Fred ate a hardy dinner, though afterwards, his stomach felt completely empty and he knew why. He'd felt it before and he couldn't believe he'd been so oblivious to it. Fred silently ate a piece of ham as it appeared in front of his eyes on the dining table. He looked at Hermione who was in deep conversation with Ginny, his younger sister. She had changed into her Gryffindor robes and had let her hair back down but the image of her at the Yule Ball burned in the back of Fred's mind.
Fred smiled at his beautiful date, Angelina, as the chatter in the room began to die and a path was made for the TriWizard Champions to enter. A fanfare of music began and Fred craned his neck to look over the crowd.
The first to enter was Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff house, and his date Cho Chang, from Ravenclaw. The two made a nice pair and they both smiled modestly as they entered.
Next was Fleur Delacour and she brought a Hogwarts studemt Fred recognized from Ravenclaw, a seventh year, like him. Fleur looked stunning as usual and Fred felt George's elbow go into his side. He winked at his brother and they shared a laugh.
The third to enter was Harry and his date, one of the Patil sisters. Harry looked nervous and uncomfortable but then again, he was a fourteen year old in a tournament for adults. Fred chuckled at Harry's awkward stares which earned him a playful slap from Angelina.
The last to enter was Viktor Krum, the Quidditch Champion. Who he was with shocked Fred, mostly because he didn't even recognize her.
Hermione wore a flowing gown of pink and purple shades that hugged her curves and fell gracefully to the floor. Her hair was pulled back into a curly up do, her bangs falling over her forehead.
"She looks incredible," Angelina muttered with a smile. She turned to George's date, Hanna, who agreed. Fred watched her closely as she blushed and waved to her friends in the crowd. He felt his stomach turn and then, it felt empty.
"Oi, when did Granger get hot?" George asked from behind Fred. He took a moment to respond.
"Dunno," he said simply.
He felt like telling his brother, she'd always been beautiful, he was just too stupid to see it until that moment.
After the initial shock of Hermione's breathtaking entrance, Fred's night seemed to go virtually normal. He did not stare at her again, he did not talk about her. He simply enjoyed his night with Angelina and his friends. But, all night, he felt that weird emptiness in his stomach and did not know how to shake it.
"Freddie! Oi, are you alive?"
George's voice interrupted Fred's thoughts and brought him back into the Great Hall with everyone else.
"Huh?" Fred mumbled, unaware of what was going on. There was still loud chatter in the room and all the students were still eating.
"You've been nibbling on that ham for ten minutes," George told him with a loud laugh. "I thought if I gave you two another minute, you'd start snogging it!"
The students around Fred laughed at his brothers' antics and Fred turned on the act like a light switch.
"Well, she's a beautiful piece of ham. She needs to be treated with care and respect," Fred chuckled, caressing the food jokingly.
George shook his head and went back to his dinner while Fred went back to his.
He decided to stay away from his thoughts by keeping constant conversation with whoever he could. He spoke with Harry about the upcoming Quidditch season for the rest of the dinner and made sure his eyes never wandered to the other side of the table where she sat.
Dumbledore began his 'welcome back' speech, like he did every year and Fred continued to nibble of the treats in front of him, paying little attention to the Headmaster. That is, until he mentioned the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Everyone at Hogwarts was used to very temporary Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers so the introduction of a new one was no surprise to Fred. It was when the sound of a small throat clearing and a squeaky laugh stopped Dumbledore in the middle of his speech.
Fred lifted his head in unison with George and they glanced at one another, watched the squatty witch waddle up next to Dumbledore.
"I've never seen a toad that big before…" Fred mumbled to George under his breath.
George began to snicker but stopped when he realized how silent the room had gotten when the woman stepped in front of the podium.
"She was at my hearing," Harry told the group. Hermione looked at him nervously. "She works for Fudge."
"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome."
The woman had an annoyingly high voice and Fred watched her pace in front of the podium in her pink suit.
"And how lovely to see all of your bright, happy faces smiling up at me" she said in an airy voice, scanning over the crowd of students.
Fred gave George a skeptical look, seeing that absolutely no students were smiling. They listened on, wondering what on Earth the pudgy new professor thought she was doing.
"I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends," she told them.
Fred let out a chuckle and nudged George.
"That's likely," they muttered in unison. Fred heard Ron laugh across the table and knew he agreed.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged," the woman told the students.
Fred looked at Ginny and Hermione who both wore scowls on their faces. Ginny gave Fred an aggravated look as the professor continued.
"Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected, and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."
The teacher finished her speech with a disgusting, squeaky giggle and she walked back to her seat next to Snape, who looked more unpleasant than usual.
"Wait a minute," Harry whispered as Dumbledore resumed his speech. "What does that mean?"
"It means that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts," Hermione told him, still wearing a scowl on her pretty face.
Fred watched her for a moment but then averted his gaze as she turned towards him. He was silent for a moment before he looked back up at her. She stared back, her mouth in a hard line.
"No worries," Fred told the group, though he never took his eyes off of hers. "George and I will run her out of here somehow."