Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

The First Task

Cedric surveyed the dragon for a few minutes, the grayish blue creature's eyes locked on the Hufflepuff, smoke leaking from it's nostrils as if it was just waiting to burn him to a crisp.

"Well, he'd better get a move on." Fred grumbled as if this was a boring experience.

"Honestly, do something." George agreed.

"Let's go, Diggory!" Lee shouted, earning some grumbles and shushes from behind us.

At last, Cedric raised his wand, uttering an inaudible spell at a boulder between himself and the dragon which transformed into a dog, barked at the Short-Snout and scurried away when the dragon took the first few steps towards him.

Once out of sight, the crowd began to buzz with excitement, obviously not wanting to draw the dragon's attention back to Cedric as he raced forward and claimed the golden egg which the dragon had left momentarily unprotected.

I jumped to my feet and cheered with the rest of my house, or rather, the rest of the school. Hermione clapped politely in her seat, nudging at the Weasley boys to follow her lead. I turned to see George and Ron looking almost put out at Cedric's win, while Fred's brown eyes locked on mine, looking angry.

"Oh, come on guys, let Hufflepuff have their moment!" I grinned, hoping to break through their sour moods, but none of their glares let up until I took my seat again and the crowd's noise died down.

We all watched, I for one on the edge of my seat, as Fleur lured the dragon into a sleeping trance, although allowing her skirt to set on fire as she did so, still capturing the egg once she had put out the flames. Krum then used another in-audible spell which hit his dragon directly in it's eye. The crowd gasped as the creature swayed back and forth, lashing out with it's mouth and tail, clearly blinded while Krum easily captured the egg.

Finally, it was Harry's turn, and I honestly couldn't say who looked more nervous, me or Ron.

"He's going to be fine." Hermione chanted, more to herself than to us.

The whistle blew at last, and Harry emerged from the tent to face his dragon.

"Course his has to be the most bloody terrifying thing I've ever seen." Fred said, leaning forward in his spot to get a better view.

"Just climb in her lap, why don't you? I'm sure she hates personal space." Lee joked.

"Am I bothering you, love?" Fred asked, cocking his head to the side to await my answer.

"No, Freddie." I bit back a smile, pretending that my focus was still on Harry and the Hungarian Horntail.

"Let's go, Potter!" Lee shouted, his voice managing to carry throughout the stands and a few more cheers could be heard throughout the students.

Instead of aiming his wand at the dragon, Harry raised his to the sky and shouted something, his eyes looking all around the stadium as if waiting for some change that he was sure would follow.

"Oh, shit." I breathed, watching his look of horror as he waited.

"What's plan B, Hermione?" Ron asked, his voice sounding shakey.

After what felt like hours of strained silence, Harry's face broke into a grin as he spotted the flying broomstick, hurtling towards him through the air. He caught it in one hand and mounted it quickly, kicking up, passing the stands and the dragon's height, looking happier than I had seen him in weeks now.

He started towards the Horntail, grabbing it's attention before zipping out of the stadium, headed straight back for the castle in the distance, allowing the dragon time to catch up.