"Sev?"
"Yes Harry?"
"We think that we have figured out the second task but I don't know how to get through it."
"How did I tell you we would get through everything?"
Harry gave the man a small smile. "Together."
"Exactly, so what is this task that you want help with?"
"Well the egg needed to be placed underwater to be able to understand what it said and it gave a poem;
'Come seek us were our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you have to look,
To recover what we took,
But past an hour- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'
I figured out that it is pretty self-explanatory once I realised it was about the merpeople in the Black Lake. What I can't work out is how I can hold my breath underwater for an hour. I couldn't think of a potion or anything but thought that I would as you. So can you think of anything?"
"Well there are potions that will enable you to breathe underwater but not for that long, perhaps that is something we could work on in the future if you want. However back to the question in hand, since a potion is out of the question there are certain charms that could be used like the bubble-head charm, however, in this instance I would recommended a plant. It's called gillyweed, swallow it and for an hour it will give you gills, as well as webbed hands and feet, for one hour."
"Perfect. Where can I get some?"
"Ask."
"Have you got any gillyweed Severus?"
"Why yes I do thank you Harry," Severus said with a smirk.
"May I have some gillyweed please Severus?"
"Of course you can Harry." The man moved to the cabinet and picked up a slimy green plant in a jar and handed it to Harry. "There, swallow it when the cannon goes off tomorrow before you jump in, the gills will mean you can't breathe air so you have to get in the water straight away. Now, you've got a long day tomorrow, so go. Sleep. Rest."
"Thanks Sev. Goodnight, see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight Harry."
When Harry got back to the common room he couldn't find Ron or Hermione but hoped that they were off together, finally admitting their feelings to one another so he decided just to ignore it and go straight up to bed.
The next day Harry was woken early by his dreams and decided that he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep so he got dressed and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast since it wasn't too early. He sat down and thought about waiting for Ron and Hermione to come down and join him but once it reached 7:30 he had been sat there for an hour so decided just to go on ahead and eat. When he saw Severus enter the room he shot the man a small smile before returning to his breakfast.
He sat there after he had finished as the Hall was beginning to really fill with people however there were still no signs of either of his best friends so he got up and walked out of there back to the common room. The boy got ready for the task ahead and opted on wandering around the castle until it was time for him to head down to the lake.
As soon as the cannon went Harry swallowed the plant, while jumping into the water. Testing his abilities in the water Harry swam to the surface and flipped as high as he could out of the water before taking off underwater to find the merfolk, and that which they stole from the four champions.
Harry was the first to arrive in the village of the merpeople and realised why he had not seen Ron or Hermione, for he had now found them tied to stone statues of merflok along with Cho and Fleur's little sister. He waited for others to arrive and take their prizes. Finally there were only two people left tied under the water but Harry knew the hour was nearing it's close.
He took the quick decision to cut lose both of the remaining people and fight his way to the surface with both of them, which Ron soon reprimanded him for since he could have come first but let up when Fleur kissed the two of them on their cheeks.
By the end of that task he was tied for first with Cedric as they had awarded him with second place for getting to the village first and for only remaining to ensure that everyone was saved. After the task Harry went for a quick celebratory tea in Hagrid's hut with his friends, cheering the fact that he was in first place, well joint first, and more importantly that he was still alive after the second task- leaving one task. The hardest task.
Once they were done with tea Harry split off from the rest of the group to go to see Severus, he hadn't told Ron and Hermione where he disappears off to all the time but they had long since stopped asking him, just let him walk off in peace when he bid them farewell.
He went down to the dungeons and knocked on the office door. Severus opened it not 10 seconds later. "You know I could just let you know what my password is and you could let yourself in when you wish to talk."
"I wouldn't want to just walk into your rooms, they're yours. It should be your choice whether or not you let me in."
"But if I am never going to turn you away from coming here then why would it matter if you know the password and let yourself in?"
"Well, it, umm. Well it just would alright."
"You've got nothing, have you?"
Harry looked down in embarrassment before answering. "No, I don't."
"Good. Dimidium sanguinis princeps. Now you can let yourself in."
"Thank you Sev."
"You did well in the second task today Harry. I'm proud of you, especially when you gave up first place. You did not care where you would place in the competition as the lives of others bared more importance to you. I have never been so proud, not even when I learnt about the polyjuice in your second year, I know that your parents would definitely have felt the same way. You are an honourable man Harry."
Harry felt overjoyed that the man was proud of him and the person that he was. Severus pulled Harry into a tight hug and he wrapped his arms around the older man's waist in response."You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that. How good it is to think that I could have made my parents, and better yet you, proud."
"Why me? Why do you care so much what I think of you?"
"Severus, I said to you before that you are like the dad I never knew. I'm pleased that I could have made them proud that I was their son but I did not know them. I know you and you are an amazing person , I'm happier that I could have made you proud of me Sev. Thank you."
"You are most welcome Harry. Now what do you fancy doing this afternoon if you are here to stay?"
"We could make a start on trying to improve that potion you were on about earlier if you don't mind?"
"Sure thing, my first thought was to increase the temperature for the first 5 minutes and the last 3 minutes of the brewing time while shortening the time in between by 8 minutes 22 seconds."
"Let's see the recipe?"
The two men worked on the potion up until Harry had to leave before curfew, missing dinner completely as they were so engrossed in their work but neither man minded much. Snape was willing to let it slide since Harry had put on plenty of weight in the time he had been back at Hogwarts and was once again back to a healthy size and weight for a fifteen-year-old growing boy.
