"That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty you fall half in love with them and then you never know where the hell you are."—The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
"I don't understand," McKenna muttered as she walked back up to the common room with Angelina and Alicia. The champions had still been in the back room when the feast had ended. Oliver had gone on ahead with some friends, and McKenna was more than aware of Fred, George, Lee and Katie walking behind them, but she decided to ignore them at the moment.
"It doesn't make sense to me either," Angelina said. "How could both the Age Line and the goblet be tricked? There are only three schools and the goblet knows to pick only one from each school."
"Maybe he put his name in under a different school," Alicia said.
"How did he do it?" Ron asked, coming up next to them with Hermione. "How did he get past the Age Line?"
"Without getting a beard?" George added, coming up next to them as well, Fred and Lee at his side.
"You're asking the wrong people," McKenna said, shaking her head.
"Maybe Harry didn't even do it at all," Hermione chimed in.
"You think someone did it for him?" Lee asked.
"It's possible," she said. "I really don't think Harry wanted to be a part of this tournament and he had no idea how to get past the Age Line. None of us did. We aren't powerful enough to fool something like that."
"He told me that he would have put his name in at night if he were entering," Ron said. "He said he didn't want everyone watching."
"That has nothing to do with the Age Line, Ron," Hermione said.
"But if someone did put in Harry's name, who was it and why?" Fred asked.
Nobody answered him. Everyone simply shrugged and shook their heads.
"Well, in any case, it seems as if a party is in order," George said. "Harry's still a champion and we need to celebrate."
"George, Katie and I are going to sneak some food from the kitchens. Anyone want to come?" Fred asked.
"No, we'll meet you up there," Angelina said. The others muttered their agreement, except McKenna.
"I'll come," she offered. Fred looked at her before nodding in agreement.
"Well come on then," he said. "We have to get the food and make it back to the common room before Harry gets back."
McKenna set off in the opposite direction from the others with Fred, George, and Katie. She nervously played with a loose thread on her uniform. Now that she could actually try to talk to Fred, she was nervous.
"Fred," she began quietly, looking up at him. They were walking a little behind George and Katie and she didn't really want them to overhear.
"Hm?" he replied, glancing at her.
"I'm sorry for whatever you're mad at me for. If this is about Oliver interrupting us, then I'm sorry. You can blame me for it if you want, but you don't have to be so rude to Oliver. I didn't know he was going to talk to me and interrupt us, and I-,"
"It's not that," he said.
"It's not?"
"No, I'm not mad at Oliver just for interrupting us. It's more than that."
"I don't understand."
"There's just so much going on right now…"
"That's what you say to everything! Fred, talk to me, please," she begged. "You're honestly worrying me. I'm scared that our friendship is, well, going down the tubes."
"Every time I try to talk to you, we get interrupted, so why bother?" he said.
"Well, I'm sorry that you're mad at me. I don't want you to be."
"I'm not mad at you," he answered. "I'm just…upset about things."
"I guess I can't get you to tell me anything right now?"
"No," he said, shaking his head.
"Okay," she answered quietly. "Bagman was at the feast, did you notice?"
"Yeah, we noticed," Fred answered through gritted teeth.
"Did you get a chance to talk to him?"
"No," Fred answered, his teeth still gritted.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"It's not you," Fred said.
"Okay, whatever," she said again, falling silent and feeling somewhat worse than she had before she had talked to Fred.
"You should have told us you'd entered!" Fred yelled the second he saw Harry enter the common room.
"How did you do it without getting a beard?" George asked. "We've all been wondering."
"I didn't," Harry said flatly.
"You'll be able to pay Diggory back for the Quidditch match when you fell off your broom," Katie said.
"At least another Gryffindor got in if it wasn't me or Oliver," Angelina said. Fred involuntarily scowled at the mention of Oliver's name. He and Oliver had always gotten along fairly well, but now that Fred knew there was something going on between him and McKenna, he found himself liking the boy less and less.
"We've got food, Harry," Katie said, "come and have some."
Fred and George retreated to the other side of the room. They each grabbed some food before taking seats on the couch.
"Where's McKenna?" George asked.
"Over there, doing her homework," Fred said, gesturing to the corner of the room. He kept his eyes on the fire and didn't look up.
"She's miserable," George said.
"No, she's not. I told her that I'm not mad at her. I'm just dealing with a lot."
"Yeah, but you haven't really proved it. You've been practically avoiding her since you caught her with Oliver last night. You have to tell her you like her."
"And hear what? That she likes Oliver and all I am to her is a second brother? A best friend? I don't know if I want to say anything until I'm sure she likes me."
"Who likes you?" Ironically enough, Cody, McKenna's brother, sat down next to Fred with a box of Every Flavor Beans in his hand.
"Nobody," Fred answered dismally.
"Funny, because I always thought my sister liked you," Cody said.
"What?" Fred said, choking on his butterbeer as George's eyebrows shot up in amusement.
"I don't know. I could be wrong, but I always kind of assumed in the back of my mind that you would end up dating her."
"Doesn't she like Oliver, though?"
"I don't know. I think he likes her. She liked him over the summer, but then-,"
"Cody!" shrieked a voice from behind them.
"McKenna!" Cody said, jumping up. "I didn't know you were there."
"Yeah, that's why you were telling everyone about my private life."
"It's just Fred and George," Cody said. "Really, why is everyone acting so odd lately?" He shook his head and walked away.
"You liked Oliver over the summer?" Fred asked. To him, it sounded like a squeak. "Do you still?"
McKenna simply stared at him. "That's my business, not yours."
"Have it your way, then," Fred said, turning away. He was sick of not getting any information from her. He could understand that maybe it was hard to talk about, but he and McKenna had always been able to talk to each other. Plus, if Oliver had upset her, he was going to hit a Bludger at his head.
"Didn't something happen between you and Angelina last year? If you asked me, I'd say you like her, which is perfectly fine with me. I think you should be allowed to like who you want and I can like who I want, so you should stop being so weird about me and Oliver."
"What?" Fred spluttered. "Angelina? How do you—what makes you think that?"
"I'm not stupid. I know something weird was going on with you two last year. She dated someone else, but then she broke up with him. I don't' know who it was. She wouldn't tell me. But anyway, it's because you two like each other, isn't it?"
"That's my business, not yours," Fred said, narrowing his eyes as he repeated McKenna's words from earlier.
"Fine," she answered.
"Yeah, fine," Fred snapped. "Just go ahead and beg me to tell you stuff, but then keep your own little secrets."
He saw McKenna freeze out of the corner of his eye but he didn't turn. Then, she spun on her heel and raced up the stairs to her dorm. Fred instantly felt horrible and he looked to see George staring at him intently. "What?" he asked.
"I think you might be making it worse," George whispered.
"I think you're right," Fred agreed, "but I can't help it."
Over the next few weeks, talk about the tournament and Harry's selection as a champion was all anyone ever talked about. Nobody seemed to believe that he hadn't put his name in himself, but they didn't have any ideas on how he could have put his name in. McKenna had noticed almost all of the Slytherins and a good number of Hufflepuffs wearing badges that said Potter Stinks on them.
"Really," she sighed one day, scooping up a stray badge off the floor and tossing it into a trash bin. "Don't people have anything better to do?"
"Apparently not," Angelina shrugged.
"So you don't like the badges?" McKenna turned to see Draco Malfoy walking behind them with Crabbe and Goyle. "I put a lot of hard work into those."
"I should have known," McKenna said.
Malfoy actually reached into the trash bin and pulled out the discarded badge. "Are you sure you two don't want one?"
"More than sure," Angelina scoffed.
"Of course you don't want one. You're too busy being loyal to Potter. That's what Gryffindor's do isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is and yes we are," McKenna snapped.
"He's a cheat," Malfoy said as McKenna and Angelina turned to walk away. "He's not supposed to even have entered the tournament."
"And you're not supposed to look as ugly as you do," said a voice, "but it's not my fault your mother sat on you when you were a baby." Fred was coming down the hallway with his hands in his pockets. McKenna bit her lip to keep from laughing. She didn't know why Fred was defending her, though. She had thought he was mad at her. They had barely spoken in weeks.
"You're one to talk," Malfoy snapped. "I'm surprised your mother was careless enough to sit on seven children."
"That wasn't even a good comeback," Fred said, his face expressionless.
"She certainly looks like she does a lot of sitting," Malfoy continued.
Fred made a dive for Malfoy, but Angelina and McKenna grabbed his arms, holding him back. Malfoy took a few steps away and Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles.
"They aren't even scary," McKenna said.
"What?" Malfoy asked.
McKenna nodded towards Crabbe and Goyle. "They may look tough, but everyone knows their heads are filled with saw dust. And yet, you still choose to hide behind them because you're just too much of a coward to face people yourself."
"Who are you calling a coward?" Malfoy snapped. "And anyway, it's better than being a lousy, ugly, stuck up Gryffindor."
"Shut it, Malfoy!" Angelina yelled as Fred struggled even more against her and McKenna's grip.
"Let me get my wand," he said. When Malfoy heard that, he took off running down the hallway, Crabbe and Goyle close behind. It was only then that Angelina and McKenna let him go.
"I thought you were mad at me," McKenna said.
"Maybe I got a little frustrated with you before," he said quietly, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to let Malfoy insult you. You're still one of my best friends. That's not going to change any time soon."
"Why haven't we spoken in forever?" she whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Angelina sneaking away, mouthing goodbye over her shoulder. McKenna and Fred waved and watched her disappear.
"Listen to me," Fred sighed, closing his eyes. He pulled McKenna into a hug and rested his chin on her head. "One day, before this year is over, I promise we will sit down somewhere where no one can find us and we'll talk. We'll figure out everything and tell each other everything we've been keeping this year, but right now, I have a lot going on. Bagman's not cracking and George and I don't really know what to do. We can't tell our parents, so we're on our own."
"But you aren't," McKenna protested. She pulled away from Fred and looked up at him. "You have me, if you'd only talk to me. You have Lee and Angelina as well, and Katie and Alicia and your brothers and Ginny."
"We can't tell anyone," Fred said, shaking his head. "We got ourselves into this mess and now we have to get out of it. We were the dumb ones."
"You weren't dumb," McKenna said. "You were being hopeful."
"Whatever you call it, we have no money," Fred sighed, "but anyway, is it a deal? We'll talk soon."
"Sure, but when is 'soon', exactly?"
"I'll let you know," he answered, backing away.
"Fred," she said warningly.
"I will. I promise. You know I never back down on promises." With that, he turned and ran.
"Fred Weasley," McKenna yelled, running after him, but either he was too fast or had dived into a secret passageway, because he was gone when she turned the corner.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!
