Draco looked across the great hall from where he sat at the Slytherin house table. His eyes scanned the Gryffindor table, and easily spotted the raven haired youth he had been looking for. It had become almost instinct now, looking across the hall to see if Harry was at his house table. Much to Draco's disappointment, the boy had only been showing up for one or two meals a day. Either that, or he ate quickly and rushed out before Draco had gotten there, and Draco just couldn't picture Harry 'rushing' out of anywhere. But the boy had shown up for this meal. It was now a month and a half in to the term, and everything was going as it always had this time in the school year, despite the presence of Harry Potter.
In fact, Harry seemed to have made a point of blending in, not drawing any attention to himself. The boy only spoke to most people when necessary, and blended in to the many shadows of the school whenever he left his dormitory. The boggart incident seemed to be completely forgotten by every student, with the exception of Draco, who was still trying to figure out what exactly the boggart had meant. Draco stared across the hall at Harry, noting that he only seemed to be with Granger this evening. Harry hadn't made any friends apart from Granger, but the relationship between the two was growing every day. Draco found himself experiencing a burning jealous feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever Harry was to close to Granger. The two had become quite the pair, Harry at the number one slot in every class, and Granger right behind him at number two. It seemed only natural that the two would be good friends, yet Draco couldn't help feeling that they're relationship was closer than normal friends. He visibly scowled every time Harry leaned over to read a book that was in front of Granger, causing far to much contact than Draco felt was necessary.
This had, of course, caused Draco to be slightly enraged at Granger. Apart from Professor Lupin, she was the ONLY one that Harry ever directed a smile at, or laughed with, or did anything with for that matter. Why did he have to choose her? She wasn't popular, even with the Gryffindors, being known as the biggest book worm to have ever entered Hogwarts. She wasn't that good looking either, that bushy brown hair giving her a very average look, a look that was much more suited to blending in than Harry's majestic, elegant look. Just looking at them, not taking in any of their academic status, they looked like the most unlikely pair you would ever meet. To Draco, Harry had become the symbol of perfection. This boy held both physical beauty, and inner strength. His slim form, milky white skin, and jade green eyes were so perfect. If someone could just see past the blinding power that Harry generated, they would notice that fragile, china doll look. Like he was so perfect that if you touched him, he would break.
This had been something that probably only Draco had ever noticed about Harry. Whenever he saw the boy, he seemed to be all Draco could focus on. And this led to him noticing things that no one else ever did. Harry's elegance was not a mask, he was not a pureblood who gave off a purposeful imperial presence whenever he ventured in to public. No, this was the real Harry. This boy who seemed physically weak, yet could probably walk the entire length of Knockturn Alley and come out unscathed. And as Draco thought about it, he found that it wasn't actually Harry's physical presence that was so appealing. Nor was it the great elegance and power that he possessed. No, it was the perfect balance between the two features that made Harry absolutely ... perfect.
Draco was suddenly broken out of his thoughts as the Headmaster rose from his seat and motioned for the hall to silence. This in itself was a rare occurrence, and it meant that something was happening, which naturally had every student silent and looking on with rapt attention.
"I would like to make an announcement." Dumbledore began, his eyes twinkling as his gaze drifted amongst the students. "Next week is Halloween week, leading up to the traditional Halloween feast. This year, we would like to hold a week long event to celebrate the holiday. In honor of great battles that have been fought on Halloween in the past, we will be hosting a duel tournament."
Dumbledore paused, the twinkle in his eyes increasing. The slight pause was enough for the hall to erupt in many rushed whispers, which all added up to be quite loud. Draco turned and smirked at Pansy and Blaise, who were both grinning wickedly back at him. Growing up in the families that they had, all three of the friends had a fascination with dueling. In fact, they practiced with each other whenever they had the free time. This was why Blaise and Pansy were so excited about the tournament, they had much more experience than a lot of sixth and seventh years, who had never even bothered to practice more than what was required for DADA. Of course, these older students knew much more powerful spells than they did, but the experience would most definitely give them an advantage.
"Ahem.." Dumbledore cleared his voice, smiling at the whispering students. The halls inhabitants quickly quieted down, turning their attention back to Dumbledore. "Tournaments will be hosted here in the great hall after dinner each night next week. There will be one single elimination tournament per year, each lasting until curfew. There will not be a tournament for First and Second years, as they have not yet reached the level required to duel. The third year duel will be on Monday night of next week, with Fourth year on Tuesday, and so on. Only disarming spells will be allowed, any violation of this rule will lead to being removed from the tournament and given further punishment based on the offending spell used. If you are interested in participating, sign up sheets are now posted in your house common rooms. Thank you."
Dumbledore's speech was short and concise as always, and it had the entire hall discussing what the specifics of the tournament would entail. Most students from each year seemed to be wanting to participate, and were now moving on to discussing dueling tactics with their friends. Pansy and Blaise were now talking in hushed, rapid tones about the advanced disarming spells that they could use in the tournament. Draco himself was extremely interested in the idea, and would most definitely be signing up to join.
Draco looked back across the hall at the Gryffindor table where Harry and Granger sat. Draco expected a person such as Harry to be interested in the idea. He was extremely good in DADA, even though the only practical lessons they had so far this year were against magical creatures. So when Draco looked across the hall, he was extremely surprised. Granger's face was stone, and she was now looking straight down in to her book, attempting to tune out the people around here. This was expected. No, the real surprise came when Draco looked over at Harry, who wore an expression identical to Granger's.
"I don't want to." Harry said, frowning at Remus. The two were sitting in Remus' office, discussing Dumbledore's announcement at dinner.
"What's wrong with it Harry? You've always loved practice dueling with Sirius, why don't you want to do it now?" Remus said, sitting in a chair opposite Harry's and giving him a contemplative look.
Harry frowned even deeper at Lupin's last comment, but gave no answer. He didn't like it when people asked question's to which they already knew the answer.
"Ok," Remus sighed heavily and sat back in his chair, fixing Harry with a contemplative stare. "Harry, I know your scared of this, but it's nothing to do with having power. It's about how you use the strength that's given to you. Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time, and he is also one of the best men you will ever meet."
"Absolute power corrupt's absolutely." Harry said solemnly, returning Lupin's stare.
"Do you know the difference, do you?" Remus answered sharply. Lupin's eyes bored in to Harry's, and for the first time in a while, Harry was shocked. Never before had Remus been so harsh. His explanations were always calm and thought out, but this was different, and that was what grabbed Harry's attention more than anything. With that same sharp look, Lupin continued. "The difference between Power and Strength."
"There is no difference." Harry stated, eyeing Remus with half questioning and half determined eyes.
"Oh, but there is." Remus said, unblinking. "Haven't you ever heard the term 'Money is Power'?" Harry did not respond to this, but his eyes were now completely questioning. "There can be no rich if there are no poor. Power follows the same rule. You cannot have power without the weak. The Dark Lord would be nothing without his followers, or his enemies."
"Of course, I agree." Harry said, face impassive. "But this has nothing to do with the difference of Strength and Power."
"Yes, it does." Lupin responded. "In fact, that is the difference. Strength is not held back by the rule of power. Strength is something that you possess within you. Strength has nothing to do with how many people are kissing your boots. Strength is why the Dark Lord feared Dumbledore. Dumbledore possesses immense strength. He possesses the ability to look in to the eyes of the hideous, twisted person that was the former Tom Riddle, and hold no fear. The Dark Lord fears death more than anything, and that is proof that he possesses no strength. Can't you see it? A person with true strength who dies in battle would be happy that they died for a cause. If a person weak of strength dies, they will look at it as the greatest of losses. Do you see now, Harry? You are willing to die, and for what? To save the lives of the animals you drain? Any death eater would find this laughable, just as any person that know's what true strength is would regard this as a show of the immense strength that you posses."
As Remus ended his speech, Harry could do nothing but continue to stare in to his eyes as clarity suddenly flooded in to him. All this time, he had been blind. He had wondered how a person like Dumbledore could resist corruption. How a person who held the complete trust of the wizarding world could resist the pull that power has over all people. But as Harry processed Remus' words, he found the answer. Dumbledore had the trust of those close to him, but he did not have the trust of those that had never met the man. What he had from all wizards and witches was respect. Respect for a person that held such great strength that he could stare in to the eyes of Lord Voldemort himself, and offer him a lemon drop. A man that most likely held a magical power that was not far above Voldemort's, but could still duel with the twisted man and act as if he were finding the challenge A blast of fresh air.
"Strength is something that you have in spades, Harry." Lupin continued, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. "And do you know what? When you come up against the Dark Lord himself, one on one, you will find that his power means nothing in that contest. Power is held back by that rule. You will be the only other person in that battle, and unless you fear him, he will have no power. And when you stare in to his face, unafraid, you will find that you still possess the strength, and he is left with nothing. That is the difference between power and strength." Lupin finished, sitting back in his chair and fixing Harry with a calm stare.
Harry slumped back in to his chair, his eyes unfocused, and his insides reeling. Remus' words continuously played back in his mind, and he found that everything was falling in to place. He had no desire to rule over people, no desire to hold power over them. Yet, he still could not ignore the nagging feeling that was always in the back of his mind. Yes, maybe he did not want power, but the vampire in him seemed to crave it with a passion.
Harry sighed as he stepped through the portrait of the fat lady, entering the Gryffindor common room. The room was as it had always been, warm and welcoming, fire crackling merrily. The normal, almost instinctive stares of the inhabitants of the common room followed Harry as he made his way across the room, sliding in to a seat next to Hermione Granger, who didn't even look up from the scroll she was writing on as she murmured a hello. This always brought a grin to Harry's face, the fact that she was the only in this school that seemed to find a book more interesting than staring at the small, lightning shaped scar that was usually covered by the black locks of hair falling in to Harry's eyes. Harry had originally befriended the girl because she was such interesting conversation, but the friendship growing so closely in just a couple months was due to the fact that Hermione was just so ... normal with him. She gave him respect, just like everyone else at the school, but for completely different reasons. She gave him respect because of his academic achievements, and as she had said, his personality.
"Hey," Harry grinned at the girl, looking at what she was righting and leaning his head next to her's so that their cheeks were touching, forming their classic pose. Both had made it clear to each other that they were not interested in each other romantically, and this made the relationship so much more open. People often mistake their constant contact as attraction, but what people didn't seem to realize was that it was incredibly hard to read from the same book without being close to the other reading. Harry rarely admitted it to himself, but he liked their open relationship. Hermione's touch was a lot like Sirius', it calmed him, reminding him that she would always be there for him if he needed it. "Did you know that your five inches past the minimum length of that potions essay? You shouldn't do that, people might think you're a nerd."
At this, Hermione looked up from her parchment and slapped Harry on the arm. "'Nerd' is a word used by people who are academically jealous of those more successful than them." Hermione stuck out her tongue at Harry, causing him to smile back.
"I guess we need to make our homework longer, huh? Snape would fail us right away if he saw us doing the minimum, like the Slytherin's. Malfoy seems to be the only one that is even interested in that subject.." Harry trailed off thoughtfully.
"Malfoy just likes it because he gets to see his favorite Professor insulting all of us." Hermione scoffed.
"Yeah, maybe. But I wonder about him sometimes, he's always watching me." Harry said, the thoughtful look still in place.
At this, Hermione looked back up from her potion's essay. "Harry, I'm sure you've noticed, but everyone is always watching you. Look behind you, there are four first years sitting three tables away whispering to each other and giving you long stares."
"I know," Harry frowned, "But Malfoy is different, he's not talking about me, not spreading rumors, he's just watching me. And watching me more than everyone else if you ask me."
"Your just being paranoid, Harry." Hermione said, "You shouldn't let things like this bother you. You've got other things to worry about."
"Like what?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at his new 'best friend'.
"Like your eating habits," Hermione frowned, "You really should be eating more. If you had a better appetite you might be able to build up some muscle."
"Are you insinuating that I'm weak?" Harry said in a hurt voice, dramatically placing his hands on his flat chest over his heart, acting as if a fatal blow had just been dealt there. "I know martial arts you know! I could probably take those two big guys that follow Malfoy around.."
"Of course, you can do anything you put your mind to." Hermione said, patting Harry on the arm. This sense of humor was something she had obviously picked up from Harry.
"I'm a lot tougher than I look!" Harry cried indignantly. He inwardly grinned at how true that statement was, he was A LOT tougher than he looked. But the grin was followed by a sharp spike of guilt. The guilt had been plaguing Harry for the last few weeks. Hermione was not aware of the fact that Harry was part vampire, and although Harry was pretty sure that she wouldn't react too badly to the information, he had promised that he wouldn't tell a soul. "Oh yeah, I have something to talk to you about, can we go up to my room?"
Hermione looked at Harry strangely, but nodded, gathering up her scrolls and books, then following Harry up the stairs leading to the boy's dormitories. It was a secret among the third year boy's, but Harry had been given his own private room in Gryffindors tower. The reason was fairly simple, no one but Harry could get to sleep knowing that there was a spitting snake in range of them. It seemed that Neville Longbottom hadn't really minded to much, but the other three boy's had confronted McGonagall the day after they figured out Harry had a lethal snake as a familiar. McGonagall had then talked over the issue with Dumbledore, who decided to give Harry a vacant room in Gryffindors tower.
Harry passed the third year boy's room, and made his way up farther, past the seventh year's room. Harry's room was just below the Head Boy's room at the top of the tower, and was a fairly good size, the traditional four poster against one wall, with a large book case and desk against the other. It also contained a small connecting bathroom, of which Hermione was extremely jealous. Hermione was always complaining about the other girls in her dorm taking up all the time in the bathroom. When she had found that Harry had his own facilities, she had pouted until Harry gave in and allowed her the use of it. The next day she had moved all of her beauty supplies in to his bathroom, leaving Harry overwhelmed with the amount of hair products she owned, knowing that most other girls must have twice that amount. This, of course, led to Hermione using up the half of the bookcase that Harry hadn't used for his own collection. All things considered, Hermione spent as much time in here as she spent in her own room.
This might have seemed strange, but the fact that their was no sexual interest between the two was what made them both comfortable with it. Hermione had told Harry about her secret crushes over the years, and Harry had told Hermione about his old school. The friendship was only strengthened by the fact that they both had so much in common. When Harry had asked, Hermione found she couldn't express why she wasn't interested in him romantically. But Harry had known why, because they had that in common to. Neither was looking for an exact copy of themselves, but a soul to match their own perfectly. Like a missing puzzle piece, it's not the same as the piece it goes with, and that is why it fits so perfectly.
Harry sat down on the bed, and Hermione took a seat next to him, wondering what Harry was about to talk to her about. Whatever it was, she knew that it must have been serious.
Draco looked around the great hall, his eyes anxiously flicking between the third year students that surrounded him. He, Pansy, and Blaise had spent the entire weekend practicing, and now the time had come. It was Monday, and dinner had just ended. Dumbledore had cleared the tables in the great hall with just a flick of his wand. Tall, but sturdy bleachers were now lined up against the side of the expansive room, and students were already fighting over the front row seats. But it was the center of the hall that attracted the most attention. The space now held a huge dueling circle, marked by a silverish line on the floor that Dumbledore himself had drawn. The circle was the limit of the duel, and would supposedly absorb any spell that was fired at it from either side, making the spectators safe, and preventing sabotage by outside forces. Draco found the sabotage idea laughable, knowing that Dumbledore could probably sense an invisible spell blindfolded, and would just as easily hand the person a years worth of detentions. This was the old man's soft spot. He would rather save the possible sabotage from themselves than flush out the person.
The third years who were participating were now in a small room behind the staff table, all chatting excitedly to each other, attempting to hide their anxiety. Draco himself could admit that he was scared. It wasn't the duel itself that he was nervous about, but the fact that he would be dueling in front of the entire school. A Malfoy was expected to not only do well, but to make it look good. Draco had always hated the fact that he was forced to make all of his actions look elegant and meaningful, all because of his last name. Well, not because of his last name, but because his father was counting on him to uphold the Malfoy name, and he loved his father. The man may seem cold in public, but he loved his wife and son, they were his soft spot.
Draco shook off the thought, this was not the time to allow his mind to wonder. He had to do well in this tournament. He had given up the chance of winning, seeing as how Blaise was better than him, but he would have the good grace of making it semi finals, and then losing to a pureblood when he did. He was confident that the only one that could beat him was Blaise. No, not just Blaise. There was also him. Draco's eyes flicked over to the warm, crackling fire in the room, where Harry Potter and Hermione Granger could be found sitting together. It seemed Harry had convinced the mudblood to participate. As Draco watched them, he once again found himself hit by a spark of jealousy. No, not a spark, more like a bolt. Harry was now constantly directing smiles at the obviously nervous Granger. He was telling jokes, making her laugh, trying to cheer her up any way possible. His attempts seemed to be only half working, because although Granger laughed at the jokes, it was a nervous laugh.
On the other hand, Harry was sitting next to Granger with a calming hand on her arm, not seeming nervous at all. This infuriated Draco to no end. It wasn't the fact that Harry wasn't nervous, that just added to his already intimidating presence. No, it was the hand on Granger's arm that made his hands clench in to fists, and his arms shake in anger. What was he doing with Granger? Was he actually hitting on her? And if he was showing interest, why the hell wasn't Granger grabbing the dream boy and snogging him to death? What is WRONG with that girl? This proved Draco's point about mudblood's and stupidity, but it also had a slight calming effect. Perhaps it was just because Granger was so nervous, but she wasn't responding to Harry's advances at all. The big question was why this relieved Draco.
Draco's thoughts were interrupted by a loud, nervous laugh emanating from a Hufflepuff behind him, and cursed himself for losing his focus again. He had to stay focused, he had to, this was not just about living up to the Malfoy name and making his father proud. No, this was about impressing the school, impressing him. Maybe if Draco went far in the tournament than Harry would spare him a second glance, something he hadn't done for Draco since the incident in Diagon Alley. In fact, Harry never spared anyone a second glance. Only Granger, and a couple other Gryffindor's, had ever held Harry's attention long enough to get more than one question out. This only added to Harry's presence, making people feel like they had to earn his attention, like it wouldn't be given freely. If Draco acted this way with most of the Slytherin's, as Harry was doing with most of the Gryffindor's, than it would make him look completely conceded. But with Harry, it seemed like he was justified in making people earn his attention.
Draco shook the thoughts away, cursing himself for a THIRD time. He looked away from Harry, who was now behind Granger and rubbing her shoulders, a worried expression on his face. This was much to distracting. He began playing back some of the duel tactics that he had been working on, keeping them a secret from even Pansy and Blaise. Spell and dodging combinations began scrolling through his mind, running through many possible scenario's. He had not only studied up on the advanced spells he would use, but the counter curses to the lower level hex's that would be used by most other's in his year. If he was hit by something childish like a tickling hex, he could get out the counter curse, and probably surprise his opponent with his quick recovery.
"Quiet Down!" came the stern voice of McGonagall from behind. She had somehow opened the door and come in without Draco noticing. "In order to get through the tournament in a few hours, you must be ready for your match before the match before yours even begins. Here is the order." McGonagall waved her wand, making a list of the first sixteen matches for round one and their order. "Now, when the match before yours commences, you will stand just inside this door. When the match before yours is over, a bell will ring in the room, and you and your opponent will walk out and in to the dueling circle. You will each take a place at one of the two marked starting positions for the duel, and give your bow. The Headmaster will initiate the duel with a loud shot of his wand, and then you may begin. You all know the rules, you may only hit your opponent with disarming spells. Any questions?"
A Hufflepuff raised a hand, and McGonagall gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Why can't we watch the duels?" his asked, sounding utterly confused and lost.
"This is the traditional format of a tournament. If you lose a match and get eliminated, you have the choice of taking a seat in the bleachers instead of returning here. In an official dueling tournament, this would not be aloud, but Dumbledore has aloud this miner exception. Any other questions?" Mcgonagall asked. Upon seeing no raised hands, McGonagall finished. "Excellent. If you are in one of the first three matches, line up by the door. Once the bell rings, the first match will proceed out the door, and the fourth match will line up. Good Luck."
And with that, McGonagall turned around and left Draco's eyes immediately darted to the board. He scanned the matches from top to bottom, and smirked in delight. He couldn't believe his luck. He read back the listing just to be sure. The fifth match down, Malfoy vs. Granger. Now he could finally teach that mudblood who was boss.
Draco had wondered how a full tournament of 36 students would finish in just a few hours, but now the reason was only to clear. Duel's between students were unimaginably quick. The bell in the room wasn't even needed, because the end of each match was signified by a thundering applause from the surrounding audience. The longest duel so far had been only about four minutes by Draco's watch. Draco thought how pitiful this was, judging by the fact that some of his duels with Blaise lasted over fifteen minutes, this was child's play. The fastest match had been the third, Potter vs. Bulstrode. The match had barely lasted a forty five seconds, and ended with the loudest applause yet. The reason why McGonagall had allowed students the choice of returning to the room or joining the audience had now become obvious. Only the best of sports would be able to join their fellow students in the stands after they were defeated. Bulstrode had come back in to the room, headed to an empty corner, and promptly broke down in to badly hidden tears. Harry had followed her in to the room and headed straight for Granger, who was watching Bulstrode with a sympathetic look.
But Draco's match arrived all to fast, and while he was still nervous, he was facing the very person he had been wanting to face for almost two months now. Granger had infuriated him on countless occasions, and now, as he stood lined up by the door, he found the anger overpowering the anxiety. Granger was standing just behind him, and he had wanted to get in an intimidating word with her, but Harry had followed her up, and was smiling confidently at her, talking to her in a hushed whisper. Draco had no idea what the topic of the conversation was, but he had a feeling that it was not the strategic conversation he had just had with Blaise, but was something much deeper. Harry seemed to be transferring some of his infinite confidence to Granger, and it was working. Her look of nervousness was replaced by determination, and she gave Harry a small smile as the applause thundered from the great hall, shortly followed by the shrill ring of the bell.
Draco took a calming breath, and opened the door, stepping out with a look of complete confidence on his face. The students were still whispering in excited tones about the previous match, but turned their attention to Draco as he approached the circle. Each of the four walls of the room held a massive black board just above the top of the bleachers. Each board held an identical tournament tree, with the names of the upcoming first round matches, and the two second round matches that had already been decided. As Draco approached the silverish circle drawn on the ground, he braced himself for whatever would happen when he stepped in. But to his surprise, nothing happened as he crossed the barrier and walked to the blue starting marker on the far side of the circle. He turned once he reached the spot, and saw a slightly nervous looking Granger enter the circle and proceed to the unoccupied blue circle. A silverish flash ran over the shield as Granger crossed in to the circle, seemingly activating the barrier. But as soon as the flash had come, the walls were invisible once again.
Draco watched Granger with narrowed eyes, a full sneer in place on his face as she stood in the blue circle. Draco saw Dumbledore stand from his seat at the staff table to the right. This was it, the duel was about to begin. Draco brought his out his full anger to overcome any nervous feeling he was still having. His chosen tactic ran through his mind once more as he turned every scrap of his focus to the duel.
Draco inclined his head slightly in to what could pass off as a bow, as Granger simultaneously did the same, although somewhat deeper. Both opponents rose, taking a beginning stance with their wands raised. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco watched Dumbledore raise his wand and fire off a small shower of blue sparks with a loud BANG.
"Furnunculus!" Draco cried out, swishing his wand down with a flicking motion. The spell shot out of Draco's wand straight at the opposite blue opening spot.
Granger side stepped the spell to the right before shouting out her starting spell, "Expelliarmus!"
Draco was already moving around the circle, and easily jumped out of the range of Granger's disarming spell. "Confundus!" he rasped out.
Granger dodged again, and used a more advanced spell this time, "Impedimenta!"
Draco used an advanced slashing motion with his wand to block the spell, turning it 90 degree's in to the walls of the circle. He didn't pause to check if the spell was absorbed or not, but instead brought his wand up again and sent a much faster spell at Granger. "Flipendo!"
Granger had been dodging in one direction the entire time, and Draco took advantage of that. He sent his curse slightly to the left of Granger, and as she dodged, it hit home. The force of the spell knocked Granger backwards and she flew out of the circle, slamming down hard on to the unforgiving stone floor. Her back took most of the blow, with her head snapping down after it. The spell Draco had used was technically allowed, but it WAS slightly more dangerous than a confundus charm. He really had no choice, the miner level spells were to slow, he needed something faster.
Applause thundered out loudly from the Slytherin's, but the other houses only gave minimal clapping, giving Draco nasty looks for not only getting in a cheap shot, but also doing it to a girl. Pomfry rushed over to Granger and waved her want to take care of any bruise she had gained from her fall, but let her go fairly quickly, going back to one of the participants who hadn't returned to the back room, evidently because of the extremely long teeth that the student had.
Granger regained her feet, and looked towards the Slytherin's who were all pointing and laughing at her. A red blush of embarrassment rose to her face, and she turned and fled from the hall, unspilt tears glistening in her eyes. Draco gave a bow and a smirk to his fellow Slytherin's, before following Granger to the back room. As he entered the room, Pansy and Blaise were waiting and both gave him an excited pat on the back. Draco instinctively looked towards the fire where Harry had sat, and as soon as he saw Harry, he found the mistake he had made in hurting Granger with an angry passion. Harry Potter was now giving him a second glance, but it was no where near the kind of glance he had wanted.
Harry was sitting by the fire, anxiously waiting for Hermione to return from her duel. He had confidence in Hermione's ability with a wand, but dueling was a different matter. She was great at performing the spells, but this wasn't a classroom where you shot at an unmoving and unattacking target. And when Harry had seen that Draco Malfoy would be her first opponent, he began to worry. Harry had thought Hermione capable of bouncing back if she lost to someone with a good fight. But when it was a Slytherin, it changed things. If she lost to Malfoy, his Slytherin house mates would make sure it hurt far beyond physical pain.
And as the crowd interrupted in to a some what weak cheer, Harry was filled with a nervous feeling far beyond that of when he had dueled Bulstrode earlier. He had barely been nervous at all in his duel, but this, this was Hermione. Sometimes even her house mates embarrassed her with their light taunting about her being a nerd, so what would the Slytherin's do to her? His heart dropped with a painful pang as he watched his best friend burst in to the room, and run over to him. She leaned against the wall by the fire and slid down to sit next to Harry, face red in embarrassment, and silent tears beginning to fall from her eyes.
Harry watched sadly as he reached over and pulled his friend up to him. She returned his hug, holding tightly to him with her face buried in his neck. The silent tears came faster, and soon she was sobbing, her body shaking and convulsing against Harry's. Harry said nothing, running his up and down her back in a calming gesture. She wasn't like Harry in this respect, she didn't think like him. Harry wouldn't see the use of crying over spilt milk, no matter how much milk was spilt, and so he wouldn't. What's the point? But Hermione, she didn't have that much control over her emotions, and she would just need to get it out.
Harry heard the door swing open again, and whipped his head around to face the entering person. Draco Malfoy stepped through the door, and was immediately confronted by every Slytherin in the room. They all swarmed around him and congratulated him, before the group started moving back to the Slytherin corner of the room. Malfoy turned his head, glancing over towards Harry. And in that moment, their eyes locked. Harry turned his face emotionless, but he could almost feel his eyes heating up with a burning intensity. Malfoy must have noticed as well, because he looked utterly shocked, and fear flashed across his face. He quickly broke the eye contact, turning back to the Slytherin's and following them to their corner at a hurried pace.
Harry knew that the boy would not risk another look at him, and so he turned his attention to Hermione. The girl's sobs were still coming, but she was slowly calming down. After another few minutes, the tears were gone, but her head remained on Harry's shoulder, her arms still clinging tightly around his lower chest. Harry could only hold her tighter, looking down with a sad expression. In the past two months, of which Harry had constantly been in Hermione's presence, he had never seen her so shaken.
Draco was more than a little unsettled by Harry's reaction to him embarrassing Granger. He hadn't even thought about what Harry's reaction would be. He was blinded by his anger, focusing on nothing but his revenge on Granger. As he sat with his Slytherin friends, he found himself unable to think about anything but the look that Harry had given him as he walked in. Harry's eyes were just so..menacing. They seemed to actually glow, an eery green light emanating from them. A light formed from the hot emerald fire that was ablaze in his eyes. Harry's face had been emotionless, but his eyes alone had turned the look in to one of the most intimidating looks he had ever known.
The picture of Harry's glare kept flashing through Draco's mind, and no matter how hard he tried to forget about it, the picture seemed to have embedded itself there. The rest of the first round passed in what seemed like only a few minutes, both Blaise and Pansy coming back victorious. Soon, Potter was getting up to his second round match, leaving Granger by the fire for only a couple minutes before he won and returned.
Draco's match was directly after Harry's, and he risked one last glance at Harry before he left the room. Harry was sitting down next to Granger again, resting a concerned hand on her arm. That picture was still flashing in his mind as Draco bowed to the Weasel, and began their match.
Draco fired off his first spell, but the Weasel jumped to the side, countering his spell with a weak disarming spell. The Weasel's spell's were weak, but he could dodge. Draco found himself unable to hit him, half because of his agility, and half because that damn image of Harry's glare kept coming back to him. Just as Draco had fire off his sixth spell, Weasel fired another disarming spell before his dodge. The image of Harry's glare was to distracting, and Draco stumbled as he attempted to side step the spell. The disarming spell caught his shoulder, and his wand flew straight out of his hand and on to the floor in front of the Weasel.
The shock showed clearly on Draco's face as a loud applause filled the hall. The Weasel was bowing in all directions, grinning madly and waving to a few Gryffindor's here and there, his head inflating by the second. Draco sullenly walked closer to the red haired boy and picked his wand back up, a scowl on his face. He had the choice between joining his two best friends back in the room, and joining the rest of the Slytherin house. In the end, he was to shamed to see his friends, and he took a seat at the very back of the Slytherin stands where no one could stare at him.
The matches continued, and Draco watched numbly, barely noticing his surroundings until the end of match applause boomed across the hall. He found the shame of his pathetic dueling was bad, but it hadn't fully sunk in yet. He found that there was something even worse at the back of his mind. The way Harry had looked at him. The way Harry completely hated him now, and would never speak to him unless it was to utter a spell.
The only match he watched was Harry's in the third round, where he beat a fairly good Hufflepuff in a five or six minute duel. Harry dueled with an elegant grace that Draco had come to expect of the boy. His dodges were all perfectly calculated, and his spell's and wand motions were all the model of perfect magic execution. The way he dueled seemed beyond elegant, almost like a dance. He seemed to be able to predict each spell his opponent was going to fire off before it even happened. Surprisingly, he used a lot of basic disarming spells, just like the Weasel and Granger had. Harry ended up beating the Hufflepuff with a full body bind, hitting him with the counter curse as soon as the end of match bell had rung out. Harry's face maintained his emotionless gaze, just as he maintained his elegance through out the entire duel. But his actions, like the counter curse and nod of recognition he gave after the duel, were just more things that demanded respect for the boy.
Time wore on, and it was just a half hour before the tournament reached it's time limit. But it seemed that Dumbledore had been correct in his planning, because it was now the semi-finals. Blaise faced Pansy in a furious battle, ending after ten minutes with Blaise hitting Pansy with a confundus curse, and then finishing her with a bind. Harry came up next, and bowed to Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff who had some how got lucky enough to never face a Slytherin, but instead beat the Gryffindors who had faced him last round. This duel lasted about the same length as Harry's last one, ending with Harry disarming Finch-Fletchley and catching the Hufflepuff's wand in his free hand.
Harry gave the boy his wand back, giving him a slight nod, and returned to his starting position, not getting a rest before the finals. Even thought the boy had been dodging spells all night, Draco had never seem him give any sigh of tiring. In fact, Harry seemed the exact opposite of tired. He was his elegant, powerful, and attractive self. No change occurring in his breathing pattern, and not a bead of sweat on him. Blaise stepped in to the circle, a look of grim determination on his face as he sneered at Harry and took the opposite starting point.
The crowd watched in complete silence, all focusing on the pair, but mostly on Harry. Draco himself found that he was completely entranced with Harry as the two boy's bowed to each other. And as they rose from their bow's, he saw Harry turn his head, and locked eyes with Draco. Draco flinched at the glance, knowing that Harry was looking straight in to his eyes, despite his distance. And what scared Draco the most was that he saw the same blazing green fire that had been there after his match with Granger, that same deadly glare. He did it so imperceptibly that no one but him saw, but the glance was all to obvious to Draco.
Harry quickly snapped his eyes back to his opponent as Dumbledore stood. Both boy's assumed a beginning stance, Blaise's looking forced, and Harry's looking naturally elegant. Before Draco could even comprehend what was happening, blue sparks shot out of Dumbledore's wand with a loud bang, and with the crowd completely silent, the duel began.
"Impedimenta!" Blaise shouted loudly, brandishing his wand and simultaneous running along the edge of circle to his right, a move that most people could not pull off very easily.
But Harry did not attack when the bang went off, and made no move to do so. He stood, rooted to his spot, looking completely relaxed and focused. As Blaise cast his spell, aiming directly at the boy with a practiced accuracy, Harry suddenly jumped in to motion. Almost as if on instinct, Harry brought his wand down in a quick and precise slashing motion, uttering an incantation in a low whisper. "Protego."
Blaise had no time to react as his spell came flying back at him, even faster than when he had cast it. He picked up his pace and jumped to the side, his redirected spell just missing him over his left shoulder.
But Harry had not stopped at the advanced blocking charm. Almost as if it were in the same motion as his shield charm, Harry flicked his wand back up again. Without any noticeable incantation, a powerful red spell shot out of the tip of Harry's wand at a startling speed, faster than any other spell Draco had seen in the tournament. Blaise's reflected spell had barely passed over his left shoulder when he was hit hard by the strong red spell, square in the chest. Blaise's eyes rolled back in his head as he slumped over and out of consciousness, the impact of the spell sliding him back a few feet in the process. Blaise's wand rolled out of his dead, unmoving hand. He showed no sign of life at all apart from the slow rise and fall of his chest as he lay motionless in an awkward, unnatural position at the edge of the dueling circle. The duel had lasted less than ten seconds, the shortest one yet.
The students were all shocked in to silence for a few seconds, before they suddenly burst in to applause, many standing up and screaming out with the others. This time, Harry did not revive his opponent, but instead calmly walked out of the dueling circle, and back towards the room where Granger was probably waiting for him. Harry never once lost his calm and elegant exterior, his face remaining emotionless, the fire in his eyes cooling as he left the hall. The applause stopped as Harry left the room, and was replaced by excited conversation.
Draco was to astonished to think as he watched the school medi-witch bustle out and revive Blaise, who seemed a little disoriented as she helped him up. Dumbledore stood and spoke out, telling every student to head back towards their dormitories, as it was almost curfew. The excited talk continued outside the great hall as the students emptied out, the houses splitting up into smaller groups and heading towards their own common room's.
Draco numbly followed the inhabitants of his house, straying behind the others with a lost look on his face. All he could think about was the jade fire that had been burning in Harry's eyes both times he looked at Draco that night.
A/N: Ok, I know that the whole duel tournament thing is kinda cliche, but it was necessary for the plot, so I hope it wasn't to bad. This was the longest chapter yet, simply because I hate to leave off on cliff hangers. I hate it when authors just stop when they reach about the right word amount for the chapter, it's really annoying :( It's also annoying when the author has huge note at the end just so the chap looks bigger, so I'm gonna leave off here. Thanks for the reviews guys, hope you liked this chapter.