I am obviously not JK Rowling.

But in other news, this is my first fic and I'm actually kind of nervous about it. Please read and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

"This is it," whispered Fred, giving the final warning as he moved to push open the doors, "no turning back now."

George took a deep breath. Nerves were not something he was familiar with, but he sure as hell felt them now. He knew the stakes. With Bagman refusing to pay them their winnings from the World Cup, the boys were racing to gain the money needed to fund their business. If they didn't get the cash, and get it soon, all those months of work would be sent spiraling straight down the tube. Entry in the Triwizard Tournament was a last ditch effort and if it failed they were back to square one.

"Get it together," he chided, catching himself, "if anyone can pull this off it's the two of you." With one final shake of his head to lose the tendrils of doubt that were beginning to take root, he squared his shoulders, pasted on a wide grin and moved quickly to follow his twin inside.

"Well lads, we've done it," called Fred to the mass of students gathered in the hall.

"Cooked it up just this morning," chimed George, winking at the audience with much more confidence than he truly felt.

His trepidation vanished immediately, however, with the reaction of the crowd. Their cheers and rising excitement brought out the side of him that would always rise to a challenge, costs be damned. That's what he loved the most about the pranks and gags pulled throughout the years. That rush of adrenaline, the feeling of no consequences…at least until they got caught. He felt his spirits rising with the noise level.

Amid the din in the hall, one clear voice stood from the rest. "It's not going to wo-ork" came the mocking, sing-song tone of Hermione Granger. With a quick glance it was decided that the twins would hold off their plan momentarily, if only to irritate the younger witch. Hermione was one of their favorite opponents for, in addition to holding a spot in the Weasley family, which in itself granted her an additional serving of pranking and ridicule, she held an intelligence level up to par with their own. Abruptly the twins changed course, moving in unison to swoop down to her level, flanking her on either side.

"Oh yeah?" questioned Fred.

"And why's that Granger?" continued George, noticing for the first time the light sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of Hermione's nose. "What a strange thing to be thinking about at a time like this" he thought to himself, still transfixed on those tiny little specks of gold. "Wait!" he thought, mentally shaking himself out of his momentary stupor, "She was mocking us. That's why I'm over here in the first place!" He came to mid argument, catching only part of what had been said.

"…couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as pathetically dim-witted as an Aging Potion," she finished.

"Ah, but that's why it's so brilliant!" shot Fred, clearly not noticing his twin's lapse in concentration.

"Because it's so pathetically dim-witted!" added George, hoping to Merlin that his reply made sense within the banter. Fred chuckled. He was safe, at least for the time being.

Standing quickly, needing to put some distance between himself and Granger before he did something dumb, George decided it was time to put the plan into action.

"Ready Fred?" he asked.

"Ready George," came the reply.

Their united, "Bottoms up!" rang out within the hall. Interlocking arms, the twins downed their individual potions, and, as one, hopped across the age line.

For a split second there was nothing. Then, all at once, they were nearly deafened by the cheers. "We've done it," thought George, "We've actually done it!" He and Fred made their celebratory rounds with grins and high-fives, accepting their much due praise. Every face in the crowd was sporting a smile, every face but one. Granger. Why should her skepticism bother him? He'd never cared what she thought before now. And yet, for some reason, the fact that the younger witch didn't approve of his actions was causing a bit of a niggling itch in the back of his mind.

Deciding they had wasted enough time already, George moved in towards the goblet. Fred caught on quickly and together they tossed their names into the flame. Again cheers echoed in the hall but this time it seemed the celebration had come too soon. Tongues of blue flame leapt from the cup, knocking the twins flying out of the ring and skidding across the floor. Sitting up, they gazed at each other in horror as large white beards began to sprout from their jaws.

"YOU SAID!"

"NO, YOU SAID!"

Anger. Despair. Doubt. Emotions wrecking havoc within George's mind, and apparently Fred's as well. The two broke out in a fist fight rolling around on the floor, pushing the blame on the other. Their fight instead of their triumph became the center of attention within the hall until, over the cries coming from the tangle of limbs on the ground, there was the sound of a creaking door opening.

Looking up from where he lay sprawled across the floor, George was the first to see the group of Durmstrang students led in by Viktor Krum. All noise stopped. No one moved as one by one the Bulgarians dropped their names into the goblet. From his vantage point on the ground, George saw Krum make eye contact with Hermione before turning on his heel and exiting with a slight swirl of his maroon cape. George, for the life of him, could not determine why the slight blush that tinted Hermione's cheeks as she glanced back down at the thick book in her lap caused a slight twinge in his chest. Perhaps he was feeling protective. She had been his brother's best friend for the past 3 years and she had stayed with them during the World Cup.

"That must be it," he thought, "I think of her like I would Ginny. If some hulking Bulgarian looked at my sister that way I would definitely have something to say on the subject." Except, those freckles he noticed earlier were really nothing at all like the orange spots on Ginny's face and his throat was tightening in a way that it never had when he felt the call to adapt into over protective older brother mode. But as soon as his thoughts began to move down this strange path, he found himself ripped back to reality by the arrival of Professor McGonagall and, due to the loss in concentration as the twins found themselves being dragged across the castle by their ears, George forgot about his strange thoughts on facial pigmentation, at least the time being.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Please review and let me know what you think/if I should continue writing this fic. Much love - Stella