The morning of the Second Task, Eleanor found herself rather unwilling to get out of bed, mainly because she had hardly gotten a good night's rest. The night before, she joined Cedric and Marnie in the prefect's bathroom, once again, making sure that Cedric was fully prepared for the task ahead. It had been a good night, if she was being completely honest, it was like old times before any of them had really started dating anyone. They joked around with one another, splashed bathwater profusely under the disapproving glare of the mermaid art in the window, and eventually, it led to the three of them just sitting around and talking.
They still couldn't come up with what was going to be taken from the Champions and when Eleanor had approached Harry earlier in the day to see what he thought of it, he quickly confessed that he didn't even know how he was going to manage to be able to breathe underwater for the hour. She scolded him for not coming to her sooner because she would have gladly assisted him, but Harry promised that he was going to figure something out with Ron and Hermione.
And while she encouraged Cedric to go to sleep early so that he wasn't tired for the task, Eleanor had been the first to go to bed, while he and Marnie stayed up in the Common Room. If Eleanor hadn't suspected anything before, she was certainly suspicious of her best friends and how close they were becoming with one another. Since the summer, Marnie's rather harsh and blunt demeanour had softened quite a bit, only hardening when needed. But she was becoming more of a listening ear than before, especially towards Cedric when she was so quick to dismiss him before.
While Cedric, who often turned to Eleanor for advice was making sure that he included Marnie's opinion on everything. It seemed to be coming together perfectly, but Eleanor couldn't help but be reminded that Cho and Lee still existed and if she noticed the growing tension between her best friends, it wouldn't take long before others noticed too.
Eventually, Marnie returned to the girls' dorm that evening as Eleanor was dozing off, she wore a warm grin as she walked over and sat on the edge of Eleanor's bed.
"I think he almost kissed me."
"WHAT?!"
Eleanor nearly rolled out of her bed and onto the floor, quickly sitting upright to make sure she had heard Marnie properly.
Marnie's smile faded slightly as she turned her head in the dimly lit room. "We were sitting there, just talking, you know, and suddenly, we stopped. It was like we had run out of things to say and then I was looking up at him and he was looking at me. I swear he started leaning in, but then fucking Ernie comes charging in talking about the task tomorrow and well...he went off to his dorm...I must be going mad."
"I don't think you're going mad, Marnie," Eleanor said, "I've told you before that anyone would be lucky to have you. But..."
Her voice trailed off until Marnie prompted her to speak once more. "But what?"
"You know I'll always be there for you and Cedric; I've been rooting for the two of you since day one, but you're both in relationships with separate people right now. You're with Lee and he's with Cho. Out of respect for those two, I think you and Cedric should talk to each other about what's been going on with the two of you lately. That way, if there is a chance of this turning into something else, at least, you two can break it off with Lee and Cho, so that no one's feelings are really hurt."
There was a heavy sigh as Marnie nodded her head. "Yeah, you're right," she said, "I don't want to hurt Lee, I actually really like him, but now I'm just confused with Cedric. I really thought I was over him, Ellie. I told myself over the summer to get over him because I didn't think it was ever going to happen. And then Lee asked me out on a date, and I thought he was joking at first, but he wasn't. I know he's always joking around and stuff, but when it's just the two of us alone, he's incredibly sweet to me. Always telling me I'm beautiful and it feels so nice to be appreciated."
Eleanor reached over and grabbed Marnie, pulling her back by the shoulders so that they were both laying down in her bed. She wrapped her arms around her in a hug, unsure of what else she could say because ultimately, it wasn't her decision to make. It would come down to how Marnie and Cedric handled the situation.
"Well, either way," she said finally, "you'll go on to have a hundred Angry Quidditch Babies or a hundred Angry Commentator babies. I still expect you to name one after me and I'll still be flattered."
"Fuck, I'm going to be wrecked after a hundred babies, Ellie," Marnie laughed, "can't I just have one and name it after you?"
"Deal."
"Which sounds better, Ellie Knitted Socks Diggory or Ellie Knitted Jumper Jordan?"
Unable to answer as she entered a fit of giggles, Eleanor simply gave Marnie another hug and the two of them ventured to sleep eventually.
However, when Eleanor finally managed to open her eyes the next morning, Marnie was no longer in her bed and a quick glance over revealed that she wasn't in her own bed either. It was practically unheard of for Marnie to wake up early, but looking around the room, Eleanor noticed that all of her dormmates were already up and gone. Looking over at the time, she could see that it was already nine and the Second Task was set to start in thirty minutes.
Pushing herself out of bed and grabbing the first bit of clothing from her trunk, Eleanor hurried off to the showers to have a quick rinse. She rushed through her entire morning routine, practically hopping around the dorm to pull her boots on, and when she was presentable enough, she ran out of the barrels and made her way towards the Great Hall.
By the time she arrived, students were already filing out, making their way towards the Entrance Hall to head outside. In the midst of everyone pushing in hopes of getting a good viewing spot, Fred and George spotted Eleanor and pulled her from the crowd.
"Decided to sleep in, love?" Fred asked her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders protectively and shielding her from getting bumped into.
"Not on purpose! No one decided to wake me up this morning," she said, "have you seen Marnie and Cedric at all?"
"No," George answered with a shake of his head, "haven't seen any of the Champions this morning, Harry included. I reckon they called them out early. And we haven't seen Marnie around either, Lee was looking for her earlier."
"We should probably head out there ourselves," Fred suggested, "or we're not going to be able to see a damn thing."
Knowing she wouldn't have been able to stomach any sort of breakfast, Eleanor followed the twins outside, holding onto Fred's hand as he led the way, hoping to find Marnie before the Second Task began.
The stands that had once been a part of the dragon enclosure had been moved to the edges of the lake. She didn't remember the First Task being so crowded but with Fred and George barrelling their way through, they managed to squeeze into a small space where they could actually see the lake. Sparing no second, Eleanor looked all around for her friends, spotting Cedric first as he stood with the rest of the Champions. They were all lined up, with the exception of Harry, in front of the judges' table.
Cedric remained standing tall, but Eleanor could see the nerves on his face and wished she could go over to him and reassure him that he was going to do fine. However, she didn't think it would be allowed, probably counting as some form of interfering if she dared. Still, there was no sign of Marnie and Eleanor wondered if her short friend was just tucked behind taller people because she didn't see Lee either and he wasn't exactly considered tall either.
And where the hell was Harry?
"There he is!" George clapped his hands together before pointing in the direction where Harry was practically sprinting towards the other Champions. He had barely made it in time, hunched over trying to catch his breath, while Ludo Bagman decided to announce that the Second Task was starting.
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One ... two ... three!"
All the other champions had appeared prepared to enter the lake, wearing swimsuits of different varieties but Eleanor could only watch with slight second-hand embarrassment as Harry, who was fully clothed, removed his socks and shoes and started entering the lake, wearing his full robes. Of course, it didn't go unnoticed by everyone else as laughter echoed among the stands and a good number of Slytherin students started jeering loudly.
Suddenly, it looked like Harry was struggling to breathe as he started thrashing around for a few seconds before he dove right into the lake water and disappeared. Once all the Champions had gone under, the surface grew quiet, and everyone came to realise the same thing at the same time.
They couldn't see anything taking place underwater.
"So, who was the complete dumbarse that thought this was going to be a good task?" Fred asked, folding his arms over his chest. "They got a full hour to be under there, we're just supposed to sit around and do what? We'll only get to see what was taken after they come up! This is rubbish!"
"RUBBISH!" George echoed and quickly, the crowd of students began to chime in agreement.
It was only when Professor McGonagall took to telling everyone to settle down or they would be forced to return to the castle did most of the students quiet down, but judging by the redness of Ludo Bagman's face, it was clear the task itself probably wasn't all that thought through.
As time went on, Fred could sense that Eleanor was growing more and more nervous, especially since none of the champions had yet to surface. He could see her biting at her nails in a feverish manner, her eyes glued on the lake. Finally, thinking that she was going to end up chewing her fingers off completely, he grabbed her hand and held onto it, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Cedric will be fine," he told her, "I'm sure he'll be the first one out of the water. And Harry will be okay too."
"I hope so," she said, "the last time I spoke with Harry, he didn't have a clue as to what he was going to do but it looks like he found something to help him breathe underwater. I just hope they're all alright. I should have brought my knitting out here, at least I would have something to do, but I was in such a rush this morning after staying up late last night-"
"More bath time with Cedric?" he teased, leaving Eleanor to push him slightly. Although, he hardly budged leaving her to grumble something at him and then turn away from him.
"I still can't find Marnie either."
"Well, it's not like we're doing much standing here," Fred said, "why don't we go look for her? She has to be around here somewhere."
It definitely seemed to calm Eleanor's nerves as Fred and George helped her navigate through the stands of students in hopes of finding her best friend. But every so often, they would all steal a glance in the direction of the large timer, noting at one point, that an hour had passed, and no one had surfaced.
However, one good thing happened as George grabbed Eleanor's jumper sleeve and pointed in the direction. She turned her head and quickly spotted Marnie, sitting next to Lee in the stands. She practically dragged Fred in the direction of the two, looking awfully relieved as she let go of his hand, only to make her way to Marnie's side.
"There you are! I've been looking for you all morning!"
Marnie went to respond but it was then that everyone turned their attention to the lake when they heard the sound of splashing.
It was Cedric, who managed to surface first, over the hour time limit and as Eleanor squinted, she was sure she could see someone next to him in the water, swimming alongside him as they made their way to the shore.
"It was a person," Marnie whispered, only loud enough for Eleanor to hear beside her, "what was taken. . .was a person. We've taken what you'll sorely miss and...it was...her..."
Hearing Marnie's voice crack, Eleanor went to reach for her friend, only to note the tears that were already threatening to fall from Marnie's gaze. She quickly excused herself and pushed her way through the crowds of students that were currently cheering on the Hufflepuff Champion. Eleanor called after her, but it was too late as she disappeared, leaving Lee to look over and notice that his girlfriend was missing.
"Where did Marnie go?"
"Uh, she said that breakfast wasn't agreeing with her," Eleanor stated quickly, "she wanted to head back up to the castle and lie down."
"Oh, why didn't she say something?" Lee asked. "I would have walked her back."
"She didn't want you missing out on the task. She said she would be fine."
Fred didn't seem all that convinced by Eleanor's answer, giving her a look, but as she made eye contact with him, she shook her head slightly, a silent plea to not say anything more about it.
Eventually, Eleanor made her way down from the stands with Fred and approached where Cedric and Cho were sitting, wrapped up in towels, attempting to stay warm. She shook her head at the lack of common sense that seemed to run rampant in the school as she asked Fred to pull out his wand so they could properly warm the two up. She removed her knitted jumper and offered it to Cho, who was shivering in place.
"Here," she said, holding the jumper out, "this will warm you up in no time."
"Oh Ellie, thank you," Cho told her, "but what about you? Won't you get cold?"
"No, she won't," Fred said, pulling off his own jumper and draping it over Eleanor's shoulders, "not with me around!"
With a sincere smile, Cho took Eleanor's jumper and placed it on, only to look up in surprise. "Wow, this is really warm!"
Cedric looked up at Eleanor with a grin, thankful that the task was over, and he had claimed the victory.
"Where's Marnie?" he asked.
Eleanor scratched the back of her head awkwardly but was saved by someone else surfacing in the lake.
This time it was Fleur that emerged, but she didn't have anyone at her side but rather was screaming and asking for help. When she finally managed to make her way towards land, Eleanor could see that her fair skin was covered in cuts and bruises, she could barely stand until she was assisted by a few others.
"Grindylows," Cedric muttered, "they were everywhere down there, attacking left and right. I'm sure she got caught by a few. She was behind me, along with Krum. They must have gotten caught up by a swarm of them."
"What about Harry?" Eleanor questioned, her eyes still fixated on Fleur, who was crying and saying something in French as she pointed towards the water.
"He was there when I got to where we needed to meet up, but Ron and Hermione were down there- "
"He had to get two people?"
"No," Cedric shook his head, "I think his person was Ron and Krum's was- "
He didn't need to say it as Viktor Krum surfaced with Hermione Granger at his side. But now the focus was on Harry, everyone seemed to be wondering the same thing, where was he?
Finally, Harry emerged, and Eleanor could breathe properly again. She immediately began cheering and clapping her hands as she noted that not only did Harry manage to save Ron, but he also had Fleur's little sister in his company as well. Now it made sense why Fleur had been so desperate to make her way back into the water, even though she had been traumatised by the grindylows.
Everyone seemed to swarm in on them to help them out of the water, while Fleur tended to her little sister, and even Percy, who was still standing in for Crouch, made his way over to help Ron. Eleanor gave a look to Fred, who nodded his head and gave her a playful shove forward so she could go check on her "Second Favourite Gryffindor."
"Harry!" she called to him, wishing she had another jumper to give to him at the time. But he didn't really seem like he cared about the cold at the time but was more than willing to accept her hug.
Eleanor held on tight to him, her mind absolutely racing with all the recent events, but there was one good thing that came out of all of it.
The Second Task was over.
But unbeknownst to Eleanor and everyone else, there was so much drama to come.