International Love | Fred Weasley

Chapter 1

Part 1: The Goblet of Fire

The first time Fred Weasley laid eyes on her, he knew she was different than the rest. Maybe it was the miniature dragon that escaped from under her light-blue hat. Maybe it was the way she handled it so quickly and tried to assure Neville the dragon wouldn't hurt him. Or maybe, it was the look on her face when she saw the dragon fly away. The look on her face when she realised, she made a mistake. Fred didn't know how he knew, but he knew for sure she was different than the rest and the perfect match for him.

"Bonne chance!"

Madame Maxime smiles down as she regards the students gathered around her. All the girls and boys around me are hopping from feet to feet nervously as we wait in the entrance hall of Hogwarts, the British School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Call me crazy, but I don't feel as nervous as I probably should be. Perhaps it's because I don't see this whole thing the way the others do.

"Elena, how can you be so relaxed?!"

Flora whispers anxiously. In the past couple of minutes, my best friend has checked her outfits three times in order to make sure everything is perfect. Madame Maxime's expectations of us are high this year. It has been centuries since the last Triwizarding Tournament and Madame Maxime wants to win.

I send a reassuring smile to Flora, "Because this isn't such a big of a deal as you all seem to think it is."

The strawberry-blonde witch shakes her head, her neatly curled hair bouncing around. The girl doesn't seem to understand why I am not a nervous wreck like the others.

Suddenly, we hear a soft growl. Alarmed, I quickly check to see if our headmaster in the front row heard anything. When she doesn't turn around, I let out the breath I was holding.

"I thought you let her in the carriage!" Flora whispers and eyes at my light-blue hat.

"No, I didn't. You know how Pixie gets when she is left alone. I told her to lay down while we are here. Plus, she was asleep when we left the carriage."

Flora shakes her head again and eyes Madame Maxime over my shoulder. When she meets my eyes, she says: "If she would find out..."

"I know what happens when she find out," I sigh. Madame Maxime would kill me, and nothing would be able to stop her. Me and Madame Maxime do not have the best relationship, much to my uncle's dismay.

Before any of us can do or say anything else, the big doors open and the first students enter the large hall.

All eyes are on us when we walk in. Flora is in front of me and makes a neatly pirouette. As she bows, she releases her butterflies. Nearby students are 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing, but I don't pay much attention to them. Xavier has grabbed by hand and leads me into the hall. We dance for a few passes before Xavier grabs my waists and lifts me up. I smile at the students staring at us and bow down.

That's where it goes wrong.

Perhaps brining Pixie with me to the introduction wasn't such a good idea as it had seemed before, because my hat shifts a bit on my head and Pixie sees her chance to escape.

It's my luck that Madame Maxime is walking in front of our group – completely unaware of what is happening behind her. Pixie flies away to the table closest to us. As she flies past, I can see students look at her with surprise. I abandon Xavier who sends me a look and try to catch the little dragon, but no avail – I knew I shouldn't have trained her to fly that fast.

"Pixie! Pixie, reviens!" I whisper-shout at the little dragon who completely ignores me. She continues to enjoy her newly found freedom and ends up landing on a very scared-looking blond-haired boy. The students around snickers when they see him facial expression and I quickly rush over.

"Pixie, come back!"

Again, the dragon doesn't listen and curls up satisfied on the head of the boy.

"Alright," I sigh as I grabs my wand from its holder under my dress, "Immobulus."

Pixie freezes and I breathe out relieved. She won't get away again like this and Madame Maxime won't find out I brought her with me.

The boy, on the other hand, doesn't look very happy. I try to assure him Pixie is harmless and mutter: "I will come and get her later. Please, do not harm her, she doesn't bite."

Before the boy can respond, Xavier grabs my wrist and pulls me further. I look over my shoulder to the boy and send him an apologizing smile. It doesn't seem to help as he watches me leave with wide eyes. Xavier and I continue with our act and when we arrive at the end of the pathway, Flora sends me a look of 'I told you it wasn't a good idea'.

I roll my eyes at her before looking over to the boy with Pixie still lying on his head. Madame Maxime is talking to the headmaster of Hogwarts, and I pray she doesn't notice Pixie when she looks around the hall.

We get a seat at the table where students are sitting who are wearing blue ties. Fleur Delacour – part-Veela who is a year above me – walks past and whispers: "You should not bring zat creature with you to zese important events. You should be 'appy Madame Maxime didn't see you or you would be in deep trouble."

Suppressing the urge to stick my tongue out towards Fleur, I quickly sit down beside a blonde-haired girl. She smiles at me and I smile back. We don't get a chance to talk as the doors of the hall open once again. The students of the Durmstrang Institute walk in. A few students in the crowd recognize Viktor Krum and excited whispers about the boy make their way through the hall.

Once the Durmstrangs are done with their introduction, they sit down at the table with students wearing green ties. The plates before us starts filling themselves and everyone begins eating. Dinner is amazing, Hogwarts surely knows how to take care of its students. I learn from the Hogwarts student, Vera Davies, beside me about the different, so called, 'houses'. There is Ravenclaw (the blue ties), Slytherin (green ties), Hufflepuff (yellow ties), and Gryffindor (red ties).

"We don't have this kind of separation at Beauxbatons." I tell Vera and she smiles, "We are not completely separated. We have lessons together, in the first year with two houses and later with all the houses, because not everyone chooses the same subjects."

She takes a bite of her pie and continues: "We have the house-cup, you earn point if you do something good: like giving the right answer in the lessons, and you lose point if you misbehave. You also earn points with Quidditch."

"You play Quidditch? Imposant!"

Vera laughs, "It's sad that we can't compete for the Quidditch Cup this year because of the Tournament. It's always fun to watch the matches – everyone around here is very passionate about them."

Nodding, I take another bite of my dessert. Flora, who sits next to me, is listening to our conversation and asks: "Are you part of the Quidditch team of Re-Rev-"

"Ravenclaw," Vera corrects and shakes her head, "No, I am not part of it, but Roger is."

With her fork, she points towards a brown-haired boy sitting a few seats from us. He looks up and waves when he sees us looking at him.

"Roger is the captain of Ravenclaw's Quidditch team and one of the Chasers."

After dessert, Madame Maxime leads up back to the carriage that is parked on Hogwarts' grounds. Flora complains about her hurting as we walk down the hill and I dread the next morning when we have to walk over the grounds to the castle. In our room, when we are already in bed, Flora remarks: "Did you already free that poor boy of Pixie?"

Jumping out of bed, I grab a sweater and shake my head, "I totally forgot about that. I am so used to Pixie sitting on my shoulder or her roaming around before returning to me."

I put the sweater on over my pyjama and summon a pair of shoes. Flora turns in her bed and dims the lights in the room.

"I would try the common room. Please hurry, we have classes in the morning."

I smile at my best friend before walking into a dark corner of our room and muttering: "Gryffindor common room."