A/N: As promised the First Task... I hope you enjoy. A lot of thought went into this... probably too much.

Chapter 6: The First Task

"I don't get it! What am I doing wrong!" Harry was frustrated. It was his tenth attempt to summon a pillow across the room but the pillow merely sat there like a stubborn mule. Fred was getting frustrated with it as well. Harry's wand movement was perfect, his pronunciation was flawless but other than getting the pillow to flip over once, which Fred was pretty positive was Ron trying to give his friend a little encouragement, Harry was not able to get the pillow to move. Understanding charms the way Fred did, he knew that it was something mental. The caster had to concentrate on the object and really want it to come to them.

Fred looked over at his twin who was quickly scribbling his charms essay which was due later that day; Fred hadn't even done his. Hermione was once again demonstrating the summoning charm, Harry looking annoyed at how easy she made it look.

"What makes you think showing it to him again is going to change anything?" Ron asked next to her giving Harry a sympathetic look. "I say we go to lunch. Perhaps on a full stomach you'll do better Harry."

"You guys go on." Harry said looking dejected. "I'm not hungry." Hermione and Ron gave each other worried glances.

"We'll pick something up for you." Hermione said before the two left the classroom. Harry went back to staring down the pillows.

"George." Fred said. "Why don't you pick something up for lunch as well? I'm going to stay and work with Harry for a little bit."

"Good Luck!" George said packing up his stuff. "See you at charms."

Fred walked up to Harry and summoned the pillow. Harry looked excited for a moment until the pillow came to Fred instead, who he had not noticed was standing next to him.

"You know you're not doing anything wrong right." Fred said handing the pillow to Harry.

"Then why isn't it working!" Harry said throwing the pillow across the room so he could try summoning it again.

"That's not what I meant Harry." Fred said probably looking more serious then he has ever before. Harry looked at him confused. Fred motioned to the desks on the side of the classroom and the two of them sat down.

"I don't know how Ron was able to do it, but one time when mom had sent him to his room with no desert, he summoned all of the cookies to his room." Fred started. "Summoning spells are usually some of the easiest magic for witches and wizards because we've been doing it our entire life. If a kid wants something enough their magic will summon the thing in question. When we were kids my mum had to put anti-summoning charms on everything especially the cookie jar. The only reason they don't teach it before forth year is because it takes a lot of control to do so willingly."

"So why do I have so much trouble with it?" Harry asked.

"Well, when you were younger, before you came to Hogwarts, do you remember summoning anything?" Fred asked trying to keep the conversation casual. Harry stiffened next to Fred remembering the last time his accidental magic got him something he wanted.

"Yeah, I suppose." Harry said noncommittal. Fred remained silent but looked at Harry waiting for him to continue. Harry sighed in submission. "I was six. Dudley took my sandwich. I was hungry." Harry shrugged as if that was the end of the story but Fred knew that it wasn't. Fred was pretty sure that Harry's version of 'hungry' was a lot different than Ron's version of 'hungry'.

"I imagine your aunt and uncle weren't particularly happy with you after that." Fred coaxed.

"They sent me to my room." Harry shrugged as if it was no big deal but he continued to look anywhere but Fred.

"You mean the cupboard under the stairs." Fred said. Harry stiffening once more was all the confirmation Fred needed. "When George and I helped you escape your relatives a couple years ago I remember the bars and all the locks on your bedroom door. I was also the one who went downstairs to get your trunk from that cupboard. I saw the sign that said 'Harry's room'." Harry remained silent but he was eyeing the door as if looking for a reason to flee. "Harry, I don't know why you would defend them…"

"Have you ever heard me defend them?" Harry snapped angrily. "I begged Dumbledore not to send me back to them after my first year. But I have to go back every year because of some stupid blood ward. If I never saw any of them again I would be perfectly happy. I don't need them. I've been taking care of myself my entire life."

"I imagine taking care of yourself meant not doing magic." Fred said not wanting to get to far off topic. Fred knew now that he was right about Harry's mental block. The way Harry snapped so easily meant those emotions were very close to the surface even if Harry didn't know it.

"The Dursley's don't like magic." Harry stated. "Ron didn't get punished for taking those cookies?"

"Sure," Fred said. "He got punished for eating the cookies, not for summoning them. Accidental magic isn't voluntary for the most part. I don't imagine you actually tried to blow up your aunt the summer before last even if it did sound like she deserved it."

"What does this have to do with summoning charms?" Harry asked impatiently, hoping to get the topic off of his relatives.

"Summoning charms are pretty much instinctual to most witches and wizards." Fred tried to explain. "For most of your life your magic has instinctually protected you by suppressing that magic. You have to get past that instinct."

"And how do I do that?" Harry said looking defeated. Honestly Fred had no idea. Harry's instincts were strong, which will serve him well in the future.

"You're in charge of your magic Harry." Fred said. "Part of becoming a wizard is learning how to control it. The first step is to acknowledge what you're doing and why. After that… I'm not sure." Harry got up and positioned himself on the opposite side of the classroom of the pillows. Fred just watched patiently as Harry tried to work through whatever was in his head at the moment. After a long minute, a look of determination crossed the fourth years face.

"Accio!" Harry said firmly. The stack of pillows across the room pummeled into Harry. Fred laughed crossing the room, picking up Harry's broken glasses. Harry was laughing as well, more from relief than joy. Fred extended his hand helping Harry up from the pile of pillows.

"Did you mean to summon all of them?" Fred asked fixing Harry's glasses and handing them back to him.

"No." Harry said still chuckling. "I guess I just really, really wanted it to work."

"Well, you showed those pillows." Fred said ruffling Harry's hair. "We'll work on it." And work on it they did for the next twenty minutes but it seemed that once Harry's block had been taken down, nothing was stopping him now. Other than a mis-happened pillow hitting Fred in the face which Fred wasn't all sure was accidental, Harry had no other problems with the summoning charm. He even summoned all the pillows at once and placed them in the receptacle where they belonged.

"Thanks Fred." Harry said sincerely as they left the classroom.

"I told you I would help." Fred said wrapping a friendly arm around the boy. "That dragon won't know what hit him on Tuesday."

"You do have a plan for Tuesday, right?" Harry asked looking worriedly at Fred.

"Of course I do." Fred said with more confidence than what he was feeling. "I got to get to charms. Tonight, we'll go down to the quidditch pitch and you can summon your Firebolt from your room. George and I can help you practice your dives and dodges."

"Sounds like a plan." Harry said smiling as Fred walked off. "Thanks again Fred!" If Harry noticed that Fred did not walk toward the charms corridor he made no comment.

And Fred didn't go to charms. Now that he was sure that Harry would survive the first task the pit in his stomach grew. He still had no idea how to get past his own dragon and he was running out of time.

Fred went to the WWW classroom. A number of cauldrons stewing with potions were in the corner. A half-finished extendable ear was sitting on the desk Fred had been working at yesterday. Sitting at the desk, Fred conjured a bird cage with a small finch inside. He had taken Ollivander's words to heart and was seeing if there was any changes in his spell work. The only way Fred knew how to monitor power was to see how long a conjuration lasted. So far Fred had not noticed any changes.

Fred tried to work on the extendable ears in front of him but he kept losing concentration so he gave up. Instead Fred went to his 'go to' when he was stressed. A wizard set was in the far corner. Instead of playing, Fred went about disenchanting all the pieces and started crafting them once again. The task required just enough concentration that he couldn't think too much about anything else but he had done the enchantments so many times that it wasn't a challenge.

"How did it go with Harry?" George asked. Fred wasn't startled by George, having known the moment he entered their sanctuary.

"That boy is better at summoning spells then I am." Fred said placing the white queen back on the board. "I said we would help him at the quidditch pitch tonight."

"I told Flitwick that you were practicing spells for the task." George said taking a seat opposite Fred, picking up a black rook Fred had yet to re-enchant. Fred made no comment. "He says he expects a full report on his desk by the end of next week of all the spells you use in the task and why you picked them."

"Great. I'll get right on that." Fred said flicking a finger at the white king making it fall over. Fred sighed and leaned back into his chair staring at his twin opposite him. George waited patiently for Fred to speak again. "I have no idea what I'm going to do about my dragon." George laughed.

"I don't see how this is funny George." Fred said confused.

"You have been spouting to Harry for two weeks that he needs to stick to his strengths." George said getting his laughing under control. He got up from his chair. "Perhaps you should take your own advice." George handed him the black rook before leaving the table. "I'll take care of Harry. You work on not getting killed on Tuesday." Then he left the room leaving Fred looking thoughtfully down at the black rook in his hand.

The morning of the first task George watched as Fred and Lee entertained some first years at the Gryffindor table. They were throwing playful spells at each other that were not much more than sparks in a fake duel. The first years were entranced with the show as they were all still very new to seeing magic like this even though by the end of the year they would be able to preform the same spells. Fred was always good at putting on a show.

George's attention was taken away from the scene when, for the second time that morning, the Great Hall irrupted into claps and cheers. Harry had just entered the hall with Ron and Hermione in tow. Unlike Fred, who had jumped on the Gryffindor table and taken a few bows, Harry shuffled shyly to the middle of the table and sat down among his year mates hiding from the attention. George picked up his potions book and went to join him.

"You should eat something Harry." Hermione was saying, handing Harry some buttered toast. Harry took it and began nibbling on it.

"Nervous?" George asked as he sat down next to Harry. "Got a case of the dragons flapping in your belly?" Harry grimaced and put the toast down. Hermione glared at George.

"Did you want something George?" Ron asked scowling as well.

"Touchy, are we?" George said putting his hands up in surrender. "Just wanted to loosen the tension. You could almost cut it with a dragon's claw." Hermione and Ron continued to glare.

"Seriously though," George said turning his attention back to Harry, "you have nothing to be nervous about Harry. You have a really good plan and we have practiced as much as possible. This is nothing more than another quidditch match. You always get nervous before a match but once you get in the air you'll be fine."

"Right, cause quidditch players can usually breath fire and bite me in half." Harry said sarcastically.

"You've met Angelina and Alicia, right?" George asked deadpanned. Harry chuckled and picked up his toast again. "I don't know about you but I am not looking forward to having Angelina as captain next year. That girl can breathe fire if she wants to."

"Thanks for trying George." Harry sighed. "But I'm not like Fred. I don't get how he can be so cool about all this." Harry and George watched as Fred took shelter behind a laughing first year from Lee's assault of sparks.

"Don't let the act fool you." George said getting up from the table. "Fred is a huge ball of nerves right now. He's just goofing off to keep himself from focusing on it." George grabbed a full plate of sausage and placed it in front of Harry. "Well, I have double potions this morning so I best not be late. I wonder if it's a coincidence that we're doing burning salves today?" Ron threw a muffin at George as he walked away, Hermione still glared but Harry stabbed one of the sausages and pointedly took a bite. George smiled, task complete.

On his way to potions George seriously thought about skivvying off. He had just finished a batch of Puking Pasties and wouldn't mind seeing them in action even if he was the victim of the prank. Instead he could be watching Fred practice his plan over and over like he had during the past few days, pointing out any flaw, or throwing in some surprise scenario that Fred would have to react to.

But George knew Fred better than anyone else, including himself. Fred would want to be alone, manically going through his plan. George's own nerves and worry would just distract Fred from the task at hand and he would probably start goofing off like he had at breakfast. Harry was right on one thing this morning. He was not like Fred, or more specifically, the task ahead of them was not alike. The end goal was the same, but whereas Harry's plan was built around instinct and improvisation, Fred's plan needed to go off with out a hitch, each spell working as it should and each action taken by Fred and the dragon in sequence.

George robotically set up his potions set as the rest of the sixth-year students entered the potions classroom. Eventually Cedric set up next to him, as usual in this class, as no other sixth-year Hufflepuff or Gryffindor dared take the class past OWLS.

"So, is Fred nervous about today?" Cedric ask George opening a book in between their cauldrons to the potion they were supposed to be brewing today, Skele-Gro.

"Honestly, I think I'm more nervous than he is." George said lighting his cauldron.

"You should all have read the chapter on this potion before class." Snape strode into the room suddenly and exactly on time. Some of the students who came in a little late quickly went to light their cauldrons. Snape expected you to be ready to start brewing as soon as class started. No extra time was given to brew a potion if someone fell behind. "Take extra time to chop your roots evenly or your potion is likely to come out lumpy. Though this does not affect the effects of the potion, points will be taken off. If you have any questions about a step, I expect you to ask."

"Mr. Weasley!" Snape turned toward George and Cedric. "If I so much as see an ingredient at your work station that is not in this potion I will give you a zero. The hellebore in this potion is extremely volatile and toxic if not prepared properly." George nodded.

Snape was right to give the warning. George was not known to follow the directions on every potion. He would add ingredients or prepare them differently which would sometime cause explosions, toxic bubbles, cauldron collapse, or on one amusing occasion, an escaped mass of sludge that seemed to have a mind of its own and would grow when set on fire. On the other hand, George's experiments also surprised even Snape sometimes when it would improve efficiency, replace expensive ingredients, or make a completely different potion not known before. Their usefulness varied from hair growing in strange places to an antidote that negated the effects of most poisons such as snake venom, love potions, and even veritaserum (Snape was still experimenting with it).

George took Snape's warning and followed each step as the book set, although he was tempted to add a little more knotgrass to shorten the time it took to regrow the bones, but that would also require adding more hellebore which, as Snape said, was volatile.

As George finished adding the exact amount of knotgrass the recipe called for, his thoughts returned to Fred, or more specifically, the thing that Fred has been thinking about nonstop for the past few weeks… the future. George tried not to think about it too much. Call him cowardly, but George was sure that his boggart right now would be Fred telling him everything about the future.

George could always tell when Fred was thinking about it. A shadow would fall over him, and a seriousness that no sixteen-year-old should have formed lines on his face. But the future wasn't what worried George the most, as scary as it seemed. What worried George the most was that Fred had taken it upon himself to change it. Already, George could see the changes in his twin. Where once, Fred would play a game of quidditch with his friends just because he needed a day to relax; now he had ulterior motives to help Harry figure out how to get past a dragon. Though George had pestered Fred about planning for his own dragon, George half expected Fred to go into that arena today and not have a plan other than to prank the dragon… somehow. But now Fred was, no doubt, going through each step of his plan repeatedly, relying too much on it in George's opinion. No room for failure.

What happens when something didn't go to plan? And George wasn't thinking about the dragon… What happens if someone got hurt that wasn't supposed to? Something that didn't happen before because Fred changed something? There was no doubt going to be difficult decision in the future if a war was coming; sacrifices that had to made. George was worried that these decisions would destroy his twin.

Later that afternoon as Fred and Harry entered the tent housing the champions Fred couldn't help but wonder once again what he had gotten himself into. Since he had no classes this morning he spent all day in the WWW sanctuary practicing his plan. He had it down to an art… in the classroom… but now that he was facing the actual prospect of a dragon he felt as if his plan was woefully unprepared.

In the tent, Fleur was sitting in a corner on a wooden stool. She was pale and clammy looking just like Fred felt. He hoped he wasn't showing his nerves as much as her. Krum looked even surlier than usual, almost as if Rita Skeeter had asked for another interview. Bagman bounced up from his chair greeting Harry, once again ignoring Fred as if he weren't there. Fred found it difficult not to compare him to a buzzing bee on his favorite flower, especially with that horrid Wasp uniform he was wearing.

"Well, now we're all here, time to fill you in!" Bagman said brightly. "When…"

Fred tuned him out. He knew the task at hand, had been thinking about it ever since he put his name in the goblet. After a few minutes of talking Bagman exited the tent. The tent filled with silence, each champion thinking about the task at hand. Harry looked at Fred from across the tent. Fred tried to smile reassuringly back, not sure if he had succeeded. It seemed only a few minutes had passed before the crowds from the school could be heard outside the tent and Bagman had returned.

"Ladies first." He said, offering the purple silk bag to Fleur. She drew out the Green Welsh. Fred found it only a little surprising to see no shock on either Fleur or Krum's faces. They obviously knew what the task was as well. Funny how Fred only thought about telling them now, especially considering his protectiveness toward Fleur earlier in the month. Fred shrugged it off, he had a lot on his mind these last few weeks.

Krum chose next, pulling out the Chinese Fireball. Fred breathed out a sigh of relief, that was the one breed that could have screwed up his plan. He was glad that some butterfly effect didn't happen and hoped that he would get the same breed as Cedric. Yes, that meant that Harry would have to fight the Hungarian Horntail again but he had done it before… sort of.

Fred's turn came next and, sure enough, he pulled out the Swedish Short-Snout leaving the Horntail to Harry. Bagman was talking again… Fred wasn't listening until he heard his name.

"Mr. Weasley, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now… Harry… could I have a quick word? Outside?" Fred narrowed his eyes at Bagman.

"Er… sure." Harry said leaving the tent with Bagman.

"You're very protective of him, aren't you?" Fleur asked in her French accent (A/N: which I can't write well) "Why?"

"He's family." Fred shrugged going to the other end of the tent where he would enter the arena. "I may have entered this tournament for the prize money but Harry didn't. I'm going to make sure he makes it through this thing in one piece."

"So, you believe him when he says that he didn't put his name in the goblet?" Fleur said. Their conversation had attracted the attention of Krum as well.

"Harry is a magnet when it comes to trouble." Fred answered. "And just so you are aware, the kind of trouble that follows Harry is never good. Just keep your eyes open." The whistle blew and Fred left the tent as he was instructed.

Fred entered the arena to hundreds of anticipating faces. Most spectators, having been on the receiving end of one of the twins' jokes, could not wait to see how he planned to trick his dragon. The Swedish short-snout was eyeing him wearily, keeping a protective shield around her nest in the middle of the arena. Her silvery blue scales were beautiful and Fred spent just a few seconds to capture this moment. His heart was pounding with adrenaline; his grip firm (and slightly sweaty) around his wand. Fred took one deep breath looking eye to eye with the dragon and then swallowed the lump in his throat. She gave a tremendous, threatening roar breaking the moment. The stands went silent in tension and Fred went to work.

Fred hid behind one of the larger boulders. He recalled Swedish short-snouts had extremely hot fire breath but due to the heat they only had one good burst of flame every few minutes. The key would be to get the dragon to use that burst and then get it away from the nest so Fred could grab the egg. Last time Cedric was able to transfigure a rock into a dog to distract the dragon which worked for a short time but ended in Cedric getting a nasty burn from the Short snout's blue flames. Transfiguration didn't come naturally to Fred like charms and a dog was a little anticlimactic.

The first charm Fred used was to summon as many hand-sized rocks as he could to his hiding spot. The cave like arena had plenty to spare. Fred set eight of the largest to the side, enchanting them each with the charms he practiced to perfection over the weekend. Each glowed blue, as he expected, before turning back to pewter grey, only a slight blue aura around each rock distinguishing them from the others. One of these eight he placed securely into his right pocket for easy access.

The smaller stones left at Fred's feet were all enchanted next with spells he knew well enough to do in his sleep. They glowed red and felt warm to the touch. The whole process took Fred less than five minutes but the crowd was starting to grow restless. Fred could even hear a few jeers, probably from Slytherins, about how 'Gryffindor bravery' meant hiding behind rocks.

Meanwhile, Bagman was doing an excellent job of commentating, spouting fact about the dragons the four champions were going to face and reminding everyone of the task before them. "Anytime now Mr. Weasley is sure to surprise us all with his ingenuity and skill." Bagman announced. Fred wondered how much money the wizard had on this little tournament and if he was really rooting for Fred or not. Probably not…

Fred summoned one last rock, about the size of his head, and cast an unbreakable charm on the rock before connecting it to all the other small, glowing red stones at his feet. He then stepped out from behind the boulder he had been hiding behind.

"Oye! Firebreath!" Fred threw the unbreakable rock at the dragon with his magic, hitting the dragon in the nose before guiding the rock to the dragon's feet, careful to keep it a few feet away from the nest. "Want to play fetch?" Fred asked the dragon. The dragon just hunched over her nest more, protecting it from any more flying projectiles. Fred threw the larger blue-enchanted rocks, followed by the red glowing stones around the arena being sure to place them evenly surrounding the dragon. For the dragon's part, she looked rather bored. Fred was careful not to get the flying rocks too close to her. When Fred seemed to be out of rocks she gave him a contempt look, huffing out a puff of smoke.

"I'm not sure she is going to fall for that Mr. Weasley." Bagman announced awkwardly as if embarrassed for Fred's lack of imagination. "Perhaps a different strategy." Fred ignored him and cast Sonorus on himself.

"I don't think anyone taught this dragon how to fetch George." Fred amplified for the stands to hear, starting his own commentary. There was a ripple of surprise in the crowded stadium.

"I think your right Fred." At the word 'George', an illusion of said twin appeared on the other side of the dragon. At 'George's' voice the dragon whipped around, surprised at the sudden appearance of another threat. Fred took the opportunity to slip back behind the boulder, dropping the remaining blue-enchanted rock in his pocket and activating it. When the dragon turned back around to look at the original threat an illusion of 'Fred' stood where the real one once stood. "Perhaps she's better at playing catch?" 'George' taunted.

"Do you think she knows Itchy Witch?" The illusion of Fred asked. Itchy Witch was a beloved wizarding nursery rhyme used to teach young wizard children about potions. Growing up, Fred had numerous memories of him and his sibling throwing a quaffle to each other, where the person who caught the ball had to recite the next portion of the nursery rhyme. If they got it wrong or didn't catch the ball the potion would 'blow up' and they would have to start again.

"You know that game isn't fun without more people Fred." 'George' said. At the phrase 'more people' six identical Fred/George illusions popped into existence around the arena surrounding the dragon. "That's better." 'George' said. Altogether, the eight illusions started chanting the nursery rhyme. Some people in the stadium who were familiar with the rhyme joined in.

"There once was a witch with an itch!

As much as she try it just wouldn't die!

A potion she'll brew, full of goo

To take the itch without a glitch."

Behind the boulder Fred had already started prepping for the next part of his plan. He canceled the Sonorus charm and disillusioned himself, also casting a silencing spell at his shoes to muffle the crunch on the gravel floor. He glanced around the boulder to see how the dragon was reacting to his illusions. She was turning her head left and right trying to determine who was the worst threat but so far none of the illusions had done anything but chant the nursery rhyme. Fred leaned back behind the boulder, hidden once again, knowing that the dragon would soon not be so docile.

"One! Set the fire, watch it burn!

Let the water boil and churn!"

At the word 'one' a glowing red stone came flying from an illusion on the dragon's right, exploding against her blue scales. She roared in agitation, her attention on the illusion that dare to harm her or her nest. The explosion wasn't more than an irritation for the dragon's scales but the sparks that flew from the impact made a spectacular show.

"Two! Bat wings first, then the spleen!

Stir it twice to make it green!"

Another red stone sprang from a different illusion at the word 'two'. The dragon, attention still on the first stone-throwing-threat, was not expecting the impact coming from her left. Her head whipped around to the offending threat but she didn't focus on it for long. She eyed all eight threats around her, not sure which she should attack first or where the next attack would come from.

"Three! Dandelions are in season!

Cut the roots nice and even!

The chant was drowned out by the roar of the dragon. A blast of blue flame shot from the dragon's mouth as she circled around hitting each illusion. Some of the more dramatic students in the stands screamed. Fred saw the flicker of a person at the entrance of the arena checking to see if the flame had reached him but Fred was still tucked away behind the protection of the boulder, which had grown warm from the fire. Fred was amazed Cedric hadn't been charred to death when he faced this dragon. The eight illusions did not even flicker, the flame going through them as they continued their chant.

"Four! Add a lone thorn of rose!

Mist will tickle on the nose!

The dragon looked cornered, her flame having done nothing to the threats surrounding her and her nest. Another red stone exploded against her neck at the word 'four'. She spun to the illusion that threw it.

With the dragon's flame no longer an issue, Fred left his sanctuary behind the boulder and began moving toward the nest, invisible. His entire focus was on getting to the egg without the dragon noticing. He would only get one chance at this and could not afford to wait.

"Five! Add a pinch of fresh dittany!

Stir 'til of thick consistency!"

The next exploding stone came from the 'Fred' illusion but the dragon was already moving toward the threat in her sight on the other side of the arena. The stone exploded against her tail. Fred was half way to the nest, approaching closest to the golden egg.

"Six! Harvest moondew in the night!

To make your potion come out right!

The dragon bit at the illusion in front of her. Her bite went through the illusion and she stumbled slightly, not expecting no resistance. She must have stepped on the rock attached to the illusion because the Fred/George look-a-like flickered out, leaving only seven illusions to continue the chant.

With the dragon now away from the nest Fred moved in more quickly to grab the golden egg but he was not prepared for the explosion of the red stone that sprang toward the unbreakable rock which had been placed at the dragon's feet at the beginning. Fred was blasted with sparks and small pieces of sharp gravel. He was glad he thought to leave the enchanted rock that acted like a magnet to the red stones a few feet away from the nest.

"Seven! Squeeze baneberry one at a time!"

Smell the vapors pure and divine!

The dragon roared once more, enraged at the attack on her nest. She charged at the original 'George', where the stone had come from at the word 'seven'. Fred was once again showered with gravel as the exploding stone hit the same spot as the last. He quickly picked up the golden egg and ran for it.

"Eight! Add the leaves before it's too late!

All that's left is to sit and wait!"

The dragon snapped at the "George' illusion a couple time but 'George' remained untouched continuing his chant. Fred made a beeline to the entrance of the arena, golden egg securely under his arm. The dragon keepers were already coming into the arena to calm the dragon. The dragon gave up her attack on the illusion and went back to her nest to protect it from any more exploding stones.

"Nine! A sprig of mint to calm the taste!

Stew for hours for a thick paste!

Fred summoned the original enchanted magnetic rock at the dragon's feet and canceled the enchantments. The seven remaining illusions canceled at the end of the rhyme and the only noise left was the cheering of the crowd

"Well I think that performance is going to be hard to beat! Well done Mr. Weasley." Bagman's words were nearly drawn out from the roar of the crowd.

"That was amazing!" Someone came up behind Fred putting an arm around him and shaking him slightly. "Never seen anything like it! I knew you would do well in this tournament… and mother was worried."

"Thanks Charlie." Fred said, a sense of relief flooding him now that the task was over. "I have to admit, I didn't think it would play out that well, but I guess luck is on our side sometimes."

"That wasn't luck, little brother." Charlie said watching his fellow dragon keepers stun the Short-Snout. "That was genius. I never knew you were so good at illusions."

"The illusions were the easy part." Fred admitted. "Trying to get them all to rhyme at the same time was tricky. Plus, this was all flash and bangs. The real talent has yet to be seen." Fred winked at Charlie.

Charlie stayed with Fred until the scores from the judges were read out. Fred didn't pay too much attention to the score but if his memory served correctly he would be in lead at the end of this task, rather significantly, considering he received a six from Karkaroff.

Fred watched off to the side with Charlie as the other champions faced their dragons. Fleur and Krum did not change up their routine from the first time Fred watched this task in the stands, but Fred was please to note that only three of the eggs were crushed this time around during Krums task instead of all five. How strange that something so small would change? Then came Harry's turn…

In all the time Fred spent in the past now, he had never had a sense of deja-vu before, but as he watch Harry fly against that dragon again it was like watching a memory unfold. Each weave, every dive, was the same as Fred remembered and it was just as spectacular the second time.

Please Review... It helps get the baneberry juices flowing...