"What the hell do you think you're doing? We have Quidditch practice!" Draco exclaims, his arms still in a fierce grip around Bletchley. He doesn't struggle against Draco, I'm sure he is well aware of how powerful he can be.
I was quite relieved that Draco had come in and pushed Bletchley away from me, because I definitely didn't fancy him. I wouldn't have known what to do if he actually succeeded in snogging me.
"I—" Bletchley starts, before Draco whacks him on the back of his head.
"You bloody idiot! You know what I told you!"
"Er — what did you tell him?" I interrupt, causing both of the boy's attention to be diverted to me.
Draco rolls his eyes at me and doesn't bother responding to me. He turns his attention back to Bletchley, whom he promptly pulls away from, and grabs his broomstick from off the ground.
Bletchley and I stare at him dumbfounded.
"What?" He asks, as if nothing had just happened. "Let's start practice, Montague will be here any moment," He adds. I exchange a look with Bletchley but we obediently mount our broomsticks as well.
Sure enough, Montague, Pucey, Warrington, and Urquhart all arrive minutes after the whole ordeal occurred. Much to my relief, not a word is mentioned about our almost kiss.
After about an hour of practice, Montague calls for quits. "We ought to go," He tells us. "Bagman reserved the pitch for eight to tell the champions about their task next month."
The boys and I nod, clutching our brooms and head towards the exit. "Good work today! Especially you, Grey!" Montague calls from behind us.
******
"It comes down to this," Hermione says to the three of us the next morning in the Owelery, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor or somebody else attacked both of them while Viktor wasn't looking."
Last night, after the champions received their third and final task, Viktor was attacked and Crouch went missing. According to Harry, Crouch seemed weaker and mentioned something about Lord Voldemort getting stronger.
"It must've been Crouch," Ron says at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."
"I don't think so," Harry interjects. "He seemed really weak — I don't reckon he was up to Disapparting or anything," He tells us.
"You can't Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" Hermione groans.
"Just go through it again, Harry," I say, turning to him. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"
"I've told you he wasn't making much sense. He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault . . . He mentioned his son."
"Well that was his fault," Ron says. "And remind me what he said about You Know Who?"
"I've told you," Harry repeats dully. "He said he's getting stronger."
There's an uncomfortable pause between us. Ron clears his throat and says in a confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving . . ."
"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," Harry says, causing Hermione and Ron to wince at the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."
"We need to see Professor Moody," I tell the trio. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."
"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," Harry says. I don't know what the Marauder's Map is but I know that now is certainly not the time to ask about it.
The voices of two boys arguing became clearer. The door bangs open. Fred and George walk into the threshold and freeze at the sight of us.
"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred ask at exactly the same time.
"Sending a letter," Harry and George say in unison.
"What, at this time?" Fred and I say together. The two of us grin at each other.
"Fine — we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," Hermione says, sticking her nose up in the air.
Fred and George walk over to their barn owl, hand him the scarlet letter, and he flies off. I try to get a glimpse of whom the letter is addressed to, but whether it was on accident or on purpose, Fred covers it with his hand.
"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispers. "About Crouch and everything?" She adds, eyeing the door to make sure that no one else had entered.
"Of course not. If it was that serious, they'd tell Dumbledore," I assure her.
Ron looks uncomfortable. "Er — I dunno if they would. They've been obsessed with making money lately. I noticed it when I was hanging around them. It's the joke shop they want to start — they're leaving Hogwarts next year and they really want to make it."
"Do you think it's too early to see Professor Moody?" Hermione asks, changing the subject eagerly.
"Yes. He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he'll think we're trying to attack him whilst he's asleep. Let's give it until noon," I tell my friends, who seem to agree.
The four of us split up — Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to their morning lesson, History of Magic, while I decide to skip my morning Charms class to sort through the large pile of letters that have grown.
The first two letters are just updates from Grayson. I quickly rush to write him back. The third letter was a short memo from my parents, telling me that they were sending me to the States for Summer holiday. And the fourth was a worrying letter from Francesca:
Amelia,
I have something urgent I need to tell you. Please visit me in America as soon as your term ends. It cannot wait any longer.
- Francesca
—
Hi!! Don't think I've forgotten about Grayson and Francesca !! They're still here <33
Anyways, Amelia's first year at Hogwarts is nearly over. That means I'm around a quarter way finished writing this novel. Wow.
Also - I did the math and I write an average of 5.14 chapters a day. What the hell!!
QOTC: Which is your favorite Harry Potter movie?
AOTC: Chamber of Secrets (unpopular opinion, i know :O)