The Girl Who Lied || Draco Malfoy

The Triathlon

February, 1995

Hyacinth Potter reacted as any fourteen year old would after kissing her brother's enemy - she ignored Draco Malfoy like the plague.

They weren't the only pair that acted as if the Yule Ball was a fever dream. Blaise and Tracey were wild as always, not affected in the slightest by attending the ball together. Daphne and Theo weren't talking to one another anymore, though when each was thoroughly questioned they both said that that was ridiculous; of course nothing happened and they were fine. Yet, they never sat next to each other at the Slytherin table again. Parkinson had an utter meltdown when she woke up forty-eight hours after taking the sleeping potion, destroying the entire dorm in the process, then proceeded to never address the ball again. Malfoy returned to that attention-seeking bully he always was, insulting anyone he could just so he could get the satisfaction of getting under their skin, and pretended none if it happened as well.

There were only two entities that obsessed over the happenstance of the Yule Ball, making it hard to commit to the fantasy that the awkward night never existed.

Harry Potter and the Daily Prophet.

The Prophet had a field day with the photos they got of her and Malfoy. None of them were as good as the one Millie caught with her camera, when Hyacinth and Draco slow danced, but they apparently were newsworthy in the Wizarding World's eye. None of the information was correct, spreading rumors about her and Draco's "profound love" or whatever rubbish they said. Malfoy didn't appear upset about any of the coverage, confirming that theory she had in the back of her head about how him being allegedly in love with one of the halfblood saviors made the Malfoy family look tolerant in this modern death-eater-free world.

It didn't matter much in the long run, however, because their supposedly stable relationship wasn't as interesting as Victor Krum going to the ball with a muggleborn. The Prophet also caught a picture of Hermione hugging Harry by the stairs, implying that the witch was dating the both of them. The drama got much more publicity; while that was very unfortunate for Hermione based on the amount of hate mail the owls dropped off at breakfast, Hyacinth was just glad it wasn't her.

Harry refused to talk to her still because of the events at the ball, which was probably for the best. He sent her a package on New Years Day with the invisibility cloak wrapped up in twine and a letter stuffed into the folds.

Map.

She tucked a ripped corner of a piece of parchment into the front of the map, responding on it in the same blunt fashion out of pettiness.

One month.

It wasn't like she would need the map. There was no time for the little pranks like her and Tracey did when they were First Years or for sneaking around after hours. Especially when she wasn't talking with Harry, so it wasn't like she had anyone to sneak off to. She was, unfortunately, going to be busy training.

"A triathlon?" Hyacinth complained as she walked back up to the castle after getting the news from Ludo Bagman on the pier of the Great Lake. "I'm not even fit ! And I'm going to have to fight creatures and collect clues? While running ?"

"And swimming and flying," Cedric pointed out happily like the golden retriever boy he was.

"I don't even know how to swim!" She had never even been in a pool before - why would the Dursleys have taken her to a pool?

Cedric gasped, genuinely shocked at the news. Bless his innocent soul. "I could teach you, if you want?"

"No, no," Hyacinth said hastily. "I can probably figure it out. I'm just thinking of how much I need to do. Set up a routine. Running in the morning, swim-"