Authors Note: It's so close to the end that I'm probably going to be updating really quickly. It's exciting and sad at the same time, because I don't want to stop writing this and then I do at the same time. Definitely stay posted on my other fics though, especially if you voted on my poll. I have a lot of good ideas (and a secret Harry Potter fic idea that I'll tell you about at the end that I'm really excited about) so definitely stick around.

Chapter -:Twenty Eight:-

The Second Task (Part II), Bringing up Even More Mayhem

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As time progressed and more and more people arrived I had to wonder who would be waiting at the bottom of the lake for me, since I had no idea. I had four people that meant the world to me, and any one of them could have been taken. Iggy hadn't, of course, because I had just been talking to him. I hadn't, however, seen any of the other flock members since last night, which couldn't be good. Not one bit.

I glanced around once more, wondering where Harry was. There were only five minutes left before things got started, but he was still nowhere to be found. I sincerely hoped he wasn't going to be a no show. I was apparently the only one that felt this way, considering the fact that Madame Maxime and Karkaroff were practically tittering with joy at the prospect of him not showing up.

Just as I was really starting to worry, Harry burst into view, running full speed towards us. Maxime and Karkaroff were visually displeased.

"Where have you been!?" I hissed at him when he came to a stop beside me.

"Long story," he said between breaths.

"I didn't think you were going to come," I admitted.

"Neither did I," was all he said in reply.

I gave him a peculiar look, but he just ignored me, trying to get his breath back.

"What do you think is down there, besides our people, I mean?" I asked.

"I have no idea, and I'm not too excited to find out."

"Neither am I," I said grimly.

"There's a giant squid, you know," Harry informed me.

"Brilliant, just brilliant," I muttered.

"It's a good thing you can do anything."

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"Well to tell the truth I used to think that too. I'm not invisible though. I figured that much out. I think I still have a lot to learn."

"Don't we all."

There was a pause in which we both just stood in companionable silence.

"Harry?" I asked.

"What?"

"If I tell you something, will you promise me you won't tell anyone else. Not the flock, not Hermione, Ron, or Dumbledore. Not anybody?"

"Sure."

I leaned over and whispered, "Voldemort has teamed up with the School."

His eyes widened perceptively.

"Which means that . . ." he began.

"He's gaining power." I nodded knowingly.

"This isn't good."

"I know," I agreed.

"Max, we have to tell Dumbledore. He'll want to know," Harry insisted.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"Why not?" he asked, slightly puzzled.

"I know you trust him, but I don't, okay? You have your own reasons to like him, but he's done nothing good for me. He promised safety, and we all almost got killed," I explained.

"Max, trust me, Dumbledore is only good . . . and he has reasons for everything he does. He may seem crazy, but in reality he's the most brilliant human being, magical and non, ever to exist. We have to tell him. He wants to get rid of Voldemort, and he can do it. But not if he doesn't know about something as important as this."

"You promised," I reminded him.

"Max," he said sternly.

"You know what? It doesn't matter, okay? Go ahead and tell him, what do I care? Every one has been a let down lately anyway." I turned my back and walked away.

"Max!" Harry called, but I acted as if I couldn't hear.

"Places every one!" Ludo Bagman came swooping in, barking out orders.

I shimmied off my pants and took off my shirt, revealing a basic white bikini. There were many catcalls from the stands. I laughed out loud. Feeling daring, and quite care free, I looked back over my shoulder and winked. The boys went wild. My smirk grew more profuse. With slow movements I went to the edge of the dock and let my toes skim the surface before plunging my whole foot in.

"How is it?" Fleur asked in her heavy accent.

"Freezing," which was true. "It's perfect," I said with a wicked grin.

She looked frightened, which made my smile even wider.

I vaguely heard a whistle being blown and all the other champions had disappeared, having flung themselves over the edge as quickly as possible. With a sigh I stretched out my wings, and took to the air. There was much confusion. I didn't fly too high, just high enough to have room, but low enough so all the people could see. Within one fast motion my wings were pulled in and I plummeted towards the surface. That was when I started to flip. Then, with my hands out first I dove into the ice cold water, and my hearing was automatically clouded, so I couldn't hear the crowds reaction to my show.

There wasn't anything or anyone in sight, but a bunch of weeds. Still I swam on, not sure where I was supposed to go. I made my way deeper and deeper, submerging myself in the dark water. Traveling towards the middle of the lake, eyes wide open.

I sped through the water quickly, passing clumps of weeds, some rocks, and the occasional fish or two. So far I hadn't caught sight of the alleged giant squid, for which I was very thankful. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to fight a giant squid and get the person I would sorely miss back too all in an hour. I didn't even know how much time had passed as of now.

I swam and swam until I felt as if I really could not swim any longer. My muscles were cramping up and it was becoming a lot harder to move my legs and arms. But what was I if not stubborn? Thus said I continued forward, even though the freezing water was becoming less cold and more nothing. I was going numb, which couldn't be a good sign.

From in front of me I heard something singing

"An hour long you'll have to look

And to recover what we took . . . "

In my excitement I forgot all about my dwindling body heat and pressed onward, kicking my feet in a wild frenzy.

" . . . your time's half gone, so tarry not

Lest what you seek stays here to rot . . . ."

Suddenly I swam through the cluster of weeds I had been in and came to an abrupt halt, staring around at my surroundings. There were big rocks, with holes carved in them. It appeared to be some kind of house. With a start I saw the merpeople for the first time. They had hair green like the weeds, and it was long and wildly tangled. Their skin was gray and there eyes were a piercing yellow, which matched their jagged teeth. They were terrifying, and I tried not to look at them as I swam on, towards the singing.

That was when I saw them. Five people, tied by their feet to a statue of a merperson. Their eyes were closed and they looked like they were sleeping peacefully.

I didn't know which was more scary. The merpeople or them, with their eerily peaceful faces. I shuddered.

Now I actually took time to look at the prisoners faces. There was a small girl with blonde hair. Her features were fine and prim. Plus she looked exactly like a mini version of Fleur, so it wasn't hard to tell who was here for her. Then there was Ron and Hermione, which explained why Iggy couldn't find her. Cho Chang, who I barely knew at all, was there also. For Cedric I supposed. I ground my teeth together when I saw who was there for me. It wasn't Gazzy . . . or Nudge . . . or Angel.

It was Fang.

FANG FOR GOODNESS SAKES!

What the hell made them think that I would sorely miss Fang? He was already gone anyway.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement. I whirled around to find Harry swimming towards me. I just turned my back to him, still angry.

With a huff that caused a multitude of bubbles escaping from my mouth, I grabbed the pocket knife I had tied to my waist, scissoring at the rope at Fang's feet, all the while thinking about how much this didn't make any sense. I had just seen Fang, hadn't I?

When he was free I looked back at Harry for a fleeting second, who was looking at Cedric who had just approached. Soon Cedric had fled with Cho in his arms, before I had even made a move. Cursing myself for being stupid enough to wait and not head up so I could be the first person done, I threw Harry one last glance.. He seemed to be contemplating something, what I didn't know, and at the moment I didn't even care. I nodded towards him and began to swim away, of course, being me, I wasn't going to get that far that easily. Out of no where a huge shark headed straight towards me. Without a second thought I snatched up my wand and shouted out a spell that would knock it out. With an indefinite amount of shock I realized that the rest of the shark had the body of a human. It was Krum.

With a sigh I grabbed his arm and cast a reviving spell. When he came around I mouthed sorry, and started to the surface once again, not looking back.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

When my head came above the water edge, soon followed by Fangs, his eyes opened and I shoved him away from me, with a disgusted look on my face. I turned my back and began swimming towards the docks. I could see Fleur and Cedric there, which meant that Fleur hadn't be able to retrieve her person. Wasn't my problem, though I did feel kind of sorry for her. She was sobbing uncontrollably after all.

I climbed the ladder and snatched up a towel, wrapping it around my shaking form. At that point I didn't know whether it was out of coldness or anger. After that my attention was immediately averted to something else.

There was a Fang standing beside Draco a few feet away from me, and there was a Fang just climbing up the ladder behind me.

Fantastic.

I spun around and roughly grabbed the Fang I had just gotten from the bottoms of the lake's collar, pulling him the rest of the way forcefully. I ran, pulling him behind me, and grabbed the other Fang's shirt. I slammed them up against the wall all before any one else even knew what I was doing. When they saw that there were two Fang's though, there was a momentary hush, and then the flurry of whispers began.

"So? Which one of you is the real Fang?"

"I am," they both said, which was typical.

"What is going on?" Bagmen scurried over, followed by the rest of the judges, minus Crouch.

"It seems that since Max II failed to complete her mission, the School has sent Fang II to finish it. I just don't know which one is which."

"We can give them veritaserum, then ask them which one is the real Fang," suggested Madame Maxime.

"I have a faster way to take care of things," I informed them.

With a low growl in my throat I asked, (A/N: I don't really remember if this is exactly what was asked, but I think it's pretty close) "What was the first thing Gazzy tried to do when we escaped from the school?"

The dry Fang hesitated, but the dripping wet Fang immediately answered, "He tried to eat a cow."

"That was what I was going to say!" The dry Fang exclaimed.

"I'm so sure," I replied and kneed him in the stomach. He crumpled and I clipped him on the temple, hard, knocking him out.

"How about you do the honors," I said to Fang.

He nodded grimly and raised his foot. He winced slightly, then brought it down hard, snapping his clones neck. There was a gurgling sound and Fang II's chest stopped moving. I checked for a pulse. There was none.

Fang just stood there, breathing hard, his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

He shook his head.

"I know how hard it is."

"She was trying to kill you. He wasn't doing a thing to me," he reminded me.

"He was knocked out anyway. It was instant. Quick and painless," I whispered.

"Still."

I put my hand on his shoulder. He leaned into me, surprising me. Taking advantage of the moment I pulled him into a tight hug. It was only a second before his arms were around my waist, holding me close to him.

"Fang!" Malfoy snapped sharply, and he stepped out of my embrace immediately.

I just stared at him. He looked me in the eye for a moment, then followed Malfoy away. I swallowed and blinked quickly. I so wouldn't cry over someone like him. Not now. Not after everything he had already done.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The judging was beginning, and Harry was nowhere to be found. As the clock kept on ticking my smile became wider and wider, just like some other peoples. There was no way he was going to get a good score now. Just as people were starting to get restless, a black head broke the surface. Of course, he would have to act the hero. Not only had he rescued Ron, but he had brought Fleur's sister with him also. He was getting on my every last nerve.

Ludo Bagman's voice was magnified above the uproar Harry's arrival had caused. My mood had become quite sour.

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour. We therefore award him forty-seven points.

"Maximum Ride . . . well we don't really know what she did," Bagman stared pointedly at me.

"I can breathe underwater. It's apart of being a mutant freak I suppose," I informed him.

Bagman looked shocked.

"Maximum Ride, who apparently can breathe underwater, came second with her hostage. Due to her fantastic show beforehand we award her forty-four points.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was third to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Then it was Harry's turn.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect. He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However-" and he went on and on about how Harry was an amazingly awesome person for staying. As if.

"Mr. Potter's score is forty- five points."

WHAT!?

He. Beat. Me. By. One. Point.

THAT WAS SO NOT FAIR!

With a snarl I stalked towards the castle, ignoring Madam Pomfrey who was trying to coax me back to her.

"MAX!" The flock was running after me, minus Gazzy who was hobbling along behind them.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stop.

"Yes?" I asked calmly.

"I can't believe Harry knocked you out of second place," Angel gushed.

"Well actually, she's still technically in second place since Cedric and Harry are tied for first now. If you want to be technical," Iggy informed us all.

"I feel so much better," I said acidly.

"You're not mad, are you Max?" Angel asked sweetly.

"A little yes," I replied.

After that there was just silence, much to my appreciation.

Up ahead I saw Malfoy and his gang, accompanied by Fang.

"Um, I have to go do something. I'll see you guys later," I told the flock and picked up my speed, not even pausing to hear if they agreed.

Authors Note: Drop me a review?

Some of that, like the singing part and the scores, were taking directly from the book. Therefore I do not own them. I bolded the parts that are from the book.