Drowning in Crimson

Hermione Granger was sitting in the Great Hall, halfway through a pile of buttered toast, when the owl arrived. It was a large tawny owl, one that Hermione didn't recognize. It certainly wasn't her own, and her family didn't own an owl, they were all muggle dentists. So when it landed on her plate, shoving the toast onto her lap, she was more curious than annoyed at it. She rarely got mail of any kind.

"Hullo, what's this?" asked Ron, watching the owl.

"I'm not sure," replied Hermione, accepting the large and bulky envelope that it had clutched in its talons. But as she turned it over to look at it, the scratchy green writing on the front gave everything away. The letter was addressed to "Miss Hermionee Granger, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." "Viktor?" she muttered in surprise, her eyes widening.

"Viktor Krum?" asked Harry curiously through a mouthful of waffle, gazing over her shoulder at the letter. "Of Durmstrang School? The Triwizard Champion?"

Hermione didn't answer. She tore open the letter, and a long roll of parchment tumbled out of it. Opening it, she saw that the message on it was written in what appeared to be a hurried scrawl. But of course, that could just have been Krum's handwriting, to judge by the envelope.

"What does he want?" muttered Ron, looking unhappily at the letter.

Hermione began to read the letter out loud.

Dear Hermionee,

I have graduated of course from school. English writing is not so goode, please excuse bad grammar. I am having bookshop of my own now. Maybe you come and see sometime, I think you like. But this is not why I write letter. I have heard things from school. Professor is talking bad things. I worry for you. So I must warn you about Professor. He says he will go to-

But before Hermione could finish the rest of the letter, Neville Longbottom knocked his milk glass over from the other side of the table, and it splashed all over Krum's writing, blurring it to an unreadable mess. "Oh, Neville!" she moaned, staring down at the ruined piece of parchment. Neville cringed, and scooted away. Hermione shook her head and sighed. "I wonder what that was all about. I suppose we'll never know, now...a shame...I get letters from him so little."

Harry was looking more curious than ever. "Hermione, what did he mean, about warning you, and the 'Professor' saying bad things?"

She shrugged, still looking crestfallen. "How should I know? It was rather vague, wasn't it...I suppose I'll just have to write back and explain that I didn't really get the letter. He'll probably send it again...Ron, what's wrong?"

Ron's face was doing odd things. He had gone from getting redder and redder, to suddenly paling down to almost white again. "Harry, Hermione," he muttered, "Do you think he means...Karkaroff?"

Both of his friends stared at him. "Could be," said Harry slowly. "But what's Karkaroff up to this time?"

"We know he was a death eater," said Ron. "Could be anything. Maybe there's something going on, Harry. Maybe he's finally-!"

"Oh stop it, both of you," Hermione cut in, frustrated, shaking her head. "Jumping to conclusions with nothing at all to go on. What on earth would Karkaroff possibly have to do with us? He's been leaving us perfectly well alone for three years. He's certainly not a death eater anymore. And he runs a wizard's school! Leave off. I'm sure it's nothing horrible."

"You just don't want to admit that your precious Vicky could come from a place full of dark arts," muttered Ron, but Hermione wasn't listening.

"Come on, you two," she said, grabbing her books, "Time for class."

* * * * *

Divination class was, as usual, completely laughable. Professor Trelawney started out the lesson with a dramatic prediction of Seamus Finnegan's untimely demise at the hands, or rather, tusks of a wild boar. Harry and Ron were having tons of fun playing along and mimicking their teacher behind her back. However, at the end of class, Trelawney pulled Harry and Ron aside as the bell rang. Assuming that she'd noticed them acting up in class, they went cautiously to her desk. To their surprise, she burst into tears as soon as everyone else had left the room.

"Oh, you poor dears, you poor, poor children, how I pity you, how I feel your loss!" She gushed.

Harry blinked at her. "Professor, I'm sorry, but what loss?" He'd already resigned himself to listening to whatever horrific death he was sure to suffer this week, and wasn't really listening to the next thing she said.

"Oh, my dears, Neptune and Venus are aligned...and on the day of October 31, when the stars have perfectly decreed..." she shook her head, as if unable to continue. Ron and Harry looked at each other knowingly.

"Professor, can we go now?" asked Ron tiredly, causing Trelawney's head to snap back up off the desk where she had laid it.

"Don't you see?? On that date, you will be in great danger of losing the thing that is most dear to both of you! Your lives will be in peril! Your values will be strained! It will be a horrible-!"

Harry had lost patience. "Professor, Ron and I aren't going to lose anything. Except perhaps, our appetites, at the Halloween feast. Ok? Thanks for...uh, trying to warn us. But really. We're fine." He waited.

Trelawney looked very stern. "'Tis your own fault, then, Potter. You'll want my advice on that date, when suddenly you find yourself without hope," she flared, then swept away.

Ron shook his head. "Absolutely barking mad," he muttered to Harry, as they descended. "Honestly, there hasn't been a day gone by that we haven't supposedly died, lost something, become mortally ill, or whatever. Barking mad."

At that moment, Hermione rushed up to them, her arms full of books, and they marched off to class together. Harry smiled wryly back at the steps to the Divination classroom. Nothing was going to go wrong this year. It was his last at Hogwarts, and he was going to enjoy it. Everything was going to be just fine.

* * * * *

At 9:00, Hermione was in the Gryffindor common room, draped across one of the couches, with Ron and Harry opposite her. Tongue between her teeth, she scratched her quill across the parchment addressed to Viktor Krum. Harry and Ron were playing a game of wizard chess, and for once, Ron appeared to be losing.

"Aha!" gloated Harry, moving his knight and grinning at Ron.

Ron was not perturbed. He looked at the board, then without warning executed a spectacular move that brought him face to face with Harry's king. "Aha." He said, grinning right back. "Checkmate."

Harry stared blankly down at his fallen king, then shook his head, and began to put the board away. "Oi, Hermione, finished with that letter yet? I thought maybe we could go down to the kitchens and visit Dobby or something."

"Almost," Hermione replied, signing her name and holding the letter up to read it through. "Yes, I think this will do just fine. Hopefully it won't take him too long to write back. I'll send it in the morning. Come on then," and she stood, stretching her arms, and walking towards the doorway. Ron and Harry followed.

As they walked down the corridor, Ron couldn't stop himself. "'Mione, what exactly did you say to Krum in that letter?"

"What? Oh, I just asked how he was doing, told him a little about what was going here. I asked him to resend his letter, because of Neville's little mistake." She suddenly gave Ron an odd look. "Nothing...personal, Ron."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Really." He said, but didn't pursue the subject. He desperately didn't want to get involved in another huge fight with Hermione, not now.

Hermione let it go, walking up to the fruit picture, and tickling the pear, causing the picture to swing open. They all walked through, and heard a few squeals as they were seen by the various busy House Elves, who all bowed and smiled, and gestured them to a table.

"Hello," said Harry pleasantly, looking around. "Does anyone know where Dobby is? We were hoping we could talk to him." One of the elves was immediately dispatched to get Dobby, the House Elf that had attempted to save Harry's life in his second year. Hermione and Ron settled themselves comfortably, and accepted the platter of cakes that the elves offered them. In a few minutes, Dobby arrived, smiling from pointy ear to pointy ear.

"Harry Potter, sir!" He squeaked, bowing. "Dobby is very happy to see sir! Dobby hopes you are well?"

Harry grinned. "Hello Dobby. Yes, I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" Hermione and Ron nodded and waved, and Dobby bowed to them as well. "Dobby is well sir, now that Harry Potter has come to visit him! Dobby has much to tell Harry Potter and his friends!"

They chatted away happily for a while, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry were about to leave, when something began startling all the elves, who shrieked in alarm, and scurried around to hide under tables. Hermione could understand why they were frightened. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, or Nearly Headless Nick, was a rather scary sight. And it was he that floated in through the wall at that moment. Harry, Ron, and Hermione tried to duck under a table, but Nick saw them, and drifted over. Ron gulped. They definitely weren't supposed to be here...

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, I thought I'd find you down here."

Harry stared. "Nick, we, ah...um..."

Nick smiled, though his voice, as usual, was gloomy and faraway. "Oh, Harry, don't worry. In my day at Hogwarts, I was always sneaking down into the kitchens for a midnight snack. I completely understand. But, ah yes. Professor Dumbledore asked me to fetch Miss Granger here, to his office."

Hermione widened her eyes. "Me? But...I've done nothing...really Nick, I never..."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry, your reputation precedes you," Nick said, still smiling. "I'm sure it's nothing too bad...he didn't seem angry...though it's hard to tell with Dumbledore...follow me, please?" And Nick floated through the portrait. Hermione glanced at Ron and Harry.

"Ah...see you in a moment, then," Ron said, giving her a look like he hoped she'd still be around in a moment.

Harry tried to smile encouragingly, as Hermione followed Nick through the portrait, glancing over her shoulder at her worried looking friends before moving off.

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Hermione stood in the doorway to Professor Albus Dumbledore's office. The tall Headmaster of Hogwarts school sat at his desk, looking tired and troubled, his long silver hair contrasting oddly with his now pale face. Hermione's heart gave a jolt. The headmaster...old and tired? No...

"Ah, yes, Miss Granger, do sit down," he said, not looking up, and conjuring a high backed and comfortably cushioned chair out of thin air. She sat, nervously, watching as Nick slid out of the room, leaving her alone.

"Sir, I really don't know...I mean I haven't...you see..."

Dumbledore cut her off with a wave of his hand. "No, you've done nothing wrong, nothing at all. I'll get straight to the point, and not keep you too long from your sleep." He smiled a bit at her, and she blushed, realizing he must know that she'd been in the kitchens. "You received a letter, today, from Viktor Krum in Bulgaria, is this true?"

"Yes...yes sir, I did...but I didn't really get a chance to read it...there was a spill..."

Dumbledore nodded. "So I've heard. Miss Granger, I understand that you and Mr. Krum were very close when he was at Hogwarts." Hermione blushed again. "And that it is perfectly normal for him to write to you. I also understand that you will be quite keen to write back...but I must ask you not to do so."

Hermione stared at him, confused. "Sir, why-?"

The Professor sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger...there are many things that I cannot say, at present...but I will ask you not to communicate with Viktor Krum at this time. I am sorry...you ought to get back to bed now."

"Yes...yes sir..."

Hermione left Dumbledore's office with the oddest feeling and so many confusions. She now had to write to Viktor more than ever...something really was wrong...wasn't it?

* * * * *

"I told you, didn't I, 'Mione?" Ron said excitedly, after Hermione had returned to the common room, and was recounting what Dumbledore had said. "I told you, something's going on over there, and Dumbledore doesn't want to get involved. Must be something really bad. I mean, what would you expect, it's a school run by a death eater! Maybe Krum's letter was a trap or something, to lure you and Harry into it..."

"Karkaroff isn't a death eater anymore, Ron," corrected Hermione hotly. "And whatever it is, I'm sure Viktor has nothing to do with it. He was trying to warn me, remember? I only wish I knew what he was trying to warn me about...this is all so confusing."

"Write him back anyway," Ron instantly encouraged. "It's really important, anyway. If it is a trap, you'll know now, right? But if he's really trying to warn you, we've got to find out, don't we?"

Harry shook his head. "How could she write him back? Dumbledore said not to, and he seems to know everything that goes on. He'd find out, and we'd get in all kinds of trouble. Besides, our headmaster knows what he's talking about. If he said not to communicate, there's a reason for it. Still...you've got a point, Ron..."

Hermione was only half-heartedly participating in this conversation. Her mind was elsewhere, on Krum. If something was going on in Bulgaria...was he safe? She wished she knew...but now she'd just have to sit back and hope.

* * * * *

Two weeks later, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were given even more to think about. During potions class with Slytherin, Professor Snape partnered Draco Malfoy with Ron, apparently in hopes that Ron would make an outburst and give Snape reason to deduct points from Gryffindor. In the middle of mashing his troll toenails, Malfoy leaned over and smirked at Ron.

"Mudblood Granger's got a boyfriend, eh Weasley? I hear he's a real good flyer...and a real dark wizard, too. Better be careful, or Granger might leave the Potter fanclub for good."

Ron didn't answer. He would have, but Harry elbowed him very hard in the back from the table behind him, causing him to rethink the situation. But he spent the rest of the class brooding over it. Dark Wizards?

Later, when the bell rang, he pulled Harry and Hermione away from the crowd. "Look, I've got a thought. I think I know what's going on. Malfoy says Krum is some kind of dark wizard. That could be just Malfoy trying to scare us, but...Hermione, you're the top of the class, you're good at all kinds of magic. What if Krum is some kind of emissary, trying to get you to join the death eaters? I wouldn't be surprised if-!"

But Hermione just laughed. "Honestly, Ron, that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day. Krum, trying to get me to join you-know-who? I'm a muggle-born, remember? He's trying to wipe out all of the muggle-borns. I'm no use to him, and I'm just a student, there are lots of other people he could spend better time on. Me, a death eater. Really."

Though Hermione seemed to find the idea very amusing, Harry looked like he was leaning towards Ron's view. "But Hermione, Voldemort's got his own-!"

"Harry!"

"Sorry, you-know-who has his own way of doing things. What if he does want you, for some weird reason? I mean, why on earth would he want me in the first place? I'm not even particularly good at magic. Ron could be right. We ought to be careful, you know?"

Hermione shook her head again. "We're perfectly safe at Hogwarts, Harry. Don't worry, I've no intention of getting on a broomstick and flying to Bulgaria."

But Ron was not convinced, and it was written all over his face. Hermione looked exasperated, and pulled them both away from the potions dungeon, and along to their next class. "Would you two stop worrying about me and start worrying about reasonable things, like school, and that Care of Magical Creatures quiz?"

"What quiz?"

"Oh Ron..."

* * * * *

Harry and Ron tried not to worry. They tried very hard to keep their mind on the "important" things Hermione kept insisting on. But their worries were definitely not alleviated when the owl post a few weeks later dropped another large envelope on Hermione's plate. This one was bulkier than before. She just stared at it excitedly for a moment, before glancing up to the head table to see if Dumbledore was watching. He was deep in conversation with Professor McGonagall, so she quickly tore open the envelope and peered inside.

Pulling out the scroll of parchment, she opened it, allowing Harry and Ron to peer over her shoulders to get a look. The letter read:

Hermionee,

I hope I spelling your name right, maybe this is why you do not respond to my letter? I must speak to you, it is more dangerous, getting more dangerous every day. I hear from friend at Durmstrang that Professor is ready. I worry for you, Hermionee.

Just in case you did not get last mail, I will say again.

Professor of Durmstrang School has been teaching dark things to students, very dark things. Hopes, I think, to get himself back with he-who-not-named. Has trained his students much for occasion when he could go against Hogwarts, and against Dumbledore, and Potter boy. He is very dangerous, Hermionee. I worry very much for you...you must be careful. Warn your headmaster.

I must go

Viktor

Hermione blew out a long deep breath after finishing the letter, and then her eyes fell on something moving in the bottom of the envelope. She reached in, and pulled out a tiny fluffball of an owl, who cheeped irritably at her, and poked her with another, much smaller piece of parchment that it had in its beak. It read,

Also, Hermionee,

I think that you do not have an owl, so you can use Ivan. I know that he is small, but very strong. He will help.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron said nothing for a long time. Finally, Ron spoke up. "I told you..." he whispered. "I told you it was Karkaroff...do you think it's all true? That he's been training dark wizards, and that he's after Harry, for you-know-who? What are we going to do?"

Hermione nodded slowly to herself. "We're going to tell Dumbledore. Then, I'm going to write back to Viktor, whether the headmaster likes it or not."

They all stood up, and walked over to the staff table. "Professor Dumbledore, sir," began Hermione, "We...need to talk to you about something. Privately. Is that alright?"