as she looked about. A familiar face caught her attention and a tall, handsome boy finished putting the final stake on a tent. “Cedric!” She smiled and waved as he lifted his head in response to hearing his name.

“Oh yummy!”

“Shut it!”

A shorter man, presumably Cedric’s father, looked to see what had drawn his attention and gave a friendly nod. The pair of them meandered over and Amos Diggory extended a hand to Lucius, who accepted it politely but without any real desire. “Mr. Malfoy, Professor Snape, it’s good to see you both. Glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it, Diggory. No telling when one of our teams might get this far again. Allow me to introduce my son, Draco. And this charming young lady is Professor Snape’s daughter, Hermione.”

She noted that he left off ‘Granger’, but let it slide. Mr. Diggory seemed to catch on, however. “I believe Ced’s mentioned you. He sought out an instructor near town to teach him muggle fighting arts. Says you were his inspiration for it.”

Hermione felt her cheeks color and saw Severus turned his head towards her from her peripheral vision. “It’s just something to do. Keeps me in shape.”

“Well, it’s certainly putting Cedric on his toes. He’ll be drawing scouts from all over, as lean as he’s getting.” There was an obvious note of pride in Amos’ voice as he clapped hand on his son’s shoulder. It was quite endearing.

Cedric, however, seemed a bit bashful under the praise. “I wondered why I didn’t see you with the Weasleys. We just left the whole lot of them not too long ago. Harry was with them.”

Hermione’s spirits lifted. She hadn’t seen Ron and Harry since the end of last term. She knew she had to look desperate when she turned her eyes to Severus. She saw his jaw tighten and she lowered her gaze. She knew he hated the friendship she had with them, but she wish he’d just get over it!

“I suppose it would be churlish of me not to let you catch up with your friends.” She looked back up, unable to keep from smiling. “But you are to return here to go with us to the stands.”

The thought of spending time with the Weasleys seemed distasteful to Lucius Malfoy, but he motioned to his son anyway. “Draco can escort her and ensure she returns safely.” Oh, damn. Not that!

“I can escort her.” Hermione looked over to Cedric with unfeigned gratitude. “I promise to bring her back in one piece, even, no matter how much trouble she tries to get in.” His father laughed at his cheek, but Severus gave him a nod of acceptance.

“Guess Severus got smarter in his old age. Not that he wasn’t dead clever before.”

Hermione bade farewell to the wizards and to Draco before walking off with Cedric, eventually swallowed up by the crowd. “Saving me again, I see?”

“I have a reputation of being the gallant knight to uphold. Besides, I wanted to ask you what your secret is?”

She gave a start. “I beg your pardon?”

He grinned. “How did you manage to spend all day with Draco Malfoy and he still has all his limbs attached? I would have bet you’d have amputated at least a leg by now.”

She gave a snort of surprise. “It wasn’t easy, believe me. I had to leave my favorite toys at home to keep me from temptation. All I’ve got is my wand, and I can’t use that unless I’m threatened.”

“Lucky Draco.”

They found the Weasleys, which wasn’t very hard. All they had to do was find the largest concentration of red heads and listen for Molly’s voice. The plump, motherly witch gave a shout of delight upon spying Hermione and wrapped her up into a vicious hug as soon as she was close enough. “There you are you darling girl!” Letting her go she examined Hermione with shrewd eyes. “Looking a bit gaunt, I think. Come and sit down, the both of you. I was just about to feed this army.”

A young man who Hermione recognized from last year’s newspaper clipping to be Bill Weasley smiled over at Hermione. “Good thing Snape got you a ticket. That way Mum got to come along, too. She was going to stay home so you could come with Harry and Ron.”

She was aware of Diggory sitting down beside her. “That’s awful! I wouldn’t want to make your mum miss out on this! She shouldn’t have offered if there weren’t enough tickets to go around.”

Bill waved off her concern. “Kids first. Ron’s hers and you and Harry might as well be.” He grinned at her blush before looking over to Cedric. “Fancy seeing you again. I’ve just spent a good deal of time listing to Fred and George complain about you beating them last year.”

Cedric gave a shrug. “It shouldn’t have counted. The Dementors got onto the field and disrupted the game. There should’ve been a rematch.”

“Harry said you’d say that. Hufflepuff to the core, eh?” He shrugged. “Some of the best wizards are.” He extended a hand to shake Cedric’s. “So, how did you get so lucky as to land our honorary baby sister, here?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Cedric saved me from the odious presence of Draco Malfoy. And Lucius Malfoy for that matter.”

“She was handling them quite well, but anyone could see that she was a hair’s breadth from committing murder. I didn’t think that Mrs. Weasley would appreciate it if I let her get carted off to Azkaban.”

“If who got carted off to Azkaban, Dear?” Maybe Cedric wasn’t a usual ‘dear’ to Molly, but she called all young children ‘dear’, even the ones who were of age and didn’t practically live at The Burrow. She gave plates to Hermione, Cedric and Bill. Charlie, Ginny and the twins came out of the tent carrying their own along with their father. Fred and George grumbled at the sight of their unexpected dinner guest but their stomachs won out.

“Cedric was telling me how he kept Hermione from murdering the Malfoys.”

“Why the bloody hell would you stop her from doing that?” asked Fred.

“Yeah, that would be a public service, that would,” added George.

Molly gave them a scolding look. Arthur acted as though he hadn’t heard them. The others laughed. “What’s the joke, then?” Heads craned around to look up at Harry and Ron, a bucket of water between them. Harry grinned at her. “All right there, Hermione?”

“Never better. I’ve got a sausage.” She meant the sausage that Molly was serving for dinner and didn’t understand why the older boys found that so funny.

“I’ve really got to have that talk with you one day.”

~***~

She had just about had it with Fudge and the man hadn’t said more than a sentence. The Bulgarian Minister of Magic was clearly fed up as well. Still, he recognized Harry and started babbling in his native tongue. ”No clue what he’s saying, though.”

She heard a snort in the back of her mind. “You don’t listen to a damn thing I tell you, do you? Ask someone.”

Oh. Right. Hermione trained her eyes on the magical billboard directly across from their box, but not seeing it as she stretched out tendrils, looking for a ‘teacher’. It took a few minutes, but the threads that connected the Great Majority were better than fiber optics. Soon she felt a shift in the ice water sensation that seemed an almost constant companion to her any longer, and words made sense.

“The Boy Who Lived, right here! What is he doing wasting his time around this idiot? Can’t imagine how he even made it to Minister of Magic.”

Hermione managed not to laugh. She schooled her features politely and looked to Harry. “He’s very honored to meet you, Harry.”

Her friend gave her an odd look. “Yeah, well I’m pleased to meet him, too.” He and Ron looked at one another curiously, but they both froze on shock as she turned her head back and spoke to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic in his own tongue, though slightly accented.

“Harry would like you to know that he is happy to have met you, Sir.”

Everyone in the box who was within earshot froze. Severus gave her a questioning look. Mr. Malfoy looked shocked and impressed. The Bulgarian Minister of Magic looked a bit discomfited as he realized that his previous insults were likely understood, but he relaxed when she gave him a playful smile and a wink.

Fudge cleared his throat. “You speak Bulgarian, Miss Snape?”

She turned her head sharply. “Just something I picked up.” Actually, Bogomil Dimitrov speaks Bulgarian. “And please, Minister, my legal name is still Granger.”

“Of course. Forgive me, Miss Granger. Oh, but I wish I’d known this earlier. You could have been of invaluable help to me today.”

She blushed and thought that, perhaps, she should refrain from showing off in the future. She found her seating assignment shifted at the request of the Minister so that she was seated directly behind himself and his Bulgarian counterpart, putting her close enough to act as interpreter should she be needed.

And Ireland won! She cheered along with the rest, though even she was impressed by Krum’s final move. They were getting their lunch handed to them, but he had saved his team from a humiliating defeat. It made the loss easier for his countrymen to swallow. She remained close by the Minister, mainly because he would put a hand on her shoulder ever so often and lean over to ask her to relay a message to his counterpart, as they waited for the teams to come up.

“Poor kid looks like he got the business end of a cricket bat.”

Krum did look a mess, but Hermione couldn’t help but applaud. She heard the Bulgarian Minister of Magic telling him how proud he was of their valiant effort. And they had been, truly. Ireland had taken the cup, but Bulgaria and Krum were the stars of the game.

Mr. Bagman roped her into playing interpreter for him and the Irish team as well, conveying their wishes to the Bulgarians. Krum wasn’t much of a talker, and the bloody mess on his face obscured much of his expression, but she got the strangest idea that he was starting at her. It made her a bit nervous, truthfully, and she was glad when she finally was able to shake free of her unintended duties.

“You should have known that might be a problem. I only intended for you to be able to eavesdrop, not open your mouth.”

“I’ll know better next time, then.”

She found herself leaving the stadium with Severus’ hand on her shoulder so that she wouldn’t be swallowed up by the throng. “I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that you know languages other than English, but Bulgarian?”

She gave a shrug and a nervous smile he couldn’t see with her facing away from him like she was. “Just something to do.” That sounded enough like her for him to give an amused snort.

They made their way back to Mr. Malfoy’s tent. It looked like nothing more than a high quality family sized camping tent in rip stop nylon from the outside, but inside it was the size and scope of an elegantly appointed hunting lodge. The kind that the very wealthy used for get aways and very little hunting. She’d been given a room to herself next to Severus’ and away from Draco’s. Thank Heavens.

“You know, he’s not that unattractive.”

“Physically, perhaps, but the personality ruins the effect.”

“Well, there is that.”

There was a rap on the tent door and Hermione paused halfway to her room to look about curiously as Draco opened the flap to reveal Cedric Diggory. He let the tall boy in and Hermione saw Ginny slip in behind him. The redhead looked about once before spotting her and giving a grin. Severus arched a curious brow. “To what do we owe this pleasure, Mr. Diggory?”

“Professor.” He gave a polite nod of his head and another one to Mr. Malfoy. “I just rescued Ginny from that mob she calls brothers and we were wondering if Hermione might be allowed to come out and enjoy the celebration with us. I promise to keep a close eye on her.”

Brilliant! Her eagerness must have shown on her face because Severus gave a long-suffering sigh. “See that you do, Mr. Diggory. You are to have her back in no more than four hours or you will find your return to Hogwarts most uncomfortable.”

And with that Hermione hurried forward, grabbed Ginny by her hand and ducked out into the revelry of the night. They stopped short a few feet from the tent opening for Cedric to catch up. He grinned at them both before looking around. “Ladies, let us see what the night has in store for us, shall we?”

There was music, laughter and merrymaking at every turn. Ginny shouted to her that she’d only been allowed to come out because Cedric had told Mrs. Weasley that he needed her in order to rescue Hermione from the Malfoys. Of course, Severus likely had only agreed to let her come out because Cedric had Ginny with him, so it worked out beautifully.

Cedric got them cold drinks and sweets from the Irish revelers as they explored further. The Bulgarians were celebrating as well and she caught a flash of a Bulgarian National Team uniform caught in a throng of Veela who seemed intent on ‘consoling’ the defeated players. Diggory put a hand over her eyes and turned her away when he noted that things were getting a bit too aggressive over there. Eventually they made it over to where most of the Americans were staying and found that the yanks really knew how to throw a party at the last minute. They’d conjured a dance floor with strings of lights and a makeshift stage where a band was playing. They weren’t brilliant, but they could keep in tune and offered a good beat. Ginny and Hermione laughed as Cedric did his best to dance with both of them at once. He was surprisingly athletic as he held each of them by one hand and twirled them both.

Eventually they got too tired and out of breath to continue and found a place out of the main foot traffic to sit down and cool off a bit. Cedric leaned back against the thick trunk of an old tree while Ginny and Hermione both perched upon outcropping roots sipping from cups of lemonade that tasted as though it might have been given a little something extra that they probably shouldn’t be having. “Do you suppose the twins are somewhere stirring up trouble?”

Ginny snorted. “They were still breathing when I saw them last. Mum’s furious with them at the moment.”

“What for?”

Ginny’s face broke into a grin. “They’re trying to start up a joke business. They’ve been inventing things for months and have all these tricks they’ve come up with. They tried one out one Harry’s cousin when they went to fetch him, Ton Tongue Toffee. Harry said that his tongue grew about two feet when he ate it.”

Cedric opened an eye and looked at Ginny. “That’s bad form of them. Your father working like he does to fight for Muggles and they’re pulling stunts like that?”

Hermione agreed with Cedric. “That was rather mean.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “If it were anyone else I’d agree with you, but this was Dudley we’re talking about.”

“But if he’s Harry’ cousin…” Cedric stopped at the stern frowns the girls shared. “What is it?”

Ginny glowered. Hermione shifted on her root. “Cedric, Harry’s relatives aren’t very nice to him. Their treatment borders on abuse. They made him sleep under a cupboard under their staircase until his Hogwarts letters started to arrive and they were afraid they might be watched.”

Cedric looked as though this concept was completely foreign to him. “But… he’s Harry.”

“And the Dursleys hate magic.” She gave a helpless shrug and let the conversation die off. Ginny broke the tension by poking her in the ribs and nodding her head over where a trio of girls kept glancing their way. She and Ginny shared a knowing grin and a giggle. “That again.”

Cedric looked over at the girls, who giggled and started whispering together excitedly, then back to his two companions. “What again? You can’t hear what they’re saying from here.”

Ginny looked positively evil. “We don’t have to hear them, Mr. Diggory. We’ve heard it all before.” She put the back of her hand to her forehead and hitched her voice up a notch. “He’s so handsome.”

Hermione leaned over against Ginny’s shoulder, affecting a soppish expression. “So strong and silent.”

“I don’t care if I have a bloke! I’d give anything just for one kiss!” Ginny clutched playfully at Hermione, resting her head upon her shoulder as though dealing with some painful burden. Hermione hammed it up a bit more as well, noting Cedric’s face burning scarlet.

“Oh, if only he would notice me!”

“Ginny. Hermione.” The girls looked up at him, batting their eyes in feigned innocence at the determined expression on Cedric’s face. “Run.”

With twin squeals they leapt to their feet, cups forgotten as they dashed off. Cedric was on his feet and chasing after them in an instant, his longer legs closing the distance easily and forcing them to take shelter behind a cart housing kegs of ale and pitchers of more lemonade. He feinted to one direction, tricking them into taking off in the other before they realized his strategy. Ginny just missed his outstretched hand and he caught Hermione instead who gave a laughing scream as he spun her around with a laugh that was supposed to mimic some over-the-top villain.

And then there were real screams reaching them. A loud blast sounded out, followed by more screams. The three of them looked up with everyone else and frozen in shock at what they saw.

“What the fuck is that?"

The muggle who ran this patch of earth and his family were hovering in the air, suspended by sickly green light and being misshapen and twisted by magic. Hermione felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. Her eyes fell to the figures responsible and she saw the hooded robes and skeletal masks. Inside her mind she heard Kathryn give a venomous hiss. “Them. Hermione, get out!”

Cedric seemed to be of the same mind, because he reached for Ginny, his other arm still holding Hermione to his side, and pulled them with him as they moved with the crowd. “Come on! Let’s get you out of sight!” He hurried them to the tree line, back into the protective shadows of the trunks and branches. He didn’t stop until he had found a clump of trees close together where they could lean against them and pushed the girls into a crouch behind them, hovering over them with his wand out and watching through a small gap for any signs that the might be followed.

Hermione swallowed, hugging Ginny to her tightly as she strained her ears to listen. The happy night was shattered by the growing wave of fear.

~***~

“Again.”

“I will never be caught unarmed. I will always have at least one blade and my wand on my person at all times. I will always be prepared to fight because failure to do so means death.”

“Again.”

“I said I was ‘sorry’. I was stupid! I know that!”

She was sitting on her bed in her nightgown, keeping her voice soft so she didn’t wake Severus down the hall. Her eyes burned with tears after the scolding she had received from Kathryn.

“Again!”

“I will never be caught unarmed. I will always have at least one blade and my wand on my person at all times. I will always be prepared to fight because failure to do so means death.”

“Again.”

“I’m tired! Please let me sleep!”

“You can sleep when I’m satisfied you fully comprehend. Again!”

Hermione sighed, putting her head to her knees and recited the passage again. She continued to recite it until almost dawn and her voice was horse from the effort.

~***~