ACT ONE
scene sixteen
THE FIRST TASK
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THE MORNING OF the first task had finally arrived, and Cassie felt as though she could vomit at any given minute.
Slytherin students kept coming up to her at breakfast, encouraging her and telling her that she was going to be amazing.
Cassie could only nod at them weakly.
"Malfoy, I don't mean this in a bad way but," Beckett began, warranting Cassie to throw him a dangerous glare.
"...but, you look absolutely terrified." Beckett finished.
Maria sighed, she'd been observing Cassie all morning with anxious eyes.
"Cass, please, just eat something."
Eliza pushed a slice of toast in her direction and Cassie simply shook her head.
All she could think about was the dragon she would be facing. To make matters even worse, a letter fell down in front of her face.
She swallowed as she read her fathers handwriting.
Cassiopeia Malfoy
Cassie buried her head in her hands instead of opening the letter. So, Beckett grabbed it out from under her and began to rip it open.
Eliza and Maria both made noises of protest, but Beckett didn't listen. Cassie was too distraught to even care.
"Dear Cassiopeia," Beckett began to read in a horribly proper accent, attempting to imitate what he imagined Lucius Malfoy sounded like.
It made Cassie crack a tiny smile, her head still buried in her hands.
"As i'm sure you're aware the first task is this morning- Well no shit Lucius!" Beckett exclaimed.
Maria snorted a laugh.
"I am apparently, not allowed to watch the first or second task.- Well thank merlin, no one wants you here, you old shit." Becket grumbled. He shook his head and continued.
"I will however, be attending the third and final task. I expect to hear that you performed flawlessly and without failure. Do not disappoint me, Cassiopeia."
Beckett stopped reading with a frown. He cleared his throat, then continued.
"Also, I am a major dick and my hair is stupidly long. Feel free to move in with the twins Beckett and Eliza. Lucius Malfoy." He finished with a grin.
Cassie raised up to snatch the letter from Beckett's hands but couldn't hide her small smile. She knew that the letter contained something wrote by her father that was more than likely going to make her feel worse, and therefore Beckett had given it his own spin. She wasn't going to read the rest of it though. She wasn't going to let her father be the one to psych her out, not when the Weasley twins had been sending her dirty looks all morning.
"Don't worry about him Cassie." Eliza assured her. "You know what you're facing. We've practiced spells and curses for every possible outcome for every single dragon you could face."
"Not to mention you've perfected the spell. You're going to do great." Maria added.
Cassie grumbled a "Thanks." before letting her head drop onto the table.
Without raising her head back up, Cassie crumbled up the letter and shoved it into her pocket. Not important right now.
What Maria had said was true. Although it took a lot of tinkering, and trail runs with quite a few errors; they had perfected the charm that would make her skin flame-resistant. She hoped. The girl couldn't tell you just how many burn scars she would be leaving this experience with.
The day passed by far too quickly. Before she knew it Cassie was following Professor Snape down to the dragon enclosure.
He hadn't spoken one word to her, in typical Severus Snape fashion. What was to be said?
"Professor, can I ask you a question?" Cassie asked quietly.
"Perhaps." Snape said in a cold voice.
"Are you in contact with my father often? It seems as though he always knows what is happening in this school..." Cassie said quickly.
Professor Snape was quiet for a few moments.
"Your father is a highly respected ministry employee, therefore he was made aware of the tournament before the students."
Cassie frowned.
"Yes, but he also knows about my marks in all my classes, as well as every detention Draco and I have been given."
"Yes, miss Malfoy your father does owl me requesting updates on what you and your brother are up to. He's not the only parent to do that."
"Oh." was all Cassie could say.
Professor Snape left her at the champions tent without another word.
Cassie sucked in a deep breath, and painted on her confident expression before pushing her way into the tent.
Harry had yet to arrive, but Viktor and Fleur were already in the tent.
Viktor was pacing and Fleur sat very still with a sick expression.
Cassie took the chance to pull her hair up into a high ponytail with shaking hands.
This is no big deal, right? She told herself.
You're only facing a fire breathing, oversized lizard. Nothing to worry about.
As she finished pulling up her hair, she felt a presence beside her. Cassie looked down to see a panic-riddled Harry Potter. She found it odd that he felt okay with standing beside her.
Cassie cleared her throat awkwardly, but tried her best not to be rude about it.
Harry looked up at her.
"Feeling okay, Potter?" She asked.
Harry was her competition, and therefore the last thing she should be doing was making sure that he was okay. However, Cassie couldn't stop herself from feeling sorry for the boy. She was beginning to imagine how she would feel is Draco had been selected as a champion.
Harry shrugged, but Cassie knew that anxiety was racing through him. So, she did her big sister thing.
Cassie immediately hid all her emotions, painted on a nonchalant expression, crossed her arms over her chest and said;
"This should be a walk in the park for you though, right?" Cassie said, trying her best to make sure it didn't sound condescending.
Harry blinked up at her.
"What?"
Cassie shrugged.
"Cmon Potter, didn't you literally defeat Voldemort like, 3 times already?" Harry's eyebrows raised in surprise, but Cassie kept going. "An overgrown lizard shouldn't freak you out because essentially, old Voldy is an overgrown lizard, he just can't breathe fire."
Relief flooded Cassie when Harry chuckled at her comparison. However, Cassie knew if her father ever heard her say those words he wouldn't hesitate to crucio her. She make sure her expression didn't reflect her train of thought.
"I promise you Potter, you have nothing to worry about...other than beating me, of course. I will be winning this."
Harry chuckled again.
"I honestly don't care about winning, I just want to survive this. I will say though, Fred and George are going to be severely pissed if I lose to you."
Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Well now I absolutely have to beat you, Potter."
"They're not that bad you know, the twins."
Cassie gave Harry a side eye, but noticed the small smile on his face. He was relaxing, and teasing her back. So, the girl would indulge this conversation for his sake.
"Okay Potter, who do you consider to be your arch nemesis?" Cassie challenged.
He gave her a look that said "your brother" but instead he said, "Probably Snape."
Cassie felt the corners of her mouth twitch and Harry smiled.
"Right..." She said. "So it isn't Draco?"
Harry scoffed.
"What? No! Me? Hate your brother? No..."
"Yeah, okay. So that's exactly the point i'm trying to make. You hate my brother, and I hate your stupid ginger adoptive brothers. Fair is fair, I suppose..." Cassie said, doing her best to hide her smile. She actually kinda liked Harry. Odd...
"I hate my adoptive brother." Harry grumbled, his face darkening a bit.
"Oh?" Was all Cassie could really get out. She knew Harry had been taken in by muggle relatives when his parents were murdered. She didn't know he had any siblings.
"He's this big massive bloke, I mean quite possibly the dumbest person you could ever meet..."
Harry continued to ramble on about his adoptive brother Dudley (which Cassie thought was a horrendous name) and the girl just let him. She wasn't sure why he was telling her all of this. Probably just the nerves of it all. Nonetheless, she let him. It seemed to be helping take his mind off of things.
The strangest part of it all was that Cassie was beginning to feel bad for the kid, the longer he spoke. And oddly enough, she felt like they had quite a bit in common; though she would never admit that.
Harry was soon cut off when Ludo Bagman came bustling into the tent. It was starting.
Her mind was elsewhere as Ludo and the others vaguely explained the task. She didn't perk up until it came time to draw from the bag.
Cassie pulled the Swedish Shortsnout from the bag, dawning a #1 on its back.
Lucky fuckin me!
The tiny thing moved around in her hands, and eventually curled up in ball to nap. Cassie decided then a there that she would be keeping the little guy. What a fun pet, right?
Cassie was still gazing down at the dragon in her hands and thinking of possible names when Ludo finished his spiel.
Here goes nothing.