Albus Dumbledore stood before me, a giant wet spot on the shoulder of his powder blue robes and I heard someone blow their nose like a fog horn.
"I expected to see you, but not this quickly."
"I was in a hurry," the headmaster let me into the house. I walked up to my guardian. "Hey Hagrid." He was curled over, shoulders shaking with sobs. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his bushy hair. His arms wrapped around me and I let him cry.
For a large man, Hagrid expressed his emotions in proportion to his size. I wanted to skin Rita Skeeter. The paper was on the table and I could just barely make out the article spilling Hagrid's biggest secret. I tried to focus on comforting Hagrid, I could get angry later but getting angry right now would help absolutely nothing. Remus would be so proud, me holding in my anger like I was. Hagrid kept blubbering things about how he didn't know how she could have found out about his mu being a giantess.
"Did you tell anyone where she may have overheard?" I asked gently.
"No! I only told…" He covered his face with his massive hands and sobbed.
"Olympe?" I mouthed to Dumbledore and he nodded. I hugged Hagrid and tried to punch down my anger and keep my sharp tongue contained because it would not help anything right now and Hagrid's emotional state would not be bettered.
When I got back to the common room I had had enough of holding my tongue and had thoroughly stewed over how angry I was at Rita Skeeter and Madame Maxime. Fred and George were sitting on one of the couches, their knees bouncing with agitation. Fred saw me and jumped up to walk over to me. I nodded towards the portrait and he followed me back into the hall. Without a word, I took his hand and pulled him to a hidden balcony.
I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my face into his jumper. I didn't want to cry but the tears came out anyway. Fred just kept his arms around me and put his chin on the top of my head. When I was done, I wiped my eyes and pulled away to talk to him.
"Hagrid is having some problems… Rita Skeeter wrote an article about him being half giant. It's absolute rubbish she's saying, Hagrid may be half giant but he's the gentlest soul that ever lived." Fred nodded. "She had to talk to that giantess Madame Maxime even though she refuses to acknowledge that normal people don't grow to be taller than Hagrid. Dumbledore said he'll take care of it but I think it's hitting Hagrid harder than that. He's drinking to drown his sorrow and Dumbledore's down there with him but I don't want to leave him alone but I need to work on the next task of the tournament and I don't want to stop spending time with you and there's just so much to think about." I realized that the last part of my speech had hastened to where my voice was tight and hysterical. I turned away and gripped the railing, the cold metal biting my hands as I squeezed.
"Renora." Fred brushed my hair behind my ear and I pressed my face into his sweater, my snot and tears soaking into his jumper. "It's okay, love. It's okay." He held me close and rocked me back and forth.
"I don't know how it will be. He will be hurting for so long and people will turn on him."
"He will, and they might, but that's not going to be helped by you working yourself into a fit. I know your greatest character flaw is caring too much but maybe this time, you should just be present for him, be there for him to lean on but don't try to fix all of his problems." I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. His eyes softened and he used his thumbs to wipe away the remaining tears on my cheeks. "Come on, it's freezing out here."
"Nora, are you listening to me?" I dropped the moon charm Fred had given me and looked back up at Ludo.
"What were you saying about the lake?"
"We're going to be putting students at the bottom of the lake."
"No you're not." I stood up from the table in Ludo's temporary office.
"We are, it's the whole basis of the task." I shook my head.
"I'm not putting my friends at the bottom of a lake."
"They may not be your friends…" I shot Ludo a venomous look.
"I'm not having Harry go for a chilly dip in the black lake in February, either." Ludo pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It will be perfectly safe, I have the professors here working on the right charms and protections. Everyone will be fine." I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes.
"This tournament has claimed lives before and that's where I draw the line. The dragons were bad enough but now I might not only drown the champions, but also other people?"
"I'm asking you to do what the tournament requires." This was the most stern I'd ever seen Ludo.
"I will set up the task but you will not put my friends down there."
"What if we put a time limit on it?" I tensed my jaw.
"That doesn't make it any better."
"What if you go down there when the time is up and save anyone who is lost?"
"Getting closer but I'm not sold that this is great."
"Nora, you have to do this, it's required of you as part of your service for the Ministry."
"What's your deal, first you were fine with me having my freedom to do what I wanted and now you're strong arming me into putting my friends in danger."
"I have been instructed by the Ministry after the slight incident at the Yule Ball regarding the Weird Sisters' behavior that I may have given you too much leash." I sighed.
"You make me sound like I'm your guard dog. They're a rock band, they're going to be a little wild."
"I know, you are preaching to the choir on the matter but I need to keep my nose clean in these changing times. So please just follow my commands to the letter and do not put up a fight on this." I crossed my arms and sat back down at the table and looked over the sheaves of parchment with the specifications of the second task on them. My teeth ground together when I read that the champions would have one person important to each of them taken and hidden in the Black Lake. It made the hair on my arms stand up thinking about them being down there for that long. I swam in the lake with the giant squid but that was in the shallows and usually Thatch or Gisborne accompanied me to make sure I didn't get absconded with by the deep and dark creepy crawlers.
"Alright, I'll do it, as long as I'm allowed to retrieve them as soon as the hour is past."
"Sounds like a great plan to me."
I was lying on a couch in the common room, Fred was reading a textbook on the floor below me. Thinking about the tournament, I absently ran my fingers through his hair as I stared at the ceiling.
Hermione, Ron, Cho, and Gabrielle. Those were the people I would have to collect come time for the task and I could not get them out of my head. Every time I saw them, that's all I could think about. I had dreams about seeing them floating under the muted light in the Black Lake surrounded by the dark creatures and mysteries that lurked beneath the surface. I was staring off into the distance with my headphones on so I didn't hear anything. Fred leaned over me and I jumped.
"What?" I leaned up and put my headphones around my neck. Fred sat down beside me.
"I asked you when we were going to run away together and have an unfathomable amount of illegitimate children together after asking you when you wanted to go down and get something to eat from the kitchens roughly a thousand times."
"Well, to answer both questions, soon. I want all of our children to have the last name Black and rebuild my bloodline with better spawn." I stood up and stretched. I saw Hermione talking to Harry with a frustrated expression, she said something about his egg and I sighed, Harry still hadn't figured it out. "I'm also incredibly famished." I stood up and stretched, still watching Harry and Hermione argue. I couldn't get involved. I had to keep telling myself that.
Fred took my hand as we walked through the secret passages to the kitchens.
"Penny for your thoughts?" He murmured. I shook my head.
"The price for my thoughts is much higher than you can afford, Mr. Weasley." Fred nodded with a sad smile. I bumped my shoulder against his side and tried to make that look go away from his face.
"You are really preoccupied about the task, aren't you?" I nodded and we were at the kitchen doors.
"Yes, but now I'm preoccupied with eating my weight in whatever food lies behind this door." I pushed past him and into the nearly empty kitchen. A few house elves scrubbed the floor and I heard the clatter of a few pans. The humidity from cooking made my hair start to frizz out of control a beads of sweat pop up on my neck.
"Oh it is Miss or and her Wheezy!" Dobby jumped for joy at the sight of us.
"Hello, Dobby." He was wearing his ever-impressive assortment of clothing items as he ran towards us.
"What can we get for you tonight?" His high pitched voice use to grate my nerves but now there was a certain charm about it probably stemming from the constant enthusiasm and happiness he displayed.
"I want a beef sandwich with chips and a pumpkin juice, what about you, Freddie?"
"Same for me." Dobby smiled and ran off to get our food. In a wink and a shake, Dobby was back with our food wrapped in paper and our drinks in thermoses. It was now a ritual for Freddie and I to take our food and eat it in my hide away.
"Bye, Dobby." Fred and I called as we walked out of the steamy kitchen.
"Goodbye Nora Black and her Wheezy!"
Fred kept acting like he wanted to talk about something while we were eating and I would stop and look at him, watching him formulate his sentences and then watch him just shake his head slightly and resume eating. I didn't know what I wanted him to say, just that I wanted him to say something reassuring even though he had no idea what was taking over my every moment. I was so scared that someone was going to die on my watch during the next task.
Fred walked me back to the portrait of the Fat Lady. He gave me a hug and held on for not nearly as long as I wanted before stepping back.
"I think I'm going to go work on some orders, you should go get some rest, because tomorrow I'm sure the Ministry will have you running ragged again." He shoved his hand in his pockets and walked away down the hall. I sighed. I did not have the experience to deal with brokenhearted boys right now.
I had been stressing about the second task for weeks and tomorrow it was going to be here. Fred had sensed that, I think, because he had been leaving me to my own devices lately and I missed him but I focused on the tournament and that made things a little easier.
Right now though, I was watching him from across the common room work on writing up new product descriptions for the catalogue. I needed his help. My legs carried me to him faster than I thought they would. He looked up at me and sat his papers aside. I saw he had a smudge of ink on his cheek. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"Nora, what's going on?" He asked quietly and I just held him. His hand found the back of my neck and pressed me to him.
"I… need to ask you to do something tonight and it will not be easy."
"You know I never like doing anything easy."
"Grab George, we'll need him, too." Fred nodded.
He grabbed George and we walked out of the common room.
"What's up?" He asked once we were safely in the secret passage.
"I need you to take Hermione and Ron to Dumbledore's office. They're both in the library with Harry."
"That's all? That's easy."
"They're going to be put in the Black Lake and the champions are going to have to collect them within an hour."
"That's bloody ridiculous, is this why you've been acting so barking mad lately? Of course it is. You must be a right mess." Fred pulled at his hair exasperatedly. "Here I was thinking you were pulling away from me." I groaned.
"No, you bloody idiot. I have been a little preoccupied, yes, but not with some other boy if that's what you've been worrying about you prat." We got to the library doors. "We'll talk about this later, just please don't tell Hermione or Ron what's going on and get them to the Headmaster's office as soon as possible, I have to get two others." I walked away down the hall and pulled out the Marauders Map to find Cho Chang and Fleur's little sister.
I found Gabrielle first.
"Bonjour, Gabrielle." I curtsied to her animatedly as she curtsied back.
"Have yoz brought yourz bird?" I whistled one short shrill burst and Andi appeared in a puff of flame. Gabrielle clapped happily.
"Gabrielle, I need you to come with me to the headmaster's office. It's for your sister's next task in the tournament." She nodded as Andi curled in her arms. She hadn't been that spoiled for a while.
"Of Courze." She took my hand as we went in search of Cho. The map said she was with Ced in the courtyard I had to wait to get her alone. I took Gabrielle to Dumbledore where Hermione and Ron were already waiting, and went back down to stalk Cho Chang. Harry would be jealous. I walked through the corridor overlooking the young couple who had hidden themselves under the drooping braches of a willow. I wanted to hurl when I saw them snogging as hard as they were. I hoped that Fred and I were more discreet than that, not that we'd done much snogging lately. I could see why she was the most important person in Ced's scope right now at school.
After an eternity, they parted lips and then parted ways. I casually bumped into Cho when she came around the corner.
"Hello, Nora."
"Hi Cho! I was actually just looking for you. Can you come with me to Dumbledore's office? It's for Ced and the next task."
"Of course." I walked her up to the office and stood in silent resolve as Dumbledore explained what was going to happen to each of them the next day. Gabrielle ran to me and hugged me tightly, she was so scared. I took a knee and dried her eyes with my sleeve.
"I know this is very scary, mon Cherie, but I promise you that nothing will go wrong. I will be waiting to save you the moment the clock rings the hour is up. You must be brave." She sniffed once and then nodded. My friends all looked at me, the same silent fear in their eyes. "That goes for all of you. If for some reason your champion does not succeed in saving you, I will be monitoring and extracting you as soon as the hour has passed." I smoothed Gabrielle's hair and all four of the students were put under the sleeping spell. I would go out early tomorrow morning to place them in the lake.
Andi was perched on my shoulder as I walked to the Gryffindor common room slowly. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I heard two men arguing heatedly and rolled my eyes. I was always the one to overhear these disagreements that were always somehow related to my heritage and innate dark side that I have repressed this long.
"He is rising again, don't you see? The call has been sent out." I pressed against the wall and hoped that the people would not be walking my way.
"I see only the mad ramblings of a fool, shouldn't you be getting your champion ready for the next task?" It was getting really hard to keep defending Snape when he kept acting this way.
"My champion is ready, Harry Potter is the one you should be worrying about, Severus. Seeing as you have such a soft spot for the boy." More like a moldy rotten spot but sure, a soft works as well.
"I have no need to assist the boy in cheating, Professor Moody has taken quite a shine to him so I have no doubt Potter is well equipped for the task."
"We will see, Severus, we will see." The two men's voices were getting further away and I released my breath.
"Bloody hell."