Above, Draco Malfoy paced on top of the Astronomy tower. There needed to be something he could do. This wasn't enough, not the course that he could see. He... wasn't... going to let himself be 'The New Ron Weasley'. That... would just be pathetic.
With thin pursed lips, Draco Malfoy remembered the 'Golden Triad', Granger with her wild hair and incessant nagging, Ron with his gap-toothed smile, and Harry Potter, somehow always inbetween.
He laid back, bracing his back against the wall, and thought, and thought some more. Perhaps... perhaps if he helped Potter (better start calling him Curt, they were friends, after all). Potter himself, no matter what faith others showed in him, didn't truly seem like he was capable of... that. Some help from any quarter was certainly in order, Draco thought.
And, that was another thing - why was everyone putting so much faith in a thirteen year old? That was beyond implausible, wasn't it? Draco would have to figure out why...
The Hufflepuff common room wasn't nearly as airy as the Gryffindor one. This had something to do with the lack of windows. Still, when everyone was laughing about the latest prank on Cedric (he was one of the Twins' favorite targets, as he rarely struck back, but when he did it was with vim and vigor). His black hair was currently Hufflepuffian gold, and he was talking about how everyone had promptly deemed him King of Hufflepuff, a title that lasted through several classes (as his partners addressed him thusly looking for answers). Apparently the only person to be even a little irate was Snape, and his trademark wit, which had resulted in a five minute long interrogation at the start of class, and had ended with "Royalty will not save you from detention, Sir Cedric of Diggory." (Apparently he had managed to miss an answer on a seventh year potion that had recently been struck from the Potions List. Snape had no mercy, everyone knew that, so no one thought anything of his rampant cruelty).
[a bit of an interstitial chapter. Up next, Draco Malfoy finds Potter (because, as of this, Potter's been banned from finding Malfoy.) Hijinks ensue.]