The following day, I sat alone at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, attempting to go over the material from classes the previous day. I hadn't been able to focus on anything, barely making it to Astronomy at the end of the day.

I looked up to meet the eyes of a few first-year Gryffindors. They snickered loudly,  their whispers reaching me from all the way across the Hall. I fixed them with an icy stare and they scattered, leaving me wondering what in Merlin's name was going on.

Sipping from a glass of water, I looked up to see Hermione staring at me now. I made an exaggerated gesture of 'what?!' and she pressed her lips together, standing from her table and making her way over to join me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, a hint of sympathy in her voice as she took a seat across from me.

"Spectacular," I said flatly. "Although I can't say I enjoy being laughed at by first-years."

"They're just young, ignore them." Hermione pulled out her Potions textbook and started scribbling on a piece of parchment. "We were all equally as irritating in our first year, I'm sure of it."

I eyed her suspiciously. "What exactly happened?"

She looked up, wearing an expression of alarm. "You mean, you don't remember?"

I felt my face grow hot. "Not exactly."

Hermione looked down at her textbook, seemingly searching for words. "Well, er—"

"You can tell me," I said with a forced smile. "I already know whatever it is, it isn't good."

"Well, for most of the night, you and George were looking rather... cozy." Her face was pink.

"Is that all?" I asked hesitantly. "That's not so bad. I've done far worse."

"No, not quite." Hermione paused again, and I was tempted to reach across the table to try and shake the words out of her. "At one point, you and Seamus got into a bit of a, er, a row."

Seamus? "About what?"

"Both of you were difficult to understand—your accents got quite heavy—but I think it was something about the... Scots? And the Irish?"

"Quidditch," I laughed. "That definitely checks out."

"But it got rather... heated."

"Did it?" I thought of the short-haired boy. "How so?"

"Well, I don't know who threw the first punch, but..."

"Punch?" My squeak echoed through the hall. "I hit Seamus? Is he okay?"

"Well, both of you were quite wasted, and I don't think either actually of you landed a hit before Lee and Fred pulled you apart." Hermione was still holding something back.

"My first fight, and I don't even remember it," I sighed. "What else?"

"After that..." she thought for a moment. "I think this might be what those first-years were talking about, just now."

"Oh, Merlin." I braced myself with a grimace.

"You, er, well after the fight, you climbed up on the table, and you did this... dance."

My jaw dropped, feeling my face heat up. "What sort of dance?"

"I don't know, really," Hermione looked uncomfortable. "A jig of sorts."

I buried my face in my hands. "That's so embarrassing."

"You were really quite good, considering the state you were in," Hermione attempted to comfort me, giving me a small smile.

"Cheers, Hermione," I snorted, staring down at my textbook, cursing firewhisky for what was now the hundredth-and-first-time.

* * * * * *

The arrival of the visiting students spread through the school like wildfire.

I gathered with a group of Slytherins in the courtyard, craning my neck to get a better glimpse at the Beauxbatons Academy students as they walked in a neat line to where Dumbledore greeted them warmly, donning clean-pressed blue uniforms.

"Blimey, those are some fit ladies," Lucian breathed. Jamie looked at him with a frown of disapproval.

The Durmstrang students arrived with their headmaster not long after, receiving the same welcome from Dumbledore. A familiar face among them caught my eye, a face I'd seen in countless Quidditch magazines and, embarrassingly enough, on a Quidditch collector's card at the bottom of my trunk at that very moment.

"That's Viktor Krum," I gasped.

A ripple of Krum's name passed through the crowd as others heard my remark.

Next to me, Miles craned his neck to get a better look. "Merlin, it's really him!"

We exchanged a look of amazement.

* * * * * *

Entries for the Triwizard Tournament were opened the following day, the Goblet standing on a grand pedestal in the Great Hall.

Lucian was among the first to enter, a group of us crowded around him and cheering him on as he went. He stepped through a ring of light that surrounded the Cup, the flames blazing as he dropped in a small piece of parchment with his name scribbled on it.

Jamie flung her arms around his neck as he emerged, grinning, and I gave him a warm clap on the shoulder in congratulations. As we were leaving, Cedric Diggory was pushed good-naturedly into the Hall by a group of his friends, and I stayed behind to watch him enter.

My friends having already departed, I settled on a bench next to Hermione, who was flipping through a textbook in her lap. "How many have entered so far?"

"Only a few that I've seen," she remarked, looking over at me. "I think most might be a little nervous to enter."

A sudden cheer from the students around us caught our attention. Fred and George had entered the room, each holding a vial in their hands.

I caught George's eye and frowned. What in Merlin's name were they doing?

Hermione groaned under her breath. "I heard they might try something."

"What exactly are they trying?" I whispered.

"Well, lads, we've done it!" Fred said loudly. "Brewed it up just this morning!"

"It's not going to work," Hermione spoke a bit louder now, flipping her book shut.

The twins grinned and moved to sit beside us, George's face quite close to mine as he and Fred taunted Hermione. Hermione's words about George and me at the party echoed in my ears, and I felt my cheeks burn lightly.

"Oh yeah?" George flashed a wink at me.

"And why is that, Granger?" Fred asked.

Hermione sighed and pointed at the ring of light around the Goblet. "You see this?"

The twins' eyes followed her gesture, and they nodded.

"It's an age line," she explained. "Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?" Fred challenged.

"So," Hermione continued, exasperated. "A genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by the likes of something so pathetically dim-witted as an ageing potion."

"Ah, but that's why it's so brilliant!" George grinned, looking between me and Hermione. I couldn't help but smile a bit back at him, amused by his enthusiasm.

"Because it's so pathetically dim-witted!" Fred finished for him, and together they approached the Goblet and downed their potions. Then, together, they jumped over the age line.

And nothing happened.

My eyes widened, wondering if they had actually pulled it off. They dropped their names in the Cup, and, again, nothing happened.

I exchanged a glance of disbelief with Hermione. Then, the twins were launched by some invisible force across the room, skidding across the stone floor, where they sprouted gray beards, their red locks quickly fading to silver. They looked at each other with wide eyes.

"You said—" George started.

"You said—" said Fred at the same time.

And then they were fighting. I sprang to my feet and raced over, pushing my way through the crowd of students egging them on, and plucked Fred off of George, shoving him away from his brother.

"Stop it," I hissed. "You're both being impossibly thick. Go see Madame Pomfrey, or risk keeping those whiskers."

Fred made a face at me, while George looked a little abashed, but together they set off in the direction of the hospital wing.

The crowd behind me fell silent, then, and I looked around to see if I'd upset them that much by ending the fight. That wasn't it—a group of Durmstrang students had entered, none other than Viktor Krum at their head.

I took a shaky step back to let them pass. I caught Krum's eye briefly as he passed, and I gave him a small smile, trying to act like my heart wasn't frozen in my chest. He remained expressionless, striding forward to drop his name in the Cup. Then he and his group departed, none of them having uttered a single word the entire time. I watched them go, releasing a slow breath.

"You alright there, Doyle?" Lee teased from across the hall, breaking the silence. The students around us dissolved into chuckles.

"Take your breath away, did he?" Ron added, earning more laughter.

My face burning, I shot them both icy stares before turning on my heel and walking out.