[MIRA'S POV]
Soon came February 23rd, the day before the Second Task of the Tournament.
"It's way too easy, I doubt we'll have any problems passing the tests", said George with a smile. He, Mira and Fred had just finished their Apparition Class. None of the three had had any problem mastering Apparition. Actually, the twins had succeeded first, surpassing even Mira. They seemed to be amazingly gifted at that.
"I agree, but still, the Ministry lessons are useless. I wished we'd be exonerated since we already can Apparate", lamented Mira. Fred raised an eyebrow at her. "Not anyone gets special treatments, y'know?". "The princess is too important to follow regular lessons", mocked George with a grin. She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Very funny. Don't try to tell me you wouldn't prefer spending your time elsewhere, too". "Well, soon enough we'll take the tests and we won't have to hear about the three D's or any other nonsense anymore. Plus, tomorrow's a great day", smiled George. "Yeah, love, don't you look forward to finding out what's the Second Task about?", asked Fred, putting an arm around her shoulders.
Mira stayed silent for a moment, thinking. Then she shrugged with a smile. "Yes, I guess I am a bit curious... but, come on, nothing can be cooler than a dragon!". "Your passion for deadly fire-breathing monsters is oddly sexy, have I told you that before?", chuckled Fred. She kissed him on the lips, smirking. "Hey, how come you've never said that to Charlie?", exclaimed George, making Mira burst into laughter. "Yeah, well, what if he too decides to kiss me? Can't risk it", said Fred with a worried expression. "Oh, I'd pay to see that", replied his brother dreamily, earning himself a punch on the arm.
Later that evening, they had finished dinner and were headed towards the Gryffindor Tower together with Lee and the girls, when Professor McGonagall called. She was looking at the twins, so the others quickly walked away. "What did you do, this time?", whispered Mira through clenched teeth while McGonagall was quickly approaching. The two didn't even have the time to answer before McGonagall brusquely asked: "Do any of you know where I can find Miss Granger and Mister Weasley- Uhm, the other Mister Weasley? I assume they are with Mister Potter". "Sorry Professor, we haven't seen them", replied George frowning. "Wait, I think they're in the library", stepped in Mira. McGonagall glanced at her. She looks... worried? Might this be about the second task? thought Mira. But before she could investigate any further, McGonagall spoke again. "Very well. Could you please find them and take them down to my office? Just the two of them". She definitely looked grim. "Sure thing, Professor", said Fred flashing a smile at her. She quickly thanked them and walked towards her office.
Fred took Mira's hands in his. "We'll go. Wait for me in the common room". She nodded gratefully, she was exhausted. With a peck on her forehead, he parted from her and he headed to the library with George.
The next morning everybody rushed to the Lake, trying to get the best seats to watch the task. Everyone was there in the cold morning breeze, just waiting and betting on the outcome of the challenge. Mira stared at the black waters of the lake. "What d'you reckon they'll have to face? The giant squid?", asked Lee in excitement. "Dunno, who knows what's down there", commented George. "Grindylows", murmured Mira, her voice so low that nobody heard her talking. She had given it much thought in the previous days.
The giant squid had been bred in order to protect the school and was friendly towards the students. Sure, it was possible that it had been ordered to guard whatever the Champions had to recover. But it was unlikely that they would risk for it to get hurt by some spell. Then there were the merpeople. They most certainly were involved in the task, but they were probably going to be more of a support to the judges rather than the antagonists. And that left the Grindylows, dark creatures that often attacked humans. There was a bunch of them living in the Black Lake. God, I really hope they're the worst thing that can happen. Harry can handle a bunch of Grindylows.
But five minutes before the beginning of the Task, Harry still wasn't there, and neither was Ron nor Hermione. The flashing of the POTTER STINKS badges from the Slytherin crowd was becoming more persistent. Finally, they saw Harry sprinting towards the judges, and a few moments later the second task began. This task was much worse to watch than the first one- well, not that one could actually watch anything. The people in the stands could only wait for something to happen, once all the champions had dived into the lake. One hour seemed to be never-ending, as the crowd sat there in waiting.
Suddenly, a gentle grip on Mira's hand stopped her from digging her nails into her arm, as she sometimes did when she was nervous. She quickly raised her head to see Fred's smiling face. "You worry too much, monkey. Also, stop hurting yourself. Here, you can torture my arm if you want", he offered jokingly. Mira chuckled, pretending to be annoyed, but she abandoned herself to the feeling of his warm fingers softly squeezing her hand. She was used to always be in control of everything, especially herself. This meant she was almost always on the alert, tense for whatever it might happen. However, none of this mattered when Fred was with her. A word, a touch, anything he did was enough to break through her defences. It felt like finally coming home after a bad day, finding nothing but release and peace. Except, she would have never felt this way again about her actual home. He was her home, now. She briefly shut her eyes before resting her head on his shoulder, and he let go of her hand to embrace her tightly.
"Aren't you worried? Not even a bit?", she asked, careful not to be heard by anyone but him. "What for?". Mira raised her eyebrows. "Oh, dunno, your little brother being held captive by selkies under. One of your friends trying to rescue him as the task of a possibly deadly Tournament. A Tournament which, moreover, he's only taking part in 'cause someone put his damn name in the Goblet of Fire. Again, possibly with a deadly purpose", she summarised. Fred glanced at her, then shrugged. "Dumbledore wouldn't let any of his students get hurt. It's gonna be fine. Plus, Harry's faced worse than dragons and merpeople", he said with a confident smile. He's right, of course, Mira sighed. "Thank you", she murmured. She had spoken so softly that for a moment she thought he hadn't heard her, till she saw the corner of his lips curling up
When the Task was finally completed and everyone was safe, Mira happily joined the applause. And much to everyone surprise, Harry had got rewarded for his 'moral fibre' and had scored enough to tie with Diggory for the first place. Nicely done, Harry, Mira smiled. All the boys were cheering loudly, but Fred's arm stayed where it was, keeping her close as if she was about to fly away at any time.