Roses and Riots | f. weasley

Chapter 25: Dragons

The First Task at the end of November came around extremely quickly. Emilia wrapped her coat tightly around her as the cold breeze made her shiver. She pulled her woollen hat from Molly further down over her ears and hair and waited anxiously for the challenge to begin.

The twins were taking bets, of course, and Emilia chose to ignore them. She'd kept her distance from her best friends for the past week, not in the mood to listen to the constant debates about the first task, though it pained her to not have them by her side.

By the time the first task came around, everyone knew that dragons were involved somehow.

Emilia stood next to Hermione in the stands, both of them fidgeting anxiously.

"Bets taken! Bets taken here!" Fred called from the benches behind them.

"Step up, folks! Who fancies a flutter in today's bloodbath?" George continued, grinning at the students that came over to them.

"Smart money's on Krum to survive!" they announced in unison.

They stopped walking when they saw Emilia and she took a deep breath and approached them, figuring it was time to break the ice.

"I'd like to place a bet on Harry," she said, more sharply than she'd intended.

The twins glanced at each other and then smiled at her.

Fred handed her a card, his fingers brushing hers as she took it from him, and in exchange she dropped a few coins into his palm.

"Prepared to lose, Potter?" he asked challengingly.

She raised her brows, meeting his challenge halfway, "I'll take my chances, Weasley."

Without waiting for another word from either of them, she shouldered past them and walked away.

She hurried down to the Champions tent once she noticed the majority of the crowd had arrived, eager to catch Harry before the challenge started.

She peeked her head into the tent and Cedric saw her first, "hey, Emilia. Harry's over there."

She thanked him with a gentle squeeze to his arm, and then rushed over to Harry who sighed in relief when he saw her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she approached him.

"Just peachy, Em," he replied sarcastically, and he ran an anxious hand through his already-messy hair. Emilia knew his snarky tone was an attempt to disguise his nerves, so she chose to ignore it.

"Just remember your wand. You've practised the spell, yeah?" she said sternly and he nodded.

She watched as he took shallow, nervous breaths, and when he looked up at her and the fear in his eyes broke her heart.

She wrapped her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly, and he reciprocated immediately, relaxing slightly at the comfort of his sister's embrace.

The flash of a camera made them pull apart in a jolt of surprise. The infamous journalist, Rita Skeeter, stood there with her photographer and an enchanted notepad and quill.

"Oh, how tragic. The orphaned Potter siblings bidding each other a despairing farewell, for what very well may be the last time, no doubt dredging up the memories of the loss of their parents thirteen years ago-"

"That's enough, Skeeter," Emilia snapped irritably, and then the tent opened and Dumbledore and Barty Crouch came in.

Emilia turned to Harry, "I'd better go. Good luck."

She gave him another quick but meaningful hug before slipping out of the tent and heading back up to the stands.

To Emilia's shock, the first task went by very quickly.