What Difference a Handshake Can Make

Triwizard Tournament

nice

Draco's PoV

The first week went smoothly. This year we were able to share a room with just one other person, a Slytherin thing. Thankfully, I was put with Harry. I wouldn't have minded who I was with, but he would have.  Besides, he was my best friend so I wasn't complaining.

Energy surrounded the great hall. A week ago, we had been told about the Triwizard Tournament taking place here. The other schools were to arrive today and to say everyone was excited was an understatement. People had been talking about entering all week.

A few minutes passed when Dumbledore ordered silence. The door opened, revealing a group of young women. Beauxbatons. They carried themselves with grace as they walked down the middle of the hall. I didn't pay much attention but the girls seemed to stare with envy, and the boys with a sense of longing. Strange. Many of them seated themselves with the Ravenclaws, when the door opened again. That would be Durmstrang. The gentleness of the school before vanished, replaced by the aggressive group. They waked down the aisle, scowls on their faces. Of course they had to sit with us. I mean, some of them were kinda hot? I shook that thought away immediately before the rules of the tournament were explained. A murmur of disappointment fluttered across the room when it was said that you may only enter of you were 18. I didn't care, I wasn't planning on entering anyway. I wouldn't choose to put myself in danger, that would be ridiculous. We had three days to enter ourselves before the cup would reveal the champions.

Once the dinner ended, Harry and I walked back up to our room. We were both exhausted, evident when we fell into our beds and fell asleep right away.

Today was the day we would find out who was competing for Hogwarts. Neither me nor Harry were that bothered about it. He had his fair share of bad experiences as it was, and I was simply uninterested. People had died in this tournament, how could that appeal to anyone. Even for the prize of eternal glory and all of those galleons, was it worth it if there was a chance you wouldn't make it out of there alive? People entered regardless, so maybe it was. The hall grew quiet as a name was thrown from the cup. First was the Beauxbatons, who all cheered when the name Fleur Delacour was called. She walked down to the champions' room with a smile. Weird, considering she was just entered into a competition that could possibly lead to her death. The rest of us clapped, stopping when another name flew out. "Viktor Krum." Finally, the Hogwarts champion. "Cedric Diggory." And that was that.

The hall erupted into conversation, which suddenly came to a halt when another piece of parchment was spat from the cup. Dumbledore muttered the name to himself before repeating it clearly. "Harry Potter." My heart clenched.

Harry's PoV

I couldn't move. My legs felt like they were stuck to the ground. As soon as my name echoed around the room, sharp stares had been shot at me. My hearing went fuzzy while my breathing decided to go haywire. This couldn't be happening. A mistake had to have been made. I wasn't even the right age, something was wrong. I didn't enter myself. I tried to focus on walking out of the room, ignoring the accusing glares. When I entered the room it started to spin. Not now, not now. My legs had turned to jelly as soon as I left my seat.

I slid down the wall, now sitting on the ground with my head pressed to my knees. A loud shout brought me back. Draco. "Harry! Harry, are you okay?" He crouched in front of me. His voice was still odd, like I was listening beneath a layer of water. I tried to look at him but he was a blur. I dug my fingernails into my palms, an attempt to ground myself. It worked, surprisingly. I winced when I realised I had pierced my skin, but Draco quickly took my hands in his and healed them. The touch made me shudder.
"I'm going to die, Draco." My eyes stung but I wouldn't cry, not with everyone there. Really, it was probably a good thing.
"Surely there's a way out?" That was aimed at Dumbledore. The silence was unnerving and the tiny amount of hope I was hanging onto vanished.

I stood up and Draco quickly hugged me. I shivered again. It was weird, I just felt like a shock was sent through me every time we touched. "Well, I'm taking Harry back to our room. I would have thought there would be something stopping this from happening but apparently not." Draco's stern voice made me flinch a little, but the gratitude I felt in that moment overpowered it. He really cared about me, enough to talk to Dumbledore like that. It was slightly frightening.

We stayed silent until we reached our room, and once the door closed I couldn't take it anymore. Here I was, my life in danger again. I let the tears fall from my eyes. Draco turned to me once he heard a sniffle, quickly walking over to me to wrap me in his arms. He walked us over to my bed to sit, pulling me onto his lap. "I'm sorry, Harry. This is horrible and I wish there was something I could do. I won't let you get hurt." I buried my head in his chest and hoped he didn't mind his shirt was getting wet. I felt weak, like a child. But that is all I am. A child who now had to participate in a contest which might be the death of me.

3rd Person

Harry got no sleep that night, and Draco couldn't bring himself to leave him awake alone. The two sat in silence, Draco hugging him, until the sun rose. Harry still didn't want to leave the room. Luckily, it was a Saturday. Draco left to fetch them some food, promising to be back in 30 minutes tops. He bumped into Ron on the way their, who seemed a bit off. "You okay there, Ron?" He got a grunt in response. "Alright. I'm just getting breakfast for Harry and I. You know, he's stressed." Ron met his eyes at this.
"Oh yeah, must be. Don't lie and tell me he doesn't enjoy this attention. He has all these years. He loves being Harry bloody Potter." Draco's jaw fell open at this. Ron was supposed to be his friend, not act like this was all part of some elaborate plan of Harry's to gain media attention. He shied away from anything of the sort and Ron knew it.
"Ron, really. You're supposed to be his friend, what on earth makes you think he wanted this to happen?"
"Uh, I dunno. Bit obvious, mate. He wants eternal glory." At this point, Draco just laughed. Stupidity. He rushed away from Ron, quickly getting their food and leaving. What a dickhead. Oh no, what was Harry going to say? He couldn't tell him that even Ron disliked him.

He walked up to their door, nudging it open with his foot to see Harry lying down, staring at the ceiling. He had flinched at the sound, but didn't look over. His heart hadn't stopped pounding from the second his name had been called. "Harry. Try eat something?" Of course, he knew Harry didn't eat a lot as it were, let alone when he was under a lot of pressure. He had again felt the boy's ribs through his cloak when he had hugged him. He didn't want to push, Harry was always defensive when Draco tried asking. While it wasn't unexpected, his stomach sank when Harry shook his head.

How was he going to get through this?

I feel like in the films Harry wasn't like super bothered about it which kinda annoyed me like I know he had nearly died every year but this is super stressy on a whole other level