"I CAN'T READ THIS STUPID BOOK ANYMORE!" I roared, slamming my copy of A History of Magic shut on the table as we sat in the library the day before the second task. "I'M DYING OF BOREDOM!"

"It's been only twenty-three seconds, Lexi," said Fred. "You've only read the title."

"And I think we have exactly twenty-three seconds to run away before Madam Pince kicks us out," said George, pointing at the angry librarian who was pacing quickly towards us.

"Go! Go!" I hissed and we all stood up, packing our stuff as quick as possible before running out of the library.

I breathed in heavily, and said with a relieved smile, "Ah... freedom at last."

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Fred mused with a knowing grin.

"Did what?" I questioned obliviously as we made our way outside.

"Yelled on purpose so Madam Pince would kick us out so you wouldn't have to study," George continued.

     "I have no idea what you're talking about." I shrugged at them innocently.

     "You're something else, Hooper." Fred shook his head in disbelief and smiled.

"Oh, honestly, boys," I started, "which do you really rather? Writing your transfiguration essay or come with me to get some food?"

They looked at each other and then back at me. "Food," they said together.

***

We were on time for lunch when we got to the Great Hall. We were sitting there for quite some while before George broke the silence.

     "By the way," he started, "Fred and I came up with this awesome game last night. It's mental, of course–"

     "–which is why it's so brilliant." Fred completed him.

     "So what's the name of the game?" I asked curiously.

     "Hide-and-go-seek-danger-tag!" They said together.

     I chuckled. "And how does that work?"

     "Easy! We go to the dark forest and let things flow smoothly however as it wishes." Fred replied mischievously.

     I could remember precisely that in the first book Hagrid had said that he had spent half of his life chasing Fred and George away from the dark forest, and I chuckled at the thought.

But my smile quickly disappeared for a second as a few thoughts wandered into my head.

     "What's wrong?" George asked, reading from my expression.

      "You really want me to come?" I wondered.

     "Of course." Fred shrugged cooly. "Why?"

     "Well... I dunno," I started, "I mean... why would you guys want to hang out with me this much, anyway?"

     "What? So it's a crime to hang out with people these days?" Fred grinned.

     "No," I shrugged. "But usually it used to be just the two of you for these stuff. You know? Or for inventing your joke-shop supplies. Not even Lee, who's been your best friend for the last five years. Why would you even include me?"

     George threw a quick glance at Fred but then abruptly turned to me and said with a wink, "Cause you're cool, Lexi."

     "Yeah," Fred nudged me teasingly. "You're in the gang now."

***

The second task came the next day and the staff led us to the middle of the black lake.

     All the way, Parvati and Lavender were confused as to where Hermione was last night that she hadn't showed up at all.

     "Last night I was reminded of a joke," said Lee as him, Fred, George and I got off the boat and made our way over the stand to find us good seats.

     "What?" I said as we sat down.

     "Okay, so here it goes: Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's alright now!" said Lee and we all broke down into laughters.

     "Oh! I have a good one," I started. "Last night, I dreamed I was swimming in an ocean of orange soda. But it was just a Fanta sea!"

     I chuckled but when I looked up, I saw the three of them blinking at me blankly, deeply confused.

     "Fanta sea? Fantasy?" I tried to explain, but remembering they probably had no idea what Fanta was, I dropped it. "Oh, forget it."

     Just then, Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and one of the judges of the tournament, stood above the crowd as the four champions were ready to dive into the lake and started talking in a magically loud voice.

     "Well, all our four champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle." His voice boomed out across the dark water toward our stands. "They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One... two... three!"

     And so, by Bagman's whistle, the four champions dived into the lake as we cheered them on by our stands.

I looked in the judges' crowd, but failed to see Mr. Barty Crouch. But then it suddenly hit me and I shuddered; he was going to be murdered one of these days, by his own son.

My heart gave a painful ache as I thought about it, but then tried to remind myself that Dumbledore knew what was best, despite his habit of keeping deadly secrets. Perhaps he wanted to wait for the right moment and I had to trust him. But when was the right moment?

But then I thought back at his letter, in which he had said that certain sacrifices had to take place. What if he had looked into my mind using Legilimency and saw that Cedric was going to die, and saw it necessary?

Although I again tried to convince myself, saying that if Dumbledore had truly looked into my mind and seen everything, he would've known that Moody was an imposter. If he knew, then why wasn't he doing anything about it?

How could I just stand there and let Mr. Crouch and Cedric die? My mind kept wondering about the matter until I was reminded of Sirius, my stomach lurching at the thought of him.

I hadn't met him, but I felt like I knew him personally. I cared for him, and I couldn't stand the idea of his death; not now that I knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Some sweets would've killed right now," Fred said thoughtfully, watching the lake with precise.

My head turned on him and I froze on my spot.

Fred...

     How could I forget? I thought in horror, my eyes filling up with tears when I remembered what was going to happen in three years. Fred had become such an important part of my new life that he made me forget about my old.

Just then, reading through my miserable expression, Fred turned his head towards me, giving me a worried glance. "You okay, Lex?"

Automatically, I leaped forward and brought him into a hug. Fred took aback, but after a few seconds, he hugged me back, despite having no clue as to what was going on.

"Get a room!" George shouted, causing us to pull away at last.

Fred laughed nervously at that, but I looked away, trying to prevent my tears from streaming down.

I still had three years. Until then, I had to just stand back and let things flow their own way until the time was right, just like Dumbledore had asked me to.

     I'm not going to let it happen, I promised myself. Not Fred, and not anybody else.

***

Author's Note

I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good...

Hey guys! Thank you so much for your support up until now! I hope you're enjoying reading this book as much as I do writing it!

Also, if you were interested in the Marauder's era, I've started a new book called 'Potter' and I'd be extremely glad if you ever decided to check it out.

...Mischief Managed!