《Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭》38.

Advertisement

Sophia found her body reacting before she even made a decision and she was soon engulfed in Fred's arms. Burying her face into Fred's school jumper was one of her favourite sensations that came with being his girlfriend, and it made her feel special that she was one of the few who could do it. Even if it did block off most of her air intake, Sophia took the time to enjoy being cuddled against his tall frame and only being the height to reach his chin while on her toes. Fred didn't complain and happy wrapped his arms around the small girl, knowing full well that she needed it right now. Cupping the back of her head with one of his palms and the other around her middle, the boy faintly could smell the shampoo she used as well as the scent of washing powder that was used by the House Elves at Hogwarts.

"Your mum reads the Prophet doesn't she?" Sophia's voice was muffled from the fabric of his jumper.

"Not after what they wrote about Dad from the Quidditch World Cup."

Sophia nodded against his chest and went silent again, the two remaining in the hug for longer than they intended. It wasn't until Professor Trewlaney came stumbling down the corridor that the two broke apart, the Professor smelling oddly of Cooking Sherry.

"Ah children," she said in her mystical tone, throwing her arms out in front of her to engage the two who stood close to each other. "Love is what I see in your futures. Oh most certainly. But in the corridors is not where it should be unfolding. Pip pip children."

Fred spent the rest of the week keeping a close eye on Sophia and being was extra affectionate towards her. He went the extra lengths to make her smile without making any jokes that he thought were too far. Fred had even started to wait outside of her classes in order to walk her to her next one, sometimes jeopardising his own classes. The amount of times Professor McGonagall had scolded him for being late now became an everyday thing, with her saying things like,

"Did Miss Lupin make it to Astronomy today Mr Weasley?"

And,

" Did you make sure she had some Breakfast this morning Mr Weasley?"

To Sophia's surprise, Hermione sat beside her in the common room one evening while they were doing their homework. She had previously caught eyes with Fred from across the room who stood with George and Angelina Johnson, the two exchanging a quick warm smile that Hermione caught sight of. Her friend tapped her on the shoulder to catch her attention before saying,

"Has Fred told you about his new athletic activities?"

"What do you mean?" Sophia questioned, confused.

"Both Neville and Dean told me that they've seen Fred sprinting down the halls in between classes," Hermione explained and it only confused Sophia more. Reading her expression, Hermione rolled her eyes with an amused smile before explaining further. "He's running to take you to your classes Sophia."

Looking back over at Fred with now a new type of admiration and liking, she watched as he broke out into a charming laugh with George about something Angelina said. The way the crinkles formed next to his eyes made her heart stop and the display of his white teeth made her swoon completely, unable to hold make the giddy smile that formed on her face. Hermione shook her head with her own smile and turned back to her homework, only to be disturbed moments later by Ron appearing at her side.

Advertisement

"Please Hermione!" he tried to push his own homework into her hands. "Just the Introduction! After that I'll get out of your hair."

"You haven't even started yet?" Hermione cried. "It's due tomorrow Ronald!"

"I know! That's why I need you to help me!" Ron replied with an equal amount of integrity. With another roll of her eyes, Hermione snatched the parchment out of his hands and sat with a scowl on her face as she started on Ron's essay first.

It soon came the night before the third task and Sophia had finally decided to muster up some of her Gryffindor courage to pull out her Sky map. Searching through her trunk, she found the wrapped up scroll of parchment and pulled it out into her hands. She breathed in through her nose and let it out in an audible huff, already starting to have doubts again. What if she read that one of the champions died? What if she read that Harry dies? Would she try and stop it? Who would believe her enough to try change it? She knew it was better to not interfere with the course of the future, just like how it was with trying to interfere with the past with a time-turner.

Sophia made her way down the stairs from the girls' dormitory and entered into the common room. It's liveliness warmed her as she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting on the sofa around the fireplace, and spotting Fred and George leaning back against the wall near the largest window of the room. She could tell that Ron and Hermione were trying to ease Harry for the last task, while Fred and George were making bets between themselves about the outcomes of tomorrow. Walking towards the portrait hole, she turned her head to meet eyes with Fred for a moment. She gave him a smile and held up the rolled scroll for him to see, to which he replied with a nod and a wink of encouragement.

It was about fifteen minutes before curfew started, giving her plenty of time to walk through the corridors and make it to the courtyard that was situated outside the Entrance Hall. It was rather quiet outside of the common rooms, with the Beauxbatons students staying in their carriage and the Durmstrangs staying on their ship on the Black Lake. She only passed one Professor on the way to the Entrance Hall, that being Professor Binns who looked as droopy as ever. He didn't spare her a glance as he hovered away around a corner, leaving her along for the rest of her pursuit.

Finally making it outside and under the sky, Sophia took a spot in the middle of the courtyard and looked over her shoulders to ensure no student, Professor or ghost was around. It also wouldn't help if the slippery Rita Skeeter was about either, seeing as she couldn't keep her nose out of anyone's business. Unraveling the scroll, Sophia pulled the parchment to a tight hold and started to compare both her map and the night sky.

Judging by the whereabouts of what was seen on her map and in the sky at that moment; Sophia read a whole bunch of readings that didn't mean much to her. She heard that great winnings will be won through the generosity of another as well as means of loss for competing rivals. Whatever that meant, she didn't know but something else caught her eye that she couldn't explain.

Advertisement

Pulling her eyebrows together, she started to read over and over particular words from the night sky. The map was now abandoned in her hands as she couldn't tear her eyes from the twinkling orbs. Three readings brought her into a jumbled state and she attempted to think that she was reading the sky wrong. It just couldn't be. The stars were telling her that a spare shall fall and will initiate the beginning of great suffering. They also told her that masters and servants shall be reunited once more, and that the most recent edition to Hogwarts was an imposter.

Sophia's mind swirled as she realised what it all meant. She hoped she was wrong, but her intellect was forcing her to see the truth. And that truth was one of her worst worries and fears;

One of the champions is going to die tomorrow and that the man she feared most at the school was an imposter. Whoever was teaching their Defence Against the Dark Arts class wasn't the Ex-Auror Dumbledore had hired.

"Mad-Eye Moody... is an imposter," she hadn't meant to speak aloud and immediately regretted it when she was hit full force by a powerful spell.

"Stupefy!"

Sophia lurched forward and crashed into the cemented ground at least seven feet from where she once stood. Her eyes remained wide as the impact scraped her bare arms and cheek, leaving blood to rise to the surface of her skin. Completely still and unable to move, Professor Moody held his wand in his hand as he limped to where she lay, grunting as he did so. Her map had landed next to her and was now loosely laying open to mirror the sky above it, in full view for the imposter to see. Sophia felt her insides tremble in fear as the terrifying man stopped above her, looking down with his freakish eye with a look that showed both annoyance as well as smugness.

"Should've stayed in your common room tonight Miss Lupin," his gruff voice followed with a sigh. The girl helplessly stared ahead at the sky which failed to warn her quick enough of the man who had been standing behind her, hearing the utter of his visage all too well. She felt weak as she couldn't even utter a word, watching as the Professor aimed his wand at her again. This was the end, she thought. She wouldn't be able to stop tomorrow's tournament. Someone was going to die and this imposter will continue on at Hogwarts.

"But I'm sure the old bat will enjoy some company."

The next evening had a tense and anxious atmosphere as visitors, students and teachers alike stood in the stands that faced the giant walls that lead into the maze. Professor Dumbledore stood with his wand connecting to his neck, speaking out of the rules and guidelines of the final task. Harry stood at one of the entrances to the maze with sweat gleaming his brow, Professor Moody standing behind for encouragement. He watched the many people in the stands cheering for him with 'Potter' written on their foreheads and dawning red and gold colours for Gryffindor.

"The champions will enter the maze according to their places currently in the tournament," Dumbledore announced to the crowd. "Starting with Cedric Diggory-" a loud cheer came from the group of Hufflepuffs as well as Cedric's own parents. "-followed by Harry Potter."

The stands that held the Gryffindor supporters all cheered together for Harry, giving him some confidence and support for the knowingly difficult task ahead. Hermione and Ron stood together in the stands to cheer on their best friend, Ron turning around instinctively to look at Fred and George who were standing behind them. Going to turn back around, Ron stopped himself and started to look around the crowd for a particular brunette who he couldn't see.

"Fred, where's Sophia?" he asked confused. Fred glanced down at his younger brother with similar confusion as well as concern, the 'Potter' written across his forehead looking out of place with such an expression.

"I don't know, I couldn't find her at all today," Fred answered.

"She wasn't in her bed this morning," Hermione added when she heard the conversation. This now put Fred in a deep worry as he knew that the last time he saw her was when she left the common room last night to look at her map. He hadn't expected her to not return and the worst scenarios came to his head from her odd disappearance. Maybe she was caught by Filch and was being held in the dungeons. Or maybe she had fallen over the blasted moving staircases and was a mere puddle left at the bottomless pit of stairs.

The sound of the cannon echoed and Cedric entered the maze, starting the third task for the Tri-Wizard tournament. Harry soon followed before Viktor and Fleur were also engulfed by the maze's darkness. Fred continuously was shaking his leg in nervousness and worry, whipping his head all around the crowd in hopes of seeing Sophia pop out of nowhere. He was now furiously angry at himself for not thinking of accompanying her last night and was ready to go up to Professor Dumbledore to send out a search party.

Fred hadn't noticed that Remus Lupin was walking up the stairs of the stands to stand next to him in the crowd. The cheering around him continued and Remus was giving Fred a funny stare as the boy seemed deep in thought with the cheers going unheard through his ears. Sophia's father looked still as shabby as the last time he had appeared in the Weasleys' home, thin strands of grey hair now seen in his dark brown lanky locks. He had come to Hogwarts to watch the last task as Sirius had begged him to see how Harry went. Remus was also hoping to talk to his daughter face to face for the first time in a while, with the last letter they had exchanged had been the one that had been sent with the picture of Sophia, Hermione and Parvati from the Yule Ball. Remus had folded up this photograph and kept it in his jacket pocket, treasuring the amusing moment of his daughter ruining (or in fact improving) a beautiful photo.

"What's got you thinking so hard Fred?" the man's voice pulled Fred out of his thoughts and he turned his head to see Remus's amused face. But this only boasted his state of concern, seeing as Remus didn't look like he knew of Sophia's disappearance.

    people are reading<Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭>
      Close message
      Advertisement
      You may like
      You can access <East Tale> through any of the following apps you have installed
      5800Coins for Signup,580 Coins daily.
      Update the hottest novels in time! Subscribe to push to read! Accurate recommendation from massive library!
      2 Then Click【Add To Home Screen】
      1Click