Thanks to 93 Diagon Alley because she's just awesome and betad this for me.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: In which the champions are announced.
"Oi! You're never going to let him forget this, are you?"-Harry
"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly. Hermione took the seat next to Harry, frowning slightly at her friend. She was in a testy mood and she didn't really have a reason to be.
"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."
"Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," Harry said, taking the seat on her other side. "I would've if it had been me… wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"
Someone laughed behind her. She turned in her seat and saw Fred, George, and Lee hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited. Her stomach turned and she felt extremely anxious, suddenly. Surely they hadn't really gone through with it.
"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to them, leaning down conspiratorially. She swallowed thickly and tried not to look angry. "Just taken it."
"What?" Ron asked, sounding disbelieving.
"The Aging Potion, dung brains," Fred answered, shaking his head.
"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."
"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.
"It's not going to work," Hermione said, unable to keep quiet any longer. She couldn't sit by while they did this. What if it worked? They would be in so much danger!
"Oh really?" Fred said playfully, no idea about how irritated she was. "And why won't it work?"
"Because Dumbledore won't possibly let something as simple-minded, no, dim witted!, as an aging potion beat him." George looked slightly surprised but Fred just grinned wider, enjoying the banter. He loved arguing with Hermione; she kept his mind, and wit, sharp.
"Ahh, but don't you see?" he started.
"That's just why it'll work," George continued,
"Because it's so pathetically,"
"Dim witted."
"Cheers!" the three boys said together, and then they jumped onto the floor. Fred took a deep breath, and flashed Hermione one last grin before turning back to the age line.
He pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley – Hogwarts and took another breath. He walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.
For a split, terrifying second Hermione thought it had worked - George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leaped after Fred - but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long, white beards.
Hermione let out a happy cry, unable to help herself. The rest of the hall burst into uproarious laughter as Fred and George stood. Fred's eyes shot to Hermione, who couldn't hide the excitement she was feeling. They wouldn't be in it, no one she loved would be in danger. She locked her gaze on his, and she found herself unconsciously biting her lip when she saw a flash of hurt in his blue depths.
Dumbledore appeared and ushered them out of the room. George and Lee led the way, both laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Fred looked over his shoulder one last time, his eyes on Hermione.
She couldn't explain the guilt that flooded her as his eyes left hers.
-o-O-o-
Fred was ignoring her, and it hurt. She'd only been ignored by him once before, during her third year, and it had nearly done her in. She had Harry and Ron this time, but she wanted Fred back.
Neville and George were her best friends, no question about that, they were the ones who could say what she was thinking, knew how to handle her, and laughed at her lame jokes. Harry and Ron, well, they were her brothers, Harry moreso than Ron. She was comfortable around them, as though she had known them her entire life. There had been a definite change in the dynamic of their friendship after the whole affair with Sirius. Knowing that they all had been willing to die for each other had changed the way they looked at each other. They had grown closer, though no words had been said or show had been made. They just were.
Fred though, Fred was her favorite of them all, she knew him best, and he knew her best. She never got him confused with George, and she could always tell when anything was wrong. Right now, something was painfully, obviously wrong, and she couldn't figure out what.
George was in on it too. He seemed to know what was up, but unlike his twin, he wasn't ignoring her. She could tell he was upset about something, but he seemed to want to tell her. Fred didn't.
She hadn't had any alone time with him either, nor had she gotten a chance to give him a kiss, and she really wanted too. She wasn't used to that either; she'd never really wanted to kiss someone before she figured out she liked Fred.
Today was the day they found out who the champions were, though. She was sitting in the great hall next to George, laughing at a joke he had just told, Neville on her other side, Harry and Ron on the bench in front of her. She missed Fred, who was sitting two seats down, but she was having fun for the first time in a long while.
Sort of.
Dumbledore walked out to the middle of the room and the crowd grew quiet. Hermione's eyes drifted around the room to take in all the other schools. They looked just as anxious.
"Well," Dumbledore called out, smiling serenely, "the goblet is almost ready to make its decision, I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness.
The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling, bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. Hermione gripped Neville and George's hand excitedly, her eyes locked on the goblet so that she missed the frown on Fred's face.
"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, a seat away from her. She flashed him a large grin before looking back at the goblet.
The flames inside the goblet suddenly turned red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
"No surprises there!" yelled Ron, as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Krum stood and walked rather awkwardly toward the back room.
Everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blond hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Hermione frowned at her, wondering if she had perhaps enchanted her paper with veela magic.
When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next… Her mind went over each of the contenders again as another flood of relief flashed through her. Fred and George were safe, they wouldn't be hurt. She wouldn't have to watch them compete.
The Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"
It sounded like a bomb went off. The entire Hufflepuff house stood up, letting out loud whoops, and Hermione threw in her own whoop. Neville, who had several Hufflepuff friends, was also cheering loudly. George and Lee were giving condolences to Angelina, who looked heartbroken, and the Ravenclaws were cheering halfheartedly. The Slytherins looked like they couldn't have cared less.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the applause died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"
Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock as he stopped talking. The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.
What in the world?
Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out two words that very nearly gave Hermione heart failure.
"Harry Potter."
Harry didn't move in the slightest. She had never seen him look so shocked. She was excellent at reading anyone when it didn't concern her, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had no idea he would - could - be called.
He hadn't entered.
-o-o-o-
Ron was being an idiot, Harry was in denial, Neville was quiet, and the twins were in shock. Hermione seemed to be the only one who was fully functioning the next few days.
They were walking down the hallway - Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, Dean and Hermione - heading towards their next class, when they ran into Malfoy and his cronies.
She didn't want to talk. Ron was already furious at Harry, accusing him of sneaking his name into the goblet, and Harry was upset that no one seemed to believe he hadn't done it.
"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy called out loudly, pointing to an obscenely bright badge on his robe. Hermione was too far away to make it out. Draco seemed intent on solving that, though, as he headed towards them, thrusting his badge in their faces. "And this isn't all they do - look!"
He pressed his badge and a message glowed in bright green: POTTER STINKS!
Hermione's eyes narrowed in hate. How dare they do that! "Oh very funny," she snapped to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone. She hated them almost as much as Malfoy, and that was saying something. "Really witty."
Ron didn't say anything, and Neville looked like he was fighting not to.
"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."
Before Hermione knew what was happening, Harry had drawn his wand out, and people were scattering.
A/N: Okay, we're getting nearer the ball, but I'm not going to say anything about it :) I'm really proud of what I've written so far for it :D
Also, it's after the twentieth again, so I'd like each of my readers to go to the twin exchange (you can get to it through the link in my profile) and vote for their favorite story in the September Challenge. My entry was 'Handcuff Horrors' (a non romantic Draco/Harry fic).
Thanks!
Lastly, since you've read this far, why don't you just go down a little bit more and hit that blue button? I only need a few words ;)