"Has anyone actually seen Harry this morning?"
Fred narrowed his eyes, humming thoughtfully for a moment, "Nope. Last we saw of him was in the library, same as you"
I frowned, looking across the Great Hall once more.
"The three of them aren't here" Lee pointed out, taking another bite of his pancake, "they probably just went over there early"
George sighed, stretching as he surveyed the Gryffindor table, "They'll be fine. What we should really be concerning ourselves with is when to get there ourselves. For taking the bets"
"Not that shit again" I groaned, resting my forehead on the table, "Well I'm definitely not going to help you"
"Fine, then George, Lee and I will be manning the front"
"Count me out too" he said, arms up in surrender, "I'm not dealing with that"
George laughed, reaching across the table to nudge his brother, "Looks like it's just us"
"Lee and I will get the good seats" I huffed, shaking my worry off as I stood up, bending down to press a kiss to Fred's cheek, "Don't wait and miss the start of the task"
"Wouldn't dream of it, love" he grinned.
"They're going to be late" Lee sang, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck.
"Better bloody not be" I frowned, silently charming my mittens to be warmer, the breeze whipping angrily at our faces, "why did they choose the coldest fucking place on castle grounds to do this"
"Because Dumbledore's a sadist" Fred grinned, stepping up so that his front covered by back, instantly warming me up.
"You're just in time" I smiled, looking to my right and spotting George basically hanging off of Lee, "How did collecting bets go?"
"We did pretty well for ourselves" George mumbled, voice muffled from where he had half-buried his face in Lee's shoulder, "A lot of bets on Krum and Harry, so if neither of them win we'll be taking home more for ourselves"
Lee snorted, "as if you ever lose a bet on a match"
I laughed absentmindedly at Lee's comment, squinting at the crowds to try and find the golden trio and swearing quietly when I came up blank.
Fred noticed what I was doing, wrapping his arms around my torso with a laugh, "I'm sure Hermione is fine, Emily. Just relax and we'll find them after the task"
"Just you watch" George said, eyes trained on the tributes as they arrived on the podium, "this'll be over soon enough and we'll all be back in the warm by 3"
"It's fucking freezing" I hissed, turning around and huddling further into Fred's body, "I mean it's not like we can see anything from up here, why have us stand out in the cold like this?"
Chuckling, he pressed a kiss on the top of my head, "Merlin knows, maybe punishment for all of our pranks over the years"
Teeth chattering, George huffed angrily from where he was now stood by the railings, "Well if that's the case I'm just going to want to hit back harder. Bloody glacial out here"
Lee cleared his throat from his seat, patting the spot next to him, "get here you idiot"
Almost launching himself forwards, George hurried to sit next to Lee, the two sitting close to share their body heat.
"They have an hour right?" Lee asked eventually, glaring at the water as if it was responsible, "That gives them, what? Half an hour left?"
"Well I'd very much appreciate it if they could hurry up" George grumped, slouching further against Lee's side.
Fred just laughed again, hand rubbing up and down my back to try and generate a little more warmth, "Not too soon though, we want those bets to fall through"
"Greedy git"
"You love me"
I huffed, burying my head into Fred's chest, arms wrapping around his waist, "shut up"
"That wasn't a no" he sang, dipping his head so that his lips brushed against my ear, "just admit it darling, you love me"
"Fuck off Fred" I grinned, shoving him away lightly.
He raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay! I concede"
A loud splash caught our attention, distracting the four of us from our incredibly boring game of I Spy.
"Who is it? Who is it?" George asked, leaping out of our huddle and to his feet.
"Cedric Diggory returns first with Cho Chang" the announcer called, Hogwarts students drowning them out with applause.
"Bloody golden boy" Fred muttered, flashing me a small smile when I elbowed him in the side.
"Be nice"
"Yes ma'am"
"I mean it"
Lee snorted at the exchange, rolling his eyes at George's excitement, the mentioned Weasley basically hanging over the edge of the platform to catch a glimpse of Cedric and Cho.
Fred smirked, flipping the notebook containing the betting slips in, "He just won us a lot of money, so of course I'll be polite"
"Only fair" George called back absentmindedly, eyes fixed on another point of the lake, "I think somethings moving under there!"
Finally curious, the three of us joined George at the railings, peering over into the dark water of the lake.
"I can't see any-"
I was cut off by Fred silently squatting down, silently offering himself up for a piggyback. I climbed on with a smile, pressing a kiss behind his ear before adverting my attention back to the water.
"Oh yes! Top left?"
"Yup"
Another large splash signalled that two more people had resurfaced.
"That's Krum and... Hermione?" Lee said, sounding shocked.
"That's where she's been! Wait... but then that means-"
"Ron's down there?!" The twins shouted in unison, grips tightening.
"Harry will get him"
"That means they were taken last night" I wondered aloud, "Harry must've been searching for them all morning!"
"That's not cool"
"Not at all"
Wiggling out of Fred's grip, I made my way over to where the champions were being helped on to the platform, picking up a few of the blankets on the side and rushing towards Hermione.
"You look half frozen to death" I complained, absently registering Madam Pomfrey fluttering around Krum next to me, "How long have they had you down there?"
She shivered, clutching to the blankets that I wrapped around her shoulders, "Ever since you dropped us off at McGonagall's office. We were there with Cho and Fleur's sister"
I bit back a slew of curses, rubbing Hermione's arms over the blanket to try and warm her up faster, "That's ridiculous - utterly ridiculous"
A bell rang, signalling the end of the hour, my sister stared at the lake with concern.
"Where are they?"
I followed her gaze with a frown, "They can't keep them going for too long, surely. Harry's charm will have to wear off at some point"
"Uh- he didn't use a charm" Neville stammered, stepping forwards slightly, "I saw Dobby give him some gillyweed"
"Gilly-? but that only lasts an hour..." I trailed off, turning back to look at the water in horror, "he's going to drown down there"