Mischief Managed

Before I knew it, the day of Task One arrived. For the past days, Harry, Hermione, and I worked nonstop on various spells for Harry and me. Luckily, I had it all down - I thought, at least. I got out of bed and realized that in about three hours, I would be facing a real dragon.

I got down in the common room, where Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting in one corner and Fred, George, and Ronald were sitting in the other. I went over to Harry, Hermione, and Ginny and sat down. Looking over, I noticed Fred glancing at me. I sighed and turned towards Harry.

"Feelin' good?"

"A bit nervous..." he said. Hermione smiled.

"We practiced a lot... We'll be okay..." I whispered, as he nodded.

"It'll be over before we know it..." Hermione said.

"C'mon, let's go to the Great Hall," Ginny said, as we all got up. I looked back and Fred was looking at me. Then they all got up, too, but we didn't stop. Once we got into the Great Hall, we all took a seat and began to eat. Fred, George, and Ron sat down, too, a few seats away from us.

Just then, Fred got up and came over to me. I stood up and looked at him. Then, he pulled me into a hug - the tightest hug I had ever been given. George and Ronald walked over to us, too, but said and did nothing. Tears began to form into my eyes as Fred held me. Then, we both let go and I looked over at George and Ronald. Fred sat down next to Hermione, and George quickly gave me a hug and sat down next to Fred. I heard the two of them tell Harry good luck as they reached across the table and gave him a small hug.

Ronald just looked at me for a second, then pulled me closer to him. "I love you, Ella."

"I love you, too, Ronald. Let's not fight anymore," I said back. I felt him nod, and then I whispered, "Go over there and forgive Harry. He needs it..."

One more quick squeeze, and Ronald let go. He had tears in his eyes and I hurried and wiped mine away, that were slowly flowing down my cheeks.

I sat down next to George, until him and Fred switched places. Then, Ronald quickly jumped over the table and sat next to Harry.

"Look, mate, I'm sorry for everything... You'd have to be a right git to put your name in that Goblet and I know you didn't do it," he said smiling. Then, they hugged each other. Just like that, everything was back to normal, it seemed. Fred put his arm around my waste and squeezed me closer. The group of us began laughing at little jokes we told. Harry and Ronald were best friends again. Fred and I were fine again, acting like that couple that isn't but should be. Harry, Ronald, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, and I were a group of friends again. I truly felt happy - until McGonagall came to the table.

"Miss Elkin, Mr. Potter, it's time for the champions to come to the grounds now..." she said sadly, as if she knew what she was breaking apart.

I sighed and my chest felt heavy. I began feeling very nervous as I stood up. I looked over at Harry, who looked like he was having trouble standing.

"H-Harry," I said quietly, and he looked up. I smiled and he smiled back and stood up. Everyone else stood up, too. Ginny, Hermione, and I hugged each other. George gave me a quick hug as well. Harry and Ronald were hugging and such. Then, Ronald climbed back over the table and hugged me again.

"Be careful," he whispered. I kissed his cheek and nodded.

And then Fred walked over to me and pulled me close to him. "It's going to be okay..." Then, our lips met - but only for a moment. I smiled at him, just as Harry wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and we walked away.

"Good luck!" Hermione called out helplessly.

Professor McGonagall had waited until our exchange of goodbyes and walked with us. "Now you two need to be calm. You're the youngest in the competition so I know it's hard, but just keep your head on and remember that there will be help if needed."

The two of us nodded, just as she pointed us to a tent. We walked in. Fleur, Krum, and Cedric were already in the tent, not talking. Within moments, we each were to choose a dragon to be faced against. I got the Antipodean Opaleye, which was said to be the most beautiful dragon there was. My number was three. We were told that our mission was to retrieve the golden egg successfully.

The order went Cedric, Fleur, me, Krum, then Harry. Cedric sighed, and once he was called out, he went.

Then, it was Fleur's turn. It only seemed like seconds passed when she was finished. It was my time - my turn. I slowly walked out of the tent, after hugging Harry, and stood.

Before me was a bright blue, beautiful dragon. It looked around, but made no noise. Then, I ran towards it, knowing I had to hit it right in the pupil of the eye.

"Conjuctivitis!" I yelled, but missed. Instead, I hit the left ear and it roared angrily. I ran as quickly as I could and I spotted the golden egg, surrounded by many pale grey eggs. Trying to run towards the eggs, the dragon flew and landed only feet from me, breathing fire.

My heart was pounding, my head was spinning, and I didn't know where to even begin. All I knew is that somehow or another, I had to blind the dragon. The dragons tail then slammed hard onto the ground, shooting me upwards. I screamed and fell back onto the hard ground, panting for breath.

"Conjuctivitis!" I yelled once again, just barely missing the eye.

"Fuck!" I said a little too loudly. As the crowd was silent, I was almost positive they'd heard, but I truly didn't give two fucks at the moment. I was just too concentrated on getting that golden egg.

I ran faster, as the dragon began getting even madder.

"Third times the charm!" I yelled, pointing my wand up towards its eye once more. "Conjuctivitis!"

My spell hit right in its left eye. The dragon roared and moved its head around a lot. I heard clapping from the audience and I quickly thought I could run and grab the egg. But oh how wrong I was. The dragon seemed to recover quickly from the spell. Yes, the left eye was still sealed shut, but it still had its right eye. The dragon roared once more and made a move for me. I quickly ran out of the way once more.

"Shit, what the fuck. What the fuck..."

"Hit the right eye!" someone, who sounded like Lee Jordan, yelled from the crowd. I looked over, just for a second, and spotted Fred right away. He looked worried. I gave him a sad face and quickly moved, as the dragons tail was coming straight towards me.

"Conjuctivitis!" I yelled once more, aiming for its right eye. I hit it successfully, somehow, and as the dragon was swinging its head around once more, I took my shot and ran towards the eggs as fast as I could. People from the crowd were cheering and yelling, some booing, and finally I was right at the eggs. I quickly grabbed the golden egg and ran as fast as I could. However, the dragons swinging around must've been making it dizzy, as it started swaying back and forth.

The crowd grew quiet, and I stopped for a second to watch the dragon.

"Keep running!" a voice from the crowd called, sounding like George.

"Fuck!" I said and ran faster. I didn't even look back to see what the dragon was doing. I just kept running as quickly as possible.

"Ella!" screamed two - and if I was correct, the two were Fred and Ronald. And within seconds I found out why.

The dragon had completely lost its balance. I could see its shadow coming down on me. I kept running and running and before I knew it, everything went black.

---

My eyes drifted open for a moment, then closed again. Open, close. Open, close. Deep breath, deep breath. Open, close. Open. I looked around and realized that I was in the hospital wing, surrounded by a group of people. I tried to sit up, but soft hands pushed me gently back down.

"Shhh, just lay down," came the voice that I didn't recognize. But that couldn't been because my head was spinning. I couldn't even see who was around me, because everything was still very blurry.

"No, dear, let her sit up. It'll help," came a womenly voice, who I assumed came from the nurse.

The same gentle hands then found my back, two hands on each side, and slowly pushed me back up again.

"Ella, how are you feeling...?" came the voice of a girl. I closed my eyes for a moment, and I felt my head slowly drift backwards.

"Here, let her take this. She doesn't know what's going on," came the women's voice again. Then, I felt something hot and disgusting flow down my throat. I coughed loudly, and then everything came clear. The blurs of the people turned into figures of my best friends, and I could even hear birds chirping outside.

Beside me sat Fred, George, Harry, Ronald, Hermione, Ginny, Caden, and Ava.

"W-What happened?" I asked, as my arms began to shake.

"She's okay," said Ginny with a sigh of relief.

Fred smiled and pulled me into a hug. "Thank god," he whispered in my ear and kissed my forehead.

"Will someone tell me what happened?" I asked once again.

"The dragon fell on top of you. Not all of you, just the lower half of your body. But you also hit your head on a rock, and it knocked you out pretty badly. You've been knocked out for four days now," Harry said.

"So then what happened?"

"Well, since you did so good before you got the egg, you're in third place," Ronald said, smiling.

"What's the order?"

"Cedric, Harry, you, Krum, Fleur," Hermione said happily.

"Really?" I asked, with amazement.

"Really," Fred said, rubbing my hand.

"Oh, and the golden egg is the next clue for our next task, which will be in February," Harry said. "But don't open it, all it is is just something screaming really, really loudly..."

"Well, that's about three months away, though, so that's a relief," I said.

"I was scared," Ava said.

"It's okay, Ava. I'm fine now," I said to her.

"I thought it was cool!" Caden said, laughing.

"Where's Jacob?" I asked, ignoring Caden's comment.

"He was here earlier," Hermione said. "He didn't talk really, though."

"Okay, okay, visiting time is over. Miss Elkin needs her rest if she wants to get out of here by tomorrow morning," the nurse said at once.

"Bye Ella!" Ava said cheerfully, giving me a hug. Her and Caden left the room, just as Harry, Hermione, and Ronald each gave me a hug - Ronald's, with an extra squeeze. Then, George gave me a quick hug, and then Fred. He looked at me for a moment, and smiled.

"I'll let you two alone," George sniggered and hurried off after the others.

Fred looked behind him and realized we were alone. Madam Pomfrey went back into her office.

"Look, Ella, you have no clue - no clue - how worried I've been about you. Ever since your name was drawn, to be honest. When I see you, my world lights up. Really, it does," Fred said all at once.

"Fred..." I said, smiling.

"No, just listen to me. I don't want to get into fights anymore, okay? I just want us to be happy. I know we aren't officially together, but honestly, I've never felt like this around any other girl."

Then, his lips pressed against mine. He put his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. Our tongues began to intertwine together, as he pushed his body closer to mine. He began to play with my hair, as I put my hands on his chest. Then, a little too soon, our lips parted.

I looked at him and smiled.

"Ella, I have a question..." he said softly.

"I have an answer," I said to him.

"Ella, will you -" he began, until Madam Pomfrey came out of her office.

"Didn't I tell you to leave? Out! Out!" she said at once, shooing Fred.

"Alright, alright. Keep your hair on, lady," he said. "Bye, Ella..."

"Bye Fred," I said, sighing. So close...