It wasn't so much that Fred didn't know that this was a bad idea. He knew it. But he still didn't seem to care. It was completely justified in his mind. Krum had this coming to him. Especially after what he'd done.
Fred hadn't thought much of Professor McGonagall asking him and George to find Hermione and Ron the night before the Second Task. He didn't even question it, just went about his day. But then, during the Second Task, he and George couldn't find Hermione and Ron. When Cedric emerged from the water with Cho Chang, he finally understood. Ron and Hermione were in the lake. How could Dumbledore have approved this? Fred must have stopped breathing entirely until Hermione, Viktor, Ron, the Beauxbaton girl, and Harry made their way to the surface.
Hermione was Krum's precious thing. The thought made him feel sick. Krum liked Hermione and because of it, she sat in a lake for an hour. Fred and George wanted justice for that.
And they knew just how to do it, too.
After all, pranking was in their blood.
"Ready, Freddie?" George said from behind him. Fred nodded. Krum deserved what he got, Fred rationalized. Hermione had no business being in that lake.
"Ready, George," Fred answered. The two of them hopped onto their brooms and soared into that air. It was amazing being up in the air again. It had been far too long since Fred had flown. For a moment, he mourned the loss of Quidditch again. If only he could fly like this all the time.
They made a few circles in the sky before they dived down towards the Durmstrang ship. Fred pulled a few dungbombs from his pocket. George did the same. "On three," he murmured.
"One," said George. Krum emerged on the deck of the ship and glanced around. This couldn't have been better planned if they had tried.
"Two," continued Fred. Krum squinted at the sky as though he saw something.
"Three," they said together. All of the dungbombs they had been holding showered down on the ship, drowning the ship in the horrific scent.
Karkaroff stormed to the deck, hatred and annoyance plastered on his face.
Laughing, Fred and George flew away, fully believing they had found justice for Hermione.
-----
They weren't in that much trouble, not really. Karkaroff was furious about the prank, thundering into Dumbledore's office later that night. But no one could prove it was them, so they only got off with a warning. "I hope you understand," Dumbledore had told them pointedly, "that no one was placed in the lake if they objected. Even Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger."
Neither Fred nor George said anything.
Thought of Krum and the Durmstrangs were quickly forced out of their minds, however. Bagman was still ignoring their letters and their attempts at cornering him in person.
Then one day, a thought came to Fred. At first, he tried to dismiss it, knowing how his mum would react if she knew what he was thinking. But the thought persisted, invading his mind. It could work, he realized. This could get him their money.
George did not approve of his plan.
"Fred, this isn't going to work! That's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-" George said as they walked to the Owlery. Fred was giddy with the letter he was holding in his hand.
"We've tried being polite! It's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did-" Why couldn't George see it from his side? This was the best plan they had!
"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"
"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?" Fred pushed the Owlery door open with a bang. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the middle of the room, looking guilty. His anger and annoyance only mounted.
"What are you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.
"Sending a letter," Harry and George said together.
"What, at this time?" Hermione and Fred said. He grinned at her, his anger immediately dissipated. The moonlight shone through the window blaring down on her. She reminded him, for a moment, of the lovely woman he had seen at the Yule Ball.
"Fine," Fred said, a mischievous look passing through his eyes. "We won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us." Fred noticed Harry trying to glance at the name written on the envelope he was holding. Immediately, he shifted his hand so that Bagman's name was covered. "Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred continued. He mockingly bowed and pointed at the door.
No one moved. "Who're you blackmailing?" Immediately, the smile on Fred's face vanished. Why couldn't they see it his way? George glanced at Fred before smiling at Ron.
"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," George told him easily.
"Didn't sound like that," Ron said.
Fred and George looked at each other. "I've told you before, Ron," Fred said, "keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but-"
"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone. George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."
"Told you, I was only joking," George said again. He took the letter from Fred's hands and attached it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."
"No, I won't," protested Ron angrily. George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George grinned at Ron.
"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later." With that, Fred and George left the Owlery.
The moment they were out of earshot, George turned to Fred. "I can't believe we're blackmailing him." He wouldn't meet Fred's eyes as they walked. Fred knew the only reason he let that owl take the letter was because of Ron. He wanted to ease the tension in the room as best as he could.
"It's not blackmail," Fred said again. "And just you wait. This is going to get us our money back." But even as he said it, he knew that he didn't believe it himself.
Thoughts of the letter he had sent to Bagman swirled around in his head that night. He couldn't stop thinking about it. If this ended badly, they would receive a lot more than detention for it. But they wanted their money. They had won fairly at the Quidditch World Cup, they deserved that money.
Finally, sleep fully escaping him, Fred walked down to the Common Room. He could research on his and George's next product. He wanted to make something portable that could stop someone from following him and George, something distracting and messy. Like a portable forest. Or jungle.
He was both surprised and unsurprised to find Hermione sitting in the Common Room reading. It was just after two in the morning, and here she was, reading, studying.
"Granger," he said gently, her shoulders tensed and he knew he had scared her.
"Fred, what are you doing here at this hour?" she asked, turning to look at him completely.
"Couldn't sleep. You're not studying this early, are you?"
"I'm doing research for S.P.E.W." He smiled. Only Hermione Granger would be awake at four in the morning thinking about house-elves. He sat down next to her, placing the books he had brought with him on the table. She glanced at them curiously. "What are you doing?"
"Just some research for a new product," he told her. Hermione rolled her eyes. If Fred and George really wanted, they could have done well in school. They were obviously very smart. But no, they spent their time and efforts on pranks.
"I heard about what happened to the Durmstrang students," Hermione stated.
"Oh, really, what happened?" Fred said a little too innocently.
"I know it was you and George. Why did you do it?"
"Honestly, Granger, if you want a confession you're going to have to try harder than that. Even Dumbledore and McGonagall couldn't get us to admit to it. You have no evidence it was us."
"I don't need evidence," she returned. "I know it was you." Then she did something that Fred was not expecting in the least. She leaned over and hugged him. After a moment of confusion, Fred embraced her back.
"You're not going to say we shouldn't have done that?"
"Well, you really shouldn't have. And I can take care of myself, but thank you." Fred didn't understand her words, Hermione knew that. He probably didn't even realize why he and George had felt the need to prank Durmstrang, but Hermione understood. They saw her as one of them. She recalled noticing Fred and George's determination to protect their own. The same was true here. They were protecting her because they cared about her.
And that drove away any annoyance at their behavior.
She pulled away from him, gave him a smile, and returned to her research.
"You're not mad?" Feed sounded surprised.
"Well, you really shouldn't have done it. Viktor was pretty upset about it. The Triward Tournament is meant to bring wizarding people together. You've only antagonized them."
"The Tournament is really just one big competition between schools," Fred refuted. Hermione shrugged.
"Perhaps, but that is not the purpose." She glanced at him for a moment, contemplating. Hesitantly, she added, "Who are you blackmailing?" Fred don't look at her. His eyes trained in the cover of his book. "You two could get in serious trouble for that, Fred."
He needed her to stop asking questions. He needed to distract her. He couldn't tell her the truth, she had blatantly told them not take that stupid bet in the first place.
"You ever mess up, Hermione? Ever done something stupid and then tried to fix it?"
"Fred-"
"No, I don't think so. You're Hermione Granger. You don't mess up."
"That's not true!" she exclaimed. "I mess up all the time." He looked at her, amusement plastered on his face. "No, I do!" She sighed. "I- well-like last year. I put my own ideals before my friends. Harry and Ron didn't talk to me for ages. I put school before everything."
"Harry and Ron were just being gits last year," he shrugged off. "Besides, you would have never done that prank with us otherwise. And you had fun, right?"
She smiled a little. "I did. Best thing that happened to me during that time. Maybe the whole year."
"That wasn't the best thing that happened last year!" Fred nearly shouted. Hermione shushed him, hoping his loud voice wouldn't drift up to the sleeping ears. "You punching Malfoy was the best thing that happened last year!" Hermione smiled at the memory.
"Well, he deserved it after the way he has been acting." Fred quite agreed with that. His eyes fell on the book on her lap.
"Why do you keep up with this, Granger? I know everyone tells you it's stupid." She took a deep breath.
"Because it isn't fair. It's like the elves can see freedom, but can never actually touch it. We deny them the basic rights that belong to all creatures." She paused, knowing he probably didn't want to hear this. He was probably going to make some joke about it anyway.
"Go on," he prompted when she was silent for a while.
"Well...look, slavery was a large part of Muggle history. It's despicable to treat anyone in such a way. I don't know, I just thought that it would be better here, that the Wizarding World would be better or know better. But it's just the same."
"Mum used to say that there isn't anything new under the sun, just an endless cycle of stupidity." Hermione chuckled a little at that. In hindsight, Mrs. Weasley was not wrong.
Fred couldn't explain his next actions if he tried. He reached into his pocket and produced to two Sickles. "I'll take one of those badges, if you still have some." Hermione's face lit up with excitement. She quickly reached into her bag, looking for the many badges she had available.
He took the badge from her hands and pinned it to the front of his shirt. He knew he would end up hiding it in the back of his trunk, but for now, he was happy to have brought that lovely smile to Hermione Granger's face.
"Are you worried for Harry?" Fred asked, thinking about the looming Third Task. Hermione nodded.
"It's all so strange, isn't it? Him being placed in the Tournament. Something's not right, someone wanted him in it for a reason. I'm scared something might happen to him."
"Harry's going to be alright," Fred tried to reassure her. "I'd be surprised if he didn't win."
"A student died Fred. This Tournament was a bad idea."
"Well, it'll be over soon. Then, we can all go back to normal." Whatever that is, Fred thought.
-----
Cedric Diggory had come to accept that he was not the lone Hogwarts champion of the Triwizard Tournament. At first, he was a little angry towards Harry. Did everything have to be about him? He wanted to win, but he didn't expect to with Harry Potter in the line up. He was still trying to figure out how Harry got his name in the Goblet of Fire in the first place.
His eyes glanced around. The maze seemed to go on forever. What had Dumbledore said? The maze changed people? From where he was standing, he quite agreed with that.
Before him, he could see a giant spider attacking Harry. The boy pointed his wand at the spider's pincers and shouted the Disarming Spell. Honestly, what was he doing? But it worked. Together, they both aimed their wands at the spider and yelled, "Stupefy!" The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge.
"Harry!" Cedric shouted. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"
"No," Harry called back, panting heavily. His leg was bleeding freely. Harry tried to get up, but his legs were shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath.
Cedric was feet from the Triwizard Cup. Eternal fame and glory. Everything he had been working so hard for. Gleaming right before him.
"Take it, then," he heard Harry tell him. "Go on, take it. You're there." But Cedric didn't move. He couldn't take it, not like this. Harry had saved his life at least twice at this point, and he'd told him what the First Task was when he didn't need to. Harry claimed he didn't want to be a part of the Tournament. He deserved the Cup, not Cedric. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Harry.
"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in there."
"That's not how it's supposed to work," Harry stated. "The one who reaches the Cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg." Cedric stepped away from the Cup.
"No," he said stubbornly. He didn't deserve the Cup, Harry did.
"Stop being noble," irritation crept into Harry's words. "Just take it, then we can get out of here." Harry was holding tight to the hedge, steadying himself.
"You told me about the dragons," Cedric said. "I would've gone down in the First Task if you hadn't told me what was coming."
"I had help on that, too," snapped Harry. "You helped me with the egg- we're square."
"I had help on the egg in the first place."
"We're still square." Harry tested his leg gingerly. He definitely had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped on him. Still, Cedric went on. He knew Harry deserved to win and he was willing to be patient with Harry.
"You should've got more points on the Second Task," Cedric continued. "You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."
"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously! Just take the cup!"
"No." Cedric stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Harry. There was no turning back now. He was walking away from the glory of winning, the glory that was rightfully deserved to the Hufflepuff house. "Go on." He could feel the effects of his decision descend on him. This was taking every ounce of resolution he possessed.
Harry glanced between Cedric and the Cup, deciding. "Both of us," he finally said.
"What?"
"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."
"You-you sure?" Hope crashed down on him. He could see the look on all of his friends' faces when he returned with Harry Potter and the Triwizard Cup. He could imagine the pride and happiness on his father's face.
"Yeah, we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together." A large grin split across his face.
"You're on. Come here." Cedric grabbed Harry's arm, just below the shoulder, and helped him limp towards the plinth where the Cup stood. When they reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the Cup's gleaming handles.
"On three, right? One-two-three."
At the same time, Harry and Cedric grasped a handle. Cedric felt a familiar jerk. They slammed into the ground. It didn't make sense. Why was the Cup a portkey?
"Kill the spare." A flash of green light, and Cedric Diggory fell to the ground.
-----
Hermione Granger was getting worried. She was sitting beside Fred, George, and Ron in the stands. The Weasleys were speaking with Mr. Diggory quietly. She hoped that Harry would be able to remember all that they had reviewed in preparation for the Final Task. A bad feeling crept over her. She hoped Harry would return soon, before something terrible happened.
Fred put a hand on her shoulder. "He's going to be okay, Granger. You know Harry. He always turns out alright in the end."
"Yes, but he always gets into trouble first." Suddenly, with a flash of light, Harry and Cedric returned from the maze. Immediately, the band began to play and cheering erupted from the crowd.
"See, Granger, they're back. No harm done," Fred stated happily. Harry had done it. He had won the Triwizard Tournament.
But Harry wasn't moving from where he was laying next to Cedric. Seriousness grew across the crowd as Cho Chang screamed. All eyes turned to the unmoving body under Harry. Cedric Diggory was dead. Fred stood shocked beside Hermione and George. They'd known Cedric. They went to the Quidditch World Cup with him. They were friends.
And there he was lying on the ground dead.
Hermione started to run towards Harry, but Fred drew her back to his side. Now was not the time for that. Mr. Diggory cried out his pain. "Leave them, Granger," Fred told her quietly. "See, Moody's taking Harry back to the Hospital Wing. He's going to be alright. All we can do now is be there for Mr. Diggory and the Hufflepuff House."
Professor McGonagall was trying to ease the tension by having all the students return to their living quarters, but it didn't seem right. Cedric was a good kid, he was kind and loyal to a fault. He held himself with dignity. He stood apart from the Hufflepuff stereotypes. Leaving his body there on the ground like that was a poor way to repay someone's life.
So, slowly, Fred and George raised their wands. They shot yellow and grey streams of light into the sky for no one else but Cedric Diggory. Hermione and Ron followed them immediately, along with the entire Hufflepuff House. Soon, everyone, including the Beauxbatons and the Durmstrangs were shooting yellow and grey lights into the air in honor of Cedric Diggory.
"He deserved more than this," Fred told Hermione. "He deserved better."
Hermione couldn't help but agree.
-----
The weeks following Cedric's death were hard. Tension filled nearly every corner of the school. Fred and George welcomed summer and all the responsibilities with it. Voldemort was back and the Weasley twins were going to do everything they could to help stop him.
They decided to start their summer off with a bang, quite literally. Seeing Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle heading towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione's compartment on the train ride home, they decided to help the little fourth years out. They shot hexes at the Slytherins at the same time Harry, Ron, and Hermione did. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle all fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," Fred told them matter-of-factly. He stepped onto Goyle as he entered the compartment. George carefully treaded on Malfoy as he followed Fred.
"Interesting effect," George murmured as he examined Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"
"Me," Harry confessed.
"Odd," George answered. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."
Fred, Ron, Harry, and George happily kicked, rolled and pushed the unconscious Slytherins out into the corridor. They returned to the compartment and rolled the door shut.
They played Exploding Snap for a while to pass the time on the train. Fred had the feeling Harry was gearing up to ask them a question. Finally, after their fifth round of Exploding Snap, Harry said, "You going to tell us, then? Who you were blackmailing?"
"Oh, that," George said darkly. This had not ended well for them.
"It doesn't matter," Fred interjected, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."
"We've given up," George finished, shrugging. But that didn't stop the three fourth years from asking over and over again what it had been about.
"All right, all right," Fred said, just to end the constant questions. "If you really want to know...it was Ludo Bagman."
"Bagman?" Harry said sharply. "Are you saying he was involved in-"
"Nah. Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."
"Well, what, then?" said Ron.
Fred hesitated, he really hated admitting that Hermione was right. "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"
"Yeah."
"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."
"So?"
"So," Fred countered impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By the next morning, it had gone!"
"But-it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" Hermione said, hopefully. George laughed bitterly.
"Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough it up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."
"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."
"So, we asked for our money back," George muttered, glowering.
"He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione. She suddenly thought of how Fred and George had constantly refused buying her badges. She had thought they'd won all this money, but in reality, they were completely broke. Her mind played over Fred handing her two Sickles the other night. She would have to return it to him, if she could.
"Right in one," said Fred.
"But that was all your savings!" exclaimed ron.
"Tell me about it," George said. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee's dad had a bit of trouble getting money off of Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off of them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"
"How?"
"He put a bet on you mate," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the Tournament. Bet against the goblins."
"Well, I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"
"Nope," George muttered, shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the Third Task." Fred sighed deeply.
"We should've listened to you, Hermione," Fred said, looking at her directly. "You told us not take that bet, but we did anyway. You were right, as always." Before anything more could be said, George began dealing the cards again.
The rest of the ride to King's Cross was quiet and pleasant enough. Eventually, the Hogwarts Express pulled into platform nine and three quarters. Noise filled the corridors as the students flooded out of the train. Ron and Hermione struggled past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying the trunks.
"Fred, George, wait a moment." The twins turned and looked at him curiously. Harry opened his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.
"Take it," he said. He pushed the sack into George's hands.
"What?" Fred murmured, looking completely flabbergasted.
"Take it. I don't want it."
"You're mental," George said, trying to push it back at Harry.
"No, I'm not," refuted Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."
"He is mental," Fred said, awe creeping into his voice.
"Listen," Harry said firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."
"Harry," George said weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands. "There's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."
"Yeah," Harry said, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is." The twins stared at him. "Just don't tell your mum where you got it...although, she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it..."
"Harry-"
"Look, take it or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you." Fred and George smirked and thanked Harry, both already thinking of what they could do with the thousand Galleons.
Outside the train, Hermione was talking to Ron, her parents standing behind her, waiting patiently. Fred strode over to her. "See you later, Granger," he said. "Have a good summer."
"I think I'll be seeing you sooner than you might think," she explained quietly. "I'm not sure on the details, but it'll be soon." Fred nodded. Without really thinking, Hermione threw her arms around Fred's shoulders and pulled him into a warm hug. "I'll see you later, Fred."
"Goodbye, Granger." As he watched her leave, Fred realized something. He was going to be missing Hermione Granger this summer.
And he didn't mind one bit.