15 th November 1994
It was rare for Hermione to miscalculate, but when Dobby popped in beside her and prevented her from touching the avalanche of mail just delivered to her by a flock of owls, she was prepared to admit that perhaps she had grossly underestimated the public interest in her relationship with Harry.
"You don't need to help, Dobby," Hermione said briskly, "I'll be fine." She ignored the doubt that crept into the back of her mind as she surveyed the stack of mail.
"Lord Black is ordering Dobby to be reviewing Master Harry Potter's Grangy's mail." Dobby replied with a firmness that took her aback.
Hermione conceded. Sirius was her magical guardian and if he really thought it was best…
Neville breathed a sigh of relief as the elf popped away with the mail. "Thank Merlin. He'll make sure it's safe and get the mail that you'll want to read to you."
She bit her lip. She hadn't considered that there was danger in the mail, but then she should have done considering some of the dark looks she had received since she and Harry had turned up to the wand ceremony holding hands. Some of those looks had turned even darker between the newspaper articles the day before outright declaring Hermione's status as Harry's first girlfriend and Harry quite happily walking to all their classes holding Hermione's hand.
A blush rose as she remembered her own delight in holding Harry's hand, but more, what it truly meant about how Harry felt about her.
"Merlin!" Ron muttered. "You're thinking about Harry again, aren't you? You get the same dippy look on your face every time."
Hermione turned to glare at him. "I do not have a dippy look!"
Ron pointed his knife at her. "Yes, you do." He grimaced. "Harry's just the same."
She pushed down the urge to argue, reminding herself that the change in the trio's dynamic was hardest on Ron and that she and Harry had promised to make it easy for him. Her eyes slid to Lavender who was staring across at Ron with her own dippy look. What they needed was some way of getting Ron together with Lavender, Hermione determined. That way Ron wouldn't feel left out.
"We should make a move or we'll be late for Potions." Hermione said out loud, not revealing her other motive for moving - her want to see Harry.
Ron grumbled but he pushed the last of the toast in his mouth, brushed the crumbs from the front of his school robes and gathered his bag.
It seemed to be a signal for the rest of the fourth year Gryffindors; every single one of them abandoned the breakfast table at the same time, falling into a loose huddle of students as they made their way out of the Great Hall.
Hermione's face lit up as she spotted Harry coming down the main staircase. He walked over and took her hand without any hint of self-consciousness, instead aiming a smile at Ron and Neville as he greeted them.
"Sirius said he's put a mail redirect on you for anyone but the House of Black and your parents," Harry said, shifting his satchel with his free hand, "and that if something does get through, you should call for Dobby to take care of it."
Hermione sighed. "A mail redirect? Does he really think it's necessary?"
Harry shrugged. "I have one."
Which meant yes.
"I didn't think people would be that interested." Hermione commented. "I guess I should have realised that our dating would get some publicity."
"Some?!" snorted Ron, drawing both of their attention. "The paper was full of 'The Boy Who Lived Finds First Love' yesterday. It was sickening."
"Skeeter." Harry muttered darkly.
"It wasn't just her," Neville reminded him, "that Goose woman had a paragraph about you and Hermione in her article too."
Harry pushed his glasses up his nose. "At least Luna's Dad focused on the tournament and the wand ceremony."
"Hmmm," Hermione said, remembering the article with a frown, "I'm not certain that I entirely agree with him about the symbolism and origins of the creatures that appeared from the wands during the tests."
"A load of old nonsense if you ask me." Ron agreed as they took the corridor into the dungeons. "Mind you, mate, that flaming phoenix thing was very impressive."
"It was the most powerful symbol of all of the Champions." Neville cheerfully chimed in.
"I liked the dragonflies." Lavender said behind them. "They were very pretty not like those birds from Viktor Krum's wand."
"They were hawks!" Ron said defensively. "They were brilliant." He motioned toward Harry. "I mean, not as brilliant as Harry's but pretty decent."
"There's a debate about whether the birds that appeared from Viktor's wand were hawks or sparrows." Dean commented loudly.
Ron bristled. "They were hawks."
Hermione shot him an amused look. "Does it matter?"
"Hawks are better than sparrows." Ron retorted.
"Symbolically that's true." Lavender said supportively.
"Thank you!" Ron declared.
Lavender blushed and Hermione resolved again to do something even if the thought of playing match-maker horrified her.
They all automatically slowed as they neared the Potions lab and its locked door, shifting seamlessly into a line of waiting students.
Hermione did a tempus charm and frowned. "We're early."
"You're the one who hustled us out of breakfast." Ron reminded her, shuffling beside Harry. "I didn't even get a chance to read my letter from Charlie."
"Well, everyone was staring." Hermione admitted awkwardly.
She wasn't surprised when Harry squeezed her hand and gave a sympathetic grimace. He understood how disconcerting it was to be the focus of the whole school.
"It'll blow over." Neville predicted. "The first task is next week. Everyone will focus on that then."
"Nev's right," Ron said supportively by way of an apology, "you'll be old news in no time."
"Good grief," Draco's drawl travelled down the length of the corridor as the Slytherins stalked up from the dungeon end, "who knew Gryffindors could be this eager for Potions?"
"Morning, Draco." Harry said calmly. Hermione followed Harry and nodded a greeting at Theo as he came to stand beside Draco. The two were strangely becoming a bit of a double act although Draco's old cohorts of Crabbe and Goyle still tagged along like lost puppies.
"Mother said she'd see me at dinner on Friday?" Draco adjusted the cuff of his robes and Hermione marvelled at the flash of red and gold. A lot of the Slytherins wore Cedric's although some wore both.
"Yeah," Harry said, "Sirius is reinstituting the family dinners. Andy and Ted will be there too."
Hermione noticed the flash of discomfort that rippled through most of the waiting Slytherins and hid a smile.
Pansy suddenly appeared, pushing past Crabbe and Goyle in an attempt to wiggle into place beside Draco. "Am I late?" She said breathlessly.
"No," Draco sneered, "something you should have realised since we're all still stood outside of the lab, Parkinson."
The evident dislike didn't seem to phase Pansy who wrinkled her small upturned nose and shot a malevolent look in Hermione's direction. Hermione stiffened automatically in response.
"Rita Skeeter was interviewing me." Pansy gloated. "She wanted to know all about Granger."
All chatter in the corridor stopped abruptly.
Hermione tightened her grip on Harry as he drew away from the wall, his anger blazing out of his eyes, and gave a small shake of her head to try and prevent him from doing anything rash. He stopped as Draco shifted.
"Are you really that stupid?" Draco bit out.
Pansy tore her gaze away from Harry and looked wide-eyed at Draco's annoyed pointed features.
Hermione breathed an inward sigh of relief as Harry relaxed a touch seeing that Draco would deal with it.
"Draco…" Pansy gathered up the remnants of her courage and self-delusion and carried on. "You can't deny that you'll enjoy seeing the truth about Granger in tomorrow's paper!"
"I can deny it since your truth probably involves insulting Granger who is a member of the House of Black as am I." Draco snarled.
"Well, at least we know who to point Lord Black at when he reads all about an unnamed source at Hogwarts." Theo slipped in slyly.
Pansy paled but she remained defiant. "I stand by what I said."
"Then you won't mind coming with me this lunchtime to meet with Lord Black and inform him of your indiscretion in relation to his ward, Miss Parkinson." Snape's smooth tone had them all jumping as they took in his looming presence.
How he had sneaked up on them all was a mystery but Hermione was pleased to see him despite the pounding of her heart at his surprise entry. His words sank in and she exchanged an incredulous look with Harry and Ron who both looked as shocked as she felt at Snape's rebuke of Pansy, a Slytherin.
"Professor Snape!" Pansy squeaked out. "Sir, I don't think…"
"That much is apparent, Miss Parkinson," Snape sneered fiercely, "and it is entirely unacceptable in a Slytherin. The punishment will stand." His dark eyes roamed over the corridor and landed on Harry's hand holding Hermione's.
Hermione shifted nervously for some kind of derisive comment but Snape turned, unlocked the Potions lab with a wave of his wand, and stormed inside the room. The waiting students all hurried in after him and Harry let go of her hand as they took their usual places.
Hermione regretted the loss but she focused her mind on the potion and bundled her worries and delight about her relationship with Harry to the back of her mind.
Time moved slowly in the tense Potions lab with only the occasional sound of a beaker clinking against a cauldron or the grinding of ingredients. Snape stared impassively at the students from the front of the lab.
Hermione stirred her mixture clockwise three times and was satisfied when it turned a vibrant blue. It was almost ready for the pickled newts eyes and then…
Pansy screamed.
Hermione's head whipped round to look at the Slytherin girl's bench and went wide with horror at the pink bubbling cloud that streamed out of the cauldron and engulfed Pansy. If it came near to anyone else…
"Arrestus!" Harry snapped out.
The cauldron and pink cloud stopped as though someone had hit a pause button on a TV show. It was a potions time spell that the tutor they'd had in the Summer had taught them, Hermione realised absently as she breathed out in relief. Usually it was used to hold the potion at a perfect moment if there was a delay in getting an ingredient but it worked just as well as a stop-gap emergency measure.
Milicent, who had taken a large step back from her own cauldron, looked up at Harry, stunned. "Where's…where's your wand, Potter?"
A bright red Harry lowered his empty hand.
"Eyes back on your own potions!" Snape snapped, swooping over to banish the cauldron and dispel the cloud which released an unconscious Pansy in a thump to the floor. "Bulstrode, take Parkinson to the infirmary!"
Milicent's eyes flickered to Draco in front of her but he paid her no attention.
Hermione's eyes narrowed and she tuned out Snape's verbal disembowelling of Dean over his knife work. She could well believe that Draco was responsible. He'd thrown stuff into Harry's and Neville's cauldrons enough times for her to know he was capable of it. It was unlikely he'd done it as revenge for Pansy prattling to Skeeter though. Hermione figured he'd done it more out of his own irritation with his former sycophant.
She carefully added the pickled newt eyes, stirred five times anti-clockwise and sniffed at the smell of apples wafting up from the potion as it shifted from vibrant blue to green.
"Your time is up!" Snape stated brusquely. "Bottle your potions and submit them for marking!"
Hermione quickly ladled her potion into a vial already neatly labelled. She stoppered it and placed it carefully on Snape's bench, sneaking a look at Harry's potion (a slightly paler green than hers which meant he'd added just a tad too little of the newt eyes) and Ron's (a dark blue which meant he had been too slow at getting the newt eyes in and possibly had stirred too much before he'd added them).
The clean-up was perfunctory and within moments the Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years were spilling out into the corridor and on their way to Runes. Hermione reached for Harry's hand again and they exchanged pleased glances.
She would, Hermione thought wistfully, be very open to doing more than holding hands. Her mind drifted back to The Moment (as she had labelled it in her own head) in the classroom when she had thought he was going to kiss her, when she had wanted him to kiss her and…and instead they'd been interrupted by the Headmaster. She tried not to blush again.
There really hadn't been an opportunity to kiss since.
Both she and Harry had spent the previous day surrounded by other people, namely Ron, and there had been no privacy to sneak a kiss. And Hermione hadn't wanted to sneak a kiss. She wanted her first kiss with anyone, let alone Harry, to be special. She thought Harry felt the same and that was why he hadn't pressed her or tried to get her alone beyond wanting to keep his promise to Ron to make things easy for him. She hoped he wanted to kiss her as much as she wanted to kiss him.
Runes was always enjoyable. The fourth years had tucked into the back in their own small group from the fifth years. Hermione took her usual seat by Daphne as Harry slid in beside Anthony.
"And Rita thought you're both joined at the hip." Daphne's amused whisper had Hermione smiling as they settled into the work.
The four of them chatted about their latest Runes assignment all the way to lunch where Hermione had to stop holding hands with Harry in order to eat but she took solace in the fact that Harry was actually at the meal. She understood Sirius's dictate that Harry have breakfast and dinner in their rooms but she missed him and his conversation. Neville and Ron slid into seats beside them with a thump.
"I tell you Trelawney gets more mental every lesson." Ron complained, reaching for the platter of battered fish.
Hermione gave him a disapproving frown for not choosing the healthier options. "What was she predicting now?"
"Probably my death still." Harry muttered beside her. He pushed a chip through a puddle of ketchup.
"No, she went dizzy over some incense thing she lit and started babbling about…" Ron paused in scooping another mountain of chips onto his plate. "What was she babbling about?"
Neville swallowed the forkful of shepherd's pie he'd picked up. "Something to do with bugs?"
"She's completely buggy if you ask me." Ron dived into his food with gusto.
Neville nodded. "She was very loopy today."
"I don't know how you stand that subject." Hermione admitted. "Mind you, Luna is very complimentary about Firenze."
"Centaurs are renowned for their divination prowess." Neville agreed. "I wish he was teaching us."
"Hmnfph." Ron waved his fork expressively.
They all stared at him.
He swallowed. "Me too."
"Where are Lavender and Parvati?" asked Hermione. The two girls loved Trelawney. She didn't think Lavender's crush on Ron would have prevented her from defending her favourite teacher.
"They stayed back to comfort Trelawney." Neville explained. He nudged Harry. "What are you doing this afternoon while we're in Charms?"
Harry grinned at him. "I'm going over to Hagrid's. He's giving me a special tutorial on magical creatures."
"Well, if you survive that, the first task will be a breeze." Neville said with an answering grin.
"Luckily he can't give you a practical in some of the more dangerous creatures." Hermione said with relief because as much as she loved Hagrid, Merlin knew he had a complete lack of clarity about the danger some of the creatures posed.
Harry waved a chip at her in agreement.
"What are you doing in Charms tonight with Professor Flitwick?" Hermione changed the subject, partially because she wanted Harry to have a lunch without talking about the tournament and partially because she was dying to know what his individual lessons were like.
"Advanced Summoning Charms." Harry said with a shrug. "We covered the basic theory with the power versus magical will essay, remember? And in the Summer I managed the basic charm which you guys are doing soon, so he thinks I'll understand enough to be able to do the practical."
"I wish we were doing advanced summoning charms." Hermione mused wistfully.
"We don't have enough power though for the more serious ones, do we?" Neville argued. "I mean, according to the theories that we had to read for that essay?"
"Exactly." Hermione nodded. "Our magical power isn't mature enough. Harry's an exception."
"That's me." Harry muttered. "Although the theory is that my power is still maturing."
"Don't take this the wrong way," Neville said, "but that's quite scary."
Hermione was about to say something reassuring when Ron groaned dramatically.
"This is a load of bollocks!" Ron said loudly.
The three of them turned to look at him.
He waved a stained piece of parchment at them. "Charlie's letter. It's complete bollocks. He goes on about how he's back in the country to work but can't say on what because it's all very secret and he'll see me on the twenty-fourth although he seems more worried about telling Harry." He slapped the letter down on the table and stared at Harry suddenly pale. "You don't think…maybe, maybe Charlie has a crush on you?"
Harry's eyes widened with alarm.
A suspicion gathered in Hermione's head and she grabbed the letter, sketching a privacy bubble around the four of them.
"Oy!" Ron spluttered.
"Ron," Hermione read out loud, "just wanted to tell you and Harry – Harry is underlined – that I was back for a while for work – work is also underlined. Can't say much more about it because of all the secrecy around this particular event but suffice to say I'll see you on the twenty-fourth. Don't forget to tell Harry. Charlie."
Harry's fork clanged as he dropped it on his plate and Hermione knew that he'd reached the same conclusion she had.
"Oh Merlin!" Ron lowered his head into his hands. "He does have a crush on Harry! As if it isn't bad enough Ginny being nuts about him!"
Neville choked on his shepherd's pie.
Hermione lowered the letter and looked at Ron pityingly. "Charlie doesn't have a crush on Harry."
"Hermione, I know Harry's your boyfriend now and you don't want to think it, but you can't deny that it looks bad." Ron said, raising his head to look at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and waved the letter at him. "He's trying to tell us something, you idiot!"
"What?" demanded Ron crossly, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at her.
"Dragons." Harry managed to get the word out past pale lips and Hermione couldn't blame him; it was utterly horrifying. "He's trying to tell us he'll be here for work on the twenty-fourth for the first task. It's dragons."
"Blimey." Ron said, going white under his freckles.
Neville pushed away the remainder of his lunch. "They wouldn't seriously think about using dragons, would they?"
"They've been used before." Hermione said with a lump in her throat, sliding her hand towards Harry.
Harry tangled their fingers together on top of the table.
"Are you sure he just doesn't have a crush on Harry?" Ron asked pleadingly.
"I guess I know what Hagrid should test me on this afternoon then." Harry said, ignoring Ron.
Hermione frowned, because – yes, it was good in one way to know but if they knew then… "Isn't this cheating?"
"It's not exactly against the rules." Harry said defensively. "The teachers and Headmasters can't tell the Champions the specifics of the tasks, but there's nothing that explicitly states that someone neutral can't find out and inform the Champions." He sighed. "I think Viktor knows?"
"You do?"
"He does?"
Ron and Neville spoke at the same time.
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Actually, I think he was trying to give me the hint in our last Quidditch practice. He asked me if I'd ever seen a dragon before." He pulled a face that clearly said 'I'm an idiot.' "I thought he'd heard a rumour about that whole thing with Norbert so told him the story."
"I might have known Karkaroff would find a way around the rules." Ron snorted in disgust.
"It's not fair on Fleur or Cedric though, is it?" Hermione pointed out.
"That depends on how you view the competition." Neville said, recovering his appetite enough to reach for a slice of apple pie since the desserts had appeared. "You could take the view that information is intelligence, and an advantage."
Harry hummed. "I want a fair competition though and while I know Charlie dropping a big enough hint in a letter to Ron for me to get it isn't cheating per se…"
"It still feels like you got the information unfairly." Neville poured enough custard into his bowl to drown the pie.
"Maybe that's why Viktor tried to tell me too." Harry mused, untangling their hands as he helped himself to treacle tart. "Maybe he thought it wasn't entirely fair the way he found out and tried to tell the other Champions."
Hermione eschewed the desserts and picked up a bunch of grapes to snack on. "So what do you want to do?"
Harry sighed and swallowed some tart. "I think I'm going to talk to Viktor and see if he's actually told Fleur and Cedric already. If he has then…well, I don't need to do anything. But if he hasn't…" his lips firmed, "I'll tell them."
"I'm not sure Diggory will believe you." Ron said baldly, tucking into an enormous slice of cake.
"It doesn't matter if he does or he doesn't," Harry replied, "I'll know I did the right thing and tried to tell him."
Neville motioned with his spoon in agreement.
Hermione beamed her own approval at Harry. "So, I'll pull together everything about dragons and we'll go over it tonight after your lesson with Professor Flitwick?"
Harry agreed and changed the subject to Neville's on-going relationship with Hannah. Hermione couldn't blame him.
Dragons.
Who had thought that was a good idea, Hermione thought worriedly. Had they been part of the task before Voldemort had been given the chance to change the parameters or had he added them?
It was a thought that stayed with her after Harry had escorted her to Charms before leaving for his own lesson with Hagrid. It distracted her all through the lesson and it was a relief when the session ended. She had Arithmancy to get to and she waved a goodbye to Ron and Neville outside the classroom before heading in the opposite direction.
She'd barely got to the bottom of the staircase she needed when she heard the shout of a spell above her. She ducked but not quick enough and the spell caught her full in the face sending her sprawling backwards.
"Granger!" Daphne hurried over to her and helped her sit up as a small crowd gathered around.
"Did you see who did it?" Lisa Turpin asked.
"It came from above." Somebody else murmured. "I saw the spell light come down the stairs."
Hermione shook her head and went to answer but a strange sensation stopped her. Her hand flew to her mouth where her front teeth were growing rapidly like she was some kind of demented chipmunk. She looked at Daphne with horror.
"Infirmary." Daphne said briskly. "Come on." She pulled Hermione to her feet and supported her as her teeth continued to grow. She all but hustled Hermione into the ward and yelled for the nurse.
Hermione barely took in the sight of Pansy still out cold in one of the infirmary beds as Madame Pomfrey appeared from her office and pointed her wand straight at Hermione. Her teeth stopped growing and Hermione breathed out a small sigh of relief.
"Nasty spell that." Madame Pomfrey said. "But we'll have you fixed in a jiffy." She handed Hermione a mirror. "Just wave when you want me to stop."
Hermione saw her front teeth receding and she felt her chest seize at the realisation that she could fix her teeth. Ever since she'd grown her front teeth she'd always thought they were slightly over large despite her parents' assurance that they were fine. They weren't fine and Hermione couldn't resist the temptation to let Pomfrey continue a moment longer than she needed to, ensuring her teeth looked perfect.
"Good, good." Pomfrey did another diagnostic spell. "You've had a bit of a shock so you're excused from lessons for the rest of the day. Go back to your dorm and rest. I'll inform Professor McGonagall." She looked at Daphne suspiciously.
"Daphne wasn't responsible," Hermione said quickly, "she helped me."
"Ten points to Slytherin then." Madame Pomfrey said with a sniff. "Off you both go."
"Thank you." Hermione said to Daphne as they got out of the infirmary, but frowned when she fell into step beside her. "You don't have to walk me to the tower, you're going to be late for Arithmancy as it is."
Daphne made a dismissive clucking sound. "Potter would have my head if you weren't escorted after being attacked."
"Oh Lord." Hermione murmured with dismay. Harry was going to go nuts and…and would he reconsider them going out? She hoped not. She really hoped not. Maybe she'd have to convince him she was fine being a target; that she'd known she'd be a target agreeing to go out with him. And there was no harm done – in fact her teeth looked better than ever.
They were barely half way there when Ron and Neville barrelled around the corner and almost ran into them.
"Hermione!" Ron threw himself at her and hugged her.
"Oomph!" Hermione patted his back awkwardly. "I'm fine, Ron."
Ron swiftly shifted back and nodded. "What happened? Katie Bell said you'd been attacked on the stairs and…"
"Teeth growing spell." Daphne interrupted him sharply. "Malicious and nasty but not dangerous. Pomfrey said she's to rest up."
Neville nodded at her. "You should get to class. We'll take her from here."
Daphne brushed her hair off her face and nodded at Hermione. "See me tomorrow for the homework assignment, Granger."
"Thanks again." Hermione said. She hated to admit it but she did feel safer as Ron and Neville flanked her, Ron taking her bag over her protests that she could carry it.
"Do you have any idea who did it?" Neville asked, his entire being radiating concern.
"No," Hermione sighed heavily, "I was at the foot of the stairs, I heard a yell," she paused considering her memory for a moment, "I think it was female? Then, the spell hit me in the face and that was that."
"Well, it's not like there's a shortage of suspects." Ron stated authoritatively. "Between the Slytherins who are trying to impress You-Know-Who, Diggory's supporters, and Harry's fangirls who probably hate you…" he made a flapping gesture, "who'd you pick first?"
Hermione grimaced but she knew he was right. She felt lighter as they got to the safety of the tower. She took back her book bag in the Common Room.
"Can you find Harry and tell him before he hears it from someone else?" She pleaded. "And tell him I'm fine and I'm not changing my mind about dating him."
Neville nodded. "I think he's still at Hagrid's."
"I'll check there," Ron suggested, pushing his sleeves up his arms, "you check his and Sirius's rooms. If Harry isn't there, you can always tell Sirius."
Neville agreed and Hermione made for her dorm as they clambered back out of the portrait hole. She hated to admit it but she was feeling a bit shaky and looking forward to curling up in bed with a book for an hour before dinner to regain her equilibrium. She slowed as she entered the dorm at the tableau in front of her.
Lavender and Parvati sat on Hermione's bed, a teary Ginny between them.
"What's going on?" asked Hermione, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Lavender looked up, her pretty face completely serious as she smoothed Ginny's hair away from her tear-stained and blotchy face. "Ginny has something to tell you."
And she so had the feeling that she didn't want to hear what Ginny had to say, Hermione thought with weary gloom.
"It wasn't me!" Ginny said immediately, swiping at her face.
But Ginny knew who it was, Hermione realised. She sat down and motioned at Ron's sister. "Start talking, Ginny."
o-O-o
19 th November 1994
Cedric threw the newspaper across the dorm and buried his face in his hands.
He heard Mike (his closest friend and confidante) usher out the other three sixth year male Hufflepuffs and close the door. There was a rustle as Mike picked up the paper and read the offending article.
It was another piece by Skeeter about Potter, although most of it was about the attack on Hermoine Granger on the Tuesday before which had led to Lydia Inglebee and Ginny Weasley being given a month's worth of detentions, and the expulsion of Jessica Philpott who had been the one to cast the spell injuring Granger. Skeeter was malicious, calling Potter and Granger's new relationship fragile while questioning why the House of Black had requested the full punishment under the new Hogwarts' Anti-Bullying policy when the damage to Granger wasn't permanent and had been easily fixed. Personally, Cedric believed that if he had been in Lord Black's shoes he would have done exactly the same. If people thought they could get away with shooting nasty spells at Potter or Granger…well, some idiots would do it. This way everyone knew that the House of Black wouldn't stand for any kind of attack.
Cedric sighed as he lowered his hands and flopped back on his bed. What had upset him was his view was diametrically the opposite to the view that his father had expressed to Skeeter and which she had included in the article as a quote from the distinguished father of the Hogwarts' Champion.
Would anyone blame him if he killed his Dad? Surely by now he had grounds for justifiable homicide.
Mike sighed heavily, dropped the paper and sat on the bed next to him, patting his knee in an absent-minded but comforting gesture. "You need to talk with your Dad, Ced."
"I've sent him three letters begging him to stop talking to the press." Cedric said tersely. He wafted his hand in the general direction of where Mike had thrown the paper. "You see how much notice he takes of me. He doesn't care how it makes me feel."
His father hadn't replied to any of the letters either. He hadn't written to Cedric since his first letter telling Cedric he was proud of him for being chosen, and instructing him to seek out information on magical creatures such as dragons for the first task since the tournament always began with a task focused on them.
Cedric had ended up writing to his mother about his father's indiscreet public comments, and she had sent a disheartening reply back confirming that she had tried to talk to his father too, but that he was set on trying to get Cedric as much publicity as Potter; that it wasn't all about Cedric either because there was politics involved with the magical creature laws under review.
Cedric rubbed his head tiredly. He was damned fed up with being in the middle of his father's political machinations and trying to maintain some kind of neutrality in his dealings with Harry.
He liked Harry. There was something infinitesimally likeable about him. Harry had had no airs or graces when he'd just been 'The Boy Who Lived' and even after he'd found about being Lord Potter, while he'd acquired polish in some of his mannerisms, there were still no airs or graces in sight. And Merlin knew if anyone had earned the right to feel a touch superior with everything that had been said to have happened the last three years, it was Harry. It had felt right standing beside him on Halloween, supporting him. It had been clear that night that Harry had been scared at being entered into the tournament but he'd also been incredibly brave in accepting the binding in order to ensure the safety of the other Champions.
Cedric owed him.
And it felt wrong to drop his visible support and keep his silence because he didn't want to disagree with his father publicly, knew his father would be mad at him if he did disagree with him publicly.
Admittedly, Cedric acknowledged with a flush of shame, he had been annoyed the first day after the draw. The newspapers had focused so much on Harry's inclusion, it had been difficult not to feel slighted. He hadn't entered the competition for the publicity and glory but it was hard not to take offense at his being chosen as a Champion being treated like a footnote in the bigger story of Harry's inclusion. He'd even been proud on the second day when the paper had included a quote from his Dad saying the tournament wasn't about Harry but all the Champions. But after that…
He really didn't know why his Dad had gotten so mean in his commentary. It was one thing to point out there were other Champions, another thing entirely to suggest Harry was some kind of attention seeking nut job who wouldn't last a minute compared to the other Champions and specifically Cedric.
Cedric had been horrified. And then guilty that his own small irritation that the publicity focus was solely on Harry might have encouraged his Dad somehow. And then even more horrified when some of his supporters at Hogwarts had picked up on his Dad's comments and run with them, but stuck because how could he say that he disagreed with his Dad?
Oh, he had eventually requested that people stop bad mouthing Harry – and the discussion with Robert Ogden that had prompted his having to make that request was one of the more embarrassing moments Cedric had ever had – but he hadn't done anything else. He'd retreated, hoping that ignoring Harry would somehow make the whole problem go away.
But it hadn't and it wasn't going to go away.
"You need to do something, Ced, because you're coming off the bad guy here." Mike said quietly. "Potter's camp has been solid in supporting him but being real respectful to you, Krum and the French bird. The more your Dad denigrates him and you don't say anything…"
"I know!" Cedric cut in, lurching upwards. "I know, alright? But it's not that easy! I can't give disagree with my Dad without it hurting him politically and ruining my relationship with him." He sighed heavily. "Bugger! I only entered to make him happy!"
He hadn't wanted to enter. He'd have preferred to have remained on the Quidditch team since he'd vaguely thought he'd try out for some teams after school. Being a Tri-Wizard Champion would open doors for him but not if he came across looking like a pillock.
Mike patted his shoulder awkwardly. "Look, I know it blows, but…you don't have to do an interview or something like that just…stop ignoring Potter. Go and talk with him. Tell him the truth that your Dad's views are his views and not yours. I'm sure he'll get it."
Cedric grimaced but he couldn't argue with the advice. He couldn't continue with his current 'try to ignore it and hope it all goes away' plan since it wasn't working. "You're not wrong." He admitted. He pushed himself off the bed. "I think I'll go and fly for a bit, get my head clear."
Mike gestured at him. "You want some company?"
"No." Cedric clapped a hand over Mike's shoulder. "Thanks." He grabbed his broom and his outer cloak and was out of the Hufflepuff den before anyone could catch him. He made straight for the Quidditch pitch.
It was thankfully empty. The first three games had been played ahead of the tournament and the rest wouldn't get played until after the New Year. The weather was getting too bad for play – rain and wind making playing conditions dicey. It wasn't exactly good weather conditions for flying either. But there was a break in the rain and the wind was down to a brisk breeze.
Cedric mounted the broom and kicked off. A couple of circuits of the pitch had him warmed up and he started going through the Seeker drills that he'd always done, letting the familiarity of the shifts and turns, dips and dives blank his mind as he focused on nothing but the flight.
By the time an hour had passed, Cedric was feeling much better. His shoulders felt lighter; he could breathe. He drifted down to earth and landed with a sense of disappointment that he couldn't stay in the air.
Stupid tournament, Cedric thought morosely. He should spend the rest of the afternoon reading up on magical creatures since his and Mike's research had backed up his father's suggestion. He planned to spend the next day practicing any spells and he had plenty of volunteers for helping with that. Alright then, he determined; shower in the Prefects' Bath and then reading for the rest of the afternoon.
He grabbed his broom and started to make his way towards the castle.
"Psst!"
The sound had him whirling around to stare at what looked like empty space beside him. Suddenly the air rippled and Harry peeked out of an…an invisibility cloak!
Cedric's eyes widened.
Harry raised a finger to his lips and motioned at the Quidditch stands before covering up again. For a second, Cedric thought about going in the opposite direction but Harry had made an effort to seek him out and…and Cedric wasn't going to refuse the olive branch he should have made and offered himself. He walked over briskly, and was pleased when Harry uncovered a hand so he could follow it under the Ravenclaw stand and into the shadows. He watched as Harry whisked off the cloak.
"I'll put up a notice-me-not and a couple of other spells to encourage people to leave us alone, if that's OK with you?" Harry asked cautiously.
Cedric nodded.
Harry went to work and Cedric fidgeted while he absently noted that Harry's spell-work was quick, efficient and effective. But alone with Harry up close, he was reminded again of how young Harry was, and he started to feel like a heel all over again.
"Sorry about the subterfuge," Harry said, finally stopping and coming to stand in front of him, "but I've been trying to talk to you for a couple of days now and…and, well…you're rarely alone."
Cedric cleared his throat. "I should be the one apologising and the one seeking you out." He sighed. "My Dad is…" he struggled to find the words and in the end opted for the blunt truth, "I don't agree with him but he's my Dad."
There was a plea for understanding and Harry must have heard it because he nodded.
"You don't have to explain, Cedric," Harry said seriously, "I get it, and I know some of your Dad's game plan with the publicity has more to do with the political agenda than you and I competing in this tournament. Sirius understands that too."
Cedric pushed a hand through his hair.
"Look, I said I understand and I do." Harry fiddled with the edge of his cloak. "I even agree with your Dad kind of that it's not that fair on you when you were expecting the whole school to be behind you to have some of your support pointed in my direction instead." He pressed his lips together. "Sirius and I were talking the other day and…we talked about the fact that neither of us really considered just doing the minimum for the tournament and just letting you guys play for the win. But we both concluded that we can't for reasons why we decided to play to win in the first place which have nothing to do with you or the other Champions, and have everything to do with…"
"Beating the bad guys who entered you in the first place." Cedric said. "I read the interview you gave and I get it."
And hadn't Harry talked about his other competitors in glowing terms in that interview? Cedric felt a shiver of shame flow through him again and he adjusted his hold on his broom. "I do know it's not your fault that you're in this position." He said apologetically.
Harry flushed.
"And I'm really sorry about the badges." Cedric continued. "I had nothing to do with them but…they were out of line."
Harry's lips twisted. "Yeah, they were a bit much." He pushed his glasses back up his nose. "It'd be nice if you could tell your supporters that you want a fair competition and no name-calling or bashing or…"
"Dirty tactics." Cedric nodded slowly, because he could do that. "A fair game. I like that."
"Great," Harry smiled at him widely, "and speaking of which, it kind of brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about in the first place."
Cedric stilled. "Oh?"
"When I was at Quidditch practice with Viktor he asked me if I'd ever come across a dragon before," Harry explained, "and I thought he was asking me about something that…well, it doesn't matter, but I, um, didn't really pay attention to Viktor until a, um, source heavily hinted to me that the first task is going to be dragons."
Dragons.
And suddenly he could see the letter from his father with the hint about dragons written as though in capitals and red ink. His Dad had tried to tell him, Cedric realised, possibly because his Dad had to have been told about the importing of the dragons into the country as part of his job. He'd completely missed the clue, placing dragons as a minor possibility once he'd done his research on the tournament.
Cedric felt the need to sit down, his knees suddenly weak. He locked his knees to keep upright. "That's…"
"Insane." Harry finished with a nod. "I know. Anyway, I checked with Viktor and he admitted he was hinting to me because he'd found out from someone, and he has tried to get you alone to hint to you too but…like I said, it's been difficult, so I said I'd try and tell you too."
Cedric frowned. "Why?" The other two would have had a massive advantage if they'd kept the information to themselves.
Harry's cheeks went red. "Well, even though neither Viktor or I got told in a way that the rules don't allow…we both want a fair game." He gestured at Cedric. "And besides the tasks were made more dangerous because I was entered and if I can help keep everyone alive…"
That made sense, Cedric mused, taking in Harry's evident guilt about it despite it not being his fault. Crouch Junior had a lot to answer for.
"So Fleur knows?" asked Cedric. He got on well with the Veela from Beauxbatons. She'd come and sat next to him in the library on a couple of occasions and…and he suddenly realised why she'd so prominently placed a book on dragons down beside him the other day.
"Apparently she got Viktor's hint straight away." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yeah," Cedric murmured, "I think she tried telling me too but I didn't take the hint." He decided not to say anything about his Dad; that situation was complicated enough without adding to it.
"At least you know now, right?" Harry said encouragingly.
"Right." Cedric agreed faintly, because it was better to know than to have been surprised with it on the day of the task. "Merlin! Dragons!"
Harry nodded sympathetically. He cast a look out toward the castle. "I should get back before Sirius starts to think I've been kidnapped or something."
Cedric took a deep breath. "Why don't we walk back together? Maybe it'll help squash some of the…you know."
Harry's face lit up and he hurriedly bundled his invisibility cloak to a pocket in his outer wear before he dismantled the spells keeping them hidden. "I watched you for a while flying," he admitted as they made their way out of the stands, "where did you learn those drills you did at the end?"
They talked Quidditch all the way back into the castle and Cedric tried not to feel self-conscious at the attention they were drawing. He wasn't surprised to see Granger and Weasley waiting for Harry near to the main staircase.
"Hey, why don't you come and join Viktor and me tomorrow? I'll ask Fleur too." Harry invited as he got near to them. "We've got the pitch booked for eleven."
"Sounds good." Cedric said genuinely. "And Harry: thanks."
Harry waved and walked off to join his friend and brand new girlfriend. Cedric shook his head, ignored the staring of the other students and made for Hufflepuff with a spring in his step.
He had some reading to do on dragons.
o-O-o
20 th November 1994
Remus dumped his case on the floor of the reception at Black Manor and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly as he wandered through to the library and ostensibly his and Penny's office.
"You look exhausted." Penny commented as he entered. "Sit! I'll go and make you some tea."
Remus frowned. "Where's Kreacher?"
"Out looking for the Crouch elf." Bill raised the book he held in greeting. He sat in one of the comfortable chairs tucked in front of Penny's desk. "Hi."
"Hi." Remus responded automatically and sighed when he realised his exchange with Bill had allowed Penny slip out to make tea.
Which he actually would appreciate so maybe he wouldn't complain but simply say a grateful thank you.
"I didn't realise you had another trip overseas planned." Bill said, lowering his book.
"Sirius sent me to Romania." Remus said succinctly. He grimaced and motioned weakly with his hand as he slumped into his own chair with a sigh. "Actually, I volunteered."
Bill's eyes brightened suddenly as he made the connection. "The dragon reserve where Charlie usually works? You were checking which dragons are missing."
"Got it in one." Remus said. "We didn't want to put Charlie in a difficult position by questioning him further. It was good of him to send a hint through Ron as it was."
"That's Charlie for you." Bill said with brotherly fondness. Charlie was brilliant about putting himself on the line like that. "So, any empty pens?"
"As far as I can make out from questioning the tour staff as we went round the different habitats, there are four types missing a dragon." Remus said with satisfaction. He'd had to be incredibly sneaky in his questioning but he hadn't been a Marauder for nothing. "A Chinese Fireball, a Hungarian Horntail, a Swedish Short Snout and a Welsh Green."
Bill blinked. "Buggeration. They're not exactly holding back on the danger then."
"The Horntail's the worst." Remus said thoughtfully. "It has a lot of extra issues given the spiked tail and just generally the temperament. The Chinese Fireball has a spiked necklace though which could be bad…out of all of them I hope Harry faces the Welsh Green. It's a docile breed and fairly lethargic in its movements." He grimaced. "Knowing Harry's luck, he'll probably get the Horntail."
Penny entered with a large tea-tray. "I brought some for you too, Bill."
"Thanks, Penny." Bill leaped up to help her clear a space on her desk.
Penny played Mum and poured the tea, adding milk and sugar to taste. She passed Remus his mug straight away and he wrapped his hands around it with a sigh.
"Marry me, Penny." Remus joked.
Penny laughed. "You only want me for my tea-making abilities."
"That's not true!" Remus rejoined. "You're brilliant at indexing too!"
Penny laughed again but subsided with a heartfelt sigh. "I don't think I'll be marrying anyone any time soon."
Bill winced and blew on his tea. "Percy will come round."
"He was fairly explicit in telling me we were over, Bill." Penny said sadly.
Remus sent Bill a look asking if that was true and Bill gave an awkward nod.
"I'm sorry, Penny," Remus said compassionately, "I didn't realise you'd broken up." Although he wasn't surprised that Percy was pushing people away in the aftermath of what happened.
Penny nodded, pale but determined looking. "I haven't been telling anyone because I was getting used to the idea and…" she tapped her mug and made a half-shrug, "I still thought I would be able to convince him it was a mistake."
"It is a mistake." Bill said firmly. "He's making a lot of decisions now that he wouldn't make if he was thinking straight."
"Maybe, but as my friend Julie said, maybe he does need the space to deal with what he's going through." Penny replied just as firmly. "I would prefer to still be his girlfriend and be there to support him but if he needs space…well, I'm going to give it to him."
There was a resoluteness to her tone that evidently warned Bill off arguing since the eldest Weasley sibling nodded instead.
"Maybe space is what he needs." Bill sighed. "Merlin knows nothing else seems to be working."
"Sirius told me Percy resigned from the Ministry." Remus said slowly. He wasn't sure Sirius's plan of employing Percy was a good one as well-intentioned as it was. He liked Percy but Percy needed to gain some maturity and perhaps the lessons he was faced with learning in the fallout of Crouch Junior's impersonation of Crouch Senior would help him to do that.
"Hatter accepted immediately." Bill said. "I think that was one of the things that has Percy so upset. He worked hard in his job and he was good at it. He had a lot of plans and ambitions tied up with the Ministry so his entire career plan has just combusted. It's a lot to take in."
And there was the obvious issue of Percy having to deal with the knowledge that he'd worked alongside the enemy for so many months – had in fact helped the enemy.
"It doesn't sound like he's coping well." Remus murmured.
Bill sipped his drink. "He's pushing people away. He barely speaks to my Dad or me; hasn't sent a letter to Charlie or the twins or Ron or Ginny even after that mess with Jessica Philpott. He's in his room all day, crawls out for meals that Mum makes him, and that's it." He tipped his head in Penny's direction. "We were all disappointed when he told us he'd broken up with Penny but he won't talk about it."
"He's definitely hurting." Penny agreed with a soft sigh. "I think he's pushing people away because he blames himself for everyone getting hurt at the World Cup but…" she gave a helpless shrug. "It's hard to help someone who doesn't want to be helped."
It sounded like Percy was drowning in self-recrimination.
Remus nodded. He'd have to talk with Sirius and tell him the steward's assistant thing was a no-go until Percy got his act together himself. They wouldn't do him any favours rescuing him from his own mess.
"How was Romania?" asked Penny, changing the subject in an obvious way that indicated she'd had enough of talking about her ex-boyfriend.
Remus filled her in on his success. "I've already told Sirius the news over the mirror so he can help specialise Harry's preparation over the next couple of days; create a strategy for each dragon."
"Is he going to tell the other Champions about which types will be included in the task?" Penny asked.
"I don't know but I suspect Harry will tell them." Remus said.
Penny pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Sirius mentioned that Harry was determined to make it a fair fight and I guess that means they all have the same information."
"I got the impression from talking to Harry that he wants to make sure that they all come out alive." Bill commented quietly. "He's aware that the tasks were made more dangerous by Voldemort because of him so…"
That sounded like Harry, Remus mused. He'd have to tell Sirius but he doubted that Sirius wasn't already aware. He was just very pleased that Sirius was on site for Harry. If Harry had had to go through the whole thing alone…he shuddered.
Thank Merlin Cedric Diggory had finally found some backbone and made a gesture of friendship towards Harry. Hopefully it would stop the worst of some of the comments that he'd had to suffer since his return to Hogwarts.
"You should have seen them this morning though, Remus. All four Champions had a practice Quidditch session." Bill commented wryly. "Totally confounded the press who ended up watching."
"Well, one of the aims of the competition is to promote intra-school relationships." Remus said dryly.
"That's what Fleur said when they got questioned."
Remus's eyes narrowed at the red slashes of colour across Bill's cheeks. "Fleur, huh?"
Penny smiled teasingly at Bill and Bill rolled his eyes.
"She's seventeen and still at school." Bill said. "But yes, she's a good looking girl and we've run across each other a few times since Halloween."
"Isn't she a Veela?" Remus asked out loud.
"Quarter, I think." Bill said casually as though to convey there was nothing unusual in his knowing such a specific piece of information.
"More likely she's tracking you down and bumping into you accidentally." Penny said dryly.
"Caro might have said the same thing." Bill muttered, hiding his face in his mug.
Remus took a gulp of his tea. "I thought you were still seeing Alicia?"
"I am," Bill said, "which is why there's nothing happening with Fleur, and even if I wasn't seeing Alicia, there wouldn't be anything happening with Fleur because she's too young for me."
Penny raised an eyebrow. "It sounds to me like she has a bit of a crush though."
"Well, if she tries anything more than 'bumping into me,' I'll let her down easy," Bill said with a touch of exasperation, "but in the meantime there's no harm."
"Talking of crushes…" Penny smirked and handed Remus a letter.
Remus took it gingerly since it was purple parchment. He grimaced as he opened the missive and then went bright red at the lewd suggestion written down.
"Wow," Bill said, "that must be some letter."
Remus carefully folded it.
Penny grinned at him. "Tonks was most insistent you receive it as soon as you got back."
"Bloody Padfoot!" Remus muttered and waved the letter. "This is his fault!"
They both looked at him questioningly.
"You both know Harry is now dating Hermione?" Remus began.
Bill raised his eyebrows. "I think the whole world knows Harry is dating Hermione, Remus, it's been front page news for the last week."
"Yes, well, at the family dinner, Andy took Harry's new romance to mean that it was time for Sirius to start considering his own love life." Remus explained. "Sirius, in an attempt to divert her match-making attention from himself, declared that I was looking for someone."
Penny burst into giggles.
Remus tried to glare at her and failed.
"Are you looking for someone?" asked Bill, amusement shining out of his freckled face.
Remus clutched his mug tighter. "No, not really? I just…I ran into an old flame when we first went to Paris and I might have, in a momentary moment of weakness, mentioned to Sirius that it would be nice to be with someone." Which it would.
"So Tonks…"
"Isn't serious." Remus stated firmly. She had teased him after the dinner and the letter was probably a continuation of that. "It's a joke." It had to be. There was no way a feisty young woman like Tonks would be interested in an old wolf like him.
"Are you sure?" Penny asked, wiping away tears of laughter. "Because I have to say, she looked pretty serious when she dropped the letter off." She waggled her eyebrows.
Remus blushed and cursed himself for blushing.
"Tonks is straight-forward. You should just ask her." Bill advised, draining his mug and setting it back on the tray.
"Even if she is serious," Remus countered, "she isn't someone I would date."
Bill and Penny both looked at him with varying expressions of surprise.
"Why ever not?" asked Penny finding her voice first.
"Tonks is great." Bill added, clearly gearing up to defend his friend.
"Yes, she is," Remus said quickly, "she's smart and funny and very charming in her own way," he continued, "but, setting aside that she's also a great deal younger than I am, she's also a member of the Ancient and Noble House that I work for which makes any relationship beyond friendship a tad inappropriate and risky."
Penny's confusion cleared. "I can understand that. If things go badly…I doubt Sirius would fire you or anything but it would make things awkward, wouldn't it?"
"I guess I understand that," Bill subsided back into his chair, "but I should warn you that Tonks isn't the type to give up all that easily."
"How's the search going at Hogwarts?" Remus asked, deciding a change of subject was definitely in order.
Bill sent him another amused look at his avoidance of talking more about Tonks. "Badly. We've covered a good part of the route we think Riddle must have taken to the Headmaster's office for his DADA interview but there's nothing so far." He grimaced. "Honestly, we could look for years and find nothing. Hogwarts is a strange building."
Remus sighed and rubbed his brow, considering the problem. "Maybe we should ask the portraits or the ghosts if they saw something or where they would hide something?"
"That's not a bad idea although I'm not sure how helpful it would be in truth. We could just end up expanding the possible list of places to search." Bill said, turning it over in his head. "At least it gives us a second plan of attack beyond widening the search pattern if we don't find anything on the route. I'll talk to Caro; see what she thinks." He sighed. "You heard Lawrence has been admitted to Saint Mungo's?"
Remus nodded sadly. The former member of the treasure team had been cursed when he'd put on the Gaunt ring trying to get to the Resurrection stone to speak with his dead daughter. He had been steadily declining in health ever since and nothing they had done with the exception of a potion Severus had created had helped. Eventually Lawrence had stopped taking the potion though, accepting his fate.
Remus let them lapse into silence as he savoured the tea and worried over how to tell Tonks to back off without it making things awkward.
"How's it going at the chateau?" Bill's question dragged Remus's attention back to the library.
"There are eleven werewolves there now." Remus said slowly, organising his thoughts. "Ten of them are from Fenrir's pack, mostly couples but two single male werewolves…and a non-pack werewolf who heard from one of the European packs that I was offering sanctuary."
"That's good, isn't it?" Penny said. "That word is getting out?"
"I don't know." Remus sighed heavily and tried to ignore the beginnings of a headache that always appeared when he thought about being an Alpha and forming a pack. It hadn't been in his plan. He didn't want a pack per se. He wanted the family he'd built with Sirius and Harry over the Summer. But he couldn't deny other werewolves a way out from Fenrir's distorted views of packdom, especially when it served to ensure Fenrir couldn't count on his pack to support Voldemort. Nor could Remus turn away someone like Clara.
Her story was very similar to Remus's – bitten as a child, raised by her parents, and educated by them with the hope she could still have a similar life to the one she would have had without lycanthropy, only for their dream to peter out under the reality of how hard it was for werewolves to find work in the wizarding world. Clara had gone to the continent to seek work. She'd been introduced to the packs but, just like Remus, fundamentally didn't agree that she should identify as a werewolf before she identified as a witch.
"I was a witch first and my parents raised me to be a witch." Clara had said as they'd talked the night she had arrived over a bottle of red wine and some crackers and cheese. "I don't deny the need to belong somewhere but I want…I want people who understand that being a werewolf is only part of who I am, not the sum of me."
It resonated deeply with Remus's own views. And perhaps, Remus mused, he could admit that the thirty-one year old redhead with the sweet smile and warm brown eyes was somewhat attractive. Which was another good reason to meet with Tonks and get things straightened out before she went overboard with her crush or joke…whichever it was that was motivating her pursuit of him.
He belatedly realised Penny and Bill were waiting for him to expand on his last statement.
"I never wanted to build a pack?" Remus offered. "And yet, here I am building a pack." He cast a longing look at the empty mug and Penny plucked it out of his hands to refill it. "I'm also concerned that once it's known, it's going to do damage for Sirius and Harry politically."
Penny poured more tea into his mug and handed it back to him. "Sirius has plans upon plans to deal with the news going public." She reminded him. "You shouldn't worry."
"And yet I do." Remus responded her with a quiet thank you for the second mug.
"Anyone else building a pack and I'd worry," Bill admitted, "but you're you so…that's something, isn't it? And maybe the way to look at it isn't that you're building a pack but creating a sanctuary for other werewolves to be able to live and work in relative peace with the aid of Wolfsbane to help them."
It was the picture Sirius was going to paint with the press eventually; Remus knew that. "It's just not a comfortable position for me." He sighed and took another sip of the too-strong tea. "I guess I should get used to it though. Emile was expecting another five to turn up this week."
"Are you going back out there?" Bill questioned, picking up the book he'd discarded.
"After the first task." Remus said decisively. He had to go back, welcome the newcomers and make sure they understood the rules. Besides, it would be nice to see Clara again, he thought wistfully. He set his tea down and reached for the stack of unopened correspondence on his desk.
Sirius was right in that it was becoming increasingly obvious he needed an assistant, Remus considered tiredly. He definitely needed someone even if it wasn't Percy. Keeping up with the Black and Potter estates and keeping control of the Malfoy finances was a full time job without the extra work of helping Harry with the tournament and establishing the werewolf sanctuary. Maybe the truth was that he didn't have time to have a love life.
And on that depressing note, Remus thought with rueful amusement, he should get back to work. He opened the first letter and smoothed it out.
POP!
Penny screamed as Remus shoved his chair back, his heart stampeding in his chest at the loud noise, his wand already in his hand as was Bill's as they stared at the sight in front of them.
Kreacher.
He was unconscious and he was wrapped around the body of another elf.