Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoy reading chapter 8 of this story. Please let me know your thoughts.

Chapter Eight

The day that the aging potion was finished, Natalie crossed her fingers and prayed that it would work. She couldn't imagine how furious the twins would be if they thought she purposely messed up the potion. However, Natalie made sure to have them check her work throughout the process to avoid getting blamed for it not working. "I'm still concerned that we haven't thought this totally through. Dumbledore is very smart, and I think he would've thought about this."

George ruffled her blonde hair. "That's the thing, I think he's so smart he wouldn't have thought of such a dumb loophole."

"Stop worrying, you'll get wrinkles in your forehead, love." Fred winked and poked her side playfully.

Natalie couldn't stop worrying. She kept thinking of how something will happen, and they will all get in trouble. How many house points would Slytherin lose if it was discovered that she tried to help the twins go behind the ministries back and trick the officials? How would her father and mother react if they found out she was breaking a law and helping her underaged friends put their lives at risk.

She wanted to throw up she was so worried.

Fred and George looked elated. They didn't have a care in the world. They waltzed into the Great Hall where everyone was sitting around the mysterious aging ring watching the 7th years put their names into the cup to enter the tournament.

The group of Gryffindors in the room started cheering loudly when they saw the twins with their names on a paper. Fred and George ran around the room egging on the crowd until other houses joined in on the rowdiness.

Hermione Granger tossed her bushy hair behind her shoulder and sniffed. "It's not going to work, you know."

The twins plopped down on either side of her. "Oh yea?"

"And why is that, Granger?"

She snapped her book shut in frustration. Natalie had to hold in a chuckle. She was sure that Hermione was going to repeat exactly what she was warning them about this entire time. "That is an aging ring. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"And?"

"What about it?"

Hermione scoffed. "Dumbledore wouldn't be outwitted by a simple aging potion."

"But that's why it's so brilliant."

"Because it's so incredibly dim-witted."

Natalie sighed and sank next to Hermione as the twins jumped up. She whispered. "I tried to tell them; they wouldn't listen. I'm so nervous this isn't going to end well."

Hermione looked at her and smiled softly in an understanding way. "The Weasleys' never listen to anybody. Don't take it personally. I've been trying to talk sense into Ron for years."

The twins were up on the first set of risers and had the potion in either of their hands. "Bottoms up, George?"

"Bottoms up." He agreed.

They wrapped their arms around each other and drank the potion. Physically it looked like nothing had changed since the potion was to only make them one year older. Natalie held her breath in anticipation for what was about to happen next.

The twins jumped over the aging line and started cheering as nothing happened. The Gryffindor onlookers were loud and clapping wildly for the twins. This only egged them on as they made a spectacle as they tossed their names into the fire.

Natalie huffed, "There's no way that it's working… I can't believe it…" just as she was halfway through the sentence, bright flames burst out of the goblet shooting all over the Great Hall.

The flames found their target of Fred and George who went flying backwards. "Fred!" Natalie screamed and ran over to where they were.

When they sat up, she had to stifle a laugh. "Oh my god, look at you two!"

Instead of their usual, bright red hair, the twins were sporting white and gray hair that was unruly and matched the long beards that had appeared on their faces. They aged big time when the flames hit them. "I'm going to kill you." Fred looked at George. "You said this would work!"

"What? I never said that! You said it!"

They began to argue back and forth about who was the one to originally come up with the plan and began to wrestle on the ground. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" the group of students from all three schools began to chant in the hall.

"Stop it!" Natalie screamed trying to pull the boys apart from each other. "You're being ridiculous."

The chanting in the Great Hall grew quiet as Victor Krum walked in surrounded by a posse of boys from Durmstrang. While the others were distracted, Natalie managed to break apart the twins. "I need to take you two to the Hospital Wing. Now."

"We're fine—"

"No." Natalie hissed and looked at Fred who was trying to protest. "I didn't want to do this in the first place because I was worried about what would happen. You do not get to argue with me now. We are going to see Madame Pomphrey."

The twins looked down at their shoes and knew she was right. They had to go and get fixed up. Natalie wasn't sure what had caused the aging potion to go haywire when the spell hexed them to age more rapidly and she wouldn't be able to fix it on her own. "Sorry, Natalie." George whispered. "You were right…"

Fred winced at the words. He also hated being wrong. "Yea, sorry, Nat."

The three of them escaped out of the Great Hall and went to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomphrey clucked her tongue when she saw them. "Tried to enter in our names to the tournament, did we?"

"Perhaps…" Fred smiled.

"You know us, trouble always seems to find us." George added plopping into a bed.

"I don't think trouble finds you. You two seem to seek it." She rolled her eyes and began to work on reversing the effects of the flames. "Flint. What are you still doing here?"

"Oh. Umm… I was just leaving." She awkwardly turned around and headed out of the hospital wing waving to Fred and George as she left. They both winked in return showing that they had no ill feelings towards her.

"Thanks for the help!" Fred called cheekily at her.

Natalie gave him a death glare before darting out of the room for Madame Pomphrey to figure out that she was also involved in this event. She prayed the whole way back to the Slytherin Common room that she wouldn't have any house points taken away.