Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. They are the property of JK Rowling.]

A/N: Once again thanks to everyone that reviewed for me. However I have a small request to ask of you guys. If you are going to review could you at least say something other than "great story, please update soon." Let me know what you liked and what you didn't like so I can try and make this story better. Ok and here is my responses to your reviews:

diablos: Thanks, this story has a few more chapters to it.

blondi gurl: All smiles here too (

TheLaguna: That's alright. I'm a hopeless romantic too.

Chochang47: Yeah here is the next chapter. Sorry I took so long.

Sabrina-05: Thank you, I did put a lot of time into it but I'm not quite satisfied with it

bigwiesytree: Wait no longer my friend.

HarryPotterFan17: I'm glad its one of your favorites. Sorry I took so long to update.

Dracoz-snug-love: Yeah, I was aiming my story to be different or else it wouldn't be any fun.

Stephie: Yeah a chapter just for you, here is another. I like your story by the way. It happens to be pretty good. Harry and Cho do need each other.

noobie: I'm hurrying.

panuru4u: No complaints?

indigal: Perhaps not under the sea but at sea.

glitterfairyxoxo: Ask and you shall receive, here is more for you.

AngelOfDeathz: Yeah I seem to be having a few problems with it myself.

PeZ-yUaN: ^ ^ (

BlueKnight-10: Just have to read and find out.

I Love Cho: There will still be plenty of Cho in the story so don't worry.

hippyman69: Ok man you gotta stop reviewing with massive "PLZ's." I'm glad you like it but it's kind of annoying.

ruhnas: Here is another update.

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"It's been three months and we still haven't found this shit," said Lieutenant Commander Jeff Queen. "I want to go home damn it!" Harry and Jeff sat in a boat over the diving point. After months of searching there were still areas of the ship unexplored due to the large amount of treasure there was to recover.

"You're telling me," replied Harry. "Maybe today will be the day. I would like to make it home by Christmas."

"Well Christmas is in a week, so we better hurry," replied Jeff. "I promised the wife I'd be home and I intend to do so."

"The pendants are supposed to be the size of a quarter, how are we supposed to find something that small in such a large ship? For all we know it could be in the pile of treasure somewhere." Jeff gave Harry a humored look.

"You younger officers are so restless. Not everything can be done and out in a day. I've been given assignments that have lasted a lot longer than this." Harry smirked at him.

"Maybe you Navy people enjoy being on ships and subs for months at times, but us Air Force rather enjoy our luxury."

"Harry. we're wizards, we can make a tent that is as big as a house once you get inside. Now that's luxury since I always carried one with me when I was underwater for six months at a time. They thought I was crazy for bringing a tent onto a sub but little did they know."

"Sometimes luxury doesn't come in material things."

"Ok enough of this talk and let's go." They quickly did an incantation for an air bubble and dived into the water.

"I wish I knew this spell back at Hogwarts," said Harry.

"Why?"

"I tried to research a spell that would allow me to breathe under water for this tournament. I couldn't find anything on it and at the last possible second I had to eat this sea weed that did the trick." Jeff did not say anything but just watched in silence as they slowly approached the ship.

"You know, no mater how many times we've done this; that ship still looks creepy every time."

"Lumos!" Harry held up his wand for light as things began to grow darker and darker. Jeff followed his action as well.

"It's amazing how much light this thing actually produces." Harry nodded in agreement. "Ok, let's search the rest of the living quarters." Their feet finally landed on the ship. The algae stained wood was old and slowly rotting away. There were skeletons lying here and there, as the fate of the ship had taken the lives of everyone onboard. Harry entered one of the rooms that must have belonged to someone important since it was quite spacious. Lying by the bed was a skeleton, which he chose to ignore. It gave him an uneasy feeling as he began to search the room through old barrels or drawers. He came across several silver spoons and forks, which he quickly tossed aside for the recovery crew to find. After looking through several more drawers he came across an object that caught his eye. As he lifted it out he saw that it was made of gold with jewels on it. It appeared to be an ordinary dagger but it had the Gryffindor House seal where the hilt and blade met. He knew this was not what he came to get but quickly put it in his pocket for asking questions later. After searching for several hours he came up empty handed and left to see if Jeff had anything.

Jeff emerged from one of the other rooms with a happy look on his face. "Found them." Jeff held open a hand with four gold pendants. Each one had their special house seal that belonged to it. A smile crept across Harry's face.

"Where did you find it?"

"They were in a bag with one of the skeletons." Harry seemed a bit sick.

"You actually touched those things?" Jeff laughed at his comment.

"For a Gryffindor, you're not all that brave."

"How did you know Gryffindor's are supposed to be brave?" Jeff laughed again.

"I had a brother at Hogwarts who was in Gryffindor. I stayed in the United States with my mom when my parents got divorced so I went to Northern California Magical Academy. Besides, you are world famous. We even hear news about you in the United States."

"Great," replied Harry sarcastically. Jeff once more laughed.

"Looks like we're going to make it home for Christmas after all."

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Cho woke up early in the morning because someone was at her door and kept knocking and ringing the doorbell for ten minutes. She quickly put on a robe and sleepily made her way towards the door. Whoever was outside was quite persistent as they were still ringing her doorbell.

"Keep your shirt on!" Yelled Cho who was quite angry at being awaken this early on a Saturday morning. She practically ripped the door off to see who was disturbing her sleep. There at her door was her best friend.

"Cho!" Yelled Valerie. "Good to see you!" She stepped forward and gave Cho a hug.

"Woman, do you know what time it is?" Asked Cho. "More importantly do you know what day it is?"

"It's the day that Valerie starts her vacation with Cho," replied Valerie with a grin. "Aren't you glad to see me?" Cho finally gave in.

"Of course I am. I just wish you didn't have to be up so early in the morning."

"Good, at least I don't have to go home now," replied Valerie with a smile.

"Come on in Val, we might as well have some breakfast." Cho walked into the kitchen followed by Valerie. She opened the cupboard to find some cereal and walked to the fridge for some milk.

"I'll make some coffee," offered Valerie.

"Thanks," replied Cho. "Just what I was thinking." Valerie smiled at this comment.

"That's why we're best friends." She poured herself a bowl of cereal as they ate and caught up on things. Once they were finished Valerie offered to do the dishes. This bought her some time before she could pluck up the courage to tell Cho what Dumbledore wanted to tell her. "She's going to take this really hard," sighed Valerie to herself. "I hope she will be ok." She found that Cho was sitting on the couch watching the news and was about to start talking but the news beat her to it:

"And in other news, two military officers have gone missing. One officer is Lieutenant Commander Jeffery Queen of the US Navy and the other is Second Lieutenant James Potter of the US Air Force. Both were under top security clearance to help securely recover items from the sunken ship St. Alexandria. Their whereabouts are unknown and they were last seen at sea. The last time they were seen they were heading out to sea on another day of work. Their boat was found empty and no bodies have been recovered. It is believed that they may have drowned. Teams of Master Diver's have been sent to search for their bodies. Their chances of being alive however are extremely low. It looks like the United States may be sending the bodies of these two officers home to their loved ones for Christmas."

"Oh great," thought Valerie. "That's not how I wanted her to find out." Valerie looked at Cho who was speechless. She was still looking at the screen with out blinking. "Cho?" Valerie went and sat down next to her.

"Oh god!" Cho suddenly blurted out. "Oh god!" She started crying hysterically into her hands.

"Cho, honey; calm down. I'm sure they are ok. I didn't mean for you to find out this way." Cho instantly shot up.

"You knew?" Demanded Cho.

"Well... that's part of why I am here in the first place. Dumbledore was going to come, but since I was already on my way I offered to carry the news to you. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I was about to tell you but the muggle news beat me to it. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you."

"I can't believe it! That bastard father of mine probably already knew and he didn't tell me either!" Cho grabbed hold of the couch pillows and started hitting the wall with it. Slowly she wore herself out and just fell to the floor crying. Valerie decided that it was finally safe to approach her. Pulling her friend into a hug she whispered reassuring words.

"Its ok hun just let it all out. There's nobody here but us girls." Cho continued to cry into the shoulder of her best friend. At that moment there was nothing she wanted more than Harry. She wanted to feel his strong arms holding her; to feel his lips and to hear his voice. She felt like Harry had left her again. Handling it the first time was hard enough, she didn't know if she could deal with it again.

The rest of the day remained silent. Cho went back to bed and didn't want to get out. Valerie felt very bad about what had happened and didn't know what to do. Finally she managed to convince Cho to come out for dinner. They both sat there silently as Valerie took little sips of her chicken soup while Cho did not eat but only stirred it.

"Harry once told me that the game of love is risky," said Cho finally. "Sometimes you give your heart away, and sometimes it gets broken. All you can do is pick up the pieces and go on. Someday someone will be able to mend it for you. But who is going to mend my heart now if Harry doesn't come back?" Valerie was about to respond but there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Valerie. She quickly went to answer the door. Several moments later a man in a blue uniform was standing in Cho's kitchen.

"Miss Chang, I am Second Lieutenant Carlos Santamaria (I don't know if I gave him a last name yet. I tried to find it in my past text but was unable to. So if I changed it someone let me know please) with the USAF. I understand that you were Lieutenant Potter's girlfriend. Well I just wanted to let you know that he is my best friend and I am going out there to look for him. I promise I will keep you updated on the situation." Cho said nothing but continued to stir her soup. "Thank you for your time Miss Chang." Carlos turned around to leave, slightly embarrassed that he even chose to come here in the first place.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Cho weakly. Carlos turned around and acknowledged her quickly with a nod before leaving. He shut the door after himself and walked out to the parking lot.

"Well James, what have you gotten yourself into now," said Carlos to himself.

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"Ron please!" Yelled Jennifer Weasley. "It's very late!"

"I can't stand aside and watch as my best friend is missing! I'm going to help as part of the recovery crew. Albus and Minerva are already out there! Hermione is on her way as well as Cho's father."

"I just don't want you to get hurt," replied Jennifer. He could see the concerned look in her eyes.

"I promise I'll take care of myself," said Ron reassuringly. He quickly embraced her in a hug. "I'll be home for Christmas, I promise." After a long kiss he left.

A/N: Hey I hit 130 reviews along with being on 18 people list of favorite authors. Thanks everyone who read my story so please R/R.