• • •
You're crying all the night
Your eyes are made of glass
• • •
Harry Potter was nervous. He had ten minutes to the Second Task, and he hadn't seen his best friends or his sister. He was running through Hogwarts like a mad man, knowing that there was only one group of people who would know were Rose was.
Thankfully, he saw them leaving the Great Hall with smiles on their faces, all of them talking to each other happily. They didn't even seem to notice as he hurried over to them, a frown etched on his face.
Amara Morgenstern saw him first, her eyes growing confused as she nudged her brother and made him turn to. Amara and Avalon looked exactly the same, that's what Harry thought, the same dark eyes and sharp jaws. But it was Adrian Pucey who really intimidated Harry, his gaze was boring into Harry's, almost daring him to say a word; his aristocrat features keen on his tanned face. A single fleeting thought of how Rose's and Pucey's kids would look like crossed his mind; maybe they would have her hair and his face, he shook it off, blaming the prophet for putting that idea in his head.
"Harry," Amara greeted, a smile gracing her face. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Have you seen Rose?" Harry gulped, his eyes pleading that they would say yes; the words of the golden egg itching in his brain, almost as if he knew the answer.
"Rose?!" Adrian Pucey asked, his eyes went wide as he stepped closer to the green-eyed boy. "What happened to her? Was she not with you?"
"S – sh – she was," Harry stammered, the boy in front of him didn't take his eyes off him. Amara and Avalon exchanged a worried look over the boy's shoulders. "But she wasn't there when I woke up! I thought maybe she'd be with you-"
"Go down to the lake, Harry," Amara said, her voice cold and her eyes colder.
"But Rose-"
"We'll take care of Rose," Avalon replied harshly, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and turning him to the direction of the doors to leave the castle. "Go; we'll find her."
Harry couldn't protest, they didn't give them the chance before they hurried off to Gryffindor Tower. For one moment, Harry wondered why he hadn't accepted going with his cousins over the Holidays, they seemed worried enough about Rose and he couldn't help but hope they would someday worry about him the same way.
Halfway through the stairs of Gryffindor Tower, Adrian's heart was beating faster by the minute; he climbed two stairs at the time frantically. He could hear Rose's voice in his mind telling him that they would take the champion's most prized possession for the tournament, he could just hope she wasn't Harry's. He looked down at his watch, the tournament had started almost ten minutes ago; they were wasting time looking for her in her dorm. He knew she wasn't in Gryffindor Tower, he knew.
"Accio broom!" he chanted, lifting his wand up to the air.
"Adrian, what are you doing?!" Amara gasped, clutching her heart as she tried to resume her breathing.
"She's not up there!" He yelled, smirking as his broom zoomed through the stairs and landed before him.
"How do you know?!" Avalon asked.
"I just do!" he snapped, hard eyes blazing. "If I'm right; she's at the bottom of the lake."
"At the lake?" Amara and Avalon choked, both with the same shocked face. "Rose hates the lake!"
"I don't want to be right," Adrian shuddered, mounting his broom. "But if I am I have to get her."
"Adrian-"
"I'll meet you there," he said, taking off. "Hurry!"
Adrian flew quickly above the few students that had yet not reached the lake. He cursed himself for not figuring out sooner she would be at the lake, she had talked about what they would take and her guesses, but never had she thought she would be the one taken.
He flew out the open doors and pushed his broom faster when he saw the lake. The tournament had already started, the champions weren't at the metal platform everyone seemed to be at. He pushed harder on the broom, grazing past the lake and starling everyone.
"Mr. Pucey!" Snape drawled out as the boy in question landed on the platform. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Is Rose Potter in the lake?" he asked, turning his attention to Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore who had joined in curiously. They sent him a quizzical look, to which he snapped at. "Is she at the lake?"
"We are not allowed to share that info-" Dumbledore started, but Adrian shook his head and interrupted him.
"She's afraid of the water!" he said, his voice urgent. "She hates it! She-!"
He didn't need to say more, because some students were pointing at the lake, watching as bubbles erupted in the surface. Adrian's breath caught in his chest, watching from the side of his eyes as Fred and George Weasley were leaning eagerly towards the metal; worried looks on their identical faces.
On the bottom of the lake, Rose Potter felt like she was drowning. She felt her lungs burning and she struggled to keep her mouth closed. She opened her eyes and she couldn't help it anymore, she was inside the lake, her throat closing up as two strong arms gripped her waist from below.
She kicked at them, she remembered the first time she had been in the Black Lake and something had pulled at her feet. Rose tried harder to raise her arm and swim, but her arms hurt, and she needed air so badly. However, whoever was grasping at her waist didn't let go, instead, they pushed her up until her head was above water.
"CEDRIC DIGORRY WINS THE SECOND MATCH!" she heard from far away, too far away.
"Help me!" Rose half screamed half coughed, trying, and failing, to swim to a huge metal platform with Hogwarts students sat watching her drown. She tried to kick her legs and arms, trying to gain the attention of everybody; anyone. They simply stared, amused. "PLEASE!"
The arms still hadn't let her go, and she coughed until she could finally turn to the thing that was holding her. When her blurry eyes formed out the silhouette of Cedric Diggory holding onto her tightly, she relaxed against him as continued to struggle with her breathing, hooking her arms over his shoulders and squeezing.
"She's afraid of the water!" Cedric yelled up as they reached the platform. Her clothes were soaked, and she was sure she was beginning to develop hypothermia from the cold. "Hold on to the platform, Rose!"
Slowly, Rose ripped her arms away from Cedricand held on to the metal stairs that were meant for her to climb. Ever soslowly, she raised one foot to the first step, Cedric's hands still firmlyholding onto her waist. However, she saw Adrian at the top looking down at her,and she couldn't help but smile at him with relief; she was going to be O.K. Heleaned down and hooked an arm over her shoulders and the other on her back ashe picked her up with ease and held her close to his chest.
She was shaking, her dark red hair stuck to her face and back as it let water down her body. Her lips were purple, and her skin was sickly pale, her green eyes glassy as Adrian held her before him to examine her. She leaned over her body as she continued to cough out the water, Adrian holding her back and massaging it as someone handed him a blanket, he wasn't sure who did, but he wrapped it over her body as she fell onto her knees.
Somehow, Amara and Avalon appeared besides the pair, both with matching solemn looks. Adrian didn't bother looking up at them once he registered, they were there, instead, he sank to his knees besides Rose, pulling her hair onto her back as she coughed. He was sure there was no water left in her system, but Rose was terrified of water, he knew she was trying to cough out the feeling.
When she finally stopped, she curled up to his chest, trying to warm herself with his body. Cedric Diggory and Avalon were arguing with Dumbledore, Madame Maxine and Karkaroff when the other champions emerged, their people with them. Madam Pomfrey ran over with blankets, towels and pepper up potions towards them, leaving an extra potion besides Adrian that Rose was refusing to even look at.
"ROSE!" Harry yelled when he saw her, he was coughing out some water too, but not as much as Fleur Delacour's sister beside him. Harry dragged himself over the platform next to Adrian, Rose and Amara. "Is she alright? Cedric said he'd bring her back up, she doesn't look so good. Why doesn't she look good?"
"Don't startle her," Adrian almost barked at him, holding a shaking Rose tighter. Her eyes were shut tight as she mumbled something under her breath, 'stay with me, stay with me'. His eyes soften as he heard the words she was mumbling, placing a chaste kiss on the top of her wet head. "She's scared; not a fan of the water."
"She almost drowned in her first year," a voice sounded above them, and Fred Weasley crutched next to Harry with George on his other side. Adrian went to glare at them, but he saw the fear flash through both their faces as they looked at her, and instead Adrian gave them both a nod.
"Hasn't gotten close to the water since," George continued his brother's sentence, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "We tried to teach her how to swim one summer but she refused as soon as her feet touched the water."
"We have to get her out of here," Amara said from above the group, she took a second to look at Rose before her expression turned to stone and she glared at Adrian. "Go, get her out and get her to drink a potion. She must warm up; she can't be that cold."
Adrian nodded his head, slipping an arm under her knees and the other under her waist before he lifted her up easily. The boys stood up, all looking at him uneasily.
"I'll bring her back to your common room once she stops shivering," he said, rolling his eyes at their expression. "Make sure Avalon and Diggory don't kill anyone; Merlin knows they shouldn't've used Rose for this."
Adrian left them all confused as he turned on his heel and disappeared into the trail towards the castle. Rose's breathing had gone back to normal, and her eyes were opened, her arms had slipped off his neck and she was toying with the ring on her pointer finger.
"You scared me; you know that?" he muttered quietly as they neared the castle. Rose turned up to look at him, he sighed when he saw a small twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
"I didn't know we were supposed to go under the lake," Rose mumbled back, her nose scrunching up in distaste. "Dumbledore said he'd put me asleep for the next task and that I wouldn't feel a thing; reckon the spell wore off for me quicker than for the others. He didn't give me the chance to choose."
"You're alright now," he smiled down at her, but she could see the darkness in his eyes as she talked about not having a choice. "I'll get you inside the castle."
"No," she shook her head, attempting to lower herself onto the floor but a shudder went down her spine and her head spined for a few seconds. "Just put me down."
Adrian looked as if he wanted to argue, but he remained tight lip and placed her feet softly on the moist grass. His arm remained tightly wrapped over her waist and she leaned slightly over his body, not fighting his help.
Rose cleared her throat and looked back at Adrian, he was looking over her pale face carefully and his hold only tightened when another shiver hit her. She turned back to the front and placed her hands before her as if she was holding a little ball. Adrian raised his eyebrow, watching as a red colour filled her irises before they shut closed, and fire began growing from her palms.
Instantly, the colour seemed to return to her face; her cheeks flushed, and her lips turned into a pink rosy shade. Her whole body had stopped shaking completely now, and her hair was starting to dry.
Adrian had never seen such a destructive be used for such a pure purpose. He'd only ever heard about how she'd used it to hurt others – he'd even seen it a few times when he had entered her mind to teach her Occlumency, but he was more than impressed when he felt her body leave his as she stood on her own.
"I'm not that cold anymore," she smiled up at him, a goofy grin gracing her face. He laughed aloud and let her go, throwing his head back in laughter as they walked towards the castle.