Disclaimer: The Potterverse and Dracoese belongs to the wonderful and talented JK Rowlings

DRACO MALFOY AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

By Lady Lestrange

Of Gryndelows and Gillyweed

Late the next evening, Alvin Nott, one of Warrington's group, came into the common room. He was shivering violently, as he threw himself in a chair and conjured an enormous fire in the fireplace. "Twenty-two minutes," Alvin told Draco.

"Twenty-two minutes for what?" asked Draco.

"To swim the length of the merpeople's city, and that's not even looking for something. You won't be able to use dolphin's breath potion. It doesn't last long enough. You'll need whale's breath," said Alvin, rubbing a red welt on the calf of his leg. "And watch out for the gryndolows."

"Thanks," said Draco as he watched Alvin's teeth chattering. "I appreciate your checking that out for me. Why didn't you use a warming spell?"

"Didn't think of it," said Alvin. "It was warm in the hall where I apparated from."

Draco just shook his head.

"I didn't think you could apparate on Hogwarts grounds," said Vincent.

"Yeah, how did you do that?" Greg questioned Alvin.

"The spells are around Hogwarts," said Alvin. "They are to protect someone from coming in or out of Hogwarts grounds, but with a carefully laid plan, you can apparate within Hogwarts as long as you are not too close to the perimeter, and the lake is completely omitted from the spell. After all it's not ground; it's water. Just remember, there are always loopholes for those who want to find them."

"Wicked," said Greg and Vincent.

==

The next morning commotion ruled the common room. "What's happened?" asked Draco.

Snape's in an uproar," said Warrington. "He says his office was broken into night before last, and they stole the last of his gillyweed. He's blaming Potter, but he can't prove it."

"Really?" said Draco with a bored smile.

"Yes," said Pansy, "But you don't know the whole story! She started to tell the whole common room what Myrtle had told her about Potter stuck on the stair under his Invisibility Cloak and his egg rolling down the stairs. Apparently, once again, he was saved by Professor Moody, but this time Moody took his map of Hogwarts."

"Just like Potter," laughed Draco. "He needs a map to find his way around Hogwarts."

Everyone thought that was pretty funny, but Draco wanted to know why Moody wanted the map. It had to be something special. Unfortunately, Moody was just about the last person he wanted to talk to.

Meanwhile, Draco's thoughts went back to Snape and the loss of his gillyweed. Well obviously, that meant that Potter was eating that disgusting worm weed and growing gills. There had to be a better way. Draco had seen the nasty stuff turn people green and scaly. Plus, the fish-look really wouldn't go well with his blonde hair. He liked it pale gold, not slime green and stringy like some kind of sea monster. He had an image to keep up.

++

"So do you have any idea what they will take for the second task, Draco?" asked Vincent.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know," he said.

"Hey, maybe one of us!" said Goyle excitedly.

Draco rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"You could just transfigure a couple of gorillas to replace them," whispered Pansy.

"Why bother with the transfiguration," thought Draco. "They were close enough without the bother of transfiguring them." But he didn't say anything to Vincent and Greg.

"Maybe it will be Pansy," said Alvin Nott.

"That would be sweet," said Pansy, but I bet it's his Mum."

Draco did something that he never remembered doing in the Slytherin Common Room. He blushed.

"That's it!" crowed Alvin. "It will be his Mum."

"No way," said Draco. "You don't know her that well. She doesn't swim. She doesn't get her hair wet in nasty lake water, and she definitely doesn't do 'hostage'—Takes them maybe, but doesn't become one."

"Draco's right," agreed Vincent. "They'd have to drag his mum kicking and screaming—"

"Don't forget cursing—" said Draco. "She would definitely curse someone."

"Well, if not your Mum, maybe it will be your Dad." Said Pansy.

"Hummmm," said Draco thoughtfully. "That might be worth losing the Tournament for—Do you think Dumbledore would really let him drown?"

"Nah!" said Alvin.

"Oh, well, it was a pleasant thought while it lasted," sighed Draco.

==

At Care of Magical Creatures, the next day, Draco watched the unicorns with the other boys. He loved taunting Hagrid, and Potter about his half-giant friend and missed Hagrid, now that he was pouting in his cabin because of Rita Skeeter's article. Of course, he still had Potter to tease. He was particularly miffed at Potter, because he hadn't returned the favor of telling him what the second task was. It didn't matter that Draco knew what the task was now. It upset his Slytherin idea of justice that he had given Potter a perfectly good clue about the Dragons in the First Task and Potter hadn't returned the favor. Well, Gryffindor's have no sense of fair play, thought Draco.

He yawned and looked at the girls, gushing over the unicorns. Truthfully, the unicorns were pretty boring in his opinion especially since Grubbly-Plank kept telling the boys to stay back. He had other things he could be doing instead of standing around watching the girls pet the unicorns. Pansy liked them though, he noticed. She was edging Lavender out of the way to pet one of them.

After class, he asked Professor Grubbly-Plank if he could have one of the blast ended Skrewts. She wrinkled her nose and assured him that no one would want to get near them.

"I know," he said. "Someone I know wants a pet. It will be a great present."

Grubbly-Plank shook her head and shrugged. "It's ok with me if you want to take one. They keep killing each other anyway. It will be one less for me to look after until the Third Task is over—" She broke off, looking embarrassed.

"Until which blast is over?" asked Draco with an angelic smile.

"Oh." She said softly. "Never mind. Which one do you want?"

Draco chose one, put a leash around it's middle and apparated up to the Slytherin common room where he and Pansy wrestled a Christmas ribbon around the thing, dragged it into the girl's dorm and locked it in Camilla's room with a note—

Dear Camilla;

Sorry your Yule Present is late. Unfortunately, there were none of those adorable ferrets available, but I thought you would like this Blast-ended Skruet. It can sting, bite and blast. I thought you'd get along famously.

Happy Christmas.

Draco

==

A big thank you to my reviewers. If you like this fic, please R&R my other fics. I will return the favor if you send a signed review so I can find your fics.

Lady Lestrange

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