Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.
Coming the 25th of February, the students went outside to witness the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. The Hufflepuffs, naturally, were in high hopes for Cedric to come out in first place. The Gryffindors were the same way for Harry Potter, and the rest divided themselves however they wanted. Melinda noticed that there wasn't as much hostility towards Harry from her House, and that came as a relief to her. Another bonus, was that since the school's discovery of her pregnancy, and the speech Cedric gave, the rumors and bad mouthing began to dwindle fairly quickly. Quite a few had already come up to her to ask her questions, such as how she and the baby was doing, or if she knew the gender yet; they were being very civil and nice to her now.
'I have Cedric and Dumbledore to thank for that.' She knew that they were the most influential people in making things easier for her. She had not spoken to Draco since that day when he complained about Cedric, and frankly she didn't really care if he was keeping quiet. In turn, George started acting normal around her again, though it took a little time for him to do so. Fred had told her that he was just very shocked when he learned that she was with child, but that it wouldn't be long until he came around again; so he did.
'Things are better than I thought they would be.' She thought while staring down from the stands where the competitors were waiting for the the task to begin, them all dressed in swimming suits for this. About two weeks prior to the second task, Valerie had told Andrea and Mel that she had overheard Cedric talking to a few of his close friends on how he managed to open the egg from the first task in the water while taking a bath, and how it then clearly gave him the clue to what the second task would be about.
'They must be nervous...well...at least Harry looks like he is.' Melinda couldn't help but feel a bit of pity towards Potter, after all it didn't seem as if he wanted this at all. She found it was very hard to believe in the rumors about him asking an older student to place his name in the Goblet of Fire, wanting to be the center of attention. No, she thought the opposite. It seemed to her that Harry Potter wanted nothing more than to be disregarded at this point. In the past years, since he's gotten into Hogwarts, all the odd and dangerous events that happened were somehow linked to him, and she was almost sure that he wasn't fond of being part of them at all. She was brought back from her thoughts when Dumbledore began to speak.
"Welcome to the second task! Last night something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that they'll be on their own." He announced. There was some talking amongst students as to what could the treasures of the champions possibly be.
"You may begin at the start of the cannon." Dumbledore finalized. The cannon was raised in the air, and then fired. Right then, the champions dived into the chilling water. A minute or so passed of them being there, but suddenly Harry Potter jumped out of the water into the air, then flipped and dived back into the lake as the crowd cheered for him.
"Cool trick!" Andrea commented, clapping herself. Valerie rolled her eyes and muttered something along the lines of 'show off.' A while passed since they have gone into the black lake, but soon enough one of the champions surfaced back up, gasping for air.
"The Beauxbatons champion, Miss Delacour, has unfortunately been forced to retire. She will take no further part in this task." Dumbledore announced in the loud speaker, while two of the Beauxbatons girls helped Fleur out of the water, putting a towel over her freezing body. Everyone was anxious for the others to show up, wondering what was going on in the depths of the lake, who was going to come up first and with what kind of treasure.
"Oh, I really hope Cedric wins first place." Valerie muttered, leaning further against the railing.
"You'll fall down if you continue like that." Andrea teased her, earning a small snort from the dirty blonde. About 30 minutes went by, and finally two people surfaced back up; it was Cedric with Cho Chang! The crowd, most notably the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, began to cheer loudly for them.
"Why did it have to be her?" Val moaned and sighed. Andrea shook her head at her friend.
"Just be glad he came out in first place-look, it's Krum!" She suddenly shouted in the midst of her sentence. Viktor Krum had also surfaced up with Hermione. The crowd went wild and chanted 'Krum, Krum, Krum!' Now the only one left was Harry.
"Oh my, that Beauxbatons girl looks a little pale." Said a Ravenclaw girl beside Andrea. The Hufflepuff trio looked over and, sure enough, she and a couple of her friends were looking to the lake with a worried look; Fleur was white as a sheet. Some 25 minutes went by and nothing of Harry...but suddenly, two people emerged from the water. They were Ron Weasley and a blonde girl. They coughed up water and were helped up on the deck by a Beauxbatons girl. Right as the last few minutes began to go by, Harry flew out of the water, landing right on the decking where the crowd was. Many gasped in surprise, before cheering and clapping for him.
"Harry!"Dumbledore was surprised himself. "I want all the judges over here now!" He hurriedly said, and so the judges went to meet up with the Headmaster to talk.
"He saved two people, that has got to be a bonus for him!" Andrea said, impressed by Harry's performance and Melinda nodded in agreement. Fleur Delacour was thanking Harry and kissing him on the face for having saved her sister.
"Attention! Attention!" Dumbledore called out a few minutes later, and everyone went quiet.
"The winner is...Mr. Diggory!" The Hufflepuffs went wild with cheers.
"Yeah, Cedric! Wooo!" Val cheered louder than anybody, causing her two friends to laugh a bit at her enthusiasm.
"For showing unique command of the bubblehead shark." Dumbledore finalized, before proceeding with the next announcement. "The way I see it, Mr. Potter would have finished first, had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr. Weasley but the others as well. We have agreed to award him second place! For outstanding moral fibre." It was the Gryffindors' turn to cheer for their classmate, while the Durmstrang boys weren't very happy for them having placed Viktor in third place, when he should've been second.
"Well, at least Cedric earned his first place." Val shrugged, not really caring about the rest. Melinda shook her head, but thought it was well deserved for Harry. The students began to come down from the stands to congratulate the champions before returning to the castle to have their classes.
"Ugh, they are so lucky they don't have to go to classes..."Andrea grumbled, talking about the Triwizard Champions. Melinda gave a shrug to that as it didn't really matter to her.
"It's the rules~" She lightly teased. Andrea stuck her tongue out at her, then continued on to their classroom. While they were walking, Mel caught a glimpse of Draco coming up from the side. He caught her eye, and they stared at each other for about three seconds before breaking contact. She didn't know exactly what that meant, if there was meaning to it at all. Trying not to think about it, she entered the room with Andrea and Valerie and took her usual seat.
"Hey Mel!" George called out as he ran up to her while she was headed to the Great Hall with her two friends.
"Oh look! I forgot to check out a book for a Potions homework! I'll be back soon." Andrea quickly said and headed off, dragging Valerie along with her. Mel was a little confused by that, but her attention turned back to George when he reached her.
"So, I didn't get a chance to talk to you this morning. How are you doing?" He asked, glancing down to her stomach for a second.
"I'm doing alright." Was her answer. "How did you like the second task?" At that, he got a grin on his face.
"It was rather interesting, wasn't it? Harry being awarded second place for his 'moral fibre' was pretty amusing to me and Fred." She gave a shrug at that.
"Yeah, but I think he deserved it. He didn't have to save two people, but he did it anyways. That shows great character." The red head nodded.
"Of course, but 'moral fibre'? Couldn't they have come up with something better, like 'courageous act'?" He said, jokingly. She chuckled a little at that; he always knew how to make the mood livelier, even it if wasn't bad in the first place. Lately, she has been noticing a lot of things about George, things she had not really paid attention to before. Obviously he was funny, and a downright troublemaker along with his twin brother. However, she started to realize that he was also caring, kind, loyal, understanding and even loving. These qualities she has been discovering in him began to stir some strange feelings inside of her.
'What is going on with me?' She had thought when this began to occur. George Weasley was becoming the kind of person that she was loving to have around to talk to, to joke, laugh and many other things; it was stronger than it was before. Whenever he demonstrated how he cared about her, or whenever he did some light teasing, she felt her cheeks heat up. And whenever she saw him blush, she found it to be quite cute. Melinda didn't really know what this was, but it was causing a bit of a disturbance with her sentiments, more so those she had for Draco.
"Anyways, how is the baby doing?" He suddenly asked, staring again at her overly large belly.
"Um, it's doing alright, no complications or anything." Mel said. He nodded and now smiled a little.
"That's good to know, make sure you take good care of yourself and the little guy in there." The way he said it with so much care in his voice had her blushing once again. She mustered a smile after he said that.
"Of course." George then looked up at her. "Mel...remember what I asked you a while ago?" She was confused by what he meant, and he seemed to know that because he became more specific.
"About if you saw me as more than a friend or not?" It now clicked and she fell silent, only able to give him a nod.
"...Do you think you know now?" This next question took her completely off guard. What was she supposed to say? Her face heated up even more, her throat going dry, and oddly enough her heart was beating a little faster than usual.
"Uh, I...I didn't really, well..." She stumbled on her words, not able to think through it fast enough to deliver a more complete phrase. Everything just became jumbled up in her head now. George continued to stare at her, but he soon began to give in.
"If you don't know yet, you don't have to answer just yet...I can wait." He glanced over as more people began to come up to enter the Hall, so he decided to cut it short then.
"Well, I'll talk to you later then." He leaned over and gave her a small peck on the forehead, before turning and going into the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table. She froze in place, paralyzed without words to speak after that. A few looked at her a bit strangely as she was just standing there in the middle of the hall with a lost look on her face. That seemed to bring her out of her stupor and she slowly turned and walked away from the Hall, to a more quiet place where she could hopefully be alone for a while with her thoughts.
'It can't be that I'm starting to like him, can it?' The possibility of that happening had crossed her mind before, but she never took the time to actually think it over thoroughly. A considerable amount of debates began to fester in her mind.
'Well, he's a much better option than Draco, but...I'm going to have a baby. There's no way he'll want to date me if I have a kid, right?' But even as she thought that, the fact that George had mentioned about him asking her if she saw him as more than a friend again had her doubting that he cared if she had a child or not. Then, the next doubt popped into her mind.
'What if he finds out Draco's the father? He wouldn't want to be with me then, there is just no way.' Now, that thought actually clogged into her mind and was stuck there for the longest time as she stopped when she got outside and sat down on a bench. Even though part of her knew that would be the case, she couldn't help but also think that perhaps George would be able to overlook that notion to be with her still. The last thing she began to question was how she felt about the Slytherin Prince.
'My heart beats every time he comes around me, that has to mean something. Do I like him? Love him? That night at the pub, I didn't know any better, and neither did he so...why do I feel this way?' She heaved a sigh; all these questions without definite answers didn't help her at all. She wanted nothing more than to find someone or something that would be able to tell her all she needed to know. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice someone coming up to her.
"What are you doing out here by yourself? I thought you'd be in the Great Hall getting some lunch." She was a little startled when the person spoke from behind her, and she looked back to see who it was. Melinda was surprised to find that it was Cedric. She was quiet for the first few seconds, before she came to herself.
"Oh, that, I'm not feeling very hungry." She said as an excuse. He stared at her, before going up and sitting down next to her.
"Do you think that's wise? After all, you are expecting a baby. You shouldn't skip any meals." He advised, making her feel a little embarrassed. She felt like a kid being lectured, but that lifted when he gave a small chuckle.
"Sorry, I suppose I might be sounding a lot like a nagging parent or something of the sort." She smiled a little.
"No, not at all. You're absolutely right. I better go eat something, at least." She said, already standing up. He watched her with his grey colored eyes.
"Valkyrie, I mean, Melinda..." He switched. "I just want you to know that, if you're having any problems during this period of time, just let me know and I'll see what I can do to help you out, alright? I know this may sound odd coming from someone you don't regularly talk to, but I like to help, especially a fellow Hufflepuff like yourself." She stared at him as he said that, deeply touched by his words.
"You've already helped me out so much by giving me the support I needed, thank you Cedric. I really appreciate your kindness." She said sincerely. The 6th year Hufflepuff smiled brightly and nodded.
"Anytime, Mel." After that, Melinda bid him farewell and headed off to the Great Hall to get herself some food.
'I need to focus on my baby. It'll be born in about two months, so I can't be careless now...right, no more thoughts about George or Draco or any wishy washy feelings that I might have for them. It's all about my child now.' Determined with that thought, she reached the Hall in five minutes, and took her seat at the Hufflepuff table where her friends were already waiting for her, expecting to hear every detail of her conversation with George.
"So, what did he want to talk to you about?" Valerie asked right off the bat. Melinda looked at the two who were looking right back at her, their attention solely on their friend.
"Err, well, he asked how I was, and how the baby was..." She started off in a bit of a mumble.
"Uh huh, and?" The two urged her on. Mel raised an eyebrow at them.
"And then, we talked about what we thought of the second task of the Tournament." Both girls nodded simultaneously, and still were expecting her to say more.
"...And he brought up something he had asked me before, that's it." Valerie blinked in confusion.
"What? What did he ask you? Come on, tell us~" She whined. Andrea sighed and shook her head at her friend's childishness.
"If I saw him as more than a friend or not, there." She finally completed so the two would leave her alone, hopefully. No such thing happened. Right after they gave their little gasps and giggles, they wanted to know more about it.
"And you said what? Yes? Do you like him? Are you guys going to hook up?" She could barely get a word out to answer when Val was already bombarding her with a bunch of questions.
"Calm down Val! Mel can't even talk with you asking so many things." Andrea scolded, making Valerie hush up so Melinda could finally speak. The caramel haired Hufflepuff sighed and looked to her plate.
"I couldn't answer him, it completely caught me by surprise. So, he said it was alright for me to take some more time..." She told them. Andrea nodded, but Val groaned.
"Oh Mel, why didn't you say you liked him? I can see how you've been looking at him lately. You're totally crushing on the Weasley twin!" Andrea shoved her a little, almost making her fall on her side.
"What was that for?" She questioned, indignantly. Andrea just gave her a look, and turned back to Mel.
"If you really don't know, then that's fine. But I'm kind of wondering if he's really into you even knowing now that you're like this..." She muttered. Melinda nodded herself when she mentioned that.
"I've thought about that already, and I don't know what he wants...is he just curious or did he actually hint that he likes me even when I'm expecting a baby? I'm so confused..." Mel groaned a little and shoved a small portion of baked potatoes into her mouth. Her two friends didn't know what to say to that, so they decided to let the subject go for the meantime and eat their lunch in peace.
After their last class of the day, the Hufflepuff trio went to the library to get their homework out of the way. Even though that was the original plan, Valerie would always start talking about something irrelevant, thus getting the other two side tracked and a little irritated that they weren't getting anything done.
"Val, I have a little tip to give you." Andrea suddenly said. Blinking, the dirty blonde asked her what it was. In a stoic expression, the brunette responded,
"Shut up." That made Val pout and get back to work while Mel hid a smile behind her open textbook. It took about two and a half hours for the three of them to get everything out of the way.
"Phew! I can't remember the last time we ever took this long to complete so much work." Said Andrea. Valerie laid her head on her book, a look of being drained plastered on her face.
"Ugh, I can't remember the last time we had this much homework at all...I miss the previous years." The other two grinned a little and did some light teasing of their friend before deciding to head off to their Common Room. Upon getting there, they dropped their stuff off at their dormitory and came right back down to sit down on the couches near the fireplace. A couple of students were there, either chatting or reading or doing some homework themselves; two were even playing Wizard's Chess. The girls relaxed and talked about whatever that came to their mind, and they were at first nothing important...until Valerie opened her mouth to talk about George again.
"Can you give it a rest? It's already obvious Mel doesn't want to talk about that anymore." Andrea grunted, but Valerie completely ignored her.
"But Mel, are you really sure you don't feel anything weird when you're with George, or when you see him? I've noticed that you seem to be blushing a lot more when he comes around and talks to you for a while." She pointed out. Melinda avoided eye contact and just gave a shrug.
"I don't know what it is...I don't know what I feel for him, honestly." She answered her. Val grinned a little, and the other two could almost see the wheels turning in her head.
'I don't even want to know what she's thinking, or planning for that matter.' Mel thought. Andrea then changed the subject to the Tournament.
"So, what do you guys things the third task will be like?" She asked. The other two had to think about that for a few.
"Well, since it's the last one, it surely ought to be the most difficult, don't you think?" Mel said tentatively. Andrea nodded in agreement to that.
"Yeah, probably is...gosh, I hate waiting around so long for it. It won't be until near the end of June!" She grumbled and leaned back on the couch. Valerie, on the other hand, was thinking of countless things it could happen.
"Maybe it'll be something like a duel between them! Like, the last one standing wins or something-or, or maybe it'll be a task in which they have to choose between saving their love and saving the world! Oh, that would be so amazingly romantic~" She said, her eyes already going into the usual dreamy state they got whenever she had Cedric in her mind. The other two shook their heads at their lovesick friend.
'Her obsession with Cedric will get her nowhere. She's helpless.' Thought Mel jokingly. As Valerie's continuous rambling went on, she began to think about Draco once again. She didn't know why, but he just kept popping into her head. If it wasn't during a specific time in which it had everything to do with him, it was at random when there was no need to think of him at all. Even if they haven't spoken for a good while, he still managed to haunt her in her thoughts.
'Not to talk about dreams, too.' Yes, Melinda has had a few dream episodes in which Draco was the main focus of them; they were more of a repetition of that night in which they got drunk, and everything else happened that lead to her being the way she was now.
'It's so suffocating, I can't get him out of my mind even if I want to. He's everywhere! I have no control over this, at all.' She thought, wishing more that she could have the choice to throw out anything she felt she didn't need to think about from her mind. She also wished that she could rule over her heart, telling it who to like and who not to like. Things would be so much easier if that was the case. Unfortunately, not even magic can help her out, because if it could she would have to go into the darkest of the darkest areas of witchcraft, and she was not about to mess with something as dangerous as that. For now, she tried to just take it one day at a time, hoping that everything would settle out eventually.
'Whatever happens, happens. This baby is what's important to me now, nothing more. Two more months left, only two...' She stared down at her large stomach, the corners of her lips curling up a bit in a small smile at the thought of soon having her baby in her arms.