Found You (A Fred Weasley Story)

Chapter 88

My heart was beating furiously. If possible it would have leaped out of my chest. My eyes were trained on Harry. He was staring at me, I could tell from his eyes that he was asking me what to do. I sat in my seat, speechless. I was aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him and I could also feel some stares at me. My poor baby brother was stunned and so was I. After initial panic settled, I felt numb. My mind trying to conjure up who in Merlin's beard put his name in! I am going to beat the shit out of that person. I felt Erica's hand on my thigh but I paid her no attention. My only concern right now was Harry.

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat.

I looked towards the teacher's table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't." It was so quiet that everyone heard what he said. Even his own friends Ron and Hermione were staring at him blankly.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione gave Harry a slight push.

Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. I too got up on my feet and made my way towards Harry. Erica tried to stop me but the glare I gave her made her let go of me. The buzzing grew louder and louder.

Harry stood right in front of Dumbledore. "Well...through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore solemnly. Harry moved off along the teachers' table and went through the door. and I too followed him to the room running before any teacher could stop me.

The room was small, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him.

The faces in the portraits turned to look at me as I entered. A wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear. And some other portraits were empty as the witch or wizard were in another one's frame.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour was looking around when she asked Harry as she threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?" She thought he had come to deliver a message. I crept behind Harry and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked at my hand and then at me.

"Grace? What happened?" Cedric asked looking confused. Before I could reply, a sound of scurrying feet interrupted me, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen...lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?"

Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."