The Amazing Thing About: Trust. Chapter twenty-six.

With the last task announced the school was buzzing with questions about what would be inside the maze the champions had to navigate. It was still a month away so there was plenty of time for them to prepare and Eliza was grateful they hadn't just sprung the task on them without that. But that also made her worry that it would have to be exceedingly difficult compared to the others.

"Wanna check out the maze tonight?" Fred asked over dinner one night. Some of the other students had checked out the quidditch pitch where it was located. There wasn't much to it just yet but they wanted to get a look at it themselves. "Sure. After dinner?" She asked and he nodded. She expected George to come with them but when they were out in the halls he split off.

"Not coming with us Georgie?" She asked and he shook his head. "Can't. Asked Katie if she wanted to hang out." He said and Eliza nearly cheered for him. Ever since he'd expressed his interest in her Eliza had been pushing him a bit more than usual to talk to her. At first he'd been resistant saying that he'd talk to her when he got the chance but she kept telling him to make a chance. That if he waited around too long she might just get with someone else. It seemed her tactics had worked.

"Nice! Good for you!" She exclaimed and he looked embarrassed by her reaction. "Easy, Iz. We're only hanging out." He said but there was something underneath that. She doubted he'd ever admit it but he was over the moon. She could tell by the way he looked like he was ready to take off at any second. So she turned with a wave to let him off the hook.

"I better be invited to the wedding." She called over her shoulder and she could nearly feel his eyes glaring at the back of her head.

"Bet he mucks it up." Fred chuckled as they headed out onto the grounds. The night was a bit hot with very little breeze and Eliza regretted not dropping her robe off at her dorm before coming out.

"Unlike you I don't place bets on people's love lives." Eliza said with a smirk. "How're things with Angie?" She asked. Since things were looking up for George she figured it was a good idea to check in on Fred's situation as well if he was willing to talk about it. Last time he'd been drunk but hopefully he wouldn't put up a fight if it was just the two of them.

Fred shrugged. "Still too soon to tell. I did talk to her about it, though so spare me the lecture." It was like he already knew what she was going to say before he even started. He'd probably heard enough about her nagging from his brother.

She smiled to herself feeling somewhat accomplished. Even if it wasn't her doing it still felt good to know he was making progress. "Proud of you. What did she say?"

He mumbled his response and she had to ask him to repeat himself because she didn't hear him. That caused him to groan. "That she'd think about it." That could be good or bad but Eliza had seen the way Angelina acted around him. She definitely had a crush so maybe she was just weighing the pros and cons of developing things further.

"Oh. Well, that's not terrible." She patted him on the back but he gave her a flat look. "It isn't great either." He said and she had to admit he had her there. The unknown was a big factor. Fred was probably on pins and needles about it deep down worried she was just prolonging rejection. Eliza wanted to cheer him up.

"It is. At least she's thinking about you. I'm sure she'll come around." She said even though she was going out on a limb. "I hope.." She muttered to herself. Honestly seeing Fred rejected would suck. He was a gigantic ass but he was a sweetheart under all of that and he deserved to share that with someone. He'd probably never admit it but his pride was on the line. She wondered if he'd ever been rejected before. Or if he'd ever tried to date anyone. He'd never mentioned anything and she hadn't been around before fifth year so she didn't know.

"What's with you playing matchmaker this year?" He asked.

"I don't know. Just wanna see you guys happy." It wasn't that far of a stretch. She was finding happiness in her own way and she wanted to share that with them.

Fred snorted. "It's odd."

She chuckled and took on a serious tone. "Ah, yes. Very odd to want to see two of my favorite people in the world happy. I should do some soul-searching."

He laughed and they shoved each other a bit playfully before she held her hands up in surrender. Their playful back and forths had been getting out of hand recently. For some reason it felt like they were always in competition to see who could push the others buttons more. It often turned into them throwing things at each other or wrestling until one of them gave up. It rarely ended peacefully and George or Lee were usually the ones breaking them up though they often instigated it as well.

Graciously accepting her surrender Fred turned the subject on her as they entered the pitch. She expected to see other students about but there was no one. There also wasn't much light, just enough to see where they were going but Eliza made sure she watched her step. "How're things with Victor?"

She dodged the question the same way she dodged a stick on the ground. "Fine." She'd kept pretty tight-lipped about how things were with him just because George had seemed uncomfortable during the last talk they'd had. She assumed Fred didn't want to hear the details either.

"It's insulting that you think we haven't seen you and him sneaking around. Sneaking is what we do." Fred stopped at the edge of the maze and she poked him in the side of his nose.

"You're too nosy." She teased.

"That was terrible." He chuckled at her joke attempt. She shrugged it off thinking it was funny. She moved along the edge trying to gauge just how long it went on. The shape was in place for the most part though she had a feeling that would be changing considering it was out in the open for everyone to see. So far the maze was only about hip height as they walked around it. "It's huge." She said as she took in the subtle paths that led to dead ends.

Fred leaned over one of the hedges. It looked empty through and through so far. "What do you think they'll put in it?" He asked.

"Things I wouldn't want to face." Eliza muttered. She wouldn't be very happy to be trapped inside a maze at all. Much less one that had creatures roaming about or traps waiting to be triggered.

He smirked. "So really anything that could be the tiniest threat?"

Eliza stuck her tongue out at him and grumbled. "Very funny." But she knew that she'd only given him a reason to keep going by giving him a reaction at all. He hardly ever passed up on the chance to goad her. "It's true. You're so jumpy." He said and gave her a sharp prod to the ribs. Eliza jumped and moved away from him to avoid another. "Point proven." He sounded so smug she wanted to kick him.

"I'm not jumpy." She huffed as she continued along the maze, her hand grazing over the top of it.

Fred kept pace beside her making her eye him in case he tried anything. "The number of times we've made you scream this year says different." He said pretending to count on his fingers until he ran out.

"That doesn't count. Getting startled and being scared are different." Eliza tried to think she wasn't a complete coward though she could name a few times it felt that way.

She didn't like the way his expression gave away that he was scheming. "Uh-huh. I'll keep that in mind." His tone made her wish she'd kept her mouth shut. They were so close to the end of the year and having to look over her shoulder all the time wasn't how she wanted to spend her remaining time. To distract him she pointed to a spot inside the maze a few feet away and she pushed her way through the hedge. "Check it out! Looks like they'll be planting something here."

It appeared her distraction worked as he watched her from the other side. "Any theories?" She asked to keep his mind on the task instead of coming up with ways to scare the pants off of her.

He looked thoughtful from what she could tell in the dark. "Never know. Sprouts got all sorts of things that would trip them up." He said. Eliza could think of a dozen things right off the top of her head and nodded before crouching down to check the soil. She picked a bit of it up and sniffed at it to see if she could figure out what kind of fertilizer or additives they'd be using. It could possibly narrow down the list of species. There wasn't much to go off of though and Eliza frowned. "It would be cool if they added the babies in here." She said.

"I wish you'd stop calling them that." Fred grumbled.

"Too bad." She rose and wiped her hands on her robe before heading back out the way she'd come. On the other side she meant to keep going along but she felt a snag. Turning she could see her robe stuck in the bush. With a frown she tried to tug it out but Fred was quick to stop her and fiddled with it until came free. "Thanks."

"Can't even handle the bushes without help. Pathetic" He chuckled. No good deed was ever to go without a snarky comment it seemed. "Ass.." She muttered and continued along the edge of the maze. It was difficult to see and Eliza almost wanted to go inside much deeper than she had to show him that she wasn't scared. But there was no telling how much of it was developed and she wasn't willing to get herself caught up in something.

Fred was grinning at her side. "What happened to being one of your favorite people in the world?" He teased.

"Just shows I have poor taste." She said though she knew better. He was still trying to goad her and she was giving him all the fuel he needed. Might as well have waved a flag over her head that said 'Round one. Fight!'

"Ouch." Fred laughed before grabbing at her ribs. "Take it back." He said.

Eliza shoved him away from her by the shoulder and held her hands in front of her to keep him at bay. "Quit it." She warned but he only laughed and lunged at her. She barely dodged him and then turned and pushed him. Keeping him at a distance was sometimes her only choice though he was bigger than her. With the push he was set off balance and landed in the dirt on his hands and knees.

"Crap. Sorry." Eliza felt bad. She wasn't expecting him to fall so she extended a hand out to him to help him up. She cursed her good heart as he turned his head and she saw the smirk on his face. Why couldn't they just have a nice leisurely walk without it turning into an ordeal?

"You're too nice, Iz." Fred said as he took her arm and yanked her down. She yelped as she hit the ground and he tore up a bit of grass to sprinke it on her face. It almost felt like playing with a toddler sometimes. A tall, lanky toddler.

She rolled to the side to get away from him only for him to laugh harder at her attempt. "Never turn your back to the enemy." He said and before she could get to her feet he pulled her back by her robes. Instinctively she lashed out with her elbows trying to catch him in the ribs. "You're fighting dirty, you ass." She grunted.

"I recall someone saying that winning is winning." He snickered and dropped dirt down the back of her shirt.

"Ugh. You worm!" She hissed and turned to shove him away from her but he grabbed onto her robe, rolled her and sat on her. That was plain unfair. He weighed more than she did but she wasn't going to just let him win. Horsing around with him like this she'd gotten pretty used to having to try to outsmart him.

So instead of trying to push him she dug her fingers into the ground and quickly threw a large clump of dirt and grass into his face making his hands shoot to his eyes. With that moment of having him occupied she dug her fingers into his armpits. He could act tough all he wanted but he was just as ticklish as she was when it came down to it. That leveled the playing field a little.

"Okay okay. Truce." Fred wheezed stuck between wanting to clear his eyes and stop her hands. He rolled off of her but he'd faked her out plenty of times before so she took the chance to put plenty of space between them. She'd been right to do it because as soon as his eyes were cleared he was clambering to his feet and lunging for her.

"You called truce!" She shouted as he grabbed her and put her in a headlock.

"So? I lied." He laughed and she sighed and tapped on his back. "Fine. You win." She said but he didn't say anything. He'd gone very still but his arm had loosened so she freed herself and stepped away to catch her breath. He didn't seem even to notice though as she patted herself down and untucked her shirt to let the dirt out of the back. "That's the last time I go anywhere with you without a handler." She grumbled.

When she was fixing her hair she looked his way noting his lack of smart-ass response. His eyes were focused on the stands and she followed his gaze but it was too dark to see much. "Fred?"

He took a few steps forward and slipped his wand from his pocket. "Lumos." He kept going towards the stands and Eliza followed after him curious as to what he was doing. She thought at first he was only messing around but he looked serious as he went. "Stay back, Iz." He muttered and she watched him get closer to the stands. Stay back? What did he think he'd seen? It was hard to stay still as she looked around wondering what was going on. It was probably other students looking for privacy. She latched onto that and ran with it. If this was his idea of trying to scare her she was going to freak out.

Rikki stayed next to her for a moment but he was sniffing at the air and started after Fred. "Rikki!" She hissed at him to get him to come back. The ferret ignored her and continued forward picking up the pace until he broke into a run and darted into the stands. Great. Now she was going to have to track him down.

It felt like all the sound in the world had ceased as she tried to listen for any sign of danger. Eliza gripped her own wand as Fred leaned over one of the benches and she held her breath. She jumped when a bird took off away from the stands, passing by Fred and making him stumble. There was a beat of wings and then silence before Rikki emerged as if trying to chase it down. Eliza then burst into laughter at the whole situation.

Fred wasn't laughing as he watched the bird go and she jogged over to him. "Nearly gave me a heart attack." She chuckled. He didn't appear amused at all and she figured he just needed a minute. For once he'd been startled instead of her so she basked in it. "Karma." She said as Rikki returned to her side.

She moved to sit down but Fred took her by her arm and began to steer her away from the pitch. It caused her to stumble a bit but she tried to play it off. He was acting strange. "Wow. Scared you that bad, huh?" She teased and pulled out of his grasp. She didn't need to be led like a child. He looked like he wanted to reach for her again but instead stuck his hand in his pocket. He wasn't being his usual snarky self and it was beginning to worry her. "Are you okay, Freddy?" She asked.

Fred kept looking around and over their shoulders as they headed back to the castle. It made her paranoid that he knew something she didn't so she asked him again. "You alright?" She'd give anything in that moment to know what was going on in his head. Something had spooked him and Fred wasn't the type to be easily scared.

The quiet night stretched around them and Eliza didn't like the way he was acting so serious. It only fed her worry that he'd seen something else in the stands. He finally answered her when they were closer to the lights of the castle. Able to see him better Eliza could tell he was extremely tense. "I thought I saw.." He started but shook his head. "I thought I saw a person."

A person? They were on school grounds where students snuck around all the time. He should know that better than anyone. "It was probably just a trick of the light." Eliza shrugged but he didn't seem convinced. "No. I definitely saw a person move." He insisted.

"It was just a bird." She tried to make him feel better and looped her arm with his. He stiffened a bit initially but after a moment he relaxed and as they entered the castle his shoulders eased. Being back inside seemed to make him feel a lot better though he still looked like he was trying to piece something together. She squeezed his arm to try to snap him out of his own head and he looked down at her with a small smile. "You're probably right."

In the common room Kelly and Hannah were set up with their books. When she made her way over to them she waved to a few students who were trying not to laugh at her appearance. Hannah slapped a hand over her mouth as she looked at Eliza and it appeared she was having a hard time containing her laughter.

"You look a mess." Kelly said looking her up and down. Eliza removed her robe and turned it around to see grass stains all over it. Great.

"The unfortunate side effects of hanging around with a certain jerk." She sighed and folded the robe up to place on one of the empty chairs. Hannah finally let some of her giggles out. They'd seen Eliza and Fred tussle plenty of times by now to know exactly who she was referring to.

"Did you win?" Hannah asked. Eliza sighed and plopped down in the chair on top of her robe and kept her back off the chair. With Hermione still on the rampage for house-elf rights Eliza had begun to take great care not to add to their cleaning. It was habit by now.

"There is no winning with Fred." she said and ran her fingers through her hair. A piece of grass fell onto the table and she scowled at it.

Hannah set her chin in her hand and picked up the blade of grass. "I don't know why you go along with it." She sighed. Eliza stared at her, eyebrows furrowed. Sometimes she didn't have much of a choice. He'd just dig and dig or just outright physically instigate it. He would probably stop if she yelled at him or had a serious talk with him but what was the harm in a little play fighting? It was a great way to work out aggression sometimes.

One could make an argument that she did it because it was fun. At least it was most of the time unless one of them got hurt. Then it was less fun. Plus she hated that smug smirk when he thought he'd won. "I try not to but he just..Ugh."

"He knows exactly how to get under your skin." Hannah said and reached over to pull some more stuff out of her hair. She'd hit the nail on the head.

"You're right. He does." She said and sat still for her knowing she was going to need an extra long shower before bed.

Kelly shook her head with a quiet laugh. "One of these days you two are going to put each other in the hospital wing."

There was no way they'd ever let it go that far. While they might rough each other up a little it was never to the extent of having to get anything fixed. Maybe a bloody nose with an accidental slip but it wasn't like they were aiming to cause pain aside from a few jabs to the ribs. He usually stuck to tickling or tossing her around a bit. It wasn't anything she hadn't seen him do with Ginny. She and the girl had actually compared tactics once or twice. Ginny was far more brutal than Eliza was and she was not afraid to hit her brother if he didn't let up when she asked. Eliza had seen her punch him in the gut once and she hadn't been able to breathe from laughing so hard.

"Nah." She shook her head. "It's just fun and games."

Hannah laughed. "Until someone loses an eye."

Eliza put a hand over one of her eyes. "I don't know. Do you think Moody and I could match?"