Everybody Party Till the Gasman Comes

It wasn't until I saw what the First Task encompassed that I became grateful for Dumbledore's brilliance. Dragons. The champions had to somehow find a way to get by a dragon in order to obtain a golden egg, which had some sort of a clue to what the Second Task was. The eggs had been placed with some of the mother dragon's real eggs so that she'd be specially ready to protect it. Where I was extremely happy that Dumbledore had been able to keep out Fred and George, my fears for Harry were heightened tenfold.

I stood up in the stands with Fred, George, and Lee. My arms were wrapped around my torso as I tried to keep all of the warmth inside my body. It was quite a chilly November afternoon.

Harry stood at one end of the arena, a worried look on his face. His wand was out and he'd just said some sort of spell, though I couldn't hear what it was from where I stood. Suddenly, his broom came flying through the air towards him. He mounted it, then kicked off of the ground and into the sky above.

We all watched as Harry flew in circles high above the dragon. My eyes followed him as he dove, weaving in and out of the way of the flames that the dragon emitted from her mouth. He just missed them when her tail came swinging over and hit him.

"Oh, no," I murmured, which was much better than some of the noises coming from the students around me's mouths.

Fred and George looked down at me from either side. "He'll be fine," they said, though their voices were far from reassuring.

The dragon stood up on her hind legs, catching my attention once again. She spread her wings as wide as they could go, and Harry began to dive as he had before. He sped faster and faster towards the earth, towards the eggs that weren't nearly as protected as they had just been moments previously. He let go of the handle of his broomstick and reached out, grasping the egg in his hands.

Everyone in the stands, excluding much of Slytherin house and the students from Durmstrang, cheered. A grin planted itself across my face and my heart swelled. Our Harry, the youngest champion, had been quickest to get his egg and he hadn't even suffered that many wounds. I brought my hands together to join in the clapping of the people around me.

After getting off of the broom Harry was dragged into the medical tent so that Madam Pomfrey could treat his shoulder, which had been cut by a spike on the dragon's tail. Ron and Hermione, a row ahead of where I was, began to descend the stands to visit Harry. I called after them and shoved through the crowd, wanting to see and congratulate him just as much as they did.

"Well done," I exclaimed, rushing forward through Ron and Hermione to wrap the black haired boy in a too-tight embrace once we'd reached the tent. "You did great!" I grinned at him and he mirrored me.

Hermione echoed my words, but by then Harry had turned his attention to Ron. The two still hadn't really spoken since the night the champions had been chosen, and I crossed my arms over my chest; ready for whatever might come. I hoped it would be something good.

"Harry," Ron started, "whoever put your name in that Goblet, I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

"Caught on have you? Took you long enough." Harry's voice was harsh.

Hermione and I glanced at one another, then back between the two teenage boys standing in front of us. Ron began to speak, but seemed to be unable to find the right words. However, before he could say anything, Harry pressed onwards.

"It's okay. Forget it."

"No, I shouldn't have-"

"Forget it," Harry repeated.

The two of them grinned at each other and Hermione burst into tears. I jumped, taken aback and stared at her.

"There's nothing to cry about," Harry said, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"You two are so stupid!" she shouted. She ran forward to hug them both, then ran from the tent, crying now worse than ever.

I stood for a moment, contemplating what to do, then decided to run after her. Ron and Harry needed that time to get back on good terms. I looked around for a few moments after leaving the tent, but couldn't seem to locate her. I shrugged, then stood back to watch as Harry was given a score. He tied for first place with Viktor Krum, which was quite impressive, but I knew that if Igor Karkaroff hadn't been a biased jerk, Harry would have won completely.

My eyes trailed from the judges to where Harry and Ron stood. I smiled as I heard Ron tell Harry that he would wait while he went back into the champions' tent. Best friends should never fight; no matter what.

"So," a very familiar voice said into my ear.

I spun around to face Fred and George, who wore identical grins. "So?"

"We're going to go nick some food from the kitchens and throw Harry a party," Fred explained. "Want to come with us?"

"Not particularly."

"But you love the kitchens!"

I shrugged. "I also love curling up on the couch in front of the fireplace in the common room."

"Point taken," George said. "See you in a bit?"

I nodded, smiling. "See you in a bit."

***

The following morning I woke up in a sort of stupor. I vaguely remembered occurrences from the party, some of them being eating a lot of sweets, drinking a lot of butterbeer, and dancing with a very embarrassed Neville, who had muttered something about there not being any music. We hadn't gone to sleep until one in the morning, and I felt that I needed to sleep for much longer. However, Hermione wouldn't allow it.

My morning was spent taking much longer than usual getting dressed, groggily eating toast and jam at breakfast and very nearly spilling pumpkin juice down my front from falling asleep, and going to class. We'd had a few classes the previous morning before the First Task, and I didn't remember until I was sitting, or napping, in History of Magic that I still had a quarter of an Ancient Runes essay to finish. I swore to myself that I would get it done at either lunch or dinner, then continued to nap as Professor Binns droned on.

***

I walked into the common room, passed by Fred and George who were standing by the window talking to Lee, and went up the steps to my dorm. After I'd finished lunch, I'd decided that I needed to write down in my diary about the First Task and the excellence of what Harry had done.

I lifted up my pillow only to find bare white sheets. For a moment I didn't believe that it wasn't there and put the pillow back to check once more. But then I knew that it really had been taken from me. At first I had no idea who might have taken it, but then a thought came to me. I knew exactly where I'd find it.

My feet walked me crossed the dorm and I stalked down the stairs back into the common room. I went straight up to George and tapped him on the back.

"Oi, where is it?"

He turned away from his brother and Lee to look at me. "What do you mean?"

I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Do you really think this is appropriate?"

"What are you talking about, Sam?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, George Weasley. Where is my journal?"

"Your journal? Haven't seen it. Besides, I can't go into the girls' dormitories, can I?" He raised his eyebrows at me, a knowing look passing from him to me.

Seemingly of it's own accord, my foot was stomped against the carpet in exasperation, earning laughs from the other two boys. I uncrossed my arms and pointed at him, jamming my index finger against his chest as I spoke. "I know for a fact that you can do a ruddy Summoning Charm, Weasley."

"Oh, you're back on that now, are you?"

My voice rose in volume. "This isn't funny!"

"Well, of course it's not. No one's laughing."

"We're not children anymore, George! Do you think you're getting me back for taking your letter? Is that what this is about?"

George didn't do anything. He stared at me, and for once I couldn't read anything in his expression. His dark eyes were flat with no emotion, and that stopped my anger for a moment, turning it into disappointment.

"I apologized for that. I told you I didn't read it." I shook my head. "I never would have expected this from you, Georgie. Not after the other night. I never thought you were one for vengeance. But again, my thoughts have been proven wrong." I turned on my heel and walked from the room, wishing I'd never even gone up to his dorm three days previously and taken his letter.

It was all fun and games until someone wanted to get even.