"...Now, this won't hurt at all. Trust us and breath." That was the last thing I heard before I got hit in the chest by a sudden warmth that spread across my entire body, and then, darkness enveloped me.
~~~~~~~~
~FRED'S POV~
The Gryffindor table was bustling with noise, many familiar faces walked past to clap Harry on the back and wish him luck for the task. How quickly people went from shouting obscenities at him in the hallways and wearing those ridiculous badges to sucking up to him was concerning, some people would get fake as soon as they saw a slither of glory they could steal.
It was breakfast time, and it was already 8:30 but Mei was yet to show up. I scanned the Ravenclaw table in hopes she would be there with her sister, but Charlotte wasn't there either.
A frown settled on my face as I picked at my food, and George's voice rang through my ears, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"So if we start making rounds as everyone gets settled in the stands, we should receive some wicked bets. Sound like a plan?"
"What? Yeah, didn't we discuss this already?"
My brother picked up on my unusual change in mannerisms, seeing as we knew each other inside out and back to front.
"You looking for your girl Fredo?" He teased, although his tone wasn't snide. He loved Mei just as much as I did, although his love was platonic. They were best friends, she was like his sister.
"She's not here." I grumbled. I gave up with my breakfast and pushed my plate away from me, instead I reached into my jacket pocket to take out my hat.
"She's probably gone down with her sister to wait for Harry and Warrington to talk to them before they have to compete. No sweat, we'll see her at the Lake after we've taken bets." He reasoned, shoving his matching hat onto his head.
As always, his words calmed me and helped me to see the logical explanation as to why the Blacks were missing. "You're probably right mate. Let's go, the faster we get these bets done, the faster I can see her."
~ Cassius's POV~
Breakfast seemed to be a morbid event, between Sarah talking my ear off and clinging onto my arm for dear life, and Malfoy trying to kiss my arse, I just needed the task to be over and done with so I could disappear and relax by myself.
I watched as the Weasley twins rose from the Lion's table and leave the hall, although they weren't accompanied by Mei. Confusion crossed my mind, those three were never normally far apart from each other.
"Cassius? Are you listening to me?" Sarah called me, and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.
Sarah was my sort of girlfriend, she was shy and adorable at first but quickly became possessive and rude about some of the closest people in my life, Mei included. And as they say, cute becomes dumb in an instant.
I wanted to be rid of her as soon as possible, so I managed a weak smile as I stood up. "I need to go. Dumbledore is waiting for me and the others down by the Lake."
"Oh, I'll come with you!"
"No it's okay, finish your breakfast and I'll see you when I'm done."
"If you're sure. I'll be cheering for you baby." She smiled at me, not noticing my visible cringe at her pet name.
"Yeah, sure. Bye." I left without another word, making my way down to the Black Lake whilst keeping an eye out for Mei and Charlotte.
To my dismay, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Have you seen the girls?" Potter asked me, shaking slightly in the cold as he grasped something in the palm of his hand.
"No, I was just about to ask you the same question."
"I thought Mei would be with the twins." He pointed to the two redheads who had started taking bets from naive students who were starting to gather in the stands.
"I'm sure she'll be along soon, we shouldn't worry too much. She wouldn't miss this task, she didn't stop worrying about you." I tried to reassure myself as well as him.
He nodded at me gratuitously as Dumbledore started talking, addressing the mass of students as well as us four.
"Our champions are ready for the second task. Something treasured has been taken from each of our champions, and they have precisely one hour to recover them."
Something's been taken from us? What could they possibly take from us that would be hidden in the water?
I didn't have much time to think about that, instead I listened as best as I could, and eventually he gave told us we could enter the Lake as soon as the cannon sounded.
A shiver rippled down my spine in the most unpleasant way, the air was biting my neck and face, the bare skin of my arms were covered in goosebumps.
I was wearing a black and green vest, similar to Potter's but his had red for Gryffindor. It wasn't the most practical, but I suppose they couldn't have us all bare chested in front of the entire school, that would be unproper.
I looked up to an elevated stand where Filch lit the fuse to the cannon, so I took that as my cue to cast the Bubble-Head charm. I had been practicing, so I had perfected it and my charm wouldn't wear off when I was at the bottom of the water.
Before I cast it, I turned to Harry and gestured to the slimy green substance he held. "Might want to get that down you before the cannon goes."
He nodded at me in thanks, shoving it into his mouth and grimacing. As I performed the charm and felt pressure on the bottom half of my head, the cannon exploded and I dived in.
I didn't waste time on watching where Krum and Delacour went, or how Harry wasn't even in the water yet. I just swam further and further down.
The light had quickly faded, and I was struggling to see. I grasped my wand tightly, thinking of 'Lumos'. I directed my wand in front of me and a sphere of light emerged, clearing the darkness in my path.
I continued on my way, looking for my stolen item. It was unearthly serene under the water, and the growing feeling of unease in my stomach refused to settle.
I checked my watch, noting that 35 minutes had already passed. My hope was starting to fade away, until I caught sight of four shapes floating in the distance.
I kept far away from the Grindylows, keeping a wide berth from them as I swam over. I swallowed my shock at seeing Charlotte, Granger, a young blonde girl and Mei tied up and unresponsive.
Potter arrived just before I did, and he was checking each of the hostages. I stopped swimming in front of Mei, holding her face in my hands as I looked over what they had done to her.
Turning to Harry, I tapped my watch with my wand in hopes he would understand what I was trying to say. Time was fast running out.
I linked my arm under Mei's and sent a 'diffindo' at the vine of seaweed that was holding her down. With a flash of light, it severed and the weight released, so I began to make my way upwards with her.
I managed to get up quicker then I went down, so when I finally broke the surface of water and heard the ear splitting cheers, I could finally breathe again.
~MEI'S POV~
All at once, a bright light hit me as well as a deafening cheer. I looked around frantically, taking in my surroundings.
Someone was holding onto me, and I turned to see Cassius guiding me through the water.
Water?
I started to panic, the lake water folding over me and getting inhaled into my mouth.
"Woah Mei! Breathe! Keep calm, we're almost at the dock." Cassius tried to get us to the platform faster, but my panicking wasn't helping.
"I hate this." I spluttered, coughing and spitting the water from my mouth.
He guided me to the ladder, and I saw a flash of red hair push past Igor Karkaroff to clear his path.
I made it up onto the platform where a blanket was thrown onto my shoulders and a potion was thrust in my hands.
"It's Pepper Up potion, drink it." Madam Pomfrey instructed both Cassius and myself.
I didn't protest, and downed the spicy potion in one. Immediately, my insides seemed to catch fire and warm up, and my violent shuddering slowed down.
Fleur was already stood with Madam Maxime and her Beauxbatons friends, she looked extremely distraught and her little sister wasn't with her. She must still be down in the lake, I just hoped they wouldn't let her drown.
I turned to Cassius and gave him a grin. "I'm your most prized possession then eh?" I joked, nudging him on the shoulder. He grinned bashfully, wrapping his blanket around himself tightly.
"Sorry about that."
I laughed just as a certain red head came to a halt in front of me and lowered himself to his knees to meet my level and help me up.
He engulfed me in a warm hug, oblivious to the cold and wet transferring to him and soaking his clothes.
"I was so worried when you didn't turn up. Didn't think you'd be in the Lake though." He muttered, his head resting on mine as he spoke.
I pulled away from him, smiling. "Good to know you were worried about me then."
Fred turned to Cassius and held out his hand. The Slytherin took it with wide eyes and Fred gave his hand a hearty shake. "Thank you mate. And well done."
Cassius gave him a genuine smile. "Course. I wouldn't let anything happen to her, I think you'd kill me if I did."
Cassius left us to talk to his Slytherin friends, and I looked at Fred knowingly. "Look at you, being all nice and proper." I teased.
He shook his head with a grin, taking my face in his hands. His palms were warm and I leaned into them, enjoying both the feeling of his touch and the heat.
He didn't seem to think about it for a second longer, instead he pressed his lips to mine and kissed me.
I heard a few cheers, most likely from George, Lee and the girls, and Fred smiled into the kiss.
Abruptly, I pulled away with panic. "What's wrong?" Fred questioned, concern written in his expression.
"Charlotte! She's still down there!"
We turned to look at the water just as Krum resurface with Hermione. I leant over the side, holding my hand out for Hermione to grasp.
I pulled her up and someone gave her a blanket, which she took graciously.
"Where's Harry?" She asked, her sentence broken from shudders of cold.
"He's still down there. So is Charlotte and Fleur's sister." I muttered, training my eyes back to the water.
It didn't take long for a disturbance to unsettle the waves, and two heads popped up.
Charlotte gasped for air as she held her head above the water, holding onto the young French girl tightly so she stayed afloat.
"Gabrielle! Viens!" Fleur had rushed to the edge of the dock, leaning over and holding her hand out for her sister.
I ran behind her, watching anxiously as my sister made her way up to dry land.
I enveloped her in a hug, closing my eyes as I held my sister in my arms.
"I'm okay Mei, we both are." She chuckled, shivering from the wet. Someone gave her a blanket, and soon her relieved expression changed to worried.
"If I came up with Delacour's sister, where's Harry?"
We both stared at each other for a moment until we turned to watch the Lake. It was still, too still for anyone to be appearing.
The crowd quietened down, awaiting the arrival of the last champion. As if on cue, Harry shot out of the water with such force, landing on the deck beside us and heaving up water.
Dumbledore rolled him over so he could breathe, announcing his well being to those watching.
Charlotte, Hermione and I rushed over and started fussing over him, much to his protest.
"Give it up Harry, dad will kill us if we let anything happen to you." Charlotte grinned, pulling his blanket tighter around him.
As usual, that night in the common room, we were going full out. Harry had been awarded second place for 'outstanding moral fibre', which he seemed extremely pleased about.
Cassius had gotten first place since he got me back up first, but he was honest with the judges about what happened at the bottom of the Lake. This caused more than a few Gryffindors to change their opinion about him, because he didn't lie or try and cheat. Viktor got third place, much to the dismay of Karkaroff and the Durmstrang boys, and Fleur finished last, since she never got past the Grindylows and failed to retrieve her sister.
Bottles of firewhisky were being passed around between us older years, and eventually Charlotte came in through the portrait hole with a group of her Ravenclaw friends. We invited her because the Eagles weren't holding a party, so quite a few of them were in the Lion's Den, along with some Puffs who were solid.
She hurried towards us and embraced Harry and I in a hug, introducing her friends to ours.
George took this opportunity to stride forwards and push a hand through his messy hair, his eyes trained on a certain mousey brown haired Ravenclaw.
I wasn't all too familiar with him, all I knew was that he was in our year and was friends with Charlotte.
"George, George Weasley." The redhead grasped the boys hand in his and shook it, smirking slightly as the boy met his gaze.
"Ethan. Ethan Rayo." Copying George's introduction with a perfect grin, he stood up straighter, diminishing the height gap between them and looking back at George with a powerful intensity.
George's cool demeanour dropped slightly, and he pulled his hand back to scratch his head. "Cool name." He muttered, seemingly unable to get a full sentence out.
"Well, someone who made George Weasley speechless the first time they met him, I never thought I'd see the day. I'm Mei." I smiled at him and handed him the bottle of alcohol I was holding. He took it with a grin, winking at George as he took a sip.
The rest of the night passed in a blur, although this time I managed to stay sober enough to have awareness.
I spent the night sat on the red sofa entwined with Fred, chatting with Ethan and George. Ethan and I got on extremely well, we were becoming fast friends. He was a lovely lad, smart and witty but with dry humour that had me in stitches.
George seemed smitten all night, and it wasn't hard to see why, Ethan was a catch. He had a thick Manchester accent, which seemed to fit very well with his appearance. He stood at 6"0, which impressed George because as he so elegantly put it, "I love a tall guy. Easier to snog that way."
By the end of the night, Charlotte, Ethan and the rest of the Ravenclaws had gone back to their tower, the Badgers had gone back to the barrels and only a few Gryffs remained in the common room.
Fred was sat with his head in my lap as I stroked his hair. He looked up at me, a nervous smile playing on his lips. He sat up, and I took the opportunity to place a quick peck on him.
"Do you wanna give us another go? I think we should, we've grown past everything and I think it's made our relationship stronger. I just want to make it official again and stop other guys staring at you." He blurted out. Clearly this had been on his mind for a while.
I grinned, nodding. "Of course. And that works out great as well actually, because now I can tell all those girls who stare at you to bugger off."
"Fine by me." He said, pressing another kiss to my lips as the night ended.