The Hidden One

mr. crouch

Hi! A quick thank you to everyone who has commented and voted and read this story. I'm super excited for OotP and I've already started writing it. It's crazy so far and I can't wait for you to read it! I'll probably be updating a few times a day so that I can get there faster.

Rose and Hermione continued to get hate mail for the next week, but they would just throw it in the fire. They got a few howlers though, so everyone in the school knew about the article, even those who hadn't read the article.

"Look, it'll die down soon. I mean, look at Harry and I. We got talked about for a while and then we weren't anymore," Rose tried to comfort Hermione. Rose could tell that the gossip was messing with Hermione, but she acted as if it wasn't.

"I just want to know how she's listening to private conversations!" Hermione huffed. The quartet all knew that Rita Skeeter was banned from the grounds, which made the articles much more confusing.

Hermione stayed back after a DADA class to talk to Moody while the rest of the quartet walked to the entrance hall.

"She's definitely not wearing an invisibility cloak. Moody didn't see anyone at the last task!" Hermione informed them when she caught up to them.

"Hermione, is there any point in asking you to drop this?" Ron asked.

"Nope! I want to know how she's listening to private conversations and getting interviews!" Hermione said.

"Maybe she's got you bugged," Harry shrugged.

"Bugged?" Ron asked.

"It's a muggle thing," Harry said before explaining. Ron seemed interested but Hermione just seemed upset.

"Honestly! Muggle electronics don't work at Hogwarts!" Hermione reminded the boys. Hermione then stormed off to research possible ways as to how Rita was hearing her conversations.

The Easter holidays seemed to come up quickly. All the students had more homework but Hermione still found time to research. Harry was still sending food up to Sirius and he would sometimes include notes from himself and Rose.

Mrs. Weasley sent the quartet presents for Easter and also sent a reply from Percy. Ron and Harry got Easter eggs the size of a dragon egg. They were filled with candy and treats. Hermione's egg was the size of a chicken egg and barely had anything in it. Rose, however, received an egg that was somehow smaller than Hermione's and it had no candy in it at all.

"Your mum doesn't read Witch Weekly, does she?" Hermione asked. Harry saw that Rose's eyes were filling with tears so he grabbed her hand and handed her a chocolate tart. She smiled gratefully.

"Yeah," Ron replied. He didn't even notice the difference in gifts as he was too busy shoving his face full of candy. "Gets it for the recipies."

"Let's see what Percy has written," Harry suggested, handing Rose another chocolate tart.

The letter was short and to the point. Mr. Crouch was still sick but he was sending in letters from home. The quartet was very upset at how little information they got from the letter.

The next few weeks went by quickly. Rose and Harry enjoyed strolling through the castle or on the grounds while everyone else studied. Being Triwizard champions, they were exempt from tests and therefore didn't have to study. Cedric would sometimes join them, although he still didn't get along well with Harry. Luckily for all of them, Cedric wasn't upset about the article and thought it was funny. Rose could tell that Harry was relieved when Cedric told them this. Harry and Cedric were starting to warm up to each other too, making Rose very happy.