The lights in the stands dimmed, and every light, every eye, turned towards the centre of the pitch... the team mascots' display had officially begun.
The Veela's dance electrified the whole box and every stand around it, and almost every male creature present promptly degenerated into some showy gorilla.
Hermione Granger could hardly believe her eyes. Harry appeared to be trying to hoist one leg over the wall of the box, while Ron seemed to be standing on his own seat, poised as if to dive from some high board.
"Whatever are they doing?" Hermione asked in surprise. She gazed up at the beautiful creatures gliding above the pitch.
"Is it because of the Veela?"
"That is right. They are magical creatures with a human appearance, usually taking the form of young, beautiful women," Ginny said, pursing her lips. Hermione detected a note of scorn in her voice. "They have a natural gift for 'charm,' especially while dancing... you will find hardly any man can resist it...unless...whatever."
Hermione looked at the Veela with a mixture of surprise and doubt. They had pale golden hair and skin as white as moonlight, like something out of a fairy tale.
She suddenly found herself wondering what foolish thing the boy behind her might do. Just now, walking up the stairs, he had seemed so calm, so indifferent, as though nothing in the world could touch him.
Now, though? Faced with such beautiful Veela, would his gaze grow just as helpless, besotted, and wild as Harry's and Ron's were right now?
Hermione could not help but wonder.
Hermione was beginning to lose her own composure. As the mood around them grew ever more heated, the idea slowly fermented into an overwhelming temptation, one she found she could not ignore.
Even the Ministry officials had given up the fight. They behaved no better than the ordinary wizards around them; they too succumbed to the same dazed stupor, letting out embarrassing noises or striking odd poses.
She had firmly decided not to look back at him again. But surely, just now, if she stole the smallest glance, he would never notice? Surely every wizard here must be caught up in the same chaos?
She could not resist any longer. Overcome with curiosity, she turned her head furtively, only to find herself meeting a pair of eyes fixed directly upon her, calm, unmoved, and perfectly composed.
Those grey eyes flashed with amusement at the sight of her, as if to say: caught you.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, a flicker of panic washing over her.
She turned quickly back round, hurrying to join Ginny in rescuing Harry and Ron from their foolishness, as though keeping busy might somehow cover up the fact that she had just been caught spying on him.
"Honestly, how could you two!" she said loudly to the two silly boys, her face flushed, her lips pressed tight.
Draco, however had he done that? she wondered, astonished.
However, she could hardly turn round again to ask him about it. She had already embarrassed herself quite enough for one evening, being caught out like that.
Straightening up once more, Hermione felt the back of her head burning under some invisible gaze.
Draco, at last, felt rather pleased with himself.
After all, she had been watching him, especially the moment the Veela appeared, as though hoping to catch him out somehow.
What a wicked girl! He had not the slightest doubt she had been hoping to see some reaction from him.
She was destined to be disappointed, then.
He stared at the back of her head, perfectly still, and found his mood lifting at once. He smiled, just slightly.
Next, the leprechauns' shower of gold coins brought another wave of gasps and delight through the box and the stands alike.
Once the mascots had finished their display, the match got properly underway... the Bulgarian national Quidditch team took to the pitch.
The loudest cheer of all rang out the moment Seeker Krum appeared.
Draco finally tore his gaze from Hermione and looked instead at Viktor Krum.
He was dark and thin, sallow-skinned, with a large hooked nose and thick, heavy eyebrows, giving him rather the look of some great bird of prey.
If Draco's memory had not deceived him, this match would end with Krum catching the Golden Snitch, and yet Bulgaria still losing.
Draco felt rather torn about this international Quidditch star he had once idolised.
On the one hand, Krum was extraordinarily gifted. As a fellow Seeker, Draco held his skill in the highest regard. That Wronski Feint he had used last year, to pull Harry free of a whole crowd of Dementors, had been something he had picked up from watching Krum at this very World Cup.
On the other hand, Krum would be coming to Hogwarts this year, to take part in the Triwizard Tournament, and that alone was bound to send a whole series of ripples across the calm surface of the Black Lake. Speaking of which, it seemed Harry, too, had a great many troubles waiting for him this year...
Draco's eyes flickered, and his thoughts drifted inevitably off again.
"Ten-nil, Ireland leads!" Bagman roared, and the whole stadium erupted in cheers and applause, shaking the very stands.
The girl in front of him leapt up and down along with the Weasleys in the row ahead, waving her arms wildly.
Draco watched the back of her head and could not help recalling his own fervent excitement, in this very box, in his past life.
Back then, he too had sat in this same seat, cheering and shouting himself hoarse, thrilled by every brilliant goal.
However, in this life, the roar of the crowd filling this vast stadium left him feeling strangely detached, as though standing in some other world entirely. So many moments, a goal scored exactly as it had been in his past life, left him wondering, quite disoriented, what day it even was.
He could hardly summon any real excitement for the match itself; instead, waves of weariness and emptiness washed over him.
The bustle of a hundred thousand spectators felt somehow less real to him than the excited look on the face of the girl sitting just in front of him.
So he spent most of the match watching the back of her head instead, though she did not glance back at him again.
She seemed thoroughly absorbed in the game, peering through her Omnioculars.
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