for the dancing and the dreaming

the age line

Harry collapsed in his bed, not even bothering to change his clothes. They seemed to cling to his limbs anyway, as if the cold he felt earlier that morning now lived inside him. Ron climbed into the bunk on top of his and was snoring in an instant, causing Harry to chuckle to himself.

He tried to follow his friend's lead, but Harry couldn't get to sleep. Viktor Krum, the best seeker of this generation, had sat with them. Ron had been a mess the entire time, his face flushing redder by the second and speaking was another level of impossible. But Krum seemed to find it rather amusing, and talked to the Weasley and Hermione regardless. And although being face to face with the seeker was mind boggling, it wasn't what made sleeping an unreachable task.

He couldn't get Draco Malfoy out of his head. The Durmstrang boy hadn't acted at all surprised when he had said his name, which was nice. Odd, but nice. Maybe they didn't know about him in Durmstrang. He kind of hoped so, even though that would mean explaining to everyone about him.

Draco's eyes had been such a cloudy shade of grey, and they had constantly shifted around, calculating, like he had something to hide, but it was quite interesting, Harry couldn't deny that Draco was-

Get a grip, Harry. He told himself, yawning. Just go to sleep. Sure enough, Harry couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and he fell fast asleep.

- - -

Everyone was exhausted as they dragged their feet to the breakfast hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione collective had uttered the impressive total of five words since they sat down at the table.

"D'you think anyone put their name in yet?"

"I saw half of the Durmstrang lot throw theirs in yesterday," Dean Thomas piped in. "They did it really late though, almost no one was in the hall."

"That's how I would do it," Harry told him. "Imagine if the goblet just spit your name out again, I don't know what I would do."

Ron nodded, but his eyes widened as he caught sight of something behind Harry. He spun around to see Fred, George and Lee Jordan. They were all beaming and striding towards the cup.

"What are you doing?" Hermione grabbed on to Fred's robes, stopping him. "You're too young to put your name in. You do remember there's an age line, don't you?"

Fred puffed up his chest. "We've taken an aging potion."

George popped up behind Fred. "We've only a couple of months too young, after all."

"You don't think Dumbledore would have thought of this?" Hermione shook her head. "He knows all about aging potions, he's the headmaster after all."

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan simply began walking again. Once they reached the edge of the Age Line, they collectively took a deep breath.

"I guess I'll go first, then?" Fred spoke up, already taking a step past the line. He paused a second, and when nothing appeared to happen, he let out a whoop of joy. It broke the silence that had hung over the great hall as all the students watched him. George leaped in too, but before they could place their slips in the cup, a bang echoed throughout the hall, and both boys were thrown out of the circle by some invisible, magical force.

Laughter echoed through the hall as Fred and George stood up, revealing that they had sprouted thick white beards, almost as long as Dumbledore's.

As Harry watched the Weasley twins, accompanied by Lee, headed to the hospital wing, he noticed a couple of Durmstrang students lingering by the doorstep, confused. Draco and Krum were among them, so Harry, in an act of uncharacteristic bravery, waved Draco over.

When Draco arrived, he sat next to Harry with a puzzled look on his face. "So, do people regularly grow beards here? I saw a girl with one on my way here."

"No, my brothers just tried to cross the age line." Ron told Draco. Although he was still stuttering slightly, he was a lot calmer around Krum than the last time he had been with him. Harry was glad, because Ron had acted like a dunce.

"Oh, those are your brothers." Draco nodded, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron leaned to look over Hermione and Harry.

Draco sighed. "Oh, nothing." Harry was beginning to pick up on the fact that Draco might be a little arrogant. The way he tilted his head slightly, the smirk, the eyebrow raise, all signature Draco moves that Harry was beginning to learn.

"Anyways," Said Hermione, trying to break the tension that had settled over the table. "Have you lot put your names in yet?" She addressed Krum and Draco.

"Not yet." Krum said. Harry noticed that his eyes lingered on Hermione's a little longer than normal. Actually, I'll do it now." He scrawled his name on the napkin. It was well practiced, and Harry was reminded that Krum wasn't just a normal student, but that was famous. It was easy to forget for him, at least easier than it was for Ron.

Once Krum had written his name down, he headed towards the center. The dining hall's buzz quieted slightly as they began whispering, pointing at Krum.

He crossed the age line easily and dropped his slip of paper into the cup. The flame grew and the cup let out a few blue sparks before returning to normal, along with the room as soon as they had seen there would be no drama this time.

Krum strode confidently down the aisle back to the table, slapping Draco on the back before sitting down. "Now it's your turn."

"How do you reckon the age line will work for me?" Draco asked. "Since I'm not over 17?"

"You're not?" Harry blurted without thinking.

"Do I really look it?" Draco said dramatically. "To answer your question, no, I'm a fourth year. But Durmstrang didn't put an age limit on entering the Tournament." He shrugged. "So here I am."

He bent down and printed his name neatly on his napkin. When he was finished, Draco stood up, muttered, "Wish me luck," and strode down the aisle. When he reached the age circle, Harry held his breath, but Draco passed through effortlessly and let his paper flutter into the goblet, which let out a flame but accepted it.

Draco returned to the table, beaming, and Harry couldn't take his eyes off of Draco's stunning smile.