"Oh look, here he goes, here he goes," Clary said, nudging Vasantha to get the girl's attention as she watched Ron approach Fleur where she sat with two of her friends. When Ron had told Clary that morning that he planned to ask Fleur Delacour to the Yule Ball, Clary knew she needed a front row seat to the action. Knowing all too well Fleur and her friends frequented the Hogwarts courtyard in an attempt to spend time outside the castle, Clary knew it was the perfect place for her and Vasantha to study that day. She watched as Ron steeled himself, taking a deep breath, but instead of asking her calmly, his voice rang out into the courtyard, loud enough that both Clary and Vasantha could hear him from where they sat on the other side.
"FLEUR WILL YOU GO TO THE BALL WITH ME?" Ron screamed, eerily close to the French girl's face, and his cheeks instantly flushed bright red, eyes so wide they were nearly bursting.
Without waiting for an answer, Ron ran off, sprinting away from Fleur and running down the hill, in the direction of the Black Lake. Fleur watched, bewildered, as he ran off, before turning back to her friends, looking both shaken and surprised at the prior events. Clary couldn't help laughing at the predicament her brother had found himself in, even after Ginny followed after Ron down the hill.
"Well that's just about as I would've expected." Clary observed. "George owes me one Sickle."
Vasantha smirked in response, her eyes briefly looking down to the Care of Magical Creatures essay she'd been working on before suddenly shutting her book and looking back up at Clary.
"Speaking of which," she said, "that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
"George owing me money?" Clary asked, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion.
"George," Vasantha clarified, "He asked if I would go with him to the Yule Ball."
"Oh," Clary said, a bit taken aback at first, though a smile soon lit up her face. "That'll be fun! I heard Fred and Angelina were going together, and I wondered who George would get to bring."
"It's not weird or anything, right?" Vas asked. "Y'know, since he's your brother and all."
"No," Clary assured her friend, shaking her head. "That just means George got the prettiest date of all."
Vasantha smiled in response before her eyes caught sight of something moving behind Clary. "Speaking of the prettiest date of all," she said, nudging Clary as she turned around to see Cedric rushing up to her, panting and out of breath from his run, the golden egg clutched tightly in his hands. As he grew closer, she noticed his hair was sopping wet, as if he'd just come from the showers.
"Hey," Clary said, rising to her feet as Cedric finally reached the girls. "You look..." she trailed off, surveying him once more. "...distressed."
"I'll leave you to it," Vasantha said, "I have to go help Newt with that... special someone he wants to ask to the ball, but we'll see you both for dinner later."
"Bye," Clary and Cedric chorused as Vasantha hurried back into the castle to meet up with her brother, and once she'd rounded the corner and vanished from sight, Clary turned back to face him.
"I figured it out," he said, holding the egg up triumphantly, and the expression on his face changed to a relieved grin as Clary's jaw nearly dropped in response. "I got the clue. It's merpeople, Clary, their song can't be heard above water. That's why it just screeched when we tried to listen to it before."
"Well, go on," Clary said, "what did it say?"
"I wrote it down," Cedric said, rummaging through the pocket of his robes before he pulled out a small piece of parchment, passing it to her.
Clary took the piece of parchment in her hands, unfolding it and studying its contents. On it, Cedric had hastily written down the clue, which had come in the form of a song, the page spattered with a few drops of water from wherever he'd managed to listen to it.
"Do you know what this means?" Cedric asked, and Clary nodded, her gaze shifting back to the entryway of the castle.
"Means we've got some work to do," she said, hoisting the strap of her bag over her shoulder as the two walked back inside, nearly running in their haste to reach the library.
*
"We've taken what you'll sorely miss?" Cedric asked, looking back down at the paper for what seemed like the hundredth time, despite them only being on the fourth line of the song, and the first line that had given them any inclination as to what the Second Task would be. "But I'm not missing anything, at least not that I know of, anyways."
"Maybe they just haven't taken it yet," Clary assured him. "Or it's something you might not know you'll miss until you realize it's gone. But we won't have to worry about that just yet, let's try to figure out how you'll get this mysterious treasure, whatever it may be." she pulled the parchment closer to her, her gaze fixing on its contents.
"An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took," she murmured softly, reading aloud the words from the page. "Okay, so, while self-explanatory, it might not be the best news you've gotten today." she said, attempting to lighten the mood.
"So I'll have an hour to look for whatever the merpeople took from me." Cedric concluded. "Which will have been hidden underwater. So now I just need to figure out how in the name of Merlin I'm going to stay underwater for the amount of time it'll take me to find this thing."
"And hopefully not drown trying," she added on.
"Yes, that was implied, thank you, love," Cedric said, shaking his head. "Okay, next line."
Clary sighed softly as she read the last two lines, making the clue seem even grimmer for Cedric's near future. "But past an hour, the prospect's black. Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
"Just what I wanted to hear," he said sarcastically. "Whatever they took, if I can't get it back in time, then that's that. I'll be 'sorely missing' whatever this thing is forever."
"Guess that just means you have to find it within the hour then." she said adamantly. "I know you, Cedric. You're clever, and determined. Whatever this is, you'll figure it out and be back with plenty of time to spare. The Goblet of Fire surely thought so, or it wouldn't have chosen you for the tournament. It believes in you, and so do I."
At her words, the pained, stressed expression faded from his face, and was instead replaced by a soft smile. He nodded, taking a deep breath before reading the merpeople's song once more.
"I needed that," he said gratefully, reaching over and squeezing her hand softly. "Thank you."
"So let's go over this whole thing, then." she said, picking up the parchment with her free hand, her other one still clasped firmly in his. "The merpeople have taken something from you and have hidden it in the Black Lake. Whatever it is, you have an hour to dive down and find it, or it's gone for good. Simple. We just have to figure out what charm, or potion, plant, anything to help you breathe, and you're all set."
"All set," he repeated, nodding as Newt and Vasantha entered the back corner of the library, taking the two empty seats at Clary and Cedric's table. While Vasantha looked the same as she had when Clary had seen her earlier that day, Newt looked slightly different. A little more put together, if anything, and he stood up a bit straighter, a wide smile gracing his face.
"I take it you asked her?" Cedric assumed, and Newt nodded in response.
"I did," Newt confirmed.
"Well?" Clary asked. "Go on, tell us. What'd she say?"
"She said yes," Newt announced with a proud smile. "I'm going to the Yule Ball with Katie Bell."