Aphry
"This is rubbish," Draco said, pacing back and forth along the couches in the common room after dinner. "How did Potter get his name in the Goblet? Could he just not bear the thought of being out of the limelight for two seconds?" The other Slytherins around murmured in agreement.
"How would he have crossed the age line? We saw first-hand what happened to those who used an ageing potion!" I asked, not as mad as Draco, but just as curious.
"Someone older had to do it. Maybe Dumbledore helped him!" Pansy said.
Draco stopped and scoffed, placing his hands on his hips as he stared past us through the windows that looked into the black lake. "That would make so much sense," he said. I looked over at Pansy, who was beaming with pride at the praise.
"Honestly, it doesn't seem like something Dumbledore would do." Everyone turned their heads toward me curiously. "He would know he'd risk angering the other schools should Harry be chosen." I thought for a second. "Honestly, it seems more like something an older Slytherin would do just for the fun of putting him in mortal danger."
Laughing a bit, Draco said, "You know that's true. I might've given a handful of galleons to someone if I'd thought of it." He said across from me, Daphne, and Pansy. "I still like the Dumbledore theory best, though."
Something was eating at me though. "If Dumbledore did put Harry's name in, then why did they both seem shocked when his name emerged from the Goblet? Dumbledore didn't necessarily congratulate him like he did the other champions, and Harry looked like he was going to be sick."
Raising his brow, Draco looked me in the eye. "It's called acting, Aphrodite," he said as he crossed his arms. "Just like you do when Dimitri kisses you." The common room erupted in murmurs, no doubt about me.
Offended, I felt my jaw set as my eyes cut at him. I stood and straightened my skirts. "I think I'm going to bed. Goodnight, everyone."
Draco's eyes widened, and he stood to block my way. "Aphry, don't. I'm sorry."
Looking up at him, I said, "Draco Malfoy, you are only sorry because your little joke backfired," I told him. "Good. Night."
I woke up at nearly one o'clock to my necklace tingling. What is he doing now? I wondered to myself as I pulled the covers off of me. I threw on an emerald robe that complimented my cream, floor-length nightgown and matching slippers. If he's not in the damn common room, I'm not looking any further. It's not like he can be killed, whatever he's doing.
As you can tell, sleep had not affected my irritation at him at all.
I walked into the common room to find him alone in front of the fire, facing away from me and hunched over the coffee table.
"What on earth are you doing?" I asked as I approached, causing him to jump. He stood, facing me and trying to keep the coffee table from view. He looked to my feet, then back into my eyes and gulped, obviously caught. My necklace tingled more. I walked up to him and crossed my arms. "It's one in the morning, Draco!"
He scowled after I questioned him. "It's none of your business," he responded. "What are you doing up?"
I couldn't answer that honestly. "It doesn't matter."
"Ah, probably sneaking off to visit darling Sokolov, huh?" He mocked bitterly. "Be a bit nippy in that nightdress, eh? You'll be shivering like those Beauxbatons girls when they arrived."
I walked around the couch to the fire, staring into it and not even wanting to look at him. "Funny. You implied earlier that I despised him."
There was no response for a second, then. "I said I thought you were acting. I never said it wasn't convincing."
Throwing up my hands and turning around to look at him, I said, "What is that even supposed to mean?" I then looked down, to see the coffee table littered with buttons reading:
Support CEDRIC DIGGORY
Hogwarts Champion
I bent down and picked one up. "What are these?" I picked one up.
"N-nothing..." He said with hesitance. "Put it back, Aphry..."
Laughed a bit, and I looked at him. His eyes widened, I was certain it was a show of humiliation. "Bit embarrassing if we had a Hufflepuff champion, eh?" I said, mocking him from earlier.
He didn't respond. Rather, he looked away from me, down at the coffee table.
"These are actually kind of nice, Draco. I'm sure the other students will love it. Can I have one..." I stopped as I noticed the writing on one badge on the coffee table began swirling. Followed by another, and another. I looked down at the badge in my hand as it began to swirl, revealing a different message:
POTTER STINKS
The expressions from Draco that I thought was embarrassment were guilt.
I sat down on the edge of the couch, putting the button I held on the table with the others. "Really, Draco?" I asked, staring at the buttons. The disappointment was clear in my tone and expression.
He turned defensive, crossing his arms and scowling. "What? Those buttons say what everyone in the school is thinking right now. Potter cheated: he's underage and he still somehow managed to trick the Goblet."
Everything was wearing me out: this fake betrothal, Draco's troublemaking, navigating and manipulating situations so everything stayed in its exact order while at the same time not revealing all the secrets I had to keep. I just was not in the mood for fighting. "Ok," I said apathetically. "I'm going to bed." I stood from the couch, about to turn toward my dorm.
His expression switched to concern. "Aphry?" I looked at him in response. "Are you okay? You are usually lecturing me after something like this."
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. "I'm fine. I'm just.... really tired right now." I meant more than the sleep I was losing, but I was not revealing that to Draco.
He nodded, looking at the fire as if it would reveal all the hidden context of the conversation. "Okay, then. Uh... sweet dreams Aphry." I nodded in response and head back into the dorm without another word.