Just a disclaimer that there is a special bonus at the end of this chapter. I miss Fred, and wanted to give him some extra attention since Cedric is sort of ruing the day.

I am absolutely loving this school year for Marnie and have been planning it out for a long time now.

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"You look dreadful," George said bluntly as I sat down for breakfast the next morning.

"Good morning to you too," I replied, failing to snap back in my exhaustion.

The truth was I hadn't slept very well, and the hour or so that I had, I dreamt about Harry walking into a wall of fire towards the scarily large dragon beyond. I had woken up scared out of my wits and hadn't been able to fall back.

"Erm—Marnie…" I heard Harry say in a low voice beside me.

I looked over to see Professor McGonagall who was most likely here to collect Harry for the first task.

I stared up at him, feeling all my nerves flow throughout my body and making me forget any words at all to say to him.

"You need to let go," Harry said softly, looking down where my hand was still wrapped around his.

I had almost forgotten that I grabbed onto it on our way out of the common room and still hadn't let go.

I nodded and instead enveloped myself around him, sternly telling myself not to break down in front of him; he was already wracked with nerves.

I broke apart from him after hearing McGonagall clear her throat and Ginny grabbing my arm to separate me. She was still holding on to my arm as I watched him being led away, apparently out to the grounds where the pitch was usually set up.

"I need to go see Cedric," I stated, all of a sudden remembering that I hadn't seen him off this morning.

"Marnie, he's already gone off," Ginny said sympathetically.

"I'll go find him then," I said matter-of-factly, choosing to ignore the worried glances from all my friends.

I pulled myself away from Ginny before any of them decided to try and keep me here; all of whom I knew were capable.

None of the students were out to the grounds yet, so I was one of only a few who were outside and not in finishing breakfast. When I entered the stands, I was shocked to see Cho Chang sitting alone, waiting for everyone else to show up. I didn't think she was still interested in Cedric, she had stopped glaring at me in the halls at least since the beginning of the year.

I ignored her and started walking up towards a large tent where I figured the champions must be. I entered once I got to the top of the stands, not really thinking of any rules prohibiting me from entering. Immediately, I was relieved when I saw Cedric, sitting on a cot alongside the tent wall.

"Marnie?" Cedric asked surprised, but with a large smile across his face.

"Hey, you," I replied sweetly, feeling a little bit better than I had since last night.

"I don't really know if you're supposed to be in here," Cedric said, although Fleur and Krum didn't seem to care or even acknowledge my presence.

Harry was off to the side but made no effort to approach me. If I was being honest, my obvious worry over him probably made him feel worse about his situation than he already did.

"I just wanted to wish you luck," I replied before wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a deeper kiss than I had meant to.

His life being imminently threatened within the next few minutes seemed to forego my sense of chaste.

"Young love!" I heard an unfamiliar woman's voice squeak from behind me, causing me to quickly retract from Cedric's embrace.

I turned around, already feeling mortified, to see a very blonde lady wearing deep green dress robes, staring directly at me. Although her voice had been almost cheerful, her stare was full of scrutiny, as if I were a fly under a microscope; I had read about such things in my father's old biology books.

Cedric kept a protective arm over my shoulder, apparently familiar with the likes of this overly inquisitive witch. But then I turned my gaze to the floating quill and parchment directly next to her left shoulder.

"Rita Skeeter darling, and what might your name be?" the confirmed reporter asked while continuing to bore her gaze into mine.

"Marnie," I answered in a timid voice, thrown off by Rita's sudden appearance and fascination with me.

"Not the adopted sister of dear Harry Potter over here!" she said in a hungry sounding tone.

Then I remembered the overzealous piece that had been written about Harry after his wand weighing ceremony. The article where my name had somehow been mentioned. I also couldn't help specifically remembering the part where I had reportedly been stowed away like a caged rat for the first thirteen years of my life before Harry was reunited with me at last. George had howled at the insinuation.

"I should be finding my seat," I said, feeling Cedric's hand almost push me in the direction of the tent flap that would lead me back out to the stands.

"Why run darling, it seems you already love being at the center of excitement?" the antagonizing witch said provokingly as I quickly walked past her.

My arms were crossed over my chest, as if to shield myself from her laser-like vision; but tucked away were my fists. This woman was infuriating and I could only kid myself that my name wouldn't appear in tomorrow's Prophet.

"Is Cedric alright?" Angelina asked me as I took my seat beside her.

"Yea, he was more concerned about that Skeeter lady from the Daily Prophet," I explained, still feeling critical about the witch.

"That woman is horrid! All those things she keeps reporting about Harry," Ginny fumed.

Everyone nodded but before anyone could add their opinion, the booming voice of Ludo Bagman sounded over the converted quidditch pitch. My hand tightened in whoever's hand I was grasping onto; later confirmed to be Ginny. My grasp tightened even more, probably cutting off Ginny's circulation while we watched as a team of dragon trainers, no doubt one of them being Charlie Weasley, lowered a dragon in a cage into the center of the rocky interior that had once been the green grass of the quidditch field.

I felt my other hand being taken and spared a glance to see Fred—no George—take a seat and proceed to run his spare hand up and down my arm in a would-be consolable fashion; if I had the capacity to even remotely calm down.

"You wanted this for yourself," a small voice taunted from the depths of my mind.

"Not for Harry!" I screamed back internally.

"Maybe you are not so brave after all little badger," the voice chastised, reprimanding myself for not being enough to get chosen as the true champion; as someone worthy of protecting Harry.

"Look," George said, forcing me out of my dark thoughts as Cedric was announced as the first champion to compete.

I looked at him with as much excitement as I could muster but was still terrified to watch the boy I loved take on a two-tonne beast.

I held my breath as Cedric stepped out into the arena and looked nervously at the dragon, introduced as a Swedish Short-Snout. I could see the greenish pallor of Cedric's skin from here and watched as he assessed his situation.

The dragon started to growl, mustering a low guttural sound that seemed especially territorial. Cedric thankfully jumped into action, taking out his wand and aiming it towards the beast. His next move was not to attack but instead, he transfigured a nearby boulder into a creature; a dog to be precise.

"It's a distraction!" Ginny said excitedly, keeping her hand embraced in mine.

"I could have taken that thing head-on!" George interjected.

"Don't be daft!" I retorted, causing him to laugh back.

"Whatever get's you to smile, love," George quipped before turning his focus back on Cedric.

I smiled, feeling a little self conscious from that level of George's affection. Of course, our relationship was purely platonic, but it still got to me the bounds George often went through.

"He's got it!" Angelina cried, ten painstaking minutes later.

I felt a sigh exhale from my lips before my breath immediately hitched again. I then screamed, watching as the dragon turned its attention form the faux-dog to my very real boyfriend. I watched as his champions' uniform caught on fire and heard his cries when the flame touched his skin.

I continued to scream while George stood up beside me and wrapped his arms over me, probably to keep me in place. I had stood up with the others in excitement for Cedric's success and had remained standing while I looked on in horror. I could hear Hermione's whispers in my mind saying that people had died in these competitions before.

"He's alright, he's alright—look Marnie, he put out the flames, he's alright," George chanted, long after Cedric had extinguished the flames and dodged out of sight with his prized golden egg.

The dragon trainers had returned to subdue the beast and replaced it with another one, this time a Welsh Green for Fleur Delacour.

I didn't even comprehend what was going on until Fleur had completed her task and Krum was getting reprimanded for causing the dragon to harm her actual eggs. My full attention was brought back by the fierce squeezing of my hand that Ginny was holding. I looked over at the girl and wanted to smile at her obvious affections for my brother but was too scared myself to be able to show anything other than fear.

I swallowed the nerves that felt like they were threatening to make me sick, instead sitting rooted in my seat and watching as Harry stepped out into the arena.

I held my breath and refused to blink, wanting to catch every instant of Harry's match against the Hungarian Horntail; which automatically seemed like the worst beast yet. I watched as Harry immediately cast his summoning charm for his broom and waited impatiently for it to appear in the sky.

Moments later, everyone heard a zooming sound from the direction of the castle and turned in time to watch as Harry expertly jumped onto his soaring Firebolt.

"He's got it!" I exclaimed proudly, jumping excitedly to my feet.

I wasn't the only one as everyone around me watched in anticipation while Harry circled around the dragon.

"This is mad!" I heard Ron shout out from behind me; I could hear his anxiety rising.

"Still think he did it?" I asked pointedly, allowing myself a brief glare at Ron.

I watched as his cheeks turned pink and he shook his head.

The sound of everyone gasping made me whip my head back around in time to see that Harry had gotten hit in the shoulder by one of the spikes from the dragon's tail.

I squeezed both Ginny and George's hands, watching as Harry was now weaving around the Horntail's fireballs. Then, watching as he caught his moment, Harry dove and picked up the golden egg from the dragon's nest.

"He's got it!" I exclaimed again, jumping up and down with Ginny as we latched onto each other.

My worry completely dissolved into overwhelming joy and pride for Harry, and Cedric too! They had both represented Hogwarts fiercely, and were both still living to tell the tale.

"We should go find your boys!" Katie said cheekily before grabbing my hand and leading me in the direction Hermione and Ron had already disappeared off to.

Something told me that after today, Ron and Harry would finally make-up.

I looked over my shoulder in search of a particular red-headed boy, despite my reservations. I quickly found him and locked eyes with Fred who was sharing his excitement with Lee and George. He caught my gaze for a moment and looked as if he was deeply mournful behind his outward jubilance. But, as quickly as his eyes had latched onto mine, he purposely shifted his gaze away and took off back towards the school.

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Something extra 😉

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Fred's P.O.V.

It was almost disappointing not being able to watch the first challenge, Pretty Boy versus the dragon, but I couldn't help staring at the back of Marnie's head. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was utterly panicked. It had been obvious this morning as well that she hadn't slept much, but I had just assumed it was mostly over worrying about Harry. I also fixated on my brother's hand and could almost picture it being mine. George had been reluctant giving me any updates on Marnie since my falling out with her, but I had been persistent with the upcoming task. George had told me Marnie had all but stopped sleeping and hadn't even really been hanging out with Pretty Boy either.

I sighed, something that went completely unnoticed by Lee or Katie, who were both sitting with me, since everyone else was too preoccupied with the dragon only a few feet in front of them. I turned my attention back when I watched Marnie jump out of her seat in excitement. I looked up to see that Cedric was now holding the golden egg; Pretty Boy hadn't done too bad for himself, not that I could bring myself to admit that.

But then the most horrible noise seemed to explode out of Marnie and I felt as my feet started to move without my permission. Marnie was screaming, a most painful sound that made the inside of my chest clench as bad as it had the day I turned my back on her and walked away. My feet only stopped when I watched my brother wrap his similar arms around her, both a comforting and necessary gesture as I watched Marnie trying to run away; presumably to somewhere where she would think to try and save Cedric. A flood of jealousy and wanting surged up as I continued to stare at my brother but could not will myself to leave my spot. I stood planted in the same place, unable to get past my own stubbornness. If I was being completely truthful with myself, I would recognize that it wasn't stubbornness but shame that I couldn't face Marnie after what I had so foolishly done.

After Marnie stopped her painful sobs, I beadily watched Fleur and Krum complete their tasks against their respective dragons. I was pointedly focusing my gaze but couldn't help averting it to Marnie once again when Harry was called out. Her anxiety was almost palpable, and I even heard Ron whimper from beside me. He had been just as stubbornly shadowing me these past few weeks while we both avoided out best friends.

Again, I chastised myself as I watched Marnie instead of Harry, but couldn't help my urge to want to walk over and envelope her in my arms. I wanted to protect her from her own fear and reassure her that she wasn't alone. But George and Ginny already had that covered, so I looked on with jealousy. Thankfully, she didn't scream this time and jumped in elation when Harry successfully claimed his prize. I couldn't help but turn to Lee and high five him as everyone around us exploded with excitement. By the time I turned back to see Marnie, I watched as Angelina and the rest of them were running off towards the champions' tent. George had since made his way over and was giving me a reproachful look. I ignored it and turned away, unwillingly catching Marnie's gaze. My chest squeezed, but in a different sort of way than before; not so pinchy-like. But, shaking my head in all of my confusion, I turned away and started heading back towards the school.

"Where are you headed?" George asked, almost as a challenge.

"Someone has to get the common room ready for the huge celebration for Harry!" I stated as cheerfully as I could.

Lee wholly approved and offered to come along, as did George. But one look into my brother's eyes told me he wasn't buying my façade of happiness.