Chapter Text
“Stop.”
“What?”
“Staring.”
Fred Weasleys gaze was then pulled from the other table and redirected towards his twin brother who was looking straight at him.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about” replied Fred indignantly, raising his eyebrows in a challenge to his brother.
George snorted and turned his attention back to the plate of food in front of him and his conversation with Lee. Fred kept his gaze lingering on his twin brother’s face before he returned his attention to the far side of the hall, looking at the witch in blue robes, who had originally held his attention. She picked at her food and as she held a conversation with the person opposite her.
Fred wasn’t entirely sure what exactly it was about her, that always called for his attention, but something did. It had since his very first encounter with her…
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On the other side of the hall Asherah was having an intense staring competition with her own brother.
‘Something you want to say Ash?’ Arroyo her eldest and at this precise point most annoying brother queried.
Asherah only narrowed her eyes at him in return as she thought back to last night when the news hit the great hall…
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
The knife was slowly digging out a small chunk in the terribly old table. Asherah was so focused on what she was doing that she didn’t have a clue what was going on around her as she continued to scrape at the surface of the table.
“Ash!” a voice came from her right-hand side as well as a well-placed elbow in her ribs.
“Bloody hell Nicole!” Asherah yelped back, hand flying down to defend her ribcage from the unsporting attack. “What!”
She was met with an eye roll from her friend.
“You’re missing Dumbledore's speech about the TriWizard Tournament, and the other schools, you donut.”
“Oh” that certainly got Ash’s attention away from decimating the edge of the table. Focusing properly on the elderly Headmaster and what he was saying. The tournament sounded dangerous, that was for sure. Eternal glory and a large cash prize was enough to tempt most 17 year olds.
Ash quickly scanned the table looking for her two older brothers, Callan would just about be old enough to enter by the sounds of it, turning 17 in just a few weeks, but she would be surprised if he did. She didn’t think it was his type of competition – or that he would be reckless enough.
Arroyo however, definitely was reckless enough. And so therefore the one to be most concerned about. With quidditch being replaced this year by the tournament, and this being his last year at Hogwarts, he may well decide to enter.
She spotted Callan and Arroyo sat closer to the teachers at the far end of the hall, and saw them sat with their heads close together.
Oh shit.
That definitely wasn’t reassuring.
Arroyo happened to glance up and catch her eye, giving her a smile of recognition. Asherah shook her head at him, trying to communicate her thoughts from the other end of the hall. He just grinned back at her and gave her a wink.
She scowled grumpily back at him.
Mum will not only kill him but kill every single one of us if she found out he was planning to enter.
An uproar was sounded across the room when over at the Gryffindor table the two Weasley twins started shouting over Mr. Crouch complaining of the unfair rules. And it seemed many of the other students were of the same opinion as the whole school joined in with their outrage.
Dumbledore let out a defining cry which soon quietened the whole hall and proceeded on with the rest of his speech including the introduction of the two schools that would be joining us in order to take part in this historic event. Ash huffed a laugh as she watched her best friend Nicole rise in her seat slightly in order to get a better look at the new Durmstrang boys.
“Why do they have to sit over with Slytherins?” she complained.
“Well to be fair, we’ve been given the Beauxbatons, it would be a bit of a squeeze with both schools over here” replied Ash.
Nicole quickly waved off her reply, and once again resumed peering across the hall. Ash chuckled at the lack of subtly her friend was currently displaying.
“You know one of those Weasley twins is looking over here Ash” Nicole turned to her friend as she finally sat down properly in her seat once again.
“Yeah? They’re probably just trying to get a better look at the Beauxbaton lot… along with the rest of the boys in the school” Ash added as an afterthought.
Unable to help herself, Ash found her eyes quickly scanning the Gryffindor table herself, and sure enough one of them was indeed looking this way. And like she suspected his eyes immediately started to scan the length of the Ravenclaw table most likely inspecting the new guests.
“Everyone is excited to have some new people around.” She said before shrugging. Nicole just hummed in agreement and then launched into trying to guess what the first possible task could involve and who the potential Hogwarts champion would be and if she thought she would have a good chance at getting Krum to sign a quidditch jersey for her little brother or not….
Blinking the thoughts of last night away, Asherah refocused back to the present. 'You’re thinking of entering the tournament’ Ash accused her brother.
‘There it is.’ Arroyo rolled his eyes.
All he got in response was an eyebrow raise in return from Ash at his attitude.
‘Your lack of faith in my ability is a little hurtful I have to say Ash’ Arroyo bit into his toast with more force than necessary.
Ash felt her gaze soften as she scanned her brothers face, eyes locking in on the scar just above his eyebrow. He got it when they were both still children and he insisted on carrying her everywhere. They’d fallen down the stairs together, Ash had a scar of her own from that mishap.
‘You know I think you are completely capable and talented Ro, that’s what makes me nervous.’ She replied at last. ‘I think you have a high chance of being selected…’
His quick glance up and smile at her caused Ash to unsoften her gaze and get stern once more. ‘Ro, that’s not meant as encouragement! People have died in these tournaments before. It’s completely insane they have allowed this to ever start up again.’
Arroyo’s eyes began to glaze over, and Ash could tell she was losing him.
‘I’m serious Arroyo!’ Ash exclaimed.
‘I know’. Her brother chuckled. ‘It’s cute’
‘Ugh! You’re so annoying’ Asherah tossed her half-eaten slice of toast at her brothers quickly retreating form and huffed to herself.
‘Ash?’ Nicole her best friend interrupted her next thoughts as she gripped Asherah’s shoulders from behind.
‘Hmm?’ Ash murmured as she looked up into her friends smiling face.
‘You ready to make a move?’ Nicole asked smiling as she watched her friend gather her bags and link arms with her.
‘Yeah, lets go.’
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As Fred watched Asherah, gather her things, he began to think back to George’s comment…. Maybe he has a point when accusing Fred of being a stalker, not that he would ever admit it. And not even a very subtle one apparently. However, obvious stalker or not, it didn’t change the fact that Ash had no clue that Fred Weasley was totally and utterly star struck by her.
A friendly slap on the shoulder pulled Fred away from his thoughts as George and Lee began to rise from the table, the same as the others around them, signalling the end of breakfast and the approach of first period.
Everyone quickly began to move about all at once, the late stragglers to breakfast were quick to grab some slices of toast off the centre of the table before the food cleared itself away.
“So, now that you’ve officially become a creepy stalker of a poor unsuspecting girl, do you plan to make a move this year? Or is drooling from the other side of the hall the move?” George asked Fred as he grabbed his bag, hearing Lee snicker from behind him.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about” Fred replied automatically. Before letting out a hefty sigh.
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin” he admitted after a pause.
“This might sound like out of the box thinking, but couldn’t you try, well I don’t know, talking to her?” Lee inputted - rather unhelpfully in Fred’s opinion.
Looking at Fred’s frantic shaking head at the suggestion Lee soon backtracked “Merlin, alright, alright… um how about… you ask her help in tutoring?”
“She in the year below us Lee, that would make zero sense” input George. “Why don’t you ask her to recommend a book to read? She’s always reading, isn’t she?”
“That would be a great plan if Fred could read” Lee jumped in smartly, keen to shoot him down after George shot his own suggestion down. Fred rolled his eyes. “Oh, I know! You could say you got bit by a venomous Tenacula in herbology and need her help to get to the hospital wing.”
George physically stopped and turned to face Lee with a blank expression pausing, before announcing.
“That’s the stupidest suggestion you’ve ever come up with.”
“I didn’t say he should actually allow himself to be bitten.”
“The whole idea is idiotic not just that part…”
Fred slowly tuned the pair of them out, as they all made their way out of the great hall, his eyes drifting over to the Ravenclaw table once again to get one final glance at her before he was forced to wait until dinner to see her smile again. On a good day he spotted her passing in the hallway, but those were only fleeting moments. She was stood at the back of the crowd waiting for the majority of the mass to push through, with one of her friends looking at her and smiling as she told some sort of anecdote that involved wild hand movements.
Dark eyes unexpectedly met his own and caught him staring at her. Fred felt his neck go hot immediately and snapped his attention to the front and began shoving himself through the crowd, with George and Lee right behind him. He knew he shouldn’t have but he couldn’t help risking just one more glance back to see if she was still watching, but her attention was once again captured by her friend beside her. She didn’t seem to have noticed a single thing.
This was going to be another long year…