Author's Note: This story was written because all of my favorite stories with a Harry/Fleur/Gabrielle pairing had Hermione, or had been abandoned or ended far too soon, and as such, will have some minor incorporations from a wide variety of stories in the beginning. And since I don't have a beta, I'd appreciate if any of you readers would just leave a review or PM me on any drastic errors I probably have. OH and a healthy THANKS to Annabelle for editing my rather poor writing.

-dumbothedumbo

Harry Potter was waiting anxiously, and rather boredly, on the pier, with his fellow champions for the start of the Second Task, which, began soon after the long-winded Ludo Bagman finished his boorish instructions, that somehow managed to get the crowd cheering. "…And once they retrieve the object that is significant to them, they will have to return to the surface, where they'll swim to shore, receiving aid from the judges if necessary, not counting against them, as the judging technically ends once they are seen out on the surface of the lake…" Harry soon wondered if he would get sick and die from pneumonia, as it was quite cold, though he did have a towel draped over himself the length of time he had been standing there (a few hours by his reckoning). He could imagine in his mind that it was bound to get him ill and soon after, dead, fortunately, this would not be the case.

Ludo's long speech finally came to an end, and proceeded to announce, "…and now, for the Second Task to begin!" Upon saying this, he pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew it loudly. The cheers of the crowd, cut off as Harry smoothly dived into the water, having taken his Gillyweed slice as Ludo seemed to near the end and make his final statements.. Harry had already taken the large chunk of Gillyweed Dobby had "obtained" for him, and sliced it into 20 minute piece, so that he didn't waste it.

He swam quickly with the other champions, though he did slow down once he forced himself to breathe in water, as he obviously was not accustomed to the strange sensation of inhaling water.

This little break rendered him unable to see what Cedric had done, as he had already rushed ahead. He could still see Fleur however, with a bubble around her head, though her lust-inducing form (for most, though Harry himself was immune to such things. ) remained out of sight, and soon her bubble disappeared as well. Krum, on the other hand had taken longer with his preparations, and Harry saw him shoot past as a half-man, half-shark.

Harry shook himself away from the thoughts of the other champions as they took different routes, and soon he could see no one else. Realizing that he had nowhere planned to go and that he was wasting precious time, Harry then decided to swim off in another direction, towards the ocean floor. Amongst the long kelp (undoubtedly the magical freshwater variety) saw Moaning Myrtle gesturing frantically in one direction. As he mouthed his thanks, the ghost merely smiled and headed back towards the castle. He made a mental note to visit her bathroom perhaps, as it was unlike her to offer aid to students.

Swimming in the way she had gestured, Harry soon saw the Merfolk Village come before him. In the center of the village, he saw the hostages: Hermione, who he presumed to be Viktor Krum's hostage, after seeing her attend the Yule Ball with the latter, Cho Chang, most certainly Cedric's hostage after Harry had stumbled upon them snogging in a broom closet, Ron, of course, his best mate, and a silvery-blonde haired girl that could be none other than Fleur's sister were all tied to one of 4 poles, each having their own respective one. AFter this quick glance, he set himself to work, hacking away at the ropes that bound Ron with a nearby sharp rock.

Harry had just shouldered Ron and was halfway to the surface when he took one last glance backwards and saw a flurry of flashes of light meaning someone was in distress. Mentally sighing, he set Ron down at the Merfolk Village, and swam in the direction of the flashes. Krum and Fleur were fending off a mob of Grindylows, or more like Fleur was casting spells, whereas Krum was fending them off with his snout. Harry contributed, shouting "Reducto!", or at least shouted as best as one could underwater. It had the desired effect, sending the Grindylow reeling away in pain. He continued to aid until it was clear that they had it under control, before departing once again.

Harry returned to retrieve Ron when he was greeted by a disturbing sight: Five leering merfolk, entranced by Fleur's sister, or more accurately, her ample curves, had untied her and were dragging her into a nearby hut. Help was a long way off based on the continued flashes of light, and Harry knew that he must do something, so he followed them, bursting through the door into an air pocket. Fortunately, no one noticed him as they were busy removing their own clothing in front of a tied up, very awake, and very terrified sister.

Harry's shock at the existence of an air pocket prevented him from acting immediately, but it had soon disappeared when disgust at what was about to happen woke him up. Instinctively, he fired off two blasting curses and a disarming charm before the merfolk got over their shock, leaving two of them unconscious against the wall, and one was relieved of his spears strapped across his back. One of them wanted the "first privilege", and stupidly gestured in what was a command for them two to deal with Harry while he continued to rip her clothes away from her body.

While Harry watched the scene unfold, he sent another blasting curse to knock the disarmed merman into unconsciousness, leaving only one left. To the merfolk's credit, Harry had an advantage with the element of surprise, and without it, the merman was a considerably tougher opponent, as Harry realized when he was forced to dodge yet another spear, this one nicking his arm as it passed. The magically enlarged room, much larger on the inside than the outside, gave Harry considerable room to retreat, but also considerable room for the merman to keep throwing spears and force Harry to duck his head down below an overturned table.

Fleur's sister was now clearly awake and rent the relative silence with an ear-shattering scream. The merman, momentarily stunned, was sent into a more permanent stunned condition by Harry's stunning spell. A quick blasting curse stopped the final merman from finishing with his vile deed, and Harry rushed to Fleur's sister.

"Are you hurt?" Harry asked while conjuring a cloak to hide her body, which was now fully exposed to the stuffy air in the hut. She could merely nod between her sobs of terror at what the merfolk had been about to do to her.

"What's your name?" Harry asked soothingly, or as best as he could. He had little experience in comforting other people.

"G-Gabrielle." Her sobs slightly more controlled.

Harry allowed her to recover, and pulled her into a light hug, as a comforting gesture. She leaned ever so slightly into his chest and Harry took the moment to survey the room. There was nothing terribly interesting; it looked like a fairly ordinary home, except for a rack of spears and the tattered remnants of Gabrielle's clothing, strewn all over the floor around them. This gave Harry even more reason to hate the merfolk. All of her clothes were torn except for her lingerie, which Harry presumed were going to be kept by the merman for "reminiscing" this horrid act.

When Gabrielle had settled down, Harry helped her up and out of the hut, giving her one of his doses of gillyweed before they exited.

Merely fifteen minutes had passed, and Fleur and Viktor and were in the process of emerging from the gloom. Cho Chang was gone, signifying that Cedric had come and gone.

Fleur, surprised and more than slightly suspicious of Harry for carrying her sister, rushed over and hugged her sister. Her eyes narrowed even more once she realized that Gabrielle was naked under a cloak. She however, held her verdict and gestured upwards where they could talk.

Harry followed, pausing briefly to retrieve Ron from where he had left him, and no sooner than they emerged, heads popping out of the surface when Fleur turned upon him.

"Explain." She ordered demandingly.

Harry, with Gabrielle's help, retold what happened, and hoped that Fleur would understand. Fleur looked quite thoughtful, saying, "If what you have said is true…" Her eyes widened and she gestured for Gabrielle to follow and began to swim towards the shore.

"You go on and see the scores! I have to go talk with my parents!" she shouted back to him. As they swam away, Harry shrugged, shouldered Ron, and began to follow.

Author's Note: A Half-Decent first chapter I hope. Next up, we see some discussions about exactly what worried Fleur. It's a cliché story, but an incorporation of all of the better aspects of those clichés.

-dumbothedumbo