A/N: Look, I know I haven't updated in ages, but I DO have a reason! I have finished this fic, so don't think it isn't finished, my lack in updating is for the following reasons:

# One: I'm lazy.

# Two: It was really hard to connect to my Internet the past few days… weeks…

# Three: I'm lazy.

OK? OK. Enjoy this chapter. Since I've not been updating, a new chapter will be up tomorrow, pronto.

Chapter Twelve: The Second Task

"Where the hell is Harry?" Holly demanded.

"Late, obviously," said George.

"Has something happened to him?" She seemed frantic.

"Relax, Holly, I'm sure he's fine." George tried to comfort her.

"Or maybe someone poisoned his drink last night to sabotage him!"

"Fred!" Lee and Holly snapped.

"Hey, just kidding, can't you take a joke? Gosh, you're a tough crowd!" Fred turned to the lake and said nothing more.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Lee asked. "I haven't seen them all morning."

"Didn't you know?" said George. "They're both hostages for this task."

"Hostages!" Fred cried, turning to his twin in mock horror. "Our little brother's a hostage! Who's taken him, because I swear I'll rip off his arm and make him eat it!" Lee laughed.

"Yeah, you do that, Fred," he said.

"I'd like to do that to Bagman," George muttered.

"Wait, I'm still stuck on the Ron and Hermione hostage thing. What's up with that?" said Holly.

"Well, each champion has to rescue something they'd miss desperately," George replied. "Harry had to rescue Ron, Cedric has to rescue Cho Chang, and—"

"But what about Hermione?" Holly demanded, but Cho Chang's name rang in her mind. She was hurt that Cho seemed to mean more to him than Holly did... "Why is she a hostage?" she said, indicating Hermione, though still thinking of Cho.

"I was getting to that!" George snapped. "She's Viktor Krum's hostage."

"And what about that French one?" Fred asked. "That The Liquor person."

"You mean Delacoure?" Lee said.

"Yeah, The Liquor."

"Fred, repeat after me," Lee said slowly. "De…"

"The…"

"La…"

"Li…"

"Coure…"

"Quor."

"Delacoure."

"The Liquor." George and Holly laughed.

"I dunno about her," said George. "I think it's her sister, though."

"She's part Veela, you know," Lee said excitedly.

"That's fascinating, Lee," Holly rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it though?" Lee grinned stupidly.

"Look, they're starting!" George cried.

"But where's Harry?" Holly shrieked. As if on cue, Harry came running from the castle, throwing on his robes as he ran.

"There," said Fred, pointing out the obvious. He seemed extremely flustered as he approached the lake. As Bagman gave the word, the champions continued into the lake.

"He hasn't finished his breakfast," said Lee as he noticed him chewing something.

"It looks like he's going to throw it up first…" George had a slightly disgusted look upon his face. Harry's expression looked as if he'd just eaten something horrid. All the other champions had started into the lake and Harry looked a bit odd just walking in there without magic or at least shedding his robes. Everyone started laughing and Holly could distinctly hear the voice of Draco Malfoy, a young Slytherin, mocking him loudly. But Harry dove into a lake and didn't resurface. Holly was having a fit and she jumped to her feet.

"Where is he?!" she demanded. "Is his foot caught in an underwater plant and he can't rise to the sweet air? Have the grindylows attacked him and rendered him unconscious? Has he drowned?"

"Ease up there, Holly," said George, his hands on Holly's shoulders easing her back into her seat. Holly caught the eye of Albus Dumbledore, who looked at her in such a way to assure her that Harry was fine. She nodded and swallowed hard to calm herself down. When she looked at Dumbledore again, his eyes seemed to warn her and she could almost hear his voice as clearly in her head as if he'd spoken the words straight into her ear.

Don't draw too much attention to yourself.

Holly suddenly felt the pang of guilt pierce her heart. For the first time, she realized she had betrayed Dumbledore's trust. Ludo Bagman's tumultuous voice was suddenly obsolete and Holly wondered if she had gone deaf. The only things she heard in her head were the warnings of Remus and Dumbledore.

"I want to make sure that you don't tell anyone anything about who you really are and who your parents were…" Remus had written in his letter, and Holly remembered it as if he had spoken the words himself.

"Don't breathe a word of this to anyone," Dumbledore had once told her in her fifth year. And he had thanked her for not telling anyone and asked her to keep it that way.

"I appreciate that you haven't said anything…" He had said to her after the welcome feast. And she realized that despite all their warnings, all their threats of repercussions, she had gone behind their back and told someone. She had gone and told Cedric. But she trusted Cedric! He wouldn't tell anyone! He hadn't so far. And yet, it was amazing what one could do under pressure.

The horrible memories of a faintly forgotten dream came flooding back to Holly in a wave of terror. It was Voldemort, and he had known about her and her relationship to Harry. Her true relationship to Harry. But how did he know? And what was that thing Cedric had said to her at the Yule Ball?

Holly felt the familiar sense of terror send shivers up her spine.

"I'll find you, Holly…" she could hear his cold voice hissing her name on the icy winds of premonition. "Holly…"

"Holly!" Holly opened her eyes to Fred Weasley, who seemed genuinely concerned, a rarity in either of the Weasley twins. He was joined instantly by his brother and Lee Jordan.

"Huh?" Holly blinked. "Wha… Wha… Why am I on the floor?" She was suddenly startled to find herself on the floor of the stands.

"Holly, the champions are coming back! Are you OK?"

"What do you mean, Fred?" Holly asked, confused and holding her head. The twins exchanged worried looks, then looked back at Holly.

"You never confused us before, Holly," said the one she thought had been Fred. "Not even when we first met. It was amazing, not even our usual jokes about it worked on you."

"Sorry, I meant to say George, I swear," she mumbled.

"Uh huh…" said the real Fred sounding doubtful. "Maybe we should take you to the hospital wing."

"No, no, that's not necessary. I'm fine, really. What happened?"

"The champions had just gone under. Well, all except for the Fleur Delacour. She was terrified of the grindylows. Kind of reminded me of you, actually…"

"Stick to the subject, Lee," George scowled in a serious manner that was very unlike him. Holly was very confused. Had she woken up in the Twilight Zone where the twins were serious and Lee was the one more likely to digress and joke?

"Sorry," Lee murmured.

"Well, you freaked out about Harry drowning. You seemed to relax, but then you just slid out of your seat onto the floor," said Fred.

"Oh God…" Holly mumbled, closing her eyes in embarrassment.

"Don't worry," said Lee with a slight smile. "You were very discrete. Didn't make any noise either until you hit the ground."

"To tell you the truth, we didn't even know you were gone until we heard that thump," Fred shrugged. Holly laughed.

"How typical. I bet you leaned over to my empty seat without even looking to see if anyone was there and said 'Hey Holly, what was that noise?'"

"Actually," said George. "That's almost exactly what he did. But he cut himself off with a loud and curt 'AH!'" Holly laughed even harder.

"So what's going on with the champions?" When she asked this, every one of her friends hesitated. "What's wrong? We didn't get a lot of points?"

"Harry hasn't come up yet," Lee blurted out with looks of warning from the twins.

"What?!" Holly shrieked and she jumped to her feet, forgetting the faintness she was feeling. She scoured the lake for any sign of her brother. She saw Cedric with a blanket around him, and Cho, and there was Krum and Hermione, Fleur Delacour was there, but her hostage wasn't… Where was he?

"What's going to happen to Fleur's hostage?" Holly asked, trying to keep her mind off worrying for her brother. She tried to convince herself it was needless anyway. He'd surface soon…

"Oh, she'll die a horrible death under that water! She'll run out of oxygen and her lips will turn blue and her eyes will bulge and—"

"Fred!" Holly snapped, shivering at the thought. "You know how much I hate water. What's really going to happen to her?"

"Fred's just being dramatic, Holly," Lee reassured. "You know they'd never let an innocent person die."

"Will they let my bro— Will they let Harry die?" Holly demanded, catching herself just in time. The three of them shrugged, simultaneously and the color drained from Holly's face. The three burst out laughing and the color returned instantly and flushed Holly's cheeks with red.

"I should have known!" she screamed, almost loud enough for everyone to hear. "You can never be serious about anything!"

"Relax, Holly!" said George. "It's a joke, Harry's fine."

"How many times have people told me to relax this year?" Holly asked them, having to chuckle, despite herself.

"At least fifty," said Lee with a grin.

After a few more minutes, Harry surfaced, much to Holly's relief. He was carrying two people, both Ron and a girl Holly didn't recognize. She vaulted over the barrier between the stands and the earth and started over towards Harry.

"Harry!" she shrieked before she reached him. "Don't do that!" But he didn't seem to notice her, despite her loud scream. He was too busy being laughed at and lectured by Ron and Hermione. The final scores were announced and let everyone know that Harry and Cedric were tied.
Harry was busy talking to Ron when he was cut off and he emitted a muffled scream as Ron burst out laughing. Holly lessened her bear hug on Harry and looked him in the eye.

"Don't you ever do something like that again!"

"You sound like my Mum!" Ron said through his laughter.

"Why were you so worried, Holly?"

"It's just, well…" Holly squirmed. Finally, she sighed. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're like a brother to me, Harry. The only one I've ever had and I don't want to lose you." Harry looked puzzled, and yet comprehending at the same time.

"Well, I don't want to lose you either, Holly," he said, awkwardly. Holly looked deep into those emerald eyes and saw an understanding deep within them. He remembered the dream too, however vaguely, and he knew that she meant those words literally. Unconsciously maybe, but he knew.

Late on a Sunday morning, she traveled down to the Great Hall for breakfast and noticed Hermione reading the Daily Prophet.

"She hasn't said anything more about Harry, has she?" Holly asked. Hermione shook her head.

"No clue," she said, "I'm not looking for her articles. I'm reading the one about the escaped convict." Holly frowned.

"Escaped convict? Can I see that?" Hermione handed the paper Holly.

" 'Gareth Larkin, found guilty of manslaughter five years ago has recently escaped from Azkaban, the second successful escape in two years, the first being the infamous Sirius Black (If you have seen him, please owl the local authorities). Some people believe that the dementors may have aided in this escape'— Oh isn't that terrible?— 'and are looking into the theory as you read this…" Hermione nodded.

"It goes on to say what he looks like and what to do if you see him and things," Hermione said, taking the paper. Holly was frowning. Gareth Larkin… Why did that name sound so familiar? She suddenly thought of her mother and how she had lied about her father to Holly. Her frown deepening, she decided she'd see what she was up to.

"MUM!!" Holly's voice rang through the Phillips residence like a bell. Elise Phillips started.

"Oh!" she yelped as she jumped up and pulled on her robe. When she appeared in the living room, she noticed Holly frowned. She smiled. "Hello, dear."

"Mother…" Holly muttered, looking her up and down, "What are you doing in a robe at 10:30? You're usually up and about by eight!"

"Oh nothing dear…" her mother said hastily. Holly's eyes widened with disgust as an idea dawned in her head.

"Oh mother!" she cried. "You… you didn't!"

"Didn't do what dear?" said her mum.

"You have a boyfriend over there, don't you, Mum?" Holly accused. Elise smiled sheepishly and Holly shook her head to clear it. "But I don't want to talk about that. How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"As good as I'll get."

"How did Cedric do in the task?"

"Wonderfully, as usual, Mum. Just like his father." Elise laughed.

"Oh honey, his father's anything but perfect!" she cried. "He only pretends to be." Holly grinned.

"Mum…" she said, carefully. "About Dad… Who pushed him down the stairs?" Her mother thought for a moment.

"Larkin," she said. "A Gareth Larkin. Why?" Holly's face was terrified.

"Have… Have you read the Prophet today, Mum?" Her mother frowned.

"Why, honey? Is something wrong?"

"Read the paper," Holly urged. "I have to go."