Reckless ~ Tomione

The First Task

The autumn chill of October settled in on the morning of the First task. Hermione shivered slightly in the common room, scooting to sit closer to the fire as she finished yet another book in her stack. Charms, hexes, potions, spells all ran through her head as she digested the information from the book.

"Early morning, 'Mione?" Draco plopped down next to her. "You look like you just fought a herd of thestrals."

"Shut it," Hermione replied, irritated. She unconsciously batted his hand away as he moved to pat her hair down. "Leave it alone."

"But it's so..." his voice drifted off at the look she gave him. "Whoa, when was the last time you slept?"

"Yeah, uh," she paused. Hermione's eyes were blurs as they scanned the pages of the new book from her pile. She frantically turned the page while reaching for her mug of cold butterbeer. 

Draco looked to her, waiting for an answer that never came. After about a minute, Hermione sat the book down and turned toward him.

"Muffliato." Hermione's wand pointed towards the hall into the dormitories. She scooted closer to him.

"Uh, Granger?" Draco's eyebrows furrowed. "I'd love to, but have you forgotten that we have a task today and, I don't know, we're in the Common Room?"

"Don't be daft," Hermione hissed. She felt herself gag at the thought. "I need to tell you something, and it's not that."

"Go ahead, then."

Hermione paused, wondering how she should tell him. Should she break it gently, or be direct? How would he react?

"- tournament."

Too late, her mouth had already moved ahead. 

Draco, who had reached over and taken her mug of butterbeer, froze mid-sip. "What did you say?"

"Someone dies in this tournament, Draco," Hermione responded, returning to her book. "Keep up."

"Wait, how do you know this?" Draco asked. "I thought the last record of a Triwizard Tournament was in the 1700s. In Hogwarts: A History, it said it was discontinued when the Heads of Schools were injured in a freak accident."

"Well, it's not in Hogwarts: A History. I thought that too, until I found a journal in the restricted section that mentions it." Hermione snapped her book shut and tossed it onto her 'finished' pile, while simultaneously opening another book. "It didn't say much, just that a student died and they covered the whole thing up. It was a huge task to make sure word didn't get out."

Draco looked thoughtful. "Five galleons says it's the younger brother from Durmstrang."

Hermione hit his arm. "Draco!"

"What? I just think, if anyone, he's the most likely to accidentally walk into a pit of acromantulas without a wand." Draco shrugged. 

"Draco."

"Okay, fine. No betting."

~

"GOOD MORNING TO ALL STUDENTS, PARENTS, TEACHERS AND HONOURED GUESTS, AND WELCOME TO THE FIRST TASK," the voice of Headmaster Armando Dippet echoed around the packed courtyard. Students were squished together, all facing the front steps of the entrance of Hogwarts, and parents and professors lined the balconies, watching the spectacle. To either side of Dippet was Monsieur Mathieu and Sir Rolfe, the Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and a few steps below them stood the eight competing students. Marie LeMay looked completely impassive, while Isabelle, her second, was looking around nervously and fiddling with the ends of her scarf. The twins from Durmstrang, Lukas and Rafael, were shooting brightly coloured sparks of light, not unlike small fireworks, into the sky without a care in the world. And on the other end of the line from Hermione and Draco, Tom Riddle and Abraxas Malfoy stood, with Tom hissing into Abraxas' ear every few minutes.