The days ticked by until it was finally October 30th, the day the students from the other schools were supposed to arrive. Fred, George and I were sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast and discussing Ludo Bagman.

Now that Bagman was expected to come to Hogwarts for the tournament, Fred and George were planning on talking to him face to face. They thought that was better than sending a letter. Especially since they felt that with a letter, he could easily ignore it. He'd have a harder time doing it if they cornered him in person.

"I can't believe this had to happen," Fred fumed, resting his chin in his hand. "I can't believe we have to worry about this. It's such a…." He trailed off and stared off into space as he thought of the right word. "A bummer."

"It's a bummer all right," George said gloomily. "But we have to have a plan. If he won't talk to us in person, then we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."

"Who's avoiding you?" Ron asked, appearing suddenly and sitting down next to us, Harry and Hermione at his side.

"Wish you would." Fred glared at Ron irritably.

"What's a bummer?" Ron pressed on, loading food onto his plate.

"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.

"Speaking of brothers," I said, looking at Ron, "where's mine?"

"Still up in the dorm with Neville, Seamus and Dean," Ron reported. "They overslept."

I snorted. "Figures. If they don't get down here soon, they'll miss breakfast."

"So," Harry said, looking at the twins, "you two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet? Thought any more about trying to enter?"

"Yeah, we're still entering," Fred said.

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen, but she wasn't telling," George said bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" Ron said thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done loads of dangerous stuff before."

"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," Fred said, shaking his head. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points based on how well they complete the tasks."

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the heads of houses are always judges," Hermione piped up suddenly. We all turned to look at her. She had been rather quiet during this discussion and I had almost forgotten she was there. When she saw us looking at her, she gave us an exasperated look. "It's all in Hogwarts: A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."

"What are you on about?" Ron asked.

"House elves!" cried Hermione. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts: A History does it ever mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"

Ron groaned loudly as Harry and Fred became suddenly interested in their bacon. Hermione was gearing up to talk about S.P.E.W. It stood for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare and she had come up with it all on her own on account of the fact that she had learned that there were house elves at Hogwarts. She didn't like that they didn't get sick time, vacation time, or, well, money for their work.

Recently, she had taken to walking around the common room, shaking a collecting tin in everyone's face, asking them to pay two Sickles to join S.P.E.W. In return, they'd get a badge. Fred and George had flat out refused when she had asked them. They knew that the house elves were happy the way they were. Ron, Harry and Julian had paid only to shut her up. I had given her the money more because I was actually almost on both sides of the argument. I knew the house elves were happy and didn't feel they needed vacation time, sick time or pay. If they were happy, then that was fine. But if they ever wanted any of that, I wasn't going to oppose the idea. I just didn't think they were brainwashed like Hermione seemed to think.

"Listen," George said now, leaning forward towards Hermione. "Have you ever been down to the kitchens?"

"No, of course not," Hermione replied curtly. "I hardly imagine students are allowed to be down there."

"Well, we've gone," George said, gesturing to himself, me and Fred. "We go down there all the time. We've met the house elves and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world."

"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione said hotly.

"They're not," Fred piped up, looking up from his plate. "They're more than happy to do their job. The first time we went in, they practically flung themselves at us. In fact, they do that every time. We're nice to them, we talk, we show appreciation, but…they don't want pay or anything. Knowing that what they do is appreciated is enough."

"But it isn't!" Hermione exclaimed. She started to say something else, but her next few words were drowned out by the mail, which I was grateful for. As much as I knew that Hermione's heart was in the right place, the last thing I wanted was to hear her repeat the S.P.E.W lecture for the millionth time in the past week alone.

"She's lost her mind," Fred muttered, shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. "Nobody honestly wants to join that spew thing." He glanced at Hermione, who was now burying her nose in the newspaper.

"Spew's an appropriate name for it," George added. "She just spews all this wrong information about those elves. She should go take a look for herself. They're overjoyed to be here. Honestly, I would be as well. I'd work here for free too if it meant I'd never have to be in a home like the Malfoy's. Dobby must absolutely love life now."

I snorted. "Leave her alone," I said, looking over at Hermione with an amused smile. "She's not hurting anyone. She's just…she thinks she's doing something good. It'll blow over eventually."

"Hopefully for us," Fred said, shaking his head.

I rolled my eyes and flicked a toast crumb at him. "Shut it."

Four minutes. That's how many minutes the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were late by. Normally I wouldn't have minded, but I was freezing, despite the jacket that I had grabbed after stopping by the dormitories earlier.

The entire school was standing out on the front steps, waiting for the other schools to arrive. We had been arranged by year, first years at the bottom of the steps, closer to the ground, and seventh years back near the school.

"What do you think is keeping them?" Katie asked, shivering slightly in the cool night air.

"Traffic, probably," Fred answered casually, shrugging one shoulder.

"You think there is traffic the way they're coming?" I asked. We knew nothing about how these people were supposed to get here. We didn't know where to look to watch for them.

"No idea," Fred answered.

Another few minutes passed. "Seems to me like they're a bunch of divas," George remarked, sticking his hands in his pockets and looking around. "Keeping us waiting like this. Honestly."

"Why can't they hurry up?" I groaned. "I'm cold."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than Dumbledore spoke up from the frontof the group. "Ah, here come the students from Beauxbatons, if I am not mistaken."

Murmurs chorused through the crowd.

"Where? I don't see anything!" I heard people saying.

Finally, Seamus Finnegan pointed to the sky above the forest. "There!"

"It's a dragon!" a first year shouted.

"No, I think it's a flying house!" screamed Dennis Creevey.

Fred snorted. "A flying house, how ridiculous."

But it didn't look like Dennis could be all that off. Whatever it was certainly could fly and it certainly was huge enough to be a house. But right now it was too far away to tell.

When the large object got closer, it began to descend towards the ground in front of the stairs and we finally got a good look. It wasn't a house, but a large carriage pulled by six humongous palomino horses. Seriously, just one of their hooves was probably the size of my head, if not a bit bigger.

The crowd was silent as the door to the carriage opened and a foot stepped out.

"Bloody hell," the twins muttered from behind me.

As the person inside the carriage pulled herself-I assumed it was a woman from her shoes and what of her clothes I could see-out into the open air, murmurs rippled through the Hogwarts students once again.

This lady was huge, to put it bluntly. She was even taller than Hagrid by at least a few inches. She had dark hair that hung down to her chin and was dressed head to toe in black satin. Chunky necklaces hung from her neck and large rings encircled almost all of her fingers.

"Are they all that size?" George asked, letting out a low whistle.

"I don't think she's a student, you idiot," Lee snorted. "She looks too old."

"Okay, fine, so she must be the headmistress," Fred answered as the woman began making her way towards Dumbledore. "But how do we know the students aren't the same size? Maybe there's something in the water in...well, wherever Beauxbatons is."

"France," I supplied. "It's in France."

"How do you know that?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because she actually listens in History of Magic," George said. "How else do you think she managed to get an OWL in that class?"

"It's not like I was the only one," I said, glaring at them. By now, the large woman was addressing Dumbledore.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said with a smile. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Professor Dumblydore," Madame Maxime replied. She spoke with a French accent and her voice was deep but polite sounding at the same time. "I 'ope I find you well."

"In excellent form, I thank you."

"My pupils," Madame Maxime said, waving an enormous hand back towards the carriage. A group of girls suddenly poured from the carriage. They were dressed in blue, but their outfits were clearly not made for the weather here. The fabric was too thin for the chilly October air and they were all shivering as they huddled at the bottom of the steps.

"Do you think one of them would let me try to give them my jacket?" Lee asked, his voice filled with awe as he looked the girls over. "Merlin, but which one would I even pick? They're all bloody gorgeous."

I rolled my eyes and continued to take in the Beauxbatons girls. It was true, they were all practically flawless. I could tell from here. Their hair was so shiny it was nearly reflective. I doubted their skin had a single blemish.

"I call dibs on the dark haired one over there," George said, gesturing to a girl with black hair standing nearest to us.

"Really?" Fred asked. "I'd have thought you'd rather go for blondie." He pointed to a blonde girl standing on the other side of the group. "That's who I'd pick." He sucked in a breath and grunted as Angelina elbowed him hard in the stomach. He cleared his throat. "If I wasn't taken and madly in love already," he amended, grinning down at Angelina, who rolled her eyes.

"You're all such pigs," I said, making a face. "Honestly, they could be dumb as dirt."

"Stereotyping much?" George asked, poking me in the side. I flinched away and swatted his hand.

"I'm not. I'm just saying, they could be. I'm all for girl power, believe me, but dumb, pretty girls do exist, you know. My point is that you know nothing about those girls."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lee said, rolling his eyes. I glared at him.

"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime was asking Dumbledore now.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you like to step inside and warm up a bit?"

"Warm up, I theenk," Madame Maxime answered. "But ze 'orses…."

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be more than happy to take care of them," Dumbledore explained.

"My steeds require—er—forceful handling," Madame Maxime said slowly. "Zey are very strong."

"I can assure you that Hagrid will be up to the job," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Very well. Will you please inform zis Hagrid that my 'orses only drink single malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," Dumbledore said with a nod of his head.

Madame Maxime finally looked satisfied and she gestured for the students to follow her inside. I saw the eyes of almost every boy standing on the steps follow them as they made their way past. I fought the urge to vomit.

Once they had disappeared from view, silence filled the air once again and we were left to wait some more for the students from Durmstrang.

"Do you think they'll come by carriage too?" Alicia asked. "I wonder if it's prettier than the Beauxbatons one."

"How much do you want to bet it isn't?" Fred asked, looking the Beauxbatons carriage up and down. "Actually, how much do you want to bet the students aren't as pretty?" He grunted again as Angelina elbowed him for the second time in five minutes. "I meant to say as pretty as the Hogwarts girls," he said, looking down at her.

"Aw, thanks, Fred," I said, turning to him and batting my eyelashes. "You flatter me."

"Back off, Lilah. You have your own boy to flirt with," Angelina said with a joking smirk.

"He's not here. I'm deprived," I joked back.

"Ladies, ladies," Fred said, holding up a hand. "I know I'm good looking, but there's no need to fight." He looked at me. "Since the real thing is taken, Lilah, I can't help you there, but I can offer you a knockoff." He gestured to George. "Almost like the real thing with a few minor differences and for a cheaper price."

"Hey," George protested, sticking his tongue out at his brother.

"Be nice," I told Fred. "George is wonderful and not a knockoff." I smiled at George as Fred shrugged.

"If you say so."

"Hold on," Lee suddenly said. "Can you all hear something?"

We froze as our ears perked up. He was right. There was a faint rumbling sound that was only growing louder by the second.

"Where's it coming from?" Katie whispered.

"Look! The lake!" Lee suddenly cried.

Everyone turned to look where he was pointing. The water of the lake, usually flat and calm, was now rippling madly.

"You know, that could be from the giant squid eating some bad fish," Fred said.

"Gross, Fred," I muttered.

"I mean," he continued, "how would the Durmstrang students get here by traveling underwater? How is that possible?"

"Clearly it is," I said as the lake rippled even more. Suddenly, a mast broke through the surface, reaching higher and higher into the air until more and more of a giant ship appeared. Eventually, it was fully emerged, floating on the lake as calmly as if it had sailed in the normal way.

An anchor splashed into the water moments before a plank was lowered from the ship, the other end coming to rest on the grassy lawn. People started to disembark. From what I could see, they were either really beefy or were wearing bulky clothing. I was going to go with the second option though. From what I remembered Professor Binns saying, Durmstrang was located somewhere far north where it was a lot colder than it was here.

As the figures approached, I saw that they were indeed wearing large fur coats as well as thick hats. The man in front was clearly the headmaster, his hair dark and tinged with grey. He even had a goatee. His eyes were dark and beady.

We watched as he greeted Dumbledore, the group of students assembling behind him.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Alicia said with a nod as she looked over the group of boys.

"Gross," George commented. "They probably have heads made out of sawdust."

"Stereotyping much?" I asked as I also skimmed the group of boys, holding back a laugh as George poked me in the back again.

"Viktor," Karkaroff suddenly said, gesturing to someone standing somewhat behind him in the shadows. "Come along, into the warmth." He looked at Dumbledore. "Viktor has a slight head cold."

As the boy stepped forward into the dim light of the waning sun, I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I realized I wasn't when murmurs floated up through the crowd of Hogwarts students.

"Is that—is that-?" Fred stuttered.

"Viktor Krum?" George whispered.

"Seriously?" Lee continued.

I immediately began searching the crowd for my brother. I knew he would love this information. A real live famous Quidditch player in his midst. Then again, he was actually friends with Oliver, who was also a professional Quidditch player. But I knew Krum was different. Julian didn't think of Oliver as a professional. They'd been friends first, and that's what Julian would always see him as. A friend and a role model, but not a celebrity.

Sure enough, when my eyes fell on Julian, his mouth was hanging open and he was staring as Viktor was ushered inside by Karkaroff.

"Why is it that both of these schools have managed to make the male population of our school fall in love with both of them at first sight?" I asked with a roll of my eyes. "I mean, what gives?"

"It's okay, Liles," Fred said, nudging me. "We still love you too."

"Thank goodness," I snorted. "How else would I ever go on?"

"No idea," Fred shrugged innocently. "Now let's get inside. Maybe we can get a better view of Krum somehow."

I rolled my eyes. "Pathetic, isn't it?" I asked Angelina.

"Completely," she replied, shaking her head as she watched the twins crane their necks to see over the crowd. "I'm considering pretending I don't know them."

I laughed. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."

It turned out that the judge that would pick the three champions wasn't even a person. It was a cup. A goblet, to be more exact. The Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore called it.

He had Filch bring it in during the feast and everyone ogled at it a bit as Dumbledore explained that the Goblet would be set up in the entrance hall for the next twenty four hours. Anyone who wished to enter would simply write their name and school on a slip of paper and put it in. Then, at the Halloween feast the next night, the Goblet would spit out the slips of paper with the names of the champions it had selected. To ensure that nobody under the age of seventeen could put their names in, Dumbledore said he would surround the Goblet with an Age Line.

"We were right," Fred hissed to George as we reached the common room later. "An Aging Potion should fool the Age Line, shouldn't it? It'll be fine. Once we get our names into the Goblet, it won't matter. We'll have as good a shot as anyone!"

And just like that, they were gone, racing upstairs to collect what they needed to brew the potion. I headed upstairs with Angelina, Katie and Alicia. We got ready for bed and I started a letter to Oliver, filling him in on what had happened that day. Once I was finished, I set it on my night stand so I'd remember to send it off early the next morning. As I was just getting comfortable in bed, I noticed Angelina was sitting upright in her own bed, the blankets pooled in her lap as she stared down at her hands.

"Something wrong?" I asked her.

"What if it works?" she asked quietly.

"What if what works?" I looked at her in confusion.

"What if Fred and George manage to get their names into the Goblet of Fire and what if it picks one of them?" she asked shakily, looking up to meet my eyes.

"What if it picks you?" I asked. When surprise flitted across her face, I smiled. "Fred told me that you were planning on entering…and about your fight. Sorry."

Angelina shook her head. "I love Fred…and George, too, but they're so…hard to keep up with. And so hard to talk down from something once they've got their minds made up."

"What's the difference between them entering and you entering?" I asked. "We've actually all learned the same."

"The difference is that I'm seventeen and they aren't. If they enter, they're doing it illegally. They're going against the rules. They aren't supposed to make this decision on their own."

"Seventeen year olds aren't capable of making a decision like that on their own either," I said. "Lots of seventeen year olds are going to go into this thinking it's a great idea only to find out it's so much more than they bargained for."

"Well, either way, rules are rules," Angelina said with a tight smile. "The age limit is seventeen. I'm seventeen and I want to enter…Gryffindor could use some representation. The more Gryffindors that enter, the better our chances will be."

"Why do you want to enter?" I asked.

Angelina let a puff of air out of her mouth. "Well, a part of me kind of wants to. It's kind of thrilling…I know it's not really like me at all, but that's the thing. I want to do something exhilarating for once. I want to take a leaf out of Fred and George's book and show them I'm not as rigid as they seem to think I am…especially lately. Maybe by entering I could somehow make things better with Fred. If I enter, it'll be the next best thing to them actually entering and maybe they'll be okay with it….I don't know, like I said, it's dumb."

I smiled. "No, it's not. I get it. And maybe if you win you can give a portion of the money to the twins."

Angelina laughed. "No, let's not go that far. If I win, I win fair and square." She paused. "Besides, they'd never take it even if I did try to give it to them."

I shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

I hesitated as I just looked at her for a moment. Eventually, I shook my head. "Nothing. Forget it."

The next morning, after a typical out of tune rendition of Happy Birthday from my roommates, and after I had performed my first bit of legal magic (summoning my clothes from the dresser, nothing special), we headed downstairs to breakfast only to get distracted in the entrance hall by the Goblet of Fire.

Lots of people were already there, milling around and watching to see who would put their names in. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Julian were standing off to the side, pieces of toast in their hands, watching the goblet intently.

"Are you really going to do this?" I asked Angelina as she fiddled with the slip of paper in her hands.

She nodded. "Yeah, I mean...why not? I want to. I could really also use the money too...I don't think too many Gryffindors are entering either. Legally at least. It'll be nice to have someone representing us, like I said last night."

I nodded. "Okay, well...good luck."

As Angelina walked towards the Goblet, the rest of us headed for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Julian. "Anyone put their name in yet?" I asked. "Besides Angelina?"

"All of the people from Durmstrang apparently," Ron supplied. "We saw Krum put his name in about five minutes ago."

We watched as Angelina gingerly stepped over the age line, smiling slightly when it allowed her to pass.

"Anyone else?"

"Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff," Harry added.

"Oh, we know who Cedric Diggory is," Katie said as she and Alicia giggled shrilly. I rolled my eyes and looked at my brother, who was silently watching Angelina drop the slip of paper into the flaming goblet. He looked back up at me when he sensed me looking and smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Lilah," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a flat, square gift wrapped package.

"What's this?" I asked in surprise, taking it from him slowly.

"Your birthday gift," he said as if I were dense.

"But where did you get it?"

"Partially from Hogsmeade and partially from…a friend," he said. "Open it."

I smiled. "You didn't have to get me anything," I told him.

"Of course I did," he answered. "You're my sister. I'm practically required to get you something even if I didn't want to. Otherwise, I'd risk looking like a prat."

"You've been talking to the twins too much," I snorted, gently pulling on the end of the purple ribbon wrapped around the box. When it came loose, I gently pulled apart the wrapping paper and opened the box. "Oh, Jules, it's perfect," I whispered.

Inside was a plain black picture frame, which was lovely in itself. But it was what the frame held that I really loved. It was a photo of Julian and I last year on one of the Hogsmeade visits. I had my arms around him from behind and was trying to kiss his cheek. I watched as the moving photo version of me leaned forward, trying to aim correctly while Julian squirmed away, laughing despite his desire to pull out of my grasp.

I bit my lip as my eyes filled with tears. When I had blinked them back, I smiled and looked up at Julian. "I love this. Thank you." I gave him a giant hug and kissed him on the cheek. He didn't try to pull away this time.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it," he said. "Colin Creevey took that picture of us, remember?"

"Is he the only kid with a camera around here?" I asked curiously.

Julian snorted. "Seems like he is. He's very overeager. Still. After two years of being here."

"I don't think it's that anymore," I said. "I think he actually likes taking pictures."

Julian shrugged and I ruffled his hair before tucking his gift into my bag. Angelina was joining us again now and the Goblet was left standing alone in the quiet once again.

But that only lasted a few seconds.

The sound of loud cheering echoed off the walls as Fred and George came tearing down the staircase, their fists raised in the air. Lee ran behind them, looking just as pleased.

"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper as he reached us. "Just finished it up this morning."

"Finished what?" Ron asked, blinking.

"The Aging Potion, dung brain," Fred said with a scoff.

"One drop each should do it," added George, rubbing his hands together with glee.

"I'm not quite sure this will work, you know," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

"That makes two of us," I muttered as Fred and George ignored her. They high fived Lee, who wished them good luck, before they each pulled a tiny vial from their pockets.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George."

"Bottoms up," they said together, downing the potion simultaneously. Then, they both jumped right over the age line. Nothing happened, and for a moment I thought they'd done it. My eyebrows shot up in surprise and the twins cheered, clearly thinking they had succeeded as well.

But then there was a loud sizzling noise. A second later, both of them were thrown out of the circle surrounding the goblet. They flew into the air and landed across the entrance hall, crashing into the cold stone floor with identical grunts.

I gasped and let out an uncharacteristic swear word, which got Julian to snicker and nudge me in the side.

I honestly thought Fred and George might have been hurt and was about to rush to their sides. But then I saw the beards. As the twins sat up, they were even more noticeable. They had sprouted identical long white beards.

Everyone in the entrance hall laughed and even the twins joined in once they had taken a good look at each other. That let me know that they were truly okay and not hurt in the least. Thank Merlin.

"I did warn you," said an amused voice. I turned to see Dumbledore standing in the doorway to the great hall. He didn't look angry. In fact, he seemed to think this was funny too. With a twinkle in his eyes and a half smile on his face, he continued. "Why don't you two head up to see Madame Pomfrey? She's already tending to Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw and Mr. Summers of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though, I must say, neither of their beards are quite as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing just then, Lee following them in a fit of hysterics. I followed the others into the great hall, trying to fight back a laugh myself. A part of me was relieved. They wouldn't have the opportunity to risk their necks in this tournament. But another part of me felt sad for them. Fred had been right when he said that they didn't just want this money. They needed it. They wanted to open their joke shop and prove that they could be successful doing it. They wanted to prove everyone wrong. And unless they somehow got ahold of some money soon, it was going to take them forever to save up again, while everyone else waited expectantly to be proved wrong, growing more and more doubtful and exasperated by the day.

The twins needed that money and I found myself suddenly needing to help them get it. So at that moment, I made a decision. A crazy, stupid decision that could possibly get me in trouble, but a decision nonetheless. And then I hurried up to the hospital wing before I could change my mind.

"You are an absolute saint," Fred told me, an hour later as he opened the door to the sixth year boys' dorm. He located his bag and began searching for, I assumed, a quill and a piece of paper. He and George were now beard free and happier than ever after I had told them my idea.

"Honestly," George said, "Fred and I will never tease or make fun of you or misbehave around you again."

"No, please do," I said with a wry smile. "Having you two behave around me would drive me insane, actually." I paused. "Just…try not to kill me or anything."

"No promises there, Lie," Fred said, finally retrieving two quills and a piece of paper. He ripped off two small pieces and handed one to George, along with a quill. They both wrote down their names with nearly identical dramatic flourishes, then handed them to me.

"Honestly, thank you so much," Fred said.

I shrugged. "Don't mention it," I said. "I really want to see you open that joke shop. I know you can do it. Your only problem is the money, so I'm going to do what I can to help speed up the process of getting what you need."

"If you ever need anything at all…." George said with a grin.

I laughed and shook my head. "Don't mention it. Honestly," I said. "Just promise me something."

"Anything," Fred said immediately.

"If either of you two get picked…promise me you'll be careful. Promise me you'll think through everything you do. You especially, Fred."

"Me? Why me?" he gasped dramatically.

"Because you have more of a tendency than George to just act without thinking," I answered with a shrug. "So just promise me you'll be careful. Please."

Fred swallowed and looked at me seriously. "We will, Lie."

I looked at George, who nodded too. "We solemnly swear."

Slowly, I let a puff of air out of my mouth. "Okay, then. All I'll need from you two is a distraction to get everyone out of the entrance hall. Ever since Dumbledore put it out, there have been people milling around every waking moment. And seeing as the selection is tonight, it isn't like I can wait until dinner or until everyone's gone to bed."

Fred nodded. "Five minutes is more than enough time, right? For you to slip in, put our names in the goblet, then put some distance between you and the scene of the crime?" The corner of his mouth turned up into a playful smirk.

"That's perfect," I said with a nod.

"Then consider it done," Fred said with a bow. He clapped me on the shoulder before heading for the door. "Get down there in five minutes and it should be clear."

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Test out a new product," Fred answered coyly. He hesitated. "Oh, hang on." He jogged back over to his trunk and rummaged in it for a moment before pulling out a pair of ordinary looking glasses. "You'll need these." He held them out to me.

"Why? My eyesight is fine," I said. "I don't understand."

Fred laughed and shook his head at George. "'My eyesight is fine', she says." He laughed again. "As if she thinks we're trying our hand at optometry now." He paused and looked at me thoughtfully. "Funny how you'd be this cool with it, though."

"Funny that you know what optometry means," I shot back with a raised eyebrow as Fred smirked wider. "Seriously, what are these for?"

"You'll see when you get down to the entrance hall," George said with a wink as Fred laughed and high fived him. "Just have those on when you walk down there, okay?" George gestured to the glasses.

I stared at them for a moment before slowly nodding. "Fine."

The twins both smiled at me. "Thanks again, Lilah," they said. And with that, they were gone.

I impatiently waited four minutes and forty-five seconds in the twins' dorm, anxiously pacing around the room as I stared at my watch, my mind racing the whole time. I began to wonder what would happen if one of the twins did get picked. Would the other twin be happy or jealous? I suppose they'd be happy for the most part. At least one of them made it in to compete for the prize money. But that meant only one of them would get to do those tasks that the twins, stupidly, in my opinion, seemed to think sounded so amazing. They had always done everything together, so imagining them doing something so drastically separate seemed odd to me.

Then, there was the flip side of the fact that only one twin was competing. Maybe the twins had trouble seeing it now, but the tasks were designed to be dangerous and challenging. It wasn't a walk in the park. What would it be like for one twin to watch the other compete in such terrifying and dangerous tasks? They'd probably wish they could do it together so at least they could help each other out. Again, they had always done things together, so maybe it would be tough to participate in something so dangerous and huge separately from each other.

I stopped pacing and stared down at the two slips of paper in my hands. I wasn't sure if what I was thinking was even more against the rules than what I had already been planning to do, but I surprisingly didn't take the time to dwell on it. I crumpled up the two pieces of paper in my hands and tossed them in the garbage can. Then, I ripped another small piece from the parchment Fred had left behind and picked up the quill he had also left. Biting my lip, I scribbled both the twins' names on the paper. Fred and George Weasley. And before I could let myself be talked out of it by my own conscience, I slipped out of the dorm and down the stairs, slipping the glasses on as I did so.

When I reached the entrance hall, I stopped in the middle of the marble staircase in confusion. There were still a few people there. Not many—probably about three or four—but they looked odd. They looked panicked and were walking around with their eyes wide and arms outstretched as if they were feeling their way through the dark. Confused and curious, I slid the glasses down my nose a bit so I could see without them. When I did, I almost gasped.

Everything was pitch black.

I couldn't see a thing. It was the oddest feeling. Even the entrance hall at night wasn't this dark. This was like being deep inside a cave. It was as if I had my eyes squeezed shut, even though they were wide open. But if it was all dark and I hadn't known it and I had been able to see people and objects clearly a few moments ago with the glasses on, then that meant….

I put the glasses back on and instantly I could see again. I could see perfectly. I blinked. This was incredible. Fred had said it was a new product, which meant that he and George had invented and actually created this themselves. It made me realize just how smart they actually were and how little credit they got for it. And that made me want to put their names in the goblet even more.

Taking a deep breath, I crossed the room to the Goblet and stared down at the single piece of paper in my hands. Fred and George Weasley. This was it. I looked up at the Goblet again, sitting on its table, waiting for me. I stepped over the age line, holding my breath as it did so. Part of me felt as if I'd get tossed out like the twins had, even though I knew I was over the age limit. Maybe it was because I was scared that my secret would be discovered. As if the Age Line would know that I was seventeen, but the boys whose names were on the paper in my hands were not.

I stood just inside the age line for a second or two, waiting. Nothing happened and I let out a sigh of relief. And then I stepped towards the goblet. I was standing right in front of it. The next step was to drop the twins' names in. I couldn't prolong it anymore. There was nothing else left to do. Plus, I was running out of time. I only had five minutes to do this.

Just do it, I thought. Do it and run. I silently counted to three, practically flung the paper into the goblet and then ran. I ran all the way up the marble staircase and back to the Gryffindor dorms, pulling the glasses the twins had given me off in the process. I gave the Fat Lady a breathless version of the password and she swung open, allowing me to dash inside before remembering that it wasn't a good idea to look suspicious since there were people milling around. So I slowed my movements and tried to control my breathing as I made my way to an empty table in the corner and sat down, resting my elbows on the table and my head in my hands.

What had I done? My actions were just catching up to me now and I couldn't believe myself. I had illegally entered two of my best friends into the Triwizard tournament, where, if they were chosen, they'd have to compete in three dangerous tasks. Terribly dangerous. I was so stupid. I knew they were smart, fearless and daring, but they weren't invincible. I wanted them to earn enough money for their shop, but their safety was way more important. They couldn't open a joke shop if they got killed. Left alone with my own thoughts, I was beginning to fear that I had just made a terribly big mistake.