Ravenclaw's Shadow

Chapter 34

Georgiana and I walk down to breakfast, buzzing about the first task. We join the Gryffindors in speculating about what it will be. Although my father told me about the tournament, he didn't give me any details.

We head down to the large stadium set up next to the Forbidden Forest and take our seats high in the stands.

"This is so exciting!" Georgiana squeals.

"Who do you think will win?" I ask George. He doesn't answer for a moment, so I nudge him. He looks around, looking distracted.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. He glances at Fred and shakes his head.

"Later," he says quietly. I look over at Fred. He seems distracted too. Maybe something happened with their family. I try to focus on the task, but now I'm distracted too. Even when one of the dragons spits flames dangerously close to the stands, I don't really see it.

After the task Fred and George hurry off together, leaving Georgiana and I to walk back to the castle with Alicia and Angelina.

"We're going to go organise a party for Harry," Alicia says, "we'll see you at the common room, yeah?"

They dash off and I look over at Georgiana.

"Did you notice that the twins seem kind of off today?" I ask. She half shrugs, frowning.

"Fred has been like that for a few weeks," she says, "he sort of gradually stopped spending so much time with me. He hasn't kissed me in nearly a week... Has George been like that?"

I think back to the way he kissed me goodnight last night and nearly blush.

"Um, not so much," I say, "maybe Fred's been ill?"

"Yeah, probably," Georgiana says brightly, "come on, let's go help Alicia and Angelina!"

Fred and George don't reappear for quite some time, until they reach the common room laden with food. I grab George and take him up to his dormitory.

"What's going on?" I demand, concerned. He sighs and runs his hands through his head, sitting down on the end of his bed. I sit on the one next to it, leaning on the post.

"Fred has, uh, lost interest in Georgiana," he says slowly, "he's, um, going to break it off with her."

"Oh my god, no," I groan, "she'll be heart broken! Oh, not before the ball! George, can't you get him to wait until after the ball?"

"Well, that's the thing," George says, "he wants to do it before, he thinks it'll be better."

"She's going to be devastated," I say, "oh no."

"You won't say anything to her, will you?" George says, "not before Fred does."

"Okay," I agree, "when is he... You know."

George looks down at his shoes.

"Not tonight!" I exclaim. The look on George's face confirms it. I groan.

"I'm not leaving this room, then," I say, "if I see her... I can't not say something. She'll know as soon as she sees my face."

"I'll go and get some food, then, shall I?"

"No, I couldn't eat," I say, covering my face, "poor Georgiana."

George moves over to sit next to me and puts an arm around my shoulders.

"I hope this doesn't make things weird with us," he says.

"How can it not?" I ask, looking up at him, "I mean, we can hardly hang out with the four of us now, can we?"