Malfoy - A Draco Malfoy Story

Chapter 20

It was the 24th. The day of the tournament arrived; and I found that dragging myself out of bed today was harder than anything I'd recently encountered.
My body felt heavy with anxiety and fear, as if every bone had been replaced by lead pipes, my blood with ice cold water. Pulling on a jacket and scarf felt like I was lifting bars of steel, and my feet were like slabs of concrete as I scraped them across the floorboards and out my dorm.
By the time I was up, the trial was starting in an hour, and I knew I had to go and find Cedric before he entered the champion's tent.

After discovering what the first trial would be, I felt even sicker. There was no escaping the deepened feeling of dread lurking in my stomach. I kept reminding myself that Cedric had a game plan now, and that was thanks to Harry.

Despite that, I still had no idea how Cedric was going to actually evade a Dragon.
Fighting it is one thing, dodging it is another.
Part of me wished I was going in entirely blind to it all, at least then my mind wouldn't draw conclusions about the trial. Would he get burned alive? Eaten? Ripped to shreds? It was all a possibility. My brain wouldn't stop stirring the pot of fear, it broiled over in scorching hot lashes of water, every thought scalding and terrifying.
 I couldn't imagine how Cedric was feeling.

Every person that I passed on the way to breakfast was silent, especially Hufflepuffs. Every yellow-robed student looked as if they were going to be sick, most were drained of colour entirely, faces dull and masked in worry.
I knew how much everyone adored Cedric, what was there to dislike? People were rooting for him with every positive fiber left in their bodies.

Walking into the Great Hall was like falling into a cloud of grey; many sat in complete silence. The usual loud hum of excited conversation was replaced with dregs of quiet murmurs.

My eyes crossed the dim room, locking with Isaac and Alisha sat on the Hufflepuff table. They too were lapsed in quiet.

"Hey." I mumbled gently, perching down next to Alisha and ignoring the confused and slightly annoyed glances from surrounding Hufflepuffs at the Slytherin who had decided to sit at their house table. 

My two friends both replied "hey" in unison, and then fell back into distressed silence.
Most of breakfast was like that. No one really knew what to say, and I hadn't told them about Cedric's transfiguration plan; I didn't want to stress them out too. 
I figured it was best to leave it alone.
Plus, the less people who knew about it, the less likely Harry would get into trouble for coming forward about the dragons in the first place.

"Did you guys hear about the party scheduled after the first trial?" Isaac asked through a mouthful of cereal.

"Another party?" I questioned, my eyebrows raised.

"Yep. There's gonna be a lot of them. This one is gonna be better than the last though." Isaac grinned lightly.

"Why's that?" Alisha frowned, turning to the boy as he took another spoonful of cornflakes. 

"Fred and George are hosting it."

~~~~~~~~

Heading up the mountain side to where the first task would be held sent fear trickling over my skin.
Isaac had resorted to trying to lighten the mood; talking about how excited he was to see Krum in action, how he was wondering what the first task would be, and making jokes about Harry probably 'shitting himself'.

Of course, none of these things made me feel any better. I knew what Cedric was heading into.

Crowds of people were huddled in coats and scarves in the soft patter of rain against the green, loud chatter striking up from every pupil. 
Now that it was actually happening, people no longer seemed worried -  to them, it was suddenly just entertainment.