Bloom | George Weasley

15. The Second Task

The study package taking up space on my nightstand is doing nothing but collecting dust. I should study - I really should - I want to become an architect, I want to get into a good school; this is what I wanted since I was a child. But seeing the stacks of paper being used as it's own table (holding letters, sketches, and a tissue I took out but didn't end up using) I can't bring myself to flip through the pages.

Having the first three pages read and marked with read ink gives me the false sense of productivity, but it won't last forever, so I swipe the loose papers off the top, dust it off, and place it in my bag as we're getting ready to head to the second task.

Cold wind that doesn't help the sharp stinging against my cheeks, and the bitter feeling of my fingertips brushing against my bag that I know holds the key to my future, the walk is drawling. I can only hope for an exciting and captivating task to keep my mind off of school. Then, at least I'd have a good reason for not working 24/7 - or even 3/7, if I'm being honest.

"The lake doesn't seem like a good place to be in February." Ainur comments as she rubs her hands together in either anticipation or a feeble attempt to warm them up. "Why can't one of these be indoors?"

"Of course!" Stevie interjects. "Having a dragon indoors is a much better idea!"

The girl shoots a glare.

"Well this one obviously isn't dragons - what idiot would bring fire-breathing lizards to a body of water?" She shoves a finger into Stevie's chest. Since my mind has been occupied since the break, Stevie hasn't gotten her daily dose of banter and took the stupid route of egging Ainur (who will rip her head of if she's not careful).

"I think they're outdoors just for the space." I mumble, taking a seat and pulling out the study package. I just barely catch a glimpse of my friends eyes widening before they sit down a bit farther away from me - at least they're a bit intelligent.

The buzzing of chatter from the students around us, waiting for the tournament to recommence mocks me, look at us having fun, Madhvi, too bad you couldn't join us. It's almost laughable how stereotypical I look right now - a brown girl in Ravenclaw bringing a muggle study package to an event because she needs to pass her exams for a bright future - Merlin, it's humiliating. I shouldn't even be in Ravenclaw - I have worse marks than Stevie.

A hand on my shoulder jolts me out of my thoughts, and I wonder who the brave soul is to have interrupted my self deprecating rumination as I look up. Half expecting to see a head of ginger hair, I'm embarrassingly disappointed to see a kind smile and blond hair.

"Henry." I breathe out, calming my beating heart from the thoughts of a certain Weasley. "What's new?"

"Your finger is bleeding." He says, taking a seat between my friends and I, and I notice that Stevie and Ainur scooted a bit farther away. Do I really look that scary now?

"Oh?" My eyes snap down to the slight stinging in my index, I guess running my finger over the edge of the paper over and over again isn't such a good idea. "Well, looks like I can't study now."

Henry raises an eyebrow before taking the material into his own hands and looking it over.

"You haven't done anymore?" He asks, and I pop my finger into my mouth to stop the bleeding, not bothering to take out my wand; the cut is on my dominant hand anyway and I don't want to risk a spell backfiring or anything in this crowd.

My head shakes.

"I am busy, you know." I lie.

"Well I'm here to help." Henry offers, "The Durmstrang ship can get quite boring, after all."

I want to reject his offer, but I can't figure out why. Instead of answering, my eyes drift to the figure of little Harry Potter running up to the rest of the champions. It looks like someone overslept as his glasses are crooked and he's panting with his hands on his knees, looking brutal, as Professor Dumbledore introduces everybody. I take the opportunity of the task starting to ignore Henry, as he reads over the material.

"Good luck!" is called, and spells are cast, things are consumed, and three of the four champions dive into the (what I assume) is the freezing waters of the Black Lake. However, young Harry Potter, who showed up late, seems to be choking on something, and the audience all get to their feet in curiosity as he falls ungracefully into the water with a large splash.

Now what?

"What does this mean?" Henry calls and my eyes lock onto the print he's highlighting before easily answering.

"It's connected to the factoring in the last question," I explain, "though I don't understand why if it's suddenly switched over from quadratic equations to trigonometry."

The boy beside me looks up with a knowing smile and I bite my tongue.

"You suck." I say and he laughs. "You got a bad dose of something, all right."

"I told you I'm here to help." He concedes. "Besides, doesn't look like this task is very entertaining, let's study!"

I breathe out an unconvinced sigh as I stare out at the still water of the lake surface; honestly, what was the point in having an audience if there's nothing to look at?

"Fine." I give in, logically knowing that this is the best use of my time, and having someone work with me is the best chance of me being productive. Turning my knees to face him, I pull the study package a bit closer so I can see the contents. "Where do we start?"

"Well, we have mathematics, physics, arts, and environmental studies."

"Let's get the worst over with then." I suggest, and with no prompting, Henry flips towards the physics portion. A small laugh escapes me at the shared thought as we start on the problems.

Studying with Henry is a lot more enjoyable than studying with Ainur and Stevie, the former is sweet, and loves to teach, but her competitive side comes out too much when we study, and the latter has a knack for distracting anyone with her as a form of procrastination. The only person I can remotely focus with is Orla, who sits in complete silence, so I forget she's there until my mind wanders and she draws me back.

Henry keeps me stimulated, and allows no time for me to get distracted, and his explanations for questions that I don't understand are worded so helpfully that I'm tempted to ask him to come to college with me just to be my study partner.

He turns the page, finally breaking from our flow with a furrow of his eyebrows.

"What's this?"

His finger is pointing towards a few rough sketches of boxes and packages with rudimentary ideas of logos and slogans for a certain pair of twins.

"Ideas for the logo of the business the Weasley twins have." I explain.

"Business?" Henry seems so focused on my art, I welcome the break from physics.

"They make some interesting prank stuff - like practical jokes and that craic."

"Those two'll make a fortune." He praises, and I agree.

And I feel the burning of someone's gaze on me, and when I notice that Ainur and Stevie are in a heated competition of cats cradle (of which I don't know where they found the string), my head spins to find the culprit.

Eyes meeting my favourite Weasley, I feel a genuine smile pull at my lips as the butterflies are welcomed back into my stomach. I send an enthusiastic wave towards him, however uncharacteristic it is of me, as I can't help but wonder if he overheard Henry and I discussing my concept sketches.

My attention is cut - unfortunately - when the audience erupts into a mix of loud expressions, and I turn to see two bodies crawling out of the lake. My attention is immediately redirected, and I don't know if George Weasley waved back.