| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Fifty-Seven

"Oh my god, I think I'm going to be sick."

Cho stood uneasily in the cramped stands, which roared with cheers and excitement. The First Task of the TriWizard Tournament was about to begin. Olive and Nat were on each side of their younger friend, doing their best to soothe the girl's nerves.

"How do you think they feel?" Nat nodded to the Champion's tent, "They're about to face dragons!"

"Cho." Olive gave the girl's shoulder a comforting squeeze, "It will be alright. There are dragon trainers everywhere, as well as Healers. Cedric will be perfectly fine, no one will let anything bad happen to him."

The Ravenclaw turned to Olive, "How can you be-"

"Welcome to the First Task of the TriWizard Tournament!"

The immense cheering and shouting dulled to an excited chatter. Cho was gripping the hands of her friends so hard Olive was pretty sure her hands were turning blue. However, she knew the girl was nervous, and that as soon as Cedric was done she'd be fine.

Ludo Bagman stood at the center of the judge's booth, holding his wand to his throat in order to amplify his voice. All attention was focused on him, the entirety of the stands bursting with excitement and anticipation.

As the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports explained the rules of the First Task and the job of the champions, Olive's eyes were focused on the champion's tent. Worry coursed through her veins much like Cho, but for both Cedric and Harry. They were about to face dragons, which she wasn't even sure she'd be interested in doing if she had all the experience in the world.

Ollie had passed both Cedric and Harry in the corridor earlier that morning. While both seemed nervous, they also looked as if they had been preparing and studying the entire night before. She just hoped it would pay off, for both of them.

"They're supposed to take an egg from the nest? Everything we've studied in Care of Magical Creatures specifically says not to do that!" Cho shook her head in disbelief, catching Olive's attention once more, "It'll get them all killed!"

Opening her mouth to give an encouraging comment to her worrying friend, Ollie found herself suddenly unable to give any. Sure, there were extra precautions set in place to make sure the champions didn't die, there was nothing preventing the dragons from injuring them severely. Like she had heard many professors explain before, the Tournament was supposed to be dangerous. It wouldn't make sense if everyone got off completely unscathed, as barbaric as that sounds...

Besides, Cho was right. They had learned never to bother the mother or the babies of any species. Hagrid had spent an entire week explaining all the ways careless people have died in history by doing exactly that.

The raven-haired girl craned her neck to take a peek at the teacher's stands, wanting to get a look at what the Care of Magical Creatures professor thought.

She was surprised to see him excitedly sitting on the edge of his seat, happily awaiting the start of the First Task. Every time the shriek of a dragon rumbled the stands, his enthusiastic smile seemed to grow.

Who even came up with the idea for teenagers to duel dragons for a friendly competition?

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes!"

"Get your top of the line joking goods!"

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes here! Discounted price for anyone who offers a gracious donation!"

An eager hand tapped on her shoulder, "Excuse me, would you-"

Slowly, Olive turned around, brows raised in the slightest of amusement when she saw the flash of embarrassment on George's features.

"Olls." He offered a small chuckle to ease the awkwardness, "Sorry."

He was holding a tray of boxed and "ready-to-go" pranks and other sort of joke-related gimmicks he and Fred were trying to sell. By the small tin of sickles sitting nestled between the puking-pestles and fainting-fancies, she guessed it was so far a successful day for them.

"I can see you're using the First Task to your advantage." Olive observed.

"And why would you ask that?" George countered, sending a look to the back of Fred's head as he ventured off without his brother.

"Well." Olive motioned to the crowd, "No one can run away from you as pester them with terrible slogans."

George crinkled up his nose, "Are they that bad?"

"Yes." Nat said blatantly, staring at George with a snarky glare over Cho's head. The younger Ravenclaw of the trio giggled as she nudged the blonde with a hushed whisper. Olive felt her cheeks tint slightly, and she found herself gripping her pen with clammy, fidgeting fingers.

"They're very... standard." Olive scooted over to make room for George to sit. The First Task was starting soon, and the students sitting directly behind where the towering Weasley twin was standing were starting to get visibly annoyed, "But it looks like you've had some luck."

She nodded to the tin of sickles as George squeezed in next to her. He held the tray of prank-goods on his lap, his elbow brushing against Olive's arm.

"Three of those are mine." He admitted, "Lee said if people see there's already something in there they'll be more likely to buy or donate."

Olive pulled a spare sickle from her pocket, reaching over to drop it into the small tin. It jingled as it hit the other silver pieces.

"Here's one more." She offered with a small shrug of her shoulders. Her eyes met George's briefly before moving back down to her lap, "To entice more impressionable First Years."

"Olls, you didn't have to do that." George shook his head, his hand reaching into the tin to fish the sickle out.

"George." She gently grabbed his wrist and moved it back down to his side, "Consider it a 'gracious donation.'"

Dropping the sickle, the ginger unfurrowed his brows, unable to stop the sigh that escaped his smirking lips, "Maybe with that donation you could suggest some better sales pitches?"

The Ravenclaw shook her head, her eyes watching the first dragon for the task be slowly beckoned out into the revamped Quidditch pitch. The dragon scrambled after her eggs, among them the golden one the four champions were tasked with recovering.

"I'm going to let you two work that out." She offered, "Part of the fun, isn't it?"

"Maybe." George got to his feet, his eyes connecting with something across the stands, "Fred's going to make a scene really soon if he doesn't stop arguing about prices with those know-it-all third years."

Olive followed his gaze, and found the eldest twin waving a box of Canary Cremes in a Hufflepuff's face. Fred turned, waving frantically for his brother to come join him.

"You might want to give him some help." She looked up at him, "First Task is starting soon."

"Right." He nodded, "See you later, Olls."

Olive watched him walk off, her brows knit together as she processed what had just happened. Her hands were clammy, wringing themselves so tightly around her pen she was surprised she didn't snap the thing in half.

"See you later, Olls." Nat mimicked playfully, sharing a small laugh with Cho once George was out of earshot.

Her cheeks heating with a blush, Olive reached around Cho and gave Nat a good nudge, "Shove off, Arnold."

She averted her gaze, eyes peering down at the Quidditch pitch with an almost newfound, sudden interest. Even though Olive couldn't see their eyes, she could feel the gazes of both her friends burning into the side of her skull.

Ollie knew they wanted her to at least explain something to them, especially after the awkward and very random interaction before herself and George. However, she just couldn't seem to come up with any explanation, other than something she wouldn't be able to completely get out without her hair flashing pink.

Besides, there was a Tournament going on. It would be rude not to pay attention. The sudden tenseness in her chest and heat on her cheeks could be suppressed and set aside until a later time, because that's all it was.

A funny feeling.