She wasn't sure how it had happened, but by breakfast the next morning, it was a wildly known fact that Snape's private storeroom had been broken into. Everyone knew that the thief had conspired with Peeves to create a distraction, everyone knew that the thief had gotten past multiple wards and pitfalls, and everyone knew that the thief had left a bag of galleons in compensation for the loss of a rare magical ingredient.

In short, everyone knew (or strongly suspected) that Harriet had done it.

Snapes' eyes were dark pools of hate as they surveyed Harriet walking in late for breakfast. The tension from Snape was palpable from across the great hall. The student body was looking back and forth trying to read Harriet's reaction and gauge Snape's anger.

Harriet took on a nonchalant attitude as the great hall buzzed around her. She tried to appear awake and not severely sleep deprived as she was. She sat down next to Hermione and calmly fixed herself breakfast.

Except for Ron, Hermione and Neville everyone at the table was staring at her. Eyebrows raised. the twins looked like she announced it was Christmas again.

She just calmly turned to Hermione and asked what was on the list today. They had a list of spells, Hermione wanted Harriet to perfect before the task and they were working through them each day. She tried to pretend that nothing was amiss, but oh... she couldn't really resist.

"What's going on?" she asked Lavender, trying for innocent curiosity.

Ron snorted and ducked his head, Neville had to duck his head as well. Hermione just silently groaned, and the twin's looked like a couple of hyenas with their manic grinning.

Lavender just raised an eyebrow as if to say 'really?'

She looked across the great hall and saw looks ranging from reproach to awe. She noticed that over at the Slytherin table, both Zabini and Malfoy were hiding their grins behind their morning Goblet of pumpkin juice. However, most of the Slytherins looked at her nastily, obviously taking offense on behalf of their head of house.

A quick glance at the staff table told her that most of them were a strange combination of worried and amused. Moody was an exception as he had a giant shit-eating grin on his face that told everyone exactly where he stood on the matter, and Dumbledore was ignoring the happenings around him in favor of his breakfast.

McGonagall and Snape were in a heated discussion at the table. Snape was gesturing to her and McGonagall's face was stony. Harriet turned back to Hermione and ate her breakfast.

She was midway through when heard a couple highback chair scrape the ground and the entire hall started to quiet down. But she kept her focus on Hermione's notebook, making little notes about practice numbers while she heard two sets of footsteps approach her. When they stopped in front of her and the great hall was completely silent, she looked up. Snape and McGonagall were on the opposite side of the table and were standing directly behind Ron and Neville who had shrunken down in their seats.

"Miss Potter," Snape said in a quiet hiss. "You will report to Professor McGonagall's office."

"Er… Okay, sir, I'll just finish breakfast then make my way over," she said trying for confusion.

"You will report NOW!" He snapped.

"Severus!" McGonagall reproached. "Miss Potter finish your breakfast in the next fifteen minutes. Perhaps by then some of us can calm down," she said sternly with a significant look at Snape.

Ah, good ol' McGonagall. She was a badass witch who wouldn't take any of Snape's attitude.

"Okay, Professor," Harriet said with an obliging but slightly confused face. Maybe if she got expelled today, she could become an actress.

The Gryffindors all gave her significant looks as she stood up to leave exactly ten minutes later. The twins started humming a funeral march as she walked along and soon most of the school had joined in. She made her way out of the doors, up to Professor McGonagall's office and knocked on the hard oak.

"Enter," McGonagall called.

"Professors," she said as she walked in. McGonagall was seated at her desk and Snape was standing to the side.

"Sit," she said indicating the chair in front of her.

"Do you know why you were called in here today Miss Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"No, professor, but everyone is saying something about Professor Snape's storeroom." She answered honestly.

"And what do you know about my storeroom?" Snape asked.

"Not much Sir," keep it honest with Snape. You honestly don't know much about what's in his storeroom.

"My Private store cupboard was broken into last night. And some ingredients were stolen. The thief then left thirty galleons in its place." Snape said, very softly. "And I believe you know who did this."

She just gave him a confused look.

"Miss Potter, what did you do last night?" McGonagall interrupted.

"Not much professor. I finished my charm's essay in the common room after dinner, but I was really exhausted, so I went to bed early." She said.

"And yet, you are still looking quite tired this morning." Snape spat.

"Had some nightmares," Which wasn't untrue. She was quite regularly getting nightmares. Snakes, black smokey forms with red eyes, green lights and the tall gray men. Not to mention Snape cursing the bejeezus out of her, that had been a reoccurring nightmare recently.

Snape just scowled and McGonagall gave her a concerned look.

"Tell me, Miss Potter, how are you coming along on your second task?" Snape asked changing the subject.

"Ah… well actually. I am mostly prepared. I am just waiting on one thing I ordered then it will be perfect."

"Do you have a plan?" Snape asked again coldly.

She looked backward at the door like she was checking the coast was clear.

"Yes, I assume you know what the task is, so I'm going to use gillyweed," She told them like it was a great secret.

Oh, the stunned look on Snape's and McGonagall's faces. She wanted to snap a picture and send it to Sirius. This was all his idea for a cover story after all.

"YOU! YOU ADMIT IT!" Snape crowed. "YOU LITTLE THIEF, YOU STOLE THE GILLYWEED, THE BOOMSLANG SKIN, AND LACEWING FLIES."

Well now she was confused, she didn't take those last two.

"Miss Potter is this true!?" McGonagall asked sharply.

"No, I didn't steal anything!" Harriet said. Technically she one-sided bought the gillyweed. And she didn't take the other two, that had been Hermione in second year. Or was Snape talking more recently?

For the second time, they both wore stunned faces.

"Liar!" Snape spat.

"Severus!" McGonagall tried to control the situation. "Miss Potter, how did you get Gillyweed?"

"I ordered it." Her only outright lie so far.

"She lies again! You must be a class five potions master to order it or have a special license. You could not have ordered it."

"True sir, but I didn't technically order it myself. Mr. Remus Lupin helped me. He is friends with a potion master down in Italy who is a fan and was willing to give up his Gillyweed. It was really lucky that I figured out the clue when I did because it needs to be harvested at low tide in the darkness of a new moon. I got to him when he still had some in his store left."

McGonagall was giving her a heavily skeptical look and Snape looked livid.

"Can you prove this," McGonagall asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have some back and forth letters from Mr. Lupin." Doctored letters from the excellent forger Sirius Black. But she did have some separate, unrelated letters from Remus Lupin, so it wasn't a lie.

"I am sure you could write to him and ask," Harriet said innocently. She had sent a letter to Remus Lupin yesterday detailing her plan and his role in it. She was hoping he would cover for her.

"Let's see your gillyweed Miss Potter." Snape spat. Obviously, he would be able to tell if it was his. He probably had it weighed down to the milligram.

"Well, sir that's the part I am waiting on. They promised that it would be here before the task and now I am just waiting for it to get here." They being Dobby. "A bit nerve-wracking really, I wish it would just hurry up." She said trying to act nervous.

Snape was grinding his teeth. He wasn't buying it for a minute. But the next time he would see that gillyweed it would be going down her gullet. McGonagall also looked like she didn't quite believe her but seemed strangely relieved she had such an airtight story.

"Alright Miss Potter, here is a late pass. You may head to your class, they are about to start." McGonagall said while looking extremely exasperated.

Harriet knew that she had pushed Snape's patience hard this last month and had taken risks with that man that she normally would not have. It was unfortunate because she had really appreciated him apologizing back in October. She felt like she had gained some understanding with the man, but now she was back to the beginning in terms of their relationship. In other words, he was back to loathing her because she was exactly like her 'arrogant' father, his words.

Kind of understandable considering she had pulled a massive prank and then robbed him. But she promised that she would be a perfect angel in his class for the rest of the year and try not to push his buttons anymore.

She walked in a couple minutes late into her Friday morning of double charms.

The entire class froze and watched as she made her way up to the front of the class.

"Sorry I am late Professor. I have a slip from Professor McGonagall." She said calmly.

Flitwick took the parchment with a slightly amused quirk of his lips.

"Oh, course Miss Potter. Is everything alright?" He was trying to get information. The small man was such a gossip.

"Of course, sir." She said with a smile, indicating to the class and Flitwick that yes, she had just practically got away with murder.

"Indeed, Miss Potter." He said with the same exasperated relief that McGonagall expressed. She turned to walk back to her desk, and she heard him mumble 'thank Merlin she isn't in Ravenclaw.'

As she sat down to get started on charms, she allowed herself one cheeky smile at the amused Ron and the harried Hermione.

Gryffindor's tower had undergone a search later that evening but besides some alcohol in the older student's dorms, they had turned nothing up of note. Certainly not Gillyweed, or invisibility cloaks, or magical knives.

Operation Gillyweed had been a success.

One thing bugged her though. She swore she had seen Barty Crouch that night, and this just added to the mystery surrounding Barty Crouch. Perhaps he was the key to finding out how her name got into this bloody tournament.

The day of the second task dawned overcast and grey. She woke early and forewent a shower. She would just be having one later. But she did don her housecoat and slip into the bathroom to wait. Soon there was the tell-tale pop, of Dobby appearing in the bathroom.

"Miss Harriet Potter!" Dobby squeaked. She shushed him due to the sleeping girls next door. Dobby nodded and whispered.

"Dobby has brought miss Harriet her things," Dobby said handing over all her objects, the cloak, the knife, and the Gillyweed.

"Dobby you are amazing," she said with relief. Dobby ears started flapping with the compliment.

"I have to get ready now Dobby, will you be watching the tournament?" She asked.

"Yes, Harriet Potter! Headmaster Dumbledore has been setting a Videus screen in the kitchen! And the elves are so excited to be's seeing Miss Potter!" Dobby said excitedly.

"Thanks, Dobby." Feeling weirdly relieved she knew her friend would be watching.

Dobby left after a hug and then she went back into the room to stash her things and get dressed. She looked over to Hermione's bed and saw the curtains still closed.

Hermione had been called to McGonagall's office late last night and Harriet had decided that she needed an early night. Surprisingly she fell to sleep easily. She had been stressing herself in the lead up to the second task and it must have caught up.

She grabbed the clothes for the day for the day and her hairbrush. She had decided that she would wear her Tournament uniform down but that she would ditch the robe and just brave the water in her black long sleeve and black pants.

She changed quickly, mentally going through spells she had learned trying not to think about the butterflies in her stomach. The very purposely slipped the vial of Gillyweed into her left pocket so it would not be forgotten. She made sure her hand Holster was tight on her arm and her wand secure then started to brush through her hair. She heard Parvati and Lavender stirring and decided to ask for help again.

"Parvati or Lavender?" They both looked up as she came in. Again, marveling at her uniform.

"Yeah?"

"Would one of you help me with a braid? I need my hair out of my face." She said.

Parvati ended up helping her, she fixed a high, tight, ponytail and then braided the ponytail. The long braid now swung behind her out of the way for a day in the water.

Parvati and Lavender decided to head down after and left her with a wave. Harriet walked over to Hermione's bed deciding that Hermione had slept long enough.

She pulled back the curtains and saw that Hermione's bed was empty. The covers looked untouched. The first niggling of dread came to her then and started on her stomach. Maybe Hermione had gone down to breakfast.

She went quickly to the common room and saw Neville leaving.

"Neville! Wait!" she called. Neville turned to look at her. She saw Seamus and Dean in front of him and they turned as well.

"Hey, guys. Have you seen Ron?" she asked.

Surprisingly Dean looked annoyed by the question and Seamus shot Dean a grimace. Neville just looked mildly curious.

"No, I didn't see him this morning. We thought he was off somewhere with you and Hermione preparing." Neville said.

"Oh…right… thanks." She said on autopilot.

Oh Merlin, she knew what had been taken. Hermione and Ron were at the bottom of the lake.

The lines of the clue rang in her ears and turned her stomach.

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back!

There was now officially no way she was going to lose! She would not fail them. They were her family and she had to succeed for them. Still, the thought of losing Ron or Hermione churned her stomach.

Wait, Hermione had probably been taken for Krum. But it didn't really matter. She wasn't leaving either of them.

She was in a dazed state as she walked over down to the great hall mechanically and she was almost there when an arm came out from behind one of the secret passage tapestries and grabbed her own. She was dragged behind the tapestry and she turned to face her attacker.

Except it was Malfoy, and by the look on his face he wasn't interested in attacking her. There was a moment of silence as they both stared at each other. Malfoy, she noticed, kept his hand on her arm despite her obviously not fighting to get away. She found her mouth a little dry, she really couldn't think about Malfoy right now.

"W-what do you need Malfoy? I am a little busy this morning." She asked quietly. He seemed to swallow.

"I… just wanted to wish you luck, with… whatever you have to do." He seemed nervous.

She felt guilty looking at him and she remembered her words thrown in his face at Christmas. But her worry about her friends was trumping all her other feelings.

"I have to save Ron." She said feeling sick. His eyebrows raised. "And if I don't, he could be gone forever." Her dread seeping into her voice. "Hermione too."

"Hey... um... relax," He said, seeming to realize that she was in a bit of a state. "Listen, Weasley is going to be fine. You're saving him after all, he has the best person on the job."

She gave him an incredulous look, "You hate Ron." She said, stating what she thought was obvious.

"Hmmff, of course I do. He's hanging out with you all the time!" Malfoy said with a petulant grumble. "but he's your… well, you and Weasley are close and whatever."

His admission of jealousy surprised her out of her dread state, and she couldn't help letting out an unladylike snort at his admission.

"You're jealous?" she stated incredulously. Malfoy's cheeks turned pink and his eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Please! Of a Weasley." He crossed his arms. She found herself amused as she usually was by his cranky attitude.

"Pfft. Whatever… Thanks, Malfoy." She gave him a smile. And he looked slightly less grumpy.

There was a moment of awkward silence. There was the nervous tension again, and Harriet was fidgety all of a sudden.

"Ron is like my brother," she blurted out after a moment. Why had she said that? "We just get along really well, and he has been along on all my stupid adventures, you know. But we fight still, and man was I ever mad at him at the start of the year, but then we made up like siblings, and he has been helping me since, and his family likes me a lot, and he is like my Fred, if I was George, but we don't look alike of course but…"

Why wasn't she shutting up.

Malfoy was giving her a look like he thought she was crazy. And the awkward silence was back.

"Um…right. I get it, really, I do. You and Weasley and Granger... peas in a pod." Malfoy said with an amused smile.

"Er… yep." She said. Then she remembered where her best friends currently were and the worry came back to gnaw on her stomach.

"I have to go," she said while turning to leave. He seemed disappointed, as his shoulders drooped somewhat, and he looked away.

"But… maybe we should have a frank talk sometime," she said hesitantly. She should apologize, and then ask what the heck he had been talking about that night. He seemed to perk up, and he nodded.

She left then and made her way to the great hall only to discover that there were five minutes left before breakfast ended. She managed to eat the piece of toast that was placed in front of her by Neville.

The food cleared and Dumbledore asked the Champions again to follow Hagrid. She walked with determination down to the lake, not taking note of anything but the great body of water in front of her. She was told to wait on the side of the water, but she was itching to go. They only had an hour. What if something happened to them.

She barely noticed the stands set up on the beach being filled with spectators, both students and ministry officials.

Finally, Bagman came over to where they were standing.

"Alright you lot? We are almost ready to go we just have to put the Videus Charms on you." Bagman said. He waved over Mr. Holly to put the charm on, "Harriet would you mind if I borrowed you for a bit?" Bagman asked.

He led her over to the side and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, Harriet? Do you have a plan?" He whispered.

"Ah, yes." She answered.

"Don't need any help? I could give you some advice." He said his eyes widening with implication.

"No thanks, I have this," Harriet said while giving Mr. Bagman a confused look.

"Well alright," Bagman said looking unhappy.

"I actually have a letter for you though," she said as she handed over the letter. The twins had given it to her at breakfast.

"Oh?" said Bagman looking confused, he took it though.

"Yes, it's from Fred and George Weasley, you met them at the quidditch world cup." She said and she watched as the smile on his face became fixed in place and mechanical.

"Ah yes! Right, right. Well best be getting back over there Harriet, we will be starting soon." He said slightly panicky.

She was led back over to the others and the wizard from the first task, Mr. Holly, came forward and started waving his wand over her. She felt again the sensation of eyes watching her and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as she flashed with a red light.

She looked up and saw that floating above the lake were four very large screens. Her face filling one of them, while the rest were likewise filled with Cedric, Fleur, and Krum.

They all looked pale but determined.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament." Bagman's voice rang out. She hadn't even noticed that he had returned to the judging table. The crowd roared and stamped their feet. Harriet was reminded sickly that she was being watched by all magical Europe. She really tried to forget that fact.

"Now our esteemed panel of Judges, I am Ludo Bagman and head of Magical Sports and Competition for the British Ministry of Magic and a retired beater of the esteemed Quidditch team the Wimbleton Wasps. Representing our head of Magical International Cooperation Mr. Bartimus Crouch is his assistant Percy Weasley. Next to him is Headmaster Igor Karkaroff of Drumstrang School of Magic. Madam Maxine of Beuxbaton Academie de Magique, and High Wicken of the Representatives of Magical Women in Europe, as well as a Wizmagot seat holder within the French Ministry. And finally, the host of the event, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as Supreme Mugwump of the ICO, Grand Sorcier, Chief Warlock of the Wizmegot, and holder of Order of Merlins first class." The Crowd roared for the judges.

"And now our young but brilliant competitors. From Drumstrang, and Seeker for the Bulgarian World Cup team, Victor Krum!" The crowd cheered.

"From Beuxbaton's, and a Liaison des Etudiant for her school, the lovely Fleur Delacour." Again, cheers and Fleur raised her hand like a queen to the crowd.

"From Hogwarts, and Hufflepuff Prefect, the charismatic Cedric Diggory." Another loud cheer!

"And our surprise competitor, the youngest of the four, and credited with defeating a Dark Lord as an infant, a warm welcome to Harriet Potter!" Her face felt hot with the cheers. She really wished that they could just get on with it.

"As a quick reminder, Harriet is in the lead at the moment with forty-four points. Fleur follows with forty-two points and Cedric in third with forty-one. Krum brings up the rear with thirty-nine points. It is a tight race with only five points between the leader and final place." Ludo said with excitement.

"Now to the task. The students have an hour for their task. Points are deducted for going over time and given for how well they handle any surprises in the lake. They will be under for an hour searching for something precious that has been taken from them, they must find it and bring it back as soon as possible. Now contestants please prepare."

Harriet took the gillyweed vial out of her pocket and then took off the outer robe of her uniform. She also kicked off her shoes and socks then flicked her wand into her right hand.

She noticed from beside her, that Cedric and Krum were donned in swimming trunks and both had their chest bare showing off muscled upper bodies, especially Krum. Fleur was also in a sleek looking silver one piece and looked like a swimsuit model. Merlin, life was unfair.

Harriet immediately felt silly in her clothes. Just in the black long-sleeve shirt and pants, it looked like she did not get the memo. At least it kind of looked like she was wearing a wet suit, but then again, she doubted that many wizards knew what a wetsuit was.

Well, it was a bit late now.

"Right everyone is ready," Bagman said with excitement. "We will begin in… three… two…one… GO!"