the minister, herself ─ d. malfoy

it was nothing - 6

"YEAH!! Go Cedric!!" The entire crowd roared as his small piece of paper flew from his hand into the goblet of fire, that blazed brighter with blue fire as he dropped it in. All of Hogwarts sat in the Great Hall, including people from the other schools as well, to see people of age vying for a chance at competing in the competition. Before him, the ever-famous quidditch player dropped his in, causing a small number of people to clap, including an almost crying Ron who waved his hands all about when seeing his idol. As Cedric walked by, Ron excitedly waved at him but frowned when he didn't return this greeting. I'd say Cedric didn't see it, but he looked to be enjoying the spotlight. I supposed I was staring as I thought because he winked at me before walking out of the room. "Eternal glory. Be brilliant, wouldn't it? Three years from now, when we're old enough to be chosen." I could see that Ron clearly felt overshadowed by his siblings. As a middle child, he had to achieve impossible standards to be seen and, for him, acknowledgment was the best prize of all. "Yeah, rather you than me," Harry replied. See, Harry had the opposite issue. He didn't want to be seen. But, what would I do with this information? I was trying to formulate some type of way to help Ron when they came and sat next to me. Ron waved, basically whispering "Hi, Y/n." And Harry did the same but a bit louder. But, I was lost in thought at that moment. So, what came out wasn't exactly what I was trying to say. "Hi Barry, hello Ron!" I went back to thinking for a bit when I realized that Harry was looking at me confused. "Oh, I'm so sorry Harry. I don't know why that came out." He shrugged with a smile, saying it was all good. And Ron's smile grew wider than the London bridge. I mean, I didn't exactly mean to do that, but it seemed like it worked better than anything I could've come up with. So, I made a mental promise to myself to always be extra kind to Ron and show him that he was important.

Just then, his twin brothers came roaring in, starting the cheers again from all sides. They ran past him without saying hello and people pushed past trying to see his brothers, almost knocking him to the ground. He shied away from as they reached us. "Cooked it up just this morning!" I rolled my eyes and shook my head with a smile and Hermione, who seemed to give her opinion a little too often, said in a sing-song voice "it's not going to work!" The twin smiled, learning around her head, "and why is that?" She beamed, probably happy that someone wanted to know her opinion. "You see, that, is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself," They smirked and high-fived each other behind her back. "So?" Fred was confused and Hermione made her of course I'm right smile that Harry's told me about. "So... a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as pathetically dimwitted as an Aging Potion". He rolled his eyes, "But that's why it's so brilliant." George finished his thought, "because it's so pathetically dim-witted!" There was a boy next to them that added something.

He had dark skin, and a bright smile. I felt like I had seen him before, maybe with them. "Hey," he walked up to me, putting his arm around me, while still looking at his friends. "I wanna know when you guys met this attractive woman?" The twins laughed, walking up to me too, "Y/n, this is our best friend Lee," they said interchangeably. Lee looked shyly at George with a laugh as he patted my head like a dog. "Hi Lee, it's nice to meet you." He smiled brightly, saying "I could certainly say the same," with a dramatic, large bow. "Well then, let's go change our lives for the better!" They cheered in agreement and popped the cap off a bottle, swigging it. Everyone watched as they jogged up to the Goblet, through the line and put their names in. For a moment, all were silent; it was peaceful, like being awake late at night when everyone was asleep. The flames rose and fell, as they usually did when someone put their name in. Then, the boys ran out the same as they entered, nothing wrong. Everybody rejoiced, laughing and cheering with glee. That is, until Fred's cheeks began to look a little crinkly and soggy, like when you accidentally drop your bread in water. And Lee's hair slowly gained grey highlights, a stark contrast to his dark brown hair. Not to forget George's back curling up, a beard tickling his jawline. Within minutes, they went from teenagers, to grandparents. They all screamed laughing at each other, before realizing they all looked the same. Then, their happy faces full of joy and laughter, changed to faces of shock, and the fake tears came. The started fighting each other, too. Lee screamed, exclaiming, "We're- we're....we're ugly!" Fred shoved him, trying to smooth down his white hair, "Speak for yourself. I'm fine at all ages." He winked at me, and every girl in my vicinity fawned over him, even though he looked to be about 80. 

George, however, was more of a realist, his head swiveling, searching for someone known to be at least slightly decent in Potions. "Y/n!" I turned to face him, waking over to the boys on the floor. "You're, you're good at potions, right?! Fix us!" I nodded and waved them to come with me, locking arms with the twins, Lee attempting to hide his old, ugly face with my clothes. As I left the room, I felt someone staring at me; as I turned around, I noticed it was not only one boy, but two. Cormac McLaggen, the creep, and a Durmstrang guy that was sitting with Viktor. He was black, lightskin, with freckles lining his cheeks and his nose. His eyes were a honey brown, with a fleck of gold in the center. He smiled warmly at me, and I returned the favor, my face turning a deeper shade. He was cute. But, not cuter than Malfoy. 

--

"I'm going to dinner, love, are you coming?"My face flushed a deep share of red at this word. I loved it when Draco would call me cute names such as this, and only wished that he would more often. I had just finished a potion for the twins and Lee that had taken 6 hours to make. I had set it down on the table in front of them, finally. They had sat there for all six hours waiting, biting their nails, pacing, playing with their fingers, and, finally, coming up with new pranks they'd do during the year, after asking for my help with them, of course. "Here. I'm done." Fred held it up against the light, peering into the red liquid. After a second, he shrugged, downing the whole thing. I stood there, nervous, hoping that I had done it correctly. And, sure enough, he changed back to normal. He cheered, looking at the mirrored wall in Myrtle's bathroom. "Yes! I'm sexy again!" I giggled, shaking my head. "Eh, you're alright. I prefer Harry Potter," Myrtle said, giggling, as she came out of a stall. "No hate, but go away Myrtle. You're quite annoying." She made a face, and started weeping again, muttering on about Slytherins as she returned to the toilet. After George took his potion, he gave me a pointed look. "What?" I looked between my friends, and then back to the stall she had floated too. "She is annoying! She's dead anyway, it's not like I'm hurting her mental health. She's nosy." Fred nodded in agreement, and Lee whisper-yelled, 'Preach!" as he grabbed me, pulling me into a hug. "Thank you, my savior! I'm back!" He gave me a kiss on the cheek, and stood up, looking in the mirror and fixing his appearance. "Ladies, be prepared. Your man is coming!" He ran out of the room, causing Fred to also kiss me, and then run after him, while winking at me, yelling, "Hang out with us sometime." I laughed, and went to pack up the ingredients, with the help of George Weasley. "Thanks, George." He smiled wide, shrugging, "It-it's fine. Do you, do you maybe, wanna hang out with us?" Most of his sentence came out in a whisper, but I heard all of it. "Yeah, of course. I like you guys." We both stood up, and I fixed his hair quickly. I stood on the tip of my feet, leaning in, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. His face flushed, and he looked down, a hand brushing through the hair closer to his neck. "Thank you for staying with me. " He shrugged, whispering, "No problem."  I couldn't miss the smile on his face as I walked out of the room, nor the yelling of the boys when they heard that I kissed George, and 'not them,' which, 'wasn't fair.'

I looked back up at the boy, Draco, and shook my head. "No. I'm really tired and I need to sleep....I've also eaten a big ass bag of candy in the past hour and I'm so full I could hurl it back up." His nose crinkled at this confession and he shook his head, laughing slightly. "But this is when we figure out who the victors or competitors are, or whatever." I shrugged, getting up to go lay in my bed. "I honestly could not care. That contest is stupid, and I don't see why anyone would do it. I'm just pissed my first year has to be the one without Quidditch." He chuckled again, opening his arms, and wrapping them around me. With his arms around my shoulders, and mine on his waist, I let my head rest on his chest. "Goodnight, Draco." He squeezed me even harder, if possible. "Goodnight, love." I looked up at him, "Love?" I asked quizzically. "I'm sorry, if you don't want me to, I can-" I put my finger against his soft lips, shutting them for a second. As I pulled my finger away, I felt the need to replace it with my lips. "Call me that more often, Draco." My head started moving for me, without instruction from my mind, getting closer and closer to him, my Draco. His head moved the same, getting closer until- "I'm skinny and starving, where's dinner!" I laughed lightly at what my best friend had said and leaned back from Draco. He rolled his eyes, pushing his hands in his pockets. "Shit, I didn't realize you guys were...I'm sorry," Blaise said. Draco shrugged, walking backwards from me. "It's fine, it was nothing," he responded with a smile. So, it didn't mean anything to him. I turned, walking away from my friends, my face cold. They yelled my name in the background, but my mind was numb, and I couldn't hear them. All I could hear was a replay of Draco's words in my mind, again and again.

"It was nothing."