Where Your Loyalties Lie

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Suspicion

Our foursome- Maddie, Blaise, Draco, and I- were about to leave the common room to go to the Halloween feast. It was a bit chilly,  so I decided to grab a jacket first. "Are you coming, Katie?" Blaise asked.

"I'm going to grab a jacket first. Will you wait for me?" He nodded. By the time we started towards the Great Hall, Draco and Maddie were too far ahead to walk with. "So, how is it going with Maddie?" I asked.

"Good. We're great friends. She tells me everything."

"So she told you she likes Fred?"

"Yes, a Gryffindor." He made a fake gagging noise. "But I didn't make fun of her. That would not help her to like me."

"Good job. I think, don't take my word for it, but Maddie might fancy you by December." He smiled. "I'll let you know when I come up with more ideas to get her to like you."

We dropped the subject before we got near the table. "Hey Viktor, are you excited to see if you'll be Durmstrang's champion?"

He nodded. "Yes, very."

The feast seemed to drag on forever. Everyone was anxious to find out the champions. After the table cleared themselves, it was time to find out champions. First was the Durmstrang champion, Viktor Krum. I cheered and gave him a high five as he headed to the room on the side of the Great Hall. Next was Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour, a blond haired girl who appeared very pretty. Finally was the Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff. Now Hufflepuff would get a chance in the spotlight.

However, the flames of the goblet changed colors again, and another paper flew out. Dumbledore grabbed it and read the name out loud. "Harry Potter." Everyone turned to look at him. Hermione had to push him to get him to go up and move to the side room.

"He's a cheat!" Someone yelled.

"He's not even seventeen yet!" Another called out.

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted. "Everyone is dismissed to their common rooms."

~~~~~

On the way to Transfiguration the next day, I talked to Harry. "I didn't put my name in the goblet," he told me before I could even say a word.

"I believe you. You looked shocked when Dumbledore said your name, there's no way you did it."

"At least someone believes me," he glared at Ron who was ahead of us a ways.

"Just be careful, OK? People can die in this tournament."

~~~~~

Next Saturday the common room was empty except for Blaise and I, just as I planned it to be. The weather was considerably nice for November and most people were outside enjoying it. This gave us time to go over what I came up with to get Maddie and Blaise closer. "You and Maddie are closer than you were before in a sense of that she can trust you and tell you everything. Now we should try and get you two physically closer," I explained. "If she's tired when both of you are sitting next to each other on the couch, let her lay her head on your lap, and same for you if you're tired but vice versa."

He nodded. "Like you and Draco do?"

"I hadn't thought about that, but yes, I suppose. Another is to casually rest your arms on the back of the couch so that you have your arm around her."

"Like this?" He put his arm around me.

"Yeah, but have your other arm out too so it isn't less obvious what you're really trying to do." He stretched his left arm out on the back of the couch too. I nodded. "Better."

"There you two are." Blaise put his arms back down quickly and we both turned to find Draco and Maddie walking towards us. "Come on let's go outside," Draco said.

Draco's POV

"Have you noticed that Blaise and Katie have been spending time alone together a lot lately?" I asked Maddie as we headed to the common room, hoping to find them there.

She nodded. "They've been very suspicious."

We continued walking without talking. Maddie gave the password to the common room's entrance and we stepped into the common room. Katie and Blaise were in there. Both of them were sitting on the couch and Blaise had his arm around her. I looked at Maddie and she looked at me, shocked.

"There you two are." I shouted as we walked over to them. They jumped apart quickly. "Come on let's go outside." They got up and we went outside to enjoy the nice weather.

~~~

Katie's POV:

I gave Claire the note and she flew out the window. "Who are you writing to?" Maddie asked as she stepped into the room.

"I don't know," I sighed truthfully. The anonymous writer refused to tell me who he is, but he told me he's a Slytherin 4th year. He also asked me to give hints on who I fancy. So I said, "I fancy a Slytherin in 4th year."

"So who do you fancy?"

"Someone," I answered.

"Oh come on. I told you how I fancy Fred. Is it Blaise?"

"What? No!"

"Then who is it? Tell me please!"

"Fine then! I like Draco, OK? I fancy my best friend." I flopped down on the bed, face in my pillow. "You happy now?"

"I knew it! So you excited for tomorrow?"

I lifted up my head. "What's tomorrow?" I asked. She gave me a strange look. "Don't look at me like I'm an idiot! I don't know!"

"The first task of course."

~~~~~

"Good job Harry!" I cheered from the stands. "Woohoo! Go Harry." All of the Slytherins glared at me. Everyone in the house except me were sporting Potter Stinks buttons. An idea thought of by none other than Draco Malfoy.

All of the champions had successfully passed the dragon and got their golden egg. Harry was the fastest. He summoned his broom and used it to get his egg. It was brilliant.

In the end, Harry and Krum were tied for first place.

~

The weather was getting cold and we spent almost all of our free time in the common room. One Friday night, Maddie and I decided to see how long we could stay up. Both of us crashed around 5 A.M.

The next day, Draco and Blaise did most of the talking while Maddie and I just sat there. "Are you guys OK?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah, you usually can't stop talking," Draco said looking at me.

I groaned and laid my head in his lap. "I'm tired."

"How late did you two stay up?" Draco asked.

"5 A.M.," I replied. Maddie yawned and laid down, placing her head on Blaise's lap. Her eyes were closed and Draco couldn't see my face so I smiled and winked at Blaise. My ideas were working to get them closer. Blaise looked away to keep from laughing.

"Why were you up so late?" Blaise asked.

"We wanted to see how long we could stay up," Maddie explained.

"What did you do all that time?" Draco asked.

"Our homework and we talked a while."

"You two are crazy," Draco laughed.

"Thanks," I replied. Closing my eyes, it only took a minute for me to fall asleep.

Draco woke me up at lunch time and the four of us walked to the Great Hall. "Feeling better?" He asked. I nodded. "Maddie slept too."

"Sorry for being so boring."

"It's fine. You're sweet when you're sleeping."

"But I'm not when I'm awake?" I joked.

"Of course you are! You're just, I don't know, calmer while sleeping."

I laughed. "Thanks."