The first thing that I noticed as soon as I got to the Great Hall was the noise. Which meant that the king and queen weren't here yet- If they were, everyone would be as silent as possible.

But that meant that all the other Selected were here.

I was ushered to a seat on the longest table, full of people. Nine others, to be exact. I swallowed. Thankfully, my seat was next to Ron, who looked pretty good in his navy blue suit. I noticed, in fact, that all of the suits were artfully made to make the person who was wearing it look the best possible.

But then, on my left, again, there was someone I recognized. Just not in person. I'd seen his name and picture on the screen. Neville Longbottom, I recalled. Brown eyes and hair. Yes. He smiled at me nicely enough, but I could see that he was wary. I couldn't see any of them as competitors. I couldn't. Not if what we were "competing" for wasn't something I actually wanted. Everyone here, though, except for maybe Ron- Who still had to, even if he was my friend- viewed me as someone to hate.

Oliver was seated opposite Ron, and Dudley was sitting at the end of the opposite row. Opposite me was another boy who had an Irish accent, or something of the like, when he introduced himself as Seamus Finnigan. He seemed nice enough, but speculative when I tried being nice. Suspicious, even. Next to him was a darker-skinned boy, with curly dark hair and brown eyes- did everyone have brown eyes and hair except me and Ron?- who only talked to Seamus, it seemed, but I learned that his name was Dean.

Quickly, my eyes flitted to the others.

There was a boy named Blaise Zabini, but I didn't get a good look at him, because he kept his head down, reluctant to look anyone in the eye. Then there were Vincent Crabbe and the slightly thinner part of the duo, Gregory Goyle, and they seemed... Well, they seemed like best friends already, which was odd, because everyone seemed to be at unease with one another. But the rules clearly didn't apply to these two.

Suddenly, all introductions were cut short as a hush fell across the room. As one, we stood up and bowed to the king and queen who were entering.

"Sit." the king's voice boomed. I couldn't lie to myself- He intimidated me. His stare, like his son's, seemed to bore into me, and uncover all of my past mistakes and tribulations for the world to see.

The queen, however, seemed to be nicer, as she smiled at us sincerely.

"It is a pleasure to welcome you all to this year's Selection. Congratulations to you all for being chosen, and I thank you for coming." the queen smiled benevolently at us, and I couldn't help but smile in return; she seemed so happy.

"You are representing our country. We apologize for the prince being unable to come here at this time, but you will meet him tomorrow, and I would expect you all to make a good impression" unlike his wife's, the king's expression was steely, and forced us, not to smile, but to nod in return. He was menacing, but he, I guess, I couldn't help it. He was the king, wasn't he? That was his job.

Would I ever have to become like that?

I shook my head, and listened, as both the king and queen said that we were free to eat. Eat what? There wasn't any food at the table?

But then the servants began to appear, as well as the food that they were carrying. It was more than I could ever have imagined. From arrays of fruits to Spanish omelets even though I knew it was dinnertime... it was more than what ten people could eat- twelve, counting the royal family sitting above. I heard people asking when the prince was coming in hushed tones, but I was completely focused on the food in front of me. Never had I ever seen this much food on one table. I didn't think I'd ever seen this much food in my life, except for in the market.

I glanced around- Was anyone else as astounded as I was? But everyone was eating calmly, so I did the same. I couldn't show the difference between a high and low caste so quickly, could I?

When I had finished stuffing my face, I sat back, to see that almost everyone was finished. Damn. I hadn't meant to make a fool of myself.

I heard hushed voices amongst the raised ones of the Selected, and I looked to where I thought it was coming from. The king and queen. Of course. I knew I shouldn't, but I tried to listen in. All I caught was the word "Draco". I was, in fact, kind of glad that he didn't come today- Maybe I could get a grip on myself before that.

We were finally dismissed, after a brief "make your family proud" and all that. But upon going back to my room, there was only one thought. I didn't belong here. Not in this suit, or on that table. or in the same room as royalty. I wanted, I realized, to go back. I needed to go back.

So, when I got to my room, I felt claustrophobic. Thankfully, there were no maids or anyone there, so I went to the balcony, praying the cold air would make me feel, at least slightly, better.

Alas, the doors wouldn't open.

I must have been mistaken. Everything worked well here, the hinges were oiled- I could see that. So that meant only one thing.

It was locked.

I was locked in.

The walls closed around me, and I struggled to breathe. I needed to see the stars. That could calm me down.

But I couldn't open the goddamn door.

I didn't know what I was doing. First, it started off as a walk to find someone to unlock the door. But suddenly, I was running, thinking that I could avoid confrontation by sneaking outside, just for a minute. After all, unless it was like a prison, it wouldn't be against the rules, would it?

I was keeping my head down, so I wasn't watching where I was going. Thus, when I bumped into someone, it was completely unintentional. My ears turned bright red as I muttered a quick sorry, brushing off the stupid suit that I was still in. But my blush only intensified as I looked at who it was.

There, in all his regalness, was Draco Malfoy, prince of Illéa. And he was on the floor. Because I had knocked him over.

Oh, I was so dead.

I extended a hand to help him up without thinking, and he took it. I chose to ignore the fact that it made my heart flutter. That was stupid. I still had Cedric- Well, I still had to get Cedric back.

And that was kind of the same thing.

As soon as he got up, I remembered myself and dropped into the deepest bow I'd ever done in my life to hide my scarlet face.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, not trusting my voice enough to speak properly.

"Is there a reason why you were catapulting around the palace at this hour?" he asked, but tipped my face up to get a good look at it. In turn, I got a good look at his. to my surprise, there was humor in his eyes. I realized he was joking with me. I guess that it wasn't his fault that his tone sounded so patronizing.

"I... I just wanted some fresh air, and my balcony doors were locked." I mumbled, aware of how close we were, and the fact that his hand was still underneath my chin.

"Judging by your green eyes, and your scar, you're Harry Potter?" he asked, and I nodded, astounded. He'd noticed my scar and my eyes. I didn't know why I was so surprised, but I felt like he would have better things to do, right? "Well, it is quite unfortunate that we met like this, Lord Potter."

Lord Potter? I smiled despite myself. I guessed that it was what I had to be called for the duration of this Selection.

"Yes, your highness." I nodded because that's what I had to do.

"Why did you venture here again? Fresh air?" the prince's vocabulary was sophisticated, but I saw the smile on his face. The smile that didn't look as reserved as it seemed on television. And those eyes... I hated to admit it, but I felt like if I looked at them for too long, I'd get lost in them.

I just nodded, and suddenly, he took hold of my arm and called out to a guard that I hadn't seen.

"Please open the palace doors." his voice echoed, and I just stared at him. First of all, why weren't they open in the first place? And second of all... Why was he doing this for me?

Suddenly, we were walking once more, and then I felt, rather than anything else, the freedom of being outside.

"Thank you, your highness." I smiled, and he looked at me, for a moment, and then nodded.

"I shall look into the balcony issue, my dear." he used the endearment casually, but I looked up quickly.

"With all due respect, don't call me your dear." I couldn't help it from coming out. I didn't know why I was being so rude to him, but it didn't sit well with me.

He smiled, and it was one of the purest and beautiful things I'd seen. It was almost like he reserved that smile for those important to him.

Wishful thinking- Wait, no. I didn't wish for that.

I was confused.

"I apologize, my dear- I mean, Lord Harry." was I mistaken, or was he laughing? "But... We'll have to go back in a moment, so... "

We? My heart seemed to flutter. Damn. He was quite the charmer.

I couldn't do anything but nod, and I looked up at the stars to steady myself. The stars... They were a constant in my life. They were always there. I could count on them when I could count on nothing else- Nobody else- even myself.

I just gazed up at them for a few minutes.

"Do you want to walk around?" I heard the prince ask. I shook my head, then immediately felt guilty. I was supposed to nod- he was the prince. Quickly, I turned to him to see if he was taking offense of some sort, but to my surprise, he was just gazing at me thoughtfully. Then, when he realized that I was looking, he turned away. I knew I was imagining things, but I could have sworn that there was a very, very faint hue of red on his otherwise pale skin.

No, I was mistaken. Must be the moonlight, I thought.

I stood there for a few more minutes, unsure of what to think. The prince, clearly, was much nicer than I had thought. Maybe I'd been wrong, after all.

Shaking the thought, I told him we could go inside, very surprised that he hadn't dictated when, and instead let me decide.

A true gentleman. Except for the "my dear" part, of course.

I followed him in, and I almost didn't hear what he said next to the guard.

"Allow Lord Potter to venture outside at any given point," he instructed, and the guard looked dubiously at me. But, loyally, he nodded, and I was astounded. How could he be this nice to me? We'd met by me barrelling into him, first of all, and now he was doing this?

I couldn't help but feel a warmth spread to my heart, as he continued, ordering my balcony doors to be unlocked. In the moonlight that was still watering through, I could see his hair was illuminated, and his shirt- he wasn't wearing a suit, but instead just a shirt, tie, and dress pants- was immaculate.

He bade me goodnight, and I almost made a fool of myself by gaping at the poise in his posture, but I murmured a quick goodnight back.

"We'll start over in the morning, yeah?" he grinned at me, and, all at once, I didn't see a prince. I saw a boy. A very handsome boy. No. He still had to be the prince. I couldn't afford to look at him in any other light. Any other light.

When I got back, my maids were there. First, they looked worried, but then some sort of realization came upon them, and they began giggling.

"You already went on a date with the prince?" Mary asked, elbowing Anne, who also seemed to be enjoying this, though in a far more sophisticated manner than her friends.

I shook my head. "I just ran into him, that's all-"

"You met the prince already?" Anne asked. It seemed like she had been the skeptical one, but now they all were fully convinced that I'd gone on a date with him.

"Yeah, but I literally ran into him," I explained what had happened, because, for some reason... It just felt nice talking about it. I didn't really know why.

"That's a great start." Mary laughed, and I saw quiet Lucy laugh as well. The sight made me smile. Perhaps she wasn't so shy as I first thought.

Soon, though, I was put into more expensive clothes, but they were slightly- Very slightly- more comfortable than the suit had been. They were, I assumed, nightclothes, and I had assumed correctly. When the maids turned to leave, I bade them goodnight and thanks. They all smiled back genuinely, and I began to think that I could trust them. not everyone in this palace, after all, was the same. I had to remember that. I couldn't judge them for being here- I couldn't judge anyone for being here. After all, I was here. I was here even though I didn't belong. I remembered how, when I was young, I used to think that every single person who had money was a prick. maybe not just when I was young- Maybe even recently.

But now I was thinking otherwise. Perhaps money didn't corrupt the mind so much that it turned into a thieving, villainous machine. Well, perhaps it didn't do that to everyone's mind.

No, I realized, as I thought of the light in Draco's eyes, and the happiness in his smile. I had been wrong.

I wondered why he hadn't been present before, at the meeting-like thing. Maybe had had just come back from somewhere, and had been traveling? But to where? Was he taking a vacation, or going there for... Politics, perhaps. I didn't know.

I didn't know why I should care, either. It was his life, and perhaps I was a small part of it, but soon I would just be another boy that he knew in his Selection- another boy that he had eliminated.

That thought shouldn't have affected me so much, but I think it did. I think it did because the thought left me feeling around for my penny, which had quickly become something to hold on to if I was feeling disturbed. I think it did because it left a horrible taste in my mouth, one that resulted in bile rising.

I wanted, very badly, to be able to have control of my thoughts. To be able to refuse from thinking things, when I knew that they were bad for me. But that wasn't how it worked. The brain was powerflly, perhaps too much so. And so, I couldn't stop thinking about how different Cedric and the prince were.

And I couldn't help thinking that... maybe the prince wasn't so bad after all.

My opinion had been a constant. Something that didn't change. Even when I had seen him on television, it hadn't changed. That lack of change in opinion had tethered me to the ground.

Now?

Now, my opinion couldn't be tied down to one place.

And I hated that. Hated that, but loved it at the same time, because I didn't know what it did for the future.