Moon Child [Fred Weasley]

7

The next task had Teddy questioning the depth of his house pride. It was midmorning in late November; the obvious time to get four students to strip down to their basic layers and dive into a cold black lake for an hour.

Dimly, Teddy watched the champions line up by the lake's edge. He offered a small wave to Cedric when the boy looked over. Despite being so confident at all times, the boy now bore a face that was almost alarmingly white against the morning dew. He mustered a brave smile and waved to the rest of the students who had gathered to watch before diving into the cold water with a flourish when the first air horn sounded.

Harry Potter went in a moment after, looking even more queasy than the rest of them. Teddy felt almost embarrassed on behalf of the boy as he was pushed into the lake, Gillyweed just barely injected, and then the task officially started.

He and Ron and Hermione had stayed up most of last night searching for a way to allow Harry to breathe underwater for an hour. Teddy had been in the library anyway that night, tucked in his little corner of the area working on perfecting the spell for transfiguration class when he stumbled across them and decided to stay and help.

The Weasley twins had joined an hour or so later with hot chocolate stolen from the kitchens and together, the group of them had spent the entire night flipping through books and trying not to get caught by Filch.

Needless to say, Teddy was now tired. He knew he slept less than the rest of the students at Hogwarts and regularly found himself waking up an hour before the sun rose in the mornings but no sleep at all had left him longing for a nap.

"You nervous for Harry?" A voice asked, followed by a new warmer presence by Teddy's side.

Teddy didn't flinch now, having almost come to expect Fred's presence now.

He shrugged as he glanced at Fred, making sure briefly that he wasn't about to be pranked in some way. He hid a yawn and looked back to the undisturbed silence of the Black Lake. "He'll be alright."

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't be nervous." Fred said. "Because you could just... dive in and swim to save him. Because you're an aquatic animal aren't you?" He prodded, relentless in his pursuit to find out Teddy's animagus.

Teddy let out a long breath. "No." He said.

Fred leaned in, whispered breath hot against Teddy's neck. "Can you show me?"

"No." Teddy's tone lacked its usual bravado today even though his answer was the same as it had been last time Fred asked to see.

He felt Fred's shoulders shake with laughter beside him. "You're tired, aren't you." He said.

"No." Teddy denied; some innate defence mechanism.

"Yes, you are." Fred said, not buying it. He nudged Teddy slightly in teasing.

"What about you, then?" Teddy asked. The boy had stayed up all night with him. He was bound to be tired too.

"I could probably sleep standing up, I'd wager." Fred said.

Teddy just hummed, lacking the energy to engage in the typical banter with Fred.

Fred chuckled softly, following Teddy's gaze back to the Black Lake.

He must have been more tired than he was letting on because the boy didn't say anything. There had only been a few times Teddy had sat with Fred Weasley in silence and each time had been different. This time, Teddy found himself leaning in to break it.

People all around them were still amicably chattering away but it was silent in the little bubble surrounding the two boys. Or so that's what it felt like.

"What are you thinking?" Teddy asked.

A smirk found its way onto Fred's lips. "How adorable you look when tired."

"Very funny, Weasley." Teddy deadpanned, just when he thought he was going to get a serious response. He was getting used to Fred's flirtatious jokes and found it more endearing now than anything. Or perhaps that was only the fatigue talking.

He ignored Fred and his pompous smirk. He pulled down the sleeves of his jumper over his hands and folded them beneath his chin to support his head. He balanced his elbows atop his drawn-up legs and waited for the champions to emerge from the lake.

"What do you think Harry's bringing back?" Fred asked a moment later.

"Ron." The answer was simple. Teddy had come to this conclusion over his mornings un-tempered with pumpkin juice. "He wasn't at breakfast, right? And Dumbledore said each champion would have to retrieve something valuable to them. Krum will have to bring back Hermione so that leaves Ron with Harry."

"Fair point." Fred hummed. "You've really thought about this, haven't you."

Teddy shrugged. "Not really." It wasn't hard to decipher.

He felt his eyes droop shut as he stood waiting, head cupped in his hands. The time limit was an hour and he had only been waiting for twenty minutes. He struggled to keep them open but the warm sun was lulling him to sleep as he waited.

He should have brought a book-- could vividly see it sitting open to his last read page on his four-poster bed back in the Gryffindor tower. He briefly thought about going back for it but then figured he would most likely end up falling asleep and staying inside if he did so.

Fred noticed Teddy's eyelids pulling shut with their heavy weight. "You can sleep if you want, you know." He said. "Harry and the others probably won't surface for a long while more anyway."

Teddy shook his head. "I don't want to fall asleep out here. That would be embarrassing." He said. He'd have a candy or something; one of the chocolates he'd gotten from Hogsmeade earlier that month. Surely, the sugar would help. But even then, the pull to lean into Fred's warmth and let his eyes fall shut was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Merlin. He hated Fred Weasley for being so convincing.

"I'll just wake you up when Harry comes back." Fred teased though it lacked in any real taunting. "I won't let you sleep in public for too long if you don't want to."

Teddy ignored the allure of the option. "Don't you have someone else to bother?" He said drowsedly. Why was Fred sitting with him instead of his brother of whom he was commonly never seen without?

"Oh, I could bug someone else, absolutely," Fred said. "But you're so much more fun." He added in a murmur, just loud enough for Teddy to hear.

Teddy didn't know what did it. If it was the lack of sleep or if he was truly losing his wit, but he blushed then. He didn't let Fred see this though and grumbled something under his breath that not even he could understand.

He ended up falling asleep regardless of the taunts. And as his eyes fell shut, he didn't miss the way warm arms gently pulled him toward the body of the tall Weasley boy, head falling onto a shoulder more comfortable than any pillow.

I recognize that the second task in the book/movie took place in February and not November but because this is a short story, I've just moved this one thing around for the sake of the plot outline I've set in my head.
Regardless, hope you all enjoyed the shorter chapter.
SBB