Here is a new chapter ! It is a bit slow, but I hope you like it anyway.
I got a few suggestions from you guys, and I love it ! Please send more.
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Enjoy ! xx
wildest dreams
VOLUME I
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
On Valentine's Day, me and George decided to go to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, just for the laugh. We spent the entire time calling each other by the worst nicknames possible – 'my fresh, adorable and tasty favorite tea bag' was one of them – and discreetly pranked the other couples there by giving them bad breaths or making them spill their tea on their other half. It was hilarious – we ended up being kicked out of the place by the owner, but I didn't really care.
The day before the Second Task, I was walking with Fred and George to their secret room, where they stocked their products and spent time working on them. They wanted to get their things ready for the bet system they had installed for the Tournament. The castle was surprisingly quiet that night – probably because everyone wanted to get a good night's sleep to be rested for the next day.
"I'm nervous for Harry" I said. "I hope he figured out that whole egg thing."
"Let's hope he did. Otherwise I don't think –"
George stopped talking mid-sentence, and I knew why. We had just turned a corner to come face to face with someone I hadn't expected to see – Nik.
"Nik ! Hi !" I exclaimed awkwardly.
"Good evening, Addy."
I felt incredibly awkward. After all, I hadn't spoken to him since he had invited me to the ball. I hadn't seen him around the castle a lot since then. I wondered if he was mad at me, or if he had moved on. I felt George squeeze my hand.
"How are you ?" I asked, trying to smile as kindly as I could.
"Good" he nodded. "And you ?"
"I'm good, thank you."
I saw that his eyes travelled from my face to my right hand – the one that was holding George's. I cleared my throat.
"This is George, by the way. And Fred" I said awkwardly.
"Of course. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise" the said in unison.
An awkward silence followed. I heard Fred chuckle beside me, and resisted the urge to nudge him hard in the ribs.
"Are you excited about the Task tomorrow ?" I asked.
"Yes. It should be entertaining."
"Yeah, for sure."
Another silence.
"Well, I'll see you around" said Nik after a while.
"Yeah. All right."
He nodded, and then resumed walking. As soon as he had turned the corner, I sighed loudly.
"That was awkward" laughed Fred.
"I really don't like him" said George.
"Why ? He was nice to you. Nicer than I would have thought" I sighed.
"I don't like him is all. Something about his face."
"Weird nose" nodded Fred.
"And he snogged you. He had no right to snog my girlfriend."
"I wasn't your girlfriend at the time" I replied, amused.
"Don't care" he shrugged.
I shook my head, but I couldn't help but smile and steal him a quick kiss.
"I'm gonna be sick" sighed Fred.
"You've been sick a lot these past few weeks, Fred. Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey about it" I smiled.
"I think that what I really need is an Obliviator."
We were almost at the secret room when we were stopped by McGonagall who seemed to have been waiting for us outside her office. She was looking very serious – which made me nervous that we were in trouble.
"Ah, Mr and Mr Weasley, Miss Harlowe."
"Good evening, Professor" I smiled.
"Could you please get your brother, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger and bring them back to my office ? It's important. I believe they are in the library."
I wanted to sigh out of relief. If I had to polish one more trophy…
"Of course, Professor" replied Fred and George.
"Oh, and – not Mr. Potter, you understand ? Only Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger."
"Duly noted" said George.
McGonagall nodded sharply and returned back in her office. We started making our way to the library.
"Wonder what she wants with them" said Fred.
"Yeah, and not Harry ? That's odd" nodded George.
"Maybe it's about the Task" I suggested.
We spent the rest of the way trying to figure out what McGonagall could want with Ron and Hermione, but we were clueless, other than the fact that it was probably connected with the Task. We found the trio in the farthest part of the library, surrounded by books, looking quite tired.
"Oh this is no use" sighed Hermione. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets ?"
"I wouldn't mind" said Fred. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it ?"
I rolled my eyes.
"What're you three doing there ?" asked Ron.
"Looking for you" replied George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."
"Why ?"
"Dunno… she was looking a bit grim, though" sighed Fred.
"We're supposed to take you down to her office" I said.
Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look. I glanced at one of the books on the table – it was about spells. But none of them looked like they were doing homework. Were they looking for a way to get Harry through the task ?
"We'll meet you back in the Common Room" said Hermione. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay ?"
"Right" replied Harry, looking very uncomfortable.
Fred and George spent the entire way to McGonagall's office trying to convince Ron and Hermione to tell us what the Task was about – but both of them wouldn't say a thing. Ron spilled out something about the lake after Fred threatened him that he would put spiders in his bed if he didn't say anything, but after Hermione hit him on the side of the head with one of her heavy books, Ron decided to simply stop talking whatsoever.
It was sunny the next day, but the wind was blowing strong as we made our way to the Black Lake. As Fred and George walked around, collecting the bets, I stood with Angelina and Alicia, watching over the dark waters.
"I can't believe they have to go in there !" said Alicia.
"The water must be freezing cold" nodded Angelina.
"Well, Harry was looking for a spell in the library last night" I explained. "Maybe he figured out a way not to freeze to death."
We didn't have to wait long for Bagman to explain us what the Task was – the champions had to explore the lake and recover something that was taken from them, something dear to them. I immediately understood what it was – Ron ! And Hermione ! That was why McGonagall wanted to see them, and why I hadn't seen them in the stands. I couldn't believe it – that Tournament was really something.
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle" announced Bagman a few minutes later. "They have precisely one hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three !"
We all stretched our necks to see the four champions dive into the lake. Soon, they had all disappeared in the dark water, and the only thing left for us to do was to wait. For a while, we all stood there, looking impatiently at the lake, but then we all sat down and started playing Exploding Snap to pass the time.
It had almost been an hour when Fleur emerged from the lake. She had been disqualified –she had been attacked by grindylows.
"What, now ? Are they just going to let her hostage drown at the bottom of the lake ?" said Lee.
"Dumbledore would never do that, Lee" sighed Angelina.
"Well, you never know. He's starting to get old after – oi !"
Fred was interrupted by Angelina, who hit him hard on the chest. However, Fred only replied to that by kissing her. I exchanged a glance with George, smirking.
After exactly an hour, Bagman announced that the time limit had been reached. However, neither Krum, Diggory or Harry were back. I was starting to get worried, as did everyone. What if they never came back from the bottom of the lake ? Merlin knew what was down there. But about a minute after Bagman's announcement, Diggory got back, holding Cho Chang, and Krum followed soon after, carrying a very confused Hermione.
As time passed, we all started getting very anxious about Harry – and also about Ron, who was still down there. I could see that even Dumbledore was frowning, which was not a very good sign in my book. However, a few minutes later, which seemed like forever, Harry finally emerged from the water, carrying both Ron and a younger, blonde-haired girl with him – probably Fleur's hostage. We all cheered for him loudly, relieved that everyone was now safe again.
It was hard to see from where we were what was going in the bank where the judges and the champions were – but luckily, we didn't have to wait long for Bagman to announce the scores.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows… Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
We applauded quietly – in my opinion, she deserved zero, but it wasn't like I could do something about it. Diggory then got forty-seven points, and Krum forty points.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect" said Bagman. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchiftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."
"Classic Harry" said Fred with a smile.
"Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."
"FORTY-FIVE !" shouted Lee.
"Just two points behind Cedric !" I exclaimed, grinning.
I was truly happy for Harry – he deserved it more than anyone. He himself looked he could explode of happiness, and was very cheerful at the party in the Common Room that night. It felt like everything was going well at that moment. Harry had a shot at winning the Tournament, I could kiss George anytime and anywhere I wanted, and summer was coming our way quickly – and for the months that followed, Montague, Snape, not even the amount of work I had to do was able to keep me down. I was like floating, calm and happy.