Always - Welcome to the Wizarding World

Part 2

          

The Quidditch stadium grounds were just spectacular; hundreds of tents were pitched all over, concealing the muddy field with an array of colours. I could smell pumpkin pasties and hot chocolate, the aroma carrying on the breeze from the stalls surrounding us. We trekked through the excitable crowds of giants on stilts and crazed Quidditch fans to seek out where our tent had been set up.

"I believe this is where we part ways, Arthur!" Mr Diggory shouted over the raucous chatter of the crowds.

"Right-ho! See you at the match then, Amos. Cedric, Radia" Mr Weasley bid us farewell before carrying on with the rest of his clan.

"Bye!" Hermione shouted back, waving frantically over everyone's heads. Harry turned back too, waved at Ced and I. Harry was alright, he seemed like a good person, not too short of his reputation.

"After you, Ray" Cedric said, courteously opening the flap of the tent. It seemed so small on the outside; I wondered how all three of us would fit.

I walked in, looked up and my jaw dropped. The ceiling was about 15 feet above us! The inside of the tent was spilling with bright colours and beautiful materials. I wandered in, gazing around at the exquisiteness of this advanced magic. I spotted a king size bed in the far corner of the tent, decorated with an arrangement of red and gold cushions, and I rushed over to threw my heavy rucksack onto it, thankful to relieve the strain of it from my shoulders. I felt a warm hand on my arm and a close presence behind me.

"You like it, then?" Cedric murmured.

"It's incredible, Ced!" I agreed. Cedric chuckled.

"Wait til you see the match. Now that truly is magic".

We met up with Mr Weasley's clan again when we set off to the stadium, and the size of the stadium shocked me even more than the size of our tent! It seemed the size of a small green country! The Irish players must have felt right at home! We followed Mr Weasley up hundreds of levels of platforms until we reached, what looked like, the central level. Suddenly, we ground to a halt and I was to far behind to see the reason why. Mr Weasley and Harry seemed to be talking to someone below. Suddenly, I saw a silver cane swoosh up onto the railings, making me jump and catching Harry's t-shirt. Harry broke free and shoved in front of Mr Weasley, barging onward. We started to move again when I caught sight of whom Harry had been talking to. 

He was a tall man with white hair far longer than mine, past his shoulders. He had a frightful way about him and a grimace on his face. He wore a long black cape and black leather gloves, one hand holding a silver cane with a bejeweled snake head hissing at the top of it. The eyes of the snake were emerald, just like the man's eyes. Behind this fearful man stood his son, who was almost identical to him. His son was much more handsome, his fair hair was far shorter than his father's and his shimmering green eyes were brighter. He was quite tall and slender, wearing a pristine black suit. His face had a considerably better expression than his father's; however he was still grimacing handsomely. Until he saw me, that is. I caught his gaze and his eyes locked with mine. Such arresting green eyes, he had. They sparkled through the darkness of the stadium and they seemed to bore into me, making their mark on my mind. I felt entranced. Suddenly, the boy smiled, his pink lips spreading across his pale, chiseled face.

"I don't believe we've met" the boy said, holding up his hand to me. I smiled back at him and reached out to take it, before it was slapped away by someone in front of me.

"Sod off, Malfoy. Ray doesn't want anything to do with you" Ron hissed at him. Malfoy raised his eyebrows at Ron and looked up and down at me again. His father turned around and gripped Malfoy's arm tightly.

"Come along, Draco. The Minister will be waiting for us" he snapped at him. Lucius then followed Draco's gaze to me and when he saw me, he stopped. He stared at me strangely for a moment or two, mumbled something under his breath, then looked harshly at Draco. He smiled sarcastically at his father, who then whooshed onward along the platform with his cape flying behind him.

"I hope to see you at school, then" he smiled. "Ray". Ron raised his hand at Draco, as if to slap him across the face, but Draco just laughed, winked at me and walked on. I felt Ginny, who was behind me, push me to walk on. I turned to Hermione, who was to the left of me, and asked her who he was.

"Draco Malfoy and his ghastly father, Lucius. Possibly the most feared and despised man in the Ministry and Draco isn't much better" she informed me, glaring at the back of Draco's head. I shrugged, still looking over at him.

"He seems okay to me" I said.

"That's probably because he fancies you. You could see that a mile off. He doesn't smile at just anyone, you know" Ron shouted back over the noise of the Quidditch fans. Hermione grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around to face her.

"But you mustn't get involved with him. He's awful, Ray. Positively dreadful" Hermione insisted. I pretended to listen to her as we walked along and up, along and up, until we reached the very top of the Quidditch stadium where our seats were and we watched the match.

I was stood between Ron and Hermione for the duration. I had Ron screaming for Victor Krum, from the Bulgarian team, in one ear and Hermione banging on about "the awful" Draco Malfoy in the other. But I wasn't listening to either of them. I was watching Cedric getting really into the match, cheering for the Irish and hugging his dad ecstatically when they scored. I smiled, thinking about how endearing he was. But then, there was another thought nagging me at the back of my mind that I felt exceedingly guilty about.

Draco Malfoy was the most intriguing person I had ever met.