Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Harry Potter, I am just a humble fan
Nick and Viktor were about to leave the castle to return to the ship before dinner, when Draco came in. He looked mildly scared of Nick as he came up to the two elder boys, but hid it with loud, pompous talking.
"Nick, there you are. Father asked me to let you know he will be here tomorrow just before lunchtime, so he would like to see you. Your parents might come with him." Nick simply nodded, silently.
Draco's eyes flickered uneasily to Krum's who stared unblinkingly back at him. He gulped. "Er, yes, that was all. Bye!" He turned around, beginning to talk loudly to his cronies.
Nick was lost in thought. Great. Family time. He rolled his eyes. They probably felt obliged to come to see me just because Uncle Lucius is coming, otherwise I bet they wouldn't have bothered.
Then another thought occurred to him and he smiled. Good, I need to ask their permission before I ask to see Dumbledore any way about...
His thoughts were interrupted when he caught onto Draco's obnoxiously loud conversation with his friend "...you should have seen Jeff's face.."
One of his dim-looking friends interrupted him, "Jeff? Why was he in your class?" The boy looked confused. Draco looked impatient with the questioner, "Delivering a note, any way it doesn't matter, just shut up Goyle!
As I was saying, he got cornered by Professor Trelawney - she just grabbed his hand in the middle of class and gave him a love reading!" He laughed hysterically.
"She said his 'one true love' or something sappy like that would arrive on a ship at the end of October, but she must've got it wrong because I didn't see any girls on it! She probably knew Durmstrang has a ship and just made it up. She's such a fake."
The younger Hogwarts boys broke out into laughter as they stood in the hall, allowing Nick to slip away from his cousin, Viktor following.
Viktor whispered to Nick as they left the castle. "Do you think he's talking about the same Jeff? And what was all that about our ship?"
Nick shrugged. "I have no idea."
Back in Hufflepuff house, Jeff, Cedric, Thad and Trent were drying off and dressing after showering. Once Thad and Trent had left the room, Cedric took the opportunity to ask Jeff about the Durmstrang boy.
"So what's with you and Viktor Krum's friend? He wasn't rude to you in the hall before was he?" Jeff's gaze locked with his. He shook his head. "No, he, uh, didn't say anything to me actually." Jeff sighed, running his hands through his hair as he styled it in the mirror.
"I'd never seen him before the Durmstrang entrance." Jeff's memory flashed back to that moment. "Cedric, have you ever seen a girl and not been able to take your eyes off her? Like, you don't even know them but all you want is to be near them all the time?"
Cedric smiled ruefully. "Yes, actually. Cho Chang. I've had a crush on her for a while but never had the guts to do anything about it." He admitted with a sigh.
Jeff nodded understandingly. "Well, that's what happened when I saw Nick." Jeff blushed, ducking his head. "I couldn't take my eyes off him and then he stood right in front of me. When I looked up, he was staring at me too.
I stood up, really close to him but we still just kept looking at each other." Jeff smiled softly at the memory. "But then Krum asked if I was his cousin, Malfoy, and I panicked. I thought he might be homophobic if he was a relation of Draco, rather than... interested in...me." Jeff shook his head.
Cedric patted him on the back. "Well that explains it. I thought he'd said something homophobic." Cedric thought everything over with this new information, before saying "You know, I think you may be right about him. I think he's into you."
"Uh, there's something else too..." Jeff looked embarrassed. Cedric nodded for him to continue. He told Cedric about Professor Trelawney's prediction.
Cedric's eyebrows shot up at this. "Well, she's often wrong so I'd take it with a pinch of salt, but that is quite a coincidence, particularly if he does like you. Maybe you should just try to find some time to talk to him. Failing that, we can always challenge them to a quidditch friendly."
Jeff was grateful that Cedric didn't think he was going mad. "Thanks Cedric, I think I just needed to talk to someone about it. You're right though, I should try to find some time to talk to him on our own."
Cedric continued. "You know, when I heard about the Triwizard Tournament I did some research about it. Part of it is a dance called the Yule Ball,where 4th year students and above can attend and bring any date they choose, even if they are younger. The Champions lead the dancing. I'm going to ask Cho to go with me. Perhaps you should ask Nick?" He finished, cheekily.
Jeff slapped him on the arm playfully. "Yeah, I don't think so. I don't know for sure he's gay, so I'm definitely not going to ask him to a dance in front of Durmstrang pupils or teachers, I might get him chucked out of his school!"
"Well, he comes from England presumably, so then he could come to Hogwarts!" Cedric winked and ducked away from a laughing Jeff, running out of the room before he could slap his arm again.
Jeff finished getting dressed for dinner as he tried to think of ways to get to know this stranger without indirectly implying he was gay by asking him out, in case he was straight after all.
He couldn't think of a single thing. Frustrated, he gave up and joined the other Hufflepuff boys, exiting the tunnels and heading for the welcome dinner.
Jeff and Nick were both disappointed to find that dinner was quite a formal affair and all students had to sit sorted by school, then by house. This meant Jeff was seated quite far away from Nick, but that didn't stop them stealing many glances and shy smiles at every opportunity.
During the feast to welcome the new arrivals, Dumbledore introduced the other Tournament judges, Bartemius Crouch Sr and Ludo Bagman, to the assembled students. These were in addition to Headmasters Dumbledore and Karkaroff and Headmistress Maxime. After explaining the rules of the Tournament, he unveiled both the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Cup.
Dumbledore explained that students would have until the start of the Halloween Feast the following day to enter their names.
In agreement with the new rules regarding underage students entering the Tournament, Dumbledore drew an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire, much to the dismay of those 6th year students who had not yet reached their 17th birthday, Fred and George Weasley among them.
Jeff couldn't sleep. He wasn't sure what he had dreamed of all night, but he did remember swirling brown colours which reminded him of a certain Durmstrang boy's eyes. At 5 am he gave up trying and got up to shower. The quidditch match was due to start at 10 am any way, so it was probably nervous energy disrupting his sleep. Well, that's what Jeff tried to tell himself.
After showering, Jeff headed out of the tunnels and went straight to enter his name in the Goblet of Fire. It was quite quiet in the castle, unsurprisingly really as it was still very early. He headed into the Great Hall for breakfast, where he was surprised to see quite a lot of visiting students already there. Maybe they all eat earlier than us usually or time differences might be messing up their body clocks.
He didn't particularly want to sit at the Hufflepuff table with a few students from younger years that he didn't really know, so he was grateful to notice someone waving to get his attention.
His eyes widened in surprise but he waved back and headed over to sit with Nick and Viktor. He smirked at a few questioning glances from some younger Slytherins on the table nearest to the Durmstrang contingent.
Both Nick and Viktor nodded politely and Jeff sat across from Nick. "Hey." Jeff said shyly, looking at the captivating boy. Nick nodded and smiled and both he and Viktor said "Good morning."
Viktor smirked at the pair staring at each other and decided to help the conversation along. "So, are you ready for the match?" He asked Jeff.
Jeff tore his gaze from Nick as he answered, while helping himself to some of the food on offer. "Yes, I just want it to start already, you know?"
Viktor nodded. "Yes, I am the same on a match day. It will come soon enough. Have you put your name in the Goblet yet?" He enquired.
Jeff nodded and Nick felt a strange wave of worry hit him at the thought of Jeff being picked as Champion for Hogwarts. Man, I've got it bad!
"Yes, I turned 17 in September and my friend Cedric too in October, so we're both entering. There's not many of our year old enough, though, so the rest will probably be from the year above. What about you two?" He was quite glad of this sneaky way to find out how old Nick was.
Viktor nodded. "Yes, I am 18. I've already put my name in."
Jeff turned to Nick and waited. "Yes, I was 17 in September too. I've entered." He smiled at Jeff and the staring started again. Viktor was relieved to see Cedric come over to join them, breaking the moment.
Viktor and Cedric chatted about the match and what the Ravenclaw team was like until it was time for them to go to prepare. Nick and Viktor promised to come to support them and the Hufflepuff boys left, not before Cedric and Viktor had shared an amused glance about their respective lovesick friends.
Each of them had come to the same conclusion; Yeah, he's definitely gay.
The Hufflepuff team were pumped up and raring to go. They were currently waiting at the edge of the stadium as the Ravenclaw players flew around to pose and accept applause after they had just been introduced. The roar of noise inside the stadium set Jeff's veins alive with adrenalin. Finally it was time and the Hufflepuff team marched in, waving, before mounting their brooms and kicking off to fly around, waving at their supporters.
Jeff was pleased to see Nick and Viktor standing to welcome his team, and he saw Nick even had a Hufflepuff scarf to wave. He saluted them both, before getting into starting position as Cedric went down to stand with Madam Hooch and Wes, Ravenclaw's Seeker, to decide who would start.
The balls and golden snitch were let loose and the game began, Ravenclaw having won the toss. Both teams flew into action and the commentator started describing the play.
Near the end of the match Nick and Viktor were glued to the action on the pitch. It had been a riveting, fast paced game from the outset and the scores were very close with minutes to go, Ravenclaw leading by only 3 points. The lead had changed countless times over the past 85 minutes as the teams were very well matched by skill.
Nick was very impressed with all the players, but he would be lying if he didn't admit he was mainly watching Jeff. The tall boy had surprising grace and fluidity as he flew, turned, dived and rolled with ease.
The way his hair ruffled in the wind, echoing his canary-yellow and black quidditch robes flapping behind him was a beautiful sight and Nick's heart thudded as he watched, willing him on.
Suddenly a loud gasp went up from the spectators, as Jeff hurled another quaffle through the hoop past the Ravenclaw keeper. Just as the loud announcement of the score came up, with Hufflepuff a single point in the lead, Nick watched aghast as Jeff turned and time seemed to slow down.
Nick shook his head, helpless as the beater who had flown close behind Jeff with his stick still in his outstretched hand collided hard with Jeff, knocking the wind right out of him.
Time sped back up as both boys started to lose height, overbalancing with shock and pain, until they managed to right themselves finally, rejoining their teams, both hunched over their brooms for the final minutes. Nick yelled to Viktor next to him. "He's hurt, they should send him off!"
Viktor nodded, but yelled back, "It's nearly full time, let him get the applause he deserves at the end of the match. You would do the same." Nick reluctantly agreed, focussing on Jeff whose face was white with concealed pain, hands gripping tight to his broom, jaw clenched.
Another loud roar went up, as Cedric caught the snitch and the Hufflepuff fans went wild. Their victory felt two-fold because they were ahead by points and had caught the snitch. Even through the fog of pain, Jeff was able to smile happily as Nick and Viktor stood and clapped along with the crowd.
Jeff and David, the Ravenclaw beater he had collided with, were sat in the hospital wing waiting for Madam Pomfrey to finish fixing them up. David had three broken fingers, a swollen wrist and a sprained shoulder, but Jeff had two broken ribs and quite severe bruising.
Neither boy blamed the other as they were friends who both knew that the sport of quidditch could get quite rough sometimes and these things just happened.
After Madam Pomfrey sent David away, Jeff was instructed to rest after drinking some disgusting skelegro potion. He shut his eyes and tried to think of something nice to dream about.
Unsurprisingly, his mind kept returning to the entrance of the Durmstrang boys and a certain pair of warm brown eyes as he drifted off to sleep.
Immediately after the match, to his annoyance, Nick had been summoned to the castle to meet with his family, who had arrived earlier than expected. At least I can get this over and done with now, he thought. I was hoping to see if Jeff was okay first, though.
Once he reached the castle, he located and entered the room where his family were waiting and greeted them as warmly as he could manage. A man with flowing, long brown hair in the same style as his Uncle Lucius stood proudly in the room, clutching a cane. He looked ready to leave already, constantly staring at the clock on the mantlepiece. He was dressed from head to toe in his customary dark colours; black, deep purple and deep green. Nick's father.
His mother matched him perfectly like a pair of evil figurines, except she was sat in a chair by the fire. At least she stood when Nick entered, the only one of his parents to acknowledge his entrance.
He stood up straight, to attention, in front of his father.
"Father." He nodded politely. "Nicholas." Reciprocal nod.
He turned slightly to face his mother. "Mother." He kissed his mother's cheek quickly, thinking how cold it felt. Her bony hands squeezed his shoulders briefly and a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes briefly graced her face. "Nicholas, dear. It's good to see you." Is it? Nick couldn't help thinking.
He turned again, with a slightly warmer greeting out of instilled manners. "Uncle Lucius. It's nice to see you, sir." The white blond haired man nodded, smiling, or maybe smirking, Nick couldn't really tell the difference, in return.
He turned back to his parents, breathing in deeply before beginning.
"Father, mother, I need to ask your permission about something. I wish to change schools as of the next school year. I wish to live and work in England after that year, so I believe it would be advantageous to be at Hogwarts during my seventh year of school while I research career choices. I would also be able to school Draco in some further defence of the dark arts training."
Uncle Lucius chimed in. "Never mind defence, teach him how to practice them and you have our permission." Lucius Malfoy as the elder sibling could always bend his brother's will, he didn't see any point in hiding it.
Not until hell freezes over, Nick thought, but nodded tightly. I don't have to teach him anything this year, it's not exactly a lie if I teach him a single spell when he is older and hopefully wiser, he thought slyly. He nodded as if to agree.
"I took the liberty of drafting a parchment for you to sign to this effect for me to show both Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Karkaroff. Then you won't need to be bothered any further on the matter." He aimed this comment pointedly at his father, who immediately signed it. Not five minutes later, Nick was alone again as his family had taken their leave.
If they were any kind of decent human beings I would be upset, but they are not. Nick thought bitterly. At least he signed it.
Nick asked a Hogwarts student to show him to Dumbledore's office. He didnt expect him to be there or available at a moments notice, but he was lucky enough to find the headmaster at his door, just about to enter.
"Lemon Sherbert!" Dumbledore said and the door began to open, just as he noticed Nick standing there. "Ah, Mr Malfoy. I wondered if you would come to see me while you were here. Do come in."
Feeling slightly stunned, Nick followed Dumbledore into his office and sat when indicated. "Thank you for seeing me at such short notice, Professor." Nick began. "Uh, if I may, could you please call me Mr Duval, not Mr Malfoy? I prefer not to use my real surname unless on legal documents. As soon as I am able I will change it legally to Duval."
Dumbledore simply nodded. "I see. As you wish, Mr Duval. Now, what can I help you with?"
"I wanted to apply to come to Hogwarts School from next year. I chose Durmstrang because it was far away from the reach of the Malfoy name, but this Tournament means I am here any way. I turn 18 within a month of the start of my seventh year, so I can be independent of my family legally then."
"I understand Mr Duval, although while I sympathise with your reasoning, I am unable to accept applications without parental consent."
Nick smiled and passed the parchment to Dumbledore, who read the contents, before he nodded. "Well, in that case, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr Duval!" He shook Nick's hand.
"There is just one other matter that needs attending to. We usually have a sorting ceremony for the entire first year in the Great Hall, but for one 7th year application I think we can make an exception."
Nick looked puzzled as Dumbledore reached high up to a shelf, bringing down a worn and dusty looking hat. He was even more puzzled when it was placed on his head and it began to talk to him, seemingly inside his mind.
"Hmmmm...let me see...
A proud Slytherin you would make,
for a worthy cause, a life you would take,
but valour, over power, you crave more,
better be...Gryffindor!"
The hat shouted the last word for Dumbledore to hear. He placed the hat back on its shelf and turned to face Nick. "Curious. You are the first in the Malfoy bloodline not to be placed in the Slytherin house."
Nick looked worried. "Please Professor, can we keep this from my parents and Headmaster Karkaroff? I don't want anything to stop my application, and I know they won't approve of Gryffindor as a house for me." He pleaded.
"I agree and I have no obligation to inform them seeing as I already have written consent of your application. I would, however, like to inform the head of Gryffindor, Minerva McGonagall, so she is aware of a transfer."
Nick nodded.
"I have a feeling your presence here may help your young cousin. Maybe not any time soon, unfortunately, but do not dismiss him if he turns to you for advice. I do not think he is a lost cause."
Nick was sceptical, but nodded his agreement. Once he had left the Professor's office he was finally free to do what he had wanted to since the end of the match. Find Jeff and see if he was alright.
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