"Granger, Weasley. Dumbledore wants to see you in his office."
The four of us look up from our books in our place in the library since we have been trying to help Harry figure out a way to breathe underwater for an hour.
Hermione begins to argue, "Professor, we have to help Harry-"
Professor Moody raises his hand to stop her "Now," he says firmly. She rushes out immediately, not wanting to keep Dumbledore waiting, followed by Ron moving at a much slower pace.
"Longbottom!" He calls out for Neville who happened to be passing by our row. Neville's eyes widen, but he shuffles over. Professor Moody exits and leaves us be after telling Neville to help as well.
Harry sighs out in frustration and places his forehead down on his desk in defeat. "This is hopeless. How am I supposed to breathe underwater for an hour?"
"Bubble charm?" I suggest nonchalantly.
He scoffs at my suggestion, "As if. That is far too advanced for me. This is a lot, and I should just give up now."
"Hey don't say that. I'm here and will do everything I can to help." I offer an encouraging smile and place my hand gently over his to reassure him. He finally lifts his head up, thanks me and continues reading his book to try and find something.
"Have you ever heard of Gillyweed?"
Harry and I exchange a curious glance at Neville's question before shaking our heads. He waves for us to follow him all the way to the Black Lake. Neville searches the water for a while as Harry and I silently sit on the shore, unsure of what to do.
"Found it!" Neville triumphantly pulls out a slimy piece of gillyweed, making Harry gulp at the look of it.
I look over at a nervous Harry, "Go get some rest before the task." The stress hitting him hard, Harry nods his head sleepily and drags his feet all the way back to the castle.
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Five hours pass before the grounds are buzzing with excitement and wonder. I walk by myself at first back towards the lake. As I walk, I hear Draco say that he could do better than Potter at whatever the task is.
I roll my eyes as I turn around to, "How? Your only defense is that you are going to tell your father when someone does something that you don't like."
People around us overhear this and snicker at my response as Draco's smirk falters.
I continue on my way and spot Fred and George taking bets for the task. George's eyes light up when he sees me coming his way while Fred looks away in discontent.
I reach into my pocket for a sickle, "Cedric."
Their eyebrows raise as George responds, "Really? Most people put their money on Krum."
"I just have a feeling that pretty boy will surprise us this round again."
George gaps in an offensive way, "You think he's pretty?"
I let out a laugh and close the gap between us by pressing my lips to his. The kiss is brief since I pull away a moment later to say, "Maybe." I send a wink his way before leaving an uncomfortable Fred behind.
I end up on the platform that the Champions are one yet I can't spot Ron and Hermione anywhere. Harry nervously looks around in search of his friends and makes eye contact with me, so I offer him a thumbs up. He turns back towards Professor Moody and Neville.
The cannon goes off too soon, yet again, and Harry is pushed off the platform while the other Champions voluntarily jump into the freezing cold water. When Harry struggles in the water and goes still, Neville yells out, "I've killed Harry Potter!" In that moment, Harry leaps out of the water as we all cheer for him.
George finds his way over to me, and I lean my back against his chest. His strong arms wrap around me as we stand comfortably as the time passes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Fred and Angelina talking fiercely in a hushed whisper. Part of me hopes Angelina is giving Fred a piece of her mind, so I decide to listen in.
"Oh come on, it won't hurt to miss one practice."
Angelina retorts with her arms crossed across her chest, "Fred, no. I will not miss Quidditch practice for no reason."
Fred pleads, "It's not for no reason, I have something planned. I promise! Besides, there are no games this year"
Her eyes roll, "Doesn't matter and you probably have some prank planned. If you do then tell me what it is."
Fred withdraws slightly and looks perplexed," It's a surprise...just meet me at the Black Lake tonight at 7."
She shakes her head, disappointed as Fred's face falls. "I am not missing practice for you. I see you all the time."
"Why can't you let me be a good boyfriend? I'll be waiting at the lake and if you're not there then I'm done." He turns away to stomp off, frustrated beyond belief. I see him peer around the crowd, searching for his twin but frowns when he sees me.
I pull away from George, "I'm going to find Astoria. See you later?" He nods and we share a smile as I leave him be to be there for his twin.
On the other end of the platform, Astoria stands with Draco and his crew, all but Astoria looking smug for literally no reason. She waves at me as I approach the group, yet Pansy sneers at my presence.
"Who do you think will win today?"
I glance at the giant clock, one minute away from signaling the end of the task before looking back at Astoria, "Cedric."
Draco hears this, "No away. Krum is the strongest Champion here and is going to win this entire thing. He has no competition."
As the hour finishes, Cedric surfaces with Cho first. I look at Draco confidently, "Told you so." His head falls in defeat.
Krum comes up next with Hermione, and I am relieved that she is alright. Draco snobbishly speaks, "Still beat Potter."
I roll my eyes at him and look to see Krum wrapping a blanket around Hermione in a caring way, which even I have to admit is quite cute. "He could do so much better than that Mudblood." Pansy laughs and agree.
A realization hits me that we are standing on the ledge of the platform, so without a second thought, I shove Draco off in one swift motion. Everyone's attention turns towards the loud splash.
His arms flail around, trying to stay afloat. Laughter erupts from the platforms as Crabbe and Goyle attempt to help Draco as Pansy pleads for them to save her Draco. Draco reaches up for Crabbe's hand, but grabs too hard, leading to Crabbe falling in as well.
I laugh as Draco yells out his signature 'threat.' The scores are then announced, so everyone turns away from the commotion, making them help themselves.
Dumbledore's voice booms, "In first place...Cedric Diggory!" The Hufflepuffs cheer the loudest but everyone claps for the one who surfaced first.
"In second place..." Igor starts to push Krum forward to claim the glory, "Harry Potter, for saving not only his treasure but bravely saving another as well!" Igor yells out in disagreement while we all cheer again. My loud cheering stands out int he sea of Slytherins, yet I don't care.
Next is Krum and then Fleur in dead last since she was unable to complete the task.
I walk back over to George, yet Fred looks away. George exclaims, "Well look who was right!"
My shoulders shrug, "I'm always right."
His eyes roll, "yeah, yeah. Anyways, I saw Malfoy decided to take a swim."
"Guilty."
I glance to see Fred's eyes widen in surprise as George says, "My hero!" We laugh and head back up to the castle.
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Astoria and I head to dinner, both wanting to escape Draco's second hand pride of Krum, which is just weird and doesn't really make sense.
"I wish I had gotten a picture of Draco in the water."
I snicker, "Make him remember it forever."
She laughs, "Exactly. Highlight of my day!" I chuckle just thinking back to the great moment that was Draco being my greatest source of entertainment.
"I still can't get over Pansy almost crying since she was so worried for her boyfriend." Her mascara definitely was down her face after the whole thing was said and done.
Astoria replies, "Well technically they are dating."
I shrug, "In Pansy's mind, they are basically engaged, so same difference."
We finish up eating, so I get up from the bench and leave the Great Hall. I spot Ron walking back to his common room, so I yell out, "Ronald, wait up!" He stops, and I spot Lillian at the ends of the hall shuffle away suspiciously.
He coughs to clear his throat, "Hey, what's up?"
His eyes flicker back and forth in a weird way. "Everything okay?" I ask, ignoring his question.
Ron nods his head fast, "Yes."
I nod, unconvinced since he is acting strangely, but let it go since it's Ron. I ask for the first time, "Are you fine if I feed some?"
Ron returns to normal as he widens his eyes at this before joking, "Alexia actually asking before doing what she wants?"
My shoulder shrug, and Ron gives up his wrist momentarily. I make it quick and decide to go for a walk, leaving Ron be.