Us ; George Weasley

Thirty-six

The second task was soon. The four champions were already on the platforms on the lake and currently the rest of the students were on their way to the boats. I was walking with Will.

Marco and Timothy had promised to wait for us down by the boats so we could cross the lake together.

Well, Marco promised us. Timothy had an attitude like usual. He was the grumpy twin.

Will was still kinda in a mood. I had no idea what was going on with him and I knew him so well that I knew if I asked him about it, he'd get defensive and refuse to talk.

The last time he was like this, it was because of our dad. William doesn't feel accepted by him both because of his career choice but also because of his sexuality.

My brother was walking with his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat, his shoulders lifted towards his ears with his chin hidden by the coat. His eyes were narrowed and he looked in pain. Not physically pain but mentally.

I sighed deeply, wrapping my arm around his which made him look at down at me.

"Something wrong?" He asked, untangling his arm from mine to wrap it around my shoulders instead while I wrapped my arm around his back.

"I'm alright." I smiled softly. "Are you?"

He didn't answer verbally, he simply just hummed and nodded as he went back to look straight ahead of him.

"Are you sure of that?" I asked. "Cause you're acting quite grumpy."

"'M not grumpy, Allie." He said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "I'm just tired."

"You've been tired for quite a few weeks then." I pressed on. I may be annoying but I want to know what's wrong so I can help him. He is my brother after all and I love him. "Does Marco know that you are uh— tired?"

William looked down at me, then sighed and shook his head as he let go of me.

"Quit nagging me. I told you I'm tired. I haven't gotten very much sleep lately. That's all."

He started speeding up his pace but I immediately did the same so I could catch up with him.

"Alright, I'll drop it." I told him. "Just don't walk so fast. I can't keep up with your long ass legs."

He slowed down a bit, glancing at me but didn't say anything. He pushed his hands back into his pockets, chewing on his bottom lip.

"There you are!" Marco exclaimed when we approached the boats. "It's starting soon."

"Almost everyone are already there." Timothy commented as he got into one of the boats. "I do not want to be late for this."

Marco rolled his eyes at his twin brothers comment, then flashed me a smile before going to hug Will. He definitely senses that something was off with him.

"Someone got their cycle this morning." Marco said, glancing towards Timothy who flipped him off in response. "That's why he's a bit moody."

I got into the boat, holding onto Timothy's shoulder so I wouldn't fall. I sat down next to him before Marco and Will joined us across from us — then the boat started moving on its own.

"Timmy and I were just discussing who we think will drown first." Marco said. "His guess is on Potter. Mine is on Krum."

That's an odd discussion.

"Hopefully no one." I said. "Hopefully they're all smart enough to not drown."

"Potter is fourteen years old." Timothy said. "There's no way he'll survive."