When Boxing Day came, Hermione had gotten up much later than she usually did. She had let her hair become long and bushy again, because truth be told, she had used a liberal amount of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, just to get it to stay where it was. There was no way she was going to use it every day, because that was too much of a bother, and would get too expensive. She also had no plans to keep the dress, as she knew she'd outgrow it if not next year, then by Seventh Year she would definitely outgrow it. She decided to return it back to Madam Malkin, whether she got a fraction of the price or not.
She walked down into the Common Room to find Harry and Ron down there. She decided that she wasn't going to bring up what happened yesterday with Ron, or anyone, because she'd rather not let it get in the way of her helping Harry survive this tournament, though she'd be lying if she said she didn't want him to win it, she'd just prefer he make it through alive, given how dangerous the First Task was.
"Happy Boxing Day," she said, sitting down.
"Happy Boxing Day, Hermione," Harry said, and he suddenly looked anxious, "Er - I'm sorry for saying what I said-" he started to say, but Hermione stopped him.
"No, forget it, it's yesterday's problem now. Have... have either of you seen...?" She asked without actually asking.
"No, his curtains were open on his bed, but he wasn't there, or here, so we figured he's probably down in the Great Hall," Ron said. It also seemed as though he wanted to let their argument from yesterday stay in yesterday.
"Okay..." she wasn't sure what she was going to do when she saw him again.
Harry and Ron suddenly launched into an explanation of something they'd overheard from Hagrid and Maxime, but Hermione wasn't surprised.
"Well, Jake and I always assumed Hagrid was different from most people," she said his name casually, pretending like nothing happened, "I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? Hagrid is incredibly tall, but there was no way he was Pure Giant, because they are Twenty to Twenty-Five Feet tall. I can kind of understand some of the hysteria about them, given that they are Tribal Magical Creatures and are not afraid of killing each other for the fun of it, though Jake was the one who told me that gruesome bit."
The three of them walked down to the Great Hall where Lunch was now being served, and Hermione saw Jake sitting with Fleur. She pretended like she didn't see him and sat down in her usual seat near the middle of the table as no one had taken it yet.
Harry and Ron both noticed this, "Everything okay?" Harry asked her.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" She asked, grabbing a bit of food for herself.
"Well, you're pretending to-" he started to say.
"Nothing is wrong, Harry!" Hermione said sternly. He picked up on the tone of her voice telling him to drop it. She was glad when Ron picked up on the same thing. She went quiet and let her mind wander. 'Why would he even bother kissing me if he was just going to pretend like it never happened? Like he didn't feel what I did? Unless he didn't and it was spur of the moment, and he felt nothing? Not that I'd blame him if he didn't feel anything... but why does he have to hurt me by not even acknowledging we kissed?' She began to tear up, but Harry and Ron didn't bother her, which she was glad for, because she wouldn't have answered them anyway.
Jake glanced in Hermione's direction when he heard her voice be raised a bit, before looking back at his food, "Deed you 'ave your dance wiz 'ermione?"
"Hmm? Oh uh... yeah, yeah we did," he gave her a quick smile before his face turned Neutral again.
"What 'appened? Was eet not a good dance?" Fleur asked him.
"No... it was wonderful... the best dance I had the entire night," he said, missing the look on Fleur's face, "it was the stupid thing I did before I went to bed..."
"What was eet?" Fleur's voice was insistent that he tell her.
He didn't want to, but he felt like he had to. He lowered his voice and leaned forward to tell Fleur, who leaned forward in turn, "Hermione and I... we shared a kiss..."
Fleur's eyes widened, and she couldn't hide the look of hurt that flashed across her face as she sat back normally, "What?"
"I'm sorry, Fleur, I don't know what came over me... I made a promise to myself to never be anything more than friends with her, and never do anything friends don't do with each other," he said regretfully.
"Eet... eet weel be okay, Jereemiah," her voice cracked, causing him to look at her. Tears were leaking from her eyes, and she did her best to stem the flow, but she was failing.
He felt morose all of a sudden, "Fleur... don't worry, I'm just going to pretend it didn't happen."
"Even zough eet deed," she said, venom in her voice.
"What do you want me to say, Fleur? I already apologized... and I can't take my idiotic decision back..."
She took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself, "You are right, I weel just pretend eet deedn't 'appen as well."
He stared at her carefully through his eye, and she really was trying to pretend it didn't happen, but her smile was clearly fake. He couldn't change his action, and he was glad Hermione didn't walk over to bring it up. Maybe it would just go away from both of their minds and they could move on.
*******
Classes started back all too quickly, and many students barely got their homework done on time, others didn't, and the respective professor made sure they were punished for their inability to get it done on time.
Snow was still thick upon the Grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them in Herbology. No one was really looking to Care of Magical Creatures in this kind of weather, though as Ron said, the Skrewts might warm them up nicely.
It also didn't go unnoticed by anyone among the Gryffindor Fourth-Years that Jake and Hermione were a bit distant with one another since Boxing Day. Being the last two Gryffindors out of the Yule Ball, none of them could fathom a guess as to what happened.
When the Gryffindors arrived at Hagrid's Cabin, there was no Hagrid in sight; instead they found an elderly looking Witch with closely cropped gray hair and a prominent chin standing before his front door, "Hurry up now, the bell rang five minutes ago!" She barked at them as most of them struggled through the snow. Jake, going on runs almost every morning in the snow, traversed it easily and was the first one there.
"Who're you?" Ron asked as he came to a stop, "Where's Hagrid?"
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly, "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures Professor."
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.
"He is currently indisposed," Grubbly-Plank said shortly.
A sudden low grumble of laughter was heard behind them, and the Slytherins were seen approaching them. They all looked gleeful, and were not surprised to see Grubbly-Plank. After Jake turned and glared at them, they all shut up. He was honestly quite glad to be feared by them. As he expected, Pendragon was the only one who hadn't laughed, and also didn't look afraid of him.
"This way, please," Grubbly-Plank said and strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons Horses were shivering, obviously not used to the cold. The four of them followed Grubbly-Plank, but only Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced over their shoulders, looking at Hagrid's Cabin. Jake was too distracted with his thoughts to care; he was going over in his head what they could possibly be doing if not caring for the damned Skrewts.
He missed Harry hurrying ahead of them to talk to Grubbly-Plank, who led them toward a specific tree on the edge of the forest, "A Unicorn? Are you kidding me?" Jake asked aloud.
"What's wrong with Unicorns?" Parvati asked him.
"Nothing is wrong with them, I'm just starting to wonder why us guys are here at all," he commented, leaning against a tree, and didn't move from the spot.
"Boys, he's right, stay back, Unicorns prefer a woman's touch," Grubbly-Plank paused for a moment, "Five Points to Gryffindor for exceptional knowledge on Magical Creatures."
Hermione really looked at Jake for the first time since after leaving the Yule Ball. She understood his frustration, because half the class was being left out of the lesson. She almost stayed back, but he looked at her, really looked at her, and the look on his face told her to go on and enjoy the lesson. She walked towards the Unicorn with one more glance back to see the Slytherins saying something, but she obviously couldn't make out what.
"Oh, he hasn't been attacked, Potter, if that's what you're wondering," Malfoy said softly.
"Draco, why do you have to be this way?" Pendragon asked him, but he was ignored.
"No, he's just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face," Malfoy continued.
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked sharply.
Malfoy then put his hand inside his robes pocket and pulled out a folded piece of a newspaper, most likely the Daily Prophet , "There you go. Hate to break it to you, Potter."
He smirked as Harry snatched the page away from him, unfolded it, and began to read it with Ron, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Jake reading it over his shoulder. It was an article topped with a moving picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.
DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE
Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent . In September of this School Year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden move in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-Human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.
Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his Third Year, has enjoyed the position of Gamekeeper at the School ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last Year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the Headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.
An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific Creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening."
"I was attacked by a Hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a Flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a Fourth-Year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."
"Lie," Jake said as he read that.
Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. A Daily Prophet reporter last month witnessed Creatures called "Blast-Ended Skrewts" that had to be held in place by the Descendant of Merlin himself so that Hagrid could box them back up. Clearly these creatures are too dangerous if He had to hold them in place. What's more is that he didn't have his wand out, nor did the Daily Prophet reporter hear him utter an incantation. It's known that Jake Kidd, a Fourth-Year at Hogwarts who has been spending a lot of time with Beauxbatons Champion, Fleur Delacour, is incredibly powerful, and incredibly dangerous, but he deserves his own article altogether.
"Oh, I can't wait to see what Skeeter has to say about me, because when she does, I'm going to tear her apart, limb from fucking limb," Jake said, smiling sadistically.
To tack onto the dangers of Rubeus Hagrid, the Daily Prophet has unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not - as he has always pretended - a Pure-Blood Wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess, Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Bloodthirsty and brutal, the Giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass-Muggle killings of his reign of terror.
While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not one of them. It is possible she escaped to one of the Giant Communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.
In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought about You-Know-Who's fall from power - thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend - but Albus Dumbledore surely had a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-Giants.
After reading it, Harry tore the newspaper page apart, but Jake quickly used Reparo to fix it, because he wanted it intact.
"How did she find out?" Ron whispered to Harry, and Jake overheard him.
"What do you mean 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy. "And what's this rubbish about him-" Harry pointed at Crabbe, "-getting a bad bite off a Flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth."
Crabbe was snickering to himself, obviously pleased with his actions.
"You stop your fucking laughing right now, or I'll rip your throat out," Jake said in a casual tone, which clearly shook Crabbe to his core.
"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," Malfoy said, his eyes glinting. "Half-Giant... and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young... None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all... They'll be worried he'll eat their kids..."
"You-"
"Are you paying attention over there?"
Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice carried over to the boys; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn by now, stroking it. Hermione looked back over at the boys when Grubbly-Plank spoke, and her smile fell as she saw that Malfoy, even from this distance, was smiling evilly, and Harry was visibly frustrated, as they all turned back to the Unicorn as Professor Grubbly-Plank began yelling it's Magical Properties.
"I hope she stays, that woman!" Parvati said when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch, "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like... proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters..."
"Everything Hagrid has covered falls under the Classification of Magical Creature, regardless of what your opinion is, Parvati," Jake said dismissively, "Besides those fucking Skrewts, Hagrid's done a fine job as teacher for Care of Magical Creatures."
No one disputed what Jake said, and Hermione saw an appreciative look on Harry's face. Of course, it might also be a slight fear of arguing against him. The moment they got into the Great Hall and sat down, Harry angrily pulled out the newspaper article and seemed glad Jake fixed it after he shredded it, "Look at this," Harry snarled as he pushed it towards Hermione.
Her mouth fell open, indicating she couldn't believe what she was reading, "How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"
"No," Harry growled, "Hagrid never even told us, did he? I reckon she was mad that she had nothing scandalous to write about, and decided to take it out on Hagrid."
"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the Ball?" Hermione suggested quietly.
"We'd have seen her in the garden," Ron said in a scathing tone, but it clearly wasn't directed to Hermione, "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her..."
"In all fairness, Sirius Black wasn't supposed to be on the Grounds either," Jake said, "and he got into the Castle twice that we know of that-" he stopped as his eye widened.
Hermione noticed this and caught onto the fact he had a sudden realization, "And?" Harry asked, and Hermione could tell that his anger was blinding him to be able to pick up on it.
"No, it's nothing, I just remembered something... um... unpleasant..." Jake quietly ate his food.
"Regardless, we've got to go and see him," Harry said, conviction in his voice, "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back... you do want him back?" He asked Hermione.
"Oh of course I do, Harry. But," she always had to have something extra to say, "you are lying to yourself if you say that that lesson wasn't better than most of Hagrid's with how informative that Grubbly-Plank woman was. I know it wasn't fair to be forced to stay back away from the Unicorn, but even with her yelling the information, it was a good lesson." Hermione clearly wasn't moving from her stance, no matter what look Harry gave her.
So after dinner that evening, all four of them left the castle once again and went through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked and Fang's booming bark answered back, "Hagrid, it's us!" He yelled, pounding on the door, "Open up!"
But Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door and whining, but it never opened. They hammered on it for ten minutes, and Ron even went up to the windows and banged on one of them, but there was still no response.
After a moment longer, they finally gave up and went back to the Castle, "What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione asked on the trek back, "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"
But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Malfoy was gloating at every possible opportunity.
"Missing your half-breed pal?" He kept whispering when a teacher was around, believing himself to be safe from retaliation, "Missing the elephant-man?"
"How about you shut your goddamn mouth before I remove it permanently from your face?" Jake asked in a normal voice, but because Defense class was silent at that moment, the entire class heard him.
"What seems to be the trouble here?" Professor Moody asked, his wooden leg clunking as he walked over.
"Malfoy here is about to soil himself from the look on his face," Jake said, looking up at Moody.
Moody saw the look as well and looked back to Jake. He had a bizarre grin on his face, but said nothing else as he continued with the lesson.
Jake looked back to Malfoy with a cold stare, and he didn't say another word about Hagrid, not even in front of Snape after the last time he saw Jake almost strangle the life out of his Head of House.
*******
Halfway through January was another Hogsmeade trip, and Hermione was surprised that Harry was going, "I just figured that you would want to take advantage of the Common Room being quiet, you know, really get to work on that Egg."
"Oh I - I reckon I've got a pretty good idea what it's about now," Harry said.
"Really? That's wonderful!" Hermione said excitedly.
Jake, however, wasn't believing a damn word he said. He waited until Hermione was busy doing something else to whisper, "You're a damn liar, Potter."
"I've got five or six weeks still," Harry whispered, "and we might run into Hagrid at Hogsmeade."
Jake couldn't necessarily argue with him, and he concluded that if Harry failed the Second Task, that was on him. He lied to Hermione, and Harry had no progress made at all on the Egg, Jake knew that much. If Hermione wasn't going to be helping Harry because he lied, he saw no reason to help him either.
"So, Jake," Hermione turned her attention to him, "I take it you'll be going with Fleur?" She asked in a tone that he couldn't place.
"I was planning on it," he said back, his voice neutral, "though I must ask, were you planning on going with these two numb-nuts, or were you hoping to go with... what was his name, Mihael?"
"Well... I-I don't suppose I'd be opposed to seeing him there..." she said, almost ashamed.
"There is nothing wrong with that, you know?" He asked rhetorically.
Hermione obviously knew he was right, but after their Kiss, she felt guilty even thinking about trying to find someone to replace him. Hermione couldn't do that, not to him. She couldn't bring up the kiss to him, though, if he didn't seem keen on talking about it himself.
"Alright well... I guess the three of us will go ahead and leave for Hogsmeade... have fun with Fleur," Hermione managed to keep her voice from cracking as she turned and hurried ahead of Harry and Ron.
'I'm sorry, Hermione, I want to, more than anything I want to, but I just can't...' He hated feeling the way he did, but he had no choice. He couldn't risk ruining Hermione's life, and he just had that nagging feeling that he would. She would be okay eventually, he hoped. He looked to his right and saw Fleur approaching him, "Morning, Fleur."
"Good morning, Jereemiah, are you ready for 'ogsmeade?" She asked him.
"I am ready," he smiled, but it was forced. He felt sick to his stomach suddenly; the look on Fleur's face made him feel guilty. He loved Hermione, there was absolutely no question about that, but he also loved Fleur. He stood up and they walked out of the Castle, following the path towards Hogsmeade Village. She had her arm hooked through his like she usually did, and some guys were still upset about it, but they also made stupid claims of greatness that they very clearly never did just to impress her, so he dismissed them.
Once in Hogsmeade, Fleur gave him an idea on where to first, "I zink we should go to ze Zree Broomsteecks. I 'ave 'eard about zis Butterbeer, but I 'ave yet to try eet, and very much want to."
Jake had just seen his three friends walk into the Three Broomsticks a little bit ago, and briefly wondered if Fleur had an ulterior motive, "Okay, I could go for one as well," he lied. He didn't really want anything at the moment and was just hoping to walk around for a bit.
Fleur then dragged him to the Three Broomsticks without hesitation, and he didn't resist. She opened the door, and eyes were on them, including his friends. Harry was standing at the counter, though, with Bagman. She looked back at him expectantly; he was the one who knew what he was doing, after all. He led Fleur up to the counter and ordered two Butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, while waiting, he tapped his index finger on the counter absent-mindedly, which prompted Fleur to place her hand on his, and stop his tapping.
He looked at her, "Sorry..."
Fleur merely smiled at him, and she didn't move her hand. A moment later, Bagman dashed out of the building, and a group of Goblins flowed out of the building after him. Jake didn't care what kind of trouble Bagman was in and Harry went off to the table Hermione and Ron were at.
When Madam Rosmerta returned, she winked at Jake as she set the Butterbeers down and walked off to help another customer. The building was crowded, but they still found a place to sit down, alone.
"So... I take it you've worked out the Egg?" He asked her.
"Almost, I steel 'aven't tried a few zings... eet just keeps screeching and wailing every time I open eet," she sighed.
"Harry's not figured it out either... he lied to Hermione about having figured it out," Jake mentioned.
"Does 'arry like 'ermione?" Fleur asked.
"Uh..." it caught him off-guard, "no, I don't think so... not in that way, at least."
"I zink zey'd be cute togezer," Fleur said with a flirty smile.
He knew exactly what she was trying to do, "There was also a guy from Durmstrang... Mihael, she said his name was."
"Zat was ze guy she was danceeng wiz, no?"
"Yeah, that was him," he confirmed.
"Zey'd be cute togezer as well," she rested her chin on the palm of her hand as her elbow rested on the table.
He gave a half-smile and took a drink of his Butterbeer, feeling warm inside. She took a drink of hers and she let out a content sound, "It's good, isn't it?"
"Eet ees very good," she said with a foam-stache.
"You got a little something on your upper lip," he motioned all over his to show her where it was on hers.
"Oh, would you like to 'elp me wiz eet?" She asked in her best temptress voice.
He knew he wanted to, very much so, but he wouldn't do it in public, "Maybe one day in the future," he gave her a half-smile, and wouldn't meet her gaze.
She then started to laugh, causing him to look up. She used her tongue to take care of the foam, but she did it in a way that would be considered as seductive . She did it slowly, holding eye contact with him the entire time, before smacking her lips together and giggling again, "I only tease you, do not worry," she winked at him.
He laughed as well and continued drinking his own Butterbeer. He then asked her about France and Beauxbatons Academy, but she didn't get to answer, as the door opened for a new arrival, and even though it was noisy, they didn't miss Rita Skeeter's arrival, "Just... fucking... great..." Jake said, rubbing his temple.
She was wearing a banana-yellow set of robes today; her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table near Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and Jake glared at her the entire time.
"Just eegnore 'er, Jereemiah, zat... woman ... ees not worz your time," Fleur said, trying to get him to just focus on her.
He was about to, but then Harry's voice boomed throughout the pub, "Who cares if he's half-giant!? There's nothing wrong with him!"
Fleur and Jake both looked towards them and he saw Skeeter's smile flicker very slightly, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"
That annoyed Jake greatly, but Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade, "You horrible woman!" She yelled through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story! And anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman-"
"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," Skeeter said coldly, and Jake was standing up when she uttered her next words, "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl... not that it needs it... and maybe, just maybe, when those grow in and you have guys looking at you, you'll understand what I mean, Little Miss Flat Chest."
The look on Hermione's face was enough for him to lose control for a moment. The front door to the pub was suddenly exploded out into the cold snow, allowing cold air to sweep into the building. Jake's hands were clenched into fists as he stared right at Rita Skeeter. Candles had been blown out, darkening the place, but his glowing Red Eye was impossible to miss as he walked towards Skeeter. She had a smug look on her face, thinking he wouldn't do anything, but she didn't realize who she was dealing with. As he walked, people stepped aside out of fear.
When he was close enough, her photographer began snapping photos, but the camera suddenly exploded in his face, lodging a few pieces of metal into his face and burning his eyebrows off. He screamed and ran out of the building as Jake stopped right at the edge of Skeeter's chair, and he leaned forward, "Say it again."
"Well, what do we have here?" Skeeter said in as best of a calm voice as she could muster after what happened to her photographer.
Her Quick-Quotes Quill burst into flames, "Say it again, or your handbag is next, with all of its contents."
"What, calling your girlfriend there Little Miss Flat Chest-" Skeeter was suddenly slapped, painfully across her face.
"You listen to me, you fucking broad, Hermione is my best friend at this school, and no one insults her in front of me and gets away unscathed, so if you say one more thing to or about her that isn't nice, I will rip your skin from your body and feed what's left to my pet Raven," Jake said darkly, causing everyone in the pub to involuntarily shudder, including Hermione and Fleur, "now get the fuck out."
Before Skeeter had a chance to stand up, he put his foot on the edge of her chair, and kicked her back with enough force to send her through the wall and into the snow. Her handbag flew out after her and he was standing there, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He waved his hand and the wall became fixed.
Jake's eye stopped glowing red as he turned and walked out of the building. He closed his eye and angled his head up to the sky. He quite honestly couldn't wait to see what the next Daily Prophet article about him was going to be.
Deep inside him, he felt an anger, a wrath he had felt only once before, had been re-awakened, and he feared that without Hermione near him to keep him level-headed, he would never be truly calm again.