Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 27 - Insecurities

After our next DADA lesson, I went to the library to collect some books on Goblin rebellions and to start working on a Potions essay. Exams were approaching fast and I needed to be ready.

After scouring through many shelves, I finally found the books I needed. Arms full, I moved to find an empty spot to study, but instead found Hermione and Harry whispering furtively near a large window at the back of the library.

"She wasn't wearing an Invisibility Cloak, Moody said he didn't see her anywhere the judges' table!" Hermione was saying. "So how did she find out all that stuff?"

"Maybe she had you bugged," Harry said.

"Are you ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?" she said in exasperation.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Electricity doesn't work at Hogwarts," I said at the same time as her, causing them to look up to me.

"There's too much magic in the air, I added awkwardly.

Harry nodded absently as Hermione and I shared a small smile. The moment was short-lived, however, as she shut her books with a loud thud and stood up.

"Well, I guess I'd better leave you with your new best friend," she said. Her voice had turned stone cold.

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" I said, unable to control myself.

She ignored me. I grabbed her arm tightly as she moved to leave.

"Hermione — "

"He stole you from me!" she said. Tears stung her eyes as she glanced at Harry.

"What are you — what?" I said.

I turned to Harry for help, but he looked as uncomfortable as if he'd been stung by a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Hermione stumped her foot on the ground impatiently before shaking her head furiously. "Nevermind, I — nevermind."

"Just because I've been hanging out with Harry more this year doesn't mean he's replaced you," I said, slowly putting the pieces together. "No one's ever going to replace you, Mione."

"He's always talking about you," she said and I felt an odd surge of heat in my belly. Fortunately, Harry had slipped away while I wasn't looking. "And now every time something happens I'm the last to hear it. . . ."

"You know that's not true," I said. "Besides, what does it matter? I helped him with the first task because I didn't mind skipping Divinations. Obviously, you couldn't skip Arithmancy! I only knew about the egg because he saw me before you or Ron.  And it's certainly not my fault that Snape put me with him!"

"I suppose . . ." she sighed. "It's just — I get that you just happened to have more time to help him and that I don't have the same classes or that I was taken away for the second task but . . . you two just get along so well together, even better than I do with him even after all this time and . . . I don't know . . ."

"Mione, you're my best friend in the whole world," I said. "No one knows me like you do. I might get along well with him but he doesn't know me at all, he doesn't know anything about, you know . . ." I shook my head quickly, trying to suppress the knot forming in my stomach. "But I guess if you think Harry's suddenly replaced you then you don't me as well as I thought — "

"No! I'm sorry, I really am!" she said hastily. "I was being stupid. I'm sorry for being stupid."

"You're not stupid," I said with a small laugh. I bit my lips as a moment of silence fell upon us. "What've you got so far for the Binns' essay?"

She smiled at me before we sat down and began to work. After dinner, we relocated to the common room. Ron and I were careful not to breach the subject of S.P.E.W. for now. Harry, I was told, had gone to the quidditch pitch to receive instructions from Mr. Bagman on the third task.

It was dark, the common room almost empty, when Harry returned. He was panting as he began to tell us what had happened.

"Crouch appeared out of nowhere near the forest . . . he was talking like he thought your brother was there, Ron . . . Then mentioned his son . . . and Bertha Jorkins . . . and something about Voldemort getting stronger . . ."

At this, my eyes widened in shock. I hoped the others could not sense or hear how fast my heart was beating.

"He wanted to warn Dumbledore so I went and got him . . . met Snape on the day — seemed to think I was wasting Dumbledore's time and didn't want to let me through . . .  by the time we got back to the forest Krum was unconscious on the ground and Crouch had vanished," Harry went on. "Then Hagrid showed up and Dumbledore asked him to get Karkaroff and Moody — Moody showed up at that moment, though . . .

"How'd Moody get there?" I asked.

"Said Snape told him, I think . . . anyway, Karkaroff got really mad, saying this was all a plot against him so he spat at his feet. That only made Hagrid really angry, too, I don't know what he would've done to him if Dumbledore hadn't intervened and told him to bring me back up here . . ."

We were all silent for a moment before Ron spoke up.

"That doesn't make any sense. I mean, why would Crouch attack Krum?"

"It comes down to this," she said, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."

"It must've been crouch," Ron said. "He attacked him and then he left. Don't know why he'd have done that, though . . ."

"I don't think it was Crouch," Harry said. "He seemed really weak — I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."

"You can't Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" Hermione said before giving me a small exasperated smile.

"Okay . . . how's this for a theory," Ron said. "Krum attacked Crouch — no, wait for it — and then he Stunned himself!"

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" Hermione said.

"Oh yeah . . ."

"He really said You-Know-Who was getting stronger?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"But he was out of his mind, like you said, Harry," Ron said in a falsely confident voice. "So half of it was probably just raving. . . ."

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," Harry said. Ron and I exchanged a nervous glance. "If Snape hadn't held me up maybe we would've got there on time."

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" Ron said "Maybe — hang on — how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"

"Not unless he can turn himself in a bat or something," Harry said.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.

"We need to see Professor Moody," Hermione said. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."

"Didn't you say he has your map, Harry? I imagine it wouldn't be very hard to find Mr. Crouch with that," I said.

"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," Ron said, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't it?"

"You'll write to Sirius, won't you?" I asked Harry.

He nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow, though. It's late . . ."

With that, we all wished each other goodnight and went to bed. I had trouble getting the thought of You-Know-Who getting stronger out of my head.