[1] Lemons into Lemonade ✓ | FRED WEASLEY

Chapter Forty Five

It had taken some persuading (especially with a stubborn Kenny) but for one day only, Fred and Aubrey's groups had agreed to combine for the second task. Judging from the strained expressions on their faces, differences had got in the way, but Aubrey had little time to focus on that mainly because a bigger problem had arisen: boats. If the task was on the water, sneaking away would be a little difficult.

Both she and Fred noticed this, exchanging a confused look. 

"Fred, hon," She whispered, "You seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yup," He pressed his lips together, "How willing are you to jump out of a boat?"

"Um ... not very - "

"Guys, guys, look!" They were interrupted by Lexy, grinning and pointing at them, "Boats! I could meet a merman!"

Aubrey sniggered, leaning in as she whispered, "Lexy, unless you plan to jump into the water and swim hundreds of feet below, that might be hard."

"Plus they're not hygienic," George pointed out, somehow overhearing it, "Just think, they clean in the water that they do everything in ... Everything," He added with a shiver.

Aubrey found herself quickly getting sucked into the conversation, only breaking out when the four of them were down by the shoreline. There was still time to leave so Aubrey and Fred set about gathering to the others to sneak away ... but there was one problem. On their own, convincing their friends they had urgent matters to go to was doable but now the groups were combined it was a challenge. Angela linked arms with Fred, pulling him with her; Lee engaged Aubrey and George in conversation whilst Lexy didn't want to sneak off on her own so followed along. Before they knew it, the four of them were on a boat, slowly watching the shore get further and further away.

At first, Aubrey thought that perhaps they could swim back but as the boats' destination became clear: several stands a good few miles away, this stopped being an option. Annoyingly, when they finally arrived at the stands, Dumbledore was incredibly preoccupied,  talking avidly with a less than enthusiastic Percy. It would have been perfect for some office raiding ... if they had a way of getting back.

Their friends' attention was now elsewhere, as the announcers revealed the second task to the crowds. It sounded kind of interesting: the champions were forced to dive below the water and recover a stolen possession so Aubrey was half tempted to just stay but time was of the essence. The four reconvened as the champions prepared to dive in, to try and figure out how in Merlin's name they were going to get back to the distant castle.

"Urgh, Angela keeps saying 'I knew that' to everything, and it's like ... we know" Was the first thing Lexy said before quickly adding, "Sorry not the point."

"Lexy, girl, never apologise for venting, you need to get it out sometimes," Aubrey reassured her, "But that's not the point either. The point is we need to figure out how to get back."

George considered this before looking around, "Does anyone see any brooms? Me and Fred are pretty good flyers ... I'm better of course - "

"You wish."

"So we could take one of you on the back of our brooms each," George suggested.

"Wouldn't people be curious?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah, they would," George replied, "But at the end of the day, they'd just think it was Fred and George up to their crazy antics. Plus, what are they going to do if they have a problem? Shoot us out of the sky? Trust me, I've thought this through."

Fred nodded, "I mean it could work .... does anyone actually see a broom?"

The four did a useless job of looking, glancing around whilst staying rooted to the spot. Still, even after they finally decided to move, the result became evident: there were no brooms. The search had lasted ten minutes, time was slipping away fast and the increasingly ridiculous suggestions reflected this. Transfiguring Kenny into a Hippogriff, Lexy riding on a merman (in multiple ways) and George learning broomless flying in ten minutes were amusing but at the end of the day, it had just wasted time.