Fred was feeling, for lack of a better term, painfully jealous of Viktor. As he and his brother ate their lunch at the Great Hall, chatting away with people congratulating him for succeeding in the second task, Freds attention was taken away when Hermione and Viktor walked past him paying him no mind, and sitting together at the end of the long table having a very amusing conversation.
To Fred, the worst of it was the fact that he had wanted them to be friends, and should have been happy to see wish met. But still, with no real reason why, Fred was sickly jealous of Viktor and the seemingly amazing conversation the two were having.
"Can you stop staring?" Lee asked quietly to break the silence between the four.
"I'm not staring," Fred replied as he continued to stare. "What if he's bothering her?"
"Doesn't look bothered to me," Angelina snickered as she took a peep at the two down the table.
"You wouldn't know a rhino from a dragon, Angelina, so I'm not taking your word," Fred snapped back. George only rolled his eyes and smiled as his girlfriend and brother scowled at each other.
"How's about we just head back to the common room, right brother?" he finally suggested, taking a stand as their friends followed before Fred finally caved and joined them in leaving. Fred still couldn't help but look back at Hermione, who was laughing at something he had said to her. Fred frowned and looked ahead, his face now bright red with anger, though nobody could tell if it was at her or himself.
I should be the one to make her laugh, Fred thought as he and Lee walked side by side to the common room. What if she leaves me?
"Careful there, Freddy, any madder and you might bring summer around too soon," George joked, snapping his twin out of his daze.
"Oh, sorry bout that," he mumbled as they continued on. "I mean, I'm not mad or anything, I want them to be friends it's just-"
"Well it's not like you're together, so whats the problem?" George interfered, a cheeky grin growing on his face as he swapped himself in with Lee.
"Nothings the problem, but he clearly likes her, so-"
George cut off once more, his grin growing. "So what? You guys are both single, she can do what she wants-"
"Well what if she wasn't single!" Fred finally snapped, storming off ahead and leaving his brother and friends behind. While he couldn't see it, George was smiling brightly and cheekily, receiving a slap on the arm from his girlfriend.
"That was mean," Angelina stated as the three continued on much slower than Fred.
"He'll thank me one day, but now that the truth is out we may as well spread the good word." George replied, hi-fiving Lee as they continued on.
Fred reached the common room and went straight to his bed, ignoring the cheers and chants from his peers below as they eagerly celebrated Harry's win, as well as Freds success. As he dug his head in his pillow, Fred began to hate every fibre of his being. He hated being jealous, and even more than that, he hated being so angry. For the first time since he was a child, Fred was embarrassed by himself, and really just wanted to disappear for a moment. An hour went by with people coming and going as they tried to convince him to cheer up, before the person he wanted to see least finally swung by.
"Are you okay, Fred?" Hermione asked as she took a seat by him on the bed. She instantly began playing with the boys hair, a pit of guilt building in her own stomach. When she had first arrived to the common room, George was quick to make a joke about her breaking Freds heart, and while she was at first upset that the secret was out, she couldn't help but worry what the issue was.
"I'm fine, 'Mione," he replied, not bringing his head out of the pillow. "You go celebrate."
"There isn't a celebration if you aren't there, now please tell me whats wrong," she insisted, scratching through his hair delicately. Fred groaned before finally turning around, a deep frown on his face as he finally looked at Hermione. "Did I do something to upset you?"
"No," he grumbled, finally sitting up and facing her. "Its just… Do you fancy Viktor?"
Hermione looked at him for a moment, but Fred couldn't read her eyes at all. As if finally answering her question, Hermione leaned forwards and kissed Fred softly.
"Not really. He's a good friend, but thats all," Hermione admitted. She felt bad for the slightly conflicted feeling she had as she walked into the common room, but managed to suppress it all for the moment.
"Am I an idiot for being jealous?" Fred asked, planting his face in his hands shamefully.
"You're always an idiot, but not really for this. I didn't think you were the jealous type, though," she giggled, scratching his head once more.
"I'm not! You just looked really happy, and I worried that he won you over, or something," Fred admitted awkwardly. He was grateful that there was something to look forward to downstairs, and that the boys dorms were completely empty.
"A person can make you happy without making you fall for them. I think you're the only exception I know," Hermione replied sweetly, receiving a wide grin from Fred in return.
"That was very smooth," he commented, kissing her on the cheek. "I'm sorry I was jealous."
"I'm sorry I made you worry about us. But please don't worry about Viktor, he's nice, but he really is just a friend," Hermione stood to her feet and extended her hand to raise Fred up, him taking it cautiously. The two continued along to finally join the other Gryffindoors, who sat around talking and discussing the tournament earnestly. Harry and Ron were sitting with Seamus and Dean, deeply interested in what the Irishman was saying. Curiously, both Fred and Hermione decided to join in to see what was going on.
"Oh thank god- they don't believe me!" Seamus said as she grabbed Hermione's arm and sat her down. "Tell them how Viktor Krum punched Malfoy square in the jaw!"
"What?!" Fred interrupted with shock as he sat beside his brother.
"Don't get too antsy there, Weasely," Seamus joked. "I saw it with me own eyes, though. Malfoy was being a right punk to Hermione, and Krum dropped him with a single hit. It was epic!"
"Where in the world were you?!" Hermione asked in shock as she recalled the event.
"Behind you both, but you were so bloody wrapped up in the conversation you didn't even notice me!" Seamus retorted with offence.
"Don't take it personally, the love birds ignored us too- and we're her best friends," Ron added, Hermione looking from Seamus to Ron with annoyance and worry.
Without a word, Fred rose to his feet and walked off, the minor happiness he had felt now gone for good.
"We aren't anything!" Hermione snapped as she rose to her feet. "Honestly, you're all clueless!" Quick to follow him, Hermione managed to grab the main door just as it swung to close, chasing Fred down as quickly as she possibly could.
"Fred, can you stop!" Hermione pleaded, avoiding the looks of amusement from their peers as they walked on.
"Why? Because he's just a friend?" Fred sneered, refusing to look back as he stormed off. "I mean really, to those guys I'm just a friend, so who knows what the truth is."
"The truth is that I'm with you and not anyone else, so can you please stop," Hermione said, as she caught up.
"Well from the sound of it, you mightn't even want to be with me!" he snapped. "I mean, is he really that amusing that you can't look away from him for a moment?"
"It's not like that and you know it," Hermione replied, quietening down as they entered the more populated area.
"Then what is it. And don't tell me you're just friends, because I know how you are with friends and you're certainly never that invested." Fred matched her tone as they slowed down. Hermione could finally see the hurt in his face and worried deeply about what this meant for them.
"In all honesty, Fred, I like you more than anyone else. Viktor is interesting, you know. He's from a different place and its intriguing to learn about that place, but that doesn't mean I fancy him." Hermione admitted, hoping this would be enough to ease his mind.
Fred stayed silent and the two continued to walk down the hallways. He didn't tell Hermione to leave him alone, which was a good sign, but the silent treatment was painful and tested Hermiones patience more than anything. Still, she left him be as they walked with a slight distance between them, mindlessly wandering the cold halls of Hogwarts, paying no mind to neither the students nor teachers they passed.
They only walked for a few short minutes before passing a clock and Hermione realised dinner was in a half hour, but not wanting to break the silence or have him leave her, she kept this to herself as they continued to walk. How long will this go on for, Hermione wondered. They were clearly not headed anywhere in specific, passing their previous steps and walking down random hallways. Staring at her feet, Hermione let her mind wander around as she fell into deep thought. Maybe he's trying to get rid of me-
Hermione's thoughts were snapped in half when she felt herself pulled back from her shoulder. Before she could manage a squeal of surprise, a hand fell over her mouth and she was reeled inside a bathroom. Hermione's panic subsided once she came to her senses and realised it was Fred, but couldn't help but worry at what was happening. Turning away from his grasp, Hermione faced the boy who held a finger to his lips, indicating she stay quiet.
She quickly realised they were in Moaning Myrtles bathroom, and wondered how long she had been in her daze, seeing how different Fred now looked. The two continued to stare at each other in silence as Hermione's ears began to adjust, the sound of a man down the halls growing louder.
"How, how, how?" he asked himself. "Just need to get it, but how?"
Hermione looked at Fred, the two sharing a face full of confusion. The voice was completely unfamiliar- too old to be a student, but sounding nothing like any of the professors.
"Blast!" he exclaimed as he began to rapidly walk closer to the bathrooms. Hermione and Fred quickly scrambled into their own stalls, closing the doors slightly and standing on top of the seats. Just in the nick of time, the curious man walked into the bathroom quickly and closed the door behind him. He must have been standing in total silence by the door, as neither Fred nor Hermione could tell the difference between his presence or absence.
As Hermione crouched on the toilet seat, she couldn't help but worry that she, or Fred were going to get caught. She didn't know who this man was, but if she knew anything about Hogwarts, it was that a grown man hiding in a bathroom wasn't someone that was welcome, and was therefore somehow a threat to Hermione and Fred. The bathroom was pin drop silent for a few minutes, Hermione trying to listen intently to what was going on outside with no luck. After what seemed like an eternity, the man finally exhaled in relief and began walking down the bathroom hall. Hermione went tense once more; fearing he would barge in, but found that he was simply just pacing up and down, most likely in thought.
"Fluxweed and knotgrass, fluxweed and knotgrass," he mumbled as he walked up and down. Ingredients? Hermione thought. She continued to think over these two seemingly random ingredients before realising that Professor Snape's office was quite nearby. So he needs ingredients… For what? Hermione stopped her trail of thought as she listened to him finally walk back to the door and, after another short moment, exited the bathroom swiftly. Hermione continued to stand in silence, worried he would return, but once she began to hear Fred shuffling around her guard went down and she finally exited.
They looked at each other worriedly, Fred had clearly been sweating but still grinned at her as he hugged her tightly. "That was bloody terrifying," he sighed into her ear
"You're telling me, I don't even know what happened," Hermione replied as she reciprocated the embrace. The two stood for an extra moment to linger in the feeling, before they walked to the entrance to listen for the strange man- now hearing two voices outside instead of one.
The sound was vague at first, but as the two adjusted the conversation revealed itself.
"You'd be best to watch yourself," the strange man snapped.
"I could say the same to you- it would be in my best interest to tell Dumbledore," another man- foreign, maybe Karkaroff, replied.
"I know what you're doing to that boy. If the ministry finds out you'll be off to Azkaban, and your trophy will be dead before you know it."
"Don't do a thing to him!"
"Or what? You'll curse me too? You aren't in control here-"
The conversation cut off as footsteps seemed to near, and then finally, silence. Hermione and Fred looked at one another curiously as they waited even longer for the coast to be cleared. As they stood around in more silence, Fred took Hermione's hand and pulled her closer, embracing her once more. Despite the shock of their previous predicament, Hermione was happy that he had finally opened up to her again as he held her tightly, kissing the top of her head over and over.
Another few minutes passed when the two crept out of the bathrooms and began fast pace walking towards the halls, trying to be as silent as possible until they came across other students and the tension began to release.
"What the hell just happened?" Hermione asked, talking as if she had taken her first breathe.
"I honestly don't know- but whatever it is, it isn't good. And if I were to make a bet, it's that Karkaroff is involved, and somehow so is Viktor," Fred revealed as they continued along. Hermione was surprised by his change of attitude, as if they hadn't just been bickering over Viktor previously, but simply assumed that Fred was more concerned with whoever that was.
"I think I agree. The man mentioned a trophy dying- so if that was Karkaroff there isn't a doubt in my mind it was Viktor. But still, who was that man anyways?"
"I don't know. I saw the back of him but I couldn't tell a thing, thats when I grabbed you and pulled you into the bathroom. We're lucky he didn't notice us," Fred replied. As they entered the halls, the two instantly looked up to the teachers table, seeing that everyone- Karkaroff included- was currently there. The two must have been the last to enter, as many people looked up as they walked in and found seats with their friends- Ron excluded for some reason. Hermione and Fred ignored this, continuing their conversation far more quietly.
"Another thing that was strange… Those ingredients, they're familiar but I'm not sure what for. And Snapes office is right by there, so I'm assuming that man was stealing," Hermione whispered to Fred.
"I agree, but you'll have my head before I snitch on someone to Snape- doesn't matter if they're good or bad," Fred replied only slightly louder.
"Let's discuss this later, I don't think it's safe here," Hermione replied finally, digging into her food as they eventually began talking to their friends, who blissfully caught them up on the happenings in the common room party.
Eventually time came to retreat once more to the common room, Hermione and Fred now back to their usual private yet painfully obvious romance. The two walked behind everyone else, still far enough apart not to drag any suspicion.
"So we're alright?" Hermione finally asked once she was certain they were out of earshot.
"Better than ever, I think. But next time Malfoy causes trouble, I'm calling dibs. Can't have my lovely being saved by just any knight, can I?" Fred grinned, sneaking a quick kiss on her head as they trailed along with their friends.
Little fact of the day, but notice how theres only been like 2 chapters that mention Draco? It's bc I hate his punk ass x