enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 4: The First Task

Felicity's POV

I couldn't sleep that night. I was tossing and turning, the sheets rumpling up beneath me. Draco had never acted like that before. So openly... open. I couldn't explain it. Last year, when our taunts turned into something else, the detentions we had forcing us to tolerate each other- did something else happen? Some unnatural and unpredicted thing?

Or maybe it was predicted. What Professor Trelawney had said about love and hate... but I didn't love Draco. I could hardly stand him. Right?

He was probably just messing with me. He must've made a bet with his friends to see if he could get me to fall for him or something. That would explain his apology on the train, and why he followed me after I stormed out of DADA, how physically close he was to me earlier today, and the comments. Princess. I'd snarled in an attempt to hide the blush on my cheeks.

But I couldn't fancy Draco. I just couldn't. Not only would my friends be repulsed, but his, too, and my grandmother, and his parents. No one would accept it. His aunt tortured my parents to insanity, for Christ's sake.

Nonetheless, he's changed since last year. Something's different with him, with us. I groaned, burying my face in my pillow. Since when was there even an 'us'?

Finally, with an exasperated sigh, I pulled on my jacket and slippers and slipped out of the dorm room and exited the Gryffindor Common Room. I headed to the kitchens for a warm cup of hot chocolate, tickling the pear portrait as I entered. I stood still in the doorway as I beheld another figure already sitting at one of the kitchen counters. I smiled, before saying from the doorway, "Shouldn't you be asleep, Champion?"

Cedric whirled around in surprise before grinning. "I could say the same about you," he said, turning back to his tea. "Hot chocolate?" he guessed. I smiled and nodded as he addressed a house elf. "The lady will have a hot chocolate, please," he requested kindly. The little elf blushed red and muttered, "As you wish, sir," before she ducked away. I took a seat next to him.

"I'm not the one battling a dragon the day after tomorrow," I told him with a sidelong glance. He sighed, grin fading. "Yeah, I guess you're not," he murmured. "Don't worry, Ced," I told him, "You'll be fine. I know you will be, and I'm only ever wrong on exams." He laughed. "Inspiring."

I smiled and thanked the house elf who brought me my drink and echoed his sigh. "So why are you down here, Longbottom?" Ced asked. I chuckled. "Oh, so it's 'Longbottom' now?" I inquired with a smirk. He only grinned and gestured for me to speak. "Well, Diggory," I said, emphasizing his last name, "Let me ask you a question. Purely theoretical, of course. Say there was someone you're expected to be enemies with. Someone you're supposed to hate, despise, loathe. But you can't. You feel almost the opposite way, actually. What would you do?"

Cedric gave me a knowing look before glancing down to his tea, as if he could read the answer to my question in the tea leaves like I tried last year in Divination. "Well, I would say, in this 'purely theoretical' situation," he began, his eyes twinkling, "that the only person's expectations you should listen to are your own. Don't worry yourself about what people will say or think, because if you're happy, it's worth it."

I took a long sip from my drink. "So I should go for it? If I were in this theoretical situation, that is," I added. "Weigh the pros and cons," Ced finally said. He drank the rest of his tea and set down the cup gently. "But ultimately, choose the option that makes you happiest."

He stood up from his seat and said, "Get some sleep, Fel." He ruffled my hair and left the kitchen.

I finished my hot chocolate and thanked the house elves before returning to my dorm. First class of the morning: Double Potions with the Slytherins.