I Learned Your Pulse

"Wow."

She was laughing silently to herself, and knew he was doing the same on the other side. Determined to make this conversation like the one where they'd had each others' lines, she flew back the tent flap and hurdled herself into his surprised arms, squeezing him tightly, his knotted black hair tickling her forehead and his glasses askew. she giggled, he chuckled, and they both laughed until Hermione heard McGonagall from inside the tent saying, "Where's Miss Granger?"

Hermione released Harry. "Go to the stands," she ordered, smiling at him reassuringly, and he did the same as he tured and left while she re-entered the tent.

"Ah, there you are," said McGonagall. "Right then. Well, I trust Hagrid's somewhat heated and showed you the course?"

"Them aswell," said Hermione, nodding to the two boys.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'd have thought it would have just been you. Right. Well. Alphabeticalm order once more, you've all seen the task, get past the wall without being incapacitated or killed and you pass the task."

Hermione gave a start. "I thought the tasks weren't supposed to be fatal."

McGonagall gave her an icy look, but Hermione knew the ice wasn't meant for her - it was ice meant for the lies of Kingsley. "They're not. Go on, Miss Granger. You've lived through everythig else, this course should be of no difficulty."

And so Hermione walked out of the tent, slightly hesitant, not quite as confident as before, and the crowd fell immediately silent. there was no canon blast this time, and the course itself just sat there. but Fluffy's head moved a fraction of an inch, and she met its six eyes. And then it roared so loudly, that even from that far away she could feel her bones shake in her skin. She covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes, but it made no difference. He wanted her dead, and she could tell. But first, to get past the Kabbels.

As Fluffy quietted and she looked at the tank, she saw only one tail towards the surface instead of two - so, there was half of the danger she'd feared. Unfortunately, it meant she had to face the strongest - which it undoubtedly was, because it alone had survived - while it had no chance of being distracted by a competing Kabbel, and that did not bode well for her. But she walked up the ramp anyway and looked down into the tank, wondering how to get across. The crowd watched every move as if their looking away and then back would find her dead at the bottom of the tank.

Hermione thought. She could create stones to jump across, but it would grab her the first chance it got. she could levitate herself, but she would only float, not fly across and land. She could decide to fight the beast, but that scared her. She could turn the water to ice, but it'd break through it quickly if it had the willpower and desire to eat her. That last one gave her the best chance of getting across, and she pointed her wand at the water, and said, "Glacio."

She saw the cover of the water freeze instantly and the clear but streaked substance seep downward and convert the liquid to a solid as it went; reaching the bottom, where she could make out the shape of a waiting Kabbel, and coating it and its surrounding in frozen H2O.

She immediately began to bolt across the ice, forgetting that it would be slick in her haste to get to the other side. She fell almost immediately and the crowd gasped as one. She struggled to rise, ut ended up falling with each try, her confidence vanishing with every attempt.

And then she became still as she realized the ice was shaking underneath her. Hardly daring to look down, she saw the Kabbel's reptilian-styled scales undulating as it cracked the ice around it and the fractures ran upward until it reached the surface; the ice split and Hermione found herself on an island of ice. Knowing what would soon happen, as the Kabbel was climbing, she dug her nails into the cold underneath her and hoisted herself upward.

But the Kabbel's long-clawed hand shot out of the gap and grabbed her ankle, pulling her back down. She screamed in terror, clutching onto the edge of the iceberg and barely keeping hold of her wand, hoping it wouldnt try and eat her right away and that it would wait until she was out of plain sight before it began to devour her. The crowd gasped again.

And then the ice from the bottom began to melt.

Her spell had worn off when her wand had somewhat slid out of her grasp and had tapped the ice; it now began to melt into a pool of water, and Hermione felt her ankle being covered in frigid water, and she kicked uselessly to get the Kabbel off her. It was, however, of no use. the Kabbel was best in water, and it was much stronger than her, and it began to drag her in.

"Come on, Hermione!" shouted Harry, his voice distant and panicked. "Use your wand! Come on!"

Hermione didn't want to let loose one of her hands and therefore her grip on the fast-melting ice, but she knew she had to. She raised her right hand to cast the spell -

And her left one wasn't strong enough to hold her in place, and she was dragged completely under, her screams gurgling up as bubbles to the top of the water.