Draco Malfoy and Me

"Class dismissed!"

I got up shakily, and tried to make it to the door. I looked behind me, and saw poor Neville with his head down on his desk. I turned to walk over to him, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Neville... what's wrong?" I asked him softly. I began to rub his back soothingly, and he looked up at me, red faced and tear sticken.

"Come with me..." I said, helping him gather his books. We left the classroom, and I took him to Ravenclaw Tower. "Diadem!" I said, making the portrait hole open up for the two of us.

I led Neville to my room, and told him to sit down while I rummaged in my trunk for a bit of chocolate frog that I had bought on the train.

"Take it, it will make you feel a bit better..."

Neville began to smile a bit now, and ate it without question. "Why were you so upset over the cruciatus curse?" he asked me.

"I experianced it first hand... Voldemort had used it on me... I was abducted last term from my common room, and he tortured me with it."

"No wonder you were upset," said Neville.

"Neville, why did you become so distressed over the cruciatus curse?" I asked him softly.

"Well... have you ever heard of my parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom?"

"YES! They were aurors, weren't they?" I exclaimed. "Oh my God! They were tortured into giving information by the cruciatus curse! Neville I'm so sorry..."

"You only got half of it, Theresa," said Neville bitterly. "They were tortured into insanity. I'm proud to be their son, proud that they didn't let evil win. I only hope that I can do the same..."

"Neville, there is so much more to you than it seems," I said, staring into his brown eyes. "Your parents would be proud of you Neville. You are such a sweet, nice, smart young man, and when the time comes, you will always let good win over evil no matter what."

Neville began to smile at me, and from that moment on, we became really good friends.
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"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!" laughed the Weasley twins. Everyone was hanging out in the Great Hall during break between classes.

"It is not going to work you tossers!" I smiled to myself. Since the start of term, Fred and George have been trying to come up with a way to enter the tornament. They had finally come up with an idea now: an aging potion.

"No, it will work," said Fred in my left ear.

"It's too brilliant not to," said George in my right ear.

I sighed. Weasley twins, stubborn to the point of foolishness.

They crossed the age line, and dropped their pieces of parchment into the Goblet of Fire, only to be blown backwards. Fred got up, groaning, and then looked at George, and laughed. "Ha! George, you've got a beard!"

"So do you Fred!"

And with that, the twins and everyone else in the Great Hall began to laugh at them.

"Boys..." I muttered. "Can't listen to me, just can't take my word for it..."

Madame Pomfrey was able to fix Fred and George back to normal. "We should have listened to you mate," said Fred sadly to me. "I mean, after all, you are the smartest witch in school"

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I replied with a smirk.
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"I will now announce the three competitors for the Triwizard Tournament!" shouted Dumbledore. "When your name is called, please come forward, and follow Professor McGonagall. Fleur Dellacour, Beaubatons. Victor Krum, Durmstrang. And Theresa Smith?"

My heart sank. How could it be possible that I was one of the champions? I slowly walked towards a very surprised Professor McGonagall. Everyone in the Great Hall was glaring at me, as if I had somehow set this whole thing up. It was bad enough I was known as the brainiac, now I was the one who beat the system! I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide, hide from all of those eyes staring at me like I had done something terrible.

I walked into a classroom, and sat with Fleur and Krum. "What arr you doing 'ere?" asked Fleur in her thick, French accent. "You are not old enough to be a champion! 'Ow did you do it?"

"I didn't do anything! I swear!"

"Then how did you become a champion then? Did you get someone older to put your name in?" asked Krum, his voice gruff and deep.

"I-I dunno," I stammered. As I turned around, I saw Professors Dumbledore and Snape walk into the room with an equally stunned Harry Potter in tow. Pretty soon, Karkaroff and Maxime came into the room, banging the door behind them.

"This is outrageous Dumbly-dorrrrr!" shouted a very large Maxime, going over to Fleur. "Zis ees zabatoge!"

"I agree with Maxime," said Karkaroff. "I have a feeling that we shouldn't have come in the first place! We are going to return home"

"You can't," said Dumbledore. "They signed the parchment, and it is binding them to enter the tournament . I warned everyone to think before entering the tournament"

"Was ee doing 'ere?" asked Fleur, pointing to Harry.

"Well, funny you should ask that, my dear" said Professor Snape with an evil smile that made me shudder. "Apparently, Potter is the fourth Triwizard Champion"

"What?" said Fleur, Krum, and me together.