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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

It was the day of the second task. Ginny had spent the weeks since the Yule Ball thinking over what Sirius had told her. The fact that so many people who had been working for Voldemort were walking around freely was worrying to say the least.

Harry was in the Gryffindor common room when she headed down there. He smiled when he saw her. "I thought we might go down to the lake together."

Ginny smiled at the thought. "Yes, I'd like that. Do you know where Hermione and Neville are?"

"I think they went down together."

"What about Luna?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her today." Harry glanced around and picked out the person he was after. "Colin, have you seen Luna?"

Colin shook his head. "She was meant to meet me after breakfast but she didn't show up."

For a moment, Ginny felt worried. But then she dismissed the thought. It was, after all, not out of character for Luna to get distracted and forget something. Her worries returned however when she caught sight of Lavender looking lost. "Lavender, are you okay?"

Lavender looked around distractedly. "I was wondering where Parvati had got to. Professor McGonagall called her away first thing and I haven't seen her since. I thought she'd be back by now."

"You don't think they're together, do you?"Colin asked. "Luna and Parvati, I mean."

The thought had crossed Ginny's mind, but it seemed almost nonsensical. "I don't see how. It's not like they've ever spent much time together." She noticed Lavender still looking lost and felt sorry for the other girl. She shot a beseeching look at Harry who seemed to realise what she was thinking. "Er, Lavender, why don't you walk down with us?"

Lavender shot them both a grateful look. "All right. Thank you."

Harry and Ginny took a seat next to Neville and Hermione at the lake, with Lavender sitting nearby. The three school champions were lined up on the shore, ready to jump in. Ginny scanned the crowd until she spotted the face she was after. She nudged Harry and pointed. "Who's that?"

Harry followed the gesture. "It's Roger Davies,"he realised. "He's the captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team. Why?"

"He was Fleur's date to the Yule Ball. I was just thinking…Luna and Parvati both missing, it might be down to that. The only thing they've got in common is that they both went with ne of the champions. But if he's here…"

Harry thought about this. "Unless it isn't exactly that?"

There was a splash as the three champions dived in. "It's meant to be some sort of treasure hunt, right?" Ginny asked the others.

"That's right,"Neville agreed.

"So what's the treasure?"

They lapsed into a concerned silence which wasn't broken until a few minutes later when a shark surfaced and transformed back into Viktor Krum. The real shock was that he had someone with him. "Parvati!"Lavender realised, rushing down to the lakeside.

"That's what's happened to Luna,"Ginny realised. "She's down there."

"But she can't be in any real danger, right?"Hermione asked. "It's only a competition, there'd be something safe in place."

"And what if something goes wrong?"Ginny retorted.

No-one had any answer for that. They could only listen with concern until four more figures broke the surface of the lake: Cedric and Fleur, carrying between them Luna and a younger girl. "That's Fleur's sister Gabrielle,"Hermione supplied.

Ginny ran to the lakeside, Harry with her. A rather smug-looking man was standing with the contestants and their companions. "Good show, good show."

"Who are you?"Ginny demanded.

"Ludo Bagman. And you?"

"She's Ginny Weasley,"Luna supplied.

Ginny was in no mood for pleasantries. She remembered what Sirius had told her about Bagman. "What did you think you were doing, sending people down there?"

"It was quite nice really,"Luna offered. "I got to spend time with the mer people…"

The three head teachers – Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Maxime – had joined them. "You are sore that Hogwarts did not win,"Karkaroff sneered. "Durmstrang have courage and the drive to win!"

"Actually, that is not how it happened,"offered Viktor, who was standing with Lavender and Parvati. "The three of us realised our friends had gone missing."

"So we decided we'd help each other out,"Cedric continued. "Viktor got to the hostages first…"

"I was attacked by Grindylows,"said Fleur shame-faced.

"I saw she was in difficulty,"Viktor went on. "I wanted to get Parvati to safety so I signalled to Cedric."

"I went back and helped her,"Cedric noted.

"And then we rescued the others together,"Fleur concluded.

Dumbledore smiled. "An excellent case of sportsmanship wouldn't you say, Igor?" Karkaroff merely growled.

Despite feeling pleased with the three champions, Ginny felt uneasy. It was more and more clear that not everyone involved in the championship had fair play in mind…