𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀 | Draco Malfoy

12. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘸𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

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Somehow, amidst the bitter emotions I was feeling, I managed to sleep well that night. So well in fact, I would've been completely late to breakfast if Pansy hadn't woken me up. On my way down to the great hall, I made sure to avoid Malfoy as much as I possibly could, and I did succeed. For the most part. 

"Out of the way, I'm undercover" I wedged my way onto the gryffindor table bench between Fred and George. They quickly played along and tried their hardest to hide me, placing all sorts of napkins and patterned fabric on my face. "Yeah, Fred. This should definitely do the trick" George said in amusement. "Bloody hell," Ron began. "You made her look like mother's christmas sweaters." The entire table broke into a fit of laughter, catching the attention of whom I was trying to avoid most. 

"Pssssst. Amortentia" Draco whispered. The smile of my face was quickly replaced with a grimace. Did he think that nickname was cute or something? I looked straight ahead of me and tried my hardest to ignore him. "Amortentia! Fatale," he said again more seriously. His voice had been getting on my last nerve, and I snapped my head behind me. "What the bloody hell do you want?" I glared at him. His facial expression turned into a small frown before he whispered again, "Come sit with us." I couldn't believe the nerve of this boy. It was silent for a few moments until he scowled and turned back to his usual, arrogant self. "Fine then. Have fun with the mudblood, blood traitor." I didn't even bother to look at Hermione, and instead instantly shot up and pointed my wand at him. A look of fear spread across his face, Pansy watching happily from next to him. In a matter of seconds, Professor McGonagall put her hand on my wand and lowered it.

"And what seems to be the issue here? Hmm?!" she turned to me disapprovingly. Draco's expression turned to a sly smug and I wanted nothing more than to slap it off. "Nothing, Professor. Apologies." I responded, glaring right at Draco. McGonagall nodded curiously. "Please take your seat at your house table, Professor Dumbledore has a few things he'd like to announce." She turned on her heel and her frail figure made its way back to her seat. I sighed in frustration and turned back to my gryffindor friends. They shot a knowing and sad look while I took a seat across from Draco. He opened his mouth, probably to say something clever, but was quickly interrupted by the sound of Dumbledores voice. 

"Now that we are fed and watered, I must ask once more for your attention while I give out a few notices." The great hall fell into silence as we all looked to him. "As ever, I would like to remind you that the Forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year," Dumbledore continued, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October and continuing though out the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"

But right at that moment, the doors to the great hall slammed open loudly. Out of them came a tall, older man, wearing a black cloak and a prosthetic eye- which creeped me out more than i'd like to admit. The man extended his arm out to Dumbledore, in which he shook graciously. He then took a spot sitting with the other teachers as Dumbledore continued. 

"May I introduce our new Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher," said Dumbledore brightly, into the silence, "Professor Moody." For some reason, most of the students were quiet. Instead of clapping for our new teacher, we were all fixated on his strange appearance. 

Dumbledore cleared his throat in an attempt to mask the awkwardness.

"As I was saying," he said smiling at the students, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year,"

"You're JOKING!" Fred Weasley loudly said with excitement. 

All of the tension and awkwardness that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's entrance suddenly broke. Everyone laughed, and I even saw Draco stifle a small chuckle. Dumbledore laughed appreciatively. You could always count on the Weasley twins to make every encounter a fun one.

"No I am not joking Mr. Weasley," he said. "Where was I? Ah, yes, the Triwizard Tournament... well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago, as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang." All of my negative emotions quickly faltered as I focused on the name Dumbledore just spoke. Beauxbatons. I'd be seeing Fleur again, and words could not express my happiness. My mind wandered and I missed about half of Dumbledore's speech until Pansy noticed and jabbed my shoulder. I brightly smiled and turned my attention back to him.

 "We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. Now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons." On cue, the doors to the great hall opened, and the faces of girls I used to go to school with poured out onto the floor. Every boy was captivated by their entrance, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the crowd- desperately trying to find Fleur. 

What I missed was that even though a bunch of beautiful girls were on display, Draco's eyes stayed glued onto me. 

I finally saw Fleur. Like an angel, she stood tall and her long blonde hair flowed nicely behind her. She hadn't changed much in appearance, but in poise. I could definitely tell she matured. Following behind her was Olympe Maxime, an extremely tall woman, even bigger than Hagrid. She is the headmistress of Beauxbatons, and I smiled recalling the times I'd eat lunch in her office when the other girls picked on me. "Blimey, that is one big woman" Seamus The entire great hall broke out in a loud applause, and Fleur took her seat in the ravenclaw table, unaware of my presence. 

"And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang, and their headmaster, Igor Karkaroff." Dumbledore announced. In contrast to the feminine, soft entrance of the girls at Beauxbatons, the boys at Durmstrang intensely walked in, slamming their batons onto the ground. Everybody was especially tense once Viktor Krum had came in, and I immediately recognized him from the World Quidditch Cup. They concluded their entrance by casting a faux fire dragon as the rest of us stared, intimidated. "Albus." Igor smiled brightly at Dumbledore and brought him into a hug. "Igor, it's nice to see you again." 

In those few moments of silence, I went back into my own thoughts. Fleur was right here in the same room with me, completely safe. Nothing could make me happier than that. 

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