Truth be told, Draco was having an increasingly harder time finding things that interested both him and his father. There was a time when Draco wanted to be exactly like Lucius. They would spend hours together. Now, however, Draco only had to endure the ever-silent dinners. Draco thought about the Weasley dinners during this time. Knowing that lot, they were probably always talking over one another, always creating a raucous. And Draco wanted that. Or, at least, he wanted noise.
But there was one thing that Draco and his father could always talking about: Quidditch.
For weeks leading up to the Quidditch World Cup, Draco and Lucius discussed it incessantly. Draco knew that Ireland had a better team by far, but Bulgaria did have Viktor Krum. Lucius spent hours talking about the seats he had acquired for the Cup. Needless to say, Draco couldn't wait.
To his credit, Draco didn't complain once during the entire Cup. How could he? They were with the Minister, watching the Quidditch World Cup. Sure, he was only able to wave to his friends instead of joining them when he saw them walk by. But Draco was okay with this. He would see them in a few short weeks at school. And he never got these chances with his father anymore. He certainly wasn't going to squander it.
Ludo Bagman walked by, asking Lucius if he wanted to place a bet on the match. Lucius rolled his eyes. "Certainly not," he said. "And neither will Draco."
"Of course, of course. Wouldn't dream of asking the young boy," Ludo said hastily.
It was while sitting and watching the game that Draco came to know about the Triwizard Tournament. The details were still being discussed among the gentlemen, but excitement boiled in Draco. He, of course, hadn't needed any clarification on the Tournament. He'd read Hogwarts, A History enough to know all about it.
"Can anyone volunteer?" Draco asked the Minister. Minister Fudge shook his head.
"We've decided only those of seventeen will be able to place their name in Goblet."
"Because the younger students are not yet prepared for the Tasks?" Draco guessed.
"Yes," agreed Minister Fudge, "and we certainly don't want anyone getting hurt this year."
"No one's going to be hurt," Ludo promised cheerfully, "we've got it all planned out. Absolutely no one is going to be injured too badly this year."
-----
Hermione had to admit the Quidditch match was fun. She was glad Ron had invited her. Of course, she was able to guess who's ticket she had taken in joining them. Mr. Weasley was only allotted a specific amount of tickets. Percy had received his own for working in the Ministry and Mrs. Weasley wasn't joining them.
On the night before the match, Hermione approached Mrs. Weasley abou it, saying she did not mind staying at the Burrow if Mrs. Weasley wanted to spend time with her family. But Mrs. weasley shook her head. "It was my idea, dear. You'll go and have a lovely time."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." But Hermione still felt a little guilty about the whole thing.
After the match, as Eon was describing in great detail how much he admired Viktor Krum, Draco joined them. Originally, he was supposed to take the Portkey back to Malfoy Manor, but his mother told him he could see his friends and they'd take this one leaving in two hours. His father left earlier, claiming he had business to attend to.
Draco had grown since the last time Hermione saw him nearly two months ago. He smiled when he saw them. "Hello, everyone. Nice match, eh?" To which, Ron dived back into his monologue n Viktor Krum.
"He's been at this for hours," muttered Hermione quietly to Draco. "Won't shut up about Krum." Draco smiled.
"Well, why not? He caught the Snitch. Having a good time, Granger?"
YOU ARE READING
The Brave at Heart
Fanfiction"He could only imagine what his father was going to say when he heard. Oh, he had really done it this time. His father had once told him he was a disgrace to the Malfoy name and now he really was. It wasn't supposed to have gone this way. He was sup...
