**Alex’s POV**
It seems like forever between the second and third tasks. There’s been nothing exciting happening in the castle, unless you include the end of year exams. The third task is on the evening of our last exam and we all walk out of the classroom feeling very relieved.
“How do you think you went?” I ask Fred, linking hands with him as we head down to lunch.
“I think I did just fine,” he says, “oh.”
“What?” I ask, looking around.
“Mrs Weasley!” Scarlett exclaims from behind me. She runs forward into the arms of a short woman.
“Is that…”
“Yeah,” Fred says. I feel my heart claw its way into my throat as we walk over. Scarlett is talking to a tall boy with a long, red pony tail in ecstatic tones.
“Mum,” Fred says, “this is my girlfriend, Alex. Alex, this is my mum.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say politely. Mrs Weasley smiles and pulls me into a hug.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” she says earnestly, “I suppose you’re friends with Scarlett, too?”
I nod and Mrs Weasley shakes her head.
“She’s as bad as these boys,” she says fondly, “how were your exams?”
“I think they were okay,” Fred says.
We walk into the Great Hall and sit with the Weasleys.
“Oh, Bill,” Scarlett says, “this is Alex. She’s Fred’s girlfriend.”
The boy leans across the table to shake my hand.
“Keeping him in line, eh?” he asks with a smile.
“As if I could,” I laugh. He grins and sits back. Scarlett engages him in conversation again, talking about Egypt.
“I can’t wait for this evening,” Angelina says, sitting down beside me, “I hope Harry wins.”
“I just hope either he or Cedric does,” Alicia says, “I think we should have Hogwarts face paint! And costumes!”
“You mean our uniforms?” I laugh.
“Let’s do red and gold,” Carma says, “we can have ribbons in our hair and streamers on our wrists…”
“We can paint one half of our face gold and the other red,” Alicia says enthusiastically, “it’ll be so much fun!”
“Felicity says she has a surprise for us,” Lauretta says, “she said she’s just finishing it off, then we’re to meet her in the dormitory after lunch.”
I exchange a glance with the other girls and we all leap up and bolt out the door. We run all the way to the portrait hole where we have to stop to catch our breath before we can give the password.
We burst into the dormitory, making Felicity jump.
“Oh my gosh!” I exclaim. There are eight dresses, red with a golden lion on the front and gold around the skirt.
“There’re amazing,” Scarlett says.
“They’re cheerleading outfits,” Felicity says, “I’ve just finished.
“Cheer leading?” I ask. Felicity grins at Scarlett who rolls her eyes.
“I wanted to do something special for Harry,” Felicity says, “I’ve made shirts and pants for the boys too.”
Alicia squeals in excitement and starts jumping up and down.
“CAN I TRY IT ON?!” she screams.
“Calm down!” Felicity laughs, “yes, this one’s yours.”
Alicia pulls the dress on and Felicity laces it up with a golden ribbon.
“I’ve got red and gold ribbons and face paint for the rest of the house,” Felicity says, helping Angelina into her dress. Scarlett helps me into mine and I can barely contain my excitement. We all put our hair into high ponytails and pick up the outfits to take to the boys.
As soon as we burst into the Great Hall the Gryffindor tables cheers. Felicity turns a cartwheel, laughing. We give the outfits to the boys and, after a bit of grumbling, they leave to change. Mrs Weasley and Bill can’t stop smiling and Harry looks a bit overwhelmed.
“We’re cheering for Cedric,” I tell him seriously and he cracks a grin. When the boys come back in we all cheer again. Fred and George try to copy Felicity’s cartwheel, but they just sort of flop on the ground. Felicity jumps up on a seat.
“Gryffindors! We have ribbons and face paint for everyone!” she announces, “we expect all of you to be behind Harry one-hundred per cent!”
In the grandstand it feels as though Gryffindor takes up more than half, but maybe it’s because we stand out so much.
“GO HARRY!”
Harry gives us a small wave as he prepares to enter the maze.
“We’re not going to be able to see much again,” Fred says, “it’s getting too dark.”
“I brought parchment and quills,” I tell him, “we can work on your naughts and crosses skills.”
Fred groans, but Jace climbs down into our row.
“Did I hear naughts and crosses?” he asks with a grin.
Once all the champions are in the maze Jace and I start playing naughts and crosses. It’s much more challenging playing against Jace and most of our matches end in a tie. The others are keen to have a go, so we take turns versing each other. Even Bill and Mrs Weasley join in. After about an hour of this, we start to get bored.
“Wish we could duck off for a while,” Fred breathes in my ear. I feel my cheeks heat up.
“Shh,” I tell him, glancing at his mother. He laughs and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, what’s going on with Scarlett and George?” I ask him quietly, looking over at them. They’re sitting a little apart, talking with Carma, Henry, Felicity and Tommy, but there’s something different between them. They used to seem so easy around each other, but now they’re sitting a set distance apart and are being carefully polite.
“I don’t know,” Fred shrugs, “George hasn’t wanted to talk about it.”
I watch them for a moment, waiting for Scarlett to lean against George or for him to reach out and take her hand.
“Is it because your mum is here?” I ask. Fred laughs.
“No, they’re comfortable being all over each other in front of the family,” Fred answers, “I think something happened with Scarlett’s family.”
“But Carma is fine,” I say, nodding to where she’s leaning against Henry.
“Of course she is, Scarlett doesn’t let her anywhere near the family,” Fred says.
“Why not?”
“She’s too protective,” Fred says, “I don’t like to ask her too many questions. I hate seeing her upset.”
I ponder this for a moment, wondering what exactly goes on with Scarlett’s family. It’s always been a bit of a mystery, her family. I want to ask, but I know it isn’t my place. I’m just about to ask Fred what he thinks when there’s a flash of blue light and Harry and Cedric appear on the grass in front of us. Everyone leaps to their feet, cheering.
“He won! HE WON!” I cry, jumping up and down.
“He’s dead,” Jace says in my ear. I freeze, my blood turning to ice.
“Harry?” I squeak.
“Cedric,” Jace replies, “Cedric’s dead.”
The crowd has fallen silent and I can hear the cries of the Diggorys.
“I have to get to Harry!” Mrs Weasley cries, pushing past. I feel Fred take my hand and see him catch Ginny’s.
“Common room,” he says vaguely, “come on… Common room…”
I grab Jace’s hand as we begin to move through the crowd. I can hear more people crying now. I follow Fred blindly, aware of people pushing in around me.
“Alex… Alex…”
I turn to see Jace. He’s saying something, but I can’t hear what. U feel Fred’s hand pulled from mine and cling to Jace. Somehow we manage to break through the crowd.
“What’s going on?” I ask Jace urgently.
“Someone said something about You-Know-Who,” he says, “come on, let’s get to the common room.”
“Where’s everyone else?” I ask, looking back into the crowd, “where’re Fred and George?”
“Fred was ahead of us,” Jace says, “and Scarlett and George were right behind me.”
“What did they say about You-Know-Who?”
“Alex, I don’t know… Let’s just go…”
“Jace, what did they say?”
He looks down at me, looking pale.
“That he’s back,” he says.
I feel my knees go weak and grab his arm.
“We have to find the others,” I say.
“They’ll be heading to the tower,” he says, “we’ll meet them there.”
I stumble along behind him, feeling over whelmed. The crowd has caught up with us again and Jace’s grip on my hand tightens. I keep thinking of all I’ve been told about You-Know-Who and what he did to muggle-borns.
I’m barely aware of climbing through the portrait hole until I hear Fred’s voice.
“Jace! Where’s Alex? Is she-”
“I’m here,” I say, stepping around Jace and into Fred’s arms. He holds me tightly.
“I lost George,” Jace says.
“He’s in the hospital wing, waiting for Harry,” Fred says, “I want to get up there. Alex, will you be-”
“I’ll be fine,” I say, stepping back, “I’m sure someone will tell us what’s going on soon enough.”
Fred kisses me hard for a moment, then takes Ginny’s hand and leaves. I sink onto a seat in front of the fire.
“He can’t be back,” I say, “he can’t be.”
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So, my finals start on Monday, so if I upload the chapters might be a bit hysterical lol Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave comments as well as voting because it makes me feel loved lol Also, check out this story: http://www.wattpad.com/2125701-grey-the-colour-of-love
It's really good, but the author hasn't gotten much feedback, so please vote and comment and what-not! Much love xxo