A Memorable Tale

50 | Merpeople Don't Sing Lullabies

I looked down at the faint abrasion on my ankle and shook my head.

Madam Pomfrey rushed towards us a while later with Hermione and Krum - well, I was pretty sure it was Krum. His upper half was a shark.

"Such reckless Transfiguration!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, exasperated.

Hermione waved at me but I barely waved back, both Cedric and I fixated on the half-man-half-shark that had just trudged in.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You look shaken."

I nodded.

After a bit later, Madam Pomfrey brought Fleur - well, tried to.

"Gabrielle!" she exclaimed. "I was attacked by the grindylows, my sister!"

Of all of us, she needed the most medical help, with cuts all along her face and arms and her clothes torn.

"Her sister's still down there," Hermione breathed.

"What about Harry?" My eyes went to the ginormous clock stations where everyone could see. My heart dropped at the thought of him being yanked under and Ron being left down there.

Was I mad at him, sure, but not mad enough to wish death upon his soul, you know?

Hermione, Cedric, and I stood to watch with the crowd, seeing nothing but the murky water when we peered into the Black Lake.

"Y/N!"

I turned and my anxiousness slipped away in a moment. "Neville!"

"Are you alright?" He placed his hands on my shoulders, trying to pull up the towel so it wouldn't fall.

"I could be better."

He yanked me into a hug, breathing shakily against my ear.

The crowd suddenly shouted and screamed and I turned my attention to the water, spotting Ron and the little girl, Gabrielle, bobbing in the water.

A few second later, they were both conscious, and Ron was helping the struggling Gabrielle keep her head above water.

Fleur was in hysterics, fighting against Madam Maxime's grip, trying to get to the girl floating in the water.

Then came Harry, covered in wounds - again - and gasping for air.

People gathered to help the three up onto the dock and I let out a sigh of relief, leaning my head on Neville's shoulder. He put his arm around me and patted my own.

Percy, strangely pale and face panic-stricken, rushed to grab Ron, while Fleur grabbed hold of her sister.

"Come!" Madam Pomfrey snapped, pulling me away from Neville's hold.

I flashed a smile at him before being pulled away to her station, where potions and medical supplies were easy access to her.

She was muttering indignantly as I stood next to Cedric. We looked at each other and snickered, perhaps mentally communicating that Krum with a shark head was quite amusing.

Hermione fussed over Harry, while Krum stood off to the side trying to gain back her attention. "You have a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny."

Hermione brushed off the water beetle and I looked down, watching it scurry off. It wasn't a water beetle, but my vision had been oddly blurry since I was brought back to the surface.

My attention was averted away from it when Madam Pomfrey shoved a Pepperup Potion into my grasp (after basically prying Ron from Percy's clutches). "Take this as well," she added, placing a bottle of Calming Draught in my free hand, a bit gentler this time. "You've been trembling since emerging from the water."