| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Seventy-Six

After the first ten minutes of the Second-Task, it was clear to everyone present that they were just going to be watching the surface of the Black Lake for an hour, waiting for the champions to return.

It was getting quite boring.

However, Olive stared at the surface of the lake closely, her brows furrowed, as if her stare alone could magically make the four champions and the most important person in their lives resurface unharmed.

While she hoped the Ministry would make sure nothing would happen to the "hostages," even if the champions weren't able to get to them in time, the thought of time running out still sent an uneasy feeling in her gut.

This task definitely caused the problems Ollie had with the TriWizard Tournament resurface.

Looking up at George, who was watching the lake with an air or boredom, she wondered what would happen if he had actually been able to successfully submit his name into the Goblet of Fire and be chosen... or Fred, or Nat!

If Natalie were chosen, would Olive be the one sitting at the bottom of the Black Lake right now? Or perhaps Marjorie?

Would she be down at the bottom of the lake if George had been chosen as the Hogwarts Champion?

"Olls?" George squeezed her hand, "You okay?"

She didn't realize she was still looking up at him, or even still holding his hand until he spoke. Olive blinked a few times, looking back out at the lake with her lips pursed and brows tightly knit together.

"Yeah..." she cleared her throat, "Just... just thinking, is all."

George quirked a brow, rubbing the back of Ollie's hand with his thumb. He followed her gaze back out to the lake, and then fixated on her with his soft, dark gaze.

"I'm positive that Dumbledore would not let anything happen to any of them down there." He reassured her, causing Olive to flick her head back up to him. As he said those words, she could tell be meant them, but there was still an inkling of worry for Ron in his expression.

"I know." She sighed, "I just... the way he worded it made it seem like 'you have one hour or else.' If Harry didn't already look like he was going to vomit, he did then."

"It's Harry. If he doesn't look like he's about to vomit from a stressful situation at least once, does it count as an eventful school year?"

They stared at each other for a moment, their serious expressions quickly morphing into smiles, giggles and muffled laughter bursting from their lips.

"George!" She playfully hit him on the arm.

"What? It's true! And funny!"

Olive shook her head, hands over her head to keep her knit hat from flinging off her dark curls, "Well... That doesn't mean-"

"What are you two laughing about over here?" Fred, being the self-proclaimed master at good-timing that he is, shimmied his way between his twin and Olive, wrapping his arms around their shoulders.

"George here is poking fun at our dear friend Harry's series of predicaments the last few years." Olive said, sticking her tongue out at George when he feigned a look of hurt.

"Only you could word it that way, Ollie." Fred chuckled, "Anyways, I just got a small hint from Percy that apparently Dumbledore and the King of the Merpeople struck some sort of deal to ensure that Ron and the other students in the lake won't be hurt."

"Percy told you that?" George looked over to where the judges were standing, Percy Weasley standing in for Barty Crouch for the Second Task, "To your face? Willingly?"