Bloodlines || A Draco Malfoy Romance Fanfiction

The Triwizard Champions - 73

After putting his name in the Goblet, Dmitri returned to me. "I'd like for you to come and join me and my friends today. Get to know them."

"Of course!" I said enthusiastically, not having any excuse to say no. I thought of Draco, and I turned to look at Draco across the hall. His eyes were slits, boring into Dimitri's back. "Would you mind if some of my friends joined?"

His eyebrows raised; annoyance was apparent on his face. "You mean Malfoy?"

"And a few others," I replied with a hint of defence inflected in my voice.

A deep sigh escaped him. "How will it look if you bring him around with you everywhere you go? Aphrodite, I already told you I won't be made a fool."

Oh no. I am not playing this game with him. Dimitri was quickly going to make it impossible to watch after Draco.

I crossed my arms. "Dimitri, who had a hand in making our arrangement possible?" He looked away from me, brows knit in annoyed anger. "Lucius Malfoy?" I asked rhetorically. Dimitri took a deep breath, seeming to hold it this time. "I would say shirking his only son is a pretty poor way to thank him for the favour he's done for you. Draco and I have been friends since conception. And need I remind you that the Malfoys and Cytherias are close family friends, and it's pertinent to retain that relationship."

Dimitri finally let out his breath. He offered me his arms. "Let me do the talking. For appearances."

It seemed like a fair compromise, so I took his arm as a form of agreement.

We crossed the hall to Draco, who had replaced his glare behind Dimitri's back with a smirk.

"Malfoy," Dimitri said stoically as he shook Draco's hand. "Aphry and I are going to meet with our classmates. Would you care to join us?"

Draco raised a curious eyebrow, looking between Dimitri and me. "Be happy too."

"Dimitri," I said sweetly, "Could Draco's girlfriend Pansy and my best friend Daphne come as well?" I lifted my free hand to indicate them sitting together on the other side of Draco, and they both smiled up at Dimitri.

"Of course," he said with a handsome smile, seeming relieved that I had revealed to him Draco had a girlfriend.

After a long day, we returned to the Great Hall for the selection of the champions. Dimitri and I joined his quidditch team buddies, including Viktor Krum, which explained their team's success in their school league.

We chose a spot close to the Goblet, wanting to see everything up close. My anxiety hummed low, but present, in my stomach at the possibility of Dimitri being his school's champion, but I did well to hide it.

Dumbledore made announcements for us all to settle down since the Goblet was close to making its decision. He then dimmed the fires along the perimeter of the room so that the primary source of light was the Goblet of Fire.

Turning back to face the Goblet again, the blue flames danced back and forth. Then, without warning, the flames turned red, spitting out a piece of parchment whose edges were burnt black. Dumbledore his back toward us, and grabbed the parchment mid-air, ember still glowing orange on the edges.

Lowering his arm, he examined the parchment. A brief moment passed before he announced. "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum."

The entire Durmstrang crowd gave low grunts of victory, happy to have him as their champion. He rose from his seat, received congratulation from all his schoolmates, including Dimitri, and went over to shake Dumbledore's hand. He was then directed to a door at the back of the hall, where the champions would convene after they were all announced.

As I'd practised in my head, I turned to Dimitri. He was clapping, but there was an undertone of disappointment in his expression. I gave him a smile that I hoped was reassuring and apologetic. It must have had the desired effect as he reached around, placing his arm on his shoulder and pulling me close. I placed my arm reassuringly on his back between his shoulder blades.

Seconds later, the fire turned red again, shooting out the next piece of parchment. Dumbledore took the parchment, inspected it, and then announced. "The champion for Beauxbatons...is Fleur Delacour."

More applauding surrounded the hall as Fleur, the girl Draco pointed out as part Veela, stood from her spot with the other Beauxbatons students, some of who screamed in excitement, and some who burst into tears. She went to shake Dumbledore's hand, then disappeared into the same backroom as Krum.

The Goblet did its routine once again, flame turning red and spitting out another piece of parchment which Dumbledore caught. "The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory."

The applause rang out, particularly from the Hufflepuffs as he stood from his spot, went and shook Dumbledore's hand, and made his way to the back room.

"We now have our three champions," Dumbledore said, "But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory.... the Triwizard Cup!"

He pointed toward the front of the hall where, on a pedestal in front of the teacher's table, Barty Crouch unveiled the cup, which seems to glow from within.

I looked at the cup in awe, however, my eyes strayed to my godfather, who was curiously making slow steps toward the centre of the room where the Goblet was head. His brows furrowed as his face was illuminated by the Goblet. Dumbledore turned around after seeing Severus's expression.

The blue flames danced in tendrils above the Goblet's rim and became more and more active as the seconds moved on. The fire turned red once more, and spit a lick of flames straight up in the air, depositing another piece of parchment. It floated down almost painfully slow as the entire room sat in perplexed silence.

Finally, Dumbledore snatched the parchment from the air, reading it and muttering something indiscernible. Then he said for the whole room to hear. "Harry Potter."

Gasping, I looked around to find Harry. How did he manage to do that?

Dumbledore repeated his name, and finally, Harry stood, making his way over to Dumbledore. His eyes were wide, it looked like fear. A low roar of the students erupted speaking amongst themselves about this revelation.

Harry took the parchment with his name and slowly made his way to the front of the hall, finally disappearing into the back room. Dumbledore dismissed us, and he and the teachers and headmasters followed him into the backroom as well, leaving us to go back to our common rooms and ruminate.