The Lost Potter || Draco Malfoy [BOOK 1]

Chapter 24

On the evening of the first task, there was a party that was thrown in the Gryffindor Common Room to celebrate mine and Harry's victory. Fred and George had stolen food from the kitchens, and Dean Thomas, who was actually a pretty good artist, drew banners of me and Harry flying around the Horntail. There were also a few banners of Cedric with his head in flames, but that wasn't the point.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I lounged around on the couches, helped ourselves to some of the snacks on the tables, and just had a good time together. I hadn't seen Ariel in the Common Room like I'd hoped, so I just figured that she still wasn't talking to me and attempted to move on for the night.

Lee Jordan picked up the egg and juggled it around in his hands. "Blimey, this is heavy." He commented.

"Go on Maya, open it!" Said Fred. "Yeah, let's see what's inside it!" said George.

The rest of the common room started letting out cheers of agreement.

"They're supposed to work out the clue on their own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules..."

"We were supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on our own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione and I could hear him, and we both grinned.

Lee passed the egg to me. I stuck my fingernail into the grove that ran across the egg and pried it open. It was empty, but the sound that came out of it was the worst thing in existence. It was a loud screeching noise, and it was so loud and intense that my ears popped.

"Shut it!" Fred bellowed his hands over his ears.

"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Harry, who was sitting next to me, slammed it shut.
"Sounded like a banshee...maybe you've got to get past one of those next!"

"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing...maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Maya."

George put a hand on my shoulder as I just laughed. "I'd take a dragon over that any day."

I stayed in the common room until around 12 AM when I felt myself begin to get extremely tired. I bid my goodbyes to the Weasley twins, Harry, Ron and Hermione, before going up to my dorm room. The rest of my roommates were all in the common room partying, so my dorm was empty; or so I thought.

With closer inspection, I noticed a body-shaped lump under the blankets on my bed.

"What the hell?" I thought, peeling the covers off of my bed. Ariel was laying in my bed cuddled up to Remi, completely asleep. Then I noticed a note scribbled onto a piece of parchment on my bedside table scribbled out in Ariel's messy handwriting.

Dear Maya,

I couldn't find you after the first task, so I started waiting for you in your dorm room. If you're finding this, I fell asleep in your bed, so I hope you don't mind. Hopefully, you're not still mad at me. The point is, I miss you, and I feel really bad about the things that I said. I could never "disassociate myself" from you because I care about you too much. I get it if you don't forgive me, I was a real jerk. I love you.

~Ariel Snape

"She writes down Snape's last name as her own?" I thought. "When the fuck did that start happening?"

I sighed, looking at the cute sleepy expressions on both Remi and Ariel's faces. I sighed, brushing my thumb over her cheek. Her cheeks were slightly blotchy and there were tear streaks on her face as if she'd cried herself to sleep. I figured that Remi had noticed that she was crying, and snuggled up with her to make her feel better. I felt bad for not coming up to the dorm sooner so that I could comfort her, but at the same time, it was her fault that we weren't talking.