a/n~ i apologise in advance for how boring this chapter is, there wasn't much i could write because the students literally just stare at the water for an hour lol... anyway, i hope you enjoy and please remember to vote!
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fred and george waited by the boats for chaerin because the three of them had agreed they'd watch the second task together. when chae didn't arrive the twins began to worry but got into the boat anyway, making their way over to the stadium that was in the water.
the hogwarts students watched excitedly as the four champions dived into the water. fred and george stood next to lee by the edge of the water, noticing that ron and hermione were also nowhere to be seen.
"where's chaerin?" lee asked.
"we don't know, it's really unusual for her not to turn up" said fred.
admittedly, the twins were beginning to get bored of staring into the mass of water but they decided to stick around. the judges had explained what the champions task was at the start so all the students were very excited, but it was extremely boring just staring at the water.
however soon enough, bubbles began to appear in the water and the first champion had arrived back. cedric's head popped out of the water, his arms wrapped around sora, the two of them soaking wet as sora gasped for air. they swam towards the ladder the staff nearby helping them up.
they were immediately wrapped in towel's, blankets and dressing gowns and rushed straight to madam pomfrey.
fred and george looked at each other in realisation.
"georgie, i think i know where chaerin is"
"me too freddie"
"but why did they take ron and chaerin?" lee asked.
"chae is really close friends with fleur delacour, she was stolen for fleur to find, not harry" fred explained, causing lee to smile widely.
"think you could get her to introduce me to fleur?" lee winked.
"no, ask her yourself" said george.
once everybody had settled down they began to wait again, eager to see which champion would return next. but fred's mind quickly remembered something that he just had to tell george straight away.
"george, chaerin can't swim!"
"what do you mean she can't swim?!"
"what do you think i mean?! the girl can't bloody swim you prat!"
the twins began to panic as they tried to get further to where the champions would climb up the ladder, ready to dive in if chae began to drown.
the crowd let out another roar when fleur was the next champion to arrive back was fleur, only she was empty handed. chaerin wasn't with her, chaerin was still in the water.
"oh my god, where's chaerin?" george asked fleur rapidly when she reached them both, she began to cry whilst she was being wrapped up with blankets.
"i couldn't get to her, i couldn't make it past the ze grindylows, zey just attacked me!" she explained desperately as the weasley twins stared at her in shock.
their best friend was underwater and time was running out, the hour was nearly up and if chaerin wasn't back within an hour then she'd die. the boys were so stressed that they couldn't stop pacing up and down, no one dared speak to them as tried to brainstorm ways to help chaerin.
at one point they were even about to ask mcgonagall to let them swim down there themselves, they couldn't just let chaerin die.
"wait, george, mcgonagall sent chae down there, mcgonagall wouldn't let chae die" said fred, causing george to nod.
"you're right! they wouldn't just endanger her, she'll be okay, our best friend won't die!" he cheered, earning them both strange looks.
the third champion to complete the task was viktor krum, everybody watched as he appeared out of the water with hermione. the two of them drenched, the professors helped them out of the water, taking them straight to madam pomfrey.
it was just harry everyone was waiting for now, but time was running out rapidly and harry still hadn't returned. neither had chaerin. the audience watched intently, like eagles watching their pray, ready to pounce at any moment.
when the hour was up, the audience and judges remained still. they couldn't leave until harry returned.
finally, ron's head emerged from the water, chaerin's next, causing the crowd to applaud. the two of them were absolutely soaked and ron quickly wrapped his arms around chaerin when he realised that she couldn't swim.
soon enough, the duo were sat on the floor of the platforms. fred and george immediately rushed over to the two of them, madam pomfrey had them both wrapped up in blankets, trying to bring their bodies back to its usual warmth.
fleur was fighting tooth and nail trying to get to chae, madame maxime however would not let her go. insisting that she had to stay there.
"where's harry?" chae croaked.
as if on cue, harry shot out of the water and onto the platform causing the crowd to erupt into applause and cheers.
chaerin was shivering so badly, she felt as if she was a literal ice cube. fred who was stood next to her pulled her into his arms, trying to warm her up as much as he possibly could. george and ron eyed the two of them suspiciously, trying to figure out if there was something going on there.
chae had made fred waddle over to harry, it was difficult with the two of them not letting go of each other but they eventually made it.
"harry you did so well!" she cheered.
"no chae, i came last" he sighed.
chae shook her head, pointing to where dumbledore was talking to a merman. it was evident that the headmaster could talk mermish.
"let's just wait and see" she suggested as madam pomfrey handed them both a potion, forcing the two of them to drink it which actually made their ears steam.
a few moments passed and the scores eventually came in. fleur had come last sadly, but chae was still proud of her either way, viktor had come third, harry had come second and cedric came first.
harry had been awarded second place for his outstanding moral fibre according to dumbledore, not only did he rescue ron but he rescued chae too. chaerin may have been physically cold, but nothing could stop the warm feeling in her chest, she was incredibly proud of harry potter.