THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

Some days had passed. All of the students that wanted to participate in the tournament, had already placed their names inside the goblet. Those who couldn't but wanted to participate, decided not to risk anything, considering Fred and George accident with the ageing potion. It was night at Hogwarts, and the students were gathered in the Great Hall. It was the moment to decide who would end up participating. Only one member of each school would be chosen. Alex was sitting on a bench, next to Draco and other Slytherins and Durmstrang students. Fred walked closer, and sat next to her. He gained the looks of some Slytherins, and of course, he gained Draco's anger stare.

- Hello there, mates. – he smiled at everyone around him, including Draco. He looked away, annoyed by the Weasley. Alex slightly laughed.

- Sit down please. And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection! – Dumbledore moved his hand around the room, making the lights smaller and darkening the room.

- Spooky. – Fred whispered at Alex with a funny voice. She laughed quietly. Dumbledore approached the blue flame and it glowed red. A name came out. Everyone looked anxiously.

- The Durmstrang champion is…Viktor Krum! - people started cheering for him. He got up and headed to the champion's room. Another name came out. – The champion of Beauxbatons is…Fleur Delacour! – once again, everyone cheered and applauded. Fleur headed to the room, as well. One more name. – The Hogwarts champion…Cedric Diggory. – the hall roared and cheered louder than before. Cedric followed Viktor and Fleur.

- I've heard he's an amazing wizard for his age… - Alex said.

- I'm sure he's not as good as you, Black. – Fred gave her a pat on the arm, playful. Alex could feel Draco tensing up next to her.

- Excellent! We now have our three champions! But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory. The tri-wizard cup! – Dumbledore pointed at the front of the room, showing the cup. It was shinny and beautiful. Suddenly, the Goblet glowed red once more and another name flew out.

- That's not supposed to happen… - Draco said. Alex nodded, intrigued. Dumbledore took the paper and read the name.

- Harry Potter…

- Oh, c'mon… - Alex facepalmed herself. Fred looked confused.

- Saint Potter… - Draco said with amusement.

- Harry Potter! – Dumbledore screamed his name. Harry got up, nervous, and walked towards Dumbledore as people screamed at him, with anger. He disappeared inside the champion's room.

- Why is it always him? – Alex asked to the air.

- He's a cheater. – Draco said with anger next to her. – I only wonder how he was able to cheat the goblet.

- Harry wouldn't do that…would he? – Alex was confused.

- Doesn't matter. He's been chosen. Now he'll have to play. – Fred said to them.

A couple days passed by. Harry was definitely chosen to participate in the Triwizard tournament, and that had gained him a lot of enemies. Even Ron had stopped talking to him, believing that he had cheated and not told him. Ron was hurt, but truth be told, did anyone really thought that Harry would be that stupid to participate in a deadly tournament? Alex didn't think so, neither did Neville. So, when they saw that Harry was alone, they invited him to joined them. They were near the lake. Alex was reading a letter from Remus, as Harry read the book that Moody had given Neville and he was partially inside the lake, taking some algae.

"Dear Alex. I heard about the World Cup. I'm glad you're fine. What you told me is indeed worrying. I don't want to throw any accusations, but, back in the day, there were rumours about the Malfoys being servants of you-know-who. If one of the Death-Eaters saw you and Draco and told you to get out of there instead of hurting you…Well, it would make sense if that man was Lucius. I want you to be as careful as possible. Don't go to the Malfoy's manor this Christmas. The longer you're away from that house, the safer you'll be, I'm sure of that. I also heard about Harry getting into the Triwizard tournament. Ask him to be cautious. We don't know what may had happen, but it's probably not good. Take care of each other. Sirius sends you a hug. Love you."

Alex thought about Remus's words. Maybe that was the reason why she found that voice familiar. Could it have being Lucius? She wouldn't be surprised if he was one of Voldemort's followers, but it was disturbing. She looked at Harry, who looked pretty focused on the book.

- Amazing. – Neville was contemplating something.

- Remus says hi. He wants you to be cautious with all of the tournament thing.

- Sirius said hi, as well. I kind of saw him last night. – Alex looked confused. – Some kind of spell. His face was on the fireplace. It was pretty disturbing. – they both laughed.

- Amazing. – Neville repeated himself.

- Neville! You're doing it again! – Harry said to the poor boy.

- Oh, right, sorry.

- Magical water plants of the highland Lochs? – Harry read one of the chapters.

- Moody gave it to me. That day we had tea. – Neville said. Then he looked behind Alex and Harry. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were walking towards them. Ron whispered something at Hermione. It was a funny situation, really.

- Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid was looking for you.

- Is that right? Well…what? – Harry was as confused as everyone else, but Alex found it amusing.

- Uhhh… – Hermione walked back to Ron for more whispering. - Dean was told by Parvati that…Please don't ask me to say it again. Hagrid's looking for you.

- Well, you can tell Ronald… – Harry started.

- I'm NOT an owl! – Hermione shouted, and then turned around and left followed by Ginny and Ron.

- She's not an owl, but she gives you Ron's messages. Interesting. – Alex laughed.

- What do you mean? – Harry looked at Alex with curiosity.

- I have a theory…Those two like each other. But they're way too stubborn to admit it.

- Ron and Hermione? – Harry looked the way where they had disappeared.

- Time will prove me right, you'll see.

- I'm going to Hagrid's. See you later.

- Bye, Harry! - both Neville and Alex said.

By nightfall, Alex headed back to the Slytherin common room. There were some students around, but she was looking for one. She saw Draco sitting on an armchair, next to one of the big windows, reading a book. She went towards him and sat down on one of the arms of the armchair.

- Hey, stranger. - Draco looked up from his book, smiling.

- Oh, c'mon. We had breakfast this morning together! - she smiled. - What are you reading? - she grabbed the book from his hands. It was a grimoire. – Light lecture, isn't it?

- It's interesting. – Draco grabbed the book back. – How was your day?

- I was at the lake with Neville and Harry. – Draco rolled his eyes. – And uncle Remus wrote me.

- That's great! How is he?

- I told him about the day at the Wizarding cup…He told me about some rumours back in the day…

- What rumours?

- About your dad… - Draco looked at her with a serious face. – Apparently there were some rumours about him being one of… "his" followers…

- Do you mean…?

- Yeah…

- That's non sense! Father wouldn't do that…

- You've never heard him…

- Of course not! – Draco was starting to tense up.

- Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up… - Alex started getting up when Draco grabbed her hand.

- Stay. It's fine, just…Let's not talk about my father or about what happened that day, okay? Just about us. Please? – he had some puppy eyes. Alex smiled softly at him and sat back down, this time on his lap.

- Let's read that grimoire of yours. – Draco smiled and opened the book, allowing her to read it as well.

She laid her head on top of his. He smelt great. She thought about her feelings. About Fred and Draco. About their feelings. If Neville was right, Fred had feelings for her. And she had feelings for him, too. But, were those feelings for Fred stronger than her feelings for Draco? She wasn't so sure about that. Draco was…he was everything for her. Her best friend, her family…She couldn't imagine a life without him. But, did he feel the same way? He cared about her, and he treated her right, better than anyone else, but maybe it was because he saw like a sister and not like something else. For now, she would have to keep her feelings to herself.