CONSTRICTED/ ✓

6 / Dragons

A chilled breeze brushed through the tangles of her blonde hair, painting a tinge of pink in her fair, freckled cheeks and the tips of her hidden pointed ears. Her faint purple eyes grazed up to the freshly constructed bleachers filled with mismatched groups of witches and wizards, admiring the numbers, but one glance to the arena shot shivers down her spine. Willow gulped.

From where she stood, Willow could spot out her friends sitting up near the top of the stands, anticipation and excitement written on their faces. She made her way up them avoiding eye contact with Jordan seeing as she was sat beside the Malfoy boy. She loathed the idea of sitting with the group of arrogant snakes, but her intentions were lost when Jordan asked for her company. Willow begrudgingly took the seat beside her redheaded friend, finding the request difficult to refuse.

Willow sat in silence as Draco's idiotic friends laughed around her with a few added giggles from Jordan.

Willow looked up and to the left, seeing Fawn sitting beside a boy she recognized to be Terry, whom she met earlier in the year. Fawn's golden blonde hair hung at her side, gliding into neat, soft waves at the tips where she twirled the pieces between her fingers. Her lips parted into a beaming laugh after the blonde boy whispered something into her ear, he grinned in victory at her reaction and placed his arm gently over her shoulders. Willow sat wondering with what time they had gotten so close, being even more astounded that they managed to get past their previous awkward greeting. But Willow let the thought flee from her mind as Toby approached her.

Their mittened hands intertwined and he smiled down at her with adoration before letting his concerns spill out of his mouth. "Does your brother know what he's doing?" Willow looked up at him with her eyebrow raised.

"Surely," Willow responded as if trying to convince herself. Suddenly a smile tugged at her lips as she leaned closer to him and whispered, "The first task is dragons." He looked taken aback.

"Real dragons? Like big, scally, fire breathing dragons?" Toby asked, spooked.

"No, pink, fluffy, cotton candy breathing dragons, Toby." Willow said sarcastically. He chuckled. "No, but he's ready, it's because of our-" she looked over her shoulder to make sure neither Draco nor his friends could hear, "fairy side." she whispered. "All animals, big, small, dangerous or not, adore us."

Toby seemed dubious. "Have either of you met a dragon?"

"No, but our mother has, and the big softy took five minutes to warm up to her then he wouldn't leave her alone." Willow laughed at the memory of her mom telling her and Oak the story. Toby matched her smile with his soft lips gently curling around his nearly perfect teeth.

"He'll be okay then." He breathed, looking out at the scenery in front of him.

The smile slid off of Willow's face as the unsettling feeling came to her once again at the sound of his certainty, "I sure hope so." she whispered to herself.

Jordan, who was once sitting hip-to-hip with Willow, had gradually shuffled away as Draco shifted farther and farther back, intentionally bringing her with him. They quietly bickered about the muggleborn and halfblood friends Jordan would have to separate from. No matter what she tried to tell herself, she just didn't feel ready. She sighed looking down at the arena, he gently brought his right hand to her chin and tilted her head to look at him, brushing a strand of her red curls out of her face with his other.

"If you feel you can find a way to be close friends with them and be able to keep them out of the upcoming danger then by all means, Jordan-"

"I know, I know what I have to do. It has to be done." she sighed. "They wouldn't understand the cause anyways."

"If it is too hard on you, I could come up with something-"