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wildest dreams
VOLUME I

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

When I got back to the Common Room, I was feeling much better. Talking with Charlie and seeing the dragons had truly took my mind off things. I immediately searched for the twins, excited to tell them about what I had seen. They were sitting at the table next to the window – I quickly joined them, smiling broadly.

"Hello" I said enthusiastically.

"Hello, traitor" answered Fred, not lifting his eyes from the chess game they were playing.

"Oh, Fred..."

"How was your date ?" asked George, doing the same.

I sighed loudly. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to trust Angelina to tell the twins I couldn't stay with them today – I had asked her to say I was just busy, but of course she would specify I was going on a date. I really didn't feel like explaining myself or even just talking about the date itself – so I carefully ignored George's question.

"Did you know Charlie's here ?"

That seemed to grab their attention – they both raised their heads, frowning.

"Charlie ?" they asked at the same time.

"Yep. I saw him when I got back, in the Forest."

"What were you doing in the Forest ?" asked George.

"That's not important. Did he not tell you he was coming ?"

"He might have mentioned it in a letter…" shrugged Fred.

"Why didn't you tell me !" I said.

"We thought it was a joke or something" replied George.

"Well, it's not. And the reason why he's here – bloody brilliant."

"Are you going to tell us, or not ?" sighed Fred.

"I'm sure you can figure it out yourselves, if you use your brains for once."

They shared a thoughtful look. It only took a few seconds before they seemed to understand, and grinned.

"Dragons !" they said excitedly.

"I know ! How cool is that !"

"Did you see them ?" asked Fred.

"Yeah – they're terrifying. Seriously, I'm really glad I didn't sign up for that Tournament."

I was about to tell them that Ron was supposed to go tonight, and they should tag along, when Angelina sat down beside me, looking very restless.

"Tell me everything" she said, smiling.

"Everything about what ?" I asked, confused.

"Your date !"

"Oh – right" I said, feeling the blood drain out of my face. "Er – it was okay."

"It was okay ?" said Angelina. "What do you mean, it was okay ?"

"I mean it was okay" I shrugged.

I wasn't particularly fond of the idea of talking about it next to Fred and George – especially George. In fact, I didn't want to talk about it at all. I just wanted to forget about it. But I knew Angelina – she wouldn't let go until she got what she wanted. That's the reason why she was such a good Chaser, after all.

"C'mon, spill the beans, Addy !" she sighed.

I glanced at George – he was staring at the chess board again.

"I don't know what to tell you, Angie. We just walked around, and talked, and –"

"Held hands at the Three Broomsticks" said Fred.

I sharply turned to him, eyes widened. Bugger, he had seen us. Which meant George had seen us.

"Yeah, we saw you and that pumpkin head. He kept staring at your –"

"Piss off, Fred !"

He laughed, clearly amused by my embarrassment. I couldn't stand this anymore – if Angelina wanted to talk about this, it would be very far away from the twins. I grabbed her hand and made her follow me up the stairs to the dormitory, ignoring Fred who was still laughing.

"Addy, what is going on ?"

"Sorry, Angie" I said, sitting on my bed. "I just didn't want to talk about it in front of the twins."

She glared at me.

"Addy, Fred is an idiot, you know that. You just have to ignore him."

"It's not Fred I'm concerned about" I muttered.

I froze. I hadn't planned on saying that aloud. I hoped that Angelina hadn't heard me – but of course, she had. She stared at me, mouth opened. I could feel myself blushing, and I quickly grabbed my pillow and hid my face in it.

"I KNEW IT" yelled Angelina, jumping on my bed.

I groaned as she started laughing, tearing the pillow from my hands.

"Addy ! Why didn't you tell me !" she said.

"I'm not – I – I don't know what you're talking about."

"It all makes so much sense now !"

"Angie, I don't know what you think you just figured out, but I can assure you that you're wrong" I said, shaking my head.

"Okay, then. Can you look at me, straight in the eyes, without blushing, and tell me you don't fancy George Weasley?"

I lifted my eyes to meet hers, determined to do exactly that. But I couldn't find the words. I couldn't do it. Angelina stared back, a smile gradually appearing on her face. I sighed, feeling myself blushing again. As she started laughing, I threw myself back on the bed, hiding my face in my hands.

"I'm such an idiot" I groaned.

"You're not an idiot" said Angelina. "You're just… smitten."

"But I don't want to be smitten ! Not with him !"

"What do you mean ?"

"Angie, George is my best friend – he always has been. I can't just – I don't want to lose that. He's too important to me."

"Addy…"

"I mean, what am I supposed to do ? Tell him how I feel ? He'd just laugh, or think I'm being ridiculous, and it would just ruin everything !"

"Addy…"

"And I'd so embarrassed I couldn't ever, ever face him again, and even less face Fred again !"

"Addy !" snapped Angelina.

I stopped talking – Angelina looked half-annoyed, half-amused. It felt good to talk to someone about it – but it made me feel pathetic.

"What ?" I muttered miserably.

She grabbed my arms, pulling me back up on the bed.

"Addy, you're forgetting one very important detail in all of this" she said.

I frowned, confused. She softly smiled.

"George fancies you too."

I stared back at her, shocked. The dormitory was completely silent – the only thing I could hear was the muffled sound of the music coming from the Common Room. I shook my head.

"No – that's ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous at all ! Just think about it, Addy."

"I – no ! It's just not possible !"

"Addy, it's not only possible, it's true. I've seen it. I noticed it when you started dating Oliver last year – he would always mention you, ask about you. And the way he looked at you when you were with Oliver – it was obvious. So obvious."

"Why didn't you say anything ?" I asked faintly.

"Because you were so happy with Oliver. Even George had to admit it."

"I was" I shrugged. "But that doesn't prove anything. He was just being a friend."

Angelina sighed.

"Addy. The way he looks at you, the way he takes care of you – it's more than that. You should see yourselves when you're together – it makes sense. Ask anyone."

"I don't know, Angie" I sighed. "I'm really confused."

"I know" she said, pulling me in her arms. "It's normal."

I hugged her back tightly. My head felt like it was going to explode. I honestly did not know what to do with everything Angelina had just told me. A part of me wanted to believe her, and run downstairs and kiss him, but another part just felt like crawling back into bed and sleep until it all went away.

Fortunately, when we went back downstairs to get dinner, the twins were already gone with Ron to see the dragons, so I was able to eat quietly. I had no idea of how I could ever act normal in front of George now. All I could think about was what Angelina had said to me - I kept repeating the words in my head, trying to make sense out of them.

I spent my entire Sunday in the library, trying to work. I struggled all day, unable of understanding one word of the chapters I had to read in A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration. On Monday, I could barely focus on what Professor Burbage was saying and isolated myself again in the library for the rest of the day. This couldn't go on, and I knew it – but I had no idea what to do. I thought of trying to avoid George as much as I could until I figured it out, but I knew it would be too hard – and deep down, I didn't want to do that. I just had to put on my best smile, and try to act like normal. It seemed to be working pretty well, as Fred kept calling me 'a Percy' every time he saw me.

I was very happy to see Tuesday arrive, as we all had the afternoon for the First Task. I could really use the distraction – and I avoided a class of Defence sitting next to George. When I sat down at lunch, after my Ancient Runes class, I could feel that everyone was restless. The Great Hall seemed to be buzzing with excitement – only Harry looked very tired, and very pale. I ignored Nik's stare on me - I had successfully avoided him for the past two days – and quietly ate my quiche, listening to the debate between Fred, George and Lee on who would get the best score.

We all walked to the huge stadium that had been set up for the event, and I suddenly found myself forgetting about all that had been on my mind for the past few days – I felt happy, and excited. Everyone was laughing, joking and making their bets. I was a little worried for Harry, but I knew he could handle it – he was Harry Potter, after all. After a few minutes of waiting, Ludo Bagman appeared. Fred and George darkly glared at him. They hadn't gotten a reply from him yet.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen ! Good afternoon, and welcome to the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament !" said Bagman, enhancing his voice with a spell.

Everyone cheered loudly.

"Today, our champions will have to face their very first challenge – and quite a challenge that is. Indeed, they will need to use strategy and wit to defeat the world's biggest and most dangerous creatures – DRAGONS !"

As he said that last word, a dragon suddenly appeared from nowhere, roaring and looking very angry. Its scales were a beautiful silvery blue.

"WOAH !" yelled the twins beside me.

Everyone screamed – most out of excitement, but I noticed that some people looked quite worried, or even scared.

"The champions' goal – steal the golden egg from the dragon they are fighting" said Bagman, pointing the egg in the middle of the stadium. "Now, without further ado, please welcome, fighting against the terrible Swedish Short-Snout, Cedric Diggory !"

Cedric walked into the stadium, looking a little green, but determined. The Hufflepuffs, that were sitting a few meters away from us, staring screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs.

It took around fifteen minutes for Cedric to catch the golden egg – he succeeded by transfiguring a rock into a dog, which distracted the dragon long enough for him to get to the egg. He got a very good score – and we all applauded enthusiastically. Whatever the grudge we had against him for the last Quidditch match, we all had to agree that Cedric had done a fantastic job.

Next was the girl from Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour, against the Common Welsh Green. She did a good job too, using a sleeping trance spell, even if her skirt caught fire for a few seconds – much to the amusement of the twins. After Fleur came Krum, and I was quite excited to see what would be his strategy. His Conjuctivitis Curse worked quite well, as he was able to snatch the golden egg very quickly, but the Chinese Fireball he was fighting against crushed many of the eggs he was guarding, which made him lose points.

"It's Harry's turn !" said Angelina when Krum was gone.

"Yeah, and I reckon he got the Horntail" said George.

"I hope he has a better strategy than Krum in mind" I muttered.

"He'll be fine !" said Fred enthusiastically. "It's Harry !"

The Hungarian Horntail suddenly made his entrance in the stadium, looking very restless and angry. I stared anxiously – I really hoped Harry would be all right. Charlie had told me it was the most dangerous of the lot. I joined the rest of the Gryffindors as we started cheering for Harry, who came in the stadium looking very, very pale. We saw him raise his wand and shout a spell, but I couldn't hear what it was.

"Looks like Mr Potter used a spell – what could it be ? What will be his strategy against the ferocious Hungarian Horntail ? Oh – looks like something is coming his way ! What is it ?"

We all looked up to see what it was – at first, it was only a small black dot in the blue sky, but as it got closer, we could all see clearly.

"It's his Firebolt !" I shouted, grinning.

"BRILLIANT !" yelled the twins.

We all started cheering even louder. It was brilliant – I was very impressed with Harry as he jumped on his broom and flew up in the air. He dived to try and snatch the egg as the Horntail shot a jet of fire right next to him – I nearly shrieked in fear. But Harry seemed to be in control, and avoided the flames like a pro.

"Great Scott, he can fly !" said Bagman. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum ?"

I watched attentively as Harry tried to go around the dragon to get the egg – he nearly got his arm cut off, and a lot of times I thought he would get burned alive, but in the end, he managed to get the golden egg. I screamed at the top of my lungs with the others, feeling ecstatic.

"Look at that ! Will you look at that ! Our youngest champion is the quickest to get his egg ! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter !"

We cheered Harry's name as he disappeared again, probably to get his shoulder fixed.

"That was brilliant" I said, unable to stop smiling.

"Definitely the best strategy of them all" nodded Lee.

"Yeah, even Krum didn't think of that one !" laughed Angelina.

"I reckon he'll be first place" said Fred.

"If the judges would be barking mad not to give him the best score" said George.

We saw Ron and Hermione quickly run out of the stadium, probably to meet Harry. They all came back a few minutes later for the scores. Beauxbatons' director gave Harry an eight, Barty Crouch and Dumbledore a nine, Bagman a ten, and Karkaroff a four – which we were all scandalized about. But in the end, it didn't even matter, because Harry had tied in first place, equal with Krum.

I was in a really good mood when we all got back in the Common Room, and we all started planning a big surprise party for Harry.

"We need food" said Fred.

"A lot of food" agreed George.

"And fireworks !" I said.

"Yes !" yelled the twins. "Lee, you still have some ?"

"Of course" he answered, grinning. "I'm going to start setting them up."

He ran upstairs, nearly tripping in the stairs in the process. I bursted out laughing.

"All right, let's pay a visit to our friends in the kitchens" said Fred.

"You coming, Addy ?" asked George as they stood up.

Our eyes met, and I froze. Angelina's words suddenly popped up in my head – the way he looks at you – but I quickly shrugged them off. I had to act normal.

"You can bet I'm coming" I said.

I noticed how brightly he smiled when I stood up, and I felt my heart skip a beat. We ran to the kitchens, and I couldn't believe how happy I felt. The House Elves were quite excited to see us, and some of them asked about the First Task, so we sat down and told them everything. In return, they gave us an enormous amount of food and drinks – cakes, biscuits, Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, crisps, candy – that we had to carry with a Levitation Charm, since it was so heavy. We decided on the way to add a few Canary Creams to the lot, just to see who would take the bait.

When we got back to the Common Room, Dean Thomas had put up a huge banner on the wall that he drew, depicting Harry facing the Horntail. I bursted out laughing when I saw he had even added Cedric Diggory with his face on fire in the corner.

Harry arrived a few hours later, looking happier than he had been all year – I was glad for him. He had put the golden egg on the table, and I approached it, curiously looking at it.

"What do you reckon is in it ?" suddenly asked a voice.

I slightly jumped and turned to see George. He was smiling, two Butterbeers in his hands – he handed me one.

"Cheers" I said, taking it, trying really hard not to blush. "I have no idea. A clue for the next task, no doubt."

"Yeah. I wonder what will that be. I mean, they did start big with those dragons."

"And they are supposed to get worse and worse. I'd be really nervous if I was Harry."

"I know. It's mental."

I nodded, smiling, and there was a short silence. We both stared at the golden egg. I tried to come up with something coherent and interesting to say, but I couldn't think straight.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you –"

I looked up at him, frowning, but he was cut off by Lee, who pushed himself between us and took the egg in his hands. I cleared my throat, quickly looking away.

"Blimey, this is heavy" said Lee. "Open it, Harry, go on ! Let's just see what's inside it !"

He turned around, walking towards Harry, and I looked at George in hope he would want to continue the conversation – but he wasn't looking in my direction. I bit my lip – what had he wanted to ask me ? I was dying to know, but everyone was busy looking at Harry now.

"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it !"

The egg got passed to Harry, who opened it without hesitation. Suddenly, a loud, shrieking, terrible noise filled the Common Room, and I instantly put my hand over my ears, nearly dropping my Butterbeer in the process – it really wasn't enjoyable. It sounded like someone screaming in pain.

"Shut it !" yelled Fred.

Harry quickly shut the egg – and we all sighed in relief.

"What was that ?" asked Seamus Finnigan. "Sounded like a banshee… Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry !"

"It was someone being tortured !" said Neville Longbottom. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse !"

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal" replied George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Cruse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry."

I couldn't help but start laughing, and gave George a nudge in the ribs. He glared at me, a smirk on his face. The Common Room seemed to go back to how it was – the music started playing again and everyone exchanged thoughts about what the clue could be about. I followed George to join Fred, who grabbed a plate of cakes with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Want a jam tart, Hermione ?" he said, offering her the plate.

I frowned, glancing at George – had they done something to them ? But George didn't even look at me, as he was only trying to contain his laughter. But Hermione didn't the bait, staring suspiciously at the tarts.

"It's all right" said Fred. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch –"

Someone choked beside me – I turned to see Neville Longbottom spitting one of them out of his mouth. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"Just my little joke, Neville…" said Fred.

"Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred ?" asked Hermione.

"Yep. 'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all' !" said Fred, imitating a house-elf. "They're dead helpful… get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish. They made Addy this huge strawberry shortcake when she was stressed out about the OWLS last year."

I nodded.

"It was delicious" I said, smiling at the memory.

"How do you get in there ?" asked Hermione.

"Easy, concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and –"

Fred stopped, narrowing his eyes.

"Why ?"

"Nothing" replied Hermione.

"Going to try and lead the house-elves on strike now, are you ? Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion ?" he said.

"They love it down there, Hermione" I added.

"Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries ! You'll put them off their cooking" warned Fred.

Hermione seemed to want to object, and I was worried this would turn into yet another debate, but fortunately, Neville – who had continued eating his custard cream – suddenly turned into a canary. I stared at him, amused, while the whole Common Room bursted out laughing.

"Oh – sorry, Neville ! I forgot – it was the custard creams we hexed…"

I rolled my eyes at him, even though I was amused. The twins had always known how to put on a show.

"Canary Creams !" shouted Fred. "George and I invented them – seven Sickles each, a bargain !"

They looked so proud – and at that moment, I felt so good. It was like everything was all right with the world again. I even smiled brightly when George's eyes fell on me – and Angelina's word echoed in my head again – it makes sense. And then, for the first time, I thought that, yes – maybe this made sense after all.