The Purist / DRAMIONE (COMPLETE)

The Rebirth

When Hermione arrived at the Gryffindor table, with the new information, surprised to see Mrs Weasley and Bill, Harry began questioning her.

"Are you going to tell us_?"

She shook her head warningly, glancing at Mrs Weasley.

"Hello, Hermione," Mrs Weasley said stiffly, and Hermione faltered at the cold expression on her face.

"Hello," she responded, the smile sliding off her face.

Harry looked between them and quickly said, "Mrs Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend."

"Oh!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed. "No – of course I didn't!"

The icy expression left Mrs Weasley's face, and as the family chattered on (Fred, George, Ginny and Ron were with them), Hermione chanced a glance at Draco, sitting at the Slytherin table. Hermione thought he looked small and pitiful next to Crabbe and Goyle, his two hulking bodyguards. She smiled sadly at him; he was looking longingly at the cosy family gathering on the Gryffindor table, and she wondered how everyone had assumed he belonged to a happy family: it seemed he didn't.

*

Draco had looked away when she smiled at him. He didn't want to be reminded that the Weasleys, however poor, were content with their life, and that he, though wealthy, was miserable. He didn't want to know, to remember. He didn't know whether Hermione had felt how cold his hands were. Perhaps he might tell her, explain. That was the difference between them. She had love and friendship; he had cronies who never thought to ask if he was okay. And his hatred froze over. The talisman, and the warmth, had left him.

*

He watched with jealousy as Harry and Cedric entered the maze, followed swiftly by Viktor and Fleur. He could distinctly see Hermione, next to Mrs Weasley and Ginny, all crossing their fingers for Harry, and felt a stab of hatred. Draco realised, with a jolt, that his emotions, however secret he kept them, were in turmoil. Hermione seemed to be the only one who could restrain them, and Pansy, snuggling her head into his shoulder, was only increasing the tension he'd felt all day and multiplying that anger.

*

Hermione wasn't sure that, if asked to remember the events of that day, she could. There were screams, floods of tears shed, and worst of all from Cedric Diggory's parents. She saw Moody assisting Harry in; to the Hospital Wing, she guessed, and she, Ron, Bill and Mrs Weasley hastened there. When discovering it empty apart from Madam Pomfrey, they proceeded in questioning her, and by the time Dumbledore appeared at the door, with Harry, and Sirius in dog form, she looked extremely harassed. Harry took some potion that the nurse gave him, and fell asleep; Mrs Weasley watching over him fondly, until shouts broke the silence.

"That's Fudge's voice," Mrs Weasley whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

The answer was soon discovered, and it was so horrible, Hermione could perfectly understand the professor's fury. Although she couldn't understand why Barty Crouch had been seen by the minister (Harry did tell her later), she did know about the Dementors' Kiss, and that wasn't a fate that should befall many.

Fudge refused to believe that Voldemort had indeed returned, and it seemed, read Rita Skeeter's articles, for he did not think Harry was sane either. Due to his disbelief, there came a parting of the ways, between Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of time, and Fudge, the weak man with the bowler hats.

"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," Dumbledore told Fudge solemnly, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I – I shall act as I see fit."

"Now, see here, Dumbledore," Fudge said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students, without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me_"

"The only one against whom I intend to work," Dumbledore interrupted, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

And that was that conversation, in short. Fudge left, insistent on his beliefs.