So, I promised in January that I would post on 7/30/16. Here is chapter 13 (finally)! Draco is OOC. You have been warned. Also, sorry I almost didn't update. It's been a long day, and I just got home.

Disclaimer: After all this time, I still don't own Harry Potter. *Sigh*

Draco

For the next two weeks, all could I could do was wait. I honestly couldn't wait until the third task was finished. I was prepared enough with my spells, there was just the matter of running fast enough to beat the others. If I won, all would be well between my father and I and could go back to living a normal life. Finally.

A big screech filled the Great Hall, like always. My eagle owl, Spinks, swooped down and gave me an affectionate peck. I absentmindedly handed him some sausage as I opened the package.

As usual, there was a letter from my parents along with some treats. There was also a Daily Prophet, which I promptly threw away without looking at closely.

I pocketed my letter to read later, and went on to potions.

I glanced at my watch for the thirtieth time. Still thirty minutes. I looked back at my caldron. I needed to let it brew for five more minutes in order for it to turn into a pale blue. Mine was a sky blue color, so that wasn't bad. I looked around the room. Hermione was adding a spoonful of doxy venom to her potion. She must've already brewed it. She looked up and smiled softly at me. I grinned back. We hadn't been talking much lately.

I looked at my watch again. Twenty-nine minutes. I sighed.

Blaise nudged me. "Hey. Help me."

I looked at his caldron. It had turned a swampy green color instead of clear. I grimaced.

"What did you do?"

"I dunno. I just added the porcupine quills and it turned purple. Everything went downhill from there."

"Umm, Blaise, there aren't any quills in the recipe."

He grabbed his textbook and groaned. "Great. I don't have enough time to finish."

"Yeah you do. It's a short potion. I'll help when I'm done with mine."

He groaned again. "Might as well get started," he said, clearing his caldron. He proceeded to add a sprig of foxglove.

I checked my watch again. Thirty seconds. I kept staring. Fifteen seconds. Five seconds.

I put out the fire and put in five drops of flobberworm mucus and some doxy venom. The potion turned lavender. Infusion of wormwood. The potion turned lighter, but it was still lavender. It was supposed to be pale pink, but close enough, right? I got up and turned in my potion, finishing second to only Hermione, whose potion actually was pink.

I turned to Blaise, who had just finished brewing his, although it was an indigo color. I helped him with the rest, and by the end, his potion had turned red, which was much better than the black smoke that was coming out of Longbottom's caldron.

The bell rung, and I sprinted out of the classroom. Two days until the task. Just two. And I would win. This was my last chance to prove myself. I turned to a hallway with a blank wall. I walked past it three times, thinking I need somewhere to practice for the Third Task, I need somewhere to practice for the Third Task, I need somewhere to practice for the Third Task.

Suddenly, a door appeared and I pulled it open and stepped inside. My usual training room, a maze similar to the one in our quidditch field, appeared. I smiled. I had discovered this room a few weeks ago when I was trying to hide from a giggling group of girls. I had walked by three times, thinking of how much I needed a place to hide, and a door had appeared. I went inside without thinking.

I started at the entrance and waited for the copy of Bagman's voice to come on. It always started in a minute.

Five minutes passed and there was nothing. I frowned and called, "Hello, room?"

I blushed, feeling like an idiot, although there was no one there to see me. Or so I thought.

"Hello, Draco," a cold voice echoed.

I turned around and saw my father sitting in a comfy chair? Don't even ask me why he asked the room for that.

Anyways, he lounged on the chair, idly twirling his wand between his fingers. When he finally looked up at me, he said, "You seem to be working hard."

"Yes," I responded, relieved he wasn't there to confront me about Hermione again.

He nodded. Then he pulled out a newspaper from his pocket and handed it to me. I took it curiously, recognizing it as one of the Daily Prophet newspapers I had thrown away without looking at.

I swallowed when I saw the cover. It was Hermione and I kissing at the Yule Ball. "How- how did she get this?" I managed to choke out.

"Does it matter?" he asked. I opened my mouth, unsure how to answer. "Don't answer," he said coldly. "It was a rhetorical question."

I blinked.

He gracefully got up and walked over to me. "Stay away from her," he hissed in my ear. "Last chance, Draco."

With that, he swept out of the room and left me alone.

Almost immediately, Bagman's voice came on. I numbly took my place and started running through the maze.

"Ready? Go!"

I sprinted into the giant mass of hedges, using my 10 second headstart to my advantage. Each time I came to an intersection, I paused. Left or right? Then, I would keep running, memorizing the way I'd come.

I hadn't run into anything so far, surprisingly. I had no idea how much longer I had left to go, but I hoped it wasn't much. I made another turn and stumbled back when I saw a monstrous creature with deadly stingers. A blast-ended skrewt. Crap. I didn't really pay attention during Care of Magical Creatures.

It slowly crawled toward me. I shot the first spell I could think of at it, but it did no damage against its grey, shiny body armor. As it moved, I spotted a hole. If I could aim right, then maybe I could stun it. I ran back and shot it with as much force as I could muster. It stumbled and shook its head. Or at least I think it was its head.

It shot out sparks and I backed up again, looking for another hole in the armor.

Think, Draco, I thought. What had Moody said? The Impediment Jinx could slow down your opponent for about ten seconds. That would give me enough time to run past it.

"Impedimenta!" I shouted. Turquoise light show out from the end of my wand, and the blast-ended skrewt froze, paralyzed by my spell. I dashed as quickly as I could around it. As I turned the corner, I saw Krum and Fleur (Was that her name? Eh. Who cares anyways?).

As I carefully approached, I was able to see Krum's eyes. They were glassy and unfocused. If I didn't know better, then I would think he was under the Imperius Curse.

"Crucio!" he yelled. Fleur's screams pierced the air and I shuddered. Perhaps he really was under the Imperius Curse.

I backed away, not wanting to get involved. I had come too far to be stopped by this.

Coward! I could practically hear Hermione shouting it. She would've helped. She would've known how to stop whatever they were doing.

I pushed the thought away. I didn't have the time to go back. There was still Potter to beat.

I made another left and tripped over something soft.

"What the-" I shouted, falling forward.

I turned back to see what exactly I had tripped on. It was Hermione.

A dead Hermione.

I gasped, air coming in short, erratic breaths. Hermione couldn't be on the field. She shouldn't be on the field. I fell to the ground on my knees, frantically trying to feel for a pulse or any sign of life.

When I found none, I let loose a sob. My worst fear had come true.

Wait a second. My worst fear.

I thought back to last year, when Lupin taught us about boggarts.

"So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears."

If it wasn't real, then there was nothing to fear.

"R-Riddikulus!" I cried.

The boggart didn't change.

"Riddikulus!" I cried again.

It still didn't change.

"Riddikulus!" I shouted with all my might.

This time, it did change, but another voice had shouted behind me. I spun around, looking at the person who had discovered what I most feared.

"Potter," I said. It didn't come as a shock, as I had heard his voice since I was eleven.

"Malfoy. Guess you're not so bad after all," he replied.

"Thanks. If that was a compliment," I added.

"It was."

"Then, thanks, I guess."

We nodded and turned. The task wasn't over yet.

I could almost feel the victory already. Another five minutes at the most and I would not only win, but I would gain the respect of the other students, redeem myself in my father's eyes, and... impress Hermione.

Not that you want to impress the muggle-born- you just want to prove that you're better at something, I quickly assured myself.

I turned another corner and there it was. The Triwizard Cup, that is.

I was immediately filled with happiness, almost giddiness. I was going to win. I ran as fast as I could to it.

When I got close, I started scanning for traps. After walking the halls of Hogwarts for more than three years, it had just become a habit.

I saw a odd shaped lump in the ground. It was hard to make out what it was in the dark, so I cautiously drew closer.

"Potter?" I asked in disbelief, for it was Potter lying on the ground, with a nasty looking scratch on his leg.

He looked up at me and glared half-heartedly. "It was a Blast-ended Skrewt," he mumbled.

I raised my eyebrows. "Caught me off guard," he added.

He had saved me from the boggart, I thought.

I grimaced. "Don't make me regret this Potter," I said. "Episkey."

His leg magically healed, and he stood up.

"Thanks, Malfoy," he muttered.

He only stood there watching me as I reached for the cup.

My hand was closer. Closer.

And faltered.

Harry was there first.

Hermione really was a bad influence on me. Or rather, good.

"You were here first, Potter."

He stared at me as if I had just proposed to him. I rolled my eyes.

"Go on! Take it!" I said. "You deserve it more than me," I muttered at the end. Wasn't it true though? Hadn't he defeated Voldemort? And all while I was spoiled in a manor, raised to be a prat.

"If you hadn't healed my leg, then I wouldn't have been able to reach it."

"And if you hadn't saved me from the boggart then I wouldn't have been able to even come here."

I supposed Harry could sense my dejection and defeat. "Together?" He asked. "It'll still be a Hogwarts victory."

I was shocked and overjoyed at the same time. "Together," I agreed. Who would've thought I would ever agree with Harry Potter?

Together we reached for the cup, and together we grabbed the handle.

Together, we spun off into nothing.

Spinks was going to be Draco's last name, but J.K. Rowling changed it to Malfoy, which is why I named his owl Spinks. Hehe. Oh well. Review :)