Annabeth Smith in the Goblet of Fire

Chapter Five: The Age Line

Annabeth was skeptical. "You're alright with that, Fred? Being her second choice?"

"Oh, yeah. Because at the end of it all, all that will matter is she'll have ended up falling in love with me for who I am, not because I look like George. I'll make sure of it."

"Alright. If you're sure. It definitely helps knowing that. I'll try to fight with her less." Annabeth scoffed. "But she made this comment about how I'm 'the teacher's pet' because I don't get in trouble as much as you two do, and how it'll just get worse now that my 'supposed dad' is here."

George led Annabeth over to sit on his bed. Lee and their other two roommates were already asleep. "Don't listen to her. You only get in less trouble because we try to save you from it."

"That's what I told her. Doubt she'll believe it though."

"Does it matter if she does?"

"Guess not." Annabeth leaned into George's side, and he put his arm around her. "All that matters to me is that I have you guys."

"You do. Always."

"And you have me."

"Good, cause we're going to need your help with something." Fred told her.

Annabeth got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What?"

"We're going to make an Ageing Potion so we can age up enough to put our names in the Goblet of Fire."

Annabeth gasped. "Why would you?! You could die if you're chosen!"

"That's half the thrill!" George exclaimed.

"That's not a thrill!" Annabeth said a little too loud and they heard Lee stir. She and the twins looked over to him. After a moment, Lee rolled over and went back to sleep. "You can't be serious about this."

"Of course, we are." Fred informed her.

"But we need your help. You're better at potions than we are." George explained.

"We don't want to mess it up and end up old men forever."

"Or babies again."

Annabeth thought it over. They're right. They could mess up the potion and hurt themselves. But if they get it right and fool whatever Dumbledore sets up to keep students under seventeen from putting their name in the goblet, the Goblet of Fire could choose one of their names. I can't let that happen either. I have to help them to make sure they don't hurt themselves and to make sure it doesn't work, but I'll only reveal the first part. She took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll help."

"Yes!" The twins said in unison before high fiving.

"But only so you don't mess up the potion and do damage you can't reverse. Lord only knows what would happen then."

George kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Annabeth. We really owe you one."

"George will be paying for both of us." Fred joked before George threw a pillow at his brother. "Hey!"

Annabeth chuckled and grabbed the pillow before it could be tossed again. "Alright, enough. Now, can we finally go to bed? I'm beat."

"Sure." George agreed.

Fred sighed. "Whatever." He crawled into his bed and rolled over leaving the couple to have as much privacy as they could in the small room.

George kissed Annabeth sweetly on the lips. "Good night, Annabeth."

Annabeth smiled. "Good night, George." As the four-poster beds were too small to share, Annabeth would remain sleeping in her blankets on the floor. She crawled in and drifted off to sleep.

------

A storm raged outside as Annabeth ran behind Fred and George into the Great Hall where the Goblet of Fire sat.

"Hehe, yeah!" Fred yelled.

"Yeah!" George cheered.

They made their way over to the bleachers with their Ageing Potion vials held aloft as everyone in the room cheered for them. As they passed by all three were given high fives for having done it.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Fred took his praise graciously, but Annabeth had to fake it. She felt terrible for having deceived the twins. "Well, Lads, we've done it."

"With Annabeth's help we cooked it up just this morning."

"It's not going to work!" Hermione told them in a sing-song voice from where she sat with her book.

A shot of fear ran through Annabeth. Does she know what I did? Fred and George went to sit on either side of her, George on her right, and Fred on her left, as Annabeth stood behind her, worried.

"Oh, yeah." George wondered.

"And why is that Granger?" Fred asked.

Hermione pointed to the wispy line around the Goblet of Fire. "You see this? This is an Age Line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?" George thought.

Hermione scoffed and closed her book. "So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something so pathetic and dimwitted as an Ageing Potion."

"Ah, but that's why it's so brilliant."

"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted." Fred pointed out.

"Besides, Annabeth cooked them up. They can't possibly go wrong. She's a star in potions." George and Fred stood and moved to stand in front of the goblet. Annabeth moved to stand behind them, nervous. "Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George." They uncorked the vials and wrapped arms.

"Bottoms up!" The twins said in unison before downing the potion and jumping over the Age Line. After a second of nothing happening, everyone around them cheered. Annabeth faked it. "Yeah!" They circled the Goblet of Fire. "Ready?" The twins put in their parchment, and nothing happened for a moment. "Yes!" The crowd cheered again as the twins high fived.

Then, flames shot out from the goblet and knocked Fred and George back across the Age Line and across the room. "George! Fred!" Annabeth ran to them to see that they'd both aged into old men with matching white hair and beards. All around them the gathered crowd was laughing.

Fred and George sat up and looked at each other. "You said!" Fred accused.

"You said!" George pointed at his brother before Fred jumped on George to start fighting.

"George, Fred, stop this now! Enough! We knew it might not work." Annabeth tried pulling them apart. "Come on. Stop it!"

Every student in the Great Hall had come over to look but Hermione who had went back to reading. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" They cheered.

Suddenly, silence ensued. Annabeth and the twins looked up to see that Victor Krum was walking in with his Headmaster and his friend, another Durmstrang student. Fred and George stopped fighting long enough to watch. Krum passed the Age Line, put his parchment in, looked to Hermione, and left.

As soon as the Great Hall doors closed, Fred and George started fighting again. "Really?! Come on!" Annabeth exclaimed as she tried to pull them apart again.

In the end, a Ravenclaw had gone to get Professor McGonagall, who though surprised to see the brothers fighting, broke them apart. Annabeth, Fred, and George all ended up in detention. Fred and George earned theirs for making the potion and attempting to cross the Age Line, while Annabeth had earned hers for helping them. Annabeth didn't care that she'd gotten detention out of it. She was just relieved that she'd agreed to help make the Ageing Potion so she had guaranteed that it wouldn't work, with or without Dumbledore's Age Line.