Still Waters Run Shallow
Disclaimer: JKR owns it all, and I hear she's finally going to use them again soon! Yay. ;)
Author's note: I was constantly hounded into writing this. Heh. This is my first non-Ron POV. I know I'm shocked. No, seriously. Contains slashy-ish thoughts, though I'm not sure how obvious they are, and who the slashy-ness is concerning. Whee!
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Draco sat between his two flunkies and wished desperately to be elsewhere.
I hope Potter drowns.. he thought to himself, glowering out at the lake.
With any luck, at the very least Potter would be eaten by the giant squid. With resignation, Draco knew that Hogwarts' golden boy would pass this little test with flying colours, therefore further securing his presence on Draco's Bloody Annoying Beings That Must Be Stopped list.
That was, Draco reflected as he squinted at the people gathered at the edge of the lake, if Potter ever showed up.
Draco began to entertain himself with simply dreadful (and detailed) scenes as to why the other boy was not, in fact, here.
"What do you think, eh? Looks like Scarhead chickened out," he said with a smug scoff to his cohorts.
Goyle blinked. "Isn't he already here?" He and Crabbe shrugged at each other; Draco managed not to pull out his wand and hex the two imbeciles, a feat of which he was rather proud.
One looking in on the three boys might suggest that the only reason Draco hadn't indeed hexed the others, was because it was at that time when Dumbledore began to speak. However, if one had suggested that, one would be hexed.
When that idiot Bagman stated what the exact test was, the audience murmured, gasped. Draco even thought he heard a shriek of terror. Probably a Hufflepuff, he was sure.
He was just about to make a brilliant and scathing remark to whoever would listen, when Bagman continued –
"Champion Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts will be retrieving Cho Chang!"
There was a silence that lasted nearly five seconds (an incredible thing with a crowd this size), and then chaos broke out. Well, not chaos, really. Draco would have preferred chaos to the wimpy whimpering and muttering going on around him. Some Ravenclaws nearby were clutching each other, near tears.
However irked this all made him, Draco was surprised. Who would have thought they'd use real live people for this thing? Maybe it'd be more interesting than he'd first thought. He was determined not to think of the revolting image of Diggory and the Ravenclaw Seeker together.
Less interesting, in Draco's mind, was that the Veela girl was to find her sister.
Then it was announced that Krum would be retrieving Hermione Granger.
Draco snorted (though he'd point out that it was really more of a snicker), and when met with silence around him, elbowed Crabbe in his side. Crabbe and Goyle started laughing. Even their laughs are stupid, Draco thought. I knew that Krum was rotten. I wonder if he's shagging the Mudblood. Draco shuddered, that image was much more disturbing than the Diggory one. Then he snickered again, always amused with his own mind. I bet Weasley would simply hate to hear of that news.. He scanned the crowds for bright red hair, but could only see those wretched twins, sitting with the girl.
So. Potter and Weasley were both missing.
One might suggest that Draco was very slow on the uptake here, but one would, once again, be hexed.
"Lastly, champion Harry Potter of Hogwarts will be retrieving Ronald Weasley!"
This time the silence lasted nearly ten seconds. Then, mixed with the now-usual gasps and murmurs, came the snickering and mild catcalls.
Draco was a bit stunned. Normally, he'd be laughing maliciously and saying stunningly witty innuendos to people who were too dim to understand them.. but for reason, he couldn't. He instinctively searched out the redheads again. The girl wasn't moving, not an inch. If Draco were closer, he'd be willing to bet that she'd appear utterly shocked, terrified for both her brother and Potter, because everyone knew she still harboured that ridiculous crush. The twins were talking animatedly with the Gryffindor Chasers, and then one of them put his arm around his sister.
When Draco turned back, he noticed Crabbe and Goyle looking at him strangely. Strangely for them, anyway. "What is it?" he snapped.
They exchanged a look and shrugged. "You're just a bit quiet, aren't you?" Crabbe said.
Draco refused to blush, simply refused. Even those buffoons noticed his lack of absolutely fantastic remarks.
"Just thinking about how sad it is that Potter obviously doesn't care enough to save his precious Weasel from a watery grave," he said, albeit a bit flatly.
Of course, it was at that moment when the irritating runt in question decided to show up. The audience got louder and louder, pointing the boy out to their friends who were, in turn, pointing him out as well. Potter ran along the edge of the lake and skidded to a stop with the rest of the champions, bending over to catch his breath.
"All right. Apparently he does care." Why this seemed to bother Draco instead of amuse him, he didn't know. Forcing a chuckle, he added, "Isn't that sweet?" Okay, so it wasn't the cleverest thing he'd ever said.
Bagman announced that it was time to begin; Potter removed his socks and shoes, waded into the water, and stuffed something in his mouth. Curious, that.
And then came the boring part.
After a few minutes of staring bitterly at the sun reflecting off the still surface of the lake, Draco stood. Time for Weasel baiting. He ignored his lackeys' befuddled questions of where he was going, and shoved through the rows of people, sneering at various complaints of him trampling over their feet.
Before he could even say one word, one of the twins glared at him and told him to get lost. Weasleys really had no manners.
"Any of you worried the hero wouldn't show up to save the day? Shame he did, really. Tell me," he addressed the girl, who was looking sicker with each word, "how does it feel to realise that the boy you love would rather have your brother?" He walked off before the twins could leap up and attack him – Weasleys were also so predictable.
Taking his seat, his smug smirk melted into a sneer of disgust. Really, he should have known there was something going on with those two. If it hadn't been for Krum, he'd have thought the mudblood was also part of it, some sick little threesome.
Stupid Potter.. still wish he'd drown. Although, if he drowned, then Weasley would too. But that's all the better, maybe they'll keep the Mudblood with them, and I'd be rid of them all for good!
..Of course, then who would I bother? Perhaps Potter doesn't have to drown. No, he really can. He can return Weasley first, though.
Return Weasley first? Why on earth was he the one who'd popped into Draco's head? Surely he'd prefer to have Granger around to torment.. although if she were around, she'd continue to make better marks than him. Weasley mainly just tried to jump him.
For some reason, Draco began to blush, just a little.
What seemed like centuries later, the Veela girl emerged from the water, shrieking nonsense and sobbing. Half the audience jumped in unison when she appeared unexpectedly. The school matron pulled her over and tried to wrap her in a towel, but she kept fighting to get back in the water.
"Well. That was interesting," Draco stated calmly.
A while later Cedric Diggory appeared, more successful than the girl had been. He pulled Cho Chang along after him; she was sputtering and coughing, and suddenly they both threw their arms around each other. Those same Ravenclaws were sniffling again, and Draco was sickened by the both displays.
Waiting between champions was sorely boring. Draco knew better than to go taunt the Weasleys again, at least by himself. So he was stuck attempting to make Crabbe and Goyle actually understand his brilliant comments, and ignoring Pansy Parkinson's yammering about to her friend. Draco couldn't recall her name, it was Maria or Mariah or something, but he did know that they were both very tiresome with their simpering over how Snape would be delectable if he just washed his hair. Made a man feel ill.
Finally, Krum appeared with Granger. Luckily, they didn't make any horrifying scene like Diggory and Chang had. In fact, the mudblood seemed to not take notice of Krum's words to her, she was busy staring at the lake with worry. Where were Weasley and Potter? Draco pondered the idea that maybe his wishing for Potter's drowning had come true, and he was trying to convince himself he didn't mind having Granger here instead of Weasley, when it was announced that the allotted time was now up.
The crowds' reaction to this was, as always, mixed. Slytherins were cackling over Potter's loss, while Hufflepuffs were thrilled that their Seeker had made it back first. The Weasleys did not appear to be taking this in; they were so still and distraught.
Draco noticed the judges and professors were having a meeting, and that Peter Weasley or whatever his name was, was gesturing wildly.
Draco was just leaning back and shutting his eyes when screams began to ring out from various points in the audience. Potter, Weasley.. and some little girl had just popped out of the water, Potter gasping for air.
Potter had made it.
Damn.
The Veela girl had escaped her Headmistress's clutches and was running into the lake, screaming about her sister. Peter Weasley was doing the same for his brother. This amused Draco as he watched them. Squinting, he could see that Weasley's – Ron, that is – hair had been made much darker by the water, it took some of that blinding orange out that made it a deep, deep—
Draco shook himself. What the hell was he doing, sitting here thinking almost poetically about Weasel's hair!
He concerned himself with the announcing of the points. Looking back, he really shouldn't have, because learning that Potter had received the most points even though he had been in last place nearly made Draco hex himself.
On top of that, he was then forced with the most revolting image of the day: Potter and Weasley were smiling serenely at each other. Why this was so disturbing, Draco didn't want to know, but he was left with a very unpleasant feeling.
All in all, the day had not been one of Draco's best.
End.