After an hour, one by one, the champions started to resurface. First to show up, was Cedric and Cho.

     "Stupid git," I heard Fred mutter grimly.

     Then it was krum and Hermione, and at last Harry resurfaced with Ron and Fleur's little sister.

     After Madam Pomfrey had attended to the champions and the judges had reached a decision, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making us all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

     "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchief- tainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows..."

     And so, they gave Cedric first place, Harry second, Krum third, and Fleur came last.

     When we were returning back to the shore, I spotted Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the boat next to ours.

I looked at Draco and shook my head with a smirk, remembering how silly I was to have a crush on his character when I used to read the books.

But now all I really wanted to do was to beat him up with my heavy copy of A History Of Magic whenever he made fun of the Weasleys.

"What are you grinning at Malfoy for?" Fred said, having followed my gaze which was fixed on Draco.

"Nothing," I shook my head, snapping back to reality.

***

That night I was laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I was feeling homesick. I missed my parents, my friends, and even my stupid excuse for the school.

I didn't want to return there, of course. But the thought that I was in a complete different timeline, cut off completely from my old life, made me shudder.

How long was I supposed to stay here? And worst of all, whenever the time came for my return, could I really leave all this behind?

I couldn't stay here forever, because God knew what my parents were going through just right then, as I laid down on bed. Had they called the police? Were there missing posters of me hanging on my school walls?

I was drown in my messed up thoughts, but I was drawn back from my daze as I heard a noise from behind our dorm's window.

Standing up, I saw an owl behind it, hooting with a note tied to its leg.

It must be from Dumbledore, I thought to myself, opening the window and letting the owl inside.

When I freed him of the note, the owl hooted and flew away. I opened the note which said,

Meet us in the common room. Come quick.

I grinned to myself, knowing exactly who it was from. Not caring to change my pajamas, I just wore my shoes and exited the dormitory, going downstairs.

As I had presumed, there I saw Fred and George, also in their pajamas, looking as mysterious as ever.

"What's up?" I asked, walking towards them in the common room.

"It's game time!" George smirked, rubbing his hands together mischievously.

"Alright," A wave of excitement rushing through me, I nodded in delight. "Just let me go and change–"

But I was broke off when the twins got a hold on each of my arms, dragging me across the common room and towards the entrance.

"There's no time for changing!" said Fred.

"Yeah," George nodded. "We can't keep it waiting!"

"Keep what waiting?" I questioned.

"Mischief!" They answered together.

This isn't going to end well, I thought with a groan.

***

We checked every corner before passing the empty and quiet corridors for any sign of Filch or Mrs. Norris.

But at last after what felt like an hour, we were out of the castle and were nearing the forest.

"What are we going to do when we get there, anyway?" I finally asked, breaking the eerie silence.

"No idea," the twins said in sync, making me chuckle.

"We'll just get there, and the inspiration will come to us." George said with a wink.

"Where do you think Hagrid keeps the Blast Ended Skrewts?" I suddenly said. "I mean... it's hide-and-go-seek-danger-tag, isn't it? We can go seek the Skrewts."

"Nah, they're no fun." Fred shook his head. "They're not that dangerous."

"Not a few months ago, they weren't. But I know they're at least a few feet tall by now." I explained, remembering how the Skrewts were going to be ten feet tall for the final task of the tournament.

"Now how would you know that?" George raised a brow at me suspiciously.

I cleared my throat, thinking quickly. "I've read about them, of course. How else would I know?"

That seemed to have done the trick, because George quickly dropped the subject and both of the twins agreed to go to the forest and look for the Screwts with me.

It was dark and eerie, fog covering up every space between the large trees. Every once in a while, we heard a wolf howling from afar, trembling with excitement.

"Alright, then. Wands out." said George, muttering 'Lumous' and Fred following his action. "Lexi, take out your wand."

I gulped. "I-I haven't brought it with me."

"What!?" George exclaimed, looking at me in disbelief. "How could you not?"

I tried to come up with a good excuse to save my ass from George finding out that I actually couldn't do any magic.

But there came a cracking noise that made all of our heads jerk around in horror, looking for the source.

Seconds later, manic footsteps were heard that could only belong to an enormous creature, running towards us in a rapid speed.

"AAAARGH!" The three of us yelled and we dropped ourselves to the ground out of fear.

I clenched onto Fred who was the closest to me, burying my face in his chest. He too had closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms tightly around me protectively.

When the sound of the horrifying steps had stopped, we finally dared to look up. Surely enough, a Screwt was standing near us.

     It looked like something between a giant lobster or scorpion, at least six feet tall. But as if suddenly enchanted, it turned around and left.

Opening my eyes completely and paying attention to my surroundings, I found myself still in Fred's arms. Even though the Screwt was gone, he was still holding on to me.

I glanced up at him and he looked back into my eyes, swallowing. My heartbeat sped up, but I knew it had nothing to do with the beast.

Our faces were so close to each other that I could feel his hot breath against my face, as we looked deep into each other's eyes, none of us daring to let one another go.

Suddenly, I felt his gaze travel down to my lips and he stopped breathing for a second before opening his mouth and saying in a whisper, "Lexi, I–"