A Stressful Preparation
Maeve spent the rest of the weekend and the better part of the new week thinking of what she was going to say to Draco. That is, if she could find him. Maeve only saw Draco in class and he would immediately dart away through the crowd after dismissal. She noticed that all the members of Slytherin were on edge and her friends were unusually quiet. Pansy blew off Maeve for “homework” and “house meetings.” The castle was abuzz with the first Triwizard Tournament event coming up this weekend and rumors were quickly growing over Snape’s mysterious disappearance. Harry and Ron brewed up every theory from a secret relationship with a Ministry member to Snape being hired for a contract killing. Maeve and Hermione quickly shut them down with a simple explanation that Snape was probably helping the Ministry with Tournament affairs. This explanation greatly worried Harry, so the girls had to revert their theory back to contract killing.
Maeve ended up rejecting her quest for Draco and felt like it was probably best that she didn’t try to confront him about feelings or whatnot after he had just admitted that he thought of them to be friends. She didn’t want to seem desperate or create any strain on the new relationship. Maeve wanted to talk to Pansy because she would understand the best and set Maeve right. By Friday, Maeve was able to write her confusions down to paper and rip it up so that she didn’t have to think about Draco anymore.
It also helped that Draco along with several other Slytherins disappeared over the weekend, which Pansy lamely explained it was some older boy’s birthday. Maeve was kept busy by Harry’s fussing, especially since he received a tip that the first Tournament consisted of dragons. To make matters worse, Harry and Ron were officially off speaking terms, even though the two were just laughing together with Maeve last week. Hermione tried to explain what had happened between the two, but she pretty obviously favored Ron’s side and just made Maeve more confused. She hated this. She hated all of it.
She hated that there was drama and she hated that she actually cared about it. Harry was stuck to her side after being alienated by his friends and Maeve appreciated the company while she studied. Harry wasn’t comparable to Draco, who frustratingly interrupted her frequently with questions. When she studied with Draco he would only speak to announce his competition of the assignment or to tease her about how he was two chapters ahead of where she was. She had to realize quickly that studying with Harry actually meant helping him with his homework, which would have been fine if he plainly stated that. Maeve didn’t tell Harry about this, instead pitying him for his nervous state over the approaching task. If she felt bad, Harry was feeling much worse.
Maeve went over some 6th year transfigurations with Harry, citing some of Cedric Diggory’s tossed notes. Harry was impressed by her knowledge and she kept to herself her shameful rummaging of the trash after she saw him close to lights out frantically studying in the library.
Cedric and Maeve were supposedly friends, but since he saw her hanging around Harry more frequently, he became colder than usual. The Diggory family and the Prewett family were close because of their Ministry ties, but Maeve also found a photo of their fathers on the same Quidditch team during their time at Hogwarts. For their fathers being childhood friends, Cedric and Maeve also hung out a lot as children but since he was older, he didn’t bother with Maeve. She thought it was funny that he was regarded as a kind and outgoing – obviously, he was a Hufflepuff – but the Cedric she knew was rather reserved and kept a very small group of friends. She was sure that his disregard for her as a child internalized itself by her thirst for knowledge and to prove herself as “mature.”
For this reason, she was embarrassed at her actions of combing through his discarded notes to help Harry, but she was surprised at the ideas that he had scrapped. While working with Harry, she quickly realized exactly why he discarded the ideas. They were far too advanced for a 6th year, much less a 4th year. Maeve and Harry had to flee the library when his botched transfiguration turned some old Beasts book into a ball of flame with teeth that attempted to chase after the two of them. Luckily, Harry found it to be humorous rather than defeating and the two fled the library giggling and agreeing to never touch transfiguration again. Maeve reluctantly encouraged him to talk to Professor Moody, who was still crazy, but had offered his help to the young boy earlier in the week.
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The rest of the week passed painfully quickly and Maeve found her opening her eyes on the day of the task to her chittering roommates who were getting dressed up in every single piece of Hufflepuff gear that they snagged from their friends, in support of Cedric. Maeve quietly got ready, the nervousness in her stomach making her dizzy and nauseous. She picked out a simple Ravenclaw colored outfit, feeling a little bit guilty for betraying Harry but she had to. As she was picking out a hat to protect against the wind, a small tap on her shoulder startled her so badly that she knocked over her bin of accessories. She cursed under her breath and waved her wand to quickly clean up the mess.
“Sorry, Maeve. I didn’t mean to scare you. I wonder if the Nargles got to you too. I jump at everything after they took my paper,” Luna Lovegood’s soft yet lofty voice whispered.
“Oh! Luna! You didn’t startle me, I just wasn’t paying attention,” Maeve half-lied. While Maeve tolerated her other roommates, she liked Luna, wishing they were closer friends because she was fascinated by the girl’s knowledge of beasts. But Luna was always off on some adventure in her own head, barely in the room and barely had time to hang out with Maeve. She also liked listening to Luna talk, her voice reminding her of an old sweater. Maeve thought that was a bit of a weird thought to have about someone, but it felt fitting for Luna. Maeve tilted her head in anticipation, trying to encourage Luna to tell her why she needed her attention.
“Yes, yes. Harry wanted me to give you this. Seems warm,” Luna handed over a blue sweater with a gold “H” embroidered on it, alongside a red and gold scarf. Maeve blushed deeply, grabbing it tenderly. Luna tilted her head curiously. “What’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. Did he say he wanted me to wear this?” Maeve asked in disbelief. Hogwarts students wore each other’s house scarves when they were courting, so she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to sit alongside her Ravenclaw friends clad in yellow and black while wearing Harry’s clothes. She recalled the past week and wondered if she had misread a conversation with Harry.
“Of course. He gave me one red glove and one gold glove. He’d appreciate the support,” Luna said, staring past Maeve and into her wardrobe behind her.
“That makes sense. I’ll change and meet you in the common room,” Maeve said dryly, changing into the jumper and scarf. She found very little relief in the fact that Harry’s sweater was in Ravenclaw colors. Sort of. She remembered the sweater as one of his prized possessions, since it was his first Christmas present and knit by her aunt. Maeve didn’t have time to check her outfit in the mirror and left her room in a hurry to secure seats with Luna.
At the tournament arena, Maeve and Luna met up with Ron and Hermione, who’s eyes were wide at Maeve’s outfit.
“Blimey, people are going to think the two of you are together,” Ron said snidely, running his eyes up and down Maeve once more.
“Oh, please. It’s just to support him. Did you see the cages of dragons outside the arena or was I hallucinating?” Maeve waved dismissively, smoothing out the sweater and tightening the scarf.
“No, they’re really dragons. My brother was here bringing them in from Romania,” Ron bit his lip nervously. “Damn, where’s the concessions around here?”
“I don’t know how you can even think about eating during this moment. Maeve, I say we go see Harry before the task starts to calm him down a bit. You should’ve seen him this morning. This fool can go find some snacks or something,” Hermione suggested and Maeve followed her graciously. Luna followed Ron on his quest for food, while the two girls left the stands to the Champions tent just outside the arena.
“Wow, look at that security,” Hermione whispered, pointing to the not one but two wizards standing at the entrance of the Champions tent with wands drawn.
“It must be a precaution after what happened at the World Cup. Let’s go around,” Maeve suggested, pointing to the unmanned backside of the tent.
“You should go in and say something to him, since you’ve been helping him prepare. I’ll keep watch,” Hermione patted Maeve on the back, who nodded back in agreeance. Maeve felt like it was an elementary Muggle move to simply lift up the tent’s skirt and duck underneath, but simplicity worked. She slipped underneath, immediately bumping into somebody. She nervously held her breath, but relaxed after she realized it was Harry escaping the flashing lights of Rita Skeeter.
“Harry!” Maeve whispered loudly, making the boy turn around with a large grin. She decided that a hug would be best to soothe his nerves, remembering some statistic about the importance of depressing the nervous system during times of high stress. Proving her theory correct, Harry hugged her back so tightly Maeve thought she was going to suffocate. Unfortunately, the two were interrupted by the bright and loud click of a camera as well as excited squeals.
“Ah! Young love. And look, she’s wearing ‘H’ for Harry Potter! Wow, you are a beauty. What’s your name?” Rita jumped into a line of questioning that made Harry bat her away and even Viktor Krum stepped in to intervene. Harry pulled Maeve aside, using a table stacked high with food as poor concealment.
“Thank you for wearing the sweater and scarf. I hope it’s not too weird for you,” Harry apologized, scratching the back of his neck.
“That should be the least of your worries. Just know that at least one person is supporting you out there,” Maeve joked with a smile. “You figured out a plan with Professor Moody?”
“Yes, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. You should leave now, the Minister is about to announce the task,” Harry moved his hand from his neck to run through his hair stressfully. Maeve gently pushed down Harry’s hand, patting it sincerely.
“Good luck out there,” Maeve bid farewell, giving Harry another pat on his cheek. She quickly ran out the entrance of the tent past the guards to find Hermione before he could reply.
“How is he?” Hermione asked curiously as the two returned to the stands.
“Nervous, but he seems okay. We’re probably going to make the front page of The Daily Prophet tomorrow, though,” Maeve sighed, sliding into a seat next to Ron, who successfully found a box of popcorn and was nervously shoving kernels into his mouth.
“You know, Ron, if you’re this worried about him you should talk to him,” Hermione chided, to which Ron furrowed his eyebrows. He mumbled a response back with his mouthful, something along the lines of “I’m just hungry.” Maeve was starting to get settled in her seat as a group of Slytherin boys rudely stepped over her friends to the stands in front of them, almost making her fall out of her seat. She looked up to say something to the person who shoved her, realizing it was none other than Draco. They looked at each other for a second, then his face twisted into disgust.
“What the bloody hell are you wearing? Is that Potter’sclothes?”