The Dragon
“How long do you think we need to stand out here?” Maeve asked loudly over the roar of the crowd and the dragon. Draco was displeased when she readjusted her scarf – no, Potter’s scarf – to cover more of her face. He desperately wanted to rip the dreadful thing off her neck and offer his scarf in return. He thought that was counterintuitive, but his hand was still clenched tightly in a fist by his side.
“He should have forgotten by now. Focused on the tournament, probably. Has he been giving you trouble before?” Draco asked, confused on why Nott was deciding to single her out now. Nott was at the manor over the weekend as well, but because of the recent altercation, the two never caught sight of each other. Draco fixed his appearance before going home but his mother still sensed that there was something off about him and he couldn’t keep a secret from her. After the confession, the Notts mysteriously disappeared from the manor, though Draco was also diligent in avoiding them.
“No. He hasn’t talked to me at all. He’s been gone like the rest of you. Apparently when Ron was getting snacks for us, Theodore cornered him and said he needed to see me. Maybe I should I talk to him,” Maeve shrugged. If she was scared, she didn’t show it. Even though Nott had punched him in the face, Draco had very little confidence that the boy would actually do anything to Maeve. If anything, she looked annoyed.
“That’s a terrible idea,” Draco furrowed his eyebrows. “Don’t talk to him. He just wants you to soothe his ego.”
“I know that,” Maeve took the pin – Draco’s pin – out of her hair to redo it. She sighed dramatically. “This is just so annoying. Let’s head back?”
Draco let Maeve lead him back into the arena, just in time to watch Diggory transfigure a small rock into a grey colored dog that barked loudly. Maeve stopped the two at the top of the stands, where the view was actually excellent, while she examined the transfigured dog with fascination. The dragon that perched on top of a comically large golden egg forgot its primary target of the clearly nervous teenager that trembled in front of it. The dragon shot its body into the air, the flap of the wings resonating in Draco’s chest. Maeve grabbed Draco’s arm excitedly, pointing towards Diggory, who was scrambling over the rocks towards the rocks while the beast was distracted with the dog.
The two erupted into cheers along their peers when Diggory retrieved the golden egg, who held it up with a big smile. However, his celebration was punished when the dragon finished off the dog with ease, whipping its head around fury towards the boy who had stolen its egg. Maeve let out a gasp when fire spewed from the reptile’s mouth and she buried her face into Draco’s shoulder. He was unable to take his eyes off of the arena, but still gave Maeve’s hand that was still on his arm a squeeze. When the fire cleared, Diggory had quicky dove behind the rock he was standing on, sparing most of his body but still suffered from a burn to the face.
“This is just awful,” Maeve slowly lifted her head from Draco’s shoulder. After the second-hand adrenaline from Diggory’s actions subsided, he processed how the two of them were clutching on to each other and shook her off gently with a growing blush. He was glad they were at the top of the stands were nobody would notice him.
“We should stay up here. If- uh, if that’s okay with you,” Draco suggested, having liked the feeling of Maeve finding comfort in him. He turned to face her as Crouch announced the Diggory’s victory and she was smiling up at him with a nod. Draco recalled Maeve’s pros and cons list that he had caught her writing in the library last week, feeling like he was justifying the pro of “a gentleman” well. He had barely any time to fully understand the situation before he was whisked back home.
Draco was convinced it was a dream because there was no other explanation as to why Maeve was in the library scribbling pros and cons about him. Actually, he had seen her make pros and cons list multiple times about the most mundane things, such as taking an extra free period over Beasts class or if she should stay with the Weasleys over the summer. He felt bad for spying on her while she wrote out her list, but he couldn’t help but watch in silence behind the stacks while she wrote on a piece of parchment with his name written largely on the top. He wished he had seen her last piece of writing, but she hid it with her arm and scribbled it out almost immediately. He decided not to think too hard on the matter, chalking it up to be her trying to rationally deliberate the “pros and cons” of being friends with him. Draco had caught the con of “can be mean to me sometimes.”
The blaring of a long horn signaled Fleur Delacour’s turn and Draco ignored his thoughts to focus back on the game. Truthfully, he didn’t care about how Krum or Delacour’s games went, he really wanted to see how Potter would fare. Their games painfully dragged on, but Maeve and Draco were able to grab seats that two Durmstrang boys abandoned after watching Krum complete the task. Maeve had alluded to wanting to rejoin her friends, but the crowd through the stands were so thick that it would be impossible to get back to the front. Finally, Potter’s name was called as the final champion to attempt the task.
“I think he’ll finish it in half the time it took Cedric,” Maeve theorized, greatly annoying Draco.
“Wanna bet?” Draco teased. Potter looked miniature from his view point and he snickered to himself thinking about the boy’s swift defeat.
“Oh, you and bets. You’re on,” Maeve rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. Draco bit his bottom lip trying to figure out what they should stake when the Hungarian Horntail that Potter was supposed to face lunged forward and snapped at him. The action caused a gasp to echo through the crowd and Potter stumbled backwards, falling on his ass. Draco looked over to Maeve, who was nervously tugging at the bottom of her stupid sweater. They watched intently as Potter scrambled towards the far end of the arena, just barely past the limit of the dragon’s tether. Potter waved his wand and shouted an incantation that was lost in the wind. A high buzzing sound soared over the heads of the nervous crowd and Potter held out his hand to grab his famed Firebolt with flourish. Draco couldn’t deny that the trick was clever, especially considering Krum’s decision to complete the task with brute force, cursing the dragon in the eyes. Potter whipped around the arena, flying high above the dragon while the crowd cheered him on, including Maeve. The higher Potter rose, the higher the dragon tried to chase him and with a powerful swivel of the dragon’s neck, the chains that kept it to the ground snapped off. Maeve threw herself around Draco, unable to watch as the dragon opened its mouth to finish off the small boy in a single swallow. Draco wrapped a supportive arm around her, only because his heart was beating as fast as the dragon’s wings. Miraculously, Potter escaped the jaws of the dragon, zipping straight over to Black Lake, out of the confines of the arena. The crowd yelled in protests and Crouch had to get back up to announce an intermission while the dragons specialists team would figure out how to get the game back on track.
“Godric! Holy-“ Maeve stuttered, sitting down in her frenzy. “I have to go find Ron and Hermione.”
Draco could barely stop the redhead as she shot up from her seat, pushing the other students without regard. He figured it was best to follow her as students were starting to filter out in hopes of catching a glimpse of Potter outside of the arena. The two weaved their way through the mess of the crowd that started to boo the Minister and they finally reached their friends after a painful eternity. Maeve instantly forgot that she was with Draco, leaping towards Hermione while the two held each other and marveled about what happened.
“Welcome back, lover boy,” Zabini commented, making Crabbe and Goyle giggle like schoolgirls. “Speaking of which, Nott came over and said he wants to make peace.”
“Oh, really? I guess his parents yelled at him,” Draco shrugged, discreetly looking around his surroundings to see if Nott was in the vicinity.
“Don’t worry, he’s sitting on the other side with some of the girls,” Zabini laughed, catching Draco in the act. Draco felt tense, wishing he was back at the top of the stands with Maeve.
The Minister was trying to regain control of the arena by continuously making reassuring comments that fell on deaf ears, but he was saved when someone shouted that they could spot Potter. Surely enough, the boy, unfortunately unscathed, zoomed back into the arena and the crowd went from demonizing the minister to chanting Potter’s name. The dragon was nowhere to be found and the men that sat next to the Minister – presumably part of the team that brought the dragons in – were quickly shooed off. Draco couldn’t help but feel impressed by Potter’s flying skills, though he could go without the showmanship of Potter swooping down to retrieve the unguarded egg and threw a wave over to Draco’s section. Draco clenched his jaw as he turned around to see Maeve waving back, bright red. She caught Draco’s stare and leaned forward to talk to him.
“I feel like I won the bet,” Maeve teased, raising her voice as loud as possible over the wildness of the crowd.
“Please, he was gone twice as long as Diggory,” Draco shook his head with a smile.
“Aw, c’mon. I want you in my debts,” Maeve winked, causing Draco’s heart to leap into his throat. Luckily, before he could reply, Hermione snatched her up and claimed that they needed to greet Potter at the champions tent. With her unceremonious exit, the first task was finally over. Draco suddenly felt filled with unease, remembering what his father had told him last weekend. Draco worried that if Potter was successful in this first task that was indubitably dangerous, that the danger would only continue to raise at Hogwarts.