The Goblet of Fire

Chapter Three

Madame Maxime raised her wand. A long silver ribbon shot out, twisting into the number eight. Then Mr Crouch, nine. Dumbledore... four. Bagman, ten and Karkaroff nine.

"You're tied in first place, Draco!" said Charlie, running forwards enthusiastically. "I don't understand why Dumbledore only gave you four though... I suppose he wanted to know what you'd done."

"Dumbledore hates me," said Draco with a smile. "I'm used to it."

"Well... anyway, Bagman wants a word in the champions' tent." He held out Draco's egg. "You left this beside the dragon, I think you need it." Draco took it and smiled.

"What's it like, working with dragons?"

"It's the best job in the world." Charlie glanced at Draco's escort. "My advice, go into the champions tent, hear what Bagman has to say then go back to your common room and party like you've never partied before."

"That would involve a huge amount of alcohol," mused Draco. "I like your advice." He turned. "Okay Minions. By the time I reach the common room I want a party in full fling. Pansy, you can stay." He turned and headed towards the champions tent. Pansy followed as the rest of the group turned away. Blaise watched Draco's back for a few moments, looking annoyed then turned and stalked into the forest.

Draco stepped into the champions' tent, clutching his egg in his left hand: his right was still pretty useless. Once again Draco's apparent immunity to magical healing annoyed him. It had been like this with the hippogriff too; any other wizard would've waved his wand and the scars would've gone but of course Draco had to have it in a sling for weeks until it healed naturally.

The other three champions entered together a few moments later. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste which almost covered the burn beneath. Draco smirked in a satisfied way then remembered his entire left arm was out of action.

"Well done," said Bagman, bouncing into the tent. "Now, just a few quick words. The next task isn't until February the twenty-fourth, but you have a puzzle in the meantime. If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding you will see they open... see the hinges there? You need..." There was a suddenly wailing noise as Draco opened his egg curiously. He slammed it shut again.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's the big question; the answer will help you with the second task. Now, off you go." Draco glanced around then left the tent, meeting up with Pansy outside.

"You were amazing," she said enthusiastically as they set off towards the castle. "The look on your face when you pointed, I almost wanted to turn and see. The dragon didn't see you at all and most of the school thinks you can disappear into thin air."

"Mr Malfoy." Draco looked around and saw Skeeter moving towards him. "Could I have a word?"

"No." Draco slid a hand around Pansy's waist and led her into the school. As soon as they left Rita's line of sight she started laughing.

"Did you see her face? She thinks I'm your girlfriend."

"Do you want to be?"

"What about Blaise?"

"He's a boyfriend, I can't have one of each?" Pansy laughed.

"Come on, you have a party to be hero-worshipped at."

"Fine. You're not my type anyway."

"A little too feminine perchance?"

"Well... quite a lot too feminine. Ah well." He bent down and kissed her lightly. "Should my tastes ever change, I'll give you a call." Pansy pushed him away, laughing

"You are a cruel person, Draco Malfoy."

"Only sometimes." They headed towards the dungeons, missing another figure who had paused, heading the same way. In the shadows at the side of the hallway Blaise watched, eyes dark.

Once they were gone he slipped away, down into the dungeons and down a small side path leading to a small, dark room. As far as he was aware no one had ever found it and, judging my the strength of the protection spells he'd put over it, no one ever would.

He lifted a bottle from a surface on the side and pulled the cork out angrily. He wondered if Draco even knew. If the bastard had ever bothered to look past his own ego to see how his acts affected the people around him. He pushed the top of the bottle between his teeth and gulped the fiery liquid down, ignoring the flames at the back of his throat. He had no idea why it was affecting him like this, he'd seen Draco like this before.

But...but not this bad. Yes, it had been Pansy who had helped him get past the dragon but he still hadn't told Blaise, hadn't given him any kind of reassurance that he wasn't about the be killed. He remembered afterwards, flinging his arms around the one person he'd ever loved and feeling a brief, uncomfortable response before he was released. It hadn't been Pansy who had taken Draco to be healed, it hadn't been Pansy who had kept all the Slytherins away to give Draco a chance to recover. It wasn't Pansy who loved Draco so much that their heart was splitting...

So why was it Pansy who was allowed to stay with him? Why was it Pansy who was allowed the type of soft kiss Draco hadn't given Blaise since the whole damn tournament started? Why was it Pansy who...

Blaise sank forwards, the bottle dropping from his hand as tears fell from his eyes. It wasn't fair. Nothing was ever fair.

* * *

Draco couldn't find Blaise anywhere at the party. Eventually he got too drunk to care too much and danced with anyone he could find. At three in the morning the party started to disband and Draco went upstairs. To his surprise Blaise still wasn't in bed. He bit his lip for a moment then shrugged, it wasn't like Blaise never went his own way. Still slightly uncomfortable he lay down and fell asleep.

The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. The fires in the dungeons were constantly lit to try and keep the Slytherins warm. Draco didn't see Blaise much; the other boy came to bed late and got up early. When Draco questioned him he just shrugged and said he had a lot of work to do. Apparently the Arithmancy teacher didn't let up even around Christmas. When they were in lessons together Blaise always had a tired look about him and Draco wasn't sure what to do. He felt uncomfortable and intrusive if he asked too many questions so in the end he just respected Blaise's wishes and left him alone. He found himself going for long walks a lot of the time, usually on his own. These often led past the forest and Draco sometimes took a small detour to visit 'his skrewt' who, thanks to a strange turn of events, seemed to be called Kitten. She was still the biggest skrewt at six feet in length and they seemed to understand each other well. Of course, the great oaf still had no idea how to handle them.

"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," he said in the next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an' see if they fancied a kip... We'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes." Draco quickly moved forwards and grabbed Kitten with his uninjured arm before anyone else had the chance to move. Hagrid looked surprised. "Okay, well yeh jus' lead 'er in and we'll see what happens when we put the lid on." Slowly the rest of the class took their skrewts. Draco led Kitten over to a deserted area and the other Slytherins followed, Crabbe and Goyle dragging a box between them.

"What are you doing?" asked Pansy, eyeing Kitten nervously. "It's huge." Draco shrugged and began to tickle Kitten under the chin the way she liked it.

"She's a girl," he remarked.

"K'bluh," agreed Kitten.

"And I highly doubt she hibernates. You don't, do you?"

"K'bluh."

"Draco, you do realise you're talking to a B.E.S?"

"Her name's Kitten."

"K'bluh."

"Of course, I should've known that it was a female skrewt called Kitten."

"Yes."

"You're mad."

"Very possibly."

"Is this about Blaise?"

"Not everything's about Blaise, Pansy."

"No...but is this about Blaise."

"No, this is about Kitten."

"Which makes it sane and rational?"

"I'm glad you agree."

They sat there for a while, leaning against the box, as the rest of the class tried and failed to get their skrewts to hibernate. The animals were rampaging around Hagrid's pumpkin patch but any which came near the small group of Slytherins were immediately scared away by Kitten. Most of the class fled to barricade themselves in Hagrid's cabin. Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle stayed with Draco for a while then stood up and followed them. Draco leant against a tree, Kitten by his side, watching coolly as Hagrid and the Potter-trio got numerous burns and cuts trying to subdue the remaining skrewts.

Finally only one skrewt was left: it was one of the larger ones but Kitten was still at least four inches bigger. The four of them were cornering it slowly, Hagrid giving useless advice as the trio attempted to repel the skrewt with sparks.

"Well well well... this does look like fun." Draco looked around and saw Skeeter leaning against the fence. Her outfit, if possible, was worse than ever and she still clutched the crocodile skin bag. Draco rested a hand protectively on Kitten's back but none of them saw him. He saw the rogue skrewt coming his way. Kitten was looking from it to Draco.

"Go on," said Draco. "Show them how it's done." Kitten moved forwards, jumping menacingly in front of the other skrewt. She stared it down, briefly giving Hagrid time to loop a rope around it and drag it in with the others. They were now watching Kitten nervously but she happily followed the other skrewt. Draco was proud of her. Hagrid now turned his attention to Skeeter.

"Who're you?"

"Rita Skeeter Daily Prophet reporter." Draco stood up; he had no desire to be cornered by Skeeter again and it didn't look like the lesson was going anywhere. He slipped into the trees. Maybe he could give Skeeter some information about Hagrid. Seeing the oaf humiliated might cheer him up.

Draco stormed into the common room in a bad mood. He saw Blaise sitting in one corner and moved towards him. Blaise looked up.

"Oh, hi Draco." Draco sat down opposite him.

"What are you doing?"

"Reading."

"Oh." There was a long silence. "You look tired."

"I haven't been sleeping well."

"No." Another long silence. "Blaise?"

"Yes?" Blaise looked up.

"Are you... you know... are you okay?"

Blaise looked down again. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh... okay... I'm going to go... get some food."

"You do that." Draco stood up uncertainly and left the common room.

The wall to the common room opened. Draco glanced up from his book, wincing as his arm brushed against the arms of the chair. He glanced at the bandage; it was starting to turn red. He would have to go and get it redone later. Why wouldn't the cut just heal?

He was distracted by the person coming in. Snape stepped forwards, looking around. The common room was crowded; dinner had finished and someone had put some music on in the background. Snape nodded to a boy near the player and he quickly switched it off.

"I have an announcement to make." Snape sounded bored. "As you all know the Triwizard Tournament is being held this year."

"No!" called one Slytherin in shock.

"You don't say," laughed another. Snape favoured them both with a glare.

"It is tradition as part of the Tournament that we hold the Yule Ball on Christmas day. The ball is officially open to fourth year and above. You may invite a younger student, but I figure they're all going to gatecrash anyway, so don't bother. Dress robes must be worn by everyone. Yes, that includes you, Raken. The ball starts at eight and goes on until midnight. Dumbledore wishes me to tell you that the standards of behaviour will be high and none of you will let the school or the house down."

"I don't get it," said a third year girl. "What's a Yule Ball?"

"It's a dance, Dew," said Snape with a sigh. "The boys take the girls and they dance with them for the evening."

"Do we have to take a girl?" asked Draco, meeting Blaise's eyes for the first time in weeks. Blaise looked slightly more cheerful at the question.

"Yes, Draco, I think this would be a good time for you to at least pretend to act normal in front of our guests. Blaise will survive without you for one night, I'm sure."

"Do we have to go to the ball?"

"You have to. The champions traditionally open the dancing."

"I have to dance?" Draco lifted his arm. "I'm injured, I can't dance."

"I'm sure you'll cope." He turned and walked out. Draco glanced around the common room; several girls were eyeing him. A few were edging closer. Draco smirked and stood up.

"Right then ladies, it seems I require a date. You each have five minutes to show me why I should take you to the Yule Ball." There was a sudden flash as a large proportion of Slytherins removed clothing and pressed towards him. "A queue please!" he called over the crowd. "Everyone in a nice orderly line." He eyed the first girl in the queue. This would be a good night.

He walked slowly upstairs later after promising them that he would think about it and make his decision in the morning. To his surprise Blaise wasn't asleep: he was sitting on the bed watching.

"Hey," said Draco uncertainly. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." The words sounded challenging.

"Do you want to... you know..." Draco gestured to his bed.

"No, I'm fine." It was too polite, too formal.

"Blaise... are you sure you're okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I suppose." Draco was starting to turn away when Blaise stood up.

"No, I mean it. What possible reason could I have to not be okay?" Draco turned back.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!" Blaise's eyes were cold. "You barely look at me anymore; you spend all your time off with Pansy walking in the woods."

"I walk alone."

"What about the other day. Don't try to lie, I saw you."

"Well... yeah... but that was just..."

"And after the first task, you could've chosen anyone to stay with you, anyone in the world, and you went for Pansy: you laughed with her and you flirted with her and you kissed her."

"I didn't know you were watching."

"No, well, I didn't know you were this selfish."

"I'm not..."

"Of course, I forgot. It was after the first task and you'd been mauled by a dragon and it was Pansy who went to talk to you without telling the rest of us and it was her who saved your skin so I suppose I should be grateful and you should have been with her because she's amazing and so much more perfect than me." He broke off. Draco moved forwards, completely confused.

"It's not like that."

"Well you put on a good act, Malfoy." Blaise seemed to turn away slightly. "You have the Tournament, you have thousands of adoring fans, you have a proper mother, you have a father, you have a common room full of girls who love you, and what am I? Your shadow? Someone to run to when everyone else is off doing something else?"

"You're my friend."

"That doesn't mean anything to you! You don't understand what you're talking about."

"No, I don't understand. I don't understand why you're acting like this."

"I'm acting like this because you don't care about anything except yourself and I don't want your sympathy anymore. I don't want you coming to me when there's no one else. I don't want to sit here wondering if you're with Pansy, if the two of you are happily kissing in the forbidden forest."

"You can't think that."

"I don't know what to think. So tell me, what should I believe? Who should I trust? Because I sure as hell don't know."

"I..." Draco broke off. "Nothing. You don't seem to care about me so why should it matter? I thought a good friend like you could stand beside me. I thought you'd believe me."

"I don't know you anymore. In the common room earlier, the old Draco wouldn't have done that. The Draco I used to know wouldn't act like that. Not for anything."

"It was just a bit of fun."

"Yeah, well it didn't look like that from here." There was a pause as Draco stared at Blaise in disbelief and Blaise stared back, cold and angry.

"Get out." Blaise's voice was low.

"What?"

"You heard me, this is my room. Get out."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"See if I care: you're not staying in here." Blaise turned away, sitting on the bed.

"Blaise," began Draco.

"Now!" Draco bit his lip then his resolve hardened. He turned.

"I'll see you around then." He pushed the door open and added just before leaving. "Zabini." He stormed down the staircase into the common room which was still full of people.

"Right," he said, his voice reaching across the room. "Everybody out right now. I'm going to bed." The Slytherins looked surprised. A few headed for the dorms.

"Draco." Draco looked around and saw Axon, one of the Slytherin prefects looking at him. "What are you doing?"

"I need somewhere to sleep," said Draco angrily, "and I refuse to stay in the same room as Blaise."

"You can't sleep in the common room."

"Watch me." Axon might have seen the anger, madness and rage in Draco eyes because he nodded slowly.

"I'll talk to Snape tomorrow."

"I don't want him anywhere near me anymore." He looked around. "Get out. Now!" The Slytherins fled for the dormitories. Axon was last but then, with a sigh, he turned to the staircase.

"You can't run away from your problems forever, Draco," he said. Then he was gone. Draco pulled one of the armchairs closer to the fire and curled up on it, resting his head on his elbow. Staring at the dying fire, he slowly slipped into sleep.

Blaise stared at the door for a long time. Come back. Please, Draco. I love you so much just come back to me. Eventually his eyes closed and he fell to the side, damp cheeks shining in the moonlight.