Chocolate & Honey (A George Weasley Fanfiction) BOOK ONE

Chapter Fifteen: Boys and Badges

"Ok, so what exactly did they say?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning back against the table.

"He said that the first task was designed to test our daring, so they aren't going to tell us what it actually is," Darius recounted, "something about it being important for us to learn courage in the face of the unknown."

"That's rubbish," Draco scoffed, "I'll write to father. I sure he can figure out what it is."

"He also said I'm not allowed to ask for help of any kind from teachers," Darius pointed out, "I'm sire that means other adults as well. Besides, even if we did figure out the first task, it's not like we want anyone to know we did."

"But they didn't say anything about other students?" I asked. He shook his head. "Ok, good,that's good. And I appreciate your enthusiasm Draco, but I don't think we'll need your father's help. Hogwarts is a cesspool of gossip, no secret stays secret for long. Someone will find out what the first task is and by then everyone will know, but if we keep our ear to the ground, we should be able to find out before then."

"I'm sorry, who put you in charge of this little endeavor?" Draco retorted. "He's from our house,he's out champion before he's yours-"

"Which is exactly the kind of thinking I'm trying to eliminate," Darius cut in, "This separation this...rivalry between the houses, it needs to end. And Senicka has connections in every house - connections we might desperately need in order to win this tournament. The support of Slytherin house is invaluable to me, but we need her if we have any hope of getting the rest of the school onboard so...to answer your question of who put her in charge, I did. And as my oldest friend I hope you will trust my decision."

"We're not enemies here, Draco," Siara chimed in, "we all want the same thing. For Darius to win. Can't that be enough to put us on the same page."

He sighed, crossing his arms.

"It's your funeral." He said with a shrug.

"Ok, how much time do we have before the first task?" I asked, looking back to Darius.

"Three weeks." He stated. I nodded.

"Three weeks?!" One of the Slytherins exclaimed. "We're supposed to find out what this top secret task is in three weeks?!"

"Well, then we'd better start looking around," I said, turning to face the others, "Surely all of you know someone that is usually well versed on castle gossip. Talk to them, keep an ear out but be subtle. No one needs to know what we're doing. If we figure this out quickly, then we can spend the rest of our time preparing for it."

Everyone began leaving our corner table in the library and I blew out a breath, looking over at Darius.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd run tournament support before." He said, causing me to smile.

"Well do whatever it takes to make sure you're prepared for that task," I said, "and thank you...for backing me up with Malfoy."

"Of course," he said, "I meant what I said. You're my best chance at getting what I want."

I chuckled. It was a very Slytherin thing to say, and yet knowing Darius, and what he wanted, nothing about it made me uneasy.

"Sounds like a healthy friendship."

I looked away from Darius to see George standing a few feet away, arms crossed, leaning against a Bookshelf.

"George," I said, standing up, "What are you doing in the library? You never come in here."

"I came to find you," he said, "we were supposed to work on orders this afternoon. I'll give you credit Avery, at least you're upfront about the fact that you're using her."