She was sitting in the Great Hall waiting for Lucifer to come down after freshening up, when Professor McGonagall walked up to her, "Miss Granger, could I ask that you follow me please?"
She looked up at her Head of House, "Of course, Professor," she said and gathered her stuff, following behind McGonagall out of the Hall.
Upon reaching the Entrance Hall, she walked up beside her, "Where are we going, Professor?"
"The Headmaster's Office, do not worry, you are not in trouble," McGonagall said quickly so Hermione had no time to worry.
"Oh... No, wait did Lucifer get himself in trouble again? He wasn't down yet either?" She asked.
"All will be explained in due time, Miss Granger," McGonagall said and Hermione took the hint, not uttering another word.
After a little while of walking, they arrived at the Gargoyle and McGonagall spoke the password, Sherbert Lemon, and it stepped aside, a spiral staircase coming down so that it could be ascended.
She walked up behind her Head of House, who knocked on the door and opened it a moment later.
Hermione was met with an impressive looking office, it being her first time seeing it, and Dumbledore was sitting at the far end behind his wooden desk, "Miss Granger, thank you for coming."
"Of course... What's this about, Headmaster?" She asked, following McGonagall up to the desk and sitting down when prompted.
"Well, I can assure you that it's not about Lucifer," he chuckled as Hermione's face burned with slight embarrassment, "it actually concerns the Second Task for tomorrow. Now should you choose to decline, I must swear you to Secrecy that you will not tell anyone that does not already know what I am about to tell you."
"Of course, I shan't say a word," Hermione agreed.
"I would expect you to not. Tomorrow, each Champion will have to rescue a hostage from underneath the Black Lake, their thing they'll sorely miss, so to speak. Do not worry, as you will come to no harm should you accept. The Merpeople will hold four hostages and are really there only to ensure that one hostage per person is taken. Now, as I have come to understand it, Harry had a fight with Mister Weasely, so he won't be regarded as a hostage. Other two he spends time with are you and Lucifer. However, I know for sure he won't ever agree to my terms. Then the only person left is you, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked her.
"Well, you - you could say that, yes," she said, stuttering slightly, "are you asking me if I want to be his Hostage?"
"Precisely."
"But still wouldn't you think that Ron would've made a better choice, Professor? Harry spends more time with him than both of us.... I'm rambling, aren't I?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing I'm not used to, I assure you. I did consider Mister Weasley, but I'd be lying if him leaving Harry at the time when he was needed most didn't influence my decision. So I take it you are declining?" Dumbledore asked her.
"I don't mind being his hostage, honest, but..."
"You are concerned about Lucifer getting angry?" Dumbledore asked correctly.
"Yes, I don't know what he will do to Hogwarts to be honest," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Yes unfortunately, I don't have any means to stop him at the moment, not without a drop of blood you say..." he trailed off a moment, "but I can tell that he cares a great deal for you, Miss Granger, his actions to defend you against Mister Malfoy proves that."
Hermione felt her face flush, "I'll be Harry's hostage, Professor Dumbledore."
He smiled, "When you go to sleep, Miss Granger, McGonagall will collect you in the middle of the night without waking you. Have a good night, Miss Granger."
"You too, Professor," Hermione smiled and stood up, walking out of the office and returning to Gryffindor Tower as Dinner was over by then anyway.
******
Lucifer woke up at Eight o'clock on the day of the Second Task in his private quarters and made his way down to the Common Room, still too surprised and worried to not see Hermione.
He saw her go up to bed last night, and he expected her to already visit him for playing.
He went straight to breakfast in the Great Hall, and Eve sat down across from him.
He looked at her, and she was not happy looking, "May I ask why you have been avoiding me?"
"Morning, Eve," he said politely, "I've been too busy for social interaction the past couple of weeks, and I apologize for that. I've come to learn that what I've been doing is not possible to do at Hogwarts, so I'll have to take care of it over the summer."
"What were you doing that was so important that you didn't talk to me?" Eve asked him with hurt eyes.
"I'm sorry... I can't talk about it..." Lucifer said regretfully, "but... best of luck to your school for the Second Task," he smiled at her.
She looked at his face over once before a smile of her own appeared, "I cannot stay mad at you, Luce. And thank you, I hope all of us do well, honestly."
"Where's Harry? The Task is set to start soon..." he sighed, "I'm going to go and see if he's overslept."
"Okay, I have to go and get ready, see you in the stands," Eve said and stood up with him, walking out of the Great Hall, but heading for the outside, whereas Lucifer went back up to Gryffindor Tower.
He entered and walked up to his dorm room, "Potter, time to get up!" He yelled, but the curtains were still pulled on Harry's bed, "Potter! Up! Now!"
He walked over to the bed, "I'm going to count to three, and if you aren't out of this bed and ready for the Task, then the Magical Contract will be broken and you'll be killed by it," Lucifer paused a moment before he counted, "Three!"
He flung the curtains back and saw that Harry wasn't there, "I swear... I'm going to kill him if that Magical Contract doesn't."
Lucifer bolted out of the room and down into the Common Room, running out into the Corridor, and down to the Library, he just had an inkling that Harry was in there.
He entered casually when he got there and looked around for Harry.
He found him sitting at a desk, reading something.
"Potter," he said, stepping closer.
"Lucifer, what is it?" Harry didn't look at him as he read the book, which Lucifer saw to be a book on Herbology.
"The Task starts soon, you need to get down to the Black Lake and get ready," Lucifer informed him, "now."
"What?" Harry checked the time, "It's time!"
"Sssshhhhh!" Came Madam Pince's voice.
Harry ran out of the Library with Lucifer following close behind.
They ran out the Castle Doors and onto the Grounds, running all the way to the Black Lake.
Lucifer stopped running and proceeded to walk up to the stands.
He still didn't see Hermione.
He saw Ron, though, and went to sit next to him, "Hey, have you seen Hermione?" He asked the Red-head.
"No, I haven't seen her all morning," he said, looking down at the Champions, "I actually haven't seen Cho either, not that I was looking for her, but I didn't see her when I was looking for Hermione."
"Weird..."
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