Chapter 50

It was the morning after the ball and Fred and I walked into the great hall holding hands. I saw a few girls looking kind of sad to see Fred taken. Now both halves of the great pranking duo had girlfriends. Actually some guys looked pretty unhappy about my new relationship status too. We took our seats with our friends.

"Are you guys dating now?" Hermione asked.

"I suppose you were too busy kissing Draco to notice." I teased.

"I would glare at you for saying that but it's true." She admitted. "Anyway Harry, you owe me a galleon. I told you they'd be together by the end of the ball."

"You bet on when we would start going out?" Fred asked in surprise.

"Well everyone knew it was inevitable so, why not?" Draco said with a smirk.

"Good, now I don't feel bad for betting on when you and Hermione would get together." I smirked back. "George you owe me three galleons."

Harry and Ginny were acting even more awkward around each other than usual. They just don't have the guts to tell each other how they feel. Ron was looking particularly miserable and I felt kind of bad for him. I hope he finds someone else and gets over Hermione. It hadn't really developed into more than a crush yet though so hopefully he'll be okay.

...

The second task was about to start. I hadn't seen Ginny or Fred all day so I assumed that they were in the lake for Harry and I to save. Krum, Fleur, Harry and I were standing on the wharf ready to jump into the lake.

Bagman blew the whistle and I saw Harry swallow his gillyweed. I wandlessly summoned my broomstick as Krum jumped into the lake. I heard it whizzing towards me. I stuck my hand in the air and caught it smoothly. Harry grinned at me and dived into the lake.

I could see people in the crowd looking at me like I was nuts because broomsticks obviously don't work in the water. I mounted it as Fleur performed a bubble head charm and jumped in. I kicked off into the air.

People were actually laughing at me now. They probably thought I was an idiot. I lent forward and went into a dive as I used my power over water to make a clear path through the lake. People gasped as I disappeared into the lake. I found it was easier if I just traveled down inside an air bubble instead of trying to keep a huge tunnel from collapsing.

It didn't take long for me to find Fred and the others at the bottom of the lake. I was the first there of course. Who can swim faster than a broom stick? I took out my wand and cut the ropes tying him to the pole before expanding the air bubble so Fred was also in it. His eyes flew open and he got to his feet. He looked around in surprise. "You know Annie, I'm not supposed to wake up until we get to the surface of the lake." Fred teased.

"Is that in the rules?" I grinned as I motioned for him to join me on my broomstick. He laughed and got on behind me.

We flew back up in the air bubble. I passed Harry who was still swimming down. It didn't take long for me to burst out of the lake. There was lots of cheering as I did a quick loop before landing back on the dock. Fred and I slid off the broom as Ludo announced I was the first champion back.

Harry arrived soon after us with Ginny in his arms. I had already explained that they were never in any real danger so he hadn't felt the need to try and save everyone. Krum came after carrying a pretty girl who he had danced with at the Yule Ball. Like last time, Fleur didn't manage to get to her sister but the mermaids brought her back up when the hour ended.

The points came and I was now tied with Harry for first place. Krum was coming second and Fleur was last place. This was good because it mean Harry and I would enter the maze together.

...

Harry and I were starting to prepare for what we would encounter in the maze. After all, in order for our plan to work we had to grab the cup first. We started by brushing up on our riddles since I knew that was Harry weak point.

After that we decided that we should practice with bogarts. I wondered what mine would be this time seeing as I wasn't afraid of Dumbledore anymore. We went into the room of requirement and asked for a bogart. I wasn't sure if it could make one appear but it did. I assume it was possible because it had one in the room where everything is hidden.

Harry stepped in front of the large wardrobe and I made the door swing open. To my horror several dead bodies fell out. Ginny, Hermione, Ron, the twins, me, Neville, Luna. we were all there lying stone cold on the floor, our faces white with expressions of shock and fear. Seeing my own dead body really weirded me out. How on earth was Harry supposed to make that funny.

He shakily raised his wand and said the spell. All our dead selves started to get up, wiping the scary make up off, laughing and saying 'April fools'. "Good one Harry." I said with a weak laugh.

I took his place and stood in front of the bogart with my wand raised. It started to shift form in a whirl of colours. I gasped as it stopped and settled on the form of a huge bulldog. No, not a huge bulldog, the huge bulldog. My wand slipped between my shaking fingers and I stumbled backwards. It let out a loud bark and I tripped in surprise and fell on my but. I kept scrambling backwards as it advanced forward, growling as it went.

No. No. No. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be here. My mind flashed back to the horrible scene. My hand subconsciously falling to my leg to rest on the scar.

...

I was at the beach with my six year old big brother, Sam. We were playing in the sand and our parents were chatting with other parents at a picnic table on the other side of the beach. I know they told us not to go too far but the sand was better over here. I saw my father putting his hands on my mothers pregnant belly. A few weeks ago, they had told us we would have another brother or sister. I hope it's a girl.

I laughed as Sam accidentally smushed his castle as he was trying to add another layer to it. I was three but sometimes I feel like I was the smarter sibling. "Stop laughing Joey! It's not funny." He yelled at me.

"Is funny, Sami." I giggled. He smiled at me and joined in.

The dog came out of no where. It attacked me first, biting into my little leg. I cried as it shook me around like I was a chew toy. "No! Joey!" Sam exclaimed as he picked up a spade and started hitting the dog with it to try make it let go of me. He was so brave.

The big bulldog stopped biting me tuned with a loud growl. It's jaws closed around my brothers neck and I could do nothing as his blood joined mine in the sand. "Sam!" I cried loudly, I was so scared. I looked up and saw my parents and some other adults running towards us franticly.

There was a loud snap and I looked back at my brother to see he was no longer struggling as the huge dog continued to shake his lifeless body around. My parents reached us but it was far too late. My dad grabbed the horrible thing by its scruff of it's neck and lifted it off the ground. I could hear sirens in the distance and passed out into my mothers arms.

...

I had woken up in the hospital and even though I was only three at the time, I knew that it would be best if I told my parents I didn't remember. Sam was never mentioned again and after years and years of no one ever mentioning him, I really did forget. But then when Fred called me Joey... I just can't pretend it didn't happen any more.

"JOANNE!" Someone yelled, snapping me out of my trance. I looked around franticly. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for an explanation. The bogart was gone and the door to the wardrobe was shut again. I couldn't take their shocked faces anymore. My wand was lying next to me so I quickly picked it up and apparated away.

...

Fred's POV

It was now Annie's turn to face the boggart. I was actually really curious as to what she was afraid of. She never really seemed to be afraid of anything. To say I was shocked when she dropped her wand at the sight of a dog would be an understatement. The girl who could insult Voldemort to his face was terrified of a bulldog.

Joanne didn't look like she was going to move any time soon and the dog was still advancing on her so I quickly forced the boggart back into the wardrobe with a spell. I exchanged worried looks with the others when we saw that she still hadn't moved.

"Joanne?" I asked but she didn't seem to hear me.

"Annie!" Harry said. We continued to call her name.

"JOANNE!" I yelled and she finally seemed to snap out of it. She looked around with a pained look on her face before grabbing her wand and apparating away.

I don't think any of us really knew what to say. We'd never seen Joanne react so badly to anything. I hope she's alright.

...

I know I haven't updated in ages and I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I have exams at school and a serious case of writers block. When I took on trying to write a fanfiction I figured that no one would read it so I wouldn't have to be worried about disappointing anyone. I never expected to have so many wonderful readers and I'm trying to update regularly but it's so hard! I've never written anything close to this long before. Actually I used to think that 10,000 words was a huge amount and it would have taken me months to write that much. It's amazing what people can do with the right motivation. The fact the people actually like my story still amazes me and it makes me so happy to see so many follows, favorites and positive reviews. Sometimes I might be very late with my updates but I could never just abandon a story, especially when I am so close to finishing it, and rest assured, I will finnish this but there may be times when I have trouble delivering. Honestly this isn't one of my best chapters but I hope it's okay. (Sorry about the rant.)

Review replies:

music anomaly: Sorry for taking so long but I finally updated.

LynnPotter221: Wow, thanks!

sabrina-luna-potter: Thank you!

hacoles (Guest): I'll try my best to make Ron and Daphne a good paring but romance is not my strong point.

Narnia and Harry Potter 4 EVER: Wow! It's amazing you think that, thank you!

Guest: Sorry for not doing Romione. Glad you like Fred and Joanne though.

EmpressLupin: Luna is already with Neville. I've mentioned it several times.

PrincessWilla101: Lol. Sorry the update took so long but it's here.

Silver shadow352: I'm sorry I took so long. I hope you forgive me!

NicoCheesediPizzaAngelo: Thank you for reviewing!

the quill12: Glad you are enjoying my story! Sorry for taking so long.

Hpisdabest: Actually you spelt Daphne right...I think. Thanks for reviewing!

Raven Flaw: Thanks. I found out what a Mary Sue actually was when I had already written like thirty chapters so yeah maybe Annie is a little like one but it was too late to change it.

megapoepvlekje: I'm so sorry it took so long! It's sweet that you checked so regularly. I hope you liked the chapter and sorry again for making you wait.