A/N: Okay, guys! Again I'm sorry for the delays in posting, school's just started and I'm having trouble writing due to stress, so I figure better writing with bigger time spans is better than a shitty chapter uploaded every night. As always, please, please, please leave reviews! They help me improve so much and I appreciate them a lot. Thank you for being swell and reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting, now enjoy!

Hunger was evading Harry again as the second task loomed nearer and nearer. It was one day prior, and he had only eaten one hasty half sandwich and a few gulps of pumpkin juice before heading off to the library over lunch. Life seemed to laugh in his face once more as he found himself in the library at the wee hours of the morning.

Sometime before three and four, his mind finally collapsed and he was asleep. Not long after, it seemed, he was awoken roughly by a squeaking house elf.

"Harry Potter must wake up, sir!" Dobby chirped nervously.

Harry's eyes flew open and he was suddenly aware of the teasing pain in the back of his neck, the cause being his unusual sleeping position. He lifted his face off the table, peeling the side of his reddened cheek away from the polished wood. His eyes squinted as his tired brain registered the bright morning light flowing in from the windows.

"Harry Potter, sir," Dobby pleaded desperately, tugging on Harry's robe sleeve, which had slid down his arm to bundle around his bent elbow. "Harry Potter must wake up! The second task starts in ten minutes and if –"

Harry's brain suddenly snapped back into action mode, "Ten minutes?" he croaked.

Hopelessness enveloped him as he realized he still had no way of surviving, and there was – literally – no way for him to attempt the task. He leaned back in the chair, rubbing his eyes. "There's no use, Dobby, I can't do the task. I've been up all through the bloody night and I still don't know –"

"Harry Potter can do the task! Dobby knows Harry Potter did not know, so Dobby did it for him!" Dobby squeaked happily.

Harry squinted his eyes, "What? You don't even know what the task is; how could –"

Dobby cut him off again, "But sir is wrong! No, excuse me! Dobby did not mean to call Sir wrong! Dobby is a bad elf! Dobby is –"

"It's okay!" Harry assured, steadying the creature by the shoulders, "How did you know?"

"Dobby knows! Dobby hears that Harry Potter must go into the lake to rescue the little master!"

Harry was officially confused, "The little master?"

Dobby twitched frantically, "The little master! Harry Potter's friend with the silvery golden hair!"

"Wait – do you mean Draco?" Harry inquired.

Dobby's eyes lit up and he jumped, stiffening his slouched body, "Yes! Dobby cannot bare to say the name of Little Master, but Harry Potter is correct!"

"They've got Draco? In the lake?"

Dobby nodded furiously, "Yes, yes! And Dobby knows what Harry must do!" he proceeded to pull out a shriveled plant from his pocket, "Eat this, Harry Potter! Dobby is sure, but you must go!"

Harry looked at him, taking the plant, wide eyed, "Are you sure?"

"Dobby said he is sure, sir!" Dobby assured, "Harry Potter must run!"

Harry's eyes slid to the clock – he had three minutes. He quickly pushed himself up off of the chair, scattering the books he had fallen asleep with. He handed Dobby his invisibility cloak, instructing him to take it up to his dormitory. As he ran towards the door he called over his shoulder, "Thank you, Dobby!"

He heard Dobby squeak something about always pleasing Harry Potter, but Harry hadn't cared. He felt his feet carry him clumsily out the Hogwarts door and towards the lake. Everyone was already out there, as expected.

"I'm here! I'm here!" He called out, aware of the spectacle he was making of himself. Why is it always me? He asked himself, cursing.

He skidded to a halt, bending over to aid his breathing and clutch his aching side. Ludo Bagman turned from the group of other judges, his boyish face gleaming with relief that Harry had showed, and walked over to Harry, slapping him playfully on the shoulder. Percy Weasley saw, and he bustled over to Harry, beginning to scold him on his untimely arrival. Bagman shooed him off, and proceeded to ask Harry if he was prepared. Harry told him that he indeed was, wishing that he could believe it himself.

"Alrighty then!" Bagman said, then pointing his wand at his throat, "Sonorus!" his voice magnified as he presented, "Now then! With all our champions ready to compete, we will be starting in – take your places by the lake! – three, two, and one!"

Not aware of the other champions, Harry walked towards the water. The water was cold to the touch, and he felt small plant debris tickling his ankles. He waded deeper, feeling his robes grow heavy as water seeped into them. Letting out a breath of hope, he took the plant in his hand and stuffed it into his mouth. For a moment, nothing happened, and he was sure he would look like a fool in front of the entire school. A mere second after the thought, he felt as if something had been clamped over his mouth and nose. He gasped desperately for breath. What has Dobby done? He asked himself, clamping his hands to his throat when he stopped. He had gills.

With the newfound realization, his eyes snapped to the water in front of him, and he did the sensible thing: he dug his toes into the muddy sand for grip and plunged himself into the water. The water filling his gills was like the first breath of life, and his head immediately began to stop spinning, and his lungs felt healthy again. He swam around, facing the lake's obstacles for what seemed like forever until he saw.

His eyes finally came upon four floating figures in the dark green water. Next to them, he saw mermen, presumably guarding the hostages. He swam carefully forward, prepared to dart back if attacked, but no such precautions were necessary. Draco was tied up at the bottom of the lake along with Hermione, Cho, and a beautiful young girl whom Harry assumed was in relation to Fleur. As he floated just two feet away from Draco's tied up body, he looked to the side at the nearest merman. The merman nodded tightly, not forgetting to leer menacingly in Harry's direction.

Before he could proceed in any manner, Cedric appeared, nodding once to Harry and saying slowly, "Go! Krum and Fleur are on their way," and then turned to the hostages. With relief, Harry watched Cedric free Cho, nod again to Harry, and swim towards the surface. As the last glimpse of Cedric's swimming form disappeared, he saw Krum emerge from the dark. Apparently, he had tried to transfigure himself, but had botched the entire ordeal. The man had the head of a shark, and began biting violently at Hermione's ropes. It would have looked funny to Harry if there hadn't been the probability that he would bite Hermione's head off. Tapping Krum on the shoulder, he pointed to some sharp rocks on the ground. Krum dove for them, and cut Hermione loose. Without a word (probably due to his sub-human head), Krum swam in the direction of Cedric: Up.

Harry turned back to Draco, they and the Delacour girl were alone now in the circle of mer-people. For the most profound time, he realized how beautiful he really was. Draco's normally combed blond hair swirled gracefully, framing his face as if an angelic halo had appeared around him. His eyes were closed, and his long platinum lashes gently caressed the soft skin under his eyes. The dim, green-tinted lighting softened his already sleep-muted facial features, giving him a serene and blissful appearance producing a contrast to the emotionally strained look he had been portraying as of late. Lastly, his soft lips, the color of roses against creme-colored bed sheets, were parted ever so slightly as if enticing only the worthiest of patrons upon them…

Harry jerked back in surprise. His thumb had been gingerly stroking a strand of hair that had wilted down by Draco's eyebrow. Harry shook his head, returning his attention to the merman, who was whispering to a partner.

"Hello?" Harry tried to call out, resulting in a mess of bubbles erupting from his lips, "Hello?"

His attention being grasped by Harry's waterlogged mumbles, the merman turned to face Harry, a curious yet amused expression on his face.

"Help me!" Harry tried to say.

The merman laughed, "We do not help," he replied.

Harry exhaled angrily, proceeding to search his surroundings for a tool he could use to set Draco loose. He spotted the same group of rocks he had pointed out to Krum, and dove for them. He tugged at a few, loosening one and holding it in his grasp. He ran his finger alongside of it, and felt a soft sting in the skin. He mumbled a quick thank you to the inanimate object for being so wonderfully sharp, and began to cut at Draco's ropes. With mediocre effort, the boy was free, delicately floating in a similar space.

Now his mind was really focused on Fleur! Where was she? Surely it was well near, if not over, the time limit. What if she had given up? Or gotten lost? Or worse? Shooting a quick glance into the darkness that was the surrounding waters, he tugged Draco's limp form next to himself, and began cutting at the little girl's ropes. Before he could make any progress, he felt a tight grip on his lower forearm, and jumped back to see the intimidating merman.

"You take only your hostage," He said monotonously.

"What?" Harry tried to protest, "I can't just leave her here!"

The merman shook his head, his gaze sterner than ever, "You take only your friend."

"But she's just a little girl! I can't just leave her here!" He raged, pointing to each respective person as he spoke.

The merman advanced, swimming towards the girl. Instinctively, Harry drew his wand and the mer-people froze. They began babbling, and judging by their frantic tones they had understood.

"You have until three," Harry threatened, raising his fingers as he counted, "One…two…three…" Although before he had finished, the mer-people had scattered, leaving the mostly sleeping trio alone in the waters. Harry lifted the hand that held the sharp rock again, and raised it to the Delacour girl's ropes. He cut her loose, and could feel a tight feeling in his gils. Realizing he had limited time until the gillyweed wore off, he tore upwards to the surface.

The two people in his hands were like potato sacks, weighing him down as he desperately tried to swim up. His lungs shrieking in agony and his un-webbed feet feeling strangely small, he broke the surface to the sound of an erupting crowd.

He propped the child up on his hip and held Draco tightly to his chest. A semiconscious Draco groaned, and Harry guessed he opened his eyes because suddenly his limbs flailed, alerting the girl and making Harry stumble backwards and swallow a gulp of lake water.

"Ugh!" Draco complained, throwing his hair back with his wrist. He looked at Harry and then at the girl he was supporting, "Don't tell me. Don't bloody tell me."

Harry gave him a confused expression and Draco laughed, "You're telling me. I can't believe this! You forfeited your chance in the task to play the hero! Potter, you're an idiot."

"What?" Harry asked.

Draco lifted his eyebrows, paddling his feet faster as he crossed his arms, keeping himself steady in the water, "She was going to be okay, honestly. Do you really think Dumbledore would let kids drown for kicks and giggles?"

Harry felt like an idiot. He had barely time to mourn his stupidity when he was being pulled out of the water.

A frantic female voice rang in his ears, "Gabrielle! Gabrielle, eez she 'urt?" Fleur asked, scooping the dazed girl into her arms.

"She's okay!" Harry assured. He heard Draco scoff next to him and he kicked him in the ankle lightly in retaliation.

"Harry!" He heard Hermione and Ron shout in unison.

He turned to them, embracing the frantic Hermione in a hug, "Oh, Harry! Did you have trouble finding us? Were you hurt?"

"No I…I found you okay." He said as Draco made no attempt to hide his laughter. Harry felt incredibly stupid.

Ron had a lopsided grin on his face, "So… anyone going to talk about how the hostages were who the champions would miss most?"

Harry looked at Hermione and then at Draco, all of them sporting awkward expressions. "Err…" he said.

Ron cackled loudly, "Don't expect me to let this," He pointed between Harry and Draco, "go down easily."

Harry muttered a few annoyed choice words and then he and Draco were hurried away by Madam Pomfrey. She cleaned and warmed them up in time for the scores to be announced. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and everyone else listened in awe as Harry avoided the almost certain bad placing due to his "moral fiber."

Harry and Draco had to stay to talk to the judges while the rest of the school was filed inside. Gryffindor would be having another party, no doubt, and Harry was glad. He was starving. It was well after noon, of course, and he hadn't had lunch and breakfast. Leave it up to his fellow Gryffindors, though, to snag some snacks from the kitchens. At last, after having few too many words with the present adults, the two of them headed back up to the castle.

It was as if the past few weeks had vanished. Draco was himself around Harry again. Granted, he'd always acted like a cold bastard to nearly everyone else, but he'd always been friendly to Harry. He was glad Draco was a friend again.

They could already hear the music out in the corridors. His happiness swelling, Harry and Draco were met with an eruption of music and congratulations.

"Good job, Harry!"

"You'll win it, mate!"

"Blondie's lucky to have you!"

Harry laughed happily, particularly enjoying the "blondie" comment, and made his way through the crowd to the luxurious snack table. He helped himself to fresh sandwiches, butterbeer, and various assorted cookies.

Harry had completely lost track of time, as one often did in times of pure bliss. He' downed at least a butterbeer and two firewhiskeys courtesy of Fred, George, and some older jokesters, and was strutting along to the music, shaking hands with anyone near enough. Draco, he could see, was loosening up under influences too.

At some point, Draco had grabbed him, pulling him up to stand alongside him on the coffee table. Everyone's attention was on them, and Draco began to speak loudly over the music after recovering from a fit of spontaneous drunken laughter.

Draco grabbed Harry's wrist, holding his hand up in the air triumphantly, "I, Draco Malfoy, would like to thank this young man, for diving head first into the waters of peril," he made a sweeping gesture with Harry's hand, "untying me from my malicious restraints, fighting off tens of thousands of horrid creatures," he paused to laugh again as he was making Harry's right arm do punching movements, and Harry was controlling his other arm in a similar fashion. "And – and," he wiped a fake tear, "bringing me to my safety. Give it up for Harry Potter!" He shouted, and the crowd cheered, throwing their napkins up into the air. Draco whipped his face around to look at Harry, his hair flopping playfully across his forehead, refusing to stay combed by his ear as he liked it, and his face flushed with laughter and silver eyes shining. Harry's stomach surged and he jerked the hand that was holding his towards him, throwing Draco against his own body.

It was only when the music had stopped that he registered the soft hair entwined in his fingers and the warm lips pressed against his.

Backing off instantly as Draco dropped his hand, Harry stared at the other boy in shock. The room was silent for a handful of torturous seconds until Draco sneered, a sick, insane smile on his face, "Harry Potter, the boy who lived – to be a rainbow prancing poof." With one last confident move of his hand, he smoothed his hair back and exited the room without a word.

Harry felt his eyes burning and the effort it took to swallow was nearly not worth it. He turned his head, looking at the silent, dumbfounded crowd, and lastly at Ron and Hermione. The crowd had parted away from them, almost as they were infected.

"Harry, mate," Ron said, a confused and pained expression painted across his face.

Harry couldn't bare it, his head shot back from left to right, and his legs sprinted him directly up the stairs to the dormitory. Locking the door, he leaned against it and slid down to the floor. He raised a finger to his lips; he could still taste the firewhiskey from Draco's lips.