Malfoy paced around the side of the lake, waiting for the wizards to come back from the second task.
"Worried, Malfoy?" Crabbe asked from his position against the railing.
"Why the hell would I be worried?" the blonde demanded.
"You're pacing. You don't care about anyone in that competition, do you?" inquired Goyle.
"Of course not; I'm just waiting to taunt Potter for coming in last."
"No one's come in yet. How will you know he comes in last?"
"Maybe he's psychic," reasoned Crabbe.
"That's always a possibility," whispered Goyle.
"Will you two shut up?!" Malfoy demanded. Loud cheers rang out from all around the lake. Malfoy ran to the landing, wondering who had come in. He hadn't found Hermione at all that morning; which worried him. Loud cheers arose from the crows as Cedric Diggory popped out of the water along with Cho Chang. Damn, Malfoy thought.
"All right Cedric!" Crabbe and Goyle hollered, racing down to see him. Yay, Malfoy thought. So, if Cho was the thing that Cedric would miss most, maybe the thing that Potter would miss was Hermione. Malfoy shook the thought from his head immediately. Weasley was also missing that morning, so it meant that they were both one- in this ridiculous competition or two- together somewhere. Though, Hermione wouldn't cheat on him, would she? She couldn't. It would be too much against her nature to do something that terrible.
Another round of cheering brought Malfoy out of his thoughts. Casually glancing at the water he saw a shark's head shoot up out of the water along with a sopping brunette head. Hermione! He thought to himself excitedly. He jumped down to the other levels platforms, finally reaching the bottom platform where the contests and other onlookers gathered.
"Hermione!" Malfoy whispered loudly, hoping to catch his girlfriend's eye. Hermione looked up upon hearing her name; able to smile at Malfoy briefly before she was whisked away by Madam Pomphrey to be wrapped in a wool blanket. Malfoy watched his girlfriend with a smile on his face. At least she had been in the competition all this time and not with Weasley. After being wrapped in a blanket of his own, Viktor Krum sat down next to Hermione and began a conversation. Scowling, Malfoy turned away from the two of them.
Hermione sighed, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders. I want to talk to Draco! she thought to herself.
"Herm-own-ninny?" Viktor asked, leaning over to catch her stare.
"What? Oh, sorry Viktor, what did you say?" Hermione apologized, looking at her friend.
"Vhat vere you staring at?"
"Oh…it was nothing. Don't worry," she mumbled, watching a bleach blonde head disappear into the crowd. "Thank you for saving me." She smiled at Viktor.
"You are velcome. I had to. It vas the task…And I would never have let you drown," he added softly. Hermione blushed slightly. She had been dating Malfoy for a few months now and Viktor was still interested in her. However, he was making it apparent that he liked her; even though he had no idea she was taken.
"That's really sweet Viktor." She smiled at him, her teeth clattering together softly.
"Cold?" Viktor inquired. Hermione nodded vigorously. Lifting his arm, Viktor wrapped it around her shoulders, moving himself close next to her. Um…Hermione contemplated, wondering if she should move. Before she could, loud cheers once again rang out from spectators of the event.
"Harry!" she breathed, launching out of Viktor's arms. Hermione rushed to the edge of the platform, watching Harry and two other heads bob up to the onlookers and other competitors. Fleur Delacour began yelling something to her sister in French as Ron helped get them back together. Hermione smiled at her friends, who eagerly smiled back.
"How'd I do?" asked Harry.
"You finished last!" Hermione cried. Ron and Harry looked at her, a strange look gracing both their faces. "Sorry." Hermione blushed slightly before going back over to her seat next to Viktor. Dumbledore stepped up in front of the contestants and announced the points and awards.
"Herm-" Viktor began, but Hermione was too busy yelling for Harry's second place standing to notice. Her eyes also scanned the crowd to see a tall blonde at the edge of the crowd.
"Great job, Harry!" Hermione congratulated once again before Harry and Ron walked off up the hill. Hermione turned around and watched the lake ripple softly in the cool breeze. She hugged her robes tighter around her as a soft mist settled in.
"I'm glad your friend did so well," someone sneered behind her.
"Hello Draco," Hermione said with a smile on her lips. She turned and looked at her boyfriend; his usual smirk gracing his lips. "And I am too. Harry saved Ron and Fleur's sister…even though he didn't have to."
"I wasn't talking about Potter, Hermione." His gray eyes danced as he took her hand in his and led her off to a less obvious place.
"Who were you talking about, then?" she asked.
"Krum." Hermione watched her boyfriend as he led her into a dense patch of the woods, having her sit next to him.
"Viktor lost…in case you didn't notice."
"Yeah. But he saved you, didn't he? That's more important than what Potter did." Hermione blushed and gave Malfoy a quick peck on the lips.
"Thank you," she muttered. Hermione put her head on his chest, Malfoy's arm immediately wrapping around her. "But that was really sappy."
"Well, thanks so much," he chuckled. She smiled happily as she wrapped an arm around his torso.
"You're welcome."
"I'm surprised you can still snuggle up to me. I'm a twig compared to the muscular Krum…and I play Quidditch too!" Hermione's eyes flashed as she sat upright.
"You say that?" she breathed, alarmed. Malfoy laughed at her distress.
"I did," he began, "but I also saw your look. You looked like you wanted him to push into the river."
"I wanted to tell him my boyfriend would kick his ass…but I couldn't do that considering my boyfriend is supposed to be my enemy."
"True. Has Potter or Weasley or anyone else told?"
"Not that I'm aware of. If anyone in Gryffindor knew though, I know someone would have brought it up."
"Same in Slytherin," Malfoy agreed.
"Herm-own-ninny?" Viktor Krum called from a distance.
"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath. "Hide!" She and Malfoy leapt off the ground, trying to find a place for Malfoy to go. She glanced at the log they had been leaning on and saw that there was a cavity beneath it. "You can hide-what are you doing?" she questioned. Malfoy looked down at her from the tree branch he was sitting on.
"Climbing a tree to hide. The leaves should cover me pretty well," he reasoned, climbing higher.
"Yeah, if there were more leaves to cover you," she muttered, crossing her arms.
"Herm-own-ninny!?" Viktor called again.
"Over here Viktor!" she replied, smoothing out her hair.
"There you are. Vhere did you go? I need to talk to you," he said walking over to her.
"I came into the woods for a walk and some fresh air. Thanks again for saving me." She went over and sat down on the log. Viktor sat down next to her.
"Your velcome. But that isn't vhat I need to talk to you about."
"What is it?" she asked. Viktor took her hand, looking at her with eyes full of hope.
"This is hard…I just…don't know how to say it," he muttered, letting go of her hand and pacing.
"Viktor, you can tell me anything. Nothing will ever change that. Please, tell me." Hermione watched Viktor as he slowly made his way back to the log. He took her hand in his.
""Herm-own-ninny, I like you a lot. And I would love it if you vould be my girlfriend."