New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|24| Chapter Twenty-Four

T W E N T Y  F O U R 

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Within the hour, everyone else in the tent had woken up. During that time, Maya had assisted Sage in cooking up a warm breakfast for them all to have before they were going to go to the portkey to make their way home. Saffron then took over for Maya during the last few minutes, as Maya said that she wanted to get a copy of the Daily Prophet in order to see what the reporters have had to say about the events of last night.

"They really haven't held back," frowned Maya, holding up the Daily Prophet to show everyone the front cover, which had the image of the Dark Mark front and centre. Saffron felt a sickly hole in her stomach at the sight of it. She wasn't sure that it had truly hit her yet that she had witnessed such a horrifying reminder of the past last night. Not to mention the fact that she and the people she was with were accused of being the ones to put it up there. 

Saffron narrowed her eyes at the headline as Maya passed the paper over to Sage. It read: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP. That was putting it lightly, Saffron thought, or at least by her standards it was. She figured most adults were used to much worse during the war so this event probably paled in comparison to how truly awful those were.

"I'm sure Rita Skeeter has thrown everybody under the bus after last night," said Sirius with a note of predictability in his voice as he walked over and sat beside Sage to get a closer look at what was said in the paper. 

"Who's she?" Noah asked him curiously.

"She calls herself a journalist," sighed Sage, rolling her eyes at the paper but despite her agitation she continued to read. "But she's not in it for the real stories, she's in it to write poison-pen stories, attacking anyone she has to to get the best scoop. Yes, there I am, unhinged, heh? Oh, I'll show her who's unhinged,"

"Is the story completely different than how it actually was?" Saffron questioned, expecting to know the answer.

"She's got most of the facts," Sage said fairly. "Just a very very diluted version of it, but you know what I'll give her credit where credit is due, she managed to find out about Crouch. I wouldn't have put it past him to sweep it under the rug, though, he probably knew there was no chance of that happening the second I arrived on scene, if Rita hadn't of wrote about it I probably would have told her about it anonymously just to get the story out there,"

"Funny that Ludo Bagman's been better at keeping things on the low, better than Crouch at least," Sirius said to Sage with an amused grin.

"Well, that's an accident if I ever saw one before," Sage responded, flicking the page in the paper. "I'm convinced everything Ludo does is an accident, that's what happens when you're a Beater for decades on end,"

"We saw him last night," said Harry thoughtfully. "The five of us were waiting in the woods, only a few minutes before the Dark Mark was cast. He had no idea about what was going on and the second we told him he disapparated,"

Saffron noticed Sage and Sirius giving each other a look. That look appeared to determine how the pair of them collectively were going to respond to what Harry had to say. In the end, Sirius did so for the pair of them:

"Typical Ludo, I doubt he knows his right foot from his left at this point,"

"But what is it that he covered up?" questioned Rachel with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh," said Sage, forgetting that they hadn't even mentioned it yet. "Yes, basically a member of his department, Bertha Jorkins, has gone missing. She went to Albania and hasn't be seen since, it's been over a month at this point. For whatever reason, Rita still hasn't got her claws on it yet, though, that's probably because it's Bertha that's missing. She was an awful gossip in school, wasn't she?"

Sirius nodded. "She was incapable of keeping her mouth shut. She and Rita are definitely of the same mold, though Bertha is certainly not a nasty, I'll give her that,"

"Rita's nasty, alright," agreed Sage bitterly. "Oh, I can't wait until the day I get her back, it's going to be so satisfying for me and so pain---" She cast an eye at the children all of whom had smirks on their face at how anti-Rita she was and envisioning what it was Sage would do to her. Thinking it was a bad thing to endorse for the children, Sage amended the course of her sentence. "--embarassing it will be for her, because I'll bet you she's using all sorts of tricks to get her hands on the stories she gets. And like I said last night, these things always come out in the end,"

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After breakfast, they packed up their belongings and made their way to where the portkeys were being held. To Saffron's horror, the muggle man who had been tortured the night before, Mr. Roberts, was still being made work. He wished everyone who passed him a Merry Christmas, causing Sage to scoff when they made their way past him. She was very disproving of the fact that the Ministry didn't have him in proper care after what he endured the night before and Saffron agreed with her. Although Mr. Roberts might have had those memories wiped, not allowing time for him to have his mind rest was irresponsible to say the least.

"I can't wait so sleep some more," Noah yawned as the group crowded around the hairbrush, having to wait another two minutes before it was going to set off to bring them to the Lake District. It was crazy to think that they only arrived at the Quidditch world cup yesterday. Everything had gone by in a flash which spoke to how intense the twenty-four hour period had been.

"Noah, you got more sleep than anyone," Sage chuckled with a grin, eyeing her son with no surprise whatsoever.

Noah shrugged his shoulders. "What? Sleep is nice,"

"You truly are your fathers son after all," Sage said to both Noah and Sirius. The pair of them seemed very pleased to be told that and certainly took it as a compliment.

Just as they made their way onto the ground to hold onto the portkey, Saffron felt Harry tap her shoulder gently. She looked over at him, as she was sandwiched between him and Rachel and asked him what he wanted by giving him just one look.

"I have to talk to you when we get back," Harry's words were almost inaudible in an attempt to ensure that none of the others heard him. "Alone,"

Saffron would have nodded but given her position on the ground she merely gave him a smile. Harry asking to talk to her in private only spelled something important and even though a part of her wanted to remain ignorant to whatever he had to tell her, a much bigger part was ready to help Harry in any way that she could. As the portkey took off, and they went crashing through the air, she just hoped she'd be enough for him.