Chapter 10 : The Secret Of The Egg

"Let me see it again".

Barty Crouch Jr. kneeled down and extended his arm to reveal the dark mark.

"Ah yes. The time is close". "Harry at last". "Step aside Wormtail so I can give our guest a proper greeting".

With the wave of his wand a flash of green light lit the hallway...

Harry Potter awoke panting, he was getting closer he could feel it... It was 12:30pm. Neville Longbottom who had just come from the Ball approached him "You alright Harry?".

Harry sat up on his bedside and nodded "Yeah".

Neville looked happier than normal, he must have had a great night. He walked of humming.

Hermione confronted Harry about the second task the next day. She was concerned that he still hadn't figured it out. "Harry you told me you figured out the egg weeks ago. The task is two days from now!".

"-Really? I had no idea" Harry said in an irritated voice. He thought Hermione could help him figure it out. Instead she was annoying him about it, he didn't want to make her feel worse than what she was probably feeling right now. Ron had ruined her night that was supposed to be 'a night to remember' "I suppose Viktor's already figured it out".

Hermione sighed "We broke up on the night of the Ball".

"What?"

"Yeah... apparently he overheard Ron's sudden outburst" she explained.

Harry felt bad "I'm sorry about that. I hope you know Ron was just looking out for you-".

"-I don't want to hear about Ron" Hermione cut in. "You are trying to figure this egg aren't you?" she asked worriedly changing the subject.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry demanded.

"It just means these tasks are supposed to test you. In the most brutal way almost cruel, and um..." Hermione gulped fearing what lied ahead "I'm scared for you. You got by the dragons possibly on nerve... I'm not sure it's going to be enough this time".

"Hey Potter!". This voice Harry did not want to hear called behind him, he started walk away from the old Covered bridge "Potter!". Hermione sighed and left the two boys alone she wondered if Cedric remembered about last night...

Harry stopped walking and turned around to face him finally "H-How are you?" Cedric asked nervously.

"Spectacular" Harry answered confused. Since when did Cedric want to know 'how was he?'.

Cedric looked down for a moment and cleared his throat before looking up again "Look. I never thanked you properly for tipping me off about those dragons-".

Harry shook his head and started to walk off "-Forget about it. I'm sure you would have done the same for me-".

"-Exactly. You know the prefects bathroom on the fifth floor?".

Harry nodded. As Cedric whispered in his ear "It's not a bad place for a bath". He started to walk off "Just take your egg and um...muddle things over in the hot water".

"Cedric?".

"Yes?".

"D-Does Nate know?" Harry asked anxiously.

Cedric nodded "Yeah. He does" he replied walking off leaving the fourteen year old Gryffindor standing the middle of the old Covered bridge.

"Are you seriously going to ignore Harry because he turned your sister's night into a total nightmare?".

Dan who walked along the Clock Tower Courtyard with Serena at his side nodded. She was the only person he wanted to talk to after the Yule Ball last night "Yep. I warned him".

Serena rolled her eyes "Look Dan it wasn't his fault ok. Harry didn't even want to go with her. No offence, your sister's a stuck-up bitch".

Dan laughed "Yeah I agree with you on that. Say has Nate figured out the egg yet?".

Serena shrugged "Hmm... He barely talks about the Tournament to me, so I wouldn't know".

"Well apparently the second task is two days away, so I hope he has".

"What!".

Dan sighed "Yeah I know it's so sudden. But apparently true".

"Well in that case... I hope he knows" Serena said nervously fearing the possibilities.

"Hey. Cedric's helping him through this. Don't you worry" Dan said now trying to lighten her mood.

Serena nodded meekly, Dan was right. Cedric Diggory had been protecting and helping him through all this, she was eternally grateful to him.

Blair Waldorf ever since the party couldn't forget about Chuck. Why didn't he want to say those two little words? Did he have feelings for her? He must have... He tried to confess it before. Luckily for her Draco Malfoy took all that anxiety and the stress away "Hey beautiful".

Blair smiled as he came towards her "What do you have now?" she asked.

Draco smirked and reached up to kiss her "Defence Against the Dark Arts you?".

Blair smiled slyly returning the kiss " Potions".

"So..." Draco began turning serious "Who was the guy last night?".

Blair scoffed "Why do you suddenly bring up a different topic?".

Draco chuckled "Hmm... just curious".

"He has a name. Chuck Bass. Don't worry about him. He's not going to be a problem anymore".

Draco smiled "Good. Because I don't wanna be involved in a love triangle".

Blair laughed nervously "Um ok".

Draco kissed her again on the cheek and put his arm around her shoulder "Well I don't wanna be late for the dark arts so...".

Blair giggled, and gave him another kiss before leaving for the Slytherin dungeons

Nate was researching in the school library about ways to breath underwater. He was struggling, he had already read ten books and so far nothing.

Chuck's little secret was making him anxious he desperately wanted to tell someone about it, he knew he couldn't,and that made him feel worse, he couldn't believe Mad-Eye Moody put his name in the goblet, it sounded impossible at first but then... He could be capable of anything.

"Found anything yet?" Cedric joining him and pulling a chair over.

Nate shook his head "You?".

"No" Cedric sighed noticed his stressed out look "You ok?" he asked.

Nate nodded quickly "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?".

"Dunno, you look tired".

Nate smiled slyly masking his frustration "I've got a lot on my mind right now". "So... I read Gossip Girl this morning and apparently you were seen with Granger at the Ball last night".

Cedric groaned annoyed what was with that mobile phone device? "She was upset, what's so bad about that?" he said.

"Look man. Your in a relationship. Cho would be pissed if she found out-".

"-Yeah about that... We kind of ended it last night".

Nate's mouth hung open "You what!".

Cedric bit his lip "Yeah she kinda dumped me".

"Why? What happened?" Nate demanded.

Cedric shook his head "I don't know. It just happened, I though she was the one...".

Nate frowned "I'm so sorry".

Cedric cleared his throat and decided to change the subject. He started reading from the first book he saw "Hey! I found a way to breath underwater" he said after ten minutes of reading.

"Really?" Nate asked surprise, He found something that quick?

Cedric nodded "The Bubble-Head Charm"

"The Bubble-Head what?".

Cedric rolled his eyes and began to read out loud :

"The Bubble-Head Charm is the most effective spell for breathing underwater or in any environment where fresh air is at a premium. It causes a protective bubble to form about the caster's head, like a helmet. This bubble may allow the caster to breathe underwater or protect the head from falling objects".

"So it's like a bubble over your head?".

Cedric smirked "Yeah. Pretty much"

Later that night, Harry decided to give Cedric's advice a try. The prefects bathroom was huge, huge like a swimming pool. Harry had to admit Cedric was really generous letting him use it, he could have just told him to go to any bathroom. Harry finally slipped in to the bathtub and got himself relaxed in the warm water. But what was he supposed to do with the egg?.

"I would try putting it in the water if I were you?" a squeaky voice said with a giggle.

"Myrtle?".

Myrtle giggled "Ah Harry. Long time no see". She started to float around "I was circling a blocked drain the other day, and I swear I saw a bit of polyjuice potion. Not being a bad boy again are you Harry?" she asked in a mocking voice.

"Polyjuice Potion? Kicked the habit" Harry was confused "Myrtle did you say try putting it in the water?" he asked.

Myrtle started to squeal and approach him "Oh but that's what he did, the other boy, the handsome one. Cedric".

Harry covered himself with bubbles and grabbed the egg quickly "Well go on... open it" she said.

Harry did as he was told, he placed the egg underwater and then held his breath and started listening to the riddle :

Come seek us where are voices sound

we cannot sing above the ground

And now an hour you'll have to look

to recover what we took

Harry coughed as he got his head out the water. He turned to Myrtle and gulped "Myrtle... there aren't Merpepole in the black lake, are there?".

Myrtle grinned "Oh, very good. It took Cedric ages to riddle it out. Almost all the bubbles were gone..."

How interesting... if your wondering how Archibald found out? Well Diggory told him duh! Will 'Pretty Boy' move on and hook up with Granger or will he try and win 'Asian girl' back? Plus: How long will B's relationship with Draco last?

XoXo Gossip Girl

What did you think? I'm moving straight to the second task on the next chapter !