The Quad-Wizard Tournament
Verse: Potter
Disclaimer: In Soviet Russia, lawyers eat fanfiction writers for breakfast. Fan artists are their second breakfast. (Now, question: Second breakfast came from where?)
Reviewers (who are made of epic win):
Dark Neko 4000: Things, m'dear, things.
Lego825: That'd be a funny sight, but I doubt I'll put it in, sorry. xD
Hmmmm: You're absolutely right. Thanks for pointing out my retarded mistake. :D The funny thing is, no one else noticed.
SiriusBallisticPretzels: That… is a very good question. You'll find out by the end of the story. :P Thanks!
Goldenqueenofthecove: Really? That's surprising. Eh, I don't know how the dancing went, plus I don't know any dances myself, so the dances went AWOL, sorry. Well, if wrong food explanations offend kids, I wasn't too sure about Christmas since it's widely a touchy subject. Thank you.
Gothic Lust: Whaat, you expected Neji/Luna, too? Bugger. Well, happy (really, really) belated Birthday, then. :) Haha, I'm sure Fred and George could hook them up if I did.
Faroush: Thanks. The chances of Gai doing a Dynamic Entry have just gone up because you gave me an idea… though through the Great Hall doors, probably not.
SilverLunaMoon: Thanks. :)
Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan: Wow, that must bite. Thanks. Luna is very awesome.
Ranger Mitsuki: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks.
Tenshi-no-akuma-81: Thanks. I've not had them baby TenTen at all – at least, not in my opinion. As for the overprotective attitudes, I believe it has been shown through the manga both boys would be the overprotective types, and so I don't see it as OOC for them to be overprotective of TenTen (or each other, but a bit more subdued and shown in different ways). It's my opinion, and I'm sorry if it offends you or anything, but they'll stay overprotective.
DemonKittyAngel: Hey, just get a Fedex box – or truck – ready. I'd be extremely happy to take it off your hands… though the shoveling doesn't sound very nice.
KrC is too lazy to login: Heey, so someone else says they're too last to login, too (I put 'Too last to login' as my anon. reviewer name xD)! Thanks. TenTen needs way more love, seriously. Well, you'll see by the end of the story. ;D As for the poor sap who sinks, well, you'll have to read for that. Thanks, again, I'm glad I keep you guessing. I'm trying not to be too cliché or anything…
Nibelkind: The long dip is below. Hey, come to where I live – we can wear shorts almost all year round. Most people do, actually, even when we do have our odd cold fronts.
- The Second Task Gone Wrong -
The days following Christmas, everyone but the Ibarubushi kids were doing their "forgotten" homework; they found life at Hogwarts suddenly dull with nothing to do. All three wanted to explore the castle's more obscure hallways more, but Neji was firm in his orders when he said two of them had to be near Harry at all times, just like in classes. Neither Lee nor TenTen wanted to explore on their lonesome in fear of getting lost, and Neji seemed quite content sitting by a window with his abusive bird to pet. Koichi and Tora shared a mutual dislike for Hitomi, the team figured out, since her first visit into the common room, she tried to snack on both animals even though Tora was much larger than her with her wings folded in.
When classes finally started up again, the team was more than happy to leave the unneeded holidays behind. However, a new face was teaching their first class, Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Grubbly-Plank was Hagrid's substitute because the half-giant was ashamed of his heritage from the article, written by none other than Rita Skeeter, about him had been printed. Harry and Ron passed a copy of The Daily Prophet over to Lee when they had finished reading it, and then he'd passed it along to Neji and TenTen.
"This reminds me… I think the Skeeter woman can become a bug. Some sort of beetle, I believe. I saw one coated with an abnormally large amount of chakra, even for this world, on the statue near Hagrid when Weasley and Potter were hiding behind it… it looked a bit like her, anyways." Neji whispered quietly when both his teammates looked at him. He wasn't quite sure why they looked; perhaps they wanted to know if Hagrid seemed any different than any other "wizard". Hagrid did not appear different to Neji when he used his Byakugan, and so he'd assumed Hagrid was just normal-sized. Back in Konoha and its surrounding countries, there were many men as big as Hagrid, some even bigger than he.
"Probably how she got this scoop, then. We'll need to keep watch for little Rita-like beetles, then, won't we?" TenTen whispered back, sending both herself and Lee into a fit of giggles. Neither could imagine just what Rita Skeeter looked like as a beetle, though they did come up with some comically incorrect images. Neji rolled his eyes at them, shushing them both and pointing at Grubbly-Plank as she said a speech on unicorns. Lee and TenTen rolled their eyes at him. At dinner, Harry asked TenTen if she'd like to join Ron, Hermione, and himself to visit Hagrid, but she politely declined, hoping he'd get the message. TenTen was sure, now that his homework pile was gone and the new pile hadn't started, that Harry would try to "be a couple" with her or whatever. She was half tempted to say yes soon and tell him how to figure out the egg clue, as Neji informed her he hadn't cracked the thing yet, but the cons weighed out the pros in her mind.
Every Care of Magical Creatures class that came and went, Grubbly-Plank manned it; she was getting even more popular by the day. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen, even for his gamekeeper duties, and the golden trio was getting very worried. They confided to the Ibarubushi that they'd like to spend the Hogsmeade visit half way through January to look for Hagrid. Before they could discuss it, Lee said they'd all join in on the search, for he was also growing worried about Hagrid. When the Hogsmeade Saturday morning dawned, all six left, three more bundled up than the other half.
"I still can't believe you're not used to cold weather." Hermione said teasingly, looking over her shoulder at the three Ibarubushi behind her. Neji grunted at her words, silver eyes sliding onto the snow.
"Well, where we come from, it generally doesn't get this youthfully cold… as we've explained already." Lee replied, shrugging. TenTen laughed lightly, screwing her elbow between what she hoped were his ribs. She couldn't tell when he was wearing is forest green trench coat and other winter wear; Lee himself wasn't too sure he even felt her elbow jab.
"Yeah, yeah… hey, is that Krum? He's barking mad!" Ron grumbled, tired of the worn subject, looking out to the lake. He pointed directly at a lanky figure out Durmstrang's ship; the figure then jumped into the lake and started to swim.
"Not really… I mean, he's probably prepping his body…" TenTen said quietly, just as Hermione went on about how it was colder where Krum was from, so it must be normal for him. Lee gave her a soft smile to say he'd heard her; for once, TenTen wished Harry had been paying attention to her. Then, he might actually figure out what to do with his egg. TenTen wanted to scream when Hermione and Ron started squabbling over Krum again; she wanted nothing more than for Ron to tell Hermione he liked her to settle all their drama and problems. The group moved slowly, scouring the land for Hagrid, to the Three Broomsticks; when they got to the pub, however, Bagman was there and stole Harry away.
"Come on, Bagman might take a bit." Ron grunted, nodding at the Three Broomsticks. Hermione was giving Bagman a curious look and had to be led into the establishment, by the elbow, by him. The ex-Team Gai followed, both Neji and TenTen holding Lee firmly by his biceps to remind him that they were still there and he was not allowed more than a foot away from them; Lee was not to be trusted in a bar since he didn't know about his special… ability.
"What can I get y'all?" Madam Rosmerta asked, swinging by when Hermione and Ron snagged a table for their large party.
"Four butterbeers… right?" Hermione said, looking at the Ibarubushi. She remembered the last time neither foreign boy had gotten a butterbeer.
"Five." TenTen said, smiling devilishly. Lee gave a happy squeal when Madam Rosmerta left, thinking the beverage had been ordered for him; he was sadly mistaken.
"Like we've told you before, there's a really low alcohol rate in butterbeers… I mean, really, what—"
"You don't want to know." TenTen and Neji interrupted Ron at the same time, both glancing at Lee unconsciously. They were not about to have Lee just about go and kill everyone in a five mile radius… or bigger. That simply could not happen. Harry joined their group when Madam Rosmerta came back with the drinks. Neji nursed one this time, sipping quite daintily out of the large mug.
"Chug it, man!" Ron said, laughing at the small sips.
"No." Neji grunted, glaring mildly at the redhead. He didn't want to get drunk off of this ridiculous drink or get plastered (he wasn't sure if it was possible or not and didn't want to find out).
"Chicken." Harry sniggered, chugging down half of his mug. Neji just shook his head at them, ignoring the taunts thrown his way for the rest of the visit. Lee was in full sulk mode since he wasn't allowed to even smell the drinks. It was a few minutes later when Rita Skeeter came in, spotted their table, and headed over looking like she'd just won the lottery.
"Sharing tips over some butterbeers? Or are the lovebirds about to skip away?" Rita asked, grinning widely. Her eyes, however, were trained on Harry and TenTen instead of the whole group. Harry's cheeks turned slightly pink and TenTen gave her a confused look.
"Go away, Skeeter. There's nothing here for you." Ron said, glaring at the reporter. Lee was inching his hand towards Ron's forgotten mug while all the attention was on Rita, keen on getting a sip of butterbeer.
"I'll be leaving." Neji said before Rita could say anything, standing up and slapping Lee's hand away from Ron's mug. Lee pouted before standing up, waving politely at Rita and the others as the two boys left.
"Oh, but I think there is something here for me, Mr. Weasley. You see, a little birdie told me Harry and TanTan were—"
"Know what, leaving sounds excellent. See you guys later." TenTen interrupted her, glaring daggers. Abandoning her mug just like Neji had, she left the bar, looking for her two missing pals. She caught up with them quickly since they'd started mulling about Zonko's.
"Freaking woman still doesn't know my name." TenTen seethed when her boys were in earshot, accepting the hug Lee offered.
"We've said it before, TenTen: Rita Skeeter doesn't matter." Neji said quietly, not watching his teammates but the Three Broomsticks. Hermione soon stormed out with Ron and Harry in tow, all three going back to Hogwarts.
"She sure knows how to make people mad." TenTen stated when she saw the scene, making Lee snicker.
"She's not very youthful to spread such lies. Of course she'd make people mad." Lee said, remembering his article. He wasn't too offended by it since girls took the time to get to know him after reading it, but he could see where others could find her lies offensive.
"Let's go see McGonagall." Neji said suddenly, looking at TenTen. She gave him a confused look, trying to come up with a reason behind going to see McGonagall. Sure, the woman was nice and all and probably one of the top people they should report to if anything happened, but why visit her now? Then, it dawned on her… they had a dilemma, and McGonagall said she, and only she, was allowed to help them with this sort of problem.
"About the second youthful task?" Lee asked, coming to the same conclusion. Neji nodded, leading the way back to Hogwarts. He didn't doubt the golden trio would be safe since Dumbledore was in Hagrid's hut with them. Also, this was an opportune time to go seek McGonagall's help. All third years and up were most likely at Hogsmeade, not mulling about the castle, and all the younger kids seemed to have simple spells in which they wouldn't need remedial lessons for. The trio reached McGonagall's office in no time, surprising her with their visit.
"What can I do for you?" McGonagall asked, ushering all three inside and locking her door. With their faces looking quite obviously secretive, she placed a sell over her door so no one outside could eavesdrop.
"How can I breathe underwater?" TenTen asked, sitting down in a chair in front of McGonagall's desk. Eyebrows shooting up, the older woman returned to her desk, seating herself behind it.
"You have already figured out the clue?" She asked, ignoring TenTen's question for a moment. As far as she knew, only Krum seemed to have shown signs of knowing the clue since he was going swimming regularly.
"Figured it out at the beginning of the break. Anyways, could you answer my question?" TenTen said, flapping her hand at the unnecessary question. McGonagall frowned slightly, eyebrows knitting together as she thought. Only one spell that TenTen might be able to master in time for the task came to her mind.
"There are many ways you could breathe underwater, but the spell I believe you'll be able to learn the quickest is the Bubble-Head Charm. Although that spell is in Filius's department, I'll do my best to teach you." McGonagall said, rising from her desk and going over to a bookshelf in her room. Running her finger over the dusty titles, she soon found the book she was looking for, pulling it out and flipping to the table of contents.
"It's just as it sounds… a bubble covers your head like a helmet – I assume you know what helmets are, or at least the gist of them? – and allows you to breathe in fresh oxygen where there is none present. Ah, here it is… a picture of it." McGonagall said, sniffing slightly because of the dust, holding out her book for the kids to look at. All three came over to her side, peering sat the picture and text for a while.
"Looks kind of… weird." TenTen said after a bit, looking at the drawing in the book. The demonstrator's face was distorted, almost like someone was stretching his face to make it wider than it humanly was possible… or like his head was in a fish bowl. She was leaning more towards the latter.
"Weird or not, you'll have to use it. There are some transfiguration spells, but those would have to be full body for points not to be docked, and those are too complicated. There are plants, but those plants are rare and most likely inaccessible unless Severus has grown fond of you. From your faces, am I right to assume he has not?" McGonagall said, smiling slightly at Lee and TenTen's pulled faces. They both nodded, giggling slightly.
"Yeah, we'll just go with this." TenTen said as McGonagall closed her book and returned it to its original spot on her shelf. The older woman turned around, looking confused, when she was done with her task.
"We'll? You do realize-"
"—Yeah, but we all need to learn it, just in case. Please, just teach all of us." TenTen interrupted, making McGonagall frown.
"Very well. I'll teach all three of you the Bubble-Head Charm."
The next day in Charms, after a vigorous training session of the Bubble-Head Charm, none of the three ex-Team Gai members were too keen on learning new charms. The Bubble-Head Charm, being a charm most seventh years learned, had proven itself to be a doosey. Only Neji had successfully gotten something of a bubble to form around his head; however, it had proceeded to deprive his lungs of oxygen rather than provide it until he took the charm off completely. He said it was because of the molecular level at which the bubble-encasement pulled oxygen molecules into it, but none of them, even Neji, quite got the advanced science behind how the bubble-encasement could provide them with oxygen when the air, or water, couldn't.
"Man, I can't believe Snape almost got you." Ron whispered after Harry was done with his story of how his night went. Harry had told the five of them how he had finally figured out the clue and almost got caught by Filch and Snape; all the Ibarubushi were thinking was, 'Finally.' The Ibarubushi listened to the rest of the golden trio's talk, which had moved amongst themselves because it was moving onto past experiences with Snape, but also worked on their banishing spells. Neji and TenTen had gotten it down, but Lee was struggling severely. They tried to help Lee, but with his inability to use much chakra at all and using what he could in their Bubble-Head Charm lessons, he was proving there was someone worse than Neville. By the time the lesson was done, Lee looked worse for wear and struggled through the rest of his classes, looking awful; Neji and TenTen forced him to miss both the Bubble-Head Charm lesson and training at midnight so he wouldn't expend all his chakra by mistake and kill himself.
The days flew by after the Bubble-Head Charm lessons started, and the only one who hadn't learned it by February the 23rd was Lee. Each day he looked increasingly worse for wear since he tried doing it on his own when he could, using up chakra as he did so. The farthest Lee had gotten was to form a tiny bubble that gave him absolutely tiny amounts of oxygen that he could keep up for thirty seconds tops before he fainted. When Lee was out, Neji and TenTen discussed underwater battle plans and escapes, taking Lee's handicap into play. Their best plan was, if worst came to worst, they'd find a way to keep Lee out of the battle and fight themselves, even if it hurt his feelings. Both liked a sulking, hurt Lee better over a dead Lee.
"Where is Lee?" McGonagall asked after their Bubble-Head Charm lesson ended, leaving both TenTen and Neji looking a bit tired. McGonagall couldn't wrap her mind around how sick the kids had started to look, especially Lee, after she'd started to tutor them. Neji and TenTen had started looking much better after they'd gotten the gist of it, but Lee had been skipping quite frequently.
"Lee is with Harry, helping him look for ways to breathe underwater in the library. He can't… we won't let him kill himself accidentally over this one task. Or this mission if it doesn't call for it." TenTen replied, gathering her things. Neji nodded, popping his back audibly before bending over to grab his bag and stuff his wand into it.
"… I'll ask about it another time. TenTen, which boy are you closest to?" McGonagall said, looking aghast. She didn't want to kill anyone with this charm! Was it too advanced for them?
"Neji." TenTen replied automatically, not quite thinking. It was true, though; even though Lee was like her annoying older brother and loved him, she spent much more time with Neji than Lee. Neji knew secrets of hers she wouldn't dare tell another soul… other than perhaps Hinata since she'd keep her trap shut, just like Neji.
"Then, Neji, I'm sorry to do this, but—"
"Wait! No! Neji can't go underwater!" Once again, TenTen interrupted McGonagall. When she received the older woman's confused look, an almost unnoticeable shade of pink spread across TenTen's face. Whether is was because of her outburst or admitting she was closer to Neji when said boy was present, she didn't know; all she knew was Neji had his eyes trained intently on her afterwards and that he couldn't be her person to retrieve.
"Neji's… special. He can see things others can't… and he mastered the Bubble-Head Charm. Neji can go underwater when Lee can't, and, and… his, um, eyes. We need them to be open and searching." TenTen explained, sending a shifty look over to Neji. She didn't want to reveal the Byakugan with out his approval first. McGonagall raised an eyebrow but didn't question her further; she already found the shinobi too confusing to ask about most things.
"Fine then. I'll collect Lee when I send for Ron and Hermione. Go ahead and go back to your dorm now, Neji, TenTen." McGonagall sighed, waving both kids out of her office.
"I'm special, huh?" Neji asked quietly, smirking slightly. TenTen frowned, socking him in the arm.
"Shut up, loser. We need you to be out there watching, just in case." She growled, feeling the anticipation for the task tomorrow setting in her stomach. Even though TenTen knew she'd mastered the Bubble-Head Charm (she and Neji went out and swam underwater for at least a half hour ever since they'd mastered it, unbeknownst to McGonagall), she couldn't help but wonder if something went wrong and the spell came off. Would Neji be able to tell? Would he come in and save her and Lee? What if "Moody" was planning something? There were so many questions dancing around TenTen's mind, she didn't even notice that they'd arrived at the Gryffindor common room. TenTen sat up with Neji until around midnight, confessing her sudden worries, glad his low, slow voice was there to quell them. Neji was glad when TenTen finally nodded away, subconsciously worried that she'd never go to sleep and be too tired to conduct the Bubble-Head Charm correctly. He also wondered, idly before falling asleep himself, why Harry had gone back to the library in his invisibility cloak and never returned. TenTen woke up hours later, at five in the morning as per usual, almost ready to hurl. After looking around frantically to see if Lee had come in the dorm in the night (she didn't think he would), she saw Neji was watching her but Lee was missing.
"Go back to sleep, TenTen. Don't make me put a sleeping spell on you." Neji commanded softly, looking serious. He could see TenTen's chakra levels were in disorder, and if she wanted to pull off the Bubble-Head Charm right, she'd need to calm down and rest more.
"Neji, don't. Just… just let me prepare." TenTen sighed, running a hand through her hair. It felt so weird to her since Lee was not up, doing sit-ups, push-ups, and the likes, putting in a cheerful word here and there.
"Promise to take it easy until the task? I don't want you dying." Neji said after a minute of consideration. Nodding quickly, TenTen climbed out of bed, rifling through Lee's trunk. She hoped Lee wouldn't mind her borrowing one of his spandex suits… if what Gai said was true, it'd be perfect to wear during the task. Finding one at the bottom of Lee's trunk that looked awfully small, TenTen tried it on, having to resort to cutting off a few inches of the legs and arms and the turtleneck to make it fit.
"I thought you said you'd never wear one of Gai-sensei's spandex suits?" Neji asked after the modifications took place, smirking smugly. TenTen stuck her tongue out at him, shrugging.
"I never thought I'd be sent to another universe to participate in stupid tasks. Now I'm really glad Lee wasn't chosen… he'd fail this one unless a miracle happened." She said, pulling on a pair of tiny shorts from her little shopping spree with Tonks back in August. TenTen had been adamant against getting them then, but she was now glad Tonks had slipped them in; the little things would make wearing the green spandex suit a bit more bearable since she knew guys couldn't eye up her bum. She was surprised when Neji changed that he changed into gray spandex pants, a white pair of swimming trunks, a white wife-beater, and then his normal weekend wear over those articles of clothing.
"I thought you said you'd never wear spandex!" TenTen said indignantly, eyeing the little bit of gray spandex she could see around Neji's ankles underneath his dark gray pants.
"I said I'd never wear Gai-sensei's spandex. These will be part of my mission clothing once we get back." Neji replied, rolling his white eyes at her scoff.
"Whatever. I know you said spandex period. Jerk." TenTen huffed, flopping down onto his bed. Neji sat down on the edge, looking determined.
"Let's go over battle plans." He said, ignoring her comment of, "We've already gone over them hundreds of times, idiot!"
They went over, and re-went over battle plans until TenTen couldn't take it anymore and demanded they eat breakfast. Neji was stuck calming her down until 9:15 rolled around and McGonagall informed TenTen she should go to the lake and that Neji could go with her if he wished. The duo left, TenTen suddenly wishing she hadn't eaten anything, heading out to the grounds where the lake was. Overnight, large stands had been set up on one side, standing high and proud over the black water. A few yards away from the stands was the judge's table, lined in gold, where the judges already sat with Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour. Krum arrived a few minutes after TenTen did, and Neji got ushered to the stands where a steady trickle of students was going. It wasn't until 9:20 did everyone, essentially, other than Harry, arrived. Harry didn't arrive, in fact, until 9:35, sputtering, red, and in disheveled clothing. Bagman then spaced all five champions out, and TenTen ended up being between Harry, who was still catching his breath, and Krum. It was seconds afterwards that the whistle, their cue to start, sounded.
TenTen immediately took off her outer layer of clothing (just a shirt, her cloak, and her shoes) before wading into the water until it hit her waist. Pulling her wand out of her sleeve (the spandex ensured it wouldn't go anywhere when inside) and muttered the words for the spell. Immediately, the bubble-helmet formed around her head, distorting her face. By habit, TenTen sucked in a deep breath before going under the water's surface. The cold water raced around her exposed neck, chilling her greatly and making her wish she hadn't gotten rid of the turtleneck; the spandex suit was doing a nice job of keeping her somewhat warm, surprisingly. She was sure it wouldn't last long, though, but she had trained for the cold. TenTen swam out into the lake after putting her wand back into her sleeve, diving down immediately when there was a drop-off. The water seemed clear enough, just a bit murky, but everything looked distorted because of the bubble-helmet form the charm. Even though she was a ninja with heightened senses, the water seemed as silent to her as death. TenTen swam forward a good bit when she reached the bottom, staying out of weed clumps and other vegetation, giggling sometimes when fish swam past her quickly. It wasn't long until she heard a verse of the song the egg sang with her ninja hearing, and TenTen immediately set off for the ghostly sounds.
Fish of all sizes swam past, but, having stayed a good distance above the weeds, no magical creatures approached her until TenTen saw the merpeople amongst their ghost town. The buildings around where gray, covered with vegetation, and looked extremely creepy in the dim lake lighting. What was even creepier than the rudimentary buildings were the merpeople; they were unlike the paintings around the world. In fact, they looked more like fish than anything, with hair and people-like extremities and heads. Their faces sneered and leered at TenTen as she swam by until she came in contact with what was probably the village square, where a cluster of merpeople were singing around the hostages. Among the kids stolen last night were Ron, Hermione, the Chinese girl that had turned Harry down, Lee, and a tiny little girl that resembled Fleur. They were all tied to the tail of a large merperson statue. TenTen frowned slightly, looking down at the ground for help. She didn't know any severing spells, so something sharp would have to do; she was sure the merpeople wouldn't let her borrow their tridents, either.
Spotting a sharp rock on the ground, she swam down and retrieved it to hack away at Lee's ropes. It was only seconds after she started that Harry appeared, gills and all. Harry, who followed TenTen's example and got a sharp rock, tried to cut Hermione free but was stopped by the merpeople. TenTen was done cutting Lee loose when Cedric arrived and cut the Chinese girl free, frantically mouthing words at Harry. TenTen held Lee down with her as Cedric swam up with his girl, staying down with Harry. If Harry was staying, it was her job to stay with him, too, no matter how stupid he was being. Did he honestly think the kids would die? That would be cruel and TenTen highly doubted that Hogwarts would actually do that. Soon Krum came and went, half transfigured into a sharp, taking Hermione with him. The only hostages left were Ron and the little girl, Fleur's hostage. TenTen wanted to laugh when Harry threatened the merpeople, who tried to block him from retrieving Ron now that Krum was gone, with his wand; she was quite surprised when it worked and they scattered. TenTen helped Harry by cutting the little girl free while he cut Ron free, taking longer than she expected since she had one arm around Lee's waist. All three hostages were looking awfully pale by the time Harry and TenTen started swimming up, taking turns swimming with Fleur's hostage. Merpeople soon joined their swim up, but they didn't attack, making TenTen feel relieved. She did not want to let go of Lee, or the little girl since it was currently her turn, even if they'd float up; they'd be sitting ducks if she did.
They were starting to see light at the top of the water when disaster struck.
Harry suddenly let Ron go, grasping frantically at his neck, the webs once between his fingers disappearing. Bubbles were escaping his mouth in giant numbers, and his eyes were bugging out. TenTen was confused until she saw the missing gills and a magical creature attached to Harry's ankle. More soon swarmed around him, pulling him down while Ron's corpse-like body floated upwards, towards the light. TenTen let go of the girl and Lee, sure the merpeople wouldn't attack them since they let Ron be, swimming down towards Harry and his abductors. The creatures looked positively revolting with horns and only two fingers, and more swarmed by the seconds from a near ledge's weedy section. Growling to herself, TenTen pulled out her wand, firing stunning spells at the creatures. As soon as she'd hit about ten, they started swarming at her. TenTen frantically tried to hit them off, but there were too many tiny bodies; however, when she saw Harry stop fighting, a final bubble escaping her lips, TenTen fought with a new power. Harry couldn't die! Beating her attempted captors down, TenTen swam over closer to Harry, stunning and beating his captors off before quickly taking his waist, swimming upwards with all her might. Ron and the little girl had surfaced, but Lee… TenTen gasped when she saw his body thrashing about madly, hands clutching his throat.
Lee was awake!
Looking irately at the merpeople, who were doing nothing, TenTen waved her wand at them and then at Lee. Getting the message, the merpeople divided themselves, some going up to Lee and taking him to the surface, others coming down and dragging Harry up faster than TenTen ever could. She swam up quickly after them, starting to feel dizzy from the cold and constant chakra use. TenTen felt faint at the top when she surfaced, panting heavily as she tread the water. The quiet world of the water had silenced the loud roar from the crowds watching. TenTen wanted to laugh at the irony of it all before she saw Neji swimming towards her, looking concerned. She waited patiently as he checked Lee, giving the merperson helping him a reproachful look, before swimming over to her side.
"What the hell happened down there, TenTen? You're forty-five minutes late, Harry's unconscious, and Lee was awake before he hit the surface!" Neji hissed, grabbing her bicep tightly. TenTen winced, shaking her head.
"D-don't know, Ne… Neji. Lem… let me…" TenTen wasn't able to finish before Neji nodded, knowing what she wanted. His eye twitched, and before TenTen knew it, he was hugging her tightly.
"You guys made me think I'd lost you." Even though he was right next to her, and the bubble-helmet had popped or whatever after TenTen surfaced, she barely heard Neji's whisper.
"S-s-stronger than the…the me of a m-m-minute ago, N… Neji." She said, wanting to laugh but not finding the energy to. Neji pulled away, wearing one of his little smiles, before helping the exhausted TenTen to the shore where Madam Pomfrey waited. While Neji and TenTen had talked, she'd gotten the water out of Harry and Lee's lungs and a few warm blankets around them, Ron, and Fleur's hostage.
"Is there anything wrong with her?" Madam Pomfrey asked when Neji and TenTen neared and were able to start walking. TenTen shook her head, leaning heavily on Neji, feeling numb when Madam Pomfrey started looking her over before bundling her and Neji up in blankets.
"What you did was stupid, young man, never…" TenTen chuckled a bit as the woman started lecturing Neji for the show of it, looking over at the cluster of champions and their hostages. Krum looked offended that Hermione was fussing over Harry and Ron, Percy was fussing over Ron, Fleur was in tears over her sister, and there was a beetle in… TenTen cursed quietly, shaking her head. Rita got away this time. The judges were nowhere to be seen, probably conversing over what would happen. After a few minutes, Neji helped TenTen walk over to where Lee was, the boy starting to get up himself.
"I woke up underwater… why? And, youthful TenTen, why were you not there?" Lee asked, looking liked a drowned cat, much like TenTen and Neji. Neji shook his head at Lee as TenTen sat down next to the boy, leaning now on his side.
"Wait for later, Lee. She's tired." He said shortly. TenTen was sleeping by the time the judges came back and Fleur came over to thank her for saving her sister. Neji and Lee listened intently when the scores were given out, in hope something might be said of what went wrong. Inwardly, Neji was berating himself for not keeping a good eye on Moody; he'd been looking suspicious, but after thirty minutes exceeding the allotted hour, Neji had focused on trying to find TenTen. The chakra below the water's surface, however, was almost blinding and proved to be a formidable foe. Fleur, for not completing the task and returning first, go twenty-five points; Harry, for also unsuccessfully completing his task, got thirty-five points for almost making it and showing morale fiber. Cedric, for being first though outside of the time limit, received forty-seven points; Krum, who got points docked for his incomplete transfiguration and for being outside the time limit, got forty points. TenTen, for finishing and showing moral fiber, got forty points also. Bagman, who was announcing the points, said nothing of what went on below the lake's surface other than that TenTen had reached the hostages first and stayed with Harry, who got there second, until all the hostages but Fleur's little sister were taken.
"The third and final task will be done on June the twenty-fourth at dusk. The champions will be told what will go on exactly a month before hand to prepare. Thank y'all for all your support for the champions." Bagman finished, giving a bow. Madam Pomfrey decided that then was a good time to usher the champions and their hostages (plus Neji) back into the castle to the hospital ward for medicine and warmth. Ron and Cedric had to carry Harry, who was still unconscious, up to her ward; Neji was giving TenTen a piggyback ride since she was still sleeping, and he was the driest between himself and Lee.
Neji was sure he heard TenTen say, "Thank you, Neji," on the way up.
A/N: I'MSOSORRY! You see, I got sick. As in, fever ranging from 101-103 sick. For four days. D: Then, my Debate Tournament was this weekend. Again, I'MSOSORRY! I'm a bad updater… ;n; Don't kill me, please? If that is an option? On the plus side, almost 100 reviews! I love you guys, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANYOU! –hugs all reviewers- I should post chaptered fics more often…
And I'm sorry this one is kinda short and my, er, "underwater battle scene" was crappy. It's my first battle scene of any kind, and I know that's no excuse. I'll be happy if you slice it up and tell me what is wrong with it. And if anyone doesn't like the wee bits of NejiTen injected in there, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. XD There won't be that much ever again… I think. Probably not.
~ Tobi