Hero of the Story || James Potter x Hermione Granger Fanfiction

40 | we were amateurs at war - part ii

Hermione tried to dispel the urge to shiver, once again remembering his older counterpart and how he was the reason why Harry Potter was brought to the graveyard in Little Hangleton. Hermione's fingers flexed, itching to grip the rough handle of her wand.

She shouldn't underestimate this wizard. He was still marvellously young, twenty years away from the Death Eater who'd been able to singlehandedly overpower a renowned, seasoned Auror, but the way his dark brown eyes flickered in the dark meant he was already unforgiving.

The Ravenclaw stiffened when he started to languidly shrink the distance between them. His footsteps were loud against the cobblestone floor, his gaze not leaving Hermione's form. He flicked his tongue over his lips once more as a feral grin grew on his face.

"Pettigrew," he coolly greeted, drawing to a halt just a few meters away from Hermione.

She fought the urge to shrink away from his intense gaze, but didn't stop herself from slowly slipping her right hand inside her robe pocket. His eyes briefly glanced at her hidden hand before looking back in her eyes, thinly-veiled amusement in them. "There's no need to unleash your scary powers tonight, Pettigrew," he drawled.

Her hand tightly wrapped around her wand. "You're out of bed," she slowly repeated. "Get back to your dormitory now, Crouch, or I'll be forced to give you detention."

Crouch quirked an eyebrow. "If you want to threaten, Pettigrew, you have to mean it," he pointed out.

In a matter of seconds, her wand tip was pressed directly underneath Crouch's chin. It gave her some grim satisfaction to see that his eyes had widened a bit at her sudden action, but Crouch immediately schooled his emotions behind a carefully crafted mask. "Perhaps, I didn't make myself clear," she hissed. "Get back to your dormitory, Crouch."

He coolly looked down at her and menacingly flicked his tongue out of his lips. "With that brilliant head of yours and your undoubted magical prowess, did you know you can do great things, Hermione Pettigrew?" he whispered, voice dangerously low. "Pity you hang out with the wrong sort of people." He hissed when she dug the tip of her wand deeper into his skin. "You could offer so much more in a new world – a better world – where glory and power will reign supreme."

Bile rose into her throat, remembering the sickening words she'd read on the unsigned letter she'd received a few days ago. "What do you want?" she hissed.

His brown eyes turned steely. "I think you know what I want," he deliberately drawled. "What he wants."

"I didn't know Death Eaters were still actively recruiting those who'd clearly refused to join their idiotic cause."

"A bold accusation," he sniped.

Hermione held her head higher, her heart thudding wildly inside her chest. She knew she was treading in dangerous waters, but the fact that he'd cornered her in this suspiciously deserted corridor just to recruit her, drew out the war heroine in her. "I know I'm not wrong," she spat.

His lips curled into a cold sneer. "You can't prove anything, Pettigrew," he taunted.

Her grip on her wand tightened, her knuckles now already turning white. "Actually, I can," she said.

Before he could even blink, she gave her wand a mighty slash. Crouch expelled a surprised yelp when he flew into the wall, pinned into place by an invisible force. He bared his teeth, eyes wide with panic, when Hermione determinedly yanked his left sleeve up. The familiar Dark Mark glinted menacingly and the Head Girl swallowed a forming lump, steadfastly meeting Crouch's eyes.

He'd grown furious and frantic, reminiscent of the crazed Death Eater who'd proudly proclaimed his loyalty to the Dark Lord. Regulus had shown the same reaction too, when she'd forcefully pulled his sleeve up to show his own tattoo, but unlike Regulus, there was no clear remorse in Crouch's face.