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Madam Pomfrey and the Healers from the other schools were standing by in the roped-off section of the dock, along with their assistants, to warm and dry the rescued hostages and attend to injured Champions.
I'm tempted to signal Harry and do that myself, but that would put my wandless abilities on display for the entire crowd.
With most of them speaking amongst themselves I am much more discreet when letting Astoria down.
Hermione hangs on to the transfigured white foam life-preserver as Harry drags it to the dock, unable to keep the smile off of her face at the wild cheering.
She must have performed a warming charm herself, or had Harry do it, since she isn't shivering uncontrollably despite being completely soaked in the chill late-February air.
I'm slightly annoyed that the Healers make her climb the ladder instead of levitating her, but they have her wrapped in a large, heavy, tan-colored towel in no time.
She finds and keeps her happy chocolate eyes on mine while Madam Pomfrey asks questions directly in her ear, to which she shakes her head several times before nodding and being released.
She darts over to me and I quickly lift her into a hug and before we sneak away from at least the portion of the crowd trying to get a glimpse of Harry.
Several people follow us as well, shouting questions to Hermione. Lord Greengrass does an admirable job keeping them back.
"Sorry I'm getting you all wet," Hermione says.
I grin and push out a stream of magic, after which the water just falls away from the pair of us, leaving us both completely dry except for the water that splashed on my boots.
Astoria squeaks and jumps back towards her mother. I'm tempted to make a pregnancy joke, but I settle for another hug and saying, "that's okay."
She says something but the shouted questions drown it out, so I put up a Privacy Charm. "Thank you, William," she says again.
"We were really worried about you. You should have seen Harry...it's a good thing you weren't on the grounds by the time we went to find you, I think he would have fought Dumbledore to get you back."
She blushes at that. "And you wouldn't have?"
"Well, maybe I would have helped a bit," I say with a grin. "You know, Tripping Jinx at his back or something."
Her smile fades. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you? When I found out what was happening, I thought about your face all night."
My smile fades as well. "I suspected. But perhaps we should get back, let you answer some questions from your adoring fans."
"We'll talk later," she says, looking at me suspiciously.
Just when I'm about to drop the Privacy Charm, Hermione turns away, her now very bushy and frizzy hair catches my attention.
"Wait!" She freezes at my command, and I start digging through her hair. I remember that Skeeter was hiding there in the book, but she doesn't seem to be doing so now. Unfortunately my fingers keep getting caught in tangles.
"Ow, what are you doing?"
"Uh..." My stomach is starting to hurt from the magic I've done so far, but... "When I dried your hair, it kind of exploded into a pile of frizz. I figured the least I could do is tame it a bit."
"Oh..." Her face is well hidden but I can practically feel the blush.
I keep running my fingers through her hair, except now I'm pushing out my magic with the intent of loosening the tangles, and after half a minute I feel like I've done a respectable job.
But not having any sense of what I'm supposed to be doing, her hair ends up quite straight. Without the usual curls and kinks, her hair reaches down to her shoulder blades.
"Um, okay, I guess I'm done."
She quickly reaches back to check it and gasps, then spins around to face me, hair flaring out as she does so.
I cringe a bit. "Sorry, did I mess up?"
"H-how did you do that?"
"I dunno, is it okay? Sorry, but I didn't know how to make it look like it normally does."
Just then Lady Greengrass steps in with a handheld mirror, and suddenly I remember that we were surrounded by people watching us.
I hear Hermione gasp again just before I drop the Privacy Charm and find that most people have lost interest and it's significantly quieter.
Astoria and Ursula are together once again, standing near Astoria's mother, all of whom are looking at the two of us with curious expressions.
Her father is speaking to a few reporters, keeping them away from us. I look up at the clock to find that only five minutes have passed since she was pulled out of the water, twenty-five minutes into the competition.
"Um, do you want to go back for when Harry comes out?"
She looks up at me with shining brown eyes, and I wonder if she's nearly crying because I messed up her hair or because she likes it. "Okay," she says.
"Welcome back," Lady Greengrass says with a small smile. "Astoria told me about this Privacy Charm of yours...you are full of surprises, Mr. Lerner."
Hermione quickly recovers. "You have no idea how true that is, Lady Greengrass. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Before they and Astoria can get too far in their game of making me blush, a nearby gasp and a shout from down the dock snaps our attention back to the lake.
Harry had just downed another half handful of gillyweed and shot off toward something that had appeared on top of the relatively calm lake.
Gasps and cries of concern sound out as it becomes clear that it is a body and the water is tinted red in that direction.
I glance around and everybody seems to be watching in mute horror, making me rather angry...why the hell didn't anybody bring a broom?
I Summon Harry's, which shoots over from where he left it – well off to the left of the body. Without thinking or even looking around I hop on and race toward the body, barely registering Hermione yelling my name.
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Hey guys if u like the fanfic and want to read ahead by 27+ chapters or just want to support take a visit on my patreon.
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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