Wonder // Draco Malfoy

29. The First Task

A/N
Warning - long chapter!!

I can throw up right now. Everyone is heading toward the first event; cheers become louder as I approach the stadium. They've turned the Quidditch stadium into the first task and there's a giant tent I must enter to join the other champions.

"Remember what we practiced?" Draco asks. My sweaty hand is securely in his as we stop before the opening. He had taught me a spell to try and lure the dragon to sleep since there weren't many other spells that could work on a dragon. I am too scared to open my mouth to speak, so I just nod my head. "Valentine, please be careful. It would break me to see anything happen to you."

Draco pulls me closer to him and kisses me. Right when it becomes deeper, there's a flash of light and a delighted sigh. Great - Rita Skeeter, writer of The Daily Prophet, who is obsessed with this tournament and digging up anything about each champion. I was right about one thing before - Harry's name is the largest on any print. She has been taking endless photos of us and asked us personal questions to which she exaggerated for her paper. "Ah, young love! I'm sure your father would be delighted to see his golden child infatuated with the young champion!" Rita wraps her arms around me and Draco but he pushes away immediately.

"I should go. I'll see you afterward, Draco," I say. I walk behind the curtain to see the other champions already there. I'm relieved to see that everyone is as torn apart as I am. Do they all feel as unprepared as I do? I'm sure that they got help from others like I did. "Hey Harry," I greet. His head shoots up as if I interrupted a deep thought.

"Valentine," he sighs, throwing his arms around me in an embrace. "How are you?"

"Terrified. I heard Fred and George making bets on who will come out unscathed and the odds are not in my favor."

Harry rolls his eyes. "Don't listen to a word from them. I'm sure you'll do great. You're the top in your classes and study with Hermione. I'm sure there's nothing you can't do." Before we can finish our conversation, Cornelius Fudge comes through the curtains with Rita Skeeter behind him. A man with a camera accompanies them and constant flashes temporarily blind us as Fudge gives instruction. We're told Madam Pompfrey will be on-site in case of any emergencies and there are multiple dragon trainers who can control them if they become uncontrollable. I scoff inwardly; as if dragons are controllable in the first place.

We line up to pick a dragon from a small pouch. I'm last since I am the youngest and definitely the unluckiest. Once we pick, I'm unsure if I should be relieved or terrified that I am third. A small dragon picks at the skin on my palm and blows a small fire through its nostrils. Everything is starting to sink in. I wish the dragon I had to face was this small, not the massive beasts I can hear roaring outside of the tent. "I must leave now," Fudge says. "You will leave in the order you have chosen at the sound of the cannon. Good luck and farewell."

The cheers of the crowd become louder as the announcer talks. It is almost impossible to hear who is talking and that somehow makes it worse. There is nothing to distract me now. I grab Harry's hand and squeeze hard and he returns it, neither of us being able to look at the other. Will this be the last time I see him? Surely not; he has faced too much to let a dragon be his demise. But what about me? Would what I practiced be enough to fool a dragon to steal her golden egg?

I jump at the sound of the first cannon. Viktor jumps out of the tent and there's an uproar in cheers. Will our friends see any of us get hurt or die? I'm starting to really want to know who would enter my name into this tournament. An eternity goes by - loud reactions from the crowd make my heart drop every time. Soon enough there's enough applause to indicate that Viktor was able to capture the golden egg. A few minutes pass, most likely to swap the dragons, and another cannon is heard. Fleur takes a deep breath and exits.