Author's Note: WOAH you guys! 20th chapter?? Can I get some votes for the big 2-0? Ahahah, well I have to give a shout out to ALL of you! Seriously, from the avid voters, to the constant commentors, and to you-silent reader who never comments or votes-I still love you too!
Without each and everyone of you I would most definitly not have made it this far-and probably would have abandoned this story long ago-so thank you ALL!
[ i kept this, because i thought it was funny... and kinda sweet -- 2022]
Ch. 20: Bets & Burns
Rita Skeeter thrummed her nine-inch, hot pink nails across her chin devilishly and flashed her Cheshire cat grin. "How deliciously juicy! My my my, -- my avid 'Me, Myself, and I...' readers will just be eating this up!" She spread her hands out as if to paint a picture, a gleam of a far off place in her eye as she described the headlines.
The flash of the camera went off again, but this time pointed in Hermione and I's direction. "Star-crossed lovers' desperate farewell. Meanwhile, jealous sister verbally attacks reporter, but is held back by handsome admirer!" She licked her lips and giggled in excitement. "This will be one of my best stories yet!"
"What are you doing here?" A deep voice called out, frustrated. I pulled away from Cedric to see Victor Krum, standing protectively in front of Harry and Hermione. "This time is for family and friends only. Get out." He crossed his arms over his chest-I took that as a sign that he wasn't afraid to move this vile woman forcefully.
Frowning at the fact that Krum was ruining her fun moment by torturing everyone, she sighed and slowly made her way out of the tent with her cameraman. "Let's get out of here, Frank."
"Good riddance," I growled at her as the curtain closed, keeping her far away from us.
Fleur jumped up from the bench she was seated on with a weary look. Her angelic blonde hair was tied back into a tight ponytail in preparation for the coming Tournament, but her brow was firm as she scolded me in French. "Pourquoi*," she started, but then switched to broken English. "Why vould you do t'at? Now zhe vill put it in ze paper." She strode over to me, eyes dancing in hidden amusement all the while. "You and Lana, meddling elves."
Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair, knowing she was right. I should learn to control myself better. "Je n'ai aucune idée,*" I attempted my butchered French but coughed and sputtered and eventually decided English was more for me. "I'm stupid, I guess," I muttered.
No doubt Rita would make me out to be a psycho in her article.
Hermione was still pink in the face when Dumbledore waltzed into the tent, holding a heavy looking bag. "Gather round every one! Time to-" He looked over and saw me and Hermione standing awkwardly in the background. "Ah, Miss. Granger, Miss. Granger. What are you two doing here?"
Blushing deeper, Hermione rubbed her left arm and looked at her shoes, completely embarrassed. "We were just leaving, Professor."
"Ah, very well-off you go!" He smiled and waved us off.
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"There you two are!" Jenna frowned, her eyes immediately sensing that we had not been having fun whilst in our absence. "What happened?"
A humourless smile etched on my face and I glared up at the sky. It was a grey afternoon, and the clouds loomed overhead with a cold embrace but didn't seem to threaten any rain. "Oh, don't worry. I'm quite sure you'll see the real story on 'My, Myself, and I...' tomorrow, or next week," I grumbled and threw myself down onto the wooden bench next to Lana and Hermione.
"Maybe if you would've kept quiet," Hermione said, twisting a curl behind her ear as she turned to face me. Her blushed cheeks had faded, but the remains of a stubborn know-it-all remained, "and not exploded on Rita Skeeter, you wouldn't be." Hermione scolded me with an amused smile but still looked pretty worried about what was going to happen when the paper came out.
The wind kicked up and blew my hair all over the place, but I tried tucking it behind my ears angrily. "Oh please, Mione--"
"--Ladies, ladies, please!" A curt, amused voice cut me off. I glanced up to see the Twins behind us, bundled up against the weather and eyeing the Quidditch Pitch with wild looks. Fred rested a hand on Hermione and I's shoulders. "We are trying to watch Krum get squashed by this dragon."
"Do you mind?" George chuckled, telling us to shut up whilst holding a handful of cash.
"What's that for?" I frowned and pointed toward the handful of silver and bronze coins. "Betting already?"
Fred grinned and placed a hand on his heart, giving an emotional look at George with a smile. "She knows us so well, don't she George." George chuckled and nodded.
I spared a look at the field and then turned back around to glare at Fred and George sitting behind us. "Hmm..."
Fred's eyes grew bright and he nudged George and Ron. Ron nudged Seamus and all four of them turned to me curiously. "I think she's gonna place her bet." Fred waited while I dug through my sweater pockets. The boys seemed unsure of me joining their little ring, but if I had the approval of the Twins, I assumed the rest would fall in line.
After aimlessly rifling through my pockets, I found ten Knuts and a Galleon -- I wasn't even quite sure how much it was worth. I could count on one hand how many times I'd used British Wizarding money. "I wager that Harry survives his dragon," I told the group watching with withering gazes. I reached out to Fred with the coins and a grin. However, Fred shook his head, smirking and refusing the money.
"Nope, nope, nope. It doesn't work that way, my dear."
Scoffing, my mouth popped open a little bit and I looked at the four of them, confusion upturned on my nose. "Well... then, how does it work?" In the corner of my eye, I watched Blake turn her head curiously to watch our talk. She began sifting through her pockets, looking for coins too. Blake was clad in a silver beanie with her Slytherin scarf tied loosely around her neck, making her stick out like a sore thumb among the crowd of Gryffindors. But, she didn't seem to mind as she fell in line beside George and Fred.
"You have to ask if you can join the wager before you throw your money in, plus you don't know who everyone else is betting on."
"Does that really matter?" I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. "Do you want to take my money or not?"
Seamus chuckled and grinned, his cheeks flushed in the cold air. "Oi! Don' worry 'bout that! I'll be takin' all o' your money."
Rolling his eyes, Fred continued speaking. It was clear that he was being a bit of a know-it-all himself, explaining the 'rules' of betting to me like I was naive. I would've been annoyed by it, but I imagined that, with having Hermione around all the time, Fred didn't get to be smart too often. "Also, you have to be more specific. Since this isn't an all-together game, it's trickier."
Sighing, I looked to Seamus. "Okay, then what do you wager?"
"I bet that Krum's gonna use a confusing charm on the Dragon and walk away with the egg, easy as that." He grinned and elbowed Ron, telling him to tell me what he was wagering.
Ron cleared his throat, stuffing his pale hands in the pockets of his coat and watching me sheepishly. "I'm betting that Krum uses attack spells against the dragon, and rides it to retrieve the egg."
Fred rolled his eyes, then turned to me with a stifled laugh. "I am clearly the most logical so far, and I am putting my money on Cedric. He is going to retrieve the egg using Charms and he will not get burned whatsoever." He winked at me and it was my turn to roll my eyes.
George shook his head and stood taller, elbowing Blake and puffing up his chest. "I'm putting my money on Cedric, but I am going to wager that he does get burned -- so bad that he is hospitalized for a night, but in a valiant effort, he still gets the egg."
"I wager that Fleur is going to get burned," Blake suddenly spoke up, smiling shyly at George and blushing when his fingers brushed hers while taking her money, "but she's gonna use distractive magic such as noise charms and fireworks to distract the dragon while she retrieves the egg."
Huh...interesting. The matchmaking side of me chuckled evilly and rubbed its hands together, but was hidden for now. Shaking myself from my thoughts, I focused back on the wager and chewed the inside of my cheek, thinking. "Okay, I have one."
"Oh? Let's hear it, then." Fred finally held out his hand, palm up, for me to drop my money into. I handed him my coins slowly, giving him one per word. "Harry. Gets. The. Egg. Using. His. Broom. From. His. Wand." I gave Fred my Galleon with the word wand and smiled, innocently.
Blake, Fred, George, Ron, and Seamus all turned to look at each other carefully. They were trying to figure out why I had put so much money on Harry and sounded so sure, but I kept my poker face. "Allrriigghht..." Fred watched my innocent face carefully, looking for any cracks in my mask, but none were there for him to find.
Hermione elbowed me in the side and gave me a disapproving frown. "Not cool. Cheater." She whispered, so no one else would hear.
Shrugging, I turned back to her and whispered in her ear. "It's not cheating-they never said that you could not know what the person was already going to do, did they?" My eyes feigned innocence and Hermione just rolled her eyes at me with a giggle.
The sound of a cannon told us that Krum had successfully caught his egg, and it was now Fleur's turn. Ron and Seamus sounded disappointed from behind me, and I pumped my fist in the air, calling out to them. "Awwe, better luck next time, boys!"
Fleur was handling her dragon really well. I was hardly that surprised, though. When Fleur and I were younger, she was really tough--tougher than I was that's for sure. I figured that she would have outgrown that side of her when she'd become all snobby. But, deep down, she was still Fleur.
We all watched intensely as Fleur hopped and jumped, skipping out of the dragon's path very carefully each time, and somehow managing to retrieve the egg without getting burned whatsoever. "Damn it!" Blake cursed and pulled at a strange of hair over her brow. "Guess I'm out."
George patted her on the head with a grin, causing her face to erupt in a deep violet blush. "Awe, better luck next time Blake." He chuckled and counted out the coins. "Guess its just down to us and Elle, ey Fred?"
Fred didn't reply but watched as Cedric made his way out to the dragon. All traces of fun and games were gone, now we were down to the real challenge. "COME ON CED! DON'T GET BURNED!" Fred called out, cheering Cedric on.
George suddenly jumped to his feet and put both hands around his mouth to make himself louder. "NO! GET BURNED! COME ON, IT WON'T HURT THAT BAD!"
Lana rolled her eyes and Jenna giggled a little, these guys were going to kill Cedric if they kept distracting him like this. My pulse raced a little as I watched Cedric battle the dragon, and I noticed that I was on the edge of my seat with worry. Sure I was pissed at Cedric yesterday for being around all those jerks, but that didn't mean that I wanted him to be seriously injured by a fire-breathing dragon. He was my friend, after all. I was more hoping for an angry punch in the face by a troll or something.
Cedric dodged past the dragon's fire but got hit a few times by the flames, however not as bad as it would take to put him in the hospital wing. After a few minutes of out manoeuvring the dragon, Cedric grabbed the golden egg and raced out of the arena.
With a grin, I turned to the boys and Blake with a hundred-watt smile. "Well, well, well. Look who is going to win the money!" I winked and clapped my hands together, licking my lips in anticipation.
Fred grumbled under his breath but managed to come back with something. "Don't get too excited yet. Harry has to do what you said he would for you to win the money. Or, everyone else gets their money back!"
Shrugging, I flipped around to watch Harry with a confident smile on my face. "COME ON HARRY! YOU CAN DO IT!" I called, standing up with a cheer. To my surprise, Hermione stood up next to me and did the same, cheering on Harry with me.
Harry looked up at us with a small smile, but I could tell he was extremely nervous. Hell, I would be too if it was me in that arena facing a huge dragon. I think I would piss myself -- only a little though!
As soon as Harry spotted the egg, he made a run for it, however; when Harry was about 15 feet away from it, the dragon woke up and suddenly became furious. With a loud roar, it spewed fire out at Harry, causing Harry to seek shelter behind a boulder for a few minutes. My stomach lurched a little as I watched the dragon continually throwing fire that the boulder, but my nerves were a little eased as he took out his wand and began to mutter something.
Biting my lip, I waited in silence. The broom was taking a long time to get here, and I could tell Harry was starting to become more and more terrified as the time ticked by. Suddenly, a black object made its way into the arena -- Harry's Firebolt, I recognized it before it was even in clear view. As quick as humanly possible, Harry mounted his broom and took it to the air.
With a grin and a cheer, I turned to face Fred and George, holding out my hand. "Pay up!"
George frowned but nodded in a defeated agreement. Fred, however; wouldn't give in as quickly. Shaking his head at me, he pocketed the coins and nodded towards Harry's flying figure. "As you said, he still has to get the egg."
Grumbling under my breath, I stuck my tongue out at him and turned back around to watch Harry, fingers crossed. I honestly didn't care about the money, I just wanted to beat Fred and George at their own game.
Yet, that all changed when Harry's dragon broke the chain holding it to the ground. With an angry roar, it took flight and chased Harry into the clouds. Horrified, I latched my hand around the strongest thing so I wouldn't fall over. Somewhere in the hordes of people, a girl screamed, and I couldn't help but think about how cliche it was. Biting my lip, I kept my gaze searching the clouds, hoping to see Harry emerge, unharmed.
I took this second of silence to also look around at my friends: Jenna and Lana were holding hands tightly, a thing the three of us always do when we are scared out of our minds; Seamus was biting his nails; turns out that Blake was the one who had screamed, and George had put a protective arm around her shoulder, reassuring her that Harry was fine.
Hermione's hand shot out and grasped Ron's hand, causing Ron's face to turn red -- which I would have laughed at under different circumstances, and then I looked down at myself. Turns out, I was clutching desperately to Fred's stitched sweater and clinging on for dear life. Fred's arm was wrapped around my waist, but I could tell by the way his eyes were searching the clouds that he was worried as well.
Slowly, a small black dot emerged from the clouds, growing bigger and bigger to reveal Harry, clutching a burned arm, but alive. I looked for the dragon, but it never reappeared. Harry angled his broom down and snagged the Egg with a grin.
Ecstatic, I jumped into Fred's arms with a giggle and hugged him tightly. "He did it!" I breathed, my pulse beginning to slow once more. Surprised, Fred hesitantly wrapped his arms around me once more and smiled softly, but a little surprised by the turn of events. "He did it." He muttered happily, still a little shocked.
Lifting my head from his shoulder I grinned at him. "Give me my money." My heart pounded against my rib cage as my mind processed that his arms were still around my waist, and mine were still around his neck. 'We are only a few inches away from each other', my brain hummed.
Fred's eyes travelled from mine down to my lips with a smirk, then quickly released me, causing my heart to sputter uncontrollably. "Fine, you win Granger. This time." He laughed and put the leather pouch of coins into my outstretched hand. I fought the feeling of sparks that erupted where his fingers brushed against my palm. My stupid teenager hormones.
In the corner of my eye, I could see a guilty Hermione finish whispering something to Ron. Ron looked at her for a few seconds, then looked at me as I pocketed my money. Angrily, Ron pointed at me. "Hey! YOU'RE A CHEAT!"
With those words, Blake, Fred, George, and Seamus all turned to me furiously. "W-Woah, I have no idea what you are talking about, Ron!" I put my hands up defensively.
Taking an angry step closer, Ron pointed at Hermione. "Mione told me! Get her, Fred!"
Gasping, I glared at Hermione. "What gives?!"
Hermione shrugged and smiled a little. "It's not cool to cheat people, Elizabeth."
Fred quickly advanced on me, trying to take the money out of my pocket. Backing up, I pulled the money out of my pocket, holding it behind me defensively. "Woah, this is mine -- fair and square! You guys never said I couldn't know what Harry was going to do."
"Give me the money, L, and no one gets hurt!" Fred joked and held out his hand, his brothers agreed in chorus while Seamus just watched the turn of events with an arched brow. Smirking back at him, I refused to give it back, but instead took the coins and shoved them down my shirt and into the cups of my bra.
"Now what cha' gonna do?" I chuckled evilly and shook my head at the flabbergasted boys. Fred was the first to recover though. "Hey, I will sacrifice myself for everyone else to get their money back." He winked and I rolled my eyes, knowing he wouldn't dare.
"You wouldn't dare," I caught the glint in his eye and shook my head, "not without my permission anyway." I chuckled. Ron and Seamus shrugged and muttered that they didn't really need it anyway.
Fred wiggled his brow. "Do I have permission?"
"Hmmm..." I tapped a finger to my chin devilishly, then yelled out: "Nope!"
"Nice try though.." I winked and began to skip away, my loot jingling with every jump. I was almost home-free when a murderous scream rang out from behind me.
"Eliza! That's my money!" Blake screamed, and then I felt a hundred and twenty pounds of fury jump onto my back. "I'll shove my hands down there if I have to!" She yelled, causing me to fall onto the ground with an 'oomph'.
Everyone walked over us wrestling on the ground with smiles. "See you back at the common room, L!" Fred waved and they all made their way back. I pushed Blake off of me and she and i broke into a fit of laughter.
"Hey! When you are done, Blake-" Lana chuckled and looked at her with a grin. "You are invited to the Gryffindor common room! We are throwing a party!"
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*Pourquoi - French for 'why'
*Je n'ai aucune idée - incorrect way of saying 'I have no idea'.