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The weekend couldn't come fast enough. The entire week I'd been a disgustingly giddy lovesick puppy. In the few brief moments I caught myself in the act of being exceptionally dopey, I was ever so slightly disgusted.
Of course that didn't stop me one bit.
The day before the Hogsmeade trip was enough to temporarily break me from my reverie, as it was the day the other schools finally showed up and we were going to learn who the "all knowing" judge was going to be.
The school was buzzing with gossip, you couldn't turn a corner or walk through a single chilly corridor without hearing murmurs of what the other schools would be like. The conversations varied from entirely predictable, "How fit do you think those Durmstrang guys are gonna be? Cause is Viktor Krum is any example they're gonna be swoon worthy" or "if I manage to get a date with one Beauxbaton girl I can die happy" all the way to in depth discussions on each schools weakness and how to exploit it during the competition.
Either way, id finally managed to find something else to fixate on. The interest was impossible to resist.
That morning id taken extra care to make sure my curls were intact, pulled out a dark pink lip gloss reserved for special occasions. I'd even opened up a book my mother had gotten me in first year, Practical Spells for Practical Wizards and used some spells to smooth out and clean my uniforms.
I rushed down the stairs, knowing full well that there was no way I was going to make it to breakfast with enough time to sit down, socialize, and eat. So I hurried down the halls and skipped down the stairs until I made it to the portrait of fruit, feeling my chest tighten at the memory of Fred showing me this place, and tickled the pear.
I climbed through and stopped the first elf I saw, requesting a cup of coffee and a croissant.
I stretched my arms over my head, shoulders popping and elbows cracking, when I heard the portrait open again behind me.
I dropped my arms and turned around with alarm, feeling sheepish when I saw Fred walking through, eyeing me with a knowing smile.
"Coffee?" he questioned, knowing full well that's the only reason id be here.
"Of course, same for you?" I answered, walking over to an available chair and sitting down and getting comfortable.
"Your food miss." Came a squeaky voice down by my knees, making me smile. House elves were truly adorable, I'd always enjoyed their presence.
"Thank you." I said as my eyes fixed on the meal before me, grabbing my order with a bit too much excitement.
The smoky scent of coffee wafted through my nostrils, and the flaky buttery crust of the croissant nearly melted in my mouth with the first bite. I was in food heaven.
I opened my eyes and looked at Fred with a glazed expression and grinned, mildly surprised at the sight of a cup of coffee in his hands, not recalling him requesting a cup. At the moment though, I was too entranced to bother asking. Just one of those things.
"You seem happy." He remarked, swirling his coffee in his mug, leaning sideways with an elbow on the arm of his chair, chin in his hand as a bemused smile decorated his face.
"I couldn't be happier." I murmured calmly, savoring the scent of the coffee surrounding me.
"Well hopefully I can find a way to compete with that on our date." He countered with a grin, never one to be bashful.
While I had never been one to be demure, I'd been raised to demand what I want when I want it, when it came to Fred I was going to need a pretty serious sign of genuine feelings towards me before I could really show him how I felt. I was simply hopeless.
"I should hope you do." I replied measuredly, enjoying being somewhat openly flirtatious with the guy id been trying to figure out for years.
"It's settled, our date won't be over until I've left you breathless. See you then Gracey." He announced with flourish, pushing himself out of the chair and bounding out the door. Not knowing that he'd already managed his goal.
The rest of the day passed in a complete blur. Partly because of my moment with Fred, and partly because even the teachers couldn't focus during lectures and classes consistently let out early.
The hallways were essentially ghost towns in the evening, with everyone in their dorms primping and preparing for the arrival of the schools.
I was met with quite a shock upon entering my dorm and seeing Katie applying mascara with shaky hands in the bathroom. In typical tomboy form, Katie never bothered with makeup, not really needing it in the first place, and simply never having shown an interest in it since her mother had taken a strong stance against anything gender conforming back in the seventies. My mother briefly followed the movement, but as an artist who viewed her face, hair and body as blank canvases she gave up that aspect. She still had some pretty cool posters and signs shed made for rallies in the living room back home though.
I peered closer and with an internal gasp saw her nails had been filed into neat crescents with the unmistakable shine of topcoat giving away her additional primping.
"Looking hot Katie." I exclaimed, whistling as she glared at me in the mirror, quickly giving up as laughter poured out.
"I'm not about to pass up an opportunity to talk up a Durmstrang guy, let alone a Quidditch playing one. If that means some extra effort who am I to neglect my best features." She snapped, though her grin betrayed the tone of voice.
"If that's your way of saying you're feeling sexy and want to show it off to some foreign men from distant lands, who am I to judge?" I said with a laugh, walking over to the mirror to inspect my reflection.
I rubbed some blush on my cheeks and ran some volumizer through my hair to polish my curls.
Couldn't hurt to look as good as I was feeling, and make sure Fred saw it if I happened to run into him after his mysterious departure earlier.
Angelina on the other hand had already glammed up, the top three buttons of her shirt undone, her tie loose, and dark pink lip gloss glistening on her lips.
I whistled in appreciation, clapping as she gave a quick twirl and bowed dramatically.
"You two are incorrigible" Katie chided with a chuckle as she came out of the bathroom and watched the display.
"You're just as bad as we are miss 'mascara makes no sense and I wouldn't be caught dead with it." Angelina sang.
"I surrender, I surrender. I can admit my eyes do look a bit bigger, but that's it." Katie replied with her hands up in the air.
We were interrupted by a familiar growl from my bed, earning eye rolls from everybody in the room. Poor fat Barney, must have gone a whole hour since his lunch time. Poor fat cat. I reached into the trunk and poured a small handful of treats on the pet, watching with a humored smile as the tabby pounced on the meal and ate happily. If I didn't adore cats so much this would have probably gone a much angrier route.
"Well let's get down there so we can get a good spot to watch." I ordered, heading out the door.
"You can watch, you have Fred. I on the other hand plan to be right up front." Katie said, meeting me at the door and nudging me with her elbow.
"What?" I heard from behind me, looking back to see a very confused Angela, with a very odd expression.
"Didn't you hear? Seems Fred came to his senses and is taking her on a proper date." Katie explained proudly, like a mother hen. You'd think she had a part of this.
"Guess I was out of the loop this time." I heard Angelina say, and if I didn't think I was just being oversensitive from all the excitement id swear she sounded sad.
The mood lifted once we joined the crowd in the common room rushing out to the front of Hogwarts where the other schools were soon to arrive. We all linked arms and as a small trio pushed and shoved our way to the front, reaching the edge of the crowd by the lake. All of use bouncing on our toes to stay warm, and just a tad out of excitement.
"You're just as bad as the rest of them." I heard an amused voice from beside me.
Looking up I saw Fred looking at me in mock judgment.
"Like you didn't make your way up here to gawk at the Beauxbaton girls." I countered, poking him in the arm with a smile, only a teensy bit of jealousy in my voice.
"No that would be Ron's area of expertise. Hasn't shut up about them, how pretty they're going to be, the tournament or God's gift to the universe Viktor Krum all day." He moaned, his face in his hands as he lamented about his younger brother.
Ron did have a certain talent for getting overly carried away, which was a detail not missed easily as he was currently one of the giddiest students in the crowd, much to the apparent chagrin and confusion of Hermione and Harry. Hermione meeting my eyes with her own unamused stare which made me giggle to myself.
"Speak for yourself brother, if I don't land me a date with a Beauxbatons girl for the weekend now I won't be able to until next week." Came the voice of George behind me, his voice just a slightly higher register than Fred's, and he spoke a little bit slower as well. Something id noticed in second year.
"Best of luck Georgy!" I shouted up at him, trying to be heard over the noise.
"Same to you Gracey!" He yelled back, a cheesy grin in place as he winked conspiratorially down at me, looking between Fred and I.
Quickly looking back towards the lake in attempt to hide my growing bluch I spotted Angelina, her gaze locked on Fred.
I looked over to him and met his eyes, smiling down at me as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
"You looked kind of cold there, figured I could manage to be the gentlemen mum would be ecstatic to know and love for once." He explained, winking at me.
"You're too kind sir." I thanked, feeling a strange pit in the bottom of my stomach.
I snuck a look over to Angelina to see her staring fixedly at the lake, lips pursed and arms crossed. How could I have been so dim?
I didn't have the chance to feel guilty much longer as the crowd began to scream and everyone began to jump and cry out, as carriages led by Pegasus's descended from the sky, landed gracefully before us.
A giant woman with a sever bob of dark brown hair exited the first carriage, and was soon followed by hordes of lithe young girls in light blue dresses and cloaks. It was as though their feet didn't touch the ground as they floated and flitted behind her, the silky nature of their dresses following in the breeze. I bet the grass didn't even crunch under their feet. A detail not lost on dear old Georgy as he hooted and hollered at the girls, trying in vain to catch some ladies eye, but they were all focused on the back of their sizeable headmistress.
In watching after the girls I briefly met the glance of Alexander, smiling a secret smile as he winked in acknowledgement. Clearly forgiving me for the prank, or at least that's what I hoped that meant.
The girls seem to glide past us in a shimmery blue fog, but we weren't able to stare long as the sound of rushing water forced every ones heads to snap back to the lake, where perhaps the largest ship I've ever seen pulled itself out of the water and up to the shore.
A surly man with a dark goatee stormed out of the ship first, his eyes piercing the crowd. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was slightly intimidated. I'd also be lying if I didn't say my eyes widened in pure awe at the sight of some of the fittest guys I'd ever seen pour out of the boat behind him.
They quickly followed the man I assume to be their headmaster in a military style march up to the school, dark capes flowing behind them as they all wore a uniform smirk that made even some of the boys go weak in the knees.
I could feel Fred's arm around my shoulders tighten, and continue to tighten as a particularly bold guy with sharp brown almost black eyes, at the back of the line looked right at me and winked.
"Remind me to spike his drink with puking potion later." Fred muttered darkly, although he couldn't be too serious considering he was still smiling. He was probably just acting the part.
If I didn't still believe he was potentially only taking me out as a way of apologizing, my heart would have probably exploded.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW EVERYONE! THE DATE AND QUITE A FEW OTHER EVENTS ARE GOING TO GO DOWN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!