Thank you for all the reviews :)

Aiyanna Clearwater - I thought about those things, too. I actually wrote how Dumbledore gives Draco detention and docks points originally, but when I read over it again it just seemed really out of character for him. In the books, Harry literally trashed his office and he didn't do anything about it.

"By all means continue destroying my possessions," said Dumbledore serenely. "I daresay I have too many."

And even when Draco tries to kill him at the end of HBP, Dumbledore doesn't threaten Draco. He just talks to him and is understanding. I don't remember Dumbledore ever docking points or giving detention. So I deleted that part and just wrote how Dumbledore is angry and disapproves. It does make Draco feel bad but he has done what he did out of good reasons (protecting others) and he has been influenced by the Horcrux and had been suffering from smoke inhalation, so I think we need to cut him some slack. And Draco is right when he's thinking that Dumbledore can't throw him out of school. Draco is his key to win the war, so he wouldn't want to lose him. And more than that, if he threw him out he wouldn't be protected from the Death Eaters and then Voldi would know about the time travel, about Harry winning, about Snape's allegiance, about the destruction of his Horcruxes, and with that knowledge, Voldemort would most certainly win the war.

Regarding Draco forbidding his friends from joining him in the Room of Requirement... You are, of course, right, but Draco couldn't have anticipated things getting that out of hand and he probably thought he would have things under control. He didn't, of course, and having so many people with him made it of course easier for Crabbe and Goyle to follow them. Besides Draco's motivation for doing things, it would be a bit boring to have Draco act perfectly rational all the time and I don't think it is realistic.

I'm glad you like my story and I always love to hear what my readers think :)

As always, read, enjoy and review :)

OooOOOooo

Time passed quickly. Juggling researching and studying with Neville, spending time with his friends and working on his Occlumency kept Draco quite busy. He tried to spend time with Crabbe and Goyle as well, which was a bit difficult, seeing that they were still not too happy about Theo being a part of their group after everything that had happened at the World Cup, but somehow Draco managed. His Occlumency with lessons with Dumbledore were going rather well. He was working on fake memories that were easily accessible to a Legilimens. The plan was to eventually build layer upon layer of memories, so less important and fake memories were easy to find and more important ones harder. At first a Legilimens would not find anything suspicious. Upon further investigation, an attacking Legilimens would then, after a lot of work, find some compromising fake memories, that still wouldn't lead to any problems. These memories showed him as a time traveler, but they showed that he had reached nothing during his time in the past and that he didn't know anything important about the future. There were layers upon layers and even an accomplished Legilimens would have trouble getting to the truly important ones. But to reach that level, Draco would still need hours of training with Dumbledore.

Draco could often see Harry talking to Slughorn. He didn't know, though, if he had had any success in acquiring the memory.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was going great. Snape had apparently decided to skip everything that could not directly be used in the upcoming war. He didn't teach magical creatures, but decided to focus on healing, defensive and offensive magic and his lessons were closer to dueling sessions than normal lessons, which most students quite liked.

When Draco arrived in the entrance hall sometime in October after a particularly nasty Care of Magical Creatures class - well, they were all nasty since the only thing they were doing was working with Blast-Ended Skrewts - he found himself unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Draco pushed through the crowd to get a good look at the sign.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early — Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.

The crowd was excited and chattered away. Draco tried to get out of there to get to the Great Hall, but was stopped by a hand on each of his shoulders.

"Look who we have here," said a voice which must have belonged to one of the hands.

"If it isn't our favorite Slytherin - not that that's particularly hard - and honorary brother."

Draco turned around to come face to face with the Weasely twins.

"Hey guys. What are you two up to? I don't have to watch what I'm eating again, do I? I don't want to be turned into a ferret or anything."

"A ferret," one of them mused, scratching his chin and eyes twinkling, "now that's an idea."

Draco's face paled considerably.

"Just kidding," said the other twin, but they looked at each other conspiratorially.

"Ehm, right. You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet? Thought any more about trying to enter?"

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said one of them bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."

Draco chuckled.

"But I'm sure we'll find a way," said the other, sounding hopeful.

"You'll try and get in, won't you, Draco?" continued the other.

"Uhm, I haven't thought about it." His knowledge of the tasks would definitely help him ace them. And perhaps he would even be able to step over the Age Line. But he didn't particularly care to end up on a silver platter right in front of the Dark Lord.

The twins looked at him, their mouths wide open.

"Haven't thought about it?"

"This is only the most exciting-"

"-most spectacular-"

"-most amazing thing that has ever happened in this school."

"Right," said Draco, faintly amused. "Otherwise life at Hogwarts really is rather dull."

"Mark my words, Fred and George Weasley will enter their names. We can help you too, if you'd like."

"I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said a new voice. "We just haven't learned enough."

"Speak for yourself, Hermione," said one of the twins shortly.

Draco was surprised at how cold the twins were to her.

"Better watch out, Draco," one of them said.

"She'll try to get you to join S.P.E.W." continued the other, wrinkling his nose.

"S.P.E.W.? Never heard of it," said Draco.

"Of course you haven't. She invented it. Has been bothering every Gryffindor who can't hide fast enough."

Hermione glared at the twins, then turned towards Draco, putting a badge into his hands that read S.P.E.W. "It means "Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare". You know, house-elves get a very raw deal! It's slavery, that's what it is!" she explained. "Did you know that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?"

Draco shrugged. He didn't really care about that. His sheets had always been changed by house elves and he didn't think his mother even knew how to cook. "How many members do you have?" he asked, amused.

"Two, if you join her," laughed one of the twins.

"Fred! That's not true," huffed Hermione indignantly. "A few people have joined already."

"To stop you from pestering them."

"That's not true," she huffed.

"My dear Mione," said the other twin, "no one cares. And have you ever been to the kitchen?"

"Well… no," she answered carefully, sensing a trap. "Of course not. I hardly think students are supposed to-"

"Well, we have," said the other twin, indicating his brother, "loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world!"

Before Hermione could come up with a retort, Draco slowly backed up and got away from their conversation.

The following days, the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Filch was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.

The school was cleaned and decorated. The banners of the four houses and the Hogwarts banner hang wherever one looked. Classes were tough. No one paid any attention during lessons, being much more interested in the arrival of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and the teachers were tense, too.

When the bell rang early on Friday, everyone hurried back to their dorms, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Straighten your hat, Mr. Goyle" Professor Snape instructed, examining his students one last time. "Now follow me, please," he said. "First years in front . . . no pushing. . . ."

"I am so excited," said Pansy, standing right next to Draco. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it," said Draco.

Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers —"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year Gryffindor, pointing over to somewhere over the forest.

Draco watched in amusement how his classmates nearly flipped out at the sight of the gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them. It was pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. The students from Beauxbaton had arrived.

It wasn't long before a loud and oddly eerie noise announced the arrival of Durmstrang. Seconds later a gigantic ship emerged from the lake.

The students were mesmerized. Draco had been too, when he first saw the arrival of the two other schools. But having spent a whole year with them already, Draco now found it more interesting to watch his friends' reactions to the arrival. They were all standing there, mouths wide open, staring.

Their reaction was even funnier when, at the Feast, Draco waved the Durmstrang students over and invited them to sit with them.

"I can't believe it," gushed Theodore, "it's Viktor Krum. Sir," he said, turning to Krum, who was sitting next to Draco and opposite of Theo, "it is an honor to meet you." He shook his hand.

Krum looked a bit annoyed by the attention he was getting. "It is fine. Call me Viktor, please."

Pansy and Daphne and literally the whole table were fawning over their star.

"I'm sorry, Victor," laughed Draco, "my friends aren't usually like this. I am Draco, by the way."

"I am used to it," said the world class Quidditch player, shrugging his shoulders. "Nice to meet you, Draco."

"And who are you?" asked Draco the other two Durmstrang students sitting close to Viktor Krum. Most other Durmstrang students were sitting with the older Slytherins. Draco had never bothered to befriend anyone but Krum originally, and that hadn't worked either.

One of them, a girl with blond hair and big blue eyes, almost jumped out of her seat. Apparently, it was unusual to be spoken to if sitting next to a Quidditch legend.

"Johanna Erikson," she said, smiling shyly.

"And I'm Serge," said the other Durmstrang student. He looked at Draco and his friends, who now introduced themselves as well.

"So, how's Durmstrang? My father thought about sending me there, but in the end, obviously, decided against it."

"It is okay, yah. Not as nice as Hogwarts," answered Johanna.

"Vell, ve have a castle also," said Krum, "not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking. Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these — though in vinter we have very little day-light, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains…"

"I wish we could fly every day, too," sighed Theo. "If you aren't on the Quidditch team, you hardly get to fly at all around here."

"We have more daylight here, I think," said Draco, "but it probably rains more than in Norway."

They talked some more and Draco found out that Serge was from Russia and Johanna from Sweden.

When Crouch and Bagman arrived at the head table and sat next to Karkaroff and Madame Maxim, Dumbledore began his speech, first introducing their guests, then explaining the further proceedings.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore announced calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Draco looked over to Neville. 24 hours. They had to be on the watch 24 hours to keep Cedric from entering his name. That couldn't be too hard now, could it?

The twins' eyes gleamed and Draco knew they would use an aging potion to try and fool the Age Line. How foolish they were to believe they could outsmart Albus Dumbledore.

When everyone went back to their dormitories, or ships or carriages, Draco grabbed Neville.

"What are we going to do?" he whispered.

Neville shrugged his shoulders. "Do you know when Cedric puts his name into the cup?"

"No," Draco answered.

"So, I guess we'll just have to stand guard for the whole 24 hours?" Neville said.

Draco sighed. "I guess so."

"But what do we do when he gets here? I doubt we'll be able to talk him out of it. And we can't wrestle him down or anything."

"Good question," pondered Draco. "I guess we could stun him and lock him into an empty classroom for 24 hours… but it is a bit extreme, even for the greater good."

"Draco!" Neville gave him a look of bewilderment.

"Just thinking out loud," laughed Draco.

They sat down at an empty table and watched the hall clear out.

"What if one of us needs to go to the infirmary? He is a prefect, he'd need to take care of that," suggested Neville after a while.

Draco groaned. "Another night in the infirmary? They should form a fifth house for people like me, who practically live there."

"Stop whining. I didn't want to hex you anyways. You'll hex me," offered Neville.

Draco considered this for a while. He wasn't happy with the solution, but couldn't think of a better one either. "Alright. But you need to make sure he stays with you in the Hospital Wing so long he has to postpone putting his name in. And I don't want to get detention or anything."

"We could do it in the hallway in front of the Hufflepuff common room. Then you could go to sleep and I could tell him I didn't see who did it."

"Neville, you are a genius."

They watched a few people put their names into the cup, then made their way to the right-hand side corridor near the kitchens, where the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room was.

"Please don't use anything too painful," said Neville, now slightly panicked.

"Don't worry, I have just the perfect spell for this."

They waited for a couple of minutes, but eventually they heard Cedric Diggory talking to someone else, coming closer to where they were.

"Good luck, Neville," whispered Draco, "and I'm really sorry for this. Densaugeo!"

Neville's front teeth were now growing at an alarming speed. Neville looked like an overgrown beaver. Draco would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.

Draco had to hide, so he ran towards the portrait of a gigantic silver fruit bowl and tickled the pear. It turned into a large green door handle. The Weasley twins weren't the only ones who knew how to get into the kitchens.

He could hear Cedric saying "Oh my, what happened to you?" before the door behind him closed again.

Once in the kitchen, Draco was surprised to find out he wasn't alone. Besides a huge number of house elves, there were also Fred, George and Lee Jordan, huddled around a cauldron.

"What the-?" Draco gasped.

"Draco!" yelled one of the twins, "how nice of you to join us. Have you changed your mind about entering the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Ehm… no? I'm just here… because I got hungry," Draco stammered, grabbing an apple out of a fruit bowl and biting into it. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Brewing an aging potion, of course," answered the other twin, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, pouring some of it in a vial and putting a stopper in it. "The effects are only temporary, so we'll take it tomorrow morning, right before we'll enter our names."

Lee looked at Draco warily, but then said, "We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins."

"Genius," said Draco, amused.

"You want to try it, too?" asked one of the twins. "There is enough for all of us."

Draco wanted to decline, but then changed his mind. "Sure, why not."

TBC

A lot longer and very different from what I had originally planned, but I like it. Draco and Neville were able to stop Cedric from putting his name into the cup for now, but he will sure try again the next day, so they'll have to come up with a new plan.

As always, I am happy to hear what you think :)