The Hufflepuff (Draco Malfoy)

22

"So what're you being for Halloween this year, Ernie?" The group of Hufflepuffs sat under the same tree in the courtyard that they had since their first year in the castle. It was almost suppertime and they were trying to pass the time in anticipation for the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to arrive.

"I haven't decided yet," Ernie shrugged.

"Haven't decided? Ernie, Halloween is tomorrow! And we're all supposed to go to the Gryffindor tower for their annual Halloween party. It's the first and potentially only year we'll be invited, thanks to Soph," Susan explained.

"Yeah, Abbott, how exactly did you convince the legendary Harry Potter to invite a bunch of nobody Hufflepuffs to a Gryffindor party again?" Justin asked.

"I told you guys already." Sophie rolled her eyes. "I've gotten close to Harry since I started tutoring him. The how is unimportant. What's important is what Ernie is going to be for Halloween," Sophie said, directing the attention back to Ernie.

"Okay, fine. I'm going as a wizard." No one responded. "Now, before you say anything, Justin told me that muggles have their own ideas of what wizards look like. It's kind of insulting really, especially considering the fact that they wear that shit to dress up in on Halloween. So, I'm going to be making fun of them."

"Okay," Hannah drawled out. "Sophie, what about you? It is your birthday and all!" She turned to her cousin excitedly.

"Um, I think Draco and I are doing something together. I want it to be a surprise though."

"Malfoy's going? I didn't think the Gryffindors would let the Slytherins in," Susan spoke.

"They typically wouldn't. But apart from the Weasley twins, who do you think are the best at getting alcohol into the castle?" The group all nodded their heads at Sophie's point. "Alright, let's go before we miss dinner."

***

"I can't wait to get a look at those hunky Durmstrang boys," Hannah gushed as they sat down at the table.

"I don't know, they seem kind of cold. I'm more excited for the Beauxbaton boys. A little bit more class for me," Susan responded. "What about you, Soph?" Both girls turned to her and she thought for a minute before speaking.

"We'll see. I'll have to figure out if any of them apart from Viktor is any good at Quidditch. That's a major plus in my book." The girls giggled as Ernie and Justin rolled their eyes.

"We get it. You and Viktor Krum are on a first name basis," Ernie said. Sophie rolled her eyes and muttered a "whatever". Her friends have been poking fun at her out of jealousy for getting to meet with the teams of the Quidditch World Cup. "Anyway, I think they're here." Ernie gestured toward the large windows other children were gathering around.

"C'mon, let's go see!" Sophie urged. Hannah and Susan stood up, but the boys claimed it wouldn't be anything too impressive and remained seated. The three girls rushed to the windows just in time to see a magnificent carriage being pulled by enormous winged horses.

"Abraxan horses," Susan breathed out in awe.

The students around them gasped and watched the horses pull the carriage around the corner and out of sight. But before they could calm down, a giant ship emerged from the Black Lake and glided across the dark water.

"That's got to be Durmstrang," Sophie heard the familiar voice of her best friend a few windows down. "I was supposed to go there, ya know," Draco continued to the boys around him. "My father believes it is much more suitable for a Pureblood heir like myself."

"God, Soph, I don't know how you stand him. He's such an arrogant–"

"He's not always like that," Sophie defends her friend, looking down at her shoes. "He's actually very sweet," she muttered before watching the dark and majestic ship sail toward the castle.

After the ship anchored, the girls turned back to Ernie and Justin who were still casually talking at the Hufflepuff table.

"They here?" Justin asked the girls.

"Yes, they are. You should've seen the horses the Beauxbatons students had pulling their carriage. Truly lovely!" Hannah gushed.

After a few minutes of talking, the Great Hall was full with students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang who sat themselves with the Ravenclaws and Slytherins respectively. Dumbledore welcomed their guests and brought out the Goblet of FIre. Susan was too busy pointing out boys to pay attention, mostly from Beauxbatons as Hannah was ogling over all the brooding Durmstrangs.

"Hannah, shut your mouth. You're practically drooling," Sophie giggled at her cousin. But she had to admit, there were some handsome faces in the crowd. By this point Dumbledore had stopped talking and students were either chattering at the goblet excitedly or exiting the Great Hall.

"There's no way any of them will go for you, Han," Ernie scoffed. The group of Fourth Years gave him incredulous looks. "What," he shrugged. "You're awesome, but they're all old. Like

Seventh Year old."

"That makes them even dreamier," Hannah sighed, resting her chin on her palm.

"Sophia," Sophie turned to the low voice to see Viktor Krum bounding toward her in a crimson jacket.

"VIktor!" She jumped out of her seat to greet the tall boy with thick eyebrows that made his face appear to be scowling. It created quite an intimidating look on the quidditch pitch, but it caused many average people to avoid eye contact and rush by. "How are you doing? How's school?"

"Vell, you know how ze Vorld Cup vent. Luckily, my classmates haven't picked on me too much. Vot about you? Zis castle is more magnificent zen you described." The young man gestured around the Great Hall.

"Aw, you're so sweet! I'll give you a tour if you'd like?"

"Zat vould be vonderful." Sophie smiled and turned back to her friends.

"Would it be okay if I showed Viktor the castle? If you want me to stay and eat with you all I completely understand." Sophie asked her friends. The four Hufflepuffs shook their heads instantly, all staring wide-eyed at the Bulgarian. "Thanks, guys. See you in the common room!" Sophie smiled and led Viktor out of the Great Hall.

"Okay, so as you've probably gathered, this is the Great Hall. All of our meals take place here, as well as study groups, games, and other common gatherings between the different houses." Viktor nodded at Sophie's explanation. "And now this is the grand entrance, which is pretty self-explanatory– oh, hey, Grace!" Sophie waved to her friend as she led Viktor up the stairs and further into the castle.

***

"Here we have the library, where you'll find any book on any subject imaginable." Sophie's throat was getting horse from talking so much, but she was happy to spend time with a new friend, even if he didn't talk much. As she turned to leave the library, Viktor spoke up.

"Sophia." She turned to see him still staring intently into the library. "Who is vat?" Sophie walked deeper into the library. The only person she saw was Hermione Granger with her nose in a book.

"Who? Her?" She gestured toward Hermione. Viktor gave a slight nod. "That's Hermione Granger, a friend of mine. She's actually in that study group I was telling you about. The one that meets here Thursday evenings." He gave her a thoughtful look before nodding once more.

"I vink I'm going to stay here awhile." He told Sophie.

"Okay, do you know your way back to the lake?" Viktor barely gave her a final nod before disappearing behind the stacks. Sophie smiled at the Quidditch superstar being entranced by her very own classmate, despite him abandoning her.

AN: I'm absolutely terrible at writing accents and tried to use Krum's like twenty words from the series to write this lmao. Please let me know if it is offensive in any manner and how I would be able to fix it. This is the written accent JKR had for his Bulgarian, but in light of recent events, she might not be the best influence of politically correctness and sensitivity. I also just wanted to say I'm so excited to work on this story some more, we have some of my favorite moments coming up (Halloween and the Yule Ball *heart eyes*) and I can't wait for you all to read it. Thank you all for the sweet comments and votes! You have no idea how much it means to see you all feeling the way so many fics have made me feel in the past!