Ch. 33: Cold Waters

Fred's PoV:

        I watched as Elle and Diggory strolled past the Quidditch Pitch fields, chatting animatedly to each other.

The wind kicked up a flurry of frosted hair and blew Elle's dark brown waves around her like ribbons in the breeze. She shivered and ducked deeper into her Gryffindor cloak with a smile. My stomach clenched, watching Diggory laugh and reciprocate the grin with his cavalier smirk.

     I rolled my eyes and turned away.

I didn't like to admit it, but the fact that L had been hanging 'round Diggory for the past week was really starting to get to me. She'd told me that nothing was up, but come on — who clings together that much and not have feelings?

Shoving those thoughts aside, I grabbed the small parcel I'd bought for her off the wooden bench beside me and shoved it into my pocket. Hermione'd let it slip that their birthday was tomorrow. I wanted to be the first to give Elizabeth her present.

A few hours passed, and I decided the best time to give L her gift would be tonight. Hour after hour passed, but she never returned. Finally, George had become bored of our repeated rounds of Gobstones, and decided that he would be better off spending the rest of the night studying. It was getting close to curfew, but L never came back.

Frowning, I checked the clock on the mantle of the Common Room fireplace once more, furrowing my brow as the warm fire crackled and sparked. She hadn't come back.

I didn't find it too strange, after all, Elle was like George and me. She wandered too, but my legs were sore from waiting. So, I decided to go looking for her — ignoring the Fat Lady as she threatened to warn Professor McGonagall that I was out of the tower after curfew.

The portraits were awake, chattering quietly amongst each other about the Triwizard Tournament. I imagined that the life of a portrait would be rather dull, so gossip was all they really had.

Unsure of where I really was headed, though recognizing the path, I stalked through the stone halls. Rounding a few tight corridors, I found myself headed towards the Hogwarts Kitchens, coincidentally... it was also the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff Dormitory.

I shook my head, sure that Elle wasn't there. 'Besides, Diggory was dating that Ravenclaw girl...' I assured myself.

There was a malicious cackle that rung through the hallways. Then, a banging of pots and pans following by loud crashing. I stopped dead in my tracks and decided to double back to the Gryffindor Tower, knowing that evil laugh anywhere.

Peeves.

I didn't want to face him without at least Lee to back me up. The poltergeist would rat me out as soon as the drop of his top hat. I already owed McGonagall one roll of parchment, I'd rather not make it five.

L would have to wait until morning to get her present.

        Upon my return to the Tower, I met with a disgruntled looking Harry walking with a paling Longbottom as they too returned before the Head Boys and Girls were prowling the Castle.

"What's the matter Harry?" I joked, stopping them in their tracks. "My brother got yer goat?"

"Huh?" Harry rose a brow, confused, but shook it off. "Sorry, Fred — I've got to do more research. Do you mind?"

      "Not at all, not at all." I shrugged them off as they started to walk past me. "Oh, uh — Harry?" He turned back to me and rose a brow over his circle spectacles. "You seen L anywhere around? I've been meaning to give her something."

Harry frowned and cocked his head to the side. "She didn't go back to the Common Room yet? McGonagall requested to talk with her, Ron, and Hermione.... Haven't seen any of them since."

EARLIER THAT EVENING

Elle's PoV:

Oh. My. God. This suuucks.

I banged my head against an extremely dusty book and let out a tiny sneeze. That earned a couple withering glances from the trio across from me as I groaned for the third time and stretched my arms over my head in defeat.

     "Screw this, Harry," I said. "There's no possible way you are going to—" Hermione smacked the back of my head with an angered growl. She pointed a deft hand at me, standing firm and stoic.

"Stop being so pessimistic, Elizabeth." She turned to Harry who was holding his head in his hands. I was unsure if it was a look of defeat or pure frustration, but he looked just about as good as I felt.

      "Don't worry, Harry," Hermione soothed him with her soft sigh. "We'll figure something out. There has to be something."

My sister caught Ron's eye as he took a bite of his chocolate bar. "If Ronald would stop eating and help."

"Wah — " He swallowed mid-chew and flung a hand in the air. "It's not like you're finding anything."

I just rolled my eyes and balanced my head on my palms, thinking about Fred. I'd been blowing him off lately and it made me feel really bad.

I mean, it wasn't like we were a thing or anything, but he makes the effort to try and hang with me and I would tell him that I'd made plans with Cedric or Jenna and Lana.

I'd made unofficial plans to be with him after this brainstorm with Harry and the others, but by the look on McGonagall's face as she stalked up to us in the library, that wasn't going to happen.

"Excuse me," Professor McGonagall interrupted our study session, "but I must borrow the three of you for a moment or two..." She cleared her throat and I offered her a confused look, then glanced towards the trio. What had they done to get on McGonagall's bad side?

Harry stood up, but she waved him down. "No, not you, Mr Potter. I'm requesting Misses Granger and Mr Weasley. Please, follow me."

I balked and sputtered out a melodramatic cough of surprise. I glanced from Ron to Hermione, before determining that there really wasn't any way out of this.

     Brushing myself off lightly, I gave into her demands with a steady stand from my seat.

      Hermione immediately protested, pink mouth forming an 'O' as she floundered for the right, respectful words. "B-But, Professor," she stressed, "the next tournament is in a matter of hours we can't j—" Hermione frowned, almost appalled by the idea of McGonagall taking us away from Harry at this very crucial time.

      "Precisely," Professor McGonagall scoffed smartly, and puckered her lips with her authoritarian air. "I am sure that Mr. Potter has had well enough time to have prepared!"

   "Now, please — follow me." Without waiting for a reply, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the library, ivy green field cloak billowing starchily behind her brown trekking boots.

      Grumbling under my breath, I threw the book (that I'd been haphazardly flipping through) into the air and let it put itself away.

      'This had better be important.' Hermione, Ron, and I all exchanged looks of confusion as McGonagall led us further and further away from the library and into an abandoned classroom. I had half the mind to turn around and walk away from the mysterious scene, but curiosity was getting the better of me.

I was too busy glancing around the strange room to really pay attention to rugby was right in front me.

"Now," McGonagall turned to us, wand drawn. "I would like the three of you to sleep," she whispered.

A mist of grey smoke seeped from the tip of her wand, having said a charm I didn't know. My body seized up on itself and I felt as if I couldn't really think straight or even think at all. A deep sleep was taking over my brain, and as defenseless as I was, I just let it happen.

Fred's Pov:

Monday morning rolled around and there was still no sign of Elle, Hermione, or even my idiot brother, Ron. It was actually starting to make me nervous.

Throwing on a knit sweater, I frowned and turned to George as he tied the leather laces on his hiking boots. They were worn, having been handed down from Charlie. I myself had boots from Percy, which were a little too tight on the top, and had a total toss-pot design.

"Have you seen them anywhere?" I asked George as we headed down to the docks. Blake met us there, clad in Slytherin-pride robes and her tight curls pulled back into two French braids.

George shook his head no and parroted the question to Blake. She tapped a finger to her chin, eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Honestly... No. Maybe McGonagall is a serial killer or something and they were her latest prey!" She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth sarcastically, but then laughed it off. "Or, maybe she forced the three of them to help set up the next tournament."

I hopped into one of the boats off the dock, readying myself for it to take us to the Second Tournament.

George hmmed and agreed. "She may be right, after all, weren't you two being punished?" Blake chuckled and George nodded along. "Lot better than being sent into the Forbidden Forest at midnight, I'll say."

Blake smiled and rolled her eyes, letting her fingers skim the top of the Black Lake as we rowed on top of it. "I'm sure you'll run into you lover when we reach the dock."

     The early morning air was sharp and chilled us all to the bone. As I looked at all the champions preparing themselves for a plunge into the Black Lake, I couldn't help but feel lucky I hadn't been picked.

      "OI, Potter!" I called to the messy haired boy freezing his arse off by the water. "Try not to die, yah? I've got twenty Sickles on you!"

       Harry flashed a nervous smile and just nodded, pressing his glasses against the bridge of his nose. He didn't really confirm or deny whether he even knew what he was about to do.

       I peered over the heads of the crowd, but still didn't catch sight of Elle, not even her fabulous twin. As I looked around, I did notice two misfits making their way over to me with worried expressions plastered on their faces as they shivered against the cold breeze.

     "Hey! Miscreant!" Lana yelled at me, her bright red hair tucked away under a woolen hat that covered her ears. The top of her nose was bright pink from the weather. "Please tell me you have seen Elle?"

     "You haven't seen her either?" I frowned and the two of them just shook their heads. "Wonder where she wandered off to..."

     "I'm kind of worried, you know? This place is so big — she could have gotten lost or hurt..." Jenna sighed, running a hand through her blond locks with a frown. "I mean, I know it's Elle and she isn't stupid, but —"

      Her words were lost under the roar of Dumbledore announcing the second task of the tournament. "Attention!"

     The Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbâtons students fell silent, a charged electricity zipping through the winter air.

      "At the sound of the canon, the champions will have one hour to swim to the bottom of the lake and retrieve something that they lost, something that is very important to them. Now, if they resurface without their treasure, or are forced to withdraw, they lose."

      Dumbledore solemnly watched the Champions, allowing a dramatic pause to echo off the wooden docks. "First to resurface with their treasure wins. And at the sound of the canon —" a roar of the canon ripped through the dramatic speech.

     With the loud blast, the Champions dove into the water and were not to resurface for around an hour.

"Now that the champions have begun," Dumbledore continued, waiting until after all four competitors were under the Black Lake, "Professor McGonagall has urged me to inform you all that the people chosen as the treasures are in no danger. They will wake up perfectly normal, as they hit the surface of the Lake."

"People?!" Lana blurted, eyebrow raised in unarguable disdain. "They're using people — tied to the bottom of the Black Lake?" Lana rolled her eyes. "That's completely mental."

Jenna nodded in agreement, then, horror flashed across her face. With a fuzzy blue glove, the blonde latched on to Lana's arm. "Y-You don't think Elle... is a, a treasure... do you?"

Frowning harshly, Lana weighed the idea in her head and smirked a little. "Oh, of course she is." Lana shook her head with a sarcastic laugh. "She's gonna love that. But, at least we know where she is... now, let's hope that her savior actually does just that — saves her."

I crossed my arms over my chest and peered down at the dark, turbulent waters of the lake. My stomach churned once more. Letter was down there.

And now, all we could do was wait.

Elle's PoV:

       'I'm freezing my ass off.'

      Darkness. Void of all noise. Was I asleep? Was I awake? Probably neither, or some weird thing in between.

      All I could remember was McGonagall attacking Hermione, Ron, and I with her wand and then this. It was really annoying to say the least. A paralyzed sleeping form.

      My whole body was asleep, but my mind was aware. It was like being trapped inside yourself and I didn't know how I was going to get out of it.

      Was McGonagall up to some dark, twisted malice? Was she secretly a Dark Wizard this entire time? It all sounded ridiculous, but the longer I waited in this silence, the longer I was having panic attacks.

      I felt as if I was floating; that was the one thing I knew for a fact. Was I in water? Melted ice? Must be, based on how cold it was.

      A flash of light blinded me behind my eyelids. If I could flinch, I would have. My stomach flipped and twisted in the pit of my belly. I felt my body rising in the air, everything lifting around me like a reverse falling. Putting true meaning to floating on air.

       Arms, the study kind, wrapped around my torso and I was being dragged through water, making me a thousand times colder as the icy tides rushed over me.

      It felt like hours before I'd finally broke the surface, and when I did, I suddenly had complete use of my body once more.

      Sputtering and shivering, I wiped the gushing water off my face. It's an unsettling feeling, the exposure of being in a library one minute and then popping out of the Black Lake the next.

      I gasped for air, as if I hadn't had any in a long while. My vision cleared as the lake water drained from my eyes, and I could suddenly hear — hear everything. The whole school was on the docks facing the Black Lake, decked in every house color. Brass instruments blared through the icy air, carrying on the wind and rippling off the waves and I frantically paddled around aimlessly.

      Cheers erupted at the sight of me.
"DIG-GOR-Y! DIG-GOR-Y! DIG-GOR-Y!"

      An arm wrapped around my freezing torso and I stopped my frantic paddling, looking towards my 'savior'. Cedric, my savior.

    "T-Thanks," I breathed out, knowing it was the first time I'd spoken in a while. I spat out Black Lake water, knowing it wasn't the sexiest look.

      He just chuckled and helped bring me to the docks, the icy water freezer burning my skin. 'It was too damned cold for this!'

"Elle!" "L!" and "LIZA!" Were all screamed at once while I threw myself onto the wooden docks with shame and blatant numbness. I couldn't feel my toes, or my fingers, or my face. Jenna, Lana, and Blake huddled around me with looks of shock and relief. "Oh thank god, Elle - we thought McGonagall has kidnapped you and cut you into a million little pieces, then served you to the school for dinner!!" Blake blurted out with grin, causing the others -including myself- to give her weird looks. "What? I watch a lot of Criminal Minds..."

        "Uh..huh.." Lana rose a brow and gave her a quick look over, then took a step away from her jokingly in caution.

Jenna rolled her eyes at the antics and turned to me. Water pooled from my robes, drip drip dripping through my shoes and puddling at my feet on the docks. "Are you okay? Did you see the bottom of the lake? Were there mermaids?!"

I opened my frozen lips to respond, but was cut off by a harsh sneeze and violent shivers. I curled into a sopping wet ball and wrapped my arms around my legs. This was torture.

"Towels, sexy?" A deep voice joked at me and I looked up at Fred with a frozen smirk as he filled his arms with a mountain of towels. I just nodded, shaking wet droplets everywhere. Jenna, Lana, and Blake waved me off, saying that they'd catch up with the two of us later.

Fred grinned and sat down next to me, taking each towel and blanket with care, wrapping them around my shoulders until someone would be able to confuse me with a fat troll. "How are you feeling, L?"

"I'm f-f-fucking f-f-freazing! H-How do y-y-you—" I stuttered out but he interrupted me with a mocking stutter.

"D-d-d-d-f-f-f-g-g— Come on Letter, use your big girl words now! I know I'm mind blowing-ly gorgeous, but come on."

With a huff, I smacked his arm and rolled my eyes. "S-Sh-ut u-up, F-f-f-red." I shivered once more, but felt a lot warmer. "I-m still c-cold... H-heat me u-p." I teased quickly capturing him under the blankets with me, huddling him close to my side.

Fred squealed and tried to yank away from my dripping body, but I clung tight. If he'd really wanted, he could have been out of the blankets within moments. But, he decided to give in.

Fighting a laugh, Fred wrapped his arm around my damp torso and pulled me close. It actually felt nice for a moment. Fred placed his head on top of mine and we sat there quietly for a while, not saying anything and not needing to.

The sound of gasping filled my ears after a minute or two and I saw 'Mione emerge from the water with Krum in tow. I inched toward the end he of the dock and reached out towards my sister.

"Hermione! Over here," I yelled and waved her over, already feeling a bit warmer. "Take a few of these." I grabbed from the top of the mountain of blankets Fred had brought me and tossed them at her which she thanked me for, fumbling over her words.

"Mi-oh-ninny," Krum coughed and frowned at her hair. "You hav' a bug in your hair." He reached down and plucked it off, tossing the beetle back into the lake.

Hermione blushed and pulled her sopping wet hair to the side. "Oh, well, thank you, Viktor."

"Aweee..." I cooed and Fred shook his head.

"Come on L, it's not cute — it's weird.... they are probably the weirdest couple I have ever seen."

"We're the weirdest couple I've ever seen." I scoffed then clamped my mouth shut in shock, I didn't mean for that to come out. Fred didn't reply for a second, so I snuck a glance in his direction - coming eye to eye with his beaming face.

"Oh, so we're a couple?"

I blushed and folded my hands together, playing with my fingers. "Well... I mean... No... Well..."

Fred chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Jez, don't get your knickers in a twist — I was only joking."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, laughing it off, but feeling a little put out. "Eh, yeah. Okay." It was way too soon any way for it to be 'official'.

In the corner of my eye, I could see a nervously pacing Fleur beside Cedric, chewing her perfect nails in horror. Feeling a little worried I called out to her. "Êtes-vous bon?"

She stopped biting her nails and turned to look at me with a frown and worry plastered all over her face. "No, Gabrielle — she's still down there!" She stalked over to Fred and I with tears in her eyes and threw herself down next to me. "She's my petite soeur. I 'ave to watch out for 'er. And I dropped out."

"Don't worry Fleur, the task is safe for them, she will get out - I trust Dumbledore completely." I nodded and she looked deep into my eyes with a sigh.

"You were zere, oui? You saw 'er?" Fleur bit her lip, but I shook my head; I couldn't lie to her.

"Honestly, my eyes were closed the whole time. It's like a sleep when we're down there. Trust me, your sister will be fine." I attempted to reassure her and she nodded, not entirely convinced.

Though, if I were in her shoes, I would be reacting the same way. Family is family.

The anxiety increased more and more as the minutes ticked on and there was no sign of Harry, Ron, or Gabrielle. Fred threw a comforting arm over my shoulder as I chewed my bottom lip out of worry for the trio. Fleur had made me anxious.

The hour was over and the Professors were frowning at the water, hoping Potter had not drowned. Three minutes past the hour mark, two heads finally broke surface and I breathed out a sigh of relief — realizing they were Ronald and Gabrielle, but still no Harry.

Ron paddled the poor, drenched girl to shore and helped her up onto the dock with an almost fatherly attention. The detail almost made me chuckle and caught Hermione's attention, causing her to smile softly beside Krum. It was a pleasant smirk that was immediately wiped away when Fleur laid two kisses on Ron's cheeks for 'saving' her sister.

There was a loud (almost explosion) sound and a flying Harry catapulted out of the water, landing on the dock with an uncomforting crack.

" 'Arry!" Fleur cried and grabbed a towel, throwing it over him. "You saved my Gabrielle even though she wasn't yours to save, thank you." She smiled and kissed both of his cheeks as well, then ushered her sister out of the arena.

"Harry!" Hermione cried, shuffling over once Fleur had left. "Gez, you must be freezing, here — take this." She handed him a mug of hot chocolate and I frowned with a pout.

"Hey, where's mine?" I asked around to Fred, immediately seeing that he was also holding one as well, a chocolate mustache on his upper lip.

  "That's mineee — you weren't even in the Lake!" I reached for it, but he held it over my head, and I was too short to reach it. "Fine," I snapped, resolving to different tactics as I yanked my blanket from his shoulders, showering him with a cold gust of air. "Then you aren't allowed under my blankets any more, get out." I wrapped myself in the blankets tightly.

"Never allowed in Elle's blankets again," Fred weighed the two objects with his hands like a scale. "Or my hot chocolate — that I got for myself." He chuckled and handed me the half-way gone mug and winked at me. "I do love being under your blankets."

I growled and glared at him, but broke down with a small chuckle at his sexual innuendo. "Hell yeah you do."

      Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Harry while I took a sip with a blissful smirk and kissed Fred on the cheek — leaving a chocolate imprint of my lips on his cheek unbeknownst to him, thanking him for handing over the drink.

     "You did great, Harry!"

       Harry shivered and shook his head. "No, I didn't, I lost."

     Hermione chuckled and shook her head, holding her own mug of the chocolate deliciousness. "No! Fleur Delacour lost. You placed third!"

"Attention!" Dumbledore's voice boomed through out the arena with authority and slight amusement. "The winner of this task is - Cedric Diggory for rescuing Miss Granger in no less than thirty minutes! Congratulations. Now, it has come to our attention that Mr. Potter would have won - however, his concern for the other treasures kept him at the bottom, waiting for them to get collected. For this chivalry - we have awarded second place to - Harry Potter! Viktor Krum placed third, and Fleur Delacour, fourth! Congratulations champions."

       Cheers erupted throughout the stadium and everyone flocked back to Hogwarts for tea and coffee.

     Still slightly shivering, Fred helped me up and walked with me back to the Common Room. Once I changed into my fuzzy slippers, sweats and my hoodie, I felt insanely warm.

     "Hey, L — join me for a sec." Fred waved me over to the plush couch and I threw myself down, leaning on him with a goofy smile on my lips. "Here, I want to give this to you." He pulled something out of his pocket and slipped it into my hands, a brown parcel. "Happy Birthday."

     I chuckled and shook my head with a smirk. "How did you know?"

      "I've got my connections," he merely replied. The parcel was oddly shaped and lumpy.

     Giddy, I ripped it open and was met with a loud *BANG*. I watched as thousands of little streams of light shot out of the parcel and into the air, morphing into neon blue butterflies. The sparkling bugs flapped around for a few minutes before each exploding in a tiny form of firework, creating a small light show. The sparks streamed down towards us and dispersed.

      I watched it all fade for a moment, feeling my chest swell with joy. Wrapping my arms around his torso in a hug, I couldn't help but smile. "That was amazing! Thank you — how did you do it?!"

      Fred shrugged pridefully and grinned. "I had George's help."

We joked back and forth for a long time until I finally passed out, snuggling close to Fred, the last thing I remembered before I did - was the chocolate lip stain still on Fred's cheek, making me laugh uncontrollably before finally passing out next to Frederick Weasley.

[ original chapter was 2,990 words... this doubled in size after I got to it! ]

Enjoying the series? Think it's funny, or stupid, or think you could do better? Tell me!

Comment and Vote and I'll see you in the next one — cheers
xx Jess