LITTLE MISS MUDBLOOD – ACT 2 : SCENE 1 : CHAPTER 68
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The next morning, breakfast was considerably better, seeing as Y/N finally received a letter back from Mrs. Malfoy, and because Y/N was on good terms with Harry once more. The only thing, however, was that Ron was ignoring their whole group of friends, seemingly having strayed. Y/N was panicking on the inside, but she hoped that with the first task he realized that neither her nor Harry put their names in the goblet.
Earlier, Ares (Draco's eagle owl) had soared in, contrasting greatly against the other owls fluttering toward Y/N's table. He flapped his great wings towards her and landed on her shoulder, holding out his leg, which held a small envelope and a large parcel.
Stroking the owl's feathers lovingly, Y/N opened the envelope and read the letter.
Y/N dearest,
I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself, and you probably know that too, but I ask that you please keep your friends close — you'll need them, because this is something you cannot go through alone. I've done a bit of research on the Tournament, thanks to your Grandmother letting me peek through your library for a bit (sorry about that), and of course, the challenges change every Tournament. And while I know cheating is very much frowned upon, as I've tried teaching Draco on several occasions, I suggest you find out as much as you can about the first task as possible. Don't worry about the second or third right now, because they don't matter if you get killed on your very first task — though, I have everlasting faith that you'll succeed, if you're the Y/N that I've gotten to know over the summer.
You're only allowed your wand, from what I've read, so I've sent you a few books on advanced hexes, jinx, charms, whatever I thought you'd need. A book on potions too, to take your mind off the task (as fretting too much can cause a panic attack, my dear, and that would be absolutely horrible). Lucius suggested I send you one of our peacocks for moral support, but I told him that you have enough to worry about as it is, and that you couldn't take care of another animal. He was not pleased, and tried to send one behind my back. My apologies (though, he did manage to stuff a peacock feather into the parcel, the big git).
It's okay for you to be scared, Y/N. I know everyone else is, because the Triwizard Tournament is not something to be entered so lightly — hence, why I know for a fact that you did not put your name in the goblet. You're a very cautious girl, believe it or not, and you know your limits. Now Harry Potter on the other hand . . . well, he's sort of irrational, but I also believe that he didn't put his name in either. Lucius wanted to bet me that he did, but we wouldn't want him losing all his money, now would we?
I will try my hardest to help you however I can, dearest Y/N. Even if I have to come up all the way to the school and do the tasks for you, I will. Lucius would too, to tell you the absolute truth. I know he's made those rude comments about Muggle-borns and whatnot, but really, he's just a softie deep down. I think you'll be able to change his mind, though, about his prejudice.
On a last note — please write to me if Draco's acting out and being mean. I've told him time and time again to treat you right, and I think it's finally settling in, but I do wish to know if he's being a little bitch like his father once was. Well — you don't have to, because I know fully well that you can and will put him back in his place, but I've been absolutely dying to send a howler to him. Lucius says no, though, because he thinks I'll embarrass his favorite son. Whatever.
All of mine and Lucius' love,
Narcissa Malfoy
"Why in the absolute Merlin do you have my owl?" Draco snapped from behind Y/N, making her turn. She smiled.
"What, you don't like that I'm stealing your pet? You don't like the fact that he likes me better than you?" she taunted, liking how the tables have turned. "Well — too bad, I guess?"
His arms crossed as he glared darkly at her, frowning heavily as Ares dropped the parcel next to her coffee, nuzzling her cheek.
"Now you know how it feels, amore mio, to have someone steal your pet," Y/N said, standing and grinning up at him. His cheeks tinted a light shade of pink as she reached up and toyed with the very visible necklace, pulling him down to her height and staring, teasingly, at his lips. She leaned in to kiss him but turned away, grabbing the parcel and her bag, and walking out of the hall with Daphne, Theodore, Blaise, and Ares.
Over the next fortnight, the daunting weight of the first task loomed over Y/N, and she panicked almost every night, her only solace being the letter from Narcissa Malfoy. Perhaps she read it over too much, for it had become crumpled and almost unreadable, but to Y/N, she felt as if she hadn't read it enough. Even though she could recite the letter almost word-by-word, she still felt the need to draw comfort from it every single night before she went to bed, and hid it in her nightstand drawer so nobody could see how worried about the task she was.
On top of the Triwizard Tournament, Y/N still had to read and sign off on papers for her company, write reply letters to fanmail, and just basically deal with her responsibilities as the Grace heiress. So maybe yes, she wasn't spending as much time with her friends as she wanted, but they, thankfully, understood.
Meanwhile, the Daily Prophet article had been released, and Y/N felt utterly horrible about it. Although Rita Skeeter had glorified her and made her out to be better than she was, she had put a lot of stuff Y/N didn't approve of or even say, and took a deep delve into Y/N's personal life.
Harry equally shared the spotlight in the Daily Prophet with Y/N, and together they took up the front page, and continued on to pages two, six, and seven. She felt really bad, not only because this Tournament had not been turning out like she had wanted (with her 'disappearing' for a while and not being mentioned because of said Tournament) but also because Viktor and Fleur (whose names hadn't even been spelled right) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't even been mentioned at all, the poor Hufflepuff.
"It's fine, Y/N, really," Cedric had said, when Y/N insisted she send a Howler to Skeeter to put him in the article. "And with the way she talks about Harry . . . well, I don't suppose I'd want her to write about me anyways. She seems like she exaggerates on a few things . . ."
Boy, was that the truth. Rita Skeeter had reported on several things that Y/N didn't say, and most of it wasn't even about the Tournament!
I suppose I get most of my support from my fiancé, Draco Malfoy. He's been with me through thick and thin, and he loves me very much, I can tell. Although I may be a Half-blood he doesn't care about that at all, and he even calls me his 'pretty little half-blood princess'! I couldn't ask for a better soon-to-be-husband, honestly . . !
But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming Y/N's abundance of silences into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about her too.
Who knew that Little Miss Y/N could get any perfecter? Her close friend, Malcolm Baddock, says that Y/N was an absolute angel to him when he first arrived at the school, helping him around the castle and assisting him with his homework.
"That little — (Malcolm said something very rude that made Y/N go, "Malcolm!"). I told her that you scared the shi — alright! alright! — crap out of me on my first day here, and that you flick me in the forehead and call me a dumbarse whenever I ask you for help with my homework," he said finally, huffing as he crossed his arms.
"I still help you, don't I?" said Y/N as she continued checking over his essay for Transfiguration. "And really, I'm supposed to be getting ready for my first task, but what am I doing here? Exactly."
Malcolm stuck his tongue out at her.
Draco seemed to be revelling in all of the attention when the article had come out. He told Y/N smugly, on one cosy afternoon, while laying on top of her (against her wishes, of course — he was far too heavy to push off, and she didn't have her wand on her) that several girls had asked him out, and a lot had gone out of their way to buy the perfume she wore, spritzing it all over themselves and following him everywhere he went so he could smell it.
"Honestly, all it does is remind me of you," he chuckled, grabbing her hand and putting it in his hair. It simply laid there and he glared up at her, urging her to scratch his head. She refused, but he had convinced her by threatening to tickle her. "You know what I think I'd smell in Amortentia?"
"What?" Y/N said drowsily, yawning. He had been talking for the past two hours, and it was well past dinner. Her friends would be suspicious.
He stuffed his nose into the dip of her chest, inhaling deeply. Flustered, Y/N watched as his eyes fluttered before he turned his head, staring into the fire.
"Fresh roses . . . spring water . . . and sugar quills," he said, and squeezed her around the waist tightly. "You."
"Draco —"
"Read to me, my love?" he said, and pulled a book from under the couch. Sighing deeply, Y/N took the book from him and read the title ("Pride and Prejudice", a novel Y/N had read several times before) before opening it up to the the first page.
"I never took you as a romantic," Y/N said, resting the book on Draco's shoulder blades, trying to pretend that she wasn't falling deeper and deeper for him with each passing moment. "'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. . . ."
By the time they had gotten to the fifth chapter, their fellow House members had started filing in the common room, gazing curiously at Y/N and Draco, who were the only ones in the room — and the only ones missing from dinner. Nonetheless, Draco urged Y/N to continue and she did, trying not to smile too much as she, once again, read one of her favorite books — if not, her favorite book ever.
A small group had formed around them when Daphne, Theodore, and Blaise came into the common room, all worried-face, looking around — then they saw Y/N and Draco. Daphne and Theodore simultaneously cocked an eyebrow, while Blaise shrugged and came over, shoving a tiny second-year out of an armchair and draping himself across it. Blushing madly, Y/N continued to read, trying not to laugh as Daphne, Theodore, and Blaise all made faces at her.
"Mind if I sneak a picture?" asked a fifth year girl, but before Y/N could protest she snapped a moving picture of the scene, giggling as she ran off.
Oh, Merlin — that'd be in the yearbook, alright.
The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed, and Y/N was panicking, trying to master as many spells as she could without blowing up her wand. Sure, a few of the older students had lent her their textbooks, but she couldn't help but not feel prepared enough, even with all the books she was sent, given, and stolen (thanks to Fred and George Weasley, who had snuck into the Restricted Section of the library). Y/N's head was now filled with a multitude of spells, jinxes, hexes, charms, transfiguration spells and anything and everything that she thought would help her.
She didn't study in the library — Merlin, no, however would she practice? Madam Pince already disliked her from that scene she made in her first year, from being chased by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan . . .
So Professor Snape allowed her to use one of the spare classrooms, giving her a key that she put on her lanyard. Now, she was sitting in a circle of about fifteen open books, sheets of parchment strewn about, quills everywhere, the spell dummies blown up, and the windows open and bringing in a much needed breeze.
Y/N had just blown up another spell dummy when the door creaked open.
"Daphne, Theodore, Blaise, and Hermione, how many times have I told you to not disturb me when I am trying to learn these spells!" Y/N snapped, throwing her wand down and digging her face in her hands.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I'm not any of those people, eh?"
Y/N looked up sharply. There stood Draco Malfoy, leaning against the door frame as he assessed the area, a blank look on his face.
"I guess you'll just have to be added to the list then, eh?" Y/N growled, then remembered what happened the last time she had snapped at him. Argh — who cares! She needed to get ready for the first task! "I need to study, so get out."
"Mm . . . I don't think so," he said, smirking and striding over to stand in front of Y/N, his arms crossed. "Did you forget what today was?"
"Er — the twenty-first of November, nineteen-ninety four?" Y/N said sarcastically, and Draco held out his hands for her to take. Sighing deeply, she slipped her hands into his, and he pulled her up off the floor.
"Hogsmeade, dumbarse," he said, rolling his eyes as he waved his wand, and everything had cleaned itself up into neat piles. "I'm taking you on a date."
"You could ask, you know," Y/N grumbled, picking up her lanyard as Draco levitated all her stuff, and made it follow them as they headed off for the Slytherin dungeons. "That's how dates are supposed to work?"
"I did, and you said no."
"You only asked because I told you I wasn't going to give you any love and affection," said Y/N as they descended the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall. People stared as they passed, but Y/N ignored them. "Not that I would want to, anyway."
"But you were the one who couldn't go two days without me," Draco grinned, slipping his hand into hers. He put on a shrill voice. "'I'm sorry! I shouldn't have yelled at you! I need your help! Help me, Draco! Fuck me, Draco!'"
"I did not say that," Y/N said hotly, blushing madly as he looked down at her. "And I don't sound like that."
"You tell yourself that," he chuckled, and sent a sharp smack to her bum when they had reached the dormitories.
"Fifteen," she simply said, and raced for her room.
Y/N rummaged through her closet, having already thought of an outfit on the way down from the spare classroom. She pulled out a mini forest green dress with flowers and spaghetti straps, and slipped on white heels, scurrying over to her bathroom. With a wave of her wand, half of her hair was pulled back with a ribbon (hopefully Draco wouldn't steal this one), and little makeup was applied neatly, and Y/N spritzed on her second-favorite perfume, grumbling profanities, as many people had taken her favorite. Adjusting her initial necklace, she grabbed a scarf, her lanyard, and coin purse, hurrying down from her dorm with her wand in hand.
"You're going to be cold," said Draco as she joined him. Everyone else had already gone off to Hogsmeade, including Daphne, Theodore, and Blaise.
"I'm not," Y/N argued, stuffing her coin purse into one of his trench coat pockets, seeing as she had none, except for the single wand pocket on the left side of her dress. "Besides — I dress to be cute, not to be warm."
"You're cute either way," he teased, and Y/N rolled her eyes.
"Yeah? And what do you want?"
"Can't I just compliment my fiancée without wanting something?" he said as they showed their ID's to Filch and headed for the horseless carriages.
"Mm, nah," said Y/N, looking up at him in the corner of her eye as they entered a carriage, alone. "So . . . what is it that you want, Draco?"
He smirked.
Y/N stumbled out of the carriage, breathing heavily as she pulled a mirror out of nowhere and fixed up her hair and makeup. Gazing at her neck to the dip of her chest, Y/N glared at Draco through the mirror, watching him proudly step out of the carriage, his hair in a frazzled mess.
"Switch with me," she said sharply, pulling off her scarf. A group of third years passed and she quickly covered up her top-half, turning to Draco as their carriage pulled away.
"Merlin, snogging your enemy's best friend is possibly the most satisfying thing in the world," Draco grinned, pulling off his trench coat and taking the scarf. Y/N hadn't left as many — er — lovebites, if you must, as he had, and she didn't know any good spells to cover them up except 'trench coat put on-er'. Then again, that wasn't even a real spell. It would barely work anyway — hickeys trailed all the way up to Y/N's jawline, and the only way she could think of covering those up was if she let her hair down.
"I don't even know why I agreed to this," said Y/N grumpily as she buttoned the coat up. She pulled her hair out of its half-do and went to put the ribbon in her pocket but Draco was faster — he snatched it from her hand and stuffed it in his jumper pocket.
"'Cause I'm hot and you can't get enough of these lips," he said cockily. Argh! He snogs her once — in the least romantic spot, a carriage! — and now he's getting all arrogant! He wasn't wrong, but still!
They entered the village of Hogsmeade, getting looks from their peers around them as they walked together. Draco's cologne encased Y/N and she slightly smiled, thinking of all of the scents Daphne had described that one time. . .
Sandalwood . . . lavender . . . a hint of leather . . .
As they trudged down the street to Honeydukes, Y/N wondered what her Amortentia might smell like. She quite liked the smell of tart apples and just-picked spearmint . . . ooh, definitely the smell of the earth after a fresh rain . . .
Then it occurred to Y/N.
She would, absolutely, one-hundred percent, smell Draco.
Draco had almost slapped Y/N on several occasions, wherever they went; she claimed she could pay for herself, but apparently he hadn't been having any of that. Instead, he pushed her away from the cash register and paid himself, stalking broodily with his arms laden with all her bags as they strolled down the street once more.
"Draco, I can carry some —"
"No," he said with an air of finality, and Y/N shook her head as they came to a small stop.
"Whatever. Three broomsticks? I'll pay —"
"Y/N," he said warningly, and she had the sudden urge to let him have his way with her. She ignored it.
"Fine — you'll pay, I guess," Y/N grumbled as they headed for the Three Broomsticks pub.
The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people Y/N rarely saw anywhere else. She supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves.
They found a small table next to the window — corner three, table nine — and Y/N hurried up to the bar to buy drinks as Draco was putting down her bags. A moment later she had two steaming tankards of butterbeer, paid for and ready to be drunk. Smiling softly to herself, she squeaked as she turned around, finding Draco glaring predatorily at her from their table.
"I'm not afraid to give you hickeys in places where nobody would be able to find them," he growled lowly as she approached. Her hands shook as she set down the tankards and sat across from him.
"Yeah, after the first task, please," she said, rolling her eyes even though she was — slightly — scared. Then again, Draco was all bark and no bite. Perhaps that's why Goldfish liked him so much. Birds of a feather stick together, after all. "Which is in — mind you — three days, and I still haven't figured out what it is."
"They're not going to tell you —"
Just then, Hagrid discreetly waded over, not looking at Draco as he slipped a folded piece of parchment in front of Y/N and winked, speeding off.
Confused, Y/N took the parchment and unfolded it, reading:
Meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Don't let anybody see you.
"What is it?" Draco asked sharply. Y/N glanced at him, unimpressed, and stuffed the parchment in her pocket.
"It's a note, dumbarse," she said, and let her eyes flick around the room as she drank her butterbeer. She saw Hermione across the pub with Daphne, a considerable space between them. That could only be Harry. . . .
Making eye contact with Hermione, Y/N raised her eyebrows and frowned. Hermione nodded.
So Hagrid told Harry to go to his cabin too . . . could it possibly be about the first task? Well — what else could it be? A cup of tea with just the two of them and nobody else? Doesn't seem like Hagrid.
At half past eleven that evening, Y/N, who had pretended to go up to bed early (claiming she had a lot of studying to do for the next two days), cast the Disillusionment Charm on herself and crept back downstairs through the common room. Quite a few people were still there. Draco, Daphne, Blaise, Theodore, and Pansy were playing poker, and Anthony and his friends had a Muggle game called Monopoly out, Koi sitting faithfully next to Anthony and acting as the banker. Malcolm brooded alone, a book propped up in his lap as he sat on the window sill.
Then his gaze flicked to Y/N. She froze.
Glaring suspiciously at her, he frowned before turning back to his book, waving her off. Taking a deep sigh, she stepped around a group of knitting teenagers before slipping out of the common room, just as a crowd of sixth years shuffled through.
The grounds were very dark. Y/N walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Y/N could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as she knocked on Hagrid's front door.
"Yeh there, Y/N?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.
"Yeah," said Y/N as she revealed herself after stepping into the cabin. Harry was already there, his Invisibility Cloak strewn across his lap. "What's up?"
"Got summat ter show yeh two," said Hagrid.
There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease (thank Merlin), but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair — Y/N could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it (something she had had much experience with before that makeover she had in Tins Alley).
"What're you showing us?" Y/N said warily, sitting across from Harry and petting Goldfish and Fang. She wondered if the skrewts had laid eggs, or if Hagrid had managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a stranger in a pub.
"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yourselves covered with the cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take the dogs, they won' like it. . . ."
"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long," said Harry quickly. "I've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock —"
"For what?" Y/N asked, and Harry told her in a low whisper that Sirius wanted to talk to him via fire. She nodded.
Hagrid apparently hadn't heard and was now opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Harry and Y/N glanced at each other before Harry threw the cloak over the pair of them, bringing back memories. They hurried to follow and found, to their great surprise, that Hagrid was leading them to the Beauxbatons carriage.
"Hagrid, what — ?"
"Shh!" Hagrid cut Harry off, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.
Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.
"Ah, 'Agrid . . . it is time?"
"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.
Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Harry and Y/N, both totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show them Madame Maxime? Y/N could see her any old time she wanted . . . talk to her, even, they were quite good friends because of her visits over the summer. . . .
But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Harry and Y/N, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"
"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y — don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."
"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes. So Fleur would most definitely know if this 'thing' was part of the task, Y/N thought, and she reckoned Madame Maxime would tell Professor Karkaroff, so Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would have a leg up on Hogwarts. If it was part of the task, Harry most definitely tell Cedric, because Harry's all fair and whatever —
And still they walked, both Harry and Y/N getting more and more irritated as they jogged along in their wake, checking their watches every now and then. Although Y/N didn't really have anything going on, she could tell Harry was getting even more annoyed with each passing minute. Really — he looked on the verge of going back to the castle, leaving Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime. But then — when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight — Y/N heard something. Men were shouting up ahead . . . then came a deafening, earsplitting roar. . . .
Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Y/N and Harry hurried up alongside them — for a split second, she thought she was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them — and then her mouth fell open.
Five fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosed fence with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting — torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks.
Y/N stopped breathing, staring, wide-eyed at the five dragons. Oh, Merlin . . . there was only one dragon she ever wanted to deal with, and he was all the way down in the dungeons.