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

Snape was something of a nightmare in the weeks before the third task. It was as if he knew all of the students were looking forward to it but he couldn't stand the idea of any fun being had. He'd been in a fairly foul mood most of the year and she wondered if it had to do with the new additions at the school. There was no missing the way he sneered at Moody and the headmaster of Durmstrang. It was like he was taking all of it out on the students.

After a particular rough lesson where he'd snapped at nearly anyone who'd made so much as a peep Eliza was glad when she and Hannah ran into Fred and Ginny. They were sitting off to the side and Ginny was laughing at something that her brother was showing her. "Loads of fun in potions?" Ginny asked as they approached and took in their expressions. Hannah's was one of annoyance and she was sure her own wasn't far off from it.

"Oh, yeah. Snape put on a tutu and danced around the classroom for us." Hannah grumbled as she set her bag down. She began stretching, sore from the rigid way she'd been sitting in class. Eliza would have thought the girl had a ruler on her spine with how straight her posture had been as if slouching would incur more of Snape's ire.

"I've heard he's very graceful." Fred said while Eliza picked up Rikki and petted him. He'd been on his best behavior recently and she couldn't help but feel he was trying to avoid being put in his cage again.

"Limber too." Eliza said. "Under those robes? Legs for days." She said trying to keep her face straight as she went along with the joke.

Ginny cringed. "I'll be seeing that in my nightmares."

"So dreaming about Harry has to take a backseat?" Fred teased and his sister shoved him, her face reddening. "You should see some of the stuff she writes in her diary about it. Graphic." He said with a shake of his head.

"Ugh! That's a lie." Ginny huffed and looked like she was ready to punch him.

"Quite the imagination. My sister the deviant." Fred kept going and Eliza was not surprised by the elbow she landed in his gut. He let out a grunt as the blow landed and he bent over.

Hannah sucked in a breath as if she felt it herself and high-fived the girl. "Nice."

Ginny quickly hopped up and made a break for it as her brother sat up and there was only a split second before Fred went after her. The moment he did Eliza stuck her foot out and he went stumbling but caught himself. He shot her a look and pointed. "Don't start."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said with a small shrug. "I was stretching."

"Oh, stretching were you?" He took a step forward and Eliza laughed as Ginny suddenly jumped on his back. He caught her so she didn't drop and she put her hands over his eyes. "Guess who?"

"I dunno. My annoying brat of a sister?" He threatened to drop her and she held on for dear life until he agreed to set her down slowly. Once she was back on the ground he acted as if he was going to grab for her again but she gave him a look and he laughed. Eliza and Ginny shared a high five and he looked between them as Hannah said something about him not being dumb enough to try to handle them both at the same time. "Not worth the trouble." He said with a huff.

They hung out until Ginny had to go to class and Hannah had enough of him. She had a much shorter fuse when it came to Fred than most people and though she often played along she was not afraid to put him in his place when he got out of line. Eliza had never seen anyone back off as quickly as Fred when Hannah snapped at him.

"That girl is a dragon in disguise." He said when she left. She'd said she wanted to catch up with Tasha and Kelly. She invited Eliza along but she'd declined saying that if she left Fred alone he'd have to find someone else to torture and she wasn't willing to put that evil on the innocent. Really she had some work she wanted to finish up in the shop and it would be better with company. If she just so happened to keep him out of trouble at the same time then it was a happy accident.

Getting anything done was difficult with a bored Fred on her hands and she was relieved when Lee joined them to keep him occupied. Lee offered to help her with bottling but she told him he'd be much more useful to her by entertaining Fred. While she worked she listened to them horsing around. When George caught up with them she was setting the finished products on the shelves.

While she put everything away they started talking about how much they could get away with selling during the last task. Lee was saying that they needed to be extra careful. If they were caught hawking their wares out in the open they'd be lucky if their mother didn't lock them up over the summer. The brothers paid his warning no mind though there was no doubt in Eliza's mind they were already going to be on their toes as much as possible.

"Everyone will be there. I think we can make a good bit. It'll be boring staring at a maze." Fred was saying when Eliza posted up on a stool. The last task did sound exciting but she had to agree. At best it would be one giant social gathering while they waited for a winner to be announced. Lee said their only mistake with the second task had been not bringing more stuff to sell. That was a mistake they wouldn't be making a second time.

"Lesson learned." Fred said hopping up to sit on the work table.

George looked around the room and all talk of sales dropped. "We should do something tonight." He said and Eliza set her elbow on the table, resting her cheek on it while Lee took a seat on the table closest to her.

"The four of us? What about Katie?" Fred asked. It was a teasing question but George wasn't rising to the bait. "I've been with her most of the day." He said.

"I bet." Lee snickered and he nudged Eliza and they began making kissy faces at one another which made George cringe. Fred made a gagging noise but went along with his brother's idea. He asked him what he had in mind while Eliza and Lee giggled quietly.

George shrugged. "I dunno. We've left the HufflePuffs alone for the most part." He said. That had Eliza snapping to attention.

"Count me out. I'm not having that house mad at me. Those badgers are scary." She said. In all honesty she didn't want to throw Cedric off before the last task. Cas would be pissed if she knew she had anything to do with it. If they targeted the house Eliza had a feeling the girl would connect her to it either way. That wasn't a rope she was willing to walk.

"Iz, come on. We haven't hung out in weeks." George said.

She felt her brow furrow. "What are you talking about? We just got together last Saturday." She said. They'd spent most of the day together. Most of it was her catching up on the weeks assignments while they went about terrorizing the locals.

"Until you went off with Victor." Lee pointed out and she didn't miss the looks of agreement that went around.

Eliza shrugged and picked at her robes. "What? He needed my help with something." She said with a small smile to herself.

"Oh, I bet he did." Fred smirked and she gave him a sidelong glance. "Don't start." She muttered. So far they'd gone a whole week without an incident and she wanted it to stay that way.

George snorted at them. "Okay. We'll leave the Hufflepuffs alone." He conceded. "We'll think of something else." He said. Eliza looked him over wondering why he was willing to budge on it so easily. Usually there was a fair bit of time trying to convince her of why it was a good idea. Not this time? His new relationship must have been giving him some valuable lessons in picking his battles. Eliza was liking Katie more and more every day.

"Awh. That's kind of sweet." Lee said and she tapped him on the back as if to say 'cut it out'.

George rolled his eyes at Lee. "I just want us all to do something. If Izzy doesn't show then it's not all of us. It's almost the end of the year so why not?" He had a fair point. It was sweet that he wanted them all to spend time together even if his idea of that meant getting them in trouble or turning someone else's night upside down.

Of course Fred had to ruin the nice moment. "We can collect a bunch of spiders and throw them on Ron." He suggested.

"That's awful!" Eliza gasped. Ginny told her the story of when they'd turned caused their brother's intense fear of spiders and she once again wondered how she'd come to be friends with two people who could be so insanely cruel to those they loved. She reminded herself they were only kids back then but had they really matured all that much? Sometimes she had her doubts.

"We've taken it easy on him this year." George said with a carefree air about him.

She shook her head, amazed. "I think you've done enough to him to last a lifetime." She said suddenly very glad that they'd never gone out of their way to give her some new phobia when they'd been mad at her. That could have gone south real fast.

Fred chuckled. "If we stop he'll think we don't love him anymore."

"I doubt it." Eliza stared at him wondering just how many times a day a terrible thought entered his mind. She was glad she didn't have the ability to hear people's thoughts. That might have shortened her lifespan by decades.

Lee's suggestion at least wouldn't give anyone lasting trauma. "We can decorate one of the courtyards with toilet paper."

George perked up. "Or the potions classroom."

Eliza sighed. "How about we do something normal that doesn't have a chance to get us into trouble?" She asked. They all turned their eyes on her and there were mixed faces of disapproval. From their reactions one would think she'd just suggested murder. She raised her hands in defense "Geeze. Sorry. I just want a nice peaceful end to the school year."

Fred and George suddenly shared a look and they both grinned. Apparently they had an idea and Eliza felt dread fill her. Anytime they both looked like that it meant nothing good. "Fireworks." They said.

That was the exact opposite of peaceful.

The guys immediately got to work gathering up fireworks from their stash setting them out on the table and taking stock. Throughout the whole year they'd been working on their own and Eliza asked them if they'd been tested yet. There was some hesitance in their answers that only made the dread in her gut grow.

"No time like the present." Fred grinned and if anything that made her worry more.

She sighed. "Oh...No.." If they weren't tested there were so many ways that it was a bad idea but once they had their minds set on something it was unlikely she was going to do much to change it.

George laughed at the look on her face. "Scared?" He teased. She told him that yes she was because there was no way it was going to go smoothly. "C'mon what better way to celebrate the year?" He encouraged.

"And get the attention of the whole school in the process." She pointed out. Fred was quick to tell her she was either in or she was out while George and Lee talked about timing. Eliza's mind churned thinking about all the possible ways it could go wrong but the way they looked so excited she felt herself wanting to go along with it just to see how it played out. "I'm gonna regret this." She muttered.

They were not subtle whatsoever during dinner telling some of their friends to keep their eyes on the sky. George made her roll her eyes when he said that it was going to be a blast with a wink. It made her think twice about joining them after all. If she was going to have to suffer through his terrible puns she wouldn't survive the evening.

Afterward they bolted back to the shop and Fred started loading up her pockets until she had no more space on her. Leaving Rikki with Hannah at dinner felt like the smartest decision she'd made all day. Getting past teachers and other students casually was a bit tricky and Eliza was sure they were going to get caught. Once they were out on the grounds though her anxiety eased a bit.

There were teachers keeping an eye on the quidditch pitch so they scoped out a spot far away from them that would still be a good view. Eliza's head was on a swivel expecting one of the staff to pop up while they quickly set the display up. "Hurry up." Lee said as she fumbled with one of the fireworks and she snapped back that she was moving as fast as she could but her hands were sweating with nerves.

They set up a few lines of them but Fred jumped the gun on setting them off, eager to get to it. She barely had time to step back before a few fired off and the one closest to her misfired causing it to fire at her and she ran for her life from it. The guys were laughing as they booked it, the rest of the display blasting off and they only had a moment to enjoy the show themselves mostly in glances back.

They did stop to plaster themselves to the side of the castle. Eliza was trying to catch her breath while George and Fred discussed the ones that ended up being duds. Eliza glanced up to see students watching out of windows, their faces lit up. "Duds? How about the ones that turn into fricken missiles?!" She hissed.

"You're alright." George shrugged.

"That's not the point." She popped him on the back of the head and he laughed at her singed robes when she pointed them out. Fred didn't even bother to apologize for setting them off too soon as he was too busy mocking the way she'd run away. Eliza felt the urge to smother him but the sound of someone rushing passed their hiding spot made her resist. Filch could be heard cursing and spitting as he went and they waited for him to move off a bit before slipping inside.

After a moment of goofing around they split up. Eliza wasn't keen on being seen with them so soon after their antics. On her way to the common room she passed the Gray Lady who gave her a disapproving look and she was quick to duck past her. She was glad to see that Kelly was still up and she had Rikki with her. He was napping on the table in front of her homework.

Eliza collapsed into the chair next to Kelly who looked at her robes with an arched brow. "No need to ask what you've been up to." She said as Rikki woke up and slid on his belly towards her sleepily. Eliza pulled him into her lap to pet him. "It was a lovely show." Kelly added with a knowing look.

There was no point in denying it so Eliza changed the subject. "Right. How was your day?" She asked.

The other girl lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "Nice and relaxing. Hung out with Tasha and Hannah. Hannah plaited Tasha's hair and we listened to music." She said and that sounded really nice.

"I'm jealous." Eliza chuckled trying to imagine how different her day could have gone if she'd left with Hannah when she'd offered. While they had no shortage of days where they hung out it sure was more laid back spending time with them. At least when she was hanging out with the girls there was less chance of catching fire.

Kelly gave her a coy look. "You could have joined us." She said pointing out the obvious. Eliza nodded. She could have and a part of her wished she had. "You go along with them even though you know what they're like." Kelly continued. It made Eliza look down at herself. How often did she even put up a fight when going along with the guys anymore? She used to be liberal with the word 'no' with them and had asked them to leave her out of their antics. She couldn't pinpoint when that started to change.

"Right." Eliza muttered with a sigh. She pulled her robe up to inspect the scorched bits on the bottom.

"They've got you wrapped around their fingers." Kelly chuckled lightly and Eliza turned her attention back to her with a small frown. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

The other girl shook her head. "Nothing. You're the same with Tasha and Cas. You bend over backward for people even if it's detrimental to you." She said. Eliza blinked at her a few times before dropping her gaze to Rikki who'd chosen to curl up in her lap. She absently petted him along his back as she let Kelly's words sink in.

"Thanks for the psych lesson, Kell." She said with a glance her way.

Kelly leaned towards her and gave her a squeeze around her shoulders. "It's your best quality." She said before pecking her on the cheek and then laughing at the look on her face.