The fire in the Goblet had just turned red for a fourth, an impossible fourth, time. A long flame shot into the air, lifting a smoking piece of parchment with it. With a dazed, almost automatic, gesture Dumbledore caught and opened it. He spoke only two words. One name in all.

Harry

Potter

And then chaos of the most restrained sort.

The silence was so profound Draco wondered if he dare breathe. Everyone in the hall, from Severus Snape right down to the smallest Hufflepuff first year, seemed to be under the same impression; staring about and trying to remember to blink in the right places. But all in all the look on Potter's face was the worst.

He looked like someone had just dumped a bucket of icy water over his head while stabbing him in the back. There were times, and this was one of them, that Draco felt sorry for the other boy. After all, he was always in the limelight and, from what Draco knew of his past, he had no training in how to handle that. Of course, it was all his own fault, this time at least. Why would he put his name in the Goblet if he didn't want to be Champion?

"Harry Potter." The same name, this time spoken in command. "Harry. Up here please."

The Gryffindor, moving as if he were dead and just hadn't figured it out yet, walked….limped….moved to stand shakily before the Headmaster.

"Well…through the door, Harry." It was spoken kindly, but not happily.

As the door thudded shut behind the Boy-Who-Lived Alex cackled.

Really. She did. There was no other word for it. It was too evil to be a laugh and too loud to be a chuckle. Draco looked over at her in disbelief and she just grinned.

"Completely unrepentant," he muttered.

"What her?" Blaise nodded at Alex. "Of course she is."

"But..." Draco said pitifully, glancing up at her and widening his eyes sadly, "but that's all the money I have! How am I to feed my mother if you take it all from me? We have only a small apartment over a bath house, and all that dirty mist...HEY!" he ducked as Alex, Blaise and even his own cronies proceeded to pelt him with their broccoli. "You don't understand!" Oh he was a Malfoy. He couldn't resist playing it up to a crowd. "She's ill...the-the...lung...sickness...I can't afford a medi-witch and she's sure to die in terrible agony if I do not steal from a rich and powerful Lord who will surely kill me if he catches me...How can you be so heartless!"

The three boys let loose with pained groans as Alex muttered, "Shut up. Just shut up." into her hands.

"Why should I do that? The vegetable population in my vicinity has gone up considerably thanks to my little-"

"Are you planning on paying me, Draco?" Alex cut him off, not wanting another…little act.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Do you really think I keep one hundred galleons on me?"

"I do." She answered instantly, "and I'd keep twice that on me if I was in danger of having to pay off a bet."

Blaise laughed. "So he's not as perfect as you…who is?"

"Did you honestly think I expected Potter to somehow trick the cup into naming him the forth Champion? I have your money, Alex, just not on me. I'll pay up later."

"Fine." Alex grinned. "You do know what this means don't you, Draco Malfoy?"

"Means?" he glanced warily at the smile she was offering, it wasn't entirely pleasant.

"We're both of Pure-blood…" Alex said, trying to give him a hint. "You owe me a debt I've called in…"

"Oh no," Greg muttered and Blaise groaned.

"You're not gonna make him do it, Alex!"

"How can I affect the outcome here Blaise? It's not something I have control over you know. If he can't pay the debt when I asked for it-"

"Damn…" Draco groaned, cutting her off, "Debt of Honor?"

"You got it."

"You're going to make me pay through the nose for this one aren't you?"

Alex grinned evilly but then her expression soften a little. "I should, I really should, after what you pulled last night you bloody lech…I don't know though. I don't want you around me that much so you'll probably get off easier than you deserve."

"I…" Draco wrinkled his nose. "I think I'm both relieved and insulted."

"Sure you are."

"Don't you find it even slightly amazing that one of the most powerful witches in our year, having placed a great deal of money on the outcome, surprisingly gets to watch as a young boy who, for all his fame, isn't all that bright, succeed where even the genius of the Terrible Twins has failed?" Blaise pontificated solemnly.

Alex looked over at him in surprise. "You're saying you think I put Potter's name in the Goblet?"

"You do have the know how to beat something like an age-line." Draco put in, looking thoughtful.

Instead of growing insulted Alex just smiled, pleased. "That's quite the compliment. I thank you for it but, unfortunately," and she did indeed look sad at the thought, "I did not cross the Line. Nor did I show Potter how to."

"Of course, Alex." Greg said agreeably. "we believe you."

"You jerks," she shot back lazily. "There's a simple way to prove my innocence."

Draco dabbed his mouth to cover a faux-bored yawn. "Which is?"

"Meet me back in Common Room boys. This'll only take a minute." She stood abruptly and headed off.

"There. Plain and simple. I approached the line on two occasions but never crossed it." The glittering silver ink that scrawled across the long roll of parchment appeared several times on it's length, but only twice with her name. Once at the very top of the list of names and once at the very bottom.

"Gold means they crossed it. So I know who succeeded and those who only tried. Look for yourself."

Obligingly the four boys leaned over the table, reading.

"Well, there's all the Frenchies." Blaise pointed at a long section of gold. "I'm not even going to try and pronounce some of those."

"Try these," Greg suggested, gesturing to the equally long gold that spelled out the Durmstrang entries.

"Thank you, but no."

"This is interesting." Draco said suddenly.

"What is?" Alex leaned in so close to the page her breath ruffled it.

"You have all of the Professors patrolling," Draco pointed out each name, "Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Snape again, Flitwick," he snorted, "and Trelawny…but Moody's name doesn't show up on here once. You'd think him being the paranoid type he'd camp out near the thing to guard it."

"You're right. Strange."

"Here's what's even weirder." Vince said it seriously, drawing all eyes to him, "Harry Potter's name isn't even on here."

"What!" several voices asked together.

"I checked. He never even approaches the Goblet."

"Merlin." Blaise muttered. "I guess someone really did put his name in for him."

Alex's gaze viciously swept the parchment.

"Who would've done it?" Draco asked, "Or could he have cast a spell to convince the Line he was someone else? Someone older?"

"No…I mean, he could have, and it might have tricked the Line if he'd done it right, but not this list. It writes down the True Name of the person. That's why mine says Alexandria Bellmonte. That is who I think of myself as, not Alexandria etc etc etc more-middle-names etc Bellmonte."

Greg nodded. "Ludo Bagman I can see doing it, he seems to have something of a soft spot for Boy Wonder, but his name isn't on here either."

"Who else then?" Draco mused. "All of the other adults are too much sticklers for the rules to help him pull this off…"

"The other official, umm…" Blaise trailed a finger down the list, "Barty Crouch. He's on here twice. He doesn't look like the type to patrol though. In fact he didn't sleep over at the castle did he?"

"Yeah he did. He left by Floo from the Great Hall late after the feast but he was back within the hour."

"My question still stands." Draco frowned over the names. "Who else then?"

"Hmm-"

"Enough." Alex sighed and stood back up.

"What?" Blaise looked at her like she'd lost it.

She shrugged. "It's good to have the information, but it isn't our problem."

"Weeeell…"

"We have our own problems to worry about."

"She's right." Something dark flashed across Draco's face as he spoke. "We only have until next Saturday."

Blaise pulled himself up and briskly rolled up the list. Handing it back to Alex he said soberly, "Don't lose that. We might need it."

"Agreed. Now, back to the business at hand. Did anyone come up with anything particularly strange in your ward research today?"

Vince raised a hand. "I did."

A/N: There you go. Now we've covered all the necessary-but-still-somewhat-boring GoF stuff. Next chapter, to be Posted on Monday as usual, will kick off the amazing adventures of Draco, Alex and Moody's house.

Tania, Pansy, Vince, Greg, Wormtail, Voldie and Snape all show up to make things interesting...but not all at once.

The next three or four chapters will be dedicated to this little sub-plot but I'll try not to drag it out too badly.

See ya Monday.

Oh yeah, I will explain Debt of Honor a little more later...once I finish making it up myself. :grin: