The day after the champion selection, all of the champions were told to dress in their uniforms and ushered into a room. I tried to get out of it, knowing that this was going to be for the Daily Prophet, and I wanted nothing to do with it. I didn't much fancy my name and picture being spread across the wizarding world, but Crabbe insisted I try to do this. He had gone so far as to pout at me for five solid minutes before I caved and allowed him to drag me down the halls to this room. The boys were told that they had to wait outside, and I had no doubts that they would do just that.
I was squished between all the champions, blinking as a camera flashed every ten seconds. I didn't bother smiling like my counterparts, simply standing awkwardly between them with a scowl on my face.
"What a charismatic quartet." Rita Skeeter smirked, catching my eye after she scanned the other champions. "Oh, and a snake."
I rolled my eyes at her introduction, not caring about her nonsense in the slightest. Suddenly, she pulled Harry into a closet, most likely conducting an interview with the boy. After a while, Harry left the closet, looking incredibly frustrated.
Rita Skeeter interviewed all the champions before me, allowing them to leave immediately after. Each person seeed less irritated than Harry did, but that did little for my own confidence. I imagine Rita picked at Harry's insecurities, and I could only imagine how she'd pick at mine.
"Mind if I use the quill?" Rita questioned, finally sitting across from me.
"Do I have a choice?" I countered. Rita looked to the quil with a smirk before turning back toward me.
"So, Desdemona, here you sit, a girl of merely twelv-" I cut her off with a glare.
"I'm fourteen." I corrected the woman.
"... About to compete against four other students, not only more emotionally mature than yourself, but have mastered spells you wouldn't have attempted in your dizziest daydreams. Concerned?" Rita pressed, watching me with a wicked smirk.
"You obviously haven't done your research, Miss Skeeter." I snapped, irritated at her obvious agenda. "I'm far more academically advanced than my competitors; all of them. As for emotional maturity, it's clear that I'm ahead of you in that field, seeing as I spend my days furthering my education and you poke and prod at school children for gossip that doesn't exist."
"Right, well." Rita seemed offended at my insinuations. "How was it living on the streets? All alone?"
"Cold, mostly." I answered shortly, not giving her the satisfaction of showing my distaste for this line of questioning.
"Mm, I can only imagine." She hummed, glancing at the quill at her side before turning back toward me with an evil glint in her eyes. "Speaking of your parents, who are yours? Or are you still a burden to Albus Dumbledore?"
I stood up, reaching over and plucking the self-writing quill from the air. It struggled in my grasp, but it did little to stop me from throwing it out of an open window. After slamming the window shut, I spun around and looked right into Rita's shocked eyes.
"I know this will do little to dissuade you from publishing whatever story you were planning on writing since you heard of my name being pulled from the goblet, but listen to me, Miss Skeeter." I said coldly, leaving no room for argument. "This was not an interview; this was an attack. And anyone that knows me, knows that I do not take kindly to being attacked. So, you sleep with one eye open, and you better hope that we never cross paths again."
With that, I turned and pulled the door open, meeting Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle in the hallway. The boys looked at me closely before glancing behind me, no doubt finding a rather shocked Rita Skeeter.
"Are you alright, Mona?" Draco asked, throwing a glare at the woman as he came to my side.
"I'm alright." I nodded. "Let's get out of here."
========
During one of the rare times that I was alone, I decided to go for a walk before meeting up with Draco and the boys. Of course, the halls were flooded with students, flashing the buttons pinned to their robes proudly. Mostly Hufflepuff students were wearing them, laughing as their buttons changed from Cedric Diggory's face to Harry's, with the words 'Potter Stinks' appearing above his face. The pins, in my opinion, were wildly childish, but I was glad that my face was kept off of them.
Before I made the turn into the courtyard, where Draco was supposedly waiting for me, I was grabbed by two boys and dragged back into the hallway. At first, I thought it was Fred and George, but after looking over at one of them, I realized it was Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory.
"Excuse me!" I huffed, pulling my arms out of their hands before straightening my robes. "Can I help you?"
"Sorry." Harry muttered, looking between Cedric and I. "Needed to talk to you both."
"A simple hello would've gone a long way." I rolled my eyes.
"What is it?" Cedric asked.
"Dragons." Harry blurted, making me furrow my brow. "That's the first task. They've got one for each of us."
"Are you serious?" I whispered.
"And Fleur and Krum... Do they...?" Cedric trailed off.
"Yes." Harry confirmed. I nodded in thanks at the boy before heading back out to the courtyard. Finding Draco in a tree should've been more shocking to me, but after what Harry just told me, I didn't even bat an eye at my blond friend.
"Where were you?" Draco questioned, sitting down on a branch.
"Just speaking with Harry about the tournament." I shrugged. His eyes narrowed as he nodded, and suddenly a smirk spread across his face as he looked past me.
"Why so tense, Potter?" Draco called out to Harry. "My father and I have a bet, you see. I don't think you're gonna last ten minutes in this tournament."
Draco hopped out of the tree, standing beside me as we both looked at Harry.
"He disagrees." Draco continued. "He thinks you won't last five!"
"I don't give a damn what your father thinks, Malfoy! He's vile and cruel, and you're just pathetic." Harry spat, turning away from Draco.
"Pathetic?" Draco hissed, reaching for his wand. However, before he could raise his wand to cast a spell, Professor Moody stepped out of the hallway and transfigured Draco into a ferret. I watched in mild amusement as Moody flipped Draco around in the air.
"Professor Moody!" McGonagall called, watching the ordeal with concern. "Professor Moody, what are you doing?"
"Teaching." Moody responded gruffly.
"Is tha-" McGonagall gasped. "Is that a student?"
"Technically, it's a ferret." Moody snickered, sending Draco down Crabbe's pant leg. McGonagall shook her head as Draco ran out of Crabbe's pants and onto the grass. As McGonagall chastised Moody for using transfiguration on a student, I crouched down and pulled my wand out.
"Reparifarge." I casted the transfiguration spell on Draco, helping him to his feet before he scrambled away from Moody.
"My father will hear about this!" Draco threatened, straightening out his robes.
"Is that a threat?" Moody yelled, taking a menacing step toward us. Draco grabbed my arm and pulled me alongside him as we ran into the hallway. I tugged him to a stop and looked him over, examining him for any leftover effects of Moody's transfiguration.
"Thank you." Draco said sincerely.
"You're welcome." I nodded up at him. "You know, you're a rather cute ferret."
"We're not talking about this, Mona." Draco decided, making me snicker.