Backfire • Cedric Diggory [✓]

• FIVE •

    "Are you sure about this?" Holland asks George, her palms getting sweaty as a result of her nerves getting the best of her. Her heart was racing, and she still couldn't believe the words that had left her best friend's mouth. It was 7 in the evening, and the two were huddled up in the corner of the corridor right next to the giant doors of the Great Hall. George waited for Holland right out side the Slytherin common room in hopes that they could walk to dinner together because he had something he really wanted to tell her. There they were, opposite of each other and both uncomfortably shifting at the tension.

    "Absolutely sure. I can definitely handle it." The side of George's face was illuminated by the side of the window. The corridor was dark despite the abundance of lit torches on the walls every few meters. Holland couldn't help but notice how beautiful the image before her was. The two had been the best of friends for years and have been spending time with each other almost every hour of every day, but Holland never got used to how perfectly crafted this boy was. She could stare at his face for hours, not caring that she's already memorized every crevice of it. She'd always found herself lost in his eyes, his little freckles, and his grown out red hair. These boys really must have enjoyed growing out their hair, Holland thought to herself, realizing majority of her friends never bothered to get a haircut the previous summer.

    "Don't you think I can?" Holland was snapped out of her trance, the boy in front of her looking at her expectantly. What were they talking about again? Oh hell, that's right. How could she forget? George was waiting for her answer, hurt evident in his voice, and his eyes drooped with sadness. His eyes were staring deep into hers, heart beating just as loud and just as hard as hers, the information he shared scaring him just as much. Holland looked down, trying to figure out how she could possibly express how she'd truly felt without hurting his feelings. For sure, the boy wouldn't take it so well. One of George's least favorite things were feeling as if people didn't believe in him, every prank he'd done, always pulled through because Fred and Holland were there to tell him they knew that it was going to be brilliant.

    "No, Georgie. That's not it at all. I don't know if I could handle it." She looks down as she feels panic course through her veins. She began to imagine a series of possible tasks and scenarios this idiot could be in if the plan would even work. Dumbledore said it himself, this was not for the faint of heart. And George may have a heart of a lion, but Holland still couldn't grasp the idea of it. Swimming in an deep, bottomless, lake. With serpents. What if champions were charmed to not be able to swim well? Then what? What if George doesn't make it? The idea of a bloodied, not-breathing George made Holland's chest began to heave in panic. "I thought you two were just kidding, and even then I was in no way okay with it!" Holland says. He was sure the news would excite her somehow. She was always so expressive with how she found the twins so brilliant and courageous, he thought she would think they'd easily win the cup with no hesitation. By the look on Holland's face, he knew she was a second away from crying. It didn't take much for Holland to cry, but George never liked it when she did. "If it does work, I'd be happy and I'd be even prouder if that's possible! But what the hell am I going to do if I lose you?" She asks softly, George began to panic as he began to articulate his next sentence, making sure it would calm her down.

    "But I'm not going to be alone, I'm going out there with Freddie!" He tries to make her feel better, holding her arms. Holland tried to take deep breaths. Was this really happening? Why was this happening? The twins didn't need eternal glory, with the amount of people that loved their little pranks and personalities, people would know better and say they already had it. She thought back to their candy testing days just a few days before the summer holidays this year, they'd been doing so well on their own.

    "Is that supposed to help?" Holland yells in disbelief. She could barely wrap her head around the idea of letting one enter, but both of them? "That's double the loss for me, you git!" Holland shoves his shoulder. Why were her best friends so brilliant, yet so unbelievably daft at the same time? George felt hopeless as he knew nothing he would say could ever make her feel any different about him and his twin's plan. The two had decided to try and join the Triwizard Cup, even though they were underage. Being the fantastically dimwitted twits they were, they knew they could somehow concoct their way into putting their names in the cup. The two could never last a day without mischief, they knew life was all about risk, and what could possibly be riskier than entering an extremely dangerous contest you're not even allowed to enter? What was that? That's right, nothing.