Burning

Fred approached me and sat down next to me on the sofa. I avoided looking at him and stared blankly at the carpet. Fred stared into the fire that blazed in the grate I sat near.
“So, you’re back.” He stated simply.
“Yeah.” I nodded, not really knowing what else to say. We sat in silence for a while. I refused to be the one to break the silence, since it was hard for me to know where our relationship stood. To be honest, I missed him a lot. I missed laughing with him and talking with him, but I wasn’t about to let him know that, not after that whole ordeal we’d gone through. I was still pissed and it was too complicated.
“You feeling better? I’m so sorry about what happened.” Fred said after a while.
“Yeah, I am feeling better and don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault.” I told him, still avoiding looking at him.
“Yeah, I guess that’s true. You know, a lot of people say it was Sanderson’s fault.” He said, trying to act nonchalant, but I picked up on what he was getting at. I sharply looked up at him.
“Oh come on Fred! Are you really going to be that stupid?” I cried incredulously, not believing how ridiculous he was being. He looked at me and frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“You know what? No, you’re not excused! That’s unacceptable. We haven’t spoken in weeks and now the first thing you say to me after I come back from the hospital wing is a horrid accusation against one of my best friends. Not only are you wrong, you’re tactless!” I cried. Fortunately, the common room was beginning to empty, so there were less people to notice the spat occurring over in the corner. Fred opened his mouth to speak, looking shocked at my outburst, but I decided I wasn’t finished talking to him.
“No, you listen to me! I’m tired of trying to figure you out! You’re one of my best friends, we’re supposed to understand each other but this whole year you’ve been acting weird. I want to be friends with you, but as long as you’re going to be a selfish jerk about Cole, then I guess we can’t be. He doesn’t have any problems with me being friends with you, so why is it a problem on this end? He’s a gentleman and you’re behaving terribly. I don’t know how you even have the right to dislike him. I know for a fact he wasn’t behind me getting attacked and you have no idea how horrible he felt about it. He’s trying to make my life easier but you seem intent on the opposite! Do you have any idea what you’ve been putting me through?” I said, on a roll now. It felt so good to get all of these feelings out. I wasn’t shouting, which was good because I didn’t want to attract attention, but I poured as much venom and malice as I could into my angry whisper. Fred looked like he wanted to say something, but I started ranting again before he could get a word in edgewise.
“No, of course you don’t, or you wouldn’t have done it. Let me tell you something. I liked you a lot at the beginning of this year, and you were being really friendly and kind to me. I thought I might have had a chance! But clearly I was wrong. You don’t really care about me, you just care about me being friends with a Slytherin. And then that evening, in the corridor, you kissed me and I was so happy. I thought things couldn’t get better. And they didn’t. They got worse. After that, you just shunned me. You must really care a lot about making me feel miserable to put that effort into it. Well, in case you had any doubts, I’ll set your mind at ease. You did a pretty bang-up job. So now, after being attacked in the hallway by a good friend’s friends, you must have thought I wasn’t dealing with enough. No, life was going just a little too well for me, so it was really considerate of you to come over to try and fix that by ANTAGONIZING me about being friends with someone who’s been kinder than you have. Just try to explain your way out of that one.” Fred just stared at me, no trace of the laugh that was normally splattered across it. He looked a little shocked.
“Wait, you liked me?” he asked in wonderment. I rolled my eyes.
“Is that all you heard from what I said? Whatever, I don’t care. Yes, are you happy? I LIKED you. A lot. Does that make you feel better? Now you can go and have a good laugh.” I snarled. Fred looked taken aback.
“No, don’t you understand? When I kissed you, I meant it. I thought you didn’t like me, and I thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with me!” he said earnestly. I laughed shrewdly.
“I guess I forgot how polite you usually were in conversation. Don’t try to make me feel better. It doesn’t really matter anyway.” I responded coldly. Fred looked up into my eyes, seemingly a little worried.
“No, I’m not lying! I really mean it! I liked you! It took me a while to realize it, but I did. And, I dunno, I guess I was a little-, not jealous, but I felt weird-, knowing that you and Cole had been so close and now you were starting to be friends again. Feeling like that kinda spurred me to do something reckless. That was why I kissed you all of a sudden; it wasn’t for lack of feelings.” He said, holding his hands out helplessly. He seemed sincere and my anger was beginning to abate, but I eyed him suspiciously.
“If you liked me, then why did you run away?” I asked. Fred stared down at the ground again.
“I-, I don’t know.” He mumbled. “I guess I just felt terrible that I’d just jumped at you like that, and then you kinda pushed away, so I thought I’d done something wrong. Then, you really seemed like you were okay with us not being friends, so I thought you were mad, and then I got mad at myself, and a little at you and everything just…” he trailed off here. I nodded slowly, beginning to understand. I wasn’t angry anymore. Merely expressing how I’d felt had helped immensely and then, hearing what Fred was thinking helped me gain perspective. The mistake I’d made was becoming clear and it was this: although Fred was a year older than me, he wasn’t an adult. He was still a teenager and probably feeling just as awkward and confused about everything as I was. I couldn’t expect more of him than I could have of myself and seeing how confused we both were just reinforced that.
“Please Rachel, you’ve got to believe me. I really care about you!” he said, his eyes gazing deeply into mine. I looked back at Fred’s beautifully shaped face, took a deep breath and sank further back into my cushion.
“Okay.” I said. “I believe you.” Fred heaved a deep sigh of relief. Then his face broke out into a smile, not his usual mischievous grin, but a real smile of happiness. Then, he leaned closer to me, moving in to kiss me. I pulled away.
“What are you doing?” he asked me, confused. “I thought you liked me.” I opened my mouth hesitantly. He waited for me to speak.
“I did, and maybe I still do, but I don’t know anymore. I don’t want to have to deal with all of that again. I just think I couldn’t handle it.” I told him honestly. He looked at me, a strange look on his face.
“Rachel, please, that won’t happen again. It was just miscommunication between us. You can’t tell me that whatever you felt for me doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Look Fred, I really just don’t know. I need time to figure it out, you know, to get my thoughts straight. Can’t we just be friends?” I asked. He stared at me for a moment, thinking. For a second, I thought he was going to say no.
“Of course we can, if that’s what you want.” I mentally sighed with relief. Now, maybe things could go back to normal while I sorted out my thoughts. I nodded.
“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, it’s getting kind of late. I’d really better get to bed, but I’ll see you in the morning.” I promised, standing up. Fred nodded silently, giving me a friendly smile in response. I made my way to the staircase that led up to my dormitory, but Fred called my name. I turned around.
“Rachel. Just so you know, I won’t give up.” He said, his eyes glinting like their old, playful selves, his familiar grin back in its place. I smiled slightly and then climbed up, preparing to sleep.

And, Fred didn’t give up. Of course, he wasn’t obnoxious about it. For the most part, we were able to go back to our normal lives. I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow it happened. However, there were slight differences. Fred was a little more obvious with his flirting than he had been at the beginning of the year, a little more suggestive about us starting a relationship. Of course, in public I just laughed it off as though it were normal, but believe me, I picked up on it. And I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
Sure, sometimes I felt like I still liked Fred. I mean, he was funny, nice to me again, and pretty smart when he focused. But, I knew what had happened before, and that just proved the type of drama that could ensue with a relationship with Fred. So, I just let things be for the time.
Anyway, it wasn’t too difficult to focus on other things. There was plenty else going on. One morning, there was a crowd around the bulletin board in the entrance hall, so, curious, I pushed my way through the throng to see what all the fuss was about.
Attention!
Triwizard Tournament
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrange will be arriving at 6 o’clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.
“Awesome!” Sarah said. She had walked downstairs with me and had just read the notice. “I have History of Magic then! Maybe Binns won’t bother lecturing because of the shortened class.” She said hopefully. I instead, had Charms with the 6th years, which wasn’t too bad. All around me, students were milling around with excitement, discussing the upcoming event.
“Man, I’m gonna submit my name, I really think I could win!”
“Do you think there’ll be any cute boys from Durmstrang?”
“I hear someone’s found a way to trick the impartial judge; think they’ll manage it?”
I smiled to myself. Gossip around Hogwarts could get ridiculous. No one would be able to trick Dumbledore. But, nevertheless, I too was excited.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday eventually came. The day passed slowly, but last period came and no one could focus during the last lesson. The room was full of whispers and note passing. But, Charms was really easy to hold conversations in, and Flitwick knew what was going to happen this evening, so he was pretty lenient. In fact, he just told us to practice mobility spells and gave the rest of the period to us. I sat with Fred, George, Angelina, and Lee. We just levitated small objects and had them chase each other around the room while we talked.
"So, you guys heard the rumor that someone's got a way to get around the impartial judge?" I asked lazily. Angelina looked up in interest
"Have they really?" she asked.
"Yeah, that'd be us." George said, smiling. "Didn't know that was getting around." he said, seeming pleased.
"Is it true?" I asked. "Have you really figured out a way?" I asked.
"Well, maybe." Lee said. "We may have, but we're not sure. It'll all depend on who the impartial judge is. Or what they are, for that matter." he said. I frowned, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we thought about it and realized that Dumbledore never actually said it was a person who was picking. It seems natural that it will be, but he's a man of mystery and it wouldn't be unlike him to throw something unexpected our way." Fred said proudly. I laughed at his self-assurance.
“We’ll see.” I said noncommittally.
“You don’t have faith in our awesome abilities!” Fred accused, mock insult in his voice. I laughed again.
“It’s not that.” I said. “But the fact remains that Dumbledore is one of, if not the, cleverest wizard of all time. And you’re-…well…you.” I said truthfully.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” George scoffed. I shook my head.
“Like I said, we’ll see.” I said. It was then that Flitwick dismissed our class. He reminded us to be quick when dropping off our things for the student delegations would be arriving soon.
When I arrived at the grounds, I quickly located Sarah and Katie who had already left our dorm by the time I had gotten there. They were both pushing to get to the front of the crowd, eager for when our guests would arrive. I sighed. Excited as I was, I didn’t feel it was worth braving that mass of students. I knew what they would look like. I’d seen people before. Therefore, I had no real need to stand at the front of the group. In fact, I decided that I could probably go watch from by the lake without getting in trouble. Sure it probably wasn’t as social as Dumbledore wanted, but one person wouldn’t jeopardize the reputation of Hogwarts. With that, I made my way to the shores of the lake. The water swelled whenever the giant squid neared the surface. When I reached my destination, I saw that there was already somebody there. There was no mistaking that flame colored hair.
“Hey Fred.” I said casually, stepping next to him, a fair distance from where the rest of the students were. However, I had a clear view for I faced the area they were staring at from a different angle. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Well, I kinda guessed you would come here, but I figured you should have some company in case you fall in the lake, klutz that you are.” He said smoothly. I was a good thing the light was dimming because I felt a slight pink tinge appear on my cheeks.
“Hey, I’m not that clumsy!” I said defensively. He laughed.
“I’ve seen many occasions contrary to that statement.” He said. I wanted to object, but I didn’t. I knew I had tripped my share of times in front of him.
“So the other students are getting here by train, right?” I asked, realizing that I wasn’t sure. In fact, I hadn’t heard anyone else talk about it. Fred shrugged.
“Dunno, but that seems reasonable I guess.” We stood in silence for several seconds. I was about to say something when I was interrupted by a commotion coming from the crowd of people. My gaze followed where several people pointed. Up in the sky, I could barely make out what seemed to be a flying carriage. But it wasn’t flying, it was pulled by a herd of winged horses, I saw, as it drew closer.
“That must be Beauxbatons.” Fred said. I assumed he was right. Out of the giant carriage stepped a line of female students. I couldn’t make them out clearly, but I seemed to be right. There was nothing exciting about them except for the first person to get out. From here, the looked like a female Hagrid. I was thrown through a loop, but decided to question it later, for now the guests were entering the entrance hall. Now all that was left was to wait for the Durmstrang students.
Then, I heard a lot of splashing behind me. At first, I thought the giant squid was having a seizure, but then I turned around and saw a large pole rising out of the depths, followed by a huge ship. It was bizarre, I’d seen muggle clips of boats sinking, but never the opposite. It never occurred to be to press the rewind button and see what it looked like.
The boat moored itself at the dock. Then, a bridge magically appeared and students began to step ashore. They all wore dark burgundy cloaks and were all male, most of them very attractive. They in general seemed to be well built, probably to leave an impression upon the opponents. I won’t lie, I’ve always had a sort of natural attraction to burlier men, so I was mildly pleased. They all huddled around the dock. I could make out the details of this group much clearer than the previous one because I was standing probably ten meters away. The last person to step off the ship was an older man with a dark goatee. Probably their headmaster. He led them off the docks leading them closer to where Fred and I stood. He paused when he saw us and sniffed.
“I supposed Dumbledore sent you two to direct us to the castle? Foolish man, I can see it perfectly easily from here.” He said haughtily. I wanted to retort and opened my mouth to, but Fred stomped on my foot, reminding me to hold my tongue. It was probably a good thing too; I didn’t want to go insulting the guests as soon as they got here. But still, I didn’t like his tone, or his attitude. The man, without another word began to walk up to the castle and his students followed him. Some of them ignored me and Fred, but most looked at us. Some gave me a look of disdain, there were several playful smirks, some kind smiles, and one boy, who upon first glance looked very attractive, winked at me. His friend laughed and pulled him along, saying something in what was probably Russian. I blushed again. When they had all gone, Fred and I followed behind slowly, ready to begin the feast.
“You need to be careful what you say around Dumbledore’s guests.” Fred warned. I sighed, dejected.
“I know, but he seems like an ass! He can’t say stuff like that about Dumbledore!”
“Dumbledore’s a big boy; he can take care of himself.” I nodded in agreement.
“I guess you’re right.”
“Anyway, it seems like you have a bit of an admirer!” Fred teased, bumping me with his elbow. Darn, I’d hoped he hadn’t noticed that. I might have been imagining it, but I thought I detected a trace of annoyance in Fred’s jest. I laughed anyway, trying to play it cool.
“Sure, whatever. Because boys don’t ever flirt with girls casually.” I said sarcastically.
“Just saying, watch out.” Fred laughed. “Because you can’t trust those foreigners. They’re always up to no good.” I pushed him playfully.
“You jerk.” We had reached the Gryffindor table by this point. I noted that the Beauxbatons girls had sat at the Ravenclaw table and the Durmstrang boys had decided to sit at the Slytherin table.
(A/N: Alright you guys, I’m assuming you know how this goes. I’ll summarize it vaguely if you need a refresher, but if you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’re an HP fan. You get the picture. I’m just not up for typing extra stuff needlessly)
The feast consisted of Dumbledore introducing the guests to us and then unveiling the impartial judge. Fred, George, and Lee had been right; it wasn’t a person at all, but an extremely powerful artifact known as the Goblet of Fire. Students would be able to place their names inside the goblet for consideration and it would decide on the participants later. He would prevent underage submissions by drawing an Age Line around the goblet which none could pass over unless they were over age. Then, of course, there was the awesome food. I spent the meal sitting with Katie, Sarah, and some other girl from my house. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat not too far away and Fred, George, and Lee were farther beyond that. I spent the meal discussing how I’d decided to watch from the lake and laughing a bit at Katie and Sarah who were all a bit ruffled after having been tossed about in that mob. They weren’t too happy I hadn’t let them in on my plan.
Then, after the feast was over, we stood up and made our way into the entrance hall. A lot of the guests were milling about and I vaguely wondered where they were staying. I was tired from a long day and also the good food so I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings. That’s why it took me a couple seconds to realize someone was calling to me.
“Excuse me. EXCUSE ME MISS!” called a deep voice, smooth as finely polished oak. I turned to see the Durmstrang boy who had winked at me earlier walking towards me. A small group of who seemed to be his friends watched me. Katie and Sarah looked at me in surprise as I hadn’t told them about our brief past interaction. I couldn’t figure out what he wanted, but I wasn’t complaining. The low light from outside hadn’t made me incorrect. He was very attractive.
“Yes, can I help you?” I asked politely, smiling a little flirtily. He seemed around my age, so I figured, hey, a little flirting couldn’t hurt. He smiled back, his stormy grey eyes flashing playfully.
“Vell, yes, I believe you can.” He said, his voice thick with Russian accent. It was so hot. “You see, my friends and I, ve vere arguing. I vos hoping you could clear up our little dispute. Ve have heard that foreign girls find Russians exotic. Is it true?” he asked, smirking. I caught what he was doing. He was flirting with me, I couldn’t believe it!
“Well, before I answer that, I’m going to need to know your name.” I said craftily. He chuckled softly.
“Vell, aren’t you the clever one. Very vell, my name Nikolai Corchevsky.” He said. I smiled. It had a nice ring.
“Well Nikolai, my personal answer is yes, we girls do tend to find Russians very exotic, not to mention extremely intriguing.” I said, flashing a smile. He returned the smile with his own and another wink.
“I’d do vell to remember that then.” He said. I nodded.
“Yes, you would.” I agreed, and then turned to walk away.
“Vait!” he called, as I knew he would. You have to always leave em wanting more. I turned and gave him a questioning look.
“Yes?”
“Vot is your name?” I laughed.
“Nope. To find out that, you have to see me again.” I told him. He smiled and raised an eyebrow.
“Very vell. I can be patient.” He said and he returned to his friends. I watched him go and noted that he had an extremely graceful walk for someone so bulked up with muscle. Then I began to walk towards Gryffindor Tower. Katie and Sarah followed, staring at me. I laughed and told them about what had happened at the lake. They laughed, but then Katie said:
“I’ve never seen you flirt that well before!” she said. I laughed.
“Thanks. Actually, I’m really only that good with strangers. That’s why I was always so nervous around Fred. I knew him too well. I don’t know if that makes sense.” I said.
“Don’t worry, it does. You think you’ll see him again?”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure I will. Like him, I can be patient.”