after dusk - draco malfoy

ix. | nine

A COUPLE OF MONTHS HAD GONE by and the first task for the Triwizard Tournament was nearing. Harry and Ron were having a domestic about Harry not telling Ron about submitting his name for the Goblet, which I didn't believe as Harry had told us all multiple times he didn't want 'Eternal Glory'. It seemed fair enough, considering he already had that from being an infant.

Draco had been complaining to me all week about how Mad Eye Moody had turned him into a ferret. Personally, I was just annoyed I hadn't been there to see it. Draco seemed to be getting more and more aggravated the second anyone had mentioned it, which was every chance any of his friends got.

Just as Draco had asked, I had started spending a bit more time with his friends, going to Hogsmeade with them on a weekend. We usually sat in the Three Broomsticks, which was unfortunate as all of my 'friends' from Beauxbatons had been going in there as well. It slightly annoyed me that all of Draco's friends had quite obviously been biting their tongues on their insults to me. You'd think I'd be grateful for it but I knew they were only acting that way because Draco had asked them to.

The day had finally come for the first task of the Tournament. I had decided to sit with my friends as I had been sort of neglecting them to go hang out with Draco and his friends on a weekend. Walking down to the Quidditch pitch was rather amusing, watching the twins taking bets, again.

I had purposefully avoided eye contact with them, in a bid to try not to draw attention to myself as I knew they would rope me into placing a bet. "Squirt!" George yelled. I turned my head in defeat and they dragged me away. "Place a bet," Fred instructed.

I shook my head at the twins. "I've been spending all my time in Hogsmeade on a weekend and I don't want to spend money on unnecessary things like gambling," I replied, beginning to walk away. Fred grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "No, Fred. I'm not placing any bets."

It's safe to say I had been easily influenced as I walked away with a Galleon out of pocket. I had only hoped that my bet would come through and I hadn't lost any money. If I did, I was only going to force them to pay for my Butterbeers for the rest of the term. However, if my bet came through, which I had placed on Harry, I would be gaining my money back, plus an extra 29 Galleons. (Harry's odds were 30/1 to survive, which seemed rather insulting and a lack of belief).

I hadn't seen Draco walking down to the pitch and I ended up sitting with my friends, who seemed surprised to see me. Stella flicked her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and furrowed her brows at me. "Oh, hello," she said, genuinely shocked. "We presumed you would be with Draco. Not that it matters."

It took me a few moments to register that she was being genuine before I replied. "I just feel bad I've not been spending as much time with you guys," I explained, putting my gloves on to shield my fingers from the blistering cold. "If you don't mind, that is."

Tommy shook his head, sipping from his cup. "No, not at all," he replied, although Poppy stayed silent. "We just didn't think you would be here, that's all. It's nice to see you, though. It seems like it's been a while since you were with us out of classes."

Not much else was said before Fred and George took their seats behind us and the task began. Cedric went first, followed by Fleur and Viktor. Harry was up next and he had a bit of a rough start before summoning his broomstick with the 'Accio' charm.

Harry flew around the pitch, causing the dragon to break free from its chain and fly over the teacher's box, ripping it with its sharp, jagged tail. "Yes!" Fred and George exclaimed at the chaos over the teacher's box. "Well done, dragon!" Fred shouted after it as Harry flew away, guiding it away from the arena.

After a few minutes of Harry not returning with the combination of the dragon letting out cries, people started to talk amongst themselves about what could have happened to him. Everyone around us, all being close friends with Harry, were standing in silence. I had my hands over my mouth, my breathing beginning to quicken.

A scream from the dragon then filled the air, causing my heart to drop. I proceeded to search in the sky for any sign of the boy flying on his broomstick. When I had just about given up, I heard the firebolt soaring through the sky and saw him swoop down and collect the golden egg.

Celebrations back in the Common Room awaited us when we arrived back into the school. The golden egg was being passed around the Common Room and when it was passed to Seamus, he got everyone to be quiet before turning to Harry, who was sat on the twin's shoulders. "Go on, Harry, what's the clue?" He asked the question everyone had been wondering.

Seamus passed the egg to Harry, who turned to all the students in the Common Room. "Who wants me to open it?" He questioned, enticing loud cheers to fill the room. "You want me to open it?" He fuelled the fire of more cheering before opening the egg, which let out an ear-piercing shriek.

The twins had dropped Harry from the loud noise, which he quickly put an end to by closing it again. "What the bloody hell was that?" I heard Ron ask from the other side of the room. Everyone had known of the argument that Harry and Ron had, which was proven by the awkward silence filling the room.

George looked across the Common Room and decided to intervene. "Alright everyone, go back to your knitting," he advised as everyone started to make themselves busy. "This is going to be uncomfortable enough without all you nosey sods listening in."

Fred and George had whisked me away to keep ourselves busy. George pulled out his betting box and handed me 30 Galleons. He turned to Fred and shook his head. "Let's never let her place a bet ever again," he told his brother, while Fred nodded, watching the money getting placed in my hands.

I had never expected myself to come in such fortune. Fred and George both looked at dismay at the money they had lost. "Maybe we underestimated Harry's abilities," Fred suggested to George, causing me to stifle a laugh.

I nodded my head in agreement. "You should probably lower the odds from 30/1 next time," I offered the pair advise, which Fred responded to by putting me in a headlock and giving me a nuggie. I struggled but I managed to get out of the headlock with just a messy head of hair. I attempted to push him but only ended up stumbling back a few steps.

We all stayed up for a while longer before heading up to bed. I had spent the night with Tommy, Stella, Poppy, and the twins. We all had such a fun night and I don't think I'd ever laughed as hard. I fell asleep that night, for the first time in a long time, extremely happy and content with myself and my life.