Everyone is watching the lake. Rather a boring competition, really.
Dumbledore's voice boomed over the loudspeaker, "The Beauxbatons champion Miss Delacour has unfortunately been forced to retire. She will take no further part in this task."
Draco preferred Lee Jordan's narration. Much more colorful.
"Harry Potter is attempting to rescue both Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The mermaids are attacking him, and Krum has arrived to rescue Granger."
Potter surfaced, and the weasel woke up gasping and sputtering, looking like a fool. Malfoy was hoping the both of them would drown.
Diggory and Cho Chang surface next, and Draco cheers half-heartedly. He really only showed up in the hopes that Potter would fail. He considered leaving then, but Krum hadn't come up yet…
"Viktor Krum has suffered a harsh injury. Let's hope he can recover," Dumbledore announced. Draco felt a bit nervous. Potter dove back into the water.
The crowd sat there for a while, and nothing much happened. From Dumbledore's announcing, it seemed Krum had pissed off the mermaids somehow. The water looked a bit bloody. Draco chewed on his lip.
"Maybe the mudblood will die down there," Crabb laughed, jabbing Draco in the ribs. Draco scowled at him. He really needed smarter friends.
Time ticked on.
Potter broke the surface, gasping for air. Granger wasn't with him. Apparently, his gillyweed had worn off.
"Krum can't get Hermione free! The mermaids are attacking her!" Harry cried, "Dumbledore, you must let her up!"
"That's not how it works Harry, the task goes on unless he forfeits," Dumbledore explained.
"But he's barely conscious!" Harry protested, "she didn't sign up for this! Please!"
Before Draco could question himself, he was diving into the lake.
He cast a bubble-head charm, apparently a spell Potter had forgotten about. He saw Hermione's broken chain, but the mermaids were holding her underwater. Their sharp nails and fins had cut her all over, and torn her clothes.
Krum was fighting weakly, and the mermaids were laughing at him. Draco wordlessly cast a wordless confundo, causing Krum's eyes to widen in shock. Not many wizards their age could do wordless spells, and honestly Draco had only mastered a few. Krum took the opportunity to grab Hermione, and begin swimming upwards. The mermaids recovered, and raced after them, but Malfoy grabbed onto Krum and Granger and cast a spell to propel them upwards.
The moment they broke the surface, Granger regained consciousness, gasping and shaking. Draco didn't pause to see if she was okay, he quickly got out of the lake and made his way back to the castle without looking back.
Hermione looked to Krum in confusion, and he merely shrugged. The dirty lake water was stinging her cuts, and she supposed she would have to wait to get an explanation later. For now, she just allowed Krum to swim her back towards land. She felt warmer as his arms morphed from rubbery shark arms back into strong, comforting ones.
Hermione remembered just before she took the drug that would keep her unconscious but alive underwater, how Dumbledore had told her she was Viktor's 'treasure'. She had been briefly distracted from ranting about the barbaric nature of this stupid dangerous competition.
He had saved her, and though she made sure to tell him afterwards that she was not the sort of girl that needed saving, it still made her feel like the sort of girl a boy might want to dance with. She kissed Viktor that night when he walked her back to her room, but as she was falling asleep she found herself unable to focus on thoughts about Viktor. Instead, she wondered about why Malfoy had jumped into the lake to help Krum, and the way his hair looked in his face when it was wet, instead of slicked back.