Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(66) First Task

The day of the first task finally came after days and days of school. Florence had not seen Harry around during those days, presuming that he was busy getting ready for the task. She had wanted to ask if Sirius relayed any messages to him or whatsoever.

Banners with the Hufflepuff colors and Gryffindor colors were passed around during breakfast, Lee Jordan and a seventh year Hufflepuff were smearing house colors across people's cheeks. Nicolai decided to get one, bold black and yellow stripes on both of her cheeks. Florence had rosettes stuck to her clothes, and a flag that was half Hufflepuff and half Gryffindor. Alexander, meanwhile, was busy with prefect duties all the while, plucking out suspicious looking drinks that were passed around.

"Firewhiskey!" he exclaimed in disbelief as he sniffed into one Slytherin's cup, "Where in this bloody castle did you ever get firewhiskey from?!"

The Slytherin shrugged, looking like he was in a hurry to get to the stadium, "Look, I don't know, mate. Some Gryffindor was pouring them out for a lot of people."

"Goodness!" Alexander half-yelled, frustrated because he had to be so busy on a seemingly festive occasion. "I need to find McGonagall," he told both Nicolai and Florence, "You two just go on ahead and save me a seat, yeah?"

The people moved in crowds as they trekked towards the stadium, Florence keeping a sharp eye open, in search for both Fred and George. Lee had appeared at her side, suddenly, fixing the face paint that smeared on Nicolai's cheeks.

"Want some paint, Flo?" he offered, Florence declining politely, "I'd like to keep paint off of my face, but thank you for the offer...You know, I was wondering, have you perhaps caught glance of Fred and George at all this morning?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you... Both of them said something about you getting mad if you found out." said Jordan uncertainly.

"What do you mean?" Florence frowned.

"Er...No! They told me not to tell."

She rolled her eyes at this, "Please, you've already hinted it. So might as well just tell me."

". . ."

"Jordan!" she exclaimed, making the boy flinch as Florence started to glare at him.

"Fine, fine. Geez, you're scary as hell. They're—"

That was when the three of them caught the sound of slight yelling from the distance. Nicolai swiveled around, spotting the redhead twins almost instantly.

The two were going against the crowd's current, yelling at the top of their lungs as they carried boxes, strapped to their person. Florence seemed a bit confused at first, but it all made sense once someone had stopped to transact with them.

"For whom will this be for? Harry, Cedric, Miss Delacour or Krum?" George asked, before writing down a name on a piece of paper and receiving a few sickles from the person.

"Merlin's beard..." Florence breathed out, "Are they serious right now?"

"Flo, please don't kill them." Lee pleaded, "They're my best friends."

"Bye Jordan!" she simply said, before marching over to the twins who were being hosts to gambling. There was already a small crowd that formed around them, taking their business to the side so that they wouldn't block the path. Nicolai waited outside the small crowd, not wanting to follow Florence as she squeezed through the people to get to the middle.

"That was for Viktor Krum yeah—oh hi Florence," Fred greeted her, not at all noticing the deep scowl she had on her face. "Did you want to place a bet? It's twelve sickles." George chipped in