wolf's tail ₍ ♡ ₎ g. weasley [1]

06 ㅡ DRAGON

₍ ♡ ₎ ㅡ E. THOMPSON

"When I said 'sell things at school' I meant, like, tricks and charms and stuff, not... bets on our friends' lives."

Fred and George grin at Elizabeth as she walks down the hill and over to them. "Harry and Ced are doing us wonders, Beth!"

"We're going to be rich after this!" George waves a flyer around, shouting, "Smart money's on Krum to survive! One'll get you ten if Potter dies!"

"Right, Weasley!" she smacks him round the head once she reaches him.

"Ow!"

"Don't be so insensitive!"

She sees Fred raising a brow behind him, "What took you so long?"

"What's-his-face was blocking the stairs telling everyone Harry's done it all on purpose, again." They stare at her, confused. "The annoying one in Harry's year."

The nod, realising. "Oh, that's Malfoy."

"Yeah, Draco."

"Does my bleeding nut in and he's not even in our year," she scowls.

"But, get this," George grins, nudging her in the side with his elbow, "Apparently Moody caught him picking on Harry yesterday and taught him a lesson."

"Yeah," Fred chirps, leaning over his brother's shoulder, "Miller says he turned him into a ferret!"

"No," she gasps but they nod, keeling over. Elizabeth chuckles, "Looks like they've finally found us a decent Defence teacher."

"Lets see how long this one lasts."

A tiny Gryffindor first year appears at Fred's side, tugging on the sleeve of his robes, "Excuse me, George. Are you still selling bets?"

"I'm not George, he is!" George and Elizabeth chuckle. Fred leans down to him, "Just call us both Weasley, then you'll never get it wrong." He jerks his head towards Elizabeth, "Thompson's known us for years and she still has to do it." She pulls her face at that.

The boy smiles, "Okay, Weasley. I want to bet on Harry please."

Fred rolls his eyes, "Course you do. Tell you what, Michael, you can have this one on us - get yourself a chocolate frog on the train home."

Michael grins, takes the receipt from him, "Thanks, Weasley!"

He scurries off. Elizabeth does a high pitched giggle, a tragic impression of the boy, "Thanks Weasley!"

"Bugger off, Beth. You can help us put this stuff away before the task starts."

"Yeah, El," George smirks, "We do a lot for you, being seen with a Slytherin - it's about time you start pulling your weight around-" She shoves him, smile breaking through her attempted scowl.

Out of the corner of her eye she spots movement. Elizabeth turns away from the boys and noticed a large, dark dog near the trees on the other side of the path. It hunches over, looking in their direction.

She taps George on the shoulder, "I thought we weren't allowed dogs after that second year's peed on Trelawney's new rug."

He shrugs, "Maybe it wandered in from the forest." He laughs after a moment, the three of them starting to walk, "Oh, Merlin, do you remember that?"

Elizabeth laughs, nodding as she recites the teacher's now famous line that has been repeated throughout the school over the last two years, "I had just saged that!"

"Come on, you two," Fred urges them to hurry. "We're going to miss the start!"

They are told that Cedric is up first and they spot him quickly: head poking out from the small cave in the arena. Around him, a rocky pit spreads out into a circle. Above it, the students all cheer in anticipation.

Elizabeth and the twins cheer Cedric's name, clapping along with the kids and teachers as he slowly moves out into the arena. To his left, a large blue dragon emerges from the second cave. But Cedic's eyes are set on the item in the centre of the arena: the golden egg which he is to retrieve.

The canon booms and Cedric moves quickly, lurching forward across the rocky ground. He is set on reaching the centre until the dragon goes straight for him. Elizabeth hears herself scream, the twin's and other boys around them shouting Cedric's name. The Hufflepuff retreats in a panic, ducking behind a boulder and narrowly missing the breath of fire which emerges from the mouth of the dragon. Elizabeth panics herself, hand instinctively grabbing the wrist to her right. George repositions his hand to squeeze hers.

It's still for a moment as Cedric crouches behind the boulder, back against the rock as he visibly pants. Then, with an almost real lightbulb above his head, he rises, turns. He runs backwards towards the cave he came from, drawing his wand and pointing it towards the same boulder. Elizabeth doesn't quite catch the spell he uses, muffled by the screams and cheers of the audience. But, after he utters it, the boulder grows and transforms into a large brown dog, towering over the boy.

There's a collective gasp from the crowd. The twins lean in closer to Elizabeth's ears from either side.

"Ron said Hagrid used to have one like that!"

"Huge, it was!"

"Used to guard the dungeons!"

She nods, eyes transfixed on their friend in the pit below. The dog turns away from Cedric, suddenly intrigued by the dragon. But the dragon is just as intrigued by the dog. The two move closer to each other, the dog sniffing around the blue wings. With them distracted, Cedric darts for the centre of the arena.

He grasps the large golden egg from the pedestal, holding it high in the air with both hands. The crowd erupts into cheers, Elizabeth grinning at Cedric's own visible smile. The Hufflepuff flag is raised on the other side of the crowd and, for once, she isn't too upset by that house winning.