The week passes by achingly slow. My days are filled with weird looks from Professor Moody, high-fives from other students, long and torturous classes with Snape, and more weird looks from Moody. Honestly, I couldn't care less about any of it—more than anything, what I want is to hang out with my friends where we're not talking about the tournament. Even Harry won't shut up about it, but I'm not mad because I know how much it means to him. I just want to see my boyfriend and my friends.

It's strange to think about—Fred and I have been dating for almost a year now, and it feels simultaneously like we just met and like we've been together forever. Time is weird, I guess. Maybe I'm just trying to latch onto that sense of normality I feel when I'm around him.

Not to mention my friends. As I get ready for the day, I stare at myself in the mirror. I definitely take my friends for granted, it's easy to see that. Not only do they literally defeat Voldemort or save a wrongfully imprisoned godfather, they're fucking hilarious and caring and they're all so smart.

Last, in a category of his own, Lee. He's the only family member I have left that I'm really close to, but more than that he's been there for me through everything. I can't really begin to describe how much I appreciate his existence, especially after our parents died. Sometimes, I suddenly remember that I'm an orphan—that they're gone, and they're not coming back. After that, though, Lee will come running in and tell me some story about a prank he pulled or the time he tried to 'take' Snape's nose.

After my trip down memory lane, I think briefly of Lupin. He helped me a lot at Ilvermorny—but he's gone, and there's not much I can do about that. He didn't even say goodbye.

Shaking my head free of those thoughts, I try to style my hair as best I can before finally surrendering and letting it run wild. After looking at my outfits and consulting Allie briefly, I decide on a rust coloured sweater and jeans that end right above my ankles. Grabbing my favourite pair of sneakers that Lee gave me two years ago, I jump down the stairs with Allie. In the common room we find George, fast asleep on the sofa and Fred who is lying upside down on the armchair facing the girls dorms—he jumps up when we arrive and kisses me on the cheek, making me blush. Grinning, he says, "you look beautiful, as always; Allie, same to you."

"What's new?" Allie says, rolling her eyes and laughing musically. "Come on, we have a busy day today and we have to have breakfast and sign out before the morning rush!"

Lee joins us and he and the twins quickly run off to find Sir Francis, who keeps mysteriously disappearing in different places around the castle. I think he's just hiding from Filch, who enjoys terrorizing the knight almost as much as he enjoys finding students out of bed. Fred tells me they have pranks to plan, and I feel a gentle twang in my heart. I miss pranking—I didn't do enough of it before, and now with the tournament... I don't know what to do. Noticing the look in my eyes, Fred promises he'll find time for the four of us to sit down and plan another ultimate attack. He tilts my chin up and gives me a soft kiss before bounding off like a puppy.

We stop by the kitchens and talk to Nimmy as we wait for Julian, but by the time he gets there we've been given so much food that there's not much point in going to the Great Hall for breakfast. Instead, the three of us head out into the courtyard, taking a seat under the large oak tree that looms over a corner. The leaves have turned the colours of flames and now they hang precariously to the branches, waiting for autumn to officially set in. I don't feel the frost on the grass as I sit down beside my two friends, grinning brightly at them both.

"Okay, what do we have?" Julian says, licking his lips and rubbing his hands together as he looks down at the piles of food in front of us.

I rummage through for a moment before I find a bottle of pumpkin juice, which Julian grabs and takes a swig of. I find another flask, but this one is hot chocolate—charmed to stay warm all day. Allie and I share it as we continue to search through the food. In the end, Julian tucks into egg sandwiches with all sorts of meats and sauces on, while Allie pours milk into the lid of the flask and creates a makeshift bowl of cereal. Old habits die hard for me, because I attack a plate of blueberry muffins with relish like a rabid animal.

We talk about classes, mostly, laughing at more experiences with Trelawney in divination. Julian tells a story from his earlier years at Hogwarts in which Professor Sprout was teaching the Herbology class how to plant Mandrakes and he got scared of his plant's screams, so he flung it across the room and it hit Cedric Diggory square in the face, knocking him out. Julian says that's when his rivalry with Cedric began, but I know it's all just for show—being on the Quidditch team together means they're basically like brothers, even though Hufflepuff rarely wins. I remember the brief moment in time where Julian had his sights set on Cho Chang, and how quickly the issue was resolved—boys. They both tell more stories about when they first came to Hogwarts, and I laugh at each of them. In the very back of my mind I feel a slight pang as I wish I could've been there for these moments.

Noticing my expression, Allie raises a brow and commands me to spill. I explain my thoughts to her, and she puts her hand on my shoulder. "I get that, but you needed to be away. It was what was right for you at the time, and besides, there are plenty more memories to be made in our next years here, 'kay?" I nod, grinning. "Good, now shut the fuck up. Julian, tell the story of the badger you stole in your third year."

Julian launches into this story, and then another, and each is more farfetched than the last but I still believe each one. Allie smiles at him, flushing slightly as he shoots her a wink while he talks. Tucking a strand of her red hair behind her ear, she shuffles closer to Julian and without hesitation he tucks his arm around her.

When we finish our food, we stand up to leave and pick up the containers to take back to the kitchen. As we walk through the archway, though, Leonardo jumps out from behind the pillar and bows awkwardly. "Leonardo was sent by Nimmy to make sure you enjoyed the food and take the containers when you are finished," Leonardo tells us, holding out his hands.

"Of course she did," I murmur under my breath. "Leonardo, you can't carry all of this by yourself." I glance at the time and realize we have to go, and I shake my head, thinking quickly. Grinning, I flick my wrist and my wand comes out, gleaming blue-black even in the autumn light. With a few swishes, I've finished the charm. "Julian, throw your plate to the left of Leonardo."

I think the best—and the worst—part of Julian is that he never hesitates or asks questions. He throws the plate and it spins through the air before stopping right beside Leonardo, almost as if it was caught in a net. I throw another container and it springs towards the plate as if compelled by a magnetic force, landing right on top of it. Leonardo turns and the pile moves with him, staying at his side. I tell him that the charm will stop as soon as he puts the last plate down, and he thanks me as he picks up the rest of his things and leaves.

"Smart little charm there, Vee," Allie says, nudging me and grinning.

I smirk and flip my wand deftly inbetween my fingers. "No big deal," I reply jokingly, laughing as I put my wand away.

We make sure we have everything together before setting off onto the road to Hogsmeade. We wave at some Ravenclaw students on their way to the town as we pass, and they wave back before returning to the large book they are huddled over. "Vee, I know you just want to hang out, but I have to ask—any luck with the egg and the pearl?" Julian asks.

I sigh, shaking my head. "Harry and I have already tried opening it again, but it just makes the same screaming noise with no sign of stopping. I don't know what to do."

"It'll come to you," Allie says. "Besides, with any luck Krum'll tell Hermione—if he finds the time to do so inbetween all the deep and meaningful staring he's doing."

My eyes widen. "Honestly, it's mad! He just, like, stares at her, all the time. Anyway, I don't know if he'll know the answer unless Karkarov gives it to him."

Julian snorts and the pair agree. "Maybe I can ask Cedric if he has any answers," Julian adds, thinking to himself.

It doesn't take long for us to get to town, and soon enough we find ourselves sitting at one of the long table at the Three Broomsticks, huddled over three mugs of butterbeer. It's late morning and the pub is beginning to fill up with both regular patrons and other Hogwarts students. A stocky Slytherin girl with green streaks in her hair shoves me with her shoulder as she walks past, and I just roll my eyes, taking a sip of my butterbeer. She looks back at me, awaiting a reaction, but I just laugh lightly and turn back to my friends. "So," I begin just as Madame Rosmerta puts our plate of chips down in between us, "what's your story? I realized I never really heard what you two were like with each other before I came."

The pair looked at each other for a moment and smiled, Allie shrugging lightly. "We were just really good friends, I guess for me I always kind of liked him in the back of my mind, but I didn't think too much about it," she tells me.

"Same for me," Julian adds, nodding. "When we got together it just felt really natural."

It's kind of strange to hear about them just being friends, to be honest. Even when I first met them, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time—which is even stranger considering Julian's playboy tendencies at the time. Either way, they're amazing together.

"So," Allie says. "How's our favourite ginger spice?"

"I don't know, how are you?" I reply.

Rolling her eyes, Allie smacks me playfully on the arm. "No, not me. Fred."

"He's good. We're really good—he's meeting me here later for a date, but he won't tell me what we're doing."

Julian wiggles his eyebrows, and Allie and I both smack him on the arm this time. "I'm joking, I'm joking. You guys are perfect together."

"I know," I retort, flipping my hair and laughing.

We talk for hours before we get kicked out of the inn—the threeof us swear the whole way out that we weren't the ones that charmed the pastries to twerk on some of the patrons, but we know the truth, and so did Madame Rosemerta. When we stumble out, we almost fall on the ground from laughing so hard.

Allie glances at the clock in the street square and curses. "I promised Jupiter I'd be back at the castle to play him in wizard chess, like, half an hour ago. I have to go! I'm so sorry."

I tell her it's okay, and Julian and I both say goodbye to her before she races off towards the castle. Julian and I venture into Honeyduke's, where we bounce around like excited little children as we examine the ranges of sweets on offer. After a while, Julian selects some chocolate frogs, as well as a few levitating sherbet balls—he also spends an hour questioning me on what sweets girls like the best so he can get something good for Allie.

Finally, the owner of the shop—a rather large man called Ambrosius Flume—puts me out of my misery. He sighs and shakes his head with a smile, plucking a large box complete with a selection of the best toffees, taffy's and chocolates from the shop. He pats Julian on the back, who thanks him profusely, and Ambrosius chuckles heartily before beginning to walk away. As he does so, he stops and turns back to me. "I've seen you in here before, with the Weasley twins. Are you together with one of them?" he asks, almost accusatorily.

Wearily, I nod my head—the first thing that runs through my mind is that they must've pranked this shop or done something to upset this man, so I have no idea what he's going to say, and it surprises me even more when he grins, clapping his hands together.

"Ah yes," he replies. "Lovely boys, they are. Penchant for mischief, yes, but they each have a streak of kindness! They helped me reorganize this whole shop when a group of Slytherin students—Milfroy or something like that, and a few others—came in and were rowdy. When I asked them to leave as they were disturbing other customers, they began knocking things over! The cheek of them! Anywho, Fred and George spent hours with my wife and I to make this place look like new."

I look over at Julian incredulously; I had no idea the twins did any of this, although I'm not particularly surprised Milfroy/ Malfoy was behind the original disturbance. I ask Ambrosius when this happened, and he tells me it was just at the beginning of this year. "Thank you for telling us this," I reply.

"No, no, no!" Ambrosius exclaims. "Thank you for coming in. Look, I tried to pay them for their help, but they wouldn't accept it—could you give them these and tell them it's from me?" he says, scanning the shelves before selecting two brightly coloured parcels, tied up in bows. "If I give it to them directly then they can return it, but they'll accept it from you!"

I glance at the tag on the parcels and see a long list of many, many different sweets. My eyes widen. "I'm not sure if I can accept this, even on their behalf," I say. "it's so much."

"It's nothing," Ambrosius replies, pushing the parcels towards me gently. "Please, I'm so grateful to them. Could you?"

I look over at Julian, who nods enthusiastically—he knows the twins will hand out at least some of their supply, so it's a win-win for him. Rolling my eyes, I turn back to the shop owner and agree to take the parcels.

After we pay (heavily discounted, which we didn't find out until afterwards) we head outside. It's beginning to get dark, so I look over at the large clock to see it's almost time for my date with Fred. Julian hugs me goodbye and then he heads back to the castle while I go to Zonko's, which is where I agreed to meet Fred. The shop is fairly busy, with a few Hogwarts students wandering around the aisles, picking Giggle Gum and dancing fireworks and laughing with each other. I can't see Fred here yet, so I look around too—I head towards the back of the store, where a tall display of Sugar Quills towers over the rest of the items. I pick a lilac one up, flipping it over in my fingers idly as I examine the rest of the display with amused interest. As I put the quill down, I feel someone come up behind me. I instantly recognize it to be Fred when he puts his hands over my eyes and whispers in my ear, "guess who?"

"Hmm..." I say, pretending to think about it. "George?"

Instantly, he lifts his hands and spins me around, and I look up at his pouting face. "Did you really think it was George?"

I shake my head, laughing. "No, because I can see George and Angie making out in the dungbombs aisle over there," I reply, pointing towards the happy couple.

Fred stares for a minute before wrinkling his nose. "I mean, good for him, but ew," Fred says, turning away. "They decided to have a date night too, but don't worry, I have our date all planned out—just us."

I nod, before remembering the parcels in my hands. "Wait! I actually want to give something to both you and George."

"Presents!" Fred squeals, clapping his hands together. Without questioning it, he walks over to George and grabs him by the ear, yanking his twin away from Angie and over to me.

"Fred says you have presents for us?" George says, grinning. "Hi, by the way."

"Hi. Okay, so, I was just in Honeyduke's with Julian, and we got talking to Ambrosius Flume. He told me all about you guys helping him and his wife clean the shop after Malfoy and the others destroyed it, and he said this is your kindness returned." I hand over a parcel to each of them, but they instantly give them back.

"No way," George says.

"We don't want any payment for it," Fred adds.

"Please, guys, he was so desperate for me to give it to you. Plus, if you return it now it would just seem rude, and you don't want that," I say, batting my eyelashes as I hand them the parcels again.

"Well..." Fred begins.

"We wouldn't want to seem rude, or let this all go to waste," George says, scanning the parcel tags.

"Then it's settled," I say with finality, grinning. The twins look over the parcels for a little longer as we all talk, and then George and Angie head off to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. I assume we're going there as well, since it's the go-to spot for all couples at Hogwarts, and I'm pleasantly surprised when instead Fred leads me away from the highstreet. We go down the road a little, but my eyes widen when he ducks under the fence that leads to the Shrieking Shack.

"We're not going in there, don't worry," Fred says. "But besides, I thought you said that the shrieking was actually just Lupin."

"Well, yeah, but it still does all this weird shit. I don't trust it."

He laughs and continues leading me up the hill, but we take a wide berth around the shrieking shack and end up sitting in a small clearing on the side of the hill that is surrounded by large, overbearing oak trees. The sun has begun to set, and the light pink sky perfectly contrasts the golden colours of the forest. Fred takes off his satchel and puts his hand in, and then his entire arm disappears into the folds of leather as he rummages around. I laugh at the clever charm while he pulls out a number of things—two champagne flutes, a bottle of pumpkin juice, and an assortment of fruits and cheeses as well as a plate of muffins. Merlin's beard, I love muffins.

I grin at Fred and he just chuckles, shaking his head and unscrewing the cap of pumpkin juice. Delicately and with a flourish at the end, he pours the juice into the two flutes and hands one to me. I sip it, raising my pinky to which he laughs again. He puts his glass down and picks up the plate of muffins, bowing his head comically as he offers it to me.

I take four and start unwrapping them. "Thank you, good sir," I say in my best English accent.

Fred stares at me as if I've just murdered his whole family, and I raise a brow. "Was that supposed to be English?" he says incredulously.

I nod, and he scoffs. I glare at him. "What, like you can do a better American one?"

"Actually, I can," he says in a perfect American accent. "Americans can never do English accents, and vice versa—most of the time. George and I have to be masters of disguise, you see, so we learned."

Sometimes, I have to hand it to him when credit is due. He sounds American, but more specifically, he sounds like he's from Massachusetts, which is where my accent is from. Rolling my eyes, I shrug. "Fine. You win," I tell him, reverting back to my own accent. "I wish I could do a good English impression—I think it's so much sexier."

"Ooh," Fred says, perking up and wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. "So, you're saying I'm