Disclaimer- It's all Rowling's

oo0oo

Relief

Hermione dragged Ron out of the dormitory, wanting to give Ginny a night with Harry. Aware of his leaning back, likely wanting to refuse, she tugged on his arm once more and he came grudgingly. Bringing him to the nearest classroom, Hermione hesitated, unsure of what to say, Ron however, did not have that problem. "What's my sister think she's doing?"

"You know how I told you Harry wouldn't make a move on Ginny?" She said, emphasizing, her friend's name, and therefore her right to make her own decisions (though Merlin knows if he actually noticed that). At Ron's nod she continued, "I didn't say anything about her making moves on him."

"She shouldn't! She wouldn't! She's only thirteen," Ron barked.

"You know Ron, I think you might be taking this over protective thing a bit far. You're only one year older than her."

"I'm still her older brother!" he said, self righteous as always.

"Just because you're her older brother, doesn't give you the right to meddle in her personal affairs." Hermione spat, thoroughly tired of Ron and his own insecurities manifesting in this 'self-righteous brother' business. "You know she was considering dating Michael Corner, just to piss you off."

He looked shocked at that, prompting her to continue, "She's thirteen. She's not your little sister anymore that needs to be protected. Ginny never HAS needed to be protected."

Ron's brow furrowed stubbornly; Hermione reached out and grabbed his arm. "Just think about it okay?" He really wanted to go stomping in there and break them up, but he couldn't say no to her; he had never been able to.

"Okay, okay, Harry doesn't even like her that way, so we're good." Ron stuck to that like it was a lifeline for his sister, even with his doubts of his friend's feelings.

Putting a hand on his arm, trying a physical connection to penetrate his thick skull, she said, "There is no one better for Ginny."

He sputtered, "She doesn't need anyone yet!"

Hermione snorted, "Ron she's only a year younger than us. Dating one guy, Harry may I add, won't kill her."

Realizing where he was, and more importantly, who he was it, Ron dropped the subject. They talked much more calmly until after ten, when Hermione decided they'd better get some sleep. Going back through the common room, he saw Harry and Ginny on the couch. Ginny looked cozy, snuggled into his friend's side, and with the happy look on her face, he decided to leave them alone; but not before giving Harry a hard stare.

oo0oo

. Ginny woke up Sunday morning, and just lay in bed, thinking about the previous night. Harry had actually kissed her; she couldn't believe it. Spending the perfect day yesterday, all of it in his company, going through books before having a water fight, then warming up on McGonagall's hearth, more researching, laying down her head on his lap, and then the kiss.

"Why are you smiling so much?" Her dorm mate, Kathryn asked.

Ginny looked over at her classmate and considered telling the truth. "Oh I'm just happy we have another day off before having to return to classes," she said, trying to come off as unfocused as that one Ravenclaw in her year. What was her name… Luna, that was it.

Kathryn looked disbelieving for a second before shrugging and leaving. Ginny remembered how Harry's mouth had dropped on Yule night, and she wanted the same reaction from him today, when she knew he had feelings for her.

Heading to the fourth year dorms, Lavender was just walking out.

"Is Hermione in there?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah why?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to her about something."

The redhead entered, "Hermione?"

"In here." Hermione called from the dorm bathroom.

Ginny walked in to find her friend trying tame her mane of bushy hair, a hopeless cause if she ever knew one. "Trying to impress someone?" She asked pointedly.

That got a reaction; Hermione spun, looking guilty about it, "No I-, why are you here?" She asked.

"Whatever it was that you put in my hair, the stuff that made it shiny, do you have any left?"

The older girl grinned, happy that she now had the advantage, "Trying to impress someone are we?"

Ginny couldn't prevent a blush from stealing onto her face, "I remember how he looked at me when I met him for the Yule Ball, and I… I want that again,"She said self consciously.

'No, sorry. If you would have told me yesterday I could have picked you up some more in Hogsmeade."

Ginny the fourth year dorms disappointed, but not before agreeing to meet Hermione for breakfast in a half hour.

Ginny walked into the great hall thirty minutes later and saw Hermione sitting by the boys. She made her way over; for once, confident in her ability to have a conversation with Harry, now sure that he liked her. Sitting down by them she glanced at Hermione, who seemed to be hiding a smile. Then Ron, who was undoubtedly restraining himself from commenting, like he should. And then she met Harry's eyes, and was hit by a crippling shyness; as bad as it was in second year after he'd rescued her. He blushed too when they made eye contact, allowing her to feel a bit better about herself.

"Hi," Ginny said with uncertainty, not failing to notice that Hermione was no longer able to conceal her smile.

"G'morning," Harry immediately went back to his food, knowing this would only get worse if he looked her in the eyes. Last night had been amazing, he thought to himself, it was like a dream, and so he hesitated with her. 'Pretend it never happened', he thought to himself, unsure of what to do if... that had to be taken into account.

"So what are you guys doing today?" Harry asked the group at large.

"Studying, I need to prepare for the transfiguration test." Hermione said, lathering her toast with butter.

"The test isn't for two weeks." Ron complained, sounding disgusted that she was already preparing.

"Well then I'll be ready for it two weeks from now," came the snippy reply.

Ron met Harry's eyes, seeming to have forgotten Ginny completely, and shook his head in exasperation. Breakfast went smoothly after that, but whenever there was an extended silence, both Harry and Ginny would have to fight not to blush, with mixed results.

After breakfast, "Game of chess Harry? You were putting up a fight last night, until you got… distracted," Ron offered, obviously refusing to think about what distracted his friend.

"Nah I've got to find something for the second task. Ginny and I went through a dozen books yesterday and didn't find anything," and so search he did.

oo0oo

Wednesday before the Second Task

Harry groaned as he set down Magical Drafts and Potions, it looks like there wasn't a potion to breathe underwater either. He'd already looked: for a charm with no luck, then tried to find a self transfiguration spell that was fourth year, and now a failed effort with potions, all with only three days left till the second task. There was no way he'd find and learn something in three days. Ok yes, he'd done it with the first task, but it wasn't that simple this time.

Harry slammed the book shut, frustrated, and stomped up to the boys fourth year dormitories.

"What's the problem Harry?" Neville asked. Neville was a round faced innocent looking boy. Back in their first year, Malfoy would always pick on him because he still had baby fat, but by now he was starting to turn that into muscle. He was still only confident in herbology, but he wasn't as timid with everything else anymore, leading to a lot more people liking him, and a lot fewer people picking on him.

"Oh it's just the second task, it's impossible."

"What's the problem?"

"Champions have to work out a solution on their own, but thanks Neville."

The other boy looked at Harry sardonically, "I'm not stupid, Ron and Hermione both have been helping you with it, and I don't think you're going to find something on your own in three days, a little help isn't that much to ask, as you are the youngest champion."

Harry thought about it for a minute before conceding defeat, he really had no chance if he worked on it alone. "It's in the lake; the mermaids will take someone I love and if I don't get to them within the hour, they…. die. I need a way to breathe underwater."The champion finished hopefully, but not really believing Neville would be able to help.

To Harry's astonishment, the other boy's eyes lit up. "Gillyweed!"

"Gilly- what?"

"I read about it in Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, the book Professor Moody gave me, " Neville exclaimed excitedly, "It's a plant that gives you gills for a short period of time. I think it's an hour too, where is it?" He rummaged frantically through his belongings, enthusiastic at the opportunity to help. Yanking a book and a shirt out of his suitcase, he threw the shirt aside and started rifling through the book. "Here it is! Yes, it gives you gills for an hour after you eat it."

Harry felt hope dawning on him for the first time in weeks, it was like the sun coming out, even though it was a rainy day. "Do you know where I can get that?"

Neville grinned, "Should be pretty easy to find out. Page two sixty-four…" he muttered to himself, flipping to the back where the index was. "Ah yes, gillyweed, you can get it at…" At this point his face fell dramatically, dashing Harry's hopes as well. "It says for Britain it needs to be custom ordered, it takes a week to two weeks to arrive."

Harry cursed himself under his breath, 'My cockiness and refusal to ask for help screws me over, there's no way I'll be able to get it in time'.

"I'm sorry Harry, I can help you find something else?" The other boy offered.

"No no, there has to be some in the castle," Harry said, almost talking to himself at this point. "If anyone knows where I can find it, it's Hermione."

Harry raced down the steps, Neville following more slowly. Upon entering the common room, he saw Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sitting around the fire. Ron was putting away his schoolbag and rubbing his eyes (Harry suspected he'd just finished his charms essay), Hermione was sitting back lofty look on her face (she'd likely been helping him, and saying 'I told you so'), and then Ginny. She was the one that really caught his eye. She was sitting with a book in her hands, Harry was too far to see the title, and as he came rushing down, her head snapped up and they made eye contact. The past several weeks, nothing had happened between them but Harry had to take a deep breath whenever he saw her unexpectedly, he reasoned he was falling prey to the Potter Curse.. Sure they'd hung out, but it was always with Ron, Hermione, or others, so they never really got a chance to a deep breath to boost his confidence, and reminding himself he didn't need to talk to her right now, Harry made his way over to the group.

"Hermione, I need help with the second task," he said urgently.

Both Hermione and Ron's gazes snapped to him. "What do you think we've been doing these past weeks?" Ron asked indignantly, not knowing it but almost directly mirroring Hermione's words the night before the first task.

"Yeah yeah, but Neville came through for me." He jerked his head at the boy who'd just arrived; Harry happily noticed he'd brought the book. "There's this thing called gillyweed, it's some kind of magical plant that gives someone gills. I need to know where I can find it in the castle."

Hermione scrambled to her feet and briskly walked to Neville. Grabbing the book from his hands, which he'd astutely kept open to the page, she scanned it quickly, finding gillyweed on the page.

"Gillyweed, gillyweed," she muttered to herself. Dropping the book on a nearby chair, she lunged to her own bag. "I remember gillyweed being in a book I took out for light reading on potions, if I can only find it…" At this point she was just giving a running commentary of what she was searching for, because she certainly wasn't talking to them. His friend was flipping through a very boring looking book with what must have been six hundred pages. 'Light reading?' Ron mouthed to Harry in disbelief.

"Aha! Here it is. Gillyweed is used in The Brew of Subaqueous Breathing, pretentious name isn't it?" Not waiting for a response, Hermione continued in her 'teacher's voice', "so if it's anywhere in the castle, Snape has it."

Harry groaned to himself, "Great, the teacher who most wants me dead is the one I need to get it from."

"Harry!" Hermione said reproachfully.

Ginny unexpectedly got up, eyes still fastened on Harry causing his heart to skip a beat, and leaned in so her mouth was near his ear. "I don't know about you, but if I was in this situation, I'd get Fred and George's help, since it looks like you need a distraction."

The champion looked at her, surprised with her cunning. He muttered back, very aware of the other's eyes on them, "And what? Steal it in the middle of class?"

"Exactly," she said confidently, "they should be able to get you something that buys you enough time to sneak in and grab some."

He looked at her thoughtfully for a second before nodding decisively and looking around the room for either of the twins. Spotting Fred sitting off to the side, an arm around Angela (his date to the ball), Harry made his way over.

"Do you know where George is?"

He looked at Harry with a bit of surprise before shaking his head, "He went off somewhere with Lee. What can I help you with?" He asked bringing his arm from around the girl and leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees.

"Well I… er-," Harry broke off uncertainly, not knowing if he should be bringing this up in front of Angela.

Harry noticed she was barely concealing a grin, apparently knowing that Harry had to talk to Fred about something outside the rules. "I'm going to talk to Alicia, let me know when your done with you," her gaze flipped between Harry and Fred, "business."

She left and the older boy looked at Harry expectantly. "I figured out the egg clue, and need something from Snape's office to complete the second task. Ginny recommended I come to you for something to distract the class with; when they're distracted, I sneak in and nab what I need. You have something like that?"

Fred's eyes lit up, "Yeah, Filibuster's No-Heat Fireworks. They're exactly what you need. When's your potions class?"

Harry looked away awkwardly, "Umm.. tomorrow. First class of the day."

"Well then I'd better get you some." Fred said, getting up. "Nice to see you're following in the footsteps of the Marauders." He said, speaking quietly into Harry's ear, so no others could hear.

Harry returned to his friends, who at this point, were all looking at him expectantly. "Well?" Ginny asked.

Harry gave her a meaningful glance and responded, "He has something I can use."

"What are you needing from Fred?" Hermione asked worriedly, knowing full when that the only reason Harry would need either of the twins, would be to do something against the rules.

"How about I just don't tell you, and you pretend I'm not breaking any rules." Harry suggested, hoping (but not expecting) Hermione would agree. To his surprise she just nodded and looked away. 'She must be fretting about me a lot more than she's let on', Harry realized.

Fred came back down holding his bag and beckoned Harry over to him. "How long of a distraction are you needing?"

Harry thought about it for a second. It's not like gillyweed would be that hard to find, it's image looked very unique, but he might as well give himself as much time as possible. "As much time as you can get me."

Fred nodded conspiratorially, "Then you'll need Ron to set this off, and you sneak in. He knows how so you don't need to explain it to him." He shifted around in his bag for a second before pulling out a very boring looking firework. It was steel gray with the only color difference being bright red writing in all capital letters saying 'CHAIN REACTION', one word on either side'.

"Um what's it do?"

"This here is the firework that'll carry on Filibuster's legacy of causing chaos, whether it be in an open field, or a potions classroom," he explained, winking at Harry. "After it's fired it goes a distance, predetermined by the wand user who activates it, and then explodes in a star shape. Each point of the star does the same, but smaller. Each point of each smaller star does the same, but smaller yet. Each level fizzes out, and the firework leaves no remnant behind. The perfect distraction," Fred said proudly.

"Thanks," Harry said brightly, feeling like he again had a chance in the second task.

He made his way over to Ron and gestured with his hand, "Can I talk to you for a second?" Hermione, Ginny, and Neville were all looking at him curiously. "I'll explain tomorrow," he said; Ron got up and followed him to an empty table.

"What is it?" His friend asked, surprisingly having the forethought to keep his voice low.

"There is likely gillyweed in Snape's storage, can you provide a distraction for me so I can slip in and grab it?" Ron looked unsure for a second, "This firework will do all the work, you just need to fire it at the Slytherins while the potion's at a crucial moment. In the chaos, I'll sneak in. There's no residue from it, so Snape will have no way of pinning it on you unless he actually sees you doing it."

Ron's face cleared up at that last point; Harry could certainly understand his friend's hesitation towards pissing off their least favorite professor. "Yeah sure I can, but Hermione did that too… why are you keeping it from her?"

Had she? A memory snapped into focus, their second year, when she'd stole some of Snape's materials to create the Polyjuice Potion. The only reason she'd have a problem with it this time is if Ron or Harry got caught. "I don't really know. I suppose I just instinctively try and not involve her if it involves rule breaking."

His friend chortled, "She may be stiff-necked but she'll break rules as willingly as either of us. She's been helping you research this whole time, and we both know that's not allowed."

oo0oo

Harry woke up, exhausted on Thursday, having not fallen asleep till early morning hours due to being infused with adrenaline over what he needed to do today. He was going to steal something from Snape's private storage, and with how much the man hated him, it was enough to start anyone's heart beating faster. He dressed and put the evidence into one of his cloak pockets; he'd give it to Ron when they went to their separate cauldrons. He'd worked it out with them the previous night, Ron would work with Hermione, and Neville would work with Harry, rather than the usual. The only reason the partner changing would work is because each pair had a certain amount of tasks to complete each day of work, and couldn't go farther. There'd be enough distance between them for Snape not to suspect they were in this together, in the unfortunate instance that he saw the firework fired.

While sitting at breakfast with the others, he had to consciously stop himself from patting his hair. Trying to make his hair lay straight was an annoying symptom of anxiety post ball, regardless of whether or not he had to look good. He finished his meal and relaxed, waiting for Ron and Hermione (he was too nervous to eat much) and made eye contact with Ginny, who was working on a fried egg. It had been several weeks since they'd kissed; neither of them had been able to look at each other, let alone talk to each other, for days afterword. The awkwardness slowly faded though, and Harry felt Ginny's eyes on him more and more as time passed. He'd never acknowledged her though, sticking true to his plan of pretending the kiss hadn't happened. Harry had seen the happiness fade from her eyes slowly, as days elapsed, and her hope of actually having something disappeared as well. She'd become just a normal friend now; someone for him to go to for help, and have fun with when there weren't pressing matters to attend to.

She met his eyes and sat there gazing at him, no move being made by either. Harry saw her forefront emotion was determination, to come across as a strong girl. Several emotions later, almost too deep for him to see, he saw depression. He knew she was thinking that the kiss was a one time thing (Harry certainly hoped she was wrong) and was trying to come to terms with the fact that he didn't have feelings for her. It wasn't the case, not even close, he just didn't know what to do, what to say, and really didn't want to say the wrong thing.

Plus, he'd needed to push any relationship business aside and deal with the second task, after that he could worry about things like relationships.

His friends got up from the table, and he quickly followed suit, breaking eye contact with Ginny. They made their way down to the dungeons; Harry would have been dreading his final potions class before the second task if there wasn't so much at stake. Malfoy had been making constant comments about the Hogwarts champions, about how POTTER STINKS and people should support Cedric Diggory, the REAL Hogwarts champion, as his badges said, were always being flashed around the room. Snape never stopped the harassment either, not that Harry had expected him to, Malfoy was his favorite student, and Harry was his most hated.

They were working on a project in potions; it just finished its soaking phase, now they needed to add a series of ingredients, and the ingredients needed to be measured exceptionally precisely for there not to be a mistake.

"Here, take over slicing up the boomslang skin when Ron fires. He should be firing in a minute." Neville nodded.

Harry looked up at the clock, in three… two… one….

There was a very loud and chaotic series of bangs as the firework went off right by Crabbe's cauldron; all eyes in the room snapped to it as the cauldron exploded, coating Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, and Pansy in yellow goo. A half second later huge ugly boils started erupting on their skin.

Harry didn't notice as he had already slipped into Snape's storage room and started frantically trying to find the gillyweed; it didn't seem to have any organization though, not chronologically, and certainly not alphabetically.

Hearing Snape's disgusted voice start to quiet down, apparently he'd finished assessing the situation, Harry had a moment of desperation before remembering the summoning spell. "Accio gillyweed!" he whispered decisively. A small bundle of what looked like water weeds zoomed to him from a one of the room's corners. He shoved it in his pocket and quickly snuck back to his seat.

Harry sighed in relief when he saw that the potions professor hadn't noticed his absence, and sat back down in his desk imperiously. "Well get back to work!" Snape snapped, angry about having to send four Slytherins to the hospital wing, especially when he couldn't find any proof of tampering or foul play.

oo0oo

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review :D

Geheim