The Great Lake
Within a week, Victoire was completely healed and was moving around like nothing had happened. Professors showed their sympathy by extending her deadlines and even allowing her to skip some lessons, as long as she handed in work that was up to their standards. She was grateful that she had such amazing friends that brought her food while she prioritised studying over going to dinner and even Tonka has begun to do thinks like take herself out to use the bathroom. A plain sailing life was surely going to end soon, and she regarded this weekend as the final weekend where she would be able to relax. After the Saturday breakfast, a fire was started by the great lake with Albus stirring up his signature fragrant hot chocolate in a large pot over it and Rose adding more chocolate than required. Teaching Dominique to skip stones, James stood in the lake with the water reaching just above his ankles and Molly's version of helping was proving how she was the better stone skipper. Victoire sat on a thick blanket by the fire, playing fetch with Tonka and helping Fred with his work. This Weasley gathering had become a regular occurrence at least once a month to stop their parents from complaining that they didn't spend enough time with each other, but there was always the odd few who couldn't turn up. Though the cold was mild, Victoire wished she had worn more layers as her ice blue thick sweater couldn't completely protect her and everyone just wanted the hot chocolate to be done so that they could have something to bring feeling to their fingertips.
"It will be done when it's done," Albus insisted for the fourth time, "if you didn't keep adding chocolate, you would be drinking it by now,"
"Don't blame me just because I'm improving your recipe," Rose replied as she resorted to eating the last few blocks of chocolate,
"It doesn't need improvement, you're just a chocoholic."
As Tonka brought back the wrong thick twig, everyone gathered around the fire, staying close to each other to keep the warmth amongst them. Right on time, Albus began to ladle his chocolate mixture into mugs and sprinkled on a mystery substance before passing them round. Lifting the mug to her lips, Victoire smiled as the fragrant fumes danced into her nose and she blew on the hot dark chocolate drink before taking a brave sip. The silk smooth liquid was thicker than your average hot chocolate, but its heat mixed with whatever Albus had put in it soothed the throat as it slid down. Victoire took in its richness as she watched sun's rays play with the surface of the lake, creating sparkles that jumped along the water and black silhouettes of birds pierced through the grey sky as they chirped their morning tune.
"Have you opened the egg yet?" James asked with a ring of chocolate around his mouth,
"Not yet. Uncle Fred said that it's better to open it with you guys around, apparently it's a real surprise," Victoire spoke enthusiastically,
"I would've opened it straight away,"
"Yeah, well, as you know, I was a bit busy. Clean your mouth, James, a moustache doesn't suit you."
When they moved onto their second helping of hot chocolate, Victoire took the large glittering gold egg out of her bag. It attracted the light which made it look more regal as she gripped the clasp and took deep breaths in preparation to reveal what was so beautifully guarded inside. She was hoping there would be a piece of parchment with a riddle on that they could all solve together and maybe some treats inside as a congratulations for getting through the first task, but the egg felt slightly too heavy for that. Maybe there was another egg inside or a book for her to read that would contain the clues for the next task. Drumrolls were made against laps and the ground and she turned the clasp and let the four sections of the egg open like a flower. The high-pitched ear torturing screech emitted from the centre of the egg had even Tonka covering her ears and took away from a hypnotising orb of silver with flexes of gold, blue and green that pulsed in the middle. Victoire tried to brave the piercing noise, hoping something would be revealed in the centre, but eventually gave up and closed the egg.
"That's the surprise uncle Fred was talking about," James sighed.
Disappointment was evident on her face as she put the egg back in her bag and drank her hot chocolate wondering what the clue was. If her competitors cheated the first time, they most likely were going to cheat again, had probably worked out the clue and were fully prepared for what was in store for them. What was an agonizing screech meant to mean?
"Maybe it's to do with creatures again. Think of something that makes such a horrible-" Rose stopped speaking as her gaze went behind Victoire.
The Weasley's all followed her eyes to see Lucas walking towards them. He wore an open thick black coat that only partially covered his blondie chocolate defined torso, his black joggers hugged his hips and his hair was tied into a tight ponytail. James and Albus shook their heads and chuckled at the girls' reaction to him while Fred visibly attempted not to look but failed as he came closer to them.
"A Weasley weekend, I see," Lucas grinned as he knelt next to Victoire,
"This is pretty early for you," Victoire replied as she offered him some hot chocolate,
"Yeah, well," he took a sip and his eyes widened at how good the liquid was, "I've decided to start swimming in the lake, you know, to get my endurance up,"
"You're mad."
Lucas fist-bumped with Fred and waved with a flirty wink at Dominique, Molly and Rose, before jogging to the lake and sliding off his coat. Victoire watched him, not because she was interested in his well-built body, but because he had triggered the wheels in her brain to turn. Something about the lake lingered in her mind and refused to allow her to concentrate on anything else.
Rose had finished her hot chocolate and now had something just as sweet on her mind, "I'm just gonna, erm, yeah,"
"What's with you and Slytherins?" James complained as she got up,
"Wait, Slytherins? Plural?!" Fred was intrigued,
"No, no, no, no plural," Rose's cheeks started to live up to her name,
"You enjoy the presence of the Malfoy boy though," James teased,
"Shut up, James, you know we're just friends, gosh," Rose made a sharp turn and made her way to the lake just as Lucas dived in,
"I'll make sure she doesn't try anything," joked Victoire as she followed her cousin.
Victoire followed Rose to the edge of the lake with the water crawling in over the sand and stones and just tapping the tips of her trainers before crawling out again. She envied Rose's absolute disregard to what lay under her feet or within the lake which allowed her to happily enter the water until it was halfway up her shins and reach into to find stones to throw. As a child, Victoire did this at home, but as she grew older, so did the pesky worries and she found simply thinking about entering the Great Lake nerve inducing. Some insisted she was a typical overthinker, while Teddy would agree that not knowing what surrounded you was a rational fear, but he just didn't have it. It didn't make sense to her how someone could freely swim in a body of water that could contain urine or toxins and that was home to dangerous creatures like a giant squid, grindylows and merpeople.
Merpeople.
Secretive, water breathing and singing merpeople.
Flinging her wand in the direction of her bag and the golden egg rapidly shuffled out from the fabric, through the air and into her hands. Once she got the egg, she carefully placed in on the ground and took off her jumper, shivering as a brisk icy wind hit her unguarded arms and her thin vest. As she tied up her hair and pushed off her shoes, she tried to force her assumptions of what could hurt her out of her mind and with the golden egg in her grasp, she took one cautious step into the water. Squealing, she took multiple skittish steps back, coiling back at the cold and the unpleasant sensation of an unknown slimy plant her toes had touched.
"Wow, you're more of a baby than Hugo," Rose laughed,
"Well," Victoire wasn't one to handle such statements well, even if they were true, "at least I'm not too scared to stroke a cat,"
"They have claws, they can literally tear my heart out. Nothing bad can happen to you in the lake,"
"Erm, I could, I don't know, do something like DROWN!"
Rose nodded at her valid point and went back to throwing stones and drooling over Lucas as he took a break from swimming and began to just float. If Lucas could make it into the lake, so could she, even if the bottom of her feet had to go through an acute form of torture. As the water came in, Victoire took quick steps until her ankles were covered. These few steps made her heart thud and beg for her to rethink what she was doing and as she tried to control her breathing, she reminded herself of the much-needed clue that she knew required water. Shutting her eyes tight, she encouraged herself to delve more than her ankles into the breath shortening water, telling herself it would be worth the teeth chattering and attempting to warm up her arms. Underneath her feet, the sand, various sized and textured stones and the swaying weeds made her cringe with unease and sent uncomfortable shivers up her spine. She feared stepping on something sharp and dangerous, but only slightly less than she feared not knowing what could grab her exposed feet if she went deep into the lake. The sound of rippling water stopped caressing her ears and if Lucas was waiting for her, she couldn't be a frail lamb and let him down. She took a few more steps. More weeds slid between her toes and around her ankles as the water now covered her knees. While her ankles were starting to get used to the cold, the rest of her body was dreading it and she could feel every cell in her body tell her to head back to dry land, but the golden egg clutched between her hands compelled her to carry on until her shoulders were submerged.
"Come on, Vivi, you're taking forever," Lucas called,
Victoire opened her eyes and turned back to see how far she had come, "I just need some time."
Now she had to swim. She knew she could stay where she was, but she didn't want to look like her fear of the unknown was controlling her. Inhaling deeply, she pushed off of the lake floor and with the egg tucked under her left arm, she used the strength of her right to keep her gliding through the light teal water until she had finally made it to Lucas. He held her, giving her security in an environment where she felt vulnerable and uncertain, his hand around her waist, "I honestly can't believe you made it this far,"
"I'm both shocked and scared," Victoire laughed as she focussed on keeping her head above the water.
Stinging cold became soothing chills with Lucas's hands guarded her waist with their warmth as she started to feel more comfortable in the lake.
"Just don't look below you," Lucas smiled.
Victoire nodded, repeating the words in her head as she took a series of deep breaths. She wanted to get out of the lake as soon as possible and with that in mind, she plunged herself into the water, making sure she wasn't too far from the surface as her weight begun to pull her down. Willing her eyes to remain fixed on the golden egg before her, she twisted the clutch and when Lucas joined her, the four petals slowly fell until the glowing centre was revealed. Instead of blaring screeching, a choir of sweet female voices serenaded the pair with the swirls of the orb dancing with their notes. The long weeds and small fish began to move in sync with the smooth melody that was as tranquilizing as the ripples of the lake and before she became hypnotized by the beautiful tunes, Victoire was able to decipher the clues buried in the song.
"I hope I don't have to fight a mermaid," Victoire panted as she and Lucas reached the shallows of the lake,
"Aren't they deep in the lake as well?" Lucas waved at Rose,
"Oh, you've finished, would you like a towel or something, I can get you a towel," Rose acted like Victoire didn't even exist.
Lucas chuckled as he declined Rose's offer and teasingly poked her cheek. At first, it seemed like there wasn't much to think about when it came to the second task as the clues were so simple: an hour to search in the depths of the lake for something the merpeople had taken. But with the same brute force as the intense cold, questions hit her, turning the simple into complicated. What charm am I meant to use to breathe underwater for a whole hour? I'm not even a strong swimmer and I'll have so much to worry about like the temperature and grindylows and that damn giant squid and what am I-
"Don't worry," Lucas interrupted her panicking internal monologue, "we'll come up with a plan that won't get you battered like a cod and bruised like a peach this time,"
"I don't believe I've ever tasted that combination," Victoire joked as she put on her jumper,
"It's not a delicacy, but a hot bath is."