The Chaser : A Fred Weasley Fan Fic

Thirty Two: Possibilities

"Where's Fred?" Katie asked, as we clambered into the stands that stood high over the Black Lake.

"I'm not sure" I replied, scanning the area for any sign of his red hair or his woollen hat.

"Taking bets, again" Ginny sighed, making people move along the row so she could join us.

It was the morning of the second challenge and the viewing platforms were heaving. Since the Yule Ball, we'd almost forgotten the tournament was happening at all. It was only when a girl in a light blue uniform flitted past or a rough looking boy in thick furs trudged by that I remembered. But I'm sure this wasn't the case for the champions.

"Have you seen Hermione this morning too? Or Ron?" Ginny asked, peering across to the platform where the champions were getting ready to take their dive.

"They might be over there, giving Harry a pep talk" I replied reassuringly. Ginny pulled out the binoculars she'd bought at the Quidditch World Cup and focused on the place where the champions were huddled together.

"They're not there" she said, shaking her head.

"They'll turn up" Katie shrugged.

We watched as Krum, Cedric, Fleur and Harry lined up at the platform's edge and everyone fell silent. Even from the great distance you could see the champions were all shivering violently. A sound like a gunshot cracked over, breaking the hushed atmosphere and the contestants dived in, all but Harry who seemed to writhe in pain before falling in.

"Do you think he's alright?" Ginny gasped, peering through the binoculars as if they could see through water.

"I think he took Gillyweed"

"What's that?"

"It's a plant. You take it and you're able to breathe underwater" I replied.

"We've never learnt about it in Herbology, how do you know all of that?" Katie laughed nervously.

"Oh um- read about it somewhere" I lied, brushing her off.

The water has been still for a few minutes and I realised how remarkably boring this was going to be when we were unable to see anything above the surface. As if he read my mind there was a tap at my shoulder.

"This is boring" Fred whispered close to my ear. I giggled quietly, keeping my eyes fixed on the water.

Him and George had wrestled their way through watchers to join us at the front. From behind, Fred looped his arm around my front, subtle enough in the crowd that nobody would have noticed but the pressure made me feel suddenly hot.

"Shall we go?" I whispered, leaning back against his chest to look up in his eyes.

His gaze flicked to the unchanging water and he shrugged and made a face that resembled something along the lines of 'why not'. We shifted away from the crowd, Fred pushing backwards to make a path that lead out of the stands but Ginny snatched my hand.

"You're leaving? Don't you want to know how Harry does?" she snapped.

"Not everyone fancies Harry like you, Gin" Fred retorted, pulling me backwards again so Ginny's hand slipped from mine. She huffed quietly and whirled back around to the face front as we quietly slipped out of the spectators and on to the rickety staircase that led to the ground below.

The school was empty as we strode through, with everybody down by the lake it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. A world of possibilities.

"We could go anywhere" I grinned, nudging Fred playfully in his side.

"What about Snape's office?" Fred's face lit up, "That'd teach him"