Draco Malfoy and the Girl from Mahoutokoro (Book 1, Year 4)

9 The First Task

9

The First Task

The next morning, Mizuki had gone down to breakfast, hoping to catch Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but she only found Ron, and he looked as if he was in a foul mood, so she didn't bother speaking to him. Mizuki ate her breakfast in silence, too distracted by her own thoughts to pay much attention to anything else—until Draco came into the hall. Her eyes followed him as he sat down at his table, but he kept his eyes down. Mizuki couldn't read him at all, his face was inscrutable. She sighed, finished her breakfast, and decided to spend the morning and afternoon revising for her classes and reading ahead, and once she was finished that, she donned her jacket and walked around the school grounds, heading toward the lake where she found a spot to sit down against a tall tree, and she stared out at the dark water. The Durmstrang ship was anchored in the middle of the lake, swaying majestically, she wondered briefly what Krum was up to today, but thinking about Krum made her think back to the night she met Draco at the World Cup, replaying everything that happened that night over and over in her head, then every other encounter she had had with him at school, looking for a something that would explain his behavior; but she kept coming up with nothing.

The following morning at breakfast, the Gryffindor table exploded into applause when Harry arrived, except for Ron, but the rest of the school gave him dark looks. The rest of the houses shunned him. Mizuki knew that pain all too well, she watched him as he walked by, then turned around to finish her breakfast just as he happened to look at her.

Even Mizuki thinks you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, he thought miserably to himself. At least most of the Gryffindors were on his side—and Hermione, but Hermione was not Ron, and as much as he was thankful he at least had her, he missed his best friend.

Later that day, when Mizuki was sitting next to Draco in their double Arithmancy class, she kept eyeing him, trying to find something to say to him, but she had no idea where to even start. She wanted to ask him all the questions she had had over the weekend, but nothing came to her. Every now and then, she continued working on their numerical assignments, but she would turn her attention back to him. She noticed that he was on the same page that he had been ten minutes ago.

"Do you need some help?" she asked him tentatively, which had clearly been the wrong thing to say. He turned and glared at her.

"No," he hissed.

Mizuki stared at the papers on her desk, aware that he was still looking at her, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him again for the rest of the class. Instead, she focused on their coursework, and finished her sections, handing them to him after she had checked them over. He took them without saying anything, looking at her, but she was avoiding his gaze on purpose. She knew that the bell was going to ring, so she began quietly packing up her things as he continued watching her.

Draco knew that he should say something, apologize, explain, something, but every time he tried, he couldn't find his voice; he didn't know what to say.

It's better this way, he kept trying to convince himself, and yet, when the bell rang and she walked away, he felt a deep sense of loss that he couldn't explain nor get rid of, try as he might. The feeling always intensified when he saw her in their History of Magic classes and at meal times, but it was particularly profound when he was sitting next to her, and he hated the way the guilt inside of his gut made it feel like there was a wild animal in his stomach clawing at him, causing him to feel nauseous.

After dinner, Mizuki went to the library where she found Harry, Hermione, and Krum studying at a table near the back. She approached them, and Harry looked up at her just as she was about to greet them.