by my side¹ - d. malfoy

Eleven

THE HORNTAIL did not look happy to see Laura.

She was sitting there, watching over her eggs, her yellow eyes following Laura.

The crowd was making lots of noise, whether friendly or not, Laura didn't know. Before Laura started, she scanned the crowd, finding Draco's hair, Blaise, Pansy, Jordan, Nick, and her parents watching.

She could tell where the Slytherins were, as they held up signs of encouragement.

Laura looked away, taking a deep breath. She attempted to shake the nervousness out of her hands, but it was futile.

It had been a while since Laura had this many people watching her, and she didn't like it much. Her mind was now focused entirely on the raging task ahead.

"Accio broom!" she shouted.

The crowd watched as she just stood there. She could hear people yelling at her for not moving, but Laura knew she just needed to wait, not so patiently.

There was a sound, Laura looked over, a grin forming on her face as the broom landed in her hand. Bagman was shouting, who knows what. However, Laura couldn't hear what he was saying. She was ready to go, the sound of the word turning down.

Laura swung her leg over her broom and kicked off.

Laura flew up into the air, taking another deep breath. All the nerves left her body, for better or worse, as she soared into the sky. She felt at home in the air. It had always been the thing to get rid of her nerves, people watching her or not. She was in her zone now, her eyes on the egg.

Her mind went into auto mode. It was just like Quidditch- with the added deadly dragon, no teammates, and instead of a small snitch, it was a giant golden egg.

She dived the Horntail following her, her eyes on Laura. Laura quickly swerved, barely missing a blast of fire. She then circled up into the air, the dragon still following her. When she felt it was right, Laura plummeted down, and the dragon opened its mouth again, but Laura wasn't as lucky that time.

Thankfully, she avoided the fire, but as she swerved, its tail hit her, grazing her shoulders. Laura grimaced as it stung. She looked to see her robes were ripped now. The crowd went wild at this, but Laura heard none of it, now understanding what she needed to do.

The Horntail didn't want to leave its eggs. So, Laura slowly flew up, doing this for a good couple of minutes until the dragon finally flew up.

When Laura gauged it was far enough away, she quickly dove towards the egg. She narrowly avoided the dragon's claws, letting go of her broom to grab the egg. Laura flew back up quickly, evading any other attacks.

As she tucked the egg under her uninjured arm, the sound in the stadium seemed to turn up. Laura could hear the crowd shouting. Laura laughed with a triumphant smile on her face. She had done it.

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is the quickest to get her egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Miss Potter!"

Laura narrowed her eyes at Bagman, pulling her wand out. Using her wand, she spelled out 'It's Pickering' in the air before flying back down to the ground.

"You did amazing, Laura," Snape said in his usual monotone voice, yet Laura heard a bit of pride in his voice. "You need to see Madam Pomfrey before you can get your score."

Laura gave him a thumbs up, walking to Madam Pomfrey. She was still riding her adrenaline high as she walked over, a giant smile on her face as she walked in.