School Exchange (Drarry) ✓

Chapter 14

Pansy sighed, her free hand running through her thick black hair while the other was wrapped tightly around Draco while he tried to stifle his sobbing.

An hour past, and there was still no sight of Harry. By the time it was an hour and a half, there were people talking- a winner should have been decided by now. Organisers went to escort the remaining competitors back, yet there was only a terrified Fleur who was covered in scratches and had 2 stunning charms on her, as well as Krum who looked more like a mass of blood and flesh. Cedric and Harry, no where to be found. Draco demanded for the whole maze to be torn down, but the organisers said that that would only happen when the first victor touched the goblet of fire, signifying their win.

However long it was after that, Draco wasn't sure. He just sat on the spectator bench, worried sick about his poor boyfriend. He knew something was wrong, he's been having this bad feeling for 2 months now. One thought spiralled into another, and soon enough Draco found his chest contracting, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. The next thing he knew, Madame Pomfrey had given him a jab of calming draught. While it did work, it forced Draco to regulate his breathing back to a normal person's, an impossible task for someone who was still mentally distraught and crying. Which led to the current situation- Draco struggling to stop crying and Pansy and Blaise on each side, trying to comfort him but to no avail.

Pansy sighed again, checking her pocket watch for the millionth time, but was careful to tilt the glass away from Draco so he wouldn't be so anxious as the seconds ticked by. She was about to confront Snape to do something when a loud crash came right in the middle of the quidditch pitch.

Without looking, Draco was already running towards their blurry silhouettes. Harry, who was panting and shaking, and a motionless Cedric. His heart sank as Cedric's parents broke out in wails for their son, and Madame Pomfrey told them to step aside so she could do whatever she could. Harry still clutched onto Cedric's limp form, trembling and doubled over in pain and exhaustion. Before anyone could step in, Mad-eye was already hauling Harry off.

Away from the commotion, Harry was quickly cornered in his office, too overwhelmed and scared to fight back. "What happened? How did you come back?!" He yelled in more anger than inquisitiveness. Harry fails to reply and gets shaken by his shoulders. Mad-eye was clearly ignoring his pleas and whimpers.

"I don't know what-"

"HOW?!" He raged, his staff flying dangerously close to Harry's face.

"Petrificus totalus!" A familiar voice yelled, causing Mad-eye to lie still on the ground with his arms snapped tightly by his sides. Draco crouched next to Harry, resting Harry's head on his chest while stroking his hair. Behind him, Dumbledore and Snape were speaking in hushed voices. They cast a complicated spell on Mad-eye, revealing a man with beady eyes and brown matted hair.

Snape spends the next 5 minutes digging through Mad-eye (or the man who Harry soon realised was Barty Crouch Jr.)'s office, finally unlocking a trunk that contained the real Mad-eye. He was in bad shape and his hair disheveled and uneven, clearly used for making polyjuice potion.

Barty Crouch Jr. started to stir. Dumbledore knelt next to his subconscious state, pouring a full vial of veritaserum into his mouth before undoing the curse. It didn't even take long for him to spill. Turns out, he was the one who was planning Harry's demise since the start. From the goblet to getting the upper hand for every task, so he would eventually arrive at the graveyard and get killed. Well, aside from the last part that was clearly unsuccessful.

Harry was brought to the infirmary, back into another load of chaos. Cedric's parents were still screaming and yelling, Cho was in some corner sobbing. Fleur was unconscious on the bed, and Krum was barely recognisable, with at least a dozen of their schoolmates surrounding their beds. Madame Pomfrey looked extremely frustrated that none of them were listening to her instructions to back off, but hastily made her way towards Harry all the same, diagnosing him with multiple fractures in mere seconds. A couple draughts were tipped into his throat, attempting to put him out of his (physical) pain temporarily. Meanwhile, Madame Pomfrey was softly questioning him.