Chapter Seventy: The Clue
Harry had never felt so embarrassed in his life. Not only had he had never danced before, but he had a whole group of people watching his every move and he didn't have a clue what he was doing while he waltzed around the floor with Ginny. Draco and Hermione however, seemed to be doing rather well, but Ron didn't even dance with Padma at all much to her annoyance.
As soon as the first dance was over Harry went to go sit down but Ginny had a lot of fun dancing the night away with everybody else. She, along with the rest of the girls nearly shouted themselves hoarse while The Dragons sang, danced, and performed. Once one of their songs was over Draco walked over to Hermione.
"Can I get you some lemonade?" He asked her.
"Sure." She replied as she smiled over at him, and he smiled back and took her hand and kissed the back of it before leaving the room while Ron narrowed his eyebrows and glared at him as he watched him go. Hermione blushed beet red and spun around excitedly before Ron got to his feet.
"That's it!" He exclaimed before storming over to Hermione.
"Would you knock it off?" He questioned her.
"Knock what off?" She questioned him back.
"You're flirting with the enemy." He told her.
"The enemy?" She inquired in a tone that clearly meant that she was offended. "Since when has Draco been the enemy?" She wondered. "I like him and he likes me." She told him.
"Oh, is that so? Well he sure had a funny way of showing it when he left you alone at the Qudditch World Cup and he only asked you out because Crabbe and Goyle weren't around." He pointed out.
"He was protecting me from getting hurt!" She cried out.
"More like protecting his image if you ask me." He told her.
"Well I didn't!" She yelled out at him.
"Fine! Just don't come crying to me and say I didn't warn you when he winds up breaking your heart." He told her before she looked around and realized that a whole group of people were staring at them.
"Ron you spoiled everything!" She yelled before she ran out of the room in tears feeling so hurt and embarrassed when suddenly Draco returned with the drinks looking extremely confused.
"What did I miss?" He wondered while glancing over at Ron.
"You stay away from her Malfoy you got that?" He questioned him.
"I don't have to do anything that you tell me to do!" He snapped back at him angrily. "I'll hangout with who I want! And just for the record, jealousy isn't a very good color on you Weasley!" He spat before Ron quicky withdrew his wand and the crowd gasped. Draco sat the drinks down on top of a table and withdrew his wand as well.
They started shooting spells at each other that they learned from dueling club a couple of years ago and first Draco would hit Ron and send him flying and then Ron would hit Draco and knock him over. This went on for about ten minutes until Professor McGonagall was eventually summoned and came running into the room.
"That is enough!" She snapped before both boys looked up at her. "Get to your dormitories all of you!" She cried while she looked around at everybody else and then quickly grabbed Ron and Draco by the back of their shirts before they could escape. "As for you two gentlemen, fifty points will be taken from both Gryffindor and Slytherin and you will report to my office immediately!" She told them before guiding them out of the room.
….
The next morning at breakfast Hermione wouldn't speak to Ron and Harry could barely stay awake since he had had another nightmare. This time instead of the muggle, Voldemort was trying to kill him, and he had woken up with a flash of green light in a cold sweat. He could hardly believe that Ron had gotten into a duel with Draco and not only earned him and Draco both detentions, but also cost them fifty more points from Gryffindor.
At this point he didn't think that there was any way that Gryffindor would win the house cup, but he was more currently worried about the golden egg clue and met Hermione and Draco out underneath the covered bridge. "Harry, you told me that you figured out the egg weeks ago." Hermione pointed out.
"I know, but that's only because I didn't want to worry you." He told her while turning over to look at her while Draco remained silent, but a look of concern stayed on his face.
"Well it didn't work because the truth is that I'm scared for you." She told him and that's when suddenly Cedric Diggory walked over to them.
"Hey Harry, can you come over here for a second?" He questioned him before Harry nodded and walked over to him.
"Yeah. Sure. What's up?" He wondered completely unaware that Hermione was now resting her head on top of Draco's shoulder, and he was gently rubbing her back and comforting her while resting his own head against hers.
"Well you know the prefects' bathroom up on the fifth floor?" He whispered inside his ear as Harry silently nodded back at him. "It's not a bad place for a bath. Just take your egg in there and the whole thing will be over." He explained before he turned around and started walking away from him.
"Wait, Cedric,.. why are you telling me this?" Harry asked him.
"You helped me with the first task. It's the least I could do in return. Besides, you said it yourself,.. we're a team." He told him before walking away from him.
…
Later on that day Harry found Hermione in the library as usual. "So, did you find out the clue?" Hermione asked him as he sat down at the table across from her and she looked up from her book.
"Yep, there are merpeople in the black lake and I have to go look for something. Moaning Myrtle was in a playful mood, but she helped me riddle it out after I put the egg underneath the water and they sang this poem." He explained to her.
"Really? How did it go?" She wondered.
"It went come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground,.. an hour long you'll have to look, to discover what we took." He told her.
"Sounds obvious but potentially problematic." She told him.
"Potentially problematic? When's the last time you held your breath underwater for an hour Hermione?" He wondered before they both heard Neville clearing his throat and turned their heads to see him standing there before them.
"Mind if I make a suggestion?"
