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"Do you understand?"

"Y…Yes," Draco said.

"Good. If you do this then your worth will be acknowledged by him and he will see to your father's rise. You know what happens then, right? Your father will be proud to know that you were the reason for it all."

Draco gulped, nodding nervously before the man walked away. The Slytherin exhaled sharply as he tried to bring his racing heart under control. He wasn't sure if he could do what he had been told to. However, if he did it then it meant his father would see his worth and that is all Draco cared about.

Also, it was shocking to know that Daphne had been helping Harry with the tournament. If word got out then it could be disastrous for her. After knowing her since their childhood days Draco couldn't see her or Astoria in danger. He had been told that she was going to be taken into the lake which meant she would be Harry's goal in the second challenge. As Draco thought about the situation that he'd been put in he realized he could get by with Harry being in trouble. However, that didn't mean Daphne had to suffer the same fate. If he could just hint Harry about her then maybe the Gryffindor would be able to save her. Hwoever, it was a big 'if'.

Realizing he couldn't think of any other way Draco decided to go with his plan of hinting Harry about Daphne but it needed to be subtle so no one else could know. Once Daphne was safe he didn't care what happened to Harry. However, it was then that the image of his mother flashed before his eyes and Draco wondered if she would be alright with all of this. He knew that his mother had always hated 'them' secretly. If the dark lord was planning to make a return by the end of the term then Draco knew that his mother wouldn't be comfortable with it simply because she cared about her family's safety and with the return of the dark lord that would definitely be compromised.

Draco knew that his father didn't care about his mother's feelings, and even if he did what choice did Lucius have? If the man didn't follow the orders then his entire family will be in danger and it was the same case with Draco. He knew that if he didn't do what had been told of him then there was a really good chance that his family will suffer because of it.

And so it was that Draco woke up early on the day of the second challenge and headed towards the lake where he waited for Harry's arrival. However, before leaving the castle he looked everywhere for Daphne and wasn't surprised when he couldn't find her. It told him that she had already been taken into the lake. He also noticed Tracey looking for her and a part of him wanted to tell her where Daphne was but he knew he couldn't. Tracey wasn't as responsible and she would definitely tell others about what had happened with Daphne and that would mean problems for Draco. It seemed he had no other choice but to gamble Daphne's safety on Harry rescuing her.

Once he had spotted Harry coming towards the lake Draco headed for him. He knew he had one chance and if he was seen talking to the Gryffindor then he'd be in danger and so would be Daphne. He had to be quick about it. The Gryffindor saw him coming towards him. Draco maintained the smug look on his face and just as they were about to walk past each other he whispered the words to Harry.

"Make sure you save Daphne." The words left Draco's mouth as he kept on walking. He didn't stop or turn around to look at Harry but he knew that the Gryffindor had heard him as he had then stopped with a confused look on his face. Draco was wondering whether Harry's reaction had been noticed by a certain someone but he couldn't risk it further by stopping to look at him.

Draco returned a few minutes later and by then the champions had all gone under water. He saw Tracey and Neville who were at the Ravenclaw stand and from the looks on their faces he realized that they probably knew about Daphne as well. He then looked at the lake knowing that it all was on Harry now as he silently hoped that the Gryffindor would be able to save her.

And so he waited, a bit impatiently, as he kept thinking whether Daphne would be alright. As the time neared its completion and Fleur emerged out of the lake with her sister Draco started to get even more worried. 'Come on, Potter,' he said in his head when a few minutes later the remaining three champions emerged from the lake with their respective partners.

Draco saw Daphne clinging to Harry as the two were pulled up on the platform. He also didn't miss the silence of his fellow house members. He looked at them from the corner of his eyes and could see them looking confused and angry. He sighed mentally since he knew this would happen. However, it was better than Daphne being dead under water. But then there was the problem of Theo. While Draco could control all of his fellow housemates it wasn't the same case with Nott, especially when that boy was betrothed to Daphne. Handling him would be a problem.

He saw Tracey and Astoria taking Daphne towards the castle so he joined them halfway through before accompanying them all the way to the Slytherin common room.

"Draco, before you say anything…"

"Now's not the time, Davis," he said interrupting Tracey as they made Daphne lay down on the sofa next to the fireplace which Draco lit to warm up the common room. Daphne was still a bit drowsy since the stasis charm hadn't completely worn off of her. As Draco made sure to warm up the common room Astoria covered Daphne with a blanket while Tracey applying a mild heating charm on it to help raise Daphne's body temperature quicker.

"How did they know?" Tracey said to herself before she realized Draco was there too as she looked at him. He said nothing. He looked at her knowing what she wanted to ask him as he sighed. Tracey took the hint and applied a privacy charm around them so Astoria wouldn't be able to hear anything.

"I'm not judging her," he said slowly. "Remember I was there to save them from Theo last night? If I had to say something then I already would have."

"But the others…"

"I'll take care of it," Draco said.

Tracey looked at him for a moment before whispering a 'Thank you'. Draco shrugged it off. "But still, how did they know?" she said after a while.

"Did anyone else knew about her and Potter before?" Draco asked. He knew the answer but he had to keep pretending like he didn't.

"Daphne had mentioned Rita knowing about them," Tracey said. "That witch had threatened Harry with exposing them when she had come to Hogwarts to interview the champions. Harry had punched her in the face and then Daphne's father took care of everything later on. It's possible that Rita secretly informed the coordinators about it just to take revenge on both Daphne and Harry."

"Hmm, it could be," Draco said, already knowing that that wasn't the truth.

"Her parents are going to be mad," Tracey said after a small pause. Draco said nothing in response as he left the common room while Tracey and Astoria watched him go, wondering what had happened to him all of a sudden.

Coming out of the common room Draco headed towards the defense classroom. As he walked in he found the place to be empty which made sense as classes for the day had been cancelled because of the second challenge. However, he wasn't there for anything related to the subject. He went straight for the door which led to Moody's office and the living quarters before coming to a stop. As he stood there looking at it his heart began to race once again before he slowly reached for a knock when the door opened on its own and Draco saw Moody sitting next to his table looking right at him. The defense professor smirked before he signaled the Slytherin to enter.

His heartbeat increased as Draco walked into the office. He then looked at the trunk that was in the corner of the room when he was startled by Moody's fake leg stomping on the floor. He flinched before slowly looking at the scarred man.

"Why are you here?" Moody asked in his gruff voice.

"I…I just wanted to know…" Draco stammered in nervousness, "…what if he couldn't save her?"

"Oh, he would have," Moody said like he already knew the outcome of the second challenge. "After all, the coordinators were well-informed of who would serve as the best goal for Potter. Am I right?" He grinned, which made Draco even more nervous.

"So what happens now?" Draco asked. "You took a gamble with the second challenge, what about the third?"

"Let me worry about it, little Malfoy," Moody said. "You just do what you're told and everything will happen the way it's supposed to. The dark lord will finally return, more powerful than ever and we shall make the magical world the way it is supposed to be."

Draco gave a curt nod before leaving. Once he was out in the corridor he gasped sharply as if he had been holding his breath. He clutched his chest as he felt like his heart would explode. He wondered if he could take any more of this.

He was scared of them and he had every reason to be. The fact that someone like Barty Crouch Junior had successfully infiltrated Hogwarts with Dumbledore not knowing about it spoke of how capable the death eater was. No wonder he was the second most trusted follower of the dark lord.

Draco also wondered if he should at least tell Daphne about it. He knew she could keep a secret but then again, if it got out then she would only be in even more danger then she already was in and Draco knew he wouldn't be able to protect her then.

He gritted his teeth in frustration as he felt helpless and scared. He wanted to scream but he knew he couldn't. Others would hear him and he was still too close to Moody's office which meant that the fake Moody will also hear him. No, he couldn't look weak. He mustn't. If he got through this then things would be better for his family and his father would be proud of him and that is all that mattered to Draco.

It was then that he saw Tracey coming his way. Draco wiped the sweat off of his face as she walked up to him. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked. "Is Daphne alright?"

"She is," Tracey said nodding her head. "Professor Snape wants to meet her though. I think you should take her to him. It won't be a good idea to let her be by herself right now. The Slytherins are on edge. They want to know how she ended up being Harry's goal."

Draco sighed before nodding. "Alright," he said.

"Thanks," Tracey said as Draco walked past her. "Wait," she said causing him to stop. "Are you okay? You are looking a little pale."

"I'm fine," Draco said with pressed lips before he walked away.

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(Present…)

"How did you know?" Daphne asked looking him straight in the eyes with a no nonsense look.

"Know what?" he tried to act innocent.

"Don't do that with me, Draco," she said shaking her head in mild annoyance. "You knew that I was going to be taken into the lake. Tracey told me about it."

"Let me guess, she heard it from Potter?" Draco said uninterestingly.

"You told him to save me," she said. "You knew that I was going to be taken into the lake which makes me wonder, what else do you know? Do you know who put Harry's name in the goblet or who was responsible for it?"

Draco knew it would come to this but he hadn't thought that it would be Daphne that he had to deal with answering that question to. He looked at her and realized that if he told her the truth then Harry would know about it too which then meant that everything will be revealed and it could lead to things that Draco didn't want to happen. However, he also couldn't bring himself to lie to Daphne.

"You want to know?" he said after a minute's silence before sighing. "Fine, I'll tell you." He then looked around. "But not here," he said. "Too many prying ears."

"We have an empty classroom on the floor above us," Daphne suggested.

"That won't do," Draco said. "He can hear everything."

"Who?" Daphne asked.

Draco remained quiet for a few seconds before he looked at her. "Where did you and Potter have your meetings?" he asked.

"I…I can't tell you about it," she said.

"I'm only asking because it's important," Draco said. "It's clearly a secure enough place that no one else knows about." Daphne still seemed hesitant so he sighed. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me then I won't tell you anything either."

"That's not fair," Daphne said.

"Look, if you don't want to do it the simpler way then I'll have to resort to collecting my debt which you've owned me since the night of the Yule Ball, when I saved your life," Draco said. "So what will it be?"

Daphne seemed to be thinking for a moment before she looked at him in defeat. "I won't show you the place unless Harry agrees to it," she said. "He was the one who showed it to me so it has to be his decision."

"Are you sure you want to attract more attention by going over to him and…" Draco stopped talking when he saw Daphne take out a communication mirror. "Well, consider me surprised," he said. "You two talk through that?"

Daphne said nothing as she connected the call to Harry who picked up after a few seconds. "Daphne? Is something wrong?" he asked.

She smiled at him being worried for her before she remembered why she had called him. "Where are you?" she asked.

"Outside, by the lake," Harry said. "Why, what happened?"

"Well…"

"She wants to know how I knew about her being in the lake that day, Potter," Draco said interrupting her. Harry's expression suddenly changed from a worried to a serious look.

"Malfoy," he said in a low tone.

"Look, I know you two are desperate to know how I knew about it but in exchange I am only asking her to show me whatever place it is where you two hold your meetings at," Draco said.

"And why would we do that?" Harry said.

"Because not only do I know who told the coordinators about you and Daphne but I also know who put your name in the goblet," Draco said. He smirked when he saw the shocked look on Harry's face. "I see you are surprised. It's not like I have some ulterior motive with knowing your secret place. I'm only playing it safe for myself because if this person realizes that I told you about him then my entire family will be in danger."

Both Harry and Daphne were surprised by the serious tone in Draco's voice. "Harry?" she said looking at the mirror.

"Fine," Harry said after thinking about it, "but if I tell you about the place then Daphne and I won't owe you anything from the night of the Yule Ball." Draco smirked before nodding. "Meet me on the seventh floor and make sure no one sees you two."

Ten minutes later Harry joined them on the seventh floor before Draco saw – much to his surprise – a large door appear on the wall in front of him by the tapestry. Once it had fully materialized Harry walked ahead and opened it.

"Shall we?" Daphne said looking at Draco who could only nod before he followed her and Harry into the room. He walked into a white endless void as he looked around in amazement.

"What…is this place?" he didn't care about hiding his awe from experiencing something like that.

"It's known as the room of requirement," Daphne said before she told him how it worked and everything. Once she was done she looked at Harry.

"It is important that no one else knows about this place," Harry said before taking a pause. "Now, fulfill your end of the deal," he said walking up to him and looking him in the eyes. "Tell us what you know."

Draco remained silent for a minute before he spoke. "There is something that you need to know before I tell you who is responsible for putting your name in the goblet and telling the coordinators about you and Daphne," he said. "I want you to promise me that you won't do anything that would let this guy know that he has been found out. If that happens, my family will be in danger."

Daphne looked surprised at that. "Who is this person that is dangerous enough to be a threat to your family?" she asked.

"No one is invincible," Draco said, sounding a little ashamed that he had to acknowledge that his family wasn't all powerful. "I am asking this of you because it is important. Like I said, I don't have any ulterior motives by not telling you about this person."

"Then why are you?" Harry asked.

"Because…Because if this person's plan fails then my family can be safe," Draco said. Both Harry and Daphne looked at him confused. He sighed. "It's Moody," he said after a moment's pause. "He was the one who put your name in the goblet and told the coordinators about you and Daphne." He saw their shocked faces before continuing. "I know it sounds surprising and the real Moody wouldn't do this…"

"What do you mean 'real'?" Daphne interrupted him. Harry hadn't even caught that word as he looked from her to Draco.

"He's an imposter," Draco said. "He has taken over Moody's position as the defense professor so he could get Harry into the tournament."

"Who is he?" Daphne asked. Harry was too stunned to say anything. He genuinely liked Moody as his professor. The man was a no-nonsense person who didn't hesitate in teaching the students about defense spells, even if they were dark in nature.

"Barty Crouch Junior," Draco said. Daphne was shocked.

"You mean Barty's son?" Harry said. "But didn't he die?"

"His death was staged," Draco said. "His father faked it so he could get his son out of Azkaban and keep him at his place until he ran away."

Harry remembered that name very well. Barty Crouch Junior was one of the two death eaters who had tortured Neville's parents. He felt his anger rising. This man was at Hogwarts right now. "I'll kill him," he said in a low, growling tone causing both Draco and Daphne to look at him. They also didn't miss the air around them getting dense all of a sudden. It was clear that they were shocked to see Harry emit that kind of magic until Daphne put her hand on his shoulder and Harry looked at her before calming down. It seemed he didn't know what he was doing.

"I know how you are feeling but we can't just barge into his office and take him down," she said. "Barty Crouch Junior is one of the two most trusted death eaters of Voldemort." Draco flinched at the name before he looked at Daphne with surprise. He wondered how she could say that name so easily. It was then that she looked at him. "You said he wanted Harry in the tournament?" she asked. Draco nodded. "Why?"

"He plans to use you," Draco said looking at Harry, "…to revive you-know-who."

It left both Harry and Daphne speechless before the latter recovered from her shock and asked the next question. "Why would he need Harry for that and what does any of it have to do with Harry being in the tournament?" she asked.

"I don't know," Draco said. "I tried asking him but he won't tell. All I know is that a part of his plan requires Potter to win the tournament." He then looked at Harry before continuing, "This is why he has secretly been aiding you since the beginning."

"Wh…What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Barty told Hagrid about the dragons before giving him the idea to let you see them so you would know what you were going to face in the first challenge," Draco said. "He was the one who told Longbottom about the gillyweed which you then used in the second challenge. The only reason that you are where you are, is because Moody… or rather Barty wanted it to be and he will ensure that you win the final challenge, therefore winning the tournament which will then lead him to see the completion of his plan."

"I don't understand, how can a death eater, especially someone like Barty, infiltrate Hogwarts?" Daphne asked. "The wards around the castle are charmed to recognize the dark mark and even if he somehow fooled the wards then shouldn't Dumbledore know who he is?"

"I don't know how he did it but he is here," Draco said before he looked at Harry who was quiet. "What are you thinking, Potter?"

Harry said nothing as he turned around and left the room of requirement. Daphne looked from him to Draco who simply shrugged in confusion before she went after Harry.

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