Chapter Forty-One

Task Two

Harry had never been a fan of Valentine's day, even before he'd received anything while at Hogwarts. Back in primary school, some well-meaning but narrow-minded admin had decided it'd be a good idea to hold a card-making and gift-giving event on February 14th. While some were happy to receive either handmade or store-bought cards and some sweets, the rest were left humiliated as their presents were rejected, or—like Harry—they hadn't received anything at all. Neither had Dudley, which was the only bright spot to the otherwise uncomfortable day.

His first Valentine had been delivered by one of those dwarfs with wings hired by Lockhart during his short tenure at Hogwarts. Harry had done his best to run and hide from them whenever they zeroed in on him and recited a poorly written love poem someone had dedicated in his honour. Fortunately, his next Valentine's day had been much quieter; he had still received a handful of gifts and cards, but they hadn't been nearly as embarrassing.

The importance of February 14th was still a fairly novel concept to him, so when he found Cho waiting for him outside the Great Hall after breakfast, Harry could only stare at her in confusion. He barely noticed Ron and Hermione wave goodbye as they went ahead to the library without him.

"Uh, hi," Harry said, pushing up the strap of his book bag before it could slip and fall to the ground in front of the girl he fancied.

"Hi," Cho replied warmly. She peered at him expectantly.

Harry scrambled to think of an appropriate thing to say. "How are you?" he asked, settling on something safe and polite. Aunt Petunia would be proud.

Cho's expression finally dimmed as she picked up on Harry's bemusement. "You…do know what day it is, don't you?"

Down the hall, someone was handing their sweetheart a bouquet of red roses. Oh, thought Harry, recalling the pile of letters that had been dumped in front of him mere minutes ago. "Yes, of course," he said hurriedly.

A smaller version of Cho's previous smile cautiously appeared on her face. "Great," she sighed, clearly relieved. "What's the plan for today?"

Right. The plan – Harry definitely had one of those in mind. "How about a trip down to Hogsmeade?" he asked with as much confidence as he could muster. His godfather practically radiated the stuff in spite of the shadows he let hang over his face when he thought no one was looking. Over the break, Harry had done his best to try to emulate some of the false bravado Sirius had in spades, but so far he'd seen little progress in himself.

"That sounds lovely," said Cho, and she sounded as if she truly meant it. That was one of the things Harry liked about her.

The first few minutes of their trek down to Hogsmeade was painfully quiet. Although Harry and Cho had had fun at the Yule Ball, they hadn't spoken much since then. Cho was the first to break the tension by asking how he was going with the Second task, which was just around the corner.

"Oh, y'know," began Harry with a quick shrug, "my mates and I have been researching for solutions in the library, but we can't seem to find the right clue for what needs to be done in the task."

Cho appeared impressed. "So you figured out what to do, just not how?"

Harry preened, just a little. "Yeah." He deflated. "Alex already has something in mind, though."

"She's a formidable opponent," acknowledged Cho. "Shame she isn't into quidditch – although I doubt she'd make it into the Slytherin team."

"Why's that?" he asked, confused. Sure, Alex wasn't the most athletic person, but neither was half the Slytherin quidditch team.

"Because their captain's a misogynist," Cho pointed out, confused by Harry's confusion. "He never goes through a single game without a derogatory comment. I'm surprised your teammates haven't told you."

Harry frowned. "He deserves to be knocked out of the air."

"Trust me," sighed Cho, "our Beaters do their best."

Hogsmeade was absolutely crowded today, with most people clustered around Honeydukes, the Three Broomsticks, and Madam Puddifoot's. Harry instinctively veered away from the bright pink café and its canoodling couples; Cho, on the other hand, seemed inexplicably drawn to it.

"Do you wanna line up?" he asked hesitantly.

Cho smiled brightly and nodded.

Harry bit back a groan. This was going to be a long afternoon.

"So why did Italians make such complicated words?" Stephen asked as he watched her struggle with her water charms. "Like bolognese. And lasagne. Why are they spelt like that?"

Alex flicked the sweat from her brow and shot her friend an irate look. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

The corner of his mouth quirked up in visible amusement. "Isn't that Italian 101? Surely it was the first thing your dad would've told you."

"What, when I was a baby?" She snorted at the image. "Nah, he was far too busy cooing over how adorable I was."

"So he thinks you're ugly now?"

Alex debated using her newly formed skills to use by dumping a bucketful of lake-water onto Stephen when he perked up from the lax position he'd been assuming and peered across the hill.

"Hey, isn't that Harry?" he noted. "And Cho? Wow, they're basically enshrouded in discomfort."

Stephen was right – which was nothing new. What was new, though, was the awkward air hanging over Harry and Cho, the former of whom was in the lead as though she was trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and Harry. Harry himself didn't seem to be in any rush to chase after her; he trudged along behind her, his head dipped, his shoulders hunched.

"Yikes," muttered Stephen. "Seems like someone had a botched V-day."

Alex shook her head not in sympathy but in exasperation. "This is why I don't do shit like that."

He threw her a teasing smirk. "You mean that isn't what we've been doing today by the lake?"

Alex reached out and shoved his shoulder. "Don't make me hex you," she warned him even as she got ready to leave. Harry looked as though he needed a mate right now.

Stephen walked with her back up to the castle but parted ways with her in the courtyard. Funnily enough, that was the same place Cho decided to split from Harry, but without so much as a wave. Alex took a seat next to Harry on a stone bench that did nothing to mitigate the chill in the air.

"You okay?" she asked in a tone that could be misconstrued as indifferent.

Harry knew her better than that, however. He sighed. "I just went on my first Valentine's date. It was awful."

"Isn't that basically a hallmark?" she wondered.

He shot her a look. "Are you an expert on this, then?"

"Ha. No, definitely not."

"You and Cedric didn't go out?"

She grimaced. "Why on earth would we do that?"

Harry shrugged, letting go of the topic. "I didn't know Cho wanted to spend the day together. She ambushed me. We had to line up for Puddifoot's—the pink shop in the village?—and it was painfully awkward. We barely even talked."

Alex winced. "Sucks."

"D'you think she hates me?" he asked, shrinking into himself.

"Prob not. Cho seems like a chill person. She'll probably forgive as long as you do something super nice for her."

"Like what?"

Alex clapped him on the back. "That's up to you to figure out." It was his problem and not hers, after all. Speaking of which… "How's the second task going for you?"

"Also miserably," Harry sulked. He was certainly in a mood today. "I think Ron and Hermione are still in the library trying to work something out."

"Well," said Alex, rising to her feet, "let's go put them out of their misery."

On their way to the library, Alex had to interrupt no less than five canoodling couples, some of whom weren't even bothering to hide their embarrassing displays of affection. All in all, she deducted a hundred points, ten of which came from her own House. The Slytherin third-year in question shot her a mutinous glare which she blithely ignored.

"You aren't afraid she'll retaliate?" wondered Harry as they turned the corner.

"Please," she scoffed. "I'm older than her, so no Slytherin in their right mind will take her side."

"I don't get your House," he admitted.

What's there not to get? But Alex just shrugged him off.

The library seemed to have settled down since Stephen had left its premises. They breezed past Madam Pince, who was watching them with that hawkish gaze of hers. Harry led Alex to his usual table, which was notable bereft of one swottish Gryffindor.

"Did Hermione go to the bathroom?" asked Harry as he took a seat beside Ron.

His redheaded friend shook his head in disgust. "She ran off with Vicky not long ago."

"Vicky Adams?" asked Alex, surprised. She didn't know Hermione and the Hufflepuff sixth-year were mates.

"No," said Ron as though she were dafter than a troll, "Viktor Krum. Y'know, your rival?"

"Why would he be my rival?" asked Alex, her brow furrowed. "I don't even fancy Hermione."

Harry quirked his eyebrow at her while Ron threw his head back with an audible groan. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

She grinned. "Maybe."

"Snake," he quipped with a smile.

"Wow. I'm hurt," she replied in a deadpan voice. "Guess you don't need my help with the second task."

"Sure we don't," Ron said, completely serious. "You can go off and disappear with your boyfriend too."

Alex flicked a mild Pinching Jinx his way. She smiled as he recoiled in shock. "I don't have a boyfriend. And untwist your knickers, won't you? It's not like Hermione abandoned you. How long has she even been gone for?"

"Ten minutes," grumbled Ron.

Alex could only roll her eyes at Ron's petulance. "Anyway," she said, turning to Harry, who was outright chuckling at his best friend's expense, "what you're going to do is look up the Bubble-Head Charm. Make sure nothing can pop it, otherwise you're in big trouble."

"Is that what you're using, then?" asked Harry curiously.

"At first, yeah. But it wasn't right for me."

He waited patiently for her to elaborate.

She took the bait. "Do you know what gillyweed is?"

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal," interjected Ron, frowning.

"Only if you're smoking it," dismissed Alex, "which I'm not. I'm outright swallowing it." Like a slimy pill. She shuddered.

"Don't they serve that at the Three Broomsticks?" said Harry.

"Gillywater, yeah. So it's not that dodgy," she added with a pointed glance Ron's way.

"Blame my family," is all he said in his defence – which, yeah, she could see why.

Harry bit his lip. "What if I can't master the charm in time?"

"You have, like, two weeks," Alex reminded him impatiently.

"You could share some of your gillyweed?" suggested Ron.

"I have barely enough for myself," she informed him curtly. "If I split some with Harry, I'll probably end up drowning. Is that what you want, Ron? For me to die?"

"Guess not."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me."

She adored Ron, truly. He was so fun to mess with since he always went along with her banter. It was no wonder his brothers used to bully him. Harry, on the other hand, was accustomed to her shenanigans and had no qualms about cutting her attempts to tease him short with a witty one-liner or a sassy glare.

As fond as she was of her Gryffindor cubs, though, there were some things they had to do themselves. She couldn't hold their hands forever, so when they asked her to stay back and help them with the Bubble-Head Charm, she firmly declined.

"I have more important things to do," she claimed.

"Like what?" Ron asked sceptically.

She searched for an excuse. "I have to brush my cat." Deciding that sufficed, Alex nodded at the bemused boys and walked off.

"Crazy cat lady," Ron muttered before she was out of earshot.

She'd get back at him for that later.

In the end, Harry managed to get the spell down – and with a whole day to spare, too. Alex sat with him at the Gryffindor table the morning of the Second task. Hermione and Ron were absent, and Cedric wasn't at his usual spot at the Hufflepuff table. Stomach sinking, Alex pulled out a piece of parchment from her robes she'd used to write down and memorise the song that was the key to solving the task:

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this:

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour — the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

She swore beneath her breath as everything fell into place. They're in the lake, she thought, the pit in her gut widening. What the hell?

This had to be some sick joke. No way the merpeople of the lake were keeping her friends hostage. And that last line – what would happen if she and Harry and Viktor and Fleur didn't make it in time? They wouldn't die, would they? Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen. Or would he?

Alex's uncertain gaze drifted up to the teachers' table. Her headmaster was thoroughly enjoying his oatmeal, unconcerned with the fact that three of his students were several feet below ground.

People die in this tournament. Everyone had suspected that. The dragons used in the First Task had all but confirmed that fact. Still, she didn't realise the death count could be extended to include bystanders too.

Alex buried her face in her hands. What was the point of taking Cedric's place in this tournament if he was going to suffer anyway?

The table creaked as someone slid into the empty seat across from her. "Are you feeling okay?" asked the squeaky, tentative voice of one Neville Longbottom.

"Peachy," she moaned, rubbing her face groggily. And because her parents raised her to be polite, she added, "You?"

"Uh, fine, thanks," stammered Neville, caught off-guard. "What about you, Harry?"

"Dandy," he sighed, playing with his cereal.

"You guys will be fine," claimed Neville. It would've been more reassuring if he didn't look uncomfortably uncertain himself. "All of Hogwarts is rooting for you."

That actually lifted her spirits, if only marginally. "Yeah. Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to us." It would be awful PR.

"Course not," Harry said reflexively. "Dumbledore always looks out for us."

Well, for you, thought Alex with a roll of her eyes.

"Thanks, Neville," she said before he could overthink her eye-roll. She flashed him a genuine smile; she seriously had a soft spot for Gryffindor cubs.

"Anytime," he said, ducking his head as a small smile illuminated his face.

Alex spent the rest of breakfast chit-chatting with Neville, who poked out of his shell further with every minute she spent spotlighting him with attention. She even dragged Harry into the conversation a few times, both to stop him from moping excessively as well as to try to build a stable bond between him and his roommate.

When the time came, Professor McGonagall marched down towards them with Fleur and Viktor in tow. Last time this had happened, she was a bundle of nerves held together through sheer tenacity. Now, she was grim-faced and tight-lipped. It felt like she was taking them to a funeral.

"You are all well prepared, I assume?" she asked, a hint of concern seeping into her brisk tone. She nodded in approval at their affirmations.

Although spring was on the horizon, a wintry chill lingered yet. Alex shivered as they stepped outside. Beneath her robes she was wearing a full body swimsuit that did little to keep her warm. A few charms quickly solved that issue; she applied the same to Harry, much to Professor McGonagall's esteem and Harry's indifference. No doubt he was too anxious to even notice the drop in temperature.

It only worsened as they drew near the lake. Some sturdy-looking bleachers had been set up at the spot where Alex and Stephen had lingered only a few weeks ago. In front of it sat the judges' table, which faced four giant mirrors hovering in the air above the lake.

Fleur stopped picking at her nails at the sight of them. "What's that?" she demanded to know.

"Mirrors," replied Alex, deadpan.

Fleur shot her an irate glare.

Professor McGonagall was similarly unimpressed. "I'll allow Mr Bagman to explain," she told them, spotting the cheery man as he bustled over to them.

"Good morning!" he hollered, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder with almost enough force to send him toppling into the river. As it was, he barely managed to right himself. "I bet you lot can't wait to get started, hm?"

What gave it away? she wondered, glancing at her competitors' uneasy expressions.

"You see those mirrors there?" Bagman continued, either ignoring their reactions or oblivious to them entirely. "Those are two-way mirrors; a smaller version will be stuck to your fronts so that the audience can see what's going on down there. Wouldn't make much sense for them to stare at the murky water for an hour, now would it?" He chuckled.

A shock of red hair appeared in her periphery. Percy was back, and was looking more self-important than ever. Alex hoped Crouch would be back soon; the longer Percy continued to act as interim judge, the bigger his head would grow. Then he'd have a hard time getting those stupid hats to fit him.

Maybe that's not a bad thing, she amended, glancing at the purple and gold fez crowning his head.

"Champions, you may change in here," he informed them imperiously as he parted the opening to a canvas tent.

They filed into it; she nodded in greeting to Percy while Harry spared him a muttered "hi". Inside the spacious tent were roughly ten gurneys and a metal trolley filled with tonics and potions. Madam Pomfrey was airing out a pile of blankets in the corner of the room in preparation for the job ahead of her.

Alex ducked behind a partition and pulled her robes off in one easy motion. Since the warming charms were applied to her outerwear, she scrambled to reapply them onto her swimsuit. It was an old piece, last worn back when she was in sixth form. Thanks to her dad's efforts, it was resized to fit her as she was now. The one-piece covered her shoulders and most of her thighs, and was mostly black with lightning-blue streaks on the sides. Not a very Slytherin outfit, but whatever.

Harry's eyes flicked to her swimsuit in recognition. "You still have that?" he asked, eyebrows lifting in surprise. Unlike her, he had purchased new swim trunks for the Second task. Of course, she didn't expect him to continue wearing Dudley's hand-me-downs forever.

"Yep," she said unnecessarily, adjusting her wand holster against her forearm. "Where's your wand?"

Harry patted his right thigh. The end of his wand was poking out from one of the pockets on his side.

Hm. Well, it wasn't ideal, but it would remain in his hand the entire time they were under, so she let it slide.

Mostly.

"You really should use the holster I bought you for Christmas," she nagged him. "It's a gift, Harry. You have to treasure it."

"Next time," he assured her impatiently.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll hold you to that."

The corner of Viktor's mouth ticked upwards at their banter. Alex offered him a small smile; he reciprocated with an even tinier one of his own.

"How are you and Hermione going?" she asked, using what her friends usually referred to as her customer-service-voice.

"We are good," he said, smile growing. "She is very kind."

It wasn't the most romantic of declarations, but there was no denying the infatuated warmth tinging Viktor's accented words. Alex barely refrained from aww'ing aloud.

Fleur took to pacing instead of engaging in their small talk. She was also wearing a one-piece, but hers was a light blue that complemented her eyes. It was a little more revealing than Alex's, which was puzzling. It was one thing to draw the attention of others, but why expose your excessively to the cold?

Goosebumps pricked Alex's skin as Bagman threw the canvas opening aside. "The spectators have arrived. We'll be beginning shortly."

He stepped inside, Percy quickly following. The interim judge had what appeared to be a jewellery box in his freckled hands. He opened it up at Bagman's instruction, revealing four, thumb-sized mirrors sitting snugly atop a velvet cushion.

"These are yours," noted Bagman as Percy went around to them one-by-one. "There's a simple sticking charm you'll need to case to keep it on your person. If you remove them on purpose, you will face immediate disqualification for this round."

That definitely sharpened their focus as they memorised the spell Percy was forced to demonstrate for them. Fleur was the first to get it down, followed by Alex, then Viktor, and then finally Harry.

Alex ran a finger along the edges of her two-way mirror from its position atop her heart. Everyone else stuck theirs in similar spots; she wondered briefly what would have happened if Harry and Viktor had forgone wearing the tops they were presently donning.

The ground trembled faintly as roughly a hundred people approached and took their places in the bleachers. Their excitement was basically palpable as they glanced across the lake and up at the mirrors, which reminded quite a few of them of TVs.

Alex's heart leapt up into her throat. "This is worse than the first task," she mumbled to Harry.

"Sea-dragons don't exist, do they?" he asked, frowning deeply.

She shook her head. "I'd gladly face another dragon as long as no one can get an up-close and personal view of us embarrassing ourselves," she clarified, tapping her the polished bit of glass glued onto her.

Alex could spot the light of understanding in Harry's eyes beneath the glint of his glasses. "You and me both," he murmured, looking nauseous.

Bagman consulted his gold pocket watch. "It's time," he announced, readying his wand. Before he emerged from the tent, he cast a sonorus to his throat and ushered them outside.

"Welcome!" bellowed Bagman, forcing the students on the bleachers to quiet down. "All our champions are here and accounted for, ladies and gentlemen! As you no doubt remember from the last task, first place goes to both Hogwarts' champions, Harry Potter and Alexandra Fortescue." He paused to allow time for cheering and screaming; Alex spared a lazy smile for her fellow Snakes and their vocal support of her.

"Close on their tails in second place is Beauxbatons' very own Fleur Delacour," continued Bagman, beaming. "And last but certainly not least is Durmstrang's dark horse candidate, Viktor Krum. Their rankings aren't set in stone, no sir – who knows how the tables will turn after this task?"

Alex busied herself by untying and retying her hair using the good-luck charm her Ravenclaw mates had gifted her before. She was winding her ponytail into a tight bun when the roar from the crowd finally died down enough for Bagman to give them a short recap of their objective. As he spoke, Percy moved towards the lakefront and placed a run-of-the-mill hourglass on the dead grass. At Bagman's prompt, he waved his wand with a flourish at the hourglass, enlarging it dramatically so that it was the size of Hagrid.

"You have an hour to reclaim what is yours," said Bagman, turning to them with a twinkle in his eye. "Your time starts now!"

Caught off guard by the suddenness of their start, Alex wasted a few seconds tearing open the sandwich bag containing her gillyweed. She threw the entire bundle into her mouth, narrowly avoiding choking on the slimy ball as she swallowed.

Nothing happened.

All the air escaped Alex's lungs as panic settled into her skin. Had she been scammed?

I'm a moron, she thought, snapping her gaze towards the hourglass. A fine layer of sand coated the bottom, and it hadn't even been a whole minute yet.

At least she wasn't the only one who had hit a roadblock. Although Harry and Fleur were already submerged, Viktor was struggling with his self-transfiguration. Before Alex could work out what he was trying to turn into, she felt something slice into the side of her neck.

Alex clapped her hands around her throat, expecting them to come away slick with blood. Instead she felt ridges along her neck; black spots covered her vision until she drew her hands away from them.

Gills, she realised, recalling what Cedric had said about gillyweed.

She spared no more time in deliberating on her plan of action. Alex dove into the lake without another thought, barely noticing the icy bite of the water as she revelled in the freedom with which she manoeuvred.

The pressure that had been smothering her while she was on land was nowhere to be felt. Alex cut through the water like it was nothing. As she swung her hands in front of her, she noted the webbing between her fingers.

Like a kappa, she thought with a giggle. The tiny laugh sent bubbles floating from her mouth and up to the surface.

She sobered immediately once she remembered why she was down here in the first place.

Wait for me, Ced.

It was so, so tempting to stop and play with the giant squid. Her friend appeared several minutes after Alex began motoring through the water like a human speedboat. Swimming while under the influence of gillyweed was effortless, but she was all too aware of how easily time could evade her, like sand slipping through fingers.

A school of pearlescent fish swam by her side for a few seconds before Alex crossed some invisible threshold and entered a patch of the lake that was distinctly more hostile than the rest.

"Careful there."

Alex whirled around, wand in hand as she searched for the source of the voice. Her mouth fell open at the sight of Myrtle casually hovering in front of her.

"The hell?" she gasped – or tried to. It turned out gillyweed could do many things, but speaking wasn't one of them. Alex was forced to settle for a confused wave.

"There's a nasty colony up ahead," Myrtle informed her, combing through her pigtails. "They always chase me when I get too close."

Colony? Of merpeople?

Alex hastily wrote a question using a handy spell she had learned for the sake of communicating with Mike, Cedric's friend and fellow Housemate.

"Are there other humans there?"

Myrtle nodded after reading the glowing question. "Your pretty boy included," she said, grinning.

Alex closed her eyes briefly. She could already picture her schoolmates shrieking with laughter at her expense back at the bleachers.

A huge bubble emerged from her mouth as Alex heaved a sigh. She saluted Myrtle in thanks as she swam towards the direction her semi-friend had pointed her to.

Alex swam for what seemed like forever. The fields of seaweed below her died and gave way to sponge-like mud the further she traversed through the lake. The first sign of life was detectable not via sight but through her hearing. Hauntingly beautiful voices sang an exact rendition of the refrain from her golden egg, growing louder and stronger the closer Alex drew to them.

Before she could confront them, Alex ducked behind a large stone protruding from the mossy ground. Less than a hundred metres in front of her was what she could only describe as a little village constructed from algae-covered rocks. She spotted roughly a dozen merpeople drifting between the buildings, their silver tails beating against the water with enough power to kick up clouds of dirt each time. They were all armed with spears and tridents in their scaly, clawed hands.

With their grey skin, yellowish teeth and long, olive hair, Alex couldn't help but gawk at them. They were beautiful, in a sort of grotesque way. She wondered why there weren't more paintings of them.

Without warning, a merperson popped their head out from the other side of the boulder Alex was hiding behind. Yelping loudly, she quickly backed away from them, her grip tightening on her wand. But the merperson—a young female Alex's age—merely cackled with glee.

Alex's lips quirked upwards into a smile, mesmerised by her proximity to the creature. This close, she could see the string of pebbles adorning the merperson's translucent neck. It reminded her strongly of a pearl necklace.

An idea struck her. Alex swam downwards toward the lakebed and grabbed a loose rock the size of her thumbnail. It took several minutes of intense concentration, during which a crowd of merpeople drifted close towards her out of curiosity, for her to finally transfigure the dusty rock into a crude imitation of a pearl. It was dusty and oddly lumpy, but it did the trick; the merperson with the pebble necklace snatched it up when Alex offered it to her. Her thin lips split into a sharp grin filled with teeth as she held it up, marvelling at the way it shimmered as it reflected what little light managed to penetrate the murky water.

The little show had eaten a good chunk of her time, but her hard work was about to be paid off. Ecstatic, the merperson with the pearl decided to reciprocate her gift. She snatched Alex's wandless hand and proceeded to drag her into the village, scattering the crowd as they darted past them. It was a good thing Alex ultimately decided to use the gillyweed instead of the bubble-head, because it surely would've popped from the sheer velocity of their speedy movement.

Her new friend led her past the village outskirts. Even with her enhanced vision, Alex barely registered the sights around her. She spotted a grindylow tied to a post in the ground like a pet dog (or snake, she amended, thinking of Agatha and her tent at the World Cup) as well as a vibrant field of gillyweed. She briefly entertained the thought of creating more pearls in exchange for the plant, but she had a job to do.

The merperson guiding her slowed down as they reached what appeared to be a village square. There were even more people here, gathered around a choir as they sang their song, calling the champions to them and the gigantic merperson statue behind them. Alex could see four humans bound to the tail of the statue, their hands lolling on their chests as a stream of bubbles emerged from their mouths.

As she had suspected, Ron, Hermione and Cedric were there. The fourth person was much younger than them; the unbound silvery hair haloing her made it clear that she bore some relation to Fleur.

Alex nodded her thanks to her friend, who showed off her razor sharp teeth with a large grin, before shooting off to the statue. She covered the short distance without issue; the other merpeople didn't seem inclined to interfere.

Feeling oddly anticlimactic, Alex cast a Severing Charm on the thick rope binding Cedric to the statue. Her first attempt went a little wayward thanks to the unfamiliarity of her strange conditions, and she narrowly avoided slicing Cedric's side. Fortunately for both of them, her second try was successful.

Alex realised her dilemma as Cedric, no longer supported by his tether, began to drift down. Grimacing, she ducked beneath him so that she was supporting his entire weight with her back. It was like trying to swim with a backpack stuffed with rocks, though, so she gave up and slung one of his arms over her shoulders instead. Somewhat more mobile now, Alex began to make her way back to the starting point.

By the time she left the village, exhaustion was creeping in on her. Gillyweed or no, it was no easy feat lugging an extra two hundred pounds with you.

I should've brought a boat, she groused inside her mind as she readjusted Cedric's limp body.

She froze instinctively at the sight of a shark less than a hundred metres from – and it was closing in on them, fast. Alex readied her wand, a Stunner on the tip of her tongue, when she noticed the back half of the shark.

It wasn't a shark at all; it was Viktor. She recognised his swimming trunks, and besides, neither Fleur nor Harry resembled his body type even without the shark head he was currently donning. It was evidently a transfiguration attempt gone wrong, but Alex had to admire his efforts.

The water grew clearer the closer she drew to the surface. On her way up, Alex was interrupted by a trio of freshwater nixies. If merpeople were half-fish, nixies could be considered half-toad or half-frog. She wasn't clear on the distinction—Hagrid would know, she'd ask him later—but her readings assured her that nixies were the kinder counterparts to their distant merpeople relations. Curious about land-dwellers, they tried to engage Alex in a game of charades in lieu of conversation, but she had to wave them off with an apologetic smile. Disappointed, they drifted away.

Alex would've felt sorrier for them if she didn't feel like she was about to faint. She mustered up what energy she had left and slashed through the water. After an eternity, she broke through the surface. She could barely hear the thunderous cheering of the crowd over the water sloshing around her, let alone Cedric's gasp as he woke up from whatever stupor the judges had put him under. She didn't need to, though – the sudden tightness of his grip around her was warning enough.

Cedric instinctively kicked his legs in the water in order to stay afloat. Now that he was conscious, some of the burden had lessened. Alex kept her hold on him as she guided them to the lakeside.

Before Cedric even climbed out of the water, Madam Pomfrey was there waiting for them. She immediately swathed Cedric in several towels to block off most of the wind. While he cocooned himself, she whipped out a silver flask.

"Warming Potion," she informed him. She watched him intently as he downed the entire potion in one go and nodded in satisfaction when steam gushed out of his ears.

Bubbles poured out of Alex's mouth as she laughed at the sight. From the chin down, she was submerged in the water. The gillyweed was still going strong, and as much as she wanted to officially put an end to this task, as soon as her gills was exposed to air, she would feel nothing but pain.

She explained as much to Madam Pomfrey when the matron made to convince her to get out. Her lips pulled into a tight frown even as she backed down. The abrupt appearance of a panicked Fleur was a sufficient distraction, anyway.

Alex glanced at the giant hourglass. Judging by the amount of sand left, there was less than half an hour to go.

An indignant roar rose from the audience. Half of them were standing, gesturing violently at the mirrors hanging above the lake. Two of them were blanked out—hers and Fleur's, now that they were done—and one other showed nothing but darkened water. The fourth mirror, however, was capturing enough excitement to make up for the others.

Harry already had his friend unbound, but he wasn't content with rescuing just Ron. The unclaimed victim was abandoned by Fleur, whose scratches were being tended to by Madam Pomfrey. While the merpeople were disinterested in interfering with Alex's recapture of Cedric, they were apparently displeased with Harry's liberation of both hostages.

The spectators were divided. Some were cheering Harry on in encouragement of his heroism while others were urging him to ditch the girl to save his own arse. Of course, there were also a handful of people who just wanted to watch Harry suffer. Draco was especially vocal about that.

"Help her," begged Fleur, her eyes glued to Harry's mirror.

Cedric signalled for her. "Aren't you going to go back in?" he asked when she waded towards him.

Alex's eyebrows lowered as she stared at him in confusion. "Why would I?"

His eyes widened in shock. "Because he's in trouble, obviously."

"The merpeople aren't attacking him," said Alex, flicking her eyes back to the mirror for confirmation. "They're just intimidating him. Besides, Harry's the one who decided to bear the extra weight. Why should I have to help cover his mistakes?"

Although the colour had returned to Cedric's complexion, the stare he was directing her way was colder than the water she was wading in. "If that was me down there, and not Fleur's sister, would you go back and help?"

Alex frowned at the hypothetical. "But that would never happen," she said slowly, feeling the need to point out the obvious. "I wouldn't have failed like Fleur did." No offense, of course.

Something flashed in Cedric's eyes. It took her a moment to pinpoint it, but Alex identified it as disgust. It was intriguing, seeing the dark emotion on Cedric's typically affable face, and Alex focused on the novelty of the sight instead of the wave of shame it triggered in her.

In the end, she was right. Harry resurfaced without issue—in fact, the merpeople were even smiling at him when they followed him up—and he placed first in reward for his selfless courage. Alex was a close second since she took the least amount of time and damage of the four champions, while Viktor came third and Fleur fourth.

Her House celebrated like mad afterwards, and were insistent that she was the rightful winner of the task. Any other day, she would've revelled in their support of her; now, though, all she could think of was the repulsion and disappointment advertised on Cedric's expression.

Alex may have placed second, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she had lost this round.