3 Second task
Harry wondered who his hostage would be, and for that matter, who the other hostages would be. Trying to understand how other people might think had never been easy for him. The obvious choice would have been the champions' dates at the ball, at least under normal conditions. In that case, Cho Chang would be Cedric's hostage and Hermione would be Krum's, although he frowned at the idea. However he and Fleur were champions; they couldn't be each other's hostage, which made Harry think that the hostages would be chosen by different criteria. They couldn't be family members, as he had none and Cedric was the only child. He wasn't sure if Krum had any siblings. What else? It could be friends. Cedric had many and Harry had a few. Once again he frowned at the idea of Hermione becoming one of the hostages. Still, Krum didn't seem to have any friends and Fleur had told him she had no close friends at all.
They could also use different choosing criteria for each champion – the thought blinked in his mind. That didn't seem fair, though. He wasn't sure if fairness was even a true consideration. Too many times, Dumbledore only spoke of fairness but didn't act it. He had no idea what the other tournament judges might think.
He just couldn't think of who it could be.
He also didn't have a good plan, despite Hermione and Fleur trying to help him. Harry lacked the concentration needed to keep the bubble-head charm active for the duration of the task. He found out that whenever he needed to cast another spell, his bubble would disappear. That could have unwelcome consequences when under the water. Other ideas seemed to have similar problems. Hermione was spending most of her time in the library, searching for an appropriate spell and Fleur was becoming more nervous as she saw Harry's lack of advance.
Harry returned to the common room after another day of futile searching. Ron was playing with somebody and Hermione was still in the library. He sat heavily near Neville, who was reading a book.
"How is it going?" Neville asked interestedly, closing his book.
"Couldn't find anything useful."
"Have you tried something else? Maybe some potions? Some magical plants may also be helpful, like this one..."
Neville opened the book, showing Harry the description of Gillyweed. "If that's not good enough, I've found some exotic plants which may be used instead of or in addition to this one," Neville said.
Harry looked surprised. Gillyweed was exactly what he needed, as if prepared by order. This made him a bit suspicious, though. "Where did you get this book?"
"Professor Moody said he knew I was doing well in Herbology and he found this book in his library. He thought I would be interested. I think he feels bad about the demonstration of the unforgivables."
Harry didn't think Moody was ever feeling bad about anything. He was sure this was meant for him to see without directly involving the staff in helping him. Still, he felt thankful. "May I show this to Hermione? I'm sure she'll be excited."
"Sure. I may also find some Gillyweed for you if you want it."
"It would be very helpful if you do. I'll pay you back, of course."
Neville dismissed the idea of payment with a wave of his hand. "I'll make sure to have some ready for the task," he promised.
Both Hermione and Fleur were enthusiastic about the herb. "Why don't you use it as well?" Harry asked Fleur.
"I can't. Most water plants are poisonous to Veela, and I was warned of Gillyweed since I first learned to swim. That's why I didn't even think of it as a possibility. I must use other means, but this can be perfect for you if you can get it."
"Neville said he will attain some for me. I've also noticed there is some in Snape's ingredients collection. I could get that in case of emergency."
Hermione grimaced. "Snape would never give it to you."
"Who said I'll ask?" Harry smiled innocently.
\/\/\/
Helping Harry prepare for the task seemed to bring Hermione and Fleur closer. Both wanted to help Harry as much as they could and sharing information was one of the ways to better help. This made the two girls spend some time together each day, despite the age difference. They soon found that they both appreciated similar things and had similar tastes in quite a few areas. Hermione was more conservative and more reserved, but this didn't prevent them from forming a friendship. It started reluctantly, fuelled by the need to trust each other for Harry's sake, but grew deeper quite quickly, especially since neither of them had had a close female friend before, and both enjoyed finding some.
"How did you become friends with Harry?" Fleur asked.
"Well, it was at Halloween. I was in the girl's toilet when a troll came into the castle and started roaming the corridors. Harry knew I was there and came to warn me, only the troll came first. He jumped on the troll and distracted it enough for Ron to be able to knock it down with its own club. We became friends thereafter."
"A troll? How big?"
"It was quite a big mountain troll, and it looked even bigger to me. We were only first year then. The troll was more than twice as tall as us, and at least three times as wide."
"And Harry jumped on it? Wow! That needs a lot of bravery!"
Hermione felt she could now ask as well. "Why did you choose Harry as your date?"
Fleur shrugged. "He seemed safe enough. I thought I could teach him to dance and enjoy some innocent fun with him. It didn't work that way, though."
"Safe? What kind of safety did you need?"
Fleur sighed. "Like every girl, there was a chance I would fall in love with my date. I thought Harry was young enough, so I wouldn't fall in love with him. I didn't think my magic would choose him as my mate either. Then both happened."
Hermione frowned. "You fell in love with Harry?"
Fleur sounded apologetic. "I didn't intend to. I knew he was deeply in love with you, just as you're in love with him. That's why I considered it safe. I was obviously wrong. I'm sorry."
"Well, young people fall in love and out of love quite often. You could fall in love with another soon enough," Hermione noted.
Fleur shook her head. "Do you think you could fall in love with another?"
Hermione bit her lips. "Statistically speaking, this is quite probable, yet I don't think that could ever happen, although I doubt he will ever see me as more than a friend."
The older girl took her hand. "Hermione, he dreams about you at night. Not even being with me can remove those dreams. I believe I can safely say that he sees you as much more than a friend. He's just too young to understand what he feels. Give him some time, and you'll find that you don't need to worry about that."
Hermione frowned. "Why do you push me to Harry? I thought you'd want him all for yourself."
Fleur smiled sadly. "Had he not been so deeply in love with you, I would have tried to make him mine, but the way it is…"
Fleur didn't say more and Hermione didn't think that pushing her would help, but the conversation had given her a lot to think about. She was content that they were both helping Harry, for now.
\/\/\/
A week before the second task, Neville brought Harry a bag full of Gillyweed. "This amount should suffice for several hours. You only need to take a mouthful to keep you safe for an hour, though."
Harry made sure to have the herb ready in his swim trunks' pockets, a mouthful in each. That could have kept him for quite some time and he could even give some to his hostage, if needed. Neville had instructed him on the right amount to use for shorter times. He used a small bit of it to exercise in the Prefects' bathroom and try casting underwater. It seemed to work well even if he barely uttered the spell. He hoped it would also work under real conditions.
\/\/\/
The morning of the second task, Harry found out that both Hermione and Ron were missing. He met Fleur on his way to the lake. "I can't find my sister anywhere," she told him with some tears evident in her eyes.
"I believe they made her your hostage," he told her.
"What if I can't rescue her? Veela are not taking well to water, you know."
"I'll rescue her for you, if you can't," he promised.
And he did. Once he jumped to the lake, he found the water near the shore too murky to see much, losing sight of the other champions almost at once. He then managed to arrive at the hostages first. It was then clear to him that Cho was Cedric's hostage, Hermione was Viktor's, Ron was his and Gabi was Fleur's. Krum arrived soon, grabbing Hermione and moving away. Cedric arrived a bit later, taking his hostage away, yet Fleur didn't seem to come. He also noticed that Gabi seemed to be getting ill, judging by the colour of her face. He hesitated no longer. Despite the mermen guards, he grabbed both Ron and Gabi, keeping the mermen away with some well-aimed stunners. When he was finally far enough from them, he used the "Aguamenti" spell to make a water jet to help him handle the two hostages and sped up, bypassing both Viktor and Cedric.
Once out of the water, he was surrounded by Fleur, Gabi and Hermione, along with Madam Pomfrey. Harry hugged Hermione with one arm and Fleur with the other and felt content.
It was much later, after they all changed into warm dry clothes, that Harry started to think. Having an underwater task when Fleur was a Veela was very unfair to her. Putting Gabi in the deep water as her hostage was almost criminal, especially as Dumbledore should have known the problems Veela have with water.
"Why did they take Gabi?" he asked. "She isn't part of the tournament; she isn't even part of your school, being too young for that. Taking her as your hostage was kidnapping, which is a criminal offence."
Fleur sighed. "I asked Madam Maxime. She didn't agree and didn't allow it, and I know none of my parents would have allowed it. I suspect that since Veela are classified in your laws as 'Magical Creatures' and not human, nobody thought of even asking, and there's not much we can do about it, especially since it ended well."
"But you are human! People lust for Veela. They don't lust for goblin maidens or female house-elves, as they are not human, and I know you are as human as they get." Harry was really enraged.
"Not according to the laws of Magical Britain," Fleur said.
"We should change the law, then," Harry said forcefully.
"Yes, we should," Hermione agreed, "and that's a task for Lord Potter, once the tournament is over."
\/\/\/
Despite becoming very close with the whole family, Harry was still oblivious to Alain's position in Magical France. He knew that the name Delacour could be translated into "of the court", as Hermione had explained soon after the selection of the champions, but that seemed irrelevant to him. Yet Alain, being of a very old and powerful family, headed the equivalent of the DMLE in France and was almost as powerful as the minister. Alain secretly brought a group of English-speaking French Aurors to protect Harry and Fleur and also snoop around, trying to find anything out of order.
These found quite quickly that Karakoff was an ex-death eater, who avoided Azkaban by betraying his former associates. They also found out about Snape, although they could find no explanation for why Dumbledore was so adamant about keeping him, despite the man's abysmal behaviour.
Finding more information about Moody seemed difficult. Discovering what had happened the night before the new school year started, when there was a serious disturbance near Moody's house, was almost impossible. Yet patience and perseverance paid nice results. They still weren't sure what exactly happened, but it was clear that Moody had not told the truth about that night, making them suspect something was wrong.
