CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Third Person P.O.V.:

In the weeks that followed the Second Task, the chaos and intensity had settled around the castle. The Third Task was still months away and for now, everyone had fallen back into their regularly scheduled routines.

As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. Despite being a month closer to the Third Task, Charlie found himself too preoccupied relishing in his secret romance with Hermione Granger.

Although adamant on keeping their relationship a secret, that didn't stop them from snogging whenever they saw an opportunity. They had set up secret rendezvous points like the back corner of the library, the common room after curfew, or even the various utility closets stationed around the school.

The two of them had even gone as far as to set up code words around their friends, so that they could signal to one another when they were in desperate of some alone time. They were, to put it gently, love-sick teenagers in desperate need of learning about hormone control.

One day, in between classes, Charlie set off to the library to retrieve his girlfriend from her studies so that they could walk to Potions together. The boy slipped passed Madame Pince, who was surveying the room with a scowl, before finding Hermione in her usual spot in the back corner.

With her back towards him, Charlie saw an opportunity. He crept up slowly behind her before spinning her around, much to her surprise, and placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

Thinking the kiss would last much longer, the boy wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist to pull her close, but he was taken aback when the bushy haired girl had pulled back abruptly, placing a hand over his mouth to stop him from saying anything.

Unable to talk, Charlie simply raised a brow in her direction to which Hermione shook her head, an amused smile on her face.

"Ginny!" she called over his shoulder, "Did you find that book yet?"

"No," Ginny called back from beyond the bookshelves, "still looking!"

Suddenly understanding, Charlie nodded and he expected Hermione to remove her hand, but to his surprise, she only replaced it with her lips, tempting dangerous territory for the gratifying feeling of their lips molded together.

(A/N: OTP... all Delena fans can come at me idgaf)

Hermione's smile creeping up on her face caused her to pull back, still holding a finger up to the boy's lips, whispering, "Way too close."

Charlie shook his head, a teasing smirk forming on his lips before pulling her closer, whispering, "Not close enough."

The brown eyed boy went in for another kiss, but Hermione was quick to turn her head to avoid contact; she had to be mindful of Ginny's whereabouts. However, she didn't expect Charlie to take advantage of the situation as he gladly peppered the side of her face with kisses instead.

Hermione's face flushed red as she peered through the bookshelves, trying to spot Ginny's infamous red hair. Suddenly, there was no denying the sound of the approaching footsteps coming towards them, much to Hermione's temptation of relishing in the moment with her boyfriend. With all of her will-power, she pushed Charlie away just in time for Ginny to come around the corner.

"Found it!" Ginny called, a book in her hand as she looked up, a brow raising at the sight of Charlie and Hermione standing uncomfortably apart from one another, neither of them looking at her directly.

Instead of calling it out immediately, Ginny simply turned to Charlie, a smirk on her face, prepared to tease him a bit, "Oh hey, Charlie. I didn't hear you come in."

"That's because I just walked in actually," Charlie said, just a little too quickly as he shared a weird glance with Hermione.

"Is that right?" Ginny laughed, looking to her friend, who was undeniably flustered, before shifting her gaze back to the boy, "Spending a lot of time in the library, are you?"

"I suppose," Charlie breathed out, "I've been doing a lot of research for the Tournament, and Hermione - well, she's been helping me..."

"Oh, I bet she has," Ginny muttered, sending a teasing smirk towards Hermione. "Lots of snogging in the bookshelves, I reckon - how scandalous!"

"We weren't -"

"Oh please," the young Weasley sighed, "if you're going to lie about it, at least try and look a little less guilty!"

"Ginny!" Hermione squealed, her eyes widening slightly, "Whatever you're implying -"

"I'm not implying anything," Ginny laughed, eyeing the two curiously, "I'm stating facts. Bit strange, isn't it? You two kiss at the Yule Ball," - she whispered the last bit - "and now suddenly, you two are hardly ever seen without one another. You're saying that's just a coincidence, are you?"

"Yeah, I am," Hermione said simply, crossing her arms and holding an intense gaze with her friend to scold her for behaviour.

"Okay then," Ginny laughed, glancing at Charlie who shifted nervously on the spot, "keep telling yourselves that... maybe one day someone will actually believe you," - the red head laughed once more before she turned, heading for the exit - "I best be off anyway. Bye! Have fun lovebirds! Be sure not to scar Madame Pince with all that snogging that you two may... or may not be doing!"

And with that, the redhead disappeared, leaving Charlie and Hermione completely dumbfounded. Hermione leaned over, and peeked her head out from behind the shelf to make sure that Ginny was truly gone.

With the confirmation of her friend's exit, Hermione turned back to her boyfriend and let him pull her close as she sighed into his chest - keeping their relationship a secret was going to be harder than she thought.

"Quite perceptive Ginny is," Charlie joked. "Almost makes you wonder how the bloody hell she's related to Ron."

Hermione laughed slightly as Charlie leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead before pulling back and grabbing her books from the table.

"C'mon," he said softly, holding out a hand, "we're going to be late for class."

Smiling, Hermione linked their hands and allowed him to pull her forward. They snuck past Madame Pince and headed towards the exit. Now in the corridor, they unlinked hands out of fear of being suspicious. They met Harry and Ron down in the dungeons, and the four of them waited for Double Potions to begin as they stood outside the classroom.

Malfoy, Crabbe, Zabini, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Charlie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached.

"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart.

Charlie saw that Pansy had a newspaper in her hands - The Daily Prophet. God, not Rita Skeeter again...

"There's something in here that might interest you, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the newspaper at Hermione, who caught it, looking confused.

At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside. Charlie, Hermione, Harry, and Ron headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual.

Once Snape had turned his back on them to write on the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifled through the newspaper under the desk. At last, in the center pages, Hermione found what they were looking for. Charlie, Harry and Ron leaned in closer.

A coloured, moving, and clearly edited photograph of Krum, Hermione and Charlie headed a piece entitled:

THE TRIWIZARD LOVE TRIANGLE

Hermione Granger, a plain and ambitious muggle-born witch, seems to be catching the eye of not one, but two of our Triwizard Champions.

As reported in an earlier article, Charlie Hawthorne found solace in his love for Miss Granger, but was quickly overlooked when a certain Bulgarian Quidditch star arrived. It seems that Granger's undeniable taste for famous wizards is something that Hawthorne alone, could not satisfy.

Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has, "never felt this way about any other girl."

Many of her classmates suspect that Miss Granger may have slipped both champions a Love Potion, thus capturing the hearts of their unfortunate souls. Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and there is no doubt that Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims.

In the meantime, Charlie Hawthorne's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate. Luckily enough, it is most safe to assume, that many witches and wizards around the globe are queuing up at the possibility of fulfilling such a role for the charming son of Minister Hawthorne.

"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of -of scarlet woman!"

Hermione stopped and suddenly, snorted with laughter. Charlie simply shared an amused glance with Harry from across the table.

"Scarlet woman?" Harry repeated, shaking with suppressed laughs as he looked around at Ron.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw the newspaper onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."

She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and Charlie closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Charlie, Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for class.

"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known...?"

"Known what?" Ron said quickly, chuckling slightly. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?" - the ginger turned to send a glance towards his brown eyed friend across the table - "Careful Charlie! Don't be drinking any pumpkin juice that Hermione offers you."

"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just... how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"

Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Charlie's eyes as they had instantly fell upon her.

"What?" Charlie said, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madame Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to -"

"And what did you say?" said Charlie, who had picked up his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches from his bowl, because he was too busy looking at Hermione.

"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red from nervousness under her boyfriend's intense gaze, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there... or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task..."

"What did you say?" Charlie repeated, pounding his pestle down so hard that it dented the desk.

Hermione looked at him for the first time, frowning at his reaction, "Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to -"

"As fascinating as I assume your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all four of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them, and Charlie simply sunk into his chair, shaking his head in disbelief, not even bothering to look up to meet his girlfriend's concerned gaze.

"Ah... reading newspapers under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of the Daily Prophet. "A further ten points from Gryffindor... oh but of course..." Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Hawthorne has to keep up with his press cuttings..."

The dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth.

"Well, I think I had better separate the four of you," sneered Snape, "so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter move over next to Malfoy. Hawthorne - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."

Furious, Charlie threw his ingredients and his bag into his cauldron and dragged it up to the front of the dungeon to the empty table. Snape followed, sat down at his desk and watched Charlie with a glare.

Determined not to look at Snape, Charlie unloaded his cauldron and resumed the mashing of his scarab beetles, imagining each one to be either Snape's or Krum's face.

"All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over-large head, Hawthorne." said Snape quietly, once the rest of the class had settled down again.

Charlie didn't answer. He knew Snape was trying to provoke him; he had done this before. No doubt he was hoping for an excuse to take around fifty points from Gryffindor before the end of the class.

"But I give you a fair warning, Mr. Hawthorne," Snape continued in a softer, yet more dangerous voice, "pint-sized celebrity or not - one more outburst that showcases your lack of self-control and I will not hesitate to sentence you to serious repercussions."

"Right," Charlie said coolly, rolling his eyes. "I'll bear that in mind if I ever care enough to listen what you have to say to me."

A ripple of gasps and mutters broke out across the classroom, and in a flash, Snape had gotten up from his seat, moved over to the boy, and slammed his hands down on Charlie's desk.

But as Snape opened his mouth to curse out the boy, there was a knock on the dungeon door.

"Enter," Snape said in his usual voice, still glancing at Charlie with fury.

The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.

"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips. Charlie kept his eyes on his ginger roots, but was listening hard, trying to eavesdrop.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff dismissed him.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus." Karkaroff demanded. "You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.

But Karkaroff didn't move. Instead, he hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class.

With two minutes before the bell, Charlie scattered his things around his work space. He needed an excuse to stick around for a moment after the rest of the class headed for the door.

"What's so urgent?" he heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff only seconds after the bell had rang.

"This," said Karkaroff, and Charlie, peering around the edge of his cauldron, saw Karkaroff pull up the left-hand sleeve of his robe and show Snape something on his inner forearm.

"Well?" said Karkaroff, still making every effort not to move his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, not since -"

"Put it away!" snarled Snape, his black eyes sweeping the classroom.

"But you must have noticed -" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice.

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Hawthorne! What are you doing?"

"Clearing up my desk, Professor," said Charlie innocently, straightening up and showing Snape the papers he was holding.

Not sticking around to get yelled at some more, Charlie hastily packed his things, and walked out of the room; Snape was too busy with Karkaroff's worries to notice.

To the brown eyed boy's surprise, Hermione was waiting for him just outside the door. Sighing, Charlie walked a lit bit further down the hallway before reaching a private window alcove to which Hermione joined him.

"Charlie -"

"No," he dismissed in a quick whisper, "I have a right to be mad."

Hermione tried to plead, reaching out for his hand, "I know. I know you do. But listen, please... I was going to tell you -"

"No you weren't," Charlie said softly, pulling his hand back, "if you were, you would've told me that night in the common room -"

"I know," she repeated, this time a little louder, causing the students around them to look curiously as they passed. Hermione sighed, composing herself, "I just - I didn't want to ruin the night by mentioning Viktor. It was so perfect, and I knew that if I told you that -"

"Hermione," Charlie said, cutting her off, causing her to look at him with scared eyes, "we can't talk about this here -"

"So when can we talk about it? Charlie, I really don't want this to come between -"

"It's not," Charlie said quietly, giving the bushy haired girl a tiny glimmer of hope. "I just need to time to think."

"Okay," Hermione said quietly, nodding before she leaned up and placed a soft, chaste kiss on his cheek, lingering for a moment. "I'm sorry."

As she pulled back, Charlie swung his bag over his shoulder, giving his girlfriend a soft smile before setting off in the opposite direction down the corridor.

---------------

A couple of days had gone by and Charlie and Hermione had still had yet to discuss the Viktor Krum situation. The brown eyed boy just couldn't bring himself to let go of the grudge, but deep down, he knew that he was more upset with Krum than with his girlfriend; his pride just wouldn't let him admit that.

When Charlie began to not show up to their late night rendezvous, Hermione began to get extremely scared for the future of their relationship. Sure, they talked, but not like a couple should've, and there were certainly no kisses as of recently. Her heart ached for him - this is exactly what she feared would happen.

Hermione realized that she probably should've been the one to tell him about Viktor's proposal, but she didn't think Rita Skeeter would blatantly expose her like that. Now she was suffering consequences as her boyfriend had failed to show her even the slightest bit of intimate attention.

She missed him more than she ever thought possible and it was eating her up inside not knowing where they stood. If Charlie was going to break up with her for something as stupid as a Rita Skeeter article, Hermione figured he would've done it by now, which is why she was so confused - he left her in this sort of limbo.

The only thing she knew for sure was that she never wanted to go back to the days where her and Charlie were just friends. So, if that meant she had to fight for their relationship, then so be it. Hermione swore that the next time she got Charlie alone, she would confront him about what was going on.

In the meantime, Sirius Black has taken up a new residence at a nearby cave by Hogsmeade, and the core four often made journeys to go and visit him.

All of their talks had been the same, however - Sirius had become very suspicious of Harry and Charlie's involvement with the tournament, especially after they had revealed to him that Barty Crouch had been missing from the judging panel quite often recently.

After insisting that Charlie and Harry kept any eye out for the Death Eaters lurking around the school, as well as debating as to who actually conjured the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup, Sirius confided in them that Mr. Crouch was ruthless in his crusade against Voldemort, and he was chosen as the next Minister of Magic as a result, to which Charlie was shocked; his father never said that both he and Mr. Crouch wanted the position of Minister - could there have been some competition?

However, apparently, Crouch's own son, Barty Crouch Jr., was convicted as a Death Eater, given a short trial, and imprisoned in Azkaban, where he soon died. Sirius added that Mr. Crouch lost everything then, and perhaps hoped now that if he caught another Dark wizard, he could set his career back on track.

When inquiring for more details about the World Cup, Charlie told Sirius everything that he saw up in the Top Box. Harry's godfather seemed puzzled about the fact that Mr. Crouch had his elf save him a seat in the Box, but never showed up to take it - there was, quite obviously, more to the story.

Nonetheless, Charlie, Harry, Hermione, and Ron returned to the castle that night, curious to know more.

---------------

As Easter approached, the entire school began to buzz with excitement of the Third Task approaching.

Charlie had, to a certain extent, made up with Hermione. They still had yet to have a deep conversation about what was happening, but Charlie's coldness towards her faded as he was made aware of the fact that she was receiving hate mail from avid readers of The Daily Prophet.

Hermione was, unjustifiably, being called horrendous names within the letters that she received from people, believing her to have broken Charlie's heart.

So, naturally, trying to redeem himself as a good boyfriend, Charlie comforted her by meeting up with her in their various secret places, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, reassuring their relationship, and even going as far as to place several comforting kisses around her face just to take her mind off of things. However, there was a very prominent shift in their dynamic, especially since Krum was still lurking about.

Meanwhile, the core four had yet to discover anything else about Mr. Crouch. Even though they had reached out to Percy, hoping that because he was Ron's brother he would provide them with some sort of information, but the older Weasley simply scolded them for implying such 'horrible accusations' about his boss.

Regardless, the start of the next term would normally have meant that Charlie was training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season. This year, however, it was the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament for which he needed to prepare, but he still didn't know what he would have to do. Then, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held both him and Harry back in Transfiguration.

"You two are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock," she told them. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."

So at half past eight that night. Harry and Charlie left Ron and Hermione in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. As they crossed the Entrance Hall, Harry spoke up to relieve his obvious nervousness.

"What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked Charlie as they went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckons we've got to find treasure."

"That wouldn't be too bad," Charlie said, thinking that he would simply ask Hagrid for a niffler to do the job for him. "But I doubt that it's going to be that easy."

They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field.

"What've they done to it?" Harry said indignantly, stopping dead.

The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.

"They're hedges." Charlie breathed out, bending to examine the nearest one.

Then, a cheery voice called out, making Charlie and Harry jump slightly.

"Hello there!"

Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Krum and Fleur. Harry and Charlie made their way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Charlie as he came nearer; her attitude toward him had changed completely since he had saved her sister from the lake.

"Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as the Gryffindor boys climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less-than-happy expressions on the champions' faces, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"

No one spoke for a moment. Then -

"Maze," grunted Krum to which Charlie rolled his eyes - he truly couldn't stand this fool.

"That's right!" Bagman beamed. "A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."

Fleur furrowed her brows, "We seemply 'ave to get through the maze?"

"There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures... then there will be spells that must be broken... that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Harry and Charlie. "Then Mr. Krum will enter... then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"

Charlie, who knew well about the kind of creatures that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all. However, he nodded politely like the other champions.

"Very well... if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly..."

Charlie hurried alongside Harry as they began to wend their way out of the growing maze. Then, just as the two Gryffindors had set back off towards the castle, Viktor Krum had tapped Charlie on the shoulder.

"Could I haff a vord?"

Charlie raised a brow, "What about?"

"Vill you valk vith me?" Krum asked, blatantly ignoring the boy's question.

Harry looked at his friend curiously, but to his surprise, Charlie moved from beside him and walked after Krum.

Charlie sighed, "Alright pumpkin head, you've got ten minutes."

Harry looked slightly perturbed.

"Want me to wait for you, Charlie?"

"No, it's okay, mate," Charlie said, suppressing a smile, "This won't take long. I'll meet you back up at the castle."

Charlie and Krum left the stadium together, but they did not set a course for the Durmstrang ship as Charlie expected. Instead, they walked towards the forest.

"What're we going this way for?" Charlie said as they passed Hagrid's cabin and the illuminated Beauxbatons carriage.

"Don't vont to be overheard," said Krum shortly.

When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of ground a short way from the Beauxbatons horses' paddock, Krum stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face Charlie.

"I vant to know," he said, glowering, "vot there is between you and Hermy-own-ninny."

Charlie, who from Krum's secretive manner had expected something much more serious than this, stared up at the Bulgarian Seeker in amusement.

"Are you kidding?" Charlie laughed, "You brought me out here to talk about Her-my-oh-nee?"

The brown eyed boy felt as though he needed to stress the correct pronunciation of the girl's name, but this had been the second time he had done so, and he laughed slightly at the Bulgarian's inability to comprehend.

But Krum didn't find it funny. Instead, he looked at Charlie with a suspicious expression, "Hermy-own-ninny talks to you very often, and I vont to know why. Haff you ever... you haff not...?"

"And what if we have?" Charlie challenged, Krum visibly tensing, "What? You think because she gave you a minuscule moment of attention, she belongs to you now, is that it?"

"I like Hermy-own-ninny," Krum grunted, getting upset. "I vant to be vith her. I vill vait for -"

"You're going to be waiting a hell of a long time then, pumpkin head," Charlie scoffed. "Listen, I get the fascination, I do. Hermione is quite literally the most perfect girl I've ever met, but it's not gonna happen." - he paused to laugh slightly just to taunt Krum a little bit - "And honestly? That shouldn't bother you anyway. I mean for goodness sake, you're eighteen, and she's fourteen. Bit strange, don't you think, your obsession? Almost creepy -"

Charlie was cut off as Krum shoved him harshly; he clearly struck a nerve. The young Gryffindor looked to the Bulgarian Seeker who was now visibly fuming, both of his fists were clenched.

"Alright," Charlie said, taking a step back, "I'm going to do us both a favour here - I'm going to walk away before you do something you regret, and I do something to finish what you've started."

But as Charlie turned to head back the way that they came, Krum had grabbed ahold of his left arm aggressively, yanking him back. Suddenly, anger flared up inside Charlie and he let out a shaky, yet scary breath.

"I'm only going to ask once," Charlie said in a dangerously calm voice, "take your hand off me."

But Krum, who thought that Charlie was full of it, yanked on his arm again - for all you kids at home, this is why you should always read the warning signs...

In a instance, Charlie clenched his right fist and threw it back, making contact with Krum's nose causing him to stumble backward.

Realizing what had happened, Krum glared at the young Gryffindor who was standing there now, both fists clenched, jaw clenched, but seemingly unbothered.

Viktor charged at Charlie, attempting to tackle him to the floor, but Hawthorne slipped out of the way at the last second and pushed Krum down hard, landing on his face.

"Alright Icky Vicky," Charlie taunted, "that's enough."

Once again, Charlie went to head back towards the castle, but, to his surprise, Viktor wasn't done yet. During a stride, Krum had grabbed hold of Charlie's ankle and pulled back, causing the boy to fall amongst the grass.

Seizing the opportunity, Krum jumped on top of Charlie and threw punch after punch at his head to which the younger boy stuck his arms up to block his face. In an attempt to escape, Charlie grabbed one of Krum's arms mid-punch, held it steady, only to use his other hand to punch him across the face.

Taking control of the situation, Charlie threw Krum off of him before rising to his feet. He gave one last hard kick to Krum's abdomen as he was hunched over on all-fours, causing the Bulgarian to gasp out as the air got knocked out of him.

Then, Charlie walked over to him, lifted him slightly by his shirt, and simply said, "Are you done?"

Krum whimpered in pain, nodding slowly - guess that was his answer.

Charlie then threw Krum back down on the ground, and finally, walked back through the forest, leaving the Bulgarian bastard there to think about the mistakes he made - Charlie could've fought him further, but it honestly, wasn't worth it.

Not to mention, Hermione would absolutely scold him for doing so; not for fighting Krum specifically, but for getting into a fight period. It just wasn't worth it. Charlie was confident in his relationship with his girlfriend, and he knew that Icky Vikky shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Shortly after Charlie, Krum emerged from the trees clutching his abdomen. The two shared a not-so-friendly glance when suddenly, there was movement in the trees behind them.

The two boys shared a glance before Charlie reached into his pocket to grab his wand; it was the middle of the night... who the hell was out here?

Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, Charlie didn't recognize him, but as he squinted, it registered in his head...

It was Mr. Crouch.

He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and gray with exhaustion. His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that only he alone could see.

"Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"

Charlie nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at him, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.

"...and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve..."

"Mr. Crouch?" Charlie said cautiously as he approached him.

"...and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now that Karkaroff's made it a round dozen... do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will..."

Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees.

"Mr. Crouch?" Charlie said loudly, trying to get his attention. "Are you all right?"

Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Charlie looked around at Krum, who had followed him back into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm.

"Vot it vong vith him?"

"No idea," Charlie muttered. "Listen, go and get someone -"

"Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Charlie's shirt, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Charlie's head. "I need... see... Dumbledore..."

"Okay," Charlie said slowly, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the -"

"I've done... a stupid... thing..." Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly insane. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spit was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must... tell... Dumbledore..."

Crouch was pulling him closer; Charlie tried to loosen Crouch's grip on him, but it was too strong.

"Warn... Dumbledore..."

"He's mad," said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was now babbling to the tree once again, apparently convinced it was Percy.

"Just stay with him," Charlie growled, starting to get up, but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Charlie back to the ground.

"Don't... leave... me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I... escaped... must warn... must tell... see Dumbledore... my fault... all my fault... all my fault... my son... my fault... tell Dumbledore... it's a trap... Hawthorne... the Dark Lord... stronger... Harry Potter..."

"I'll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!" Charlie shouted. He looked around, frustrated at Krum, "Help me, will you?"

Looking extremely apprehensive, Krum moved forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch.

"Just keep him here," Charlie said, pulling himself free. "I'll be back with Dumbledore."

"Hurry, von't you?" Krum called after him as Charlie sprinted away from the forest and up through the dark grounds.

They were deserted; Bagman, Harry, and Fleur had disappeared. Charlie tore up the stone steps, through the oak front doors, and off up the marble staircase, towards the second floor.

Within minutes, he had sprinted into his grandfather's office, causing Albus to jump at the sudden intrusion.

"My god," Dumbledore breathed out, taking in the sight of his grandson's bruised knuckles and the black eye forming on his face, "what happened?!"

"I'll explain later," Charlie breathed, "right now, you have to come quick. Mr. Crouch is here - he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!"

Charlie expected his grandfather to ask questions, but to his relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort.

"Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off behind Charlie as he led the way towards Mr. Crouch.

"What did Mr. Crouch say, Charles?" said Dumbledore as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase.

"Said he wants to warn you... said he's done something terrible... he mentioned his son... and something about a trap... something about Harry... and - and Voldemort... something about Voldemort getting stronger..."

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness.

"He's not acting normally," Charlie said, hurrying along beside his grandfather. "He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you... I left him with Krum."

"You did?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that Charlie was running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch?"

"No," said Charlie. "Krum and I were walking back, Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch coming out of the forest -"

"Where are they?" Albus said calmly as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.

"Over here," Charlie said, moving in front of his grandfather, leading the way through the trees. He couldn't hear Crouch's voice anymore, but he knew where he was going; it hadn't been far from the Beauxbatons carriage... somewhere around here...

"Krum?" Charlie shouted.

No one answered.

"They were here," Charlie said to Dumbledore. "They were definitely somewhere around here..."

"Lumos," Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up.

Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground, and then it fell upon a pair of feet.

Charlie and Dumbledore hurried forward. Krum was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his swollen eyelids.

"Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wandlight as he peered around at the surrounding trees.

"Should I go and get someone?" Charlie asked. "Madame Pomfrey maybe?"

"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."

He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Charlie saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird.

Then Dumbledore bent over Krum again, ignoring the bruises obviously caused by Charlie, and pointed his wand at him, muttering, "Ennervate."

Krum opened his eyes, looking dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Albus put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.

"He attacked me!" Krum muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vare Hawthorne had gone and he attacked from behind!"

"Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said quietly.

The sound of thunderous footsteps reached them, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels, carrying his crossbow.

"Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Char - what the - ?"

"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore, calmly. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody -"

"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm already here."

Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit.

"Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker... what's happened? I heard that something was said about Crouch -"

"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.

"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.

"Oh yeah... right y'are, Professor..." said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.

"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."

"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest.

Neither Dumbledore nor Charlie spoke again until they heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them.

"What is this?" he cried when he saw Krum on the ground and Dumbledore and Charlie beside him. "What's going on?"

"I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name -"

"Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"

"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, looking livid.

"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not a fair competition! First you sneak Potter and Hawthorne into the tournament, though they are underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"

Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's coat, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

"Apologize!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, a huge hand around his throat, his feet dangling in midair.

"Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.

Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.

"Kindly escort Charlie back up to the castle, Hagrid," Dumbledore said firmly. "Take him right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Charlie - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"

Charlie nodded, "Yeah, o-okay."

"I'll leave Fang with yeh. Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Char."

They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle.

"How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Charlie, who looked up at him, taken aback. "What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Char! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn' he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin -"

"It's alright!" exclaimed Charlie as they climbed the steps into the Entrance Hall. "Krum wasn't trying to jinx me. Confront me? Definitely. He wanted to talk about Hermione -"

"I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can trust any of 'em."

"You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Charlie said, annoyed.

"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. You can' trust any of 'em!"

Hagrid was in such a bad mood that Charlie was quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. He clambered through the portrait hole into the common room, realizing upon his entrance of how late it must've been, as the common room was completely empty.

Well, except for one girl in particular, who had stayed up all night worrying about her boyfriend and his whereabouts.

"Charlie?" Hermione whispered as she heard the door open and she immediately rushed over to the entrance, "God, you scared that hell out of me. Harry said that you..." - she trailed off as she took in the sight of his bloodied appearance, her eyes widening in horror - "my god! Charlie, what happened?! Are you alright? Who did this -"

But Charlie silenced her by pulling her in for a passionate, and much needed, kiss.

Despite her concern, Hermione relished in this moment as it had been the first time in weeks that they had kissed with such intensity; it was almost like their problems had dissolved and they had found themselves back where they once were.

Pulling back, Charlie leaned his forehead on hers, whispering, "I'm sorry. I've been acting like a prat and I -"

This time, it was her that silenced him with a kiss. It was short, but sweet and yet, both of them loved it.

"It's okay," she breathed, "you had every right to be mad with me. I'm just - I'm glad we're okay."

"Better than okay," Charlie smiled, connecting their lips again in a quick peck, causing Hermione to squeal from excitement.

"So," Hermione said, snaking her arms his neck, "are you going to tell me what happened tonight?"

"Maybe tomorrow," Charlie sighed, staring into those auburn eyes that he missed so much, "right now, I want to make up for lost time..."

And he kissed her again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Until he eventually lead her over to the couch, their lips still connected as they laid down. Charlie hovered over her, and her legs wrapped around his waist as they engaged in their most intimate snogging session for hours in the empty, fire-lit common room.

At around two in the morning, their exhaustion forced them to separate and they both bound to their dorms with smiles plastered on their faces.

You know what they say...

Saying I'm sorry goes a long way...

...and in Charlie's case, apparently it leads to make out sessions with Hermione Granger; noted for future reference.

---------------
Author's Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*

idk how I feel about this chapter... but whatever, it's just a lead-up to the big finale anyway.

I'm thinking there should be at least two more chapter for GoF, then we're on to OotP!

also... how tf are we on part fifty already...

[insert begging for comments and votes here]

Much love to you all!

xo, Selena