Wot In The Harri Potter?

15 - The Desperado

Hagrid invites me out to third-wheel his date with Madam Maxime.

I am so grossed out by him sticking his tongue in her mouth that I almost miss the dragons.

"What do you think this means?" Pansy asks me fearfully when I tell her about it later.

"It means it won't be long 'til we are hearing the deafening patter of giant baby feet." I explain with a shudder.

"No!" Pansy whacks my arm. "About the dragons?!"

"Guess that's my first task," I mutter, feeling sick at just thinking about it. "I've got to tame a dragon."

"Or kill it," Blaise suggests unhelpfully.

I look to Draco for his opinion, but he just sits there silently, looking paler than ever.

The next morning, Draco approaches me as I walk into the common room.

"Are you okay, Draco?" I ask, arching an eyebrow as I take in his sickly appearance. "No offense, but you look as though you are the one who has to face fire breathing dragons, not me."

"I didn't sleep last night," he confesses. "All I kept thinking about was how I can help you, and so I came up with this."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a round metal badge.

"Here," he mutters, holding it and beckoning for me to take. "It's not much, but..."

Intrigued, I take it from him. It is Slytherin green, and in black letters it reads:

Support Harri Potter,
the real Hogwarts Champion

I beam at him, my heart giving a flutter at this thoughtful gift he has made for me.

"That's not all," Draco says, pressing a finger against the face of the badge. "See?"

I watch as the words disappear and the colour changes to mustard yellow. Large red letters appear, blindingly bright.

CEDRIC STINKS

"Uh, wow," I snort. "You really do have a way with words."

Draco snatches it back from me, pink spots appearing on his cheeks. "I was going to put something ruder, but then I thought that wouldn't be suitable for the younger ones."

"The younger ones? Draco, just how many of these did you actually make?"

The unusual colour in his cheeks deepens. "About a thousand. Give or take a few."

"A THOUSAND?!" I holler, throwing my head back with laughter. "Draco, you really are something else!"

"I did it for you! I can't help you face dragons but I can rally the whole school behind you. Diggory will be fine, he's got years more experience than you, so much so that it isn't fair!"

I wipe the tears from my eyes. "And I appreciate it, I really do - it's sweet. But there are other ways to show your support. You don't have to make badges degrading the competition, you know. It sort of makes me look bad."

I can see I have hurt his feelings and I feel bad, especially as he had been up all night making these god awful badges.

So, I pin it to the front of robes, making sure it's back on the green face. This seems to appease Draco, who beams down at my chest.