Chapter 12: The Second Task

Severus stared at the bronze ring he had recovered from under the Willow, twirling it through his fingers, utterly perplexed. The Second Task was mere days away – and he had still not figured out how to get the ring to divulge its secret as to what the next Task was going to be. At least, that was what Dumbledore had explained to the Champions. Quayle, the Champion from Ilvermorny, had been the only other Champion to successfully recover a ring. Though failing to retrieve them, Igor Youngkin and Eponine were both given the remaining two rings after the First Task was over.

Maybe he should just ask one of his three fellow competitors if they had figured it out. Just as quickly, Severus dismissed the idea out of hand. If Quayle or Youngkin knew anything, they weren't saying. And why would they? This was a Tournament after all – only one winner.

It was now getting on early February. For the more serious fifth-years, OWL studying was beginning in earnest. And then there were his Prefect patrols…. Between all that, Severus had enough on his plate as it was.

The Prefect patrols were quickly becoming Severus's favorite pastime, a way to relax and calm down as he strolled the hallways freely at night with Lily.

Lily…. Her kiss from the night of the Yule Ball still burned on his lips, nearly two months later. But since that time, neither of them had spoken of the romantic embrace they had shared… or what it might mean.

Severus had always wanted Lily. He had wanted her for years. To have an indication that she might feel the same, that she might be willing to explore what more could be like, and with him, set his heart palpitating. He just wished she would get on with it and broach the subject. Start a discussion like adults about what they both wanted and needed and expected if they were going to become intimately involved. Except Lily hadn't said a word…. and her silence was starting to make him paranoid.

Perhaps he had read too much into the kiss she had bestowed on him. After all, a kiss could mean any number of things, not all of them necessarily romantic. It could have been a friendly kiss goodnight – he had been dropping her off at her door, after all. There could have been a sprig of mistletoe hanging above their heads that she noticed and Severus just hadn't thought to glance up. Or, worst still, perhaps Lily had simply kissed him just to see what it felt like and come away concluding that snogging her best friend left much to be desired.

No, that couldn't be it. She wouldn't have held him as long as she did, or deepened the kiss so acutely, if she hadn't felt something for him. Something more than friendship.

He wished she would voice it – Merlin knew he couldn't. He wasn't good with words, never mind courage. Many of his Slytherin classmates had praised him on his daring throughout the First Task, but Severus wanted to tell them that wasn't courage. That had been adrenaline – and a little bit of luck.

Still, as he chanced a glance at the torchlight glancing off her auburn hair so that it almost glowed, a tiny voice inside Severus told him to just brace Lily up against the wall and snog her senseless. Maybe she wouldn't push him away. And if she did, well…. he'd have his answer to her silence, though his heart would be broken.

"Lily?" He hadn't realized he had spoken until it was too late.

"Yes?" she smiled at him sweetly. Her voice was like audible nectar.

"Did you have a good time at the Yule Ball?" Oh, Merlin…. Was he really heading to where he thought he was heading….?

"Of course!" she beamed. "It was a wonderful night!" Smirking, she nudged him. "All the better because you were with me. I got to show you off."

Severus was tempted to puff out his chest with pride at this. "As what?" His voice – sotte voce now – was clearly not in sync with his brain.

Lily swayed to a halt, turning to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Severus gulped. He tried not to let his hands tremble as he glided them to rest on Lily's waist. He felt her breath hitch, and encouraged, continued to speak. "I mean…. did you like showing me off as your date? As a Champion? As a best friend? Or…. as something else?"

His heart leapt with hope at how flustered, nervous and shy Lily's big green eyes appeared just then. The little voice inside him was telling him to just dive in and kiss her now – they were alone, the corridor was deserted.

And from the way she was gazing at him, Severus had the most thrilling suspicion that Lily wanted him to.

"I…. I…"

Severus stepped closer. "You kissed me the night of the Ball. Do you remember?"

"Oh, I remember…" Lily's voice was breathless, the first syllable coming out more like a moan. Her eyes were darting down to his lips, and somewhere along the line, her arms had lifted up to loop around his neck.

"Lily?"

"Y-Yes, Severus?"

It was rare she used his full name – the pet name Sev was more common – but hearing every syllable of his name on her lips nearly made Severus lose control right then.

"Would you…. want to…. go out….?"

"Miss Evans!"

Severus and Lily jumped apart, both turning scarlet, as they snapped their heads up to find Professor McGonagall bustling towards them.

"Evening, Professor," Lily dipped her head in respect.

"I am glad I found you, child. I know you and Mr. Snape are out on patrol, but I need you for something urgently in Professor Flitwick's office." If McGonagall had noticed how close together Lily and Severus had been standing, she didn't comment on it.

Severus tried not to look too disappointed that he had been essentially cockblocked by McGonagall of all people. Biting her lip, Lily turned back to Severus, apology in her eyes.

"We'll talk about this later. OK?"

Well, at least he had that hope to look forward to. Still, he felt the need to ask. "You promise?"

Lily nodded, seeming to decide something. "Here's my promise." And, even with McGonagall standing right there, the beautiful Gryffindor girl lifted up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against her handsome Slytherin's mouth in a feather-light kiss.

Severus was thunderstruck. He didn't look at McGonagall, not really wanting to see what she thought about it. Smiling weakly, Lily followed her Head of House down the corridor, only looking back over her shoulder once to grin more brightly at him.

Finally recovered, Severus beamed back, and he continued his patrol of the corridors alone with a pronounced spring in his step.

He hadn't seen her all day.

It was the middle of the next morning - the Second Task was to be held in just a few hours (a Task he was most definitely not prepared for), and for some reason, Lily was missing. What had McGonagall done, kept her up all night? If so, perhaps Lily was just catching up on sleep for the day, skipping a class or two.

But when it was time to gather down by the Black Lake for the Second Task, Severus was slowly starting to panic. Not trying to act like he was too unglued, he found Mary MacDonald in the throng (she was arm-in-arm with Remus Lupin – a match Severus didn't quite know what to make of, if he was being honest), and asked her if she had seen Lily.

"Not since she left for her Prefect rounds last night, Severus."

OK. Now he could panic. If he wasn't killed first walking into a Triwizard Tournament Task blind.

Severus, Quayle, Youngkin and Eponine all stood with the Headmasters on the dock jutting out into the lake.

"At the bottom of this lake, lie treasures – one for each Champion – the treasure they desire most in the world. Your Task, Champions, is to find a way to sink to the bottom of the Black Lake, retrieve your prize and return to the surface. You have one hour, starting…. NOW!"

A cannon blast immediately followed Dumbledore's instruction. Quayle swan dove into the water, followed quickly by a graceful Eponine. Severus shot a panicked look at Youngkin, but if the imposing Bulgarian shared his distress, it wasn't easy to detect.

Merlin's pants. He was bloody fucked. And Lily was nowhere to be found.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Severus tried to concentrate as Youngkin finally dove in. A treasure… at the bottom of the Black Lake…. He had to sink down there, but he also had to breathe. If only he had figured out how to unlock the clue in the bronze ring, maybe he could have prepared a Potion or something. But there were no Potions supplies here on this dock, and even if there were, it would take him the whole hour allotted just to come up with something, and then he'd lose for sure.

He did have his wand, though. A spell was what he would need. Severus was the first to admit he wasn't gifted at Charms (that was Lily's forte, one among many), but it would have to do.

Remembering one of Flitwick's previous lessons from near the first week of term, Severus got an idea. He cannonballed into the Lake, just refraining from holding his nose. He could hear laughter just before he hit the water.

Sinking slowly, Severus thought fast, resisting the instinct to buoy back up for air. Waving his wand, he cast the Bubble-Head Charm, and a bubble expanded around his head. Inside the bubble, he could breathe with ease and comfort.

Severus peered around at the water around him and then into the inky blackness below. The sun from above was enough for him to make out the rough outlines of the lake's floor. He could try and swim down, now that he was not in danger of drowning, but Youngkin and the others were probably already well ahead. He needed some magic to sink – and fast.

Waving his wand again, Severus found that he could still speak incantations clearly inside the bubble. "Descendio!"

A jet stream of bubbles billowed around him as he sank down like a rocket, quickly arriving amidst the weedy plants sprouting from the lake floor.

Pushing through the stalks, Severus came to the edge of a ravine. Gulping, and casting Lumos with his wand, he struggled on.

The ravine eventually started to slant up, and more light trickled in, until Severus emerged onto something resembling an underwater plateau.

Suddenly –

A shark shot past him and Severus dove out of the way, yelping. The beast passed him by faster than a finger snap, but not fast enough for Severus not to notice the very human torso attached to the shark's head. A pair of swim shorts…. they looked like they could belong to Quayle. And also, the man with a shark head had what looked like a human body under its fin….

Gulping, knowing he was close, Severus swam faster. Finally, he swayed to a halt, as the sunlight from above made the picture before him clear.

Four chains were anchored to the lake floor. Three of the chains stood empty. But attached to the chain at the middle right, bobbing along, floated an unconscious….

"Lily!"

The bubble around his skull muffled Severus's cry a little as he paddled up to her. Studied the chain trapping her. Touched her face. Now everything was explained, why she hadn't shown up to breakfast. Why McGonagall had called her away after so rudely interrupting them last night. At the moment, Severus didn't even care that the others were gone, that he was well on his way to finishing the Task dead last.

Pointing his wand down at the chain that held his precious Lily, Severus growled, "Relashio!"

The chain broke with a snap and a shower of sparks. Cut free, the first instinct of Lily's body was to float up, and Severus moved to follow her. Catch her about the waist and carry her to the surface on his back if he had to. Severus vaguely thought that, though the Task was low, it was also almost too easy, at least compared to the First.

He thought too soon.

The grey mermaids fiercely attacked him without warning armed with spears and tridents. Severus had little choice but to fire spells left and right, shielding Lily with his own body. Blasting a Depulso spell up to the creatures swarming above, Severus spied an opening and took it. Holding Lily close, he got out, "Ascendio!"

Both Severus and Lily rocketed straight up. Severus could feel his Bubble Head charm wearing off, his breathing becoming shallower….

He broke through the crests of the waves with a crash, the force of his Ascending Spell carrying him and Lily clear out of the water and they both crashed rather messily onto the dock. He had come in last place, Severus knew it; he didn't even know if he had retrieved Lily and returned in the hour allotted.

Right now, he could give a sod.

Coughing and spluttering, dripping wet, Severus crawled over to where his precious Lily laid. Around him, he was vaguely aware of the other Champions with their treasures – all of them people, as his had been. Except all the other human greatest treasures were awake and shivering, but alive. Why wasn't Lily?

Severus gave his best friend a fierce shake. Her lips were a nauseating shade of blue, her snow-white skin clammy and pale.

"How curious…." Dumbledore mused, as if this was a simple science experiment gone awry in a fascinating new direction. "The spell on her should have ended the moment she broke the surface…."

Severus wanted to strangle Dumbledore in that moment. If he had taken too long to get to her, and the bloody Tournament organizers had drowned Lily by accident all for the sake of some stupid competition…. Well, then he would just simply kill them all. And also never forgive himself.

"Lily….. please wake up. Please open your eyes…." Chancing a glance behind him, he could see Mary MacDonald, Remus, Potter and his mates all trying to fight past the Tournament security. MacDonald was in hysterics, and Potter seemed oddly close to tears.

Glancing back down at his dearest, Severus suddenly knew what he had to do. It was crazy, and definitely indicated he had spent way too much time listening to Lily prattle away about Muggle fairytale stories she had learned as a child, but it was worth a shot.

And in any case, this was overdue. He owed her. Even if he never got to have that conversation she had promised just last night they'd have, even if he never got to tell her to her face how he felt about her…. he owed her.

Dipping his face close to Lily's Severus leaned in and kissed Lily right on the lips. Eyes drooping shut, he deepened the kiss. Her lips were still impossibly soft, just as he remembered them, though in this case, far too cold.

Letting his tongue part her lips, Severus kissed Lily still further, now letting air seep from his lungs and into hers. It was a Muggle technique that they had been taught in Muggle Studies, something called CPR. Severus wasn't even sure if he was doing it right as he was mostly still just straight up snogging his unconscious best friend, but oh, how wonderful it felt!

"Errrm…." All at once, Severus felt Lily shift under him. Then, a silky hand reached up to cradle his cheek. Her lips came to life, suddenly pushing with equal eagerness back against his as his beautiful Lily lifted her frame from the dock and wiggled into his lap so that she was straddling him. Her hands gently framed his face as, with abandon, she snogged and kissed him back.

Everyone on the dock was cheering, but neither Severus nor Lily heard it. At long last, they both had to come up for air, breaking apart. Severus couldn't believe it. His kiss had awakened her. More than that, Lily was beaming, terribly amused but pleased as well.

"Took you long enough, you prat."

And there was no greater sight than the one Severus held in his eyes right then: Lily's smile. It was a smile he hoped he would be able to look at for the rest of his life. And as he and Lily embraced and kissed, Severus finally felt like a Champion.