It's a Love That Has No Past

“Do not tell your mother you two were gambling,” Mr. Weasley said sternly to the twins’ before rounding on me, “And the same for you, Molly would not be happy!”

“Oh we won’t,” Fred and George said in unison, smiling brightly.

“We have plans for this,” Fred said, “Like we’d really want it confiscated!”

“Pshh,” I said, waving my hand dismissively, “I’ve never gambled in my life.”

Mr. Weasley gave a lopsided smile, “Good answer.”

We advanced along the lantern lit trail leading back to the campsite; the sounds of cheering, singing and hooping echoed throughout the woods. The leprechauns soared above everyone’s heads, laughing gleefully; the streaks of gold or green lights trailing behind them as they went. Thousands upon thousands of wizards walked along us; I watched them, smiling broadly, as they passed. Even though the match was over, the same level of excitement hung over us all like a thick cloud of smoke. Even though I was only catching bits and pieces of foreigners speaking in their native tongues, I wasn’t dimwitted enough to not understand they were talking about Krum’s marvelous performance. A short stout wizard bumped into me as he passed, not even acknowledging he had; his long shiny scarlet robes dragged the ground as I glared at him angrily, rubbing my shoulder. The only bits of his conversation I caught were “Krum”, “Snitch” and “Wronkski Defensive Feint”.

The walk back seemed to be significantly shorter time than the walk to the stadium. I’m sure this wasn’t true; it was surely the amount of anticipation and anxiousness before the match. Finally, reaching out tents; we all clambering into the boys’ tent, sitting down and making ourselves comfortable wherever we could as Mr. Weasley prepared everyone a cup of hot cocoa.

Charlie, Bill and Mr. Weasley sat along the large mismatched armchairs talking about the game as Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and I crammed around the tiny table in the kitchen area. The conversation was excited and filled with play-by-plays of the match we had just witnessed. Even Ginny joined in, not shooting a single glare in my direction. It had to be the level of excitement; of this I was almost sure.

Once Mr. Weasley stood and realized Ginny had fallen asleep at the table some thirty minutes later; none of us had even noticed, he demanded everyone turn in and call it a night. We all let out a collective groan as we stood and began making our way to our destinations; Mr. Weasley shaking Ginny awake. Harry followed me outside as I headed towards the tent I was sharing with the other girls.

“Goodnight,” he said, hugging me.

“Sweet dreams,” I replied with a yawn.

As we parted, he placed his hands on my face and kissed me.

When he pulled away, he smiled, “Always.”

I smiled; giving him one last quick kiss on the cheek, I made my way into the tent.
I quickly changed into my pajamas, finally feeling exactly how tired I truly was despite the still overwhelming excitement from the match coursing through every inch of me. I slipped into my bed, blowing out my candle beside it and nestled under the sheets.

“Goodnight Hermione,” I manage to stammer out between a yawn.

“Goodnight Briley,” she mumbled, sounding like she was already half asleep.

“Get up, Briley!” Hermione’s voiced hissed in my ear, jerking me out of my dreams.

“‘S goin’ on?” I said sleepily, rubbing my eyes and groaning.

“Get up, we have to go!” Hermione yelled.

I could vaguely see her dashing away from my bed side and across the tent, grabbing her jacket as my eyes adjusted from their sleepy state. I glanced to Ginny’s bed; it seemed to be vacant already. Once I came to reality, I realized something was terribly wrong. I tossed the covers off of myself, getting up. I quickly grabbed my jacket from the small bed post and threw it over my rugged pajamas as I walked out of the tent. The singing and cheering were long gone; they had been replaced with screams of terror. The once merry occupants of the tents around us were gone, and others from along the campsite were running, clutching onto their family members with everything in them. I was the last one to emerge from our tents. Hermione stood just outside the entrance to our tent; her hair a mess, clutching her jacket around her night gown, as she looked thunderstruck at the scene.

I looked along the campsite in transfixed horror. Tents were on fire as shrieks of terror pierced the air. All the joy of celebration had been diminished; the air itself seemed to be standing on edge, as still and horrified as all of us. I could vaguely make out a group of wizards, draped in dark robes, their faces hidden behind their hoods and masks, walking along the row. Every so often a tent would burst into flames upon their will as they passed it. The group was swelling in numbers as they marched along, laughing manically. My eyes darted upwards as my stomach gave a sickening lurch. A few of the members of the group of wizards had their wands raised in the air; above them were four people, floating in the air. I squinted to try to see who the people were; the screams grew louder and louder as I felt someone grasp my arm firmly.

Mr. Wealsey, who had merely thrown on a pair of jeans over his pajamas shouted, “Get to the woods! All of you! And stick together! We’re going to go help the Ministry.”

With that, he, Percy, Bill and Charlie, wands at the ready, took off along the campsite towards the swelling crowd of hooded wizards. I finally broke my gaze, to see it was Harry who had grabbed my arm.

“Let’s go!” he shouted, jerking at my arm once more.

I didn’t need to be told twice; none of us did. We began to run for the woods just beyond our campsite. The bright colorful lanterns that had illuminated the path to the stadium had gone out. The air was filled with the heavy footsteps of the campers, shrieks and screams, children crying… Harry had let loose of my arm as we ran along the woods. The scene was filled with sheer panic; people were bumping into others, their faces unseen; no one stopped to acknowledge who or what they had hit, they simply kept on going. No one seemed to dare to look back upon the horrific scene, only the dark woods ahead.

“Ow!” I screamed followed by a loud sickening pop.

I tripped over something unknown in the dark and hit the ground with a thud. A throbbing pain shot through my ankle; I rolled to my side, groaning, pushing myself up with one arm, the other reaching for my ankle. My vision not even focused in yet from the sudden fall, or maybe I was squeezing my eyes shut from the pain; which I was not sure of. I heard footsteps very near before feeling my face come in contact with something moving fast. I felt the swish of a robe blow my hair as I groaned, rolling over again. My eyes were now open; my vision slightly blurred as I saw the obscured pattern of moonlit tree branches against the night sky above.

“Briley! What happened?” I heard Fred say. I felt his firm grasp on my arm before I saw him as he helped me to my feet.

“Tripped,” I muttered through my clenched teeth, “And then kicked I think….”
The pain in my ankle was overwhelming. My eyes watered up with pain, making my ability to see harder than before.

“Do you think it’s sprained? Broken?” he asked, “Oh shit, your mouth.”

He didn’t need to tell me; I tasted the blood that was pouring from my nose and lip.

“C’mon,” he said hurriedly, wrapping his arm around me, “Can you put any pressure on it at all?”

I shrugged as I tested it. As soon as the tip of my shoe seemed to touch the ground the pain shot through me like a jolt of electricity. I drew in a quick breath and shook my head quickly.

“Shit,” he mumbled, “Here, forget this.”

He moved his arm he had wrapped around my shoulder along my lower back and the other along the back of my knees as he scooped me up off the ground.

We hurried as fast as we could along the path; slowed down considerably by my clumsiness and Fred having to carry me. George and Ginny now trudged through the woods in front of us. I apologized repeatedly to him as we passed groups of wizards and witches here and there; hiding and huddled together. After saying, “Don’t say you’re sorry” at least seven times he finally shot, “If you say that again, I’m going to drop you.” I immediately silenced my apologies. I looked around as we went; upon looking behind us I noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found.

“Let’s stop here,” Fred said, nodding towards an open patch behind a group of huge trees, “We’ll be well hidden.”

“Where are the others?” I asked.

Fred helped me sit down at the base of the largest tree in the cluster we now hid behind. The grass around the tree was thick and cushioning. He looked up and around, only to find George and Ginny in our company.

He gave a frustrated sigh, “There’s no telling.”

I groaned and began trying to hoist myself up, using the tree as a prop, “I’m going to go find them.”

Fred, who had sat down on the ground in front of me, leaned forward quickly and pushed me back down, “Are you mad? No, you’re not going anywhere.”

“But…”

“You know as well as I do they can look out for themselves,” he said, “They’ve probably found somewhere to hide also. Now let me have a look at your ankle.”

I decided it pointless to argue, especially since he had just walked along having to carry me for pure idiocy on my part, Fred took hold of my leg and placed my foot upon his lap, slipping my pant leg up and began gently slipping my shoe off. I cringed; the pain was elevating with every movement of my shoe.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, finally extracting my foot from my shoe, “Yeah, you’ve done it in good. It’s already swollen badly. Can you move it at all?”

I shook my head, “No, it hurts too much.”

George crouched down beside his twin and looked.

“Jeez!” he shook his head, “Only you. What did you trip over?”

I shrugged, “No idea.”

“Probably your own feet,” George said, still looking at my foot.

I picked up a small pinecone that lie on the ground beside me and threw it at him; it hit the top of his head and bounced off.

“Ow,” he said, rubbing his head. I narrowed my eyes at him. He chuckled as he eyed me in return.

Above all the sounds echoing around, a set of heavy footsteps thundered, approaching us. George stopped laughing immediately and rose to his feet; Fred moved my foot off his lap gently yet as quick as he could and followed his twin. Ginny turned quickly in the direction the twins’ were facing. Immediately we all pulled out our wands, though I had quite a difficult time extracting mine from my pants as I sat upon the ground.

“There you are!” I heard Charlie say as he came into view.

“You scared us to death!” I hissed, shoving my wand back into my pocket with aggravated force.

“Where’s the others?” he asked, looking from each of us to the other.

“We don’t know,” George replied stowing his wand back into his pocket of his jeans, “Lost them not long after we got into the woods.”

“Ok, let’s get you guys back to the tent then,” he said.

Fred bent down and wrapped his arm around me once more, helping me to my feet - foot.

“What happened to you, Briley?” Charlie asked, coming to my other side to help, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, just tripped on something then got clobbered in the face,” I replied with a roll of my eyes.

“We’ll mend you when we get back,” he nodded, “Let go over her Fred, I’ll just carry her.”

Fred shook his head, “I got her.”

“I can walk, ya know,” I said impatiently, “Just slowly is all.”

“You’re not walking,” Fred replied sternly, swooping me off my feet and into his arms before I could even open my mouth to protest.

I groaned and threw my head back and watched the tree tops as they passed. The night sky was inky black; the stars shone brightly against its dark canvas. The moon hung high in the sky; its bright beams piercing through the trees branches and leaves creating a blotched pattern upon the wooded floor.

An ear splitting scream filled the night air as others followed. I jerked my head up and look around wildly to see what the screaming was about. Fred had stopped dead in his tracks and was looking for the source of the commotion as well. It didn’t take but a split second.

“Let’s go!” George shouted.

I glanced towards him; his face transfixed towards the sky; Ginny, who stood beside him, wore a look of terror, visibly shaking like a leaf. I looked upwards in the direction he was staring to see a dark smoky emerald skull floating high over the tree tops. It shone brightly, emitting an eerie green glow all around; a long serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue.

“Wh-…”

The word never even finished escaping my lips before Fred took off as fast as he could with me in his arms, following closely behind George. Charlie led the way; his footsteps were quick and heavy, his grip firm on Ginny’s arms as he drug her along behind him. I clung to Fred’s neck tightly as we whisked through the wood. I saw the approaching tree line as our campsite came into view. The distant outlines of Percy and Bill stood outside of the boys’ tent. As we drew near I could easily see the looks of anxiety and fear upon their faces as their attention was towards the tree tops, no doubt noticing the bright emerald serpent.

“Charlie?” Bill called as we emerged from the wood, “Have you –“

“I’ve got Fred, George, Ginny and Briley,” he said quickly, not slowing his pace.

We came upon the campsite as Bill’s face gave a small flicker of relief, “Quick, get inside.”

Percy led the way into the tent; Bill held the flap of the tent’s entrance open as the rest of us filed in and was the last to enter. Fred walked over to one of the small bunk beds that lined along the wall and sat me down. He gently moved his arms from underneath me, grabbing a pillow from the top bunk quickly and placing it under my injured ankle. Bill and Charlie approached as Fred beckoned me to sit up, taking the pillow that lie flat on the bed and posting it up against the headboard. George sat on my other side, for once, silent with anticipation.

“What happened, Fred?” said Bill, his voice rugged with anxiety.

“Tripped over something,” Fred replied, not looking away from me, “Then got kick or something, someone running past when she tried to sit up, I guess.”

“Are you ok?” I asked Bill as I noticed he was holding a ripped t-shirt to his arm that was bleeding profusely.

Fred pushed a bit of hair that was stuck in the blood that stained my face away before getting up, giving a quick glance at Bill. I flicked my eyes to watch him; he made his way swiftly into the small kitchen area and began fiddling around, looking about for something unknown. I directed my attention back to Bill and Charlie; Charlie sat down at the end of the bottom bunk, Bill hovering by him. Both of their faces seemed to say everything they couldn’t. Their thoughts were exactly where everyone in the rooms were; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mr. Wealsey.

“I’m fine,” Bill replied dismissively, glancing at his arm, “It’s nothing.”

Ginny and Percy sat around the small table in the kitchen area where Fred was quickly clambering about. Ginny’s head lie upon her crossed arms, buried deep within them. Percy sat silently, his nose tricking with blood still, and stared blankly at the wall opposite of him.

“You’ve heard nothing?” I asked, desperate to know anything and everything they did.

“ No,” Bill said with a deep sigh, “Dad went out searching for you lot same time Charlie did.”

Charlie made tutting noise, barely audible as he examined my ankle, “Only –“

“Don’t say ‘you’” George shot quickly to Charlie, shaking his head warningly, “I got nailed with a pinecone. There’s nothing worthwhile around for her to grab and chuck at you, so be scared. That gives her undodgable advantages.”

I grinned slyly, a grin worthy of the twins’ mischievousness, “I’ll kick you,” I said, raising my eyebrows at him, “broken ankle or not. I’ll go in for a swift upper kick.”

He widened his eyes slightly as he glanced from George to me, a grin crept across his face as he leaned back, moving his head out of kicking range, “Of course I wasn’t going to say that.” He furrowed his eyebrows.

Fred reemerged by my side, sitting down on the bed. He reached up and touched the side of my face with one hand, a washcloth in the other. He began to gently wipe the blood off my face.

“Fred?” I said, looking him in the eyes.

“Yeah?” he asked, not breaking his concentration.

“My face and hands aren’t broken,” I replied, raising my hand up and taking his wrist, “I can do that.”

He removed his hand that was on my cheek and lightly pushed my hand off his wrist with a smile, “I got it.”

The flaps of the tent’s entrance whooshed open, startled us all. Bill turned around quickly, brandishing his wand as Charlie stood up so suddenly he hit my foot with his elbow as I let out a moan of pain. Ginny jerked her head up suddenly with a gasp. Mr. Weasley emerged, looking stricken with a mix of fear, disappointment and concern. Hermione, Ron and Harry followed him in.

Bill, lowering his wand, spoke, “Did you find them? Whoever conjured it?”

Mr. Weasley shook his head in chagrin, “No. We only found Mr. Crouch’s elf around where they heard the incantation come from with Harry’s wand.”

“What?” everyone said in shocked unison.

“Harry’s wand?” George said, sitting up from the headboard he leaned against.

“Mr. Crouch’s house elf?” Percy said, widening his eyes in a state of horror.

Mr. Weasley, Harry, Ron and Hermione proceeded to tell us all who had not been present about the events that happened in the woods. Harry, Ron and Hermione, seemed to be in the thick of everything; this was completely obvious to me now after last year’s events and now, not to mention the stories I had heard from their first and second year at Hogwarts. I leaned back against the headboard and closed my eyes tightly as I listened; the pain in my ankle still coursing through me.

“We heard someone say an incantation,” Ron said.

“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t an elf,” Harry agreed, “It sounded like a man.”

“Well!” Percy said superiorly, his usual self back now that all the high stake emotions had subsided, “Mr. Crouch is right to dismiss such an elf. Embarrassing him like that in front of the entire Ministry!”

“She didn’t do anything wrong!” Hermione snapped immediately at him. Her expression hardened as she glared at him; the look upon her face was as if he had said something directly insulting to her.

“Someone of Mr. Crouch’s pos-“ Percy began.

“It doesn’t matter who it is!” Hermione retorted. Everyone looked at her in shock.

Ron smoothly changed the subject, “So explain the mark. What’s the deal with it? It’s just a mark.”

“I told you Ron,” Hermione said impatiently, “Don’t you read? It’s You-Know-Who’s mark.”

“It hasn’t been seen in thirteen years,” Mr. Weasley said faintly, “It was bound to cause panic.”

“Didn’t help us any,” Bill said, shaking his head, “The Death Eaters Disapparated as soon as it appeared.”

“Death Eaters?” Harry asked curiously.

“You-Know-Who’s followers,” Charlie answered.

“We ran into Draco in the woods!” Ron exclaimed as if a something had clicked in his mind, “He just as well told us his dad was one of them weirdos in the masks!”

“No way to prove it,” Mr. Weasley said with a sigh, “Now, what happened to Briley?”

“Fell,” I replied.

“And kicked –“ George added.

Harry glanced up from the table and looked over at the bunk where Fred and I sat as Mr. Weasley got to his feet. Fred made a light tutting noise under his breath as he glared at the table. Mr. Weasley walked over and sat at the end of the bunk where Charlie had.

“Broken?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Let’s get you mended,” he replied, before looking over at the others around the table, “Best get a few more hours of sleep and we’ll take an early Portkey out of here. I’m sure Molly will be hearing about this soon and be worried.”

Bill nodded and stood up; the rest following his lead. Hermione and Ginny stood from the table and walked out of the tent, saying their goodnights as they did. As Harry stood up, he glanced over at me. I gave a sheepish half smile at him, he returned it, and walked over. He walked around to the opposite side of the bed and sat down.

“You ok?” he asked.

Fred gave a silent huff from beside me.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said dismissively, “Just a broken ankle. No biggie.”

Harry smiled, “I’m sorry, if I would have keep hold of you we wouldn’t have lost you guys and this probably wouldn’t have happened.”

“Psh,” I said, waving my hand in the air, “It’s cool. Not the first time I’ve fell and broken something because I wasn’t paying attention.”

I heard Mr. Weasley mutter something under his breath as Harry chuckled.

“Wow,” I said suddenly, looking up at Mr. Weasley, “What did you do? I can’t feel the pain anymore.”

“Got you all fixed up,” he said with a smile.

“You mean it’s not broken now?” I asked in a shock voice and slowly tried to move my foot.

There was no pain. I moved it a bit more as my mouth fell open. I wiggled it about; there was no pain, no swollenness. I sat up and bent my leg in and looked at it curiously.

“Holy Merlin,” I exclaimed, “Sheesh, I wish I would have had this kinda mending when I fell outta my tree house and broke my arm!”

Fred let out a loud laugh, “You fell out of a tree house?”

“Yeah,” I said furrowing my eyebrows at him.

“How?” he asked, still laughing.

“I refuse to say,” I replied, “You’ll only laugh… more.”

“C’mon,” he said with a smile, acting like he was zipping his mouth closed, “Promise I won’t laugh.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, sighing as I gave in, “My Mum got me Pixie Dust for my birthday and I thought since I had Pixie Dust I could fly like Peter Pan…. and yeah.”

“Peter Pan?” he asked curiously, crinkling his forehead, “And yeah, what?”

He widened his eyes as if a sudden realization had struck him, “You jumped out of the thing?!”

“Shut up,” I said quickly, standing up.

He fell over on his bunk as Harry stood up, roaring with laughter. I smack his leg and pointed at him fiercely, “You promised you wouldn’t laugh! And you quit laughing too!” I shot at Harry.

Fred smiled mischievously and raised his arm from behind his back to reveal his fingers were crossed and began laughing even harder.

“Oh, you just wait Fred Weasley!” I said, jumping on the bed and throwing myself on top of him, punching him in the side.

“Ow!” he yelped, pushing me off him. He moved so quickly I had no time to regain my balance; he thrust himself over towards me, one hand grabbing the pillow behind him and dived on top of me, shoving the pillow over my face. I struggled underneath him, yelling in rage.

“I’m sorry,” Fred said breezily, “I can’t hear you. Say that again?”

“You two put a cork in it,” Charlie said from his bunk.

“Cram it, Charles!” Fred shot back.

He raised the pillow slightly from the top of my face, only enough to where I could see. I saw his red hair and freckled face poke out from the top of the pillow wearing a devilish grin. He raised his eyebrows and wiggled them. I had to refrain from laughing, so I narrowed my eyes at him and mumbled, “You are so dead” but it only came out as muffled noises from under the pillow.

“Come again, doll?” he said, resting his cheek on the pillow as he stared down at me.

I growled, not even attempting to speak again.

“Oohh,” he shuttered, “Scary.”

He jumped up quickly, leaving the pillow on my face and sprung off the bed, out of the way. I pushed the pillow off me and sat up, hair a mess and glared at him. He had bolted to the kitchen area and was now sitting on the small counter with a smile. I glared him down; he only smiled broader.

“Ok,” Mr. Weasley said, “Enough, time for bed.”

I heaved loudly and stood up quickly.

“You’re lucky…. For now Fred Weasley,” I said coolly, walking across the tent as I pointed at him, Harry following behind me, laughing, “Just wait, I’ll get you.”

Fred gave a large cheesy grin and waved feverishly at me, “Goodnight!”

I huffed loudly and took off out of the entrance, Harry trailing behind. As we entered the cool night air he wrapped his arms around me.

“I am really sorry,” he said.

“Oh, quit Harry,” I said, laying my head on his chest, “it’s not your fault. Plus look,” I glanced down as I stuck out my once broken ankle and wiggled it about, “I’m as good as new.”

He smiled and shook his head, “Fine. You win.”

“I always win,” I replied coolly.

“We’ll just see about that,” he said, with a chuckle.

I raised my head from his chest and kissed him, “Guess we will.”

I smiled at him and pulled away, giving him one last kiss and walked towards the tent. I paused at the entrance and glanced back; he stood rooted in the same spot, smiling at me.

“Night,” I said with a wink and blew him a kiss.

He chuckled, “Night.”

The time Mr. Weasley woke us all seemed to come sooner than later. Too soon, to be exact. It felt I had simply dozed off into my swirling dreams before I was shaken awake yet again. I groaned and rolled over, refusing to get up, I shoved my pillow over my head and curled up. I could hear muffled talking before my bed gave a jolt when someone landed upon it with great force. Mr. Weasley had felt the need since my refusal to awaken, to sick Fred onto me to get me moving. After twenty minutes of wrestling and fighting to get away from him as he attempted to tickle me, knowing I hated this above everything, I bounded off the bed with a great leap, making my escape away from him and ran to the chair that my jacket laid upon, grabbing it as I dashed out of the tent, Fred trailing behind me.

After running around the tent a few times, trying desperately to stay away from Fred as he chased after me, Charlie caught me and forced Fred to stop. Fred only listened because Charlie hissed the threat of telling Mrs. Weasley how he knew I had smuggled out Ton-Tongue Toffees (throwing in he wouldn’t say I had done it) and they were still selling Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes products. Fred glared him down as he walked away, then turning to me, raised his eyebrows with a playful smirk and mouthed the words, “I’ll get you.”

Mr. Weasley packed the tents and our belongings quickly using magic and we headed along the dark campsite. Everyone walked in sleepy silence; no one was fully awake except for Fred and I, only due to our running.

“I swear, I owe you both now,” I said, glaring at the twins as we trudged along the dewy grass towards the stand where the two wizards organized the Portkeys.

“Me?” George shot back in shock, “I didn’t tickle you till you were in tears!”

“Dungbomb, bag,” I said raising my eyebrows.

He let out a groan, balling up his fists and shaking them angrily in front of him as he stared at the sky, “I thought you had forgotten by now! I was sure of it!”

“You underestimate me, George Weasley,” I said with a short laugh.

“Oh, do I now?” he said in reply, lifting his eyebrows in sarcastic shock. “I don’t think you’re about anything. It’s been months, almost a year, and you haven’t done anything! Face it, you’re getting shabby. I bet you haven’t even come up with a way to get me back yet, have you?”

I narrowed my eyes, squeezing Harry’s hand slightly as we walked along.

Harry shot him a warning glare across Fred and I, “You’ve done it now.”

George made a movement as if he were about to launch into a full sprint in the opposite direction; I gave a fake hollow laugh, “Ah ha! See, you are scared!”

“How do you suppose so?” he asked.

We now approached the stand where the two, still grumpy wizards stood. There was a mass of wizards and witches packed around the stand, chattering loudly, trying to get out of the campsite as soon as possible.

“You jumped,” I answered.

“No such thing,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“You did,” Fred said to him with a nod.

“You’re my brother!” George said. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I call it as I see it,” he told his twin, shrugging.

“Rubbish,” George muttered.

We sat along the stand; the two wizards looking grumpier than I had seen them before as they scrambled to arrange Portkeys out for everyone. George and I’s argument continued on, despite Charlie’s roars of fury, stating it was worse than Fred and George arguing. The dewy grass soaked my jeans as I sat upon the thick tufts, playing absentmindedly with the individual blades, plucking them and tossing them every so often. The dark sky began to fade as dawn approached. The crowd of wizards dwindling down as it did. Finally, Mr. Weasley shouted for us to get our things and come along. We clambered around an old rubber tire and were whisked away into nothingness towards Stroatshead Hill.

The walk was silent as the dawn set in around us, the birds just beginning to sing their morning songs as we headed through Ottery St, Catchpole and down the winding trail to the Burrow. As the house came into view, Mrs. Weasley’s shouts could be heard as she darted across the yard to meet us at the gate.

“Oh thank goodness!” she yelled, flinging herself onto Mr. Weasley and hugging him tightly. A rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet was clutched tightly in her hand. “You’re alright – you’re alright” she muttered with relief.

“Everyone’s fine, Molly,” Mr. Weasley said in an assuring tone, patting her gently on the back.

She moved away from him, giving a weak smile before seizing Fred and George and hugging him tightly.

“Mum!” George exclaimed, trying to pull away.

“Oh boys,” she said almost near sobs again, “I was so worried, I yelled at you before you left about your O.W.L.S!”

“It’s ok, Mum,” Fred said patting her on the back Mr. Weasley had, with a look of hope on his face that this would release her clutches.

She pulled away, touching both of their faces; Mr. Weasley took hold of her arm and led her into the house, the rest of us following. Mrs. Weasley quickly dashed around the kitchen, scrambling breakfast together, Hermione and I helping her every way we could. I shooed her into her seat and sat a cup of tea in front of her, before returning to the kitchen to bring the food and cutlery to the table by hand. Once we sat down, Mrs. Weasley looking somewhat less frazzled, we began to help ourselves to breakfast. Mr. Weasley took the Daily Prophet Mrs. Weasley had been clutching in her hand and straightened it out; Percy got to his feet and began to read over his father’s shoulder.

“I knew it!” Mr. Weasley said loudly. “Ministry blunders … terrible lack of security … no suspects known … Dark Wizards amongst us, unchecked … no help from the Ministry … Rita Skeeter, no doubt.”

He heaved heavily, picking up his cup of tea and taking a swig as he tossed the paper down and got to his feet, “I better go to the office.”

“What?” Mrs. Weasley said, “Why? This has nothing to do with the dep-”

“I made a statement as we left the woods,” he said, waving his hand in the air before snatching his robes from the hook in the corner. “I need to smooth things over.”

“I’ll come along,” Percy said superiorly.

The following week Mr. Weasley and Percy were barely seen in the Wealsey household; leaving well before everyone awoke in the mornings and coming in after supper; dragging into the sitting room, carrying trays of stone cold supper, looking exhausted. The story Rita Skeeter had printed in the Daily Prophet had needless to say, sent the Ministry into a dither. Mrs. Weasley shook her head every evening at supper saying how they hadn’t worked him so hard since the days of You-Know-Who.

The once blistering summer heat was now slipping away gently as the autumn air took over. The mornings and evenings became chillier; Fred and I now carrying a quilt each when we trudged out of the backdoor and into the lawn every nightfall. The leaves on the trees had found this their cue to begin to change colors, though only a few had found their way to the ground. Though my love for summertime was pure and true, nothing seemed to give me a gratifying state of mind as the chilling autumn air. The colors had always been among my favorite thing about this particular time of year and now, like the Weasley’s and Harry, the scenes marked the coming of another year at Hogwarts; I couldn’t seem to wait to get back to the castle. This might sound silly to some, not Harry of course, but I missed my friends (the ones I did not live with) and my four poster bed.

Finally, we awoke the morning of our departure. The rain pelted down upon the window panes, harder and harder by the minute. We scrambled about; Mrs. Weasley rushing us to a fro, as we gathered our trunks and headed outside into the rain to load ourselves into the taxis to London. The journey was rough and uncomfortable; stuck between Fred and Harry in the back of the taxi, Ron on Harry’s other side. Pidwidgeon squeaked and squawked the whole way making Declan and Hedwig rather annoyed who began to hoot their cries of fury, sending the taxi man in a muttering state of complaints.

We gladly dashed out of the taxis into the pouring rain once more when we arrived at King’s Cross station. By the time we made it in the shelter of the station, we were soaked to the core. Harry and Ron went through the barrier first; followed by Fred, Hermione and I.

I almost toppled over Ron who hadn’t quite moved far enough out of the way. He apologized profusely, helping me regain my balance. The scarlet steam train was already there; white smoke billowing from it forming a cloud around the platform. We drug our luggage onto the train and stowed it away in the compartments. I decided to sit with Fred and George for the journey, George insisting to Harry we had “business to tend to”. In other words, they wanted me to help them finish writing out their new order forms; I didn’t mind this.

I was the last to step back off Hogwarts Express to bid our farewells to Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charlie, who had decided to accompany Mrs. Weasley along the way.

Mrs. Weasley hugged me, “Have a good term, dear. Sorry we didn’t get around to teaching you to make your dresses.”

“It’s fine, there is always next year,” I replied with a smile.

Bill and Charlie hugged me as well; Bill warning me to watch myself with the “trouble makers”. I laughed this off, telling him he obviously didn’t get to know me that well over the last couple weeks.

“I’ll be seeing you soon,” Charlie said, letting go of Ginny.

“How is that?” George asked.

“You’ll see,” he replied with a wink.

The whistle blew, giving the students the cue to get aboard. We clambered in, making our way to our compartments.

“Stop,” I whispered to Fred, putting my arm out.

“Wha-“

“Shhh!” I hissed as I watched George walk into our compartment, “Do you have the order forms put up?”

“Yeah, but wh-“

“Oh I hope I placed them properly,” I muttered.

It didn’t take but just a second to figure out I had. A loud cluster of bangs and high pitching whizzing filled the air; students poked their heads out of the compartments along the corridor as George screamed and fell backwards out the compartment, fireworks flying out along with him hitting the walls and doors as students laughed, shutting their doors to try to dodge them.

I ducked as one whizzed by me. Laughing uncontrollably, I fell to my knees, eyes filled with tears as I saw George’s silhouette standing to his feet, patting out a fire on his robes fiercely. Fred was on the ground beside me, roaring with laughter. Harry poked his head out the compartment across from us once the fireworks had stopped, “Bloody brilliant Bri.”

I stuck my hand up in response, unable to speak still.

“You!” George bellowed at me.

“Yes?” I said weakly, wiping the tears from my eyes as I stood up.

“What the bloody hell was that?!” he shouted, pointing at the compartment.

“I snagged some of your Filibuster’s Fabulous No-Heat Wet-Start Fireworks,” I explained with a smile, “Set them up when you lot went out to say goodbye before me. I knew you were soaked and then you walked in your clothes would drip water here and there and set them off.”

He groaned and stalked into the compartment. I smiled brightly as Fred patted me on the back, “I knew I taught you well.”

“Please,” I said as he walked into the compartment. I gave Harry and Ron a high five as I passed and followed him in, “I was well trained well before you lot.”

George let out a low growl, “Wish we hadn’t taught you anything.”

“Oh psh, you’re just mad I got you back and it was better than your Dungbomb in my bag!”

He looked up from the papers he had in front of him now and scowled, “This is war, White.”

“War it is,” I nodded, standing up and walking to him. He jerked back.

“Oh stop it, George,” I said sternly, patting his pant leg, “You were still on fire.”

he glanced down at the seared spot I had just distinguished and narrowed his eyes once more, thrusting a stack of papers at me, “Get to work.”

“Yes, boss.” With a sarcastic bow and returned to my seat beside Fred, who still sat chuckling.

The rain didn’t let up a bit as we traveled farther and farther north. The inky black clouds above us were barely visible through the fogged up window, splattered by rain. We had agreed to take a break from writing up order forms when the lunch trolley appeared. I dropped my quill, flexing my aching hands and stood up, fetching my money satchel Mrs. Weasley had filled for me from my father’s vault in Gringott’s.

“What are you doing?” George asked, pulling out his ham and rye sandwich Mrs. Weasley had packed for us all.

“Getting us something from the trolley,” I said as I opened the compartment door.

“Anything for you dears?” the plump witch said with a gracious smile. Her frazzled hair stuck out from every direction under her black pointed hat. I looked up to see Harry standing at the open door of their compartment; Neville, Seamus and Dean now sat along with them.

I smiled at him as he said, “A stack of Cauldron Cakes.”

“Hey Dean, hey Neville, hey Seamus!” I called, waving to them as Harry took the stack of Cauldron Cakes from the witch.

A chorus of hellos came from the compartment.

“What for you dear?”

“A stack of Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs. Oh, and a pitcher of pumpkin juice, please.” I told the witch.

She smiled and gathered my things, handing them too me as I dug out the Sickles and Knuts to pay her.

“Thanks!”

I closed the compartment door and tossed each of the twins their share, carefully handing them their juice. George tossed his barely touched sandwich to the side and dove into the Cauldron Cakes.

“Fanks,” he said through a mouthful.

I gave him a thumbs-up, seeing as how my mouth was full as well.

After our bellies were full, we lounged around the compartment, not even picking up the order forms again. We chatted avidly about the match and all the commotion that had happened; only starting another heated argument between George and I about how I tripped. After Hermione poked her head in our compartment, telling us to quiet down since she could plainly hear mine and George’s arguments, she noted we would be arriving soon and should get into our uniforms.

“Bushy haired overachiever,” George muttered under his breath after she shut the door.

“Aw, leave her be,” I said as I reached up for my trunk. I groaned as I stretched as far as I could, my fingertips barely touching the shelf.

I huffed, stomping my feet angrily and began to climb up onto the seat but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I glanced over to see Fred, reaching up for my trunk.

“Here,” he said taking it down for me.

“Don’t want you to fall any break anything,” said George.

“Cram it, Weasley!”

“Not my fault you’re short and clumsy!” he shot back. “Take those up with your dad.”

I chose to ignore him as we slipped into our robes.

The scarlet steam train came to a stop as the students began to file out of their compartments, carrying their pets along with them. Fred handed me Declan’s cage before we set off. We squeezed down the corridor and out into the monsoon. I groaned as we trudged along the platform. Hagrid’s large silhouette could be seen about all others; he waved and smiled.

“Hello Hagrid!” I yelled, waving at him best I could as the rain pelted upon my face. Declan hooted; I made sure his cage was covered up before continuing along.

“This bloody mess needs to stop!”

“You can say that again,” Fred mumbled.

“Harry’s waving for you, Bri.” said George.

“C’mon,” I told them, “He’s got a carriage for us.”

“A carriage for you,” shot Fred.

“Oh shut up, don’t be silly.”

“Here,” said Harry as we approached. He grabbed Declan’s cage and handed it into Ron. I clambered in, followed by Harry, Fred and George.

As I removed my sopping wet curls from my face I realized Neville was in the carriage as well.

“Hey Neville,” I said with a smile, “How was your holiday?”

“Better if I had got to go to the World Cup,” he replied.

“Oh, bugger! That’s no good…” I frowned at him.

With a sickening lurch, the carriage took off along the path towards the castle. No one talked much, the occasional words from Harry or Hermione, trying to break the silence. The rain splattered steadily on the carriage, the occasional splashing noise as we were jarred around from a pothole broke the steady stream. Though in silence, Fred and I sat highly amused having a facial expression war.

“Will you two cut it out?” Ron finally said.

“No,” Fred shot back at him.

I laughed as the carriage came to a halt. A loud crash of thunder made me gasp and jump.

“Scared?” Fred asked with a laugh.

“Of course not,” I lied; I really did not want one of the twins to know thunder storms made me uneasy. I would never live it down.

We scrambled out, one by one, dashing towards the castle’s entrance with great haste. I threw my hands over my head and squealed as I made a run for it; Fred right behind me.

“Why did you even put your hands up?” he asked once we made it up the stone steps and into the lantern lit entrance hall. The warmth of the castle made me feel cozy, even in my drenched clothing. It felt like I had never left home at all. It still felt so odd calling the Burrow home; though it felt like home, the idea still boggled my mind for some reason.

I stood for a moment with a puzzled look on my face, my forehead crinkled in thought, “I have no idea, really.”

He snickered, shaking his head as Professor McGonagall came into the Hall.

“Everyone into the Great Hall,” she yelled, to the disheveled looking crowd of students, “Come along!”

The students slid and skidded as we all made our way across the entrance hall and in the double doors. The Hall looked splendid as usual and it was even warmer and more inviting than the entrance hall had been. The golden plates and goblets that sat upon the four long house tables glimmered brightly as the thousands of candles hung in midair above the crowd of students. The hall was abuzz with excited chatter and greetings from friends long departed over the holidays. We slid across the Hall, passing Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff before reaching the Gryffindor table. I took my seat beside Harry, Fred sitting on my other side. Harry groaned, taking his sneakers off and turning them upside down as a puddle of water splashed upon the floor.

Emily and Anna bustled over quickly looking rather excited. They sat down across from Harry, Fred, George and I, alongside Hermione and Ron. Ron’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment as Anna said hello to him. Immediately we sprung into conversation; Emily rattling all the things she hadn’t got to tell me at the World Cup.

“ … And you know Holly Porter? The dimwitted red haired girl?” Emily asked. “Well she got sent off to Durmstrang over the summer. Good riddance, I say.”

“Yeah, I never cared too much for her,” I replied with a shrug.

She gave a quick glance over at fred who had his head bent down along George’s whispering something, then back at me, then to Harry. She lifted her eyebrows and wiggled them a bit before mouthing, “HA HA HA”.

“Stop it!” I hissed, reaching across to smack at her.

She leaned back and laughed, “Oh we’ll see dear, Briley. We shall see!”

“See what?” asked Ron.

“Nothing Ronald,” she replied. “All will know soon enough.”

“Wha –“

“Don’t question me, Weasley.” she said jokingly at him.

“How could I have been so silly to even begin to think of questioning you?” he stated sarcastically.

Anna laughed, before her cheeks turned a shade of pink and stopped immediately. Emily looked over at her, opening her mouth to say something; Anna was too quick for her, she clasped her hand over Emily’s mouth and gave her a daring look.

“Oh, where are those stupid first years?” I groaned, “I’m so hungry!”

“It’s pouring outside,” said Hermione. “There’s no telling how long they’ll take.”

I groaned, putting my head down on the table.

Fred patted me on the back, “Figured those seven Cauldron cakes would hold you over. Not to mention all the Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs.”

“That was simply a snack,” I moaned in a muffled voice from under my arms.

“And you call me a bottomless pit” said Ron.

I raised my head up to respond but at that same moment the two large double doors bounded open. The ragged looking first years came marching in, shivering from a combination of cold and nervousness. They filed along the staff table in front of the school, shaking like leaves as Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on the four legged stool.

“Ugh,” Emily groaned. “I hate this stupid hat.”

We sat in a moment of silence as all eyes were on the Hat. Finally its tear of a mouth by its brim opened and it broke into song. I watched it, rather amused. I had stood there just last year, along the line of first years to be sorted. I had barely known anyone; only being at the Weasley’s household for two weeks before being shuffled off to Hogwarts. Though I had hit it off with the twins right away, this didn’t stop them from scaring me to death by telling me they heard their Mum and Dad talking saying if I was sorted into Slytherin I couldn’t come back. Once I wizened up to their trickery, just a week later, it had cost them heavily.

Finally, the Hat stopped and the Sorting began.

“Ackerly, Stewart!”

I looked at Harry and Ron, “So I wonder if we’ll find out what happening here this year tonight?”

“I suppose we will,” said Fred.

“I hope so!” said Ron.

“Me too,” I agreed. “I’m dying to know what’s going on!”

“You don’t know what’s happening?” Anna asked, looking shocked like we should have known.

“No, do you?” I asked quickly.

She simply smiled as the hat shouted “SLYTHERIN!”

“Tell us!” I demanded.

She shook her head and grinned, “He’ll announce it soon. Dad told me.”

“You suck sometimes Harper,” I glared at her hatefully; She simply smiled broadly in return.

“I know –“

“Yeah, yeah,” I said dismissively to Emily. “We all know you know everything.”

She stopped in her tracks, looking rather offended.

“Oh hurry,” I mumbled as Professor McGonagall shouted “Cauldwell, Owen!”

Owen was sorted into Hufflepuff as the table alongside us gave a round of applause; the boy trotting over and joining them.

“Creevey, Dennis!”

“Oh, blimey! There are two of them?!” I said in a dismal tone.

Harry shook his head as the hat shouted “GRYFFINDOR!” and the tiny boy came running towards Colin Creevey. We clapped along with the rest of the table.

“What do you reckon it is?” Ron asked.

“Will you shush!” Hermione hissed.

“I’m just curious!” he shot back.

“You’ll know soon enough.”

Ron mimicked her behind her back as she continued to watch the Sorting, “Sounds like Mum, aye?”

“I heard that Ronald,” she said without taking her eyes off the front of the Hall.

I raised my eyebrows, pursing my lips and waving a finger at him. He gave a rude gesture in return.

My jaw dropped as everyone around laughed, “If there was food here, I’d throw it at you.”

“And I’d catch it with my mouth, cause I’m starving!” he replied with a smile.

I shook my head, “Sometimes it’s apparent you’re kin to these two.” I thrust my thumb in the twins direction.

“Oi, don’t put us down like that,” said George.

I snickered as I directed my attention back at the front of the Hall.
I clapped my hands gleefully, “Yay! Last two!”

“Quinn, Ashley!”

Professor McGonagall placed the hat onto the trembling brown haired girl. It only took a moment before the hat shouted.

“RAVENCLAW!”

We watched the small brown haired girl, soaked to the bone, run to the cheering Ravenclaw table. I saw Cho clapping beside her friend, smiling. She glanced in our direction; stopping suddenly.

“She’s never gonna get over that match is she?” said Ron, nodding his head towards her when I turned back around.

I gave a devilish smile, “Guess not.”

“Why don’t you like her?” Harry asked.

“Just don’t,” I shrugged.

“She’s a prat,” said Emily. “That’s what; and a sore loser.”

“That’s not an answer,” he said to me.

“It’s a good enough one for me.”

“Whitley, Keegan!”

The Hat contemplated a moment, sending Ron into a dramatic fit (“OH COME OH JUST STICK HIM SOMEWHERE! THE FLOOR EVEN!”). Anna giggled lightly beside him.

Finally it shouted, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

The boy ran along the hall as Dumbledore got to his feet. He peered over his half moon spectacles with a smile upon his face as he spread his arms out.

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts,” his voice echoing from every corner of the Hall, “Enjoy!”

As the last word slipping through his lips the dishes along the four long tables magically filled with food. Ron let out a gratified groan as he shoved a heap of mashed potatoes as big as his head onto his plate.

“Save some for everyone else,” joked George.

Ron muttered something completely inaudible though his mouthful; no one seemed to care what it was, so no one asked. Everyone filled their plates to the brim with the assortment of delicious foods spread along the way. After a few minutes my plate was full: Shepherd’s pie, jacket potatoes, roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding, fried tomatoes, steak and kidney pie among the assortment.
Everyone ate in silence; no one seemed to want to stop eating long enough to talk.

After a short while nearly Headless Nick floated over, “Hello.”

“ ‘lo Nick,” said George, through his mouthful of Yorkshire pudding.

I paid no attention to him after I waved my hellos, not bothering to empty my mouth long enough to verbally bid him a greeting.

It wasn’t until a clank of cutlery hitting a plate did I look up.

“There are house-elves here?” said Hermione, a look of horror on her face.

“Why of course,” said Nick.

She looked at her plate in disgust and shoved it away.

“Oh you’ve done it now,” I said shaking my head in shame. I shoved another mouthful of jacket potatoes into my mouth.

“ ‘mon ‘Er-my-knee,” I heard Ron say, waving the smell of his plate towards her face.

I laughed as I finished my main course and eyed the desserts.

“And again, you say I’m a bottomless pit,” said Ron.

“Shut up,” I replied, plopping a load of treacle tart onto my plate. “This food is fabulous and you know it, above everyone.”

Once the desserts were gone and the crumbs of the left-overs faded away from the plates, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again.

“I don’t think I can breathe properly,” I moaned, placing my hand on my stomach.

“You just ate enough to fill a hippogriff,” said Fred, “of course you can’t breathe.”

“Shush.”

He began his announcements, none I paid attention to as all were pertaining to Mr. Filch’s nonsense and the Forbidden Forest (“Like he should have to say that! It’s called the Forbidden Forest for a reason!” I said.) It wasn’t until I heard him mention Quidditch did I look up.

“It is to my dismay my duty to inform you all there will be no Inter-House Quidditch Cup this year.”

“What?!” Harry, Fred, George and I shouted in union.

“I –“ Emily began but once again I cut her off.

“You know, one of these days you’re just going to bust because you know so much useless information, not that this isn’t useless and all. But your mind is just going to have a mental breakdown, unable to retain anything else.”

She cut me a daring look, “ALL my information is useful.” She darted her eyes to Fred and back to me. I widened my eyes at her.

Dumbledore raising his hands to silence the angry muttering, “This year Hogwarts will be hosting a legendary event that will begin in October and carry on throughout the year – occupying most of the teachers and staff’s time. It’s my pleasure to inform you – hopefully, making up for the absence of the Quidditch Cup – that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwiard Tournament this year.”

“YOU’RE JOKING?!” Fred shouted; eyes wide as he stared up at Dumbledore.

The whole crowd of students laughed and began chatting feverishly about the news.

“What’s the Triwizard Tournament?” I asked Fred.

“Only the greatest thing to ever happen –“

He was cut off by Dumbledore, still chuckling, “No, Mr. Weasley I assure you I’m not joking. And to those of you who do not know what the Triwizard Tournament is, allow me to give a brief explanation. It was established over seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the largest wizarding schools in Europe, Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons, and Durmstrang; hosted every five years, each school taking turns. There is one champion selected per school and those three compete in three magical tasks. This was believed to be an excellent way to learn and establish ties with other young wizards and witches from far away. That is until the death toll reached an alarming peak and it was discontinued until now.”

“Wicked,” Fred muttered.

I rolled my eyes as Dumbledore continued, “The heads of Beaubaxton and Durmstrang will be arriving soon, with their contenders and we shall select the champions, a impartial judge will of course. The grand prize for the champion who wins the Triwizard up is not only the Cup itself and the glory brought to their school but a thousand Galleons of prize money.”

“I’m SO in!” Fred shouted, pumping his fist into the air.

“ – Although, with the tournaments bloody history, the Ministry has set forth a few ground rules.”

A loud bang erupted through the hall as the double doors bounded open. A man in a black traveling coat stood at the doorway for a brief moment before entering the hall, toward the staff table. A dull clunk could be heard every other step he took, leaning against his long walking cane. His dark grey hair was unkempt; I shuttered when the light hit his face revealing a wide assortment of scars, and chunks of his nose missing. But this wasn’t the frightening part; one eye was normal, dark and beady, the other was large and vivid blue, swirling every which direction while the other remained still. He clunked his way to Dumbledore and shook his hand.

“Just in time,” said Dumbledore. “If I may, I’d like to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody.”

There was no applause from the students who gapped at him in shock.

“Moody?” said Harry. “As in Mad-Eye? The one your dad had to go sort out the trouble for this morning?”

“Dunno,” muttered Ron. “Guess so.”

“Yeah,” said Anna. “That’s Mad-Eye Moody, alright.”

Moody made his way to the staff table and sat along Hagrid and Professor Flitwick. Dumbledore quickly began speaking again.

“Where was I? Oh – yes, the rules. The Ministry has found it fit along with the heads of the schools have decided upon an age regulation to be set for the contenders. Unless you are of age – seventeen or older – you may not enter into the completion.”

“RUBBISH!” shouted Fred and George in union.
They shouted so loud it caused Anna to jump slightly.

Dumbledore raised his hands once more to silence the outburst of chatter, “That is the rules, I’m afraid. I hope when our guests arrive in October, you will extend your hospitality to them and show your support to whoever the Hogwarts champion may be. Now, let us be off; lessons will require a good night’s rest. Off we go!”

“They can’t do this! George yelped in rage as we stood up from the table.

“Whelp, that’s a blower,” I said as Harry wrapped his arm around me.

We made our way out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase along the sea of students heading for the upper levels of the castle.

“Mark my words,” said Fred. “We’ll get our names in that.”

“How do you suppose?” I asked.

“Don’t underestimate us,” he simply said.

I snickered, “If you say so.”

“If we figure out a way,” said George. “Care to enter?”

“What do you mean ‘if’” said Fred in a mock appalled tone. “We will, dear brother.”

“Poor choice of wording,” said George. “My apologies.”

“I dunno,” I said. “Sounds cool.”

“What do you think, Harry?” asked Ron looking at him. “Would be nice… a thousand Galleons?”

Harry shrugged and concurred, “Guess so.”

“I’d do it,” said Emily nodding. “If Dad wouldn’t kill me. No point in entering something you might die in if you’re gonna die anyways for even attempting.”

We entered the portrait hole of the common room, students still chattering about the news. I yawned, deciding I was going to go straight to bed.

I hugged Harry and kissed his cheek.

“Goodnight.”

“Sweet dreams,” he said, kissing my cheek as well.

“Goodnight Ron,” said Anna in a bashful tone.

“Night,” he replied. Turning to follow Harry to their dormitory, he nearly tripped over the in table.

I shook my head and gave a silent laugh.

“Good night, guys,” I said to the twins.

“Night Bri,” they replied in unison, heading for their own dormitories behind Harry and Ron.

I yawned again and began toward the spiral staircase toward the girls dormitory, Emily, Anna and Hermione at my heels.

The four poster beds lined the walls; my simple decorations beside mine still hung where they the previous year. I changed into my night clothes quickly, barely speaking to Hermione; my full stomach making it increasingly difficult to function let alone think of holding a conversation. This seemed to be the case with all of the girls. I slid in between my sheets as another roll of thunder echoed loudly within the small room. The rain continued to pelt the window as hard as it had when we entered the castle from the carriages. Though my dislike for thunder storms, the sound of the rain against the glass windows was soothing.

“Night ‘mione, Night Anna, night Know it all,” I yawned.

“Goodnight, Briley.” I heard them mutter sleepily as I began to slip into unconsciousness; the sounds of the rain lulling me to sleep.