Because I - George Weasley

13: Because I Am a Champion

"Why are they staring at each other?" Fred mocked whispered to his brother.

"I'm not sure, but I feel like they're about to get into a girl fight," George said excitedly. "I suggest we continue to observe the wild Winters triplets."

"I'll break your arms and send you back to the infirmary if you don't shut the hell up," I grumbled, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall.

My sisters were leaning against the opposite wall, a group of excited Slytherins surrounding them.

Jet impatiently checked the gold watch on her wrist.

"Time?" someone from the group of Slytherins called out.

"2:34," Jet and Jasmine corased.

"I'm really confused," said Lee, reappearing from a few meters down the corridor where him and Angelina had been talking about her entry.

"You're shaking, Jordan," Jasmine sniggered, the other Slytherins laughing with her. "Scared?"

"Bored," I drawled.

"Time?"

"2:39."

I fisted my hand into my pocket to turn my baseball between my fingers. In the other pocket, I kept a firm grasp on the small piece of parchment I'd had since the day before.

It was a waiting game. Every Slytherin there knew what they were waiting for, but freshly shaven Fred and George had just found me there, glaring at the identical versions of myself across the hall.

"2:42!" someone yelled.

"Go," said Jasmine quietly, staring down at her watch to confirm.

Jet grinned and pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket, proudly walking up to the Goblet standing tall in the center of the Entrance Hall.

"What's she doing?" Fred asked, confused.

The Goblet accepted her entry, unlike Fred and George, and she smiled in relief. The twins were bouncing against each other, confused and angry that they'd gotten to enter and they hadn't.

By the time the Slytherin cheering had settled and Fred and George had come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to answer any of their questions, it must have been 2:44 because Jasmine took her turn and dropped her name into the Goblet, eliciting the same amount of applause from her house and her and Jet hugged each other.

"Mother and Father are going to be so excited to hear if one of you gets named Hogwarts Champion," said a shrill voice from the center of the group. Draco came front and center, glaring at me. "Not to mention all of the former Slytherin alumni."

"Watch it, Malfoy," said Fred. "Angelina's got just as much chance as they do."

"Shut up, Fred," said George as I stepped away from the wall.

"Time?" I asked, looking at some of the Gryffindors milling around the Entrance hall.

"2:46."

I stared at the parchment in my hand.

Jordan B. L. Winters.

Hogwarts.

Slowly I raised my hand, trying to force it to stop shaking, and released my name into the Goblet of Fire.

I did nothing but glance at my sisters as I walked towards the marble staircase. My body was shaking with nerves and every eye was on me as I left.

"I don't even know who she is," said a third year Gryffindor. "Better her than someone from Slytheirn, I suppose."

I was really scared that they were wrong about that.