Time Is Life

second task

"That hurts - get off - ouch -"

"Harry Potter must wake up, sir!"

"Stop poking me -"

"Dobby must poke Harry Potter, sir, he must wake up!"

Harry opens his eyes. He is still in the common room; the twins still wrapped around his sides and Natalie securely on his lap, fast asleep. He carefully sits up as to not wake the girl up unnecessarily, he blinks in the bright daylight. Coils around his neck have him remembering the Basilisk wrapped around his torso. "Basil I need you to stay with Natalie, I can't take you into the black lake with me."

"I wasn't planning on coming along little speaker." The snake slithers off his arm and nestles himself on the young preteen's lap, his lime-green eyes staring intently at Harry who holds out a finger.

"Harry Potter needs to hurry!" squeaks Dobby. "The second task starts in ten minutes, and Harry Potter -"

"Ten minutes?" Harry groans. "Not again..."

He quickly casts a wandless Tempus, he looks at Basil next to him and rubs a finger over the smooth scales.

And Dobby's right, it's twenty past nine. He takes a deep breath before leaning Natalie against Fred and straightening up. He looks at the twins and Natalie, debating whether or not to wake them. In the end, he does just that and shakes all three of them. "The second task starts in ten minutes, I'll be on my way. Just thought to let you know." Blearily the three nod, George yawns and Fred rubs his eyes.

"Hurry, Harry Potter!" squeaks Dobby again, plucking at Harry's sleeve to get his attention. "You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, sir!"

"I know, Dobby," Harry says with a small smile. "I didn't have enough time to get the Gillyweed. D'you reckon you can help me out?"

"Harry Potter will do great in the task. He has to find his brother!"

"Ah, so Theo's the one they took. I knew it! Oh no...fuck, Theo hates the cold, he's most likely going to attract the weirdest magical sickness. Can we hurry, please Dobby?"

The house elf nods eagerly and hands the slimy, greyish-green plants. Harry lightly grimaces before gingerly taking the weeds from his elf friend.

"I'll be going, you three make sure to properly wake up, you hear me?" He doesn't look back or wait for a reply as he starts running out of the common room and down the flights of stairs.

"Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, sir!" Dobby squeals as they burst into a corridor. "Dobby will be missed - good luck, Harry Potter, sir, good luck!"

"See you later, Dobby!" Harry shouts, and he sprints along the corridor and down the next flight of stairs, three at a time.

The entrance hall contains a few last-minute stragglers, all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast and heading through the double oak doors to watch the second task. They stare as Harry flashes past, sending Colin and Dennis Creevey flying as he leaps down the stone steps and out onto the bright, chilly grounds. He shouts a quick apology behind his shoulder and continues unhindered. This reminds him of his many escapades with Theo when they were forced to run for their lives, it's at times like these that Harry truly feels alive.

The excited babble of the crowd echoes strangely across the water as Harry runs flat-out around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who are sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Cedric, Fleur, and Victor are beside the judges' table, watching Harry sprint toward them.

"I'm here, excuse me for my tardiness." Harry skids to a halt in the mud and accidentally splatters Fleur's robes. He looks at her apologetically, she, to his surprise, smirks mischievously down at him. At that very moment, she reminds him of Salomé.