-----------------------------------------------------------------------
He really did feel only slightly ridiculous. But then he figured a bubble around ones head could do that.
Cedric swam through the murk, every now and again having to dive to the right depth again because bubble charms annoyingly did not come with counter weights. He was searching. 'For what they took' the egg had said. The mer-people in the lake had taken something precious to him. He only hoped it wasn't the gold watch his grandfather had left him – somehow he didn't think it would survive all that well in water no matter how charmed it was.
Quite suddenly the weed he'd been making his way through for the past hour thinned and through the waving leaves he spied something. It wasn't until he'd left the last of the weed behind that he recognized what it was. The mer-city. It had to be. It was all smooth edges and shadowed arches. Cedric couldn't help a small shiver passing down his spine. Then he saw them and the shiver froze in fear.
Mer-people.
Despite what the stain-glass windows in the prefects bathroom would have you believe, these were definitely not pretty naked women with tails. Cedric gave the creatures a wide berth as he moved through the town. So far none of them had made a move towards him but he wasn't going to risk getting too close that's for sure.
It seemed an age before he came to what must have been the town centre. That's when he saw them. His insides froze a little bit at the sight of the four of them, just hanging there. It took a moment before he recognized them all, they looked so ghastly. On one end was Ron Weasley – presumably he was Harry Potter's 'something precious'. God knew you never saw one without the other. Then Hermione Granger – Cedric wondered if the girl had known what she was setting herself up for going to the Yule ball with Krum. Next to Granger was a girl, fairly young looking too. There was no mistaking that hair though. A relation of Fleur's if ever he saw one. And last was…
Oh holy god.
Cedric swam forward hurriedly but his eyes weren't deceiving him.
Dawn Summers.
For a time Cedric could only stare.
Dawn. His Dawn. Well not his his but…agh! Cedric felt a familiar twist in his stomach as the raging crush he'd carried around with him all summer returned full force. They'd met when Rupert Giles had called in a favour from his father to help re-build the slayer headquarters in London. Cedric had tagged along for the lack of anything else to do with his summer. He hadn't regretted it.
At first he'd just been happy being surrounded by about two dozen pretty girls. The fact that they could all beat him into the ground had taken a bit of getting used to but he'd learned to live with it. It figured then that the one girl that really caught his attention was one of the hand-full of the group that didn't have super powers.
Dawn Summers. They'd been thrown together mostly because neither of them had anything to do. While Dawn's sister and friends were busy with his father organising things for the new 'slayer central' as they were calling it, Dawn and Cedric were sent out and told to amuse themselves 'and don't get kidnapped'. That last part had been her sister Buffy.
So they had. Cedric had shown her around London, they'd gone to movies and had a look around Diagon Alley. It had all been great. Two friends killing time. Cedric didn't quite know when he'd started to consider her more. The only thing he knew was that one day her smiling at him became something infinitely more important. Suddenly butterflies were attacking his innards every time she came near him. It was bloody ridiculous.
He'd wanted to tell her. He'd tossed the idea around his head so many times as the summer wound down but he just couldn't bring himself to say anything. Every time he tried his tongue would get stuck to the roof of his mouth and he'd just end up grinning at her stupidly.
And then it was too late. The summer was over and he was going back to school while she headed off to Rome to start school there. There had been a few letters between them but he'd always felt strange when writing them. Sort of stilted, as if he was always talking around what he really wanted to say. Honestly, he hadn't known if he was ever going to see her again, they led such different lives.
And now here she was. Floating in front of him looking like death warmed up. Cedric wanted to cheer.
But first things first.
Pulling a knife from his boot he cut the line tethering Dawn to the bottom of the lake and pulled her to him. It was only then that he noticed Harry. The boy had already freed Ron and was looking at Hermione with a clearly worried expression. Cedric could understand his feelings but it wasn't like Dumbledore would let any of the hostages be harmed, he must realise. When Harry's eyes flicked to him Cedric tapped his watch pointedly before making for the surface, towing Dawn behind him.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cho watched the surface of the water, a knot of worry in the pit of her stomach. They had twenty minutes left. Fleur had already been heaved sobbing from the water but the others were nowhere in sight. Cho was just about ready to jump in there after them. It was strange, this sitting on the sideline waiting. She was so used to being in the thick of things, especially after the last summer.
Are you ready?
It had been a whisper in her head but not really a question. 'Are you ready to be powerful?' it had asked and then it had been dumped in her lap anyway. She'd been on platform nine and three quarters, pushing her luggage cart out to meet her parents when it had happened. A surge of power and suddenly the handle of her cart had a brand new and very bent shape to it. It had been frightening at first. Her parents had been all set to send her to Mungo's. Then had come the knock on her door and they'd all met Mr. Giles.
Her summer following had been…well interesting to say the least. She'd met Buffy Summers and the slayer crew. She'd trained – learned how to deal with her new strength. It had been almost surreal seeing Cedric Diggory there. They'd never really spoken at school, being in different years and different houses and all that. But Hogwarts gave them something in common in a new environment. They'd become friends. When she wasn't training with the other slayers Cho could usually be found with Cedric and Dawn, Buffy's sister. Dawn was cool. Cho was actually surprised at how quickly the two of them had hit it off. Dawn wasn't like her friends at school, who seemed to live to gossip. She was more…real somehow. Not to mention teasing her about her crush on Cedric was just smashing fun.
She'd been so sad to part from her at the end of the holidays but the two of them kept in touch in that avid sort of way that only teenage girls seemed to be able to manage.
Being back at school had been terrifying at first, having to watch herself and her strength all the time. She never thought she'd ever be so glad for Cedric. He'd been awesome – meeting her in the kitchens late at night when she couldn't sleep for the itch in her senses telling her she should be out hunting and covering for her when she accidentally played with the cutlery in scary ways at mealtimes. He'd even taken her to the Yule ball when she admitted to him she was terrified that she'd forget herself and do something that might hurt her partner on the dance floor
He'd even jokingly congratulated her afterwards on not spinning him into any walls. She could see now that she'd probably been being a little silly about the whole thing and was immensely grateful to him for putting up with her. It was a bit of a shame she hadn't realised how daft she was being sooner though. Maybe then she could have gone with Harry. She had the suspicious feeling she would have liked that quite a bit.
Cho allowed herself a small smile thinking about that even as her stomach tied itself in knots waiting for the second task to finish. Oh she was going to be so happy when this whole thing was over and done with. The tri-wizard tournament was far too nerve-wracking for her likes. Lord knew what was going on in the lake right this minute.
Shouts and the sound of fists hitting unknown but probably soft parts of people suddenly rang out from behind her. Cho whipped around along with everyone else and craned her head to see what the commotion was.
"Where is she?"
Uh oh. She knew that voice. Cho didn't waste time being pleasant as she elbowed her way through the crowd, leaving quite a few curses and bruises in her wake.
"Tell me where she is!"
Shoving the final person aside Cho beheld the scene that had most of Hogwarts' visitors, students and staff gaping. Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic himself was hanging in what looked like a very painful manner from his neck, around which was a surprisingly slender hand. Attached to said hand was a blonde slip of a woman; a very dangerously glaring blonde slip of a woman. Cho rushed forward.
"Ms Summers?"
Buffy's head whipped around at her voice but her grip didn't falter.
"Cho. Cho Chang right?"
Cho nodded glancing worriedly up at the minister's purpling face.
"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Buffy?"
Cho blinked at her as the minister's feet flailed in mid-air.
"Ah. Sorry. Um, can I ask why you're strangling the minister of magic?"
"You took the words right out of my mouth Miss Chang."
Cho turned to find most of the Hogwarts staff behind her, all looking most serious and all gripping their wands quite pointedly. At their fore was Professor Dumbledore. Cho got the feeling the only reason all hell hadn't broken loose was because Dumbledore was keeping anyone from making a move. He now looked past her at Buffy, his eye brows raised as he awaited her answer.
Cho swallowed as Buffy met the headmaster's gaze with a glare.
"This man took my sister. You can have him back just as soon as I find out where she is."
Cho stepped forward, her eyes widening.
"Dawn? Dawn's been taken?"
Buffy nodded sharply.
"Bunch of guys in dresses waving sticks about. They were in and out before I could get to her. I managed to catch one before he poofed away and just guess whose name he gave me," Buffy said, glaring up at Fudge, her hand tightening slightly.
Cho frowned.
"Fudge kidnapped Dawn? But why would he take…"
Cho's eyes widened. Crap. Cedric had told her what the egg had said. Something precious. She suddenly felt like strangling the minister herself simply for his stupidity.
"Oh you stupid git, you kidnapped Dawn Summers to play bait to Cedric for this thing?" she said glaring up at the minister.
"Aglagh," said Fudge.
It was about then that a shout suddenly went up from behind them.
"Cedric! Cedric's come up!"
------------------------------------------------------
The first thing Dawn heard was cheering. Not just casual go team cheering either, this was yelling to bring the house down. That was about when she swallowed a mouth-full of water and promptly choked. She probably would have sunk then and there but for the firm grip about her waist. Turning toward her apparent rescuer saw her choking all over again but for a completely different reason.
"Cedric…"
It came out more feeble than she'd meant it but she couldn't much care with most of her mind still trying to work out what the hell was going on.
"Dawn. Are you okay?"
Dawn shook her head and almost sunk again. Thank god for those arms around her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she reminded herself to shelve the feeling for future study.
"I don't know…what's going on?"
"The tri-wizard tournament…you were…I had to rescue you. Weren't you told?"
Dawn just shook her head, her mind turning in circles. God she felt like she'd been drugged. Some part of her realised that Cedric was pulling her through the water before suddenly her feet found solid ground. For a moment she was grateful before it became apparent she couldn't support her own weight. Cedric knelt next to her in the shallow water, his breath coming in gasps. The cheering was closer now and, looking up, Dawn's vision was taken up by a waving cloud of yellow, blue, green and red.
"Where-where are we?"
"Hogwarts. You really weren't told?"
Dawn shook her head. Cedric's school? Why the hell was she at Cedric's school?
"What's the last thing you remember?" Cedric asked.
Dawn closed her eyes and tried to remember.
"I was at home. Buffy was having a spack-attack about me drinking the last of the milk again. Then…there were men in robes. They had wands too, like yours. They grabbed me and…and that's it."
She looked up at Cedric to see if anything she'd said had helped. Judging by the stormy look on his face she was guessing something must have clicked.
"Fudge."
Dawn wrinkled her nose.
"Huh?"
What did caramel have to do with this.
"This would have needed his authorisation. He probably didn't think you needed an explanation because you're muggle."
"Explanation-"
"That bastard!" Cedric growled, punching in-effectively at the water.
"Explanation of what? What's going on? Cedric-"
"The tri-wizard tournament," Cedric said bitterly. "This is the second task – we were all supposed to retrieve something precious to us from the mer-people at the bottom of the lake. I had no idea it was going to be people until I got down there and found you. I'm so sorry Dawn, if I'd known…"
Dawn shook her head.
"So this Fudge pop guy kidnapped me to play bait for you and…did you just say precious?"
It was rather comical the way Cedric seemed to freeze right in front of her. His mouth was partly open and his eyes were suddenly very round. Dawn would have laughed if her stomach hadn't just started strangling her heart. He'd said precious…she was sure he had…right?
"Um…"
"Dawn!"
It was at about that point she was lifted bodily out of the water and into her sister's arms. Dawn knew this particular embrace well. It was the post-kidnapping hug and it was liable to go on for a while. Buffy got clingy when she got frightened.
Over the slayer's shoulder Dawn watched as Cedric was practically buried in towels wielded by a stern-looking old woman wearing a white apron.
"Cor, Madam Pomfrey!"
"Don't you Madam Pomfrey me Mr Diggory, you've spent quite enough time in this lake today now out with you or you'll catch a death of cold."
A whole new tirade of cheers suddenly went up from the crowd on the shore and Dawn looked out at the lake. A boy with a darkly featured face and a girl with brown hair were swimming their way to shore looking like a pair of drowned rats. Dawn looked back at Cedric hopelessly.
At this rate, she didn't think she was going to get an answer to her question. Dammit. She hated being kidnapped.