Dirty secret

Chapter 3

Hermione had been all out of sorts since Harry's name had been called.

She had remained in the Great Hall. Everyone else long gone from dinner. Waiting for the others to reemerge from the Trophy Room while anxiously biting her nails.

She had time to continue pondering Harry's competition for the tournament.

Of course there was Viktor Krum. Being a professional quidditch player and as big as he was physically would make him a tough opponent.

Fleur Delacour. Although her delicate features and proper demeanor made one assume she would be easy to defeat. Hermione was sure there was more to the girl than meets the eye.

Then there was Draco Malfoy. A Slytherin and Harry's arch nemesis. Hermione knew the boy was smart. She had watched him climb the class ranking steadily over the years. She also knew that he liked to play dirty. Meaning he wouldn't be opposed to cheating during the tournament which made him a dangerous opponent to Harry.

Hermione sat there, legs bouncing up and down with her finger in her mouth, lost in thought when the Trophy Room opened. Her head shot up at the sound as the Minister and Barty Crouch made their way through the hall briskly.

Next came Madame Maxime and Fleur. Then Karkaroff and Viktor followed out by Dumbledore. They stopped near the front of the room in hushed conversation as Snape made his way over to them with Malfoy in tow.

He glanced her direction with a smirk on his face. His usual air of what she was sure he thought was superiority drenching his whole body as he walked along the Great Hall towards the large ornate doors.

As she watched his body disappear through the dark corridor she felt a hand on her shoulder that caused her to leap from her seat. Turning around quickly she spotted Harry's forlorn face, eyes cast down to his feet.

She threw her arms around his shoulders in a quick embrace. His hand coming up to pat the middle of her back.

"Oh Harry!" She exclaimed, face buried in his neck. She pulled back a minute to look over his defeated expression. "What did they say?"

He sighed before meeting her gaze. "I have to compete.. they said the goblet works like a binding contract. No way out of it."

She looked at him sympathetically. He was clearly upset by the news. His reaction only solidified her initial thought that he had indeed not put his name in. She rubbed his shoulders and offered him a pitying smile.

"I'm sorry Harry, I know you mentioned you didn't want to compete. How do you suppose your name got put in there?"

He looked at her startled, not quite believing what he was hearing. "Wait, you know I didn't put my name in?"

She scoffed but not in a malicious way at his baffled expression. "Of course I do. You made it quite clear that you didn't want to compete."

He looked relieved at that. To have his closest friend believe in him like she always did.

"Besides, there were two names called for Hogwarts. That on top of you telling us you didn't want to be apart of it tells me something else is going on." She looked him in the eyes to drive her point home. "We will figure out how this happened, Harry. I promise." Giving him a sincere smile he returned it ten fold. Mouth split in a wide grin, he pulled her back to his chest, crushing her in a tight hug.

"Harry, I can't breathe." She chuckled out tapping his shoulder for him to release his grip on her.

He reluctantly released her with a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry Mione, I just.." he sighed. "Thank you. For believing me. I don't know what I'd do without you." He chuckled, shaking his head at his feet before meeting her gaze again.