p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The night before the second task was one that had everyone on edge. Harry was extremely tense, pacing back and forth in the common room and running his hands through his hair so violently that he almost ripped out a chunk. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella and the others glanced awkwardly around at each other but didn't offer Harry any words of advice in fear he would take his frustrations out on them. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"All eyes in the room turned towards the portrait hole as Professor McGonagall appeared there, an unreadable expression on her face. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Miss Weasley, Miss Granger - the Headmaster requests your presence in his office." she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If you would like to follow me." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella and Hermione looked at each other, confused expressions on their faces. They both stood silently and followed Professor McGonagall from the common room. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Please do not worry." Professor McGonagall said softly as they made their way down to Professor Dumbledore's office. "You are not in trouble." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella felt Hermione relax beside her and the tension in the air dissolved. Bella couldn't figure out why Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak to them rather than Harry. If they weren't in trouble then what could he possibly want to talk to them about? /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Professor McGonagall ushered them up the stairs behind the stone gargoyle that guards Professor Dumbledore's office and pushed open the door to the office. Inside the office were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Percy and Ludo Bagman. As they stepped further into the office, Bella saw Cho Chang and a young girl who looked like a younger version of Fleur Delacour. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What's going on?" Bella asked. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Take a seat and we will let you all know." Dumbledore said with a small smile. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella took Hermione's hand and the girls took their seats next to the young blonde girl. Before he spoke, Dumbledore handed the four girls a small cup filled with tea. He then poured tea for the others in the room and sat down behind his desk./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Dumbledore began speaking but Bella wasn't listening. She felt the heat of the tea warming her blood and her eyes began to grow heavy. As her eyes began to close, her head drooped and everything went dark. /p
hr style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #000000;" /
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella's eyes flew open seconds later. As she opened her mouth to breathe air into her lungs, she swallowed a mouthful of water. Panic flooded her as she realised she was now in the Black Lake. She felt someone holding onto her but the panic was too much and she ended up under the surface again. Her limbs felt like lead as she struggled to pull herself to the surface. Water was pouring into her mouth, slowly drowning her. A hand grabbed her own and pulled her above the surface, wrapping an arm around her to keep her head above water. Hands began grabbing at her from all angles and Bella was extremely disorientated as she was pulled from the lake. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She lay on her side, coughing up water as teachers and students crowded around her. Her throat felt as though she had swallowed broken glass and her eyes were stinging with tears. The voices around her blended together and she couldn't pick out anyone around her even as she looked right at them. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"A woman with a soft voice wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and helped Bella to her feet. She was in that much of a daze, when the woman ushered her into a boat, Bella didn't even flinch. A few short minutes later and Bella was back on solid ground, being led up to the castle by the woman with the soft voice. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The woman leading Bella through the castle was Madam Pomfrey. Over the years the matron had held a fondness in her heart for all of the Weasley children. Bella, though, had spent more time in the Hospital Wing in the past 3 years than Fred and George; and so Madam Pomfrey felt protective over the young Weasley girl. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Are you okay, sweetheart?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they reached the Hospital Wing. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella could only nod, feeling as though everything around her was surreal and she was trapped in a dream that she could not wake up from. Bella's feet were moving on their own as Madam Pomfrey directed her to a bed on the left side of the room./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella spent the next few hours in the the Hospital Wing, subjected to examinations and tests of her physical and mental state. After she had been administered with a calming potion and allowed time to recover, Bella at least felt a little more human. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I'm okay, Madam Pomfrey, I promise." Bella said sincerely. "Please let me go back to Gryffindor Tower." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Madam Pomfrey silently contemplated having Bella stay the night so she could keep a close eye on her but then, when she looked at the poor girl eager to leave, she felt she couldn't keep her confined to the Hospital Wing. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""You may return to your house dormitory -" Madam Pomfrey began. "but only if you promise to eat something first." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I promise!" Bella said eagerly. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Madam Pomfrey had food from the kitchens brought up for Bella and she made sure to eat every last mouthful, glad that she wasn't going to spend another night in the Hospital Wing. Once she had finished, Madam Pomfrey gave her one last potion to calm her nerves and then sent her on her way. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As Bella made her way through the eerily deserted corridors, she couldn't help but replay the events of the day in her head. The feeling of the water closing in on her was causing her chest to feel heavy and she had to stop, leaning against the wall for support. She knew she had to pull herself out of it, no one was going to come and save her, she had to save herself. She took a few minutes to compose herself and when she felt the weight being slowly lifted from her chest, she stood from against the wall and continued along the corridors, running her fingers along the wall as she walked, knowing that they were there to fall back on should she need them./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As Bella climbed the staircase outside of the Gryffindor common room she could hear the ruckus within and she didn't know if she could deal with the commotion she knew she was sure to walk into if she opened the portrait. Although she wanted to get away from it all, she really wanted to just curl up in bed, so she braved it and opened the portrait, the noise within deafening her. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Now or never."/p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella and the others glanced awkwardly around at each other but didn't offer Harry any words of advice in fear he would take his frustrations out on them. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"All eyes in the room turned towards the portrait hole as Professor McGonagall appeared there, an unreadable expression on her face. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Miss Weasley, Miss Granger - the Headmaster requests your presence in his office." she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If you would like to follow me." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella and Hermione looked at each other, confused expressions on their faces. They both stood silently and followed Professor McGonagall from the common room. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Please do not worry." Professor McGonagall said softly as they made their way down to Professor Dumbledore's office. "You are not in trouble." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella felt Hermione relax beside her and the tension in the air dissolved. Bella couldn't figure out why Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak to them rather than Harry. If they weren't in trouble then what could he possibly want to talk to them about? /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Professor McGonagall ushered them up the stairs behind the stone gargoyle that guards Professor Dumbledore's office and pushed open the door to the office. Inside the office were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Percy and Ludo Bagman. As they stepped further into the office, Bella saw Cho Chang and a young girl who looked like a younger version of Fleur Delacour. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""What's going on?" Bella asked. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Take a seat and we will let you all know." Dumbledore said with a small smile. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella took Hermione's hand and the girls took their seats next to the young blonde girl. Before he spoke, Dumbledore handed the four girls a small cup filled with tea. He then poured tea for the others in the room and sat down behind his desk./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Dumbledore began speaking but Bella wasn't listening. She felt the heat of the tea warming her blood and her eyes began to grow heavy. As her eyes began to close, her head drooped and everything went dark. /p
hr style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #000000;" /
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella's eyes flew open seconds later. As she opened her mouth to breathe air into her lungs, she swallowed a mouthful of water. Panic flooded her as she realised she was now in the Black Lake. She felt someone holding onto her but the panic was too much and she ended up under the surface again. Her limbs felt like lead as she struggled to pull herself to the surface. Water was pouring into her mouth, slowly drowning her. A hand grabbed her own and pulled her above the surface, wrapping an arm around her to keep her head above water. Hands began grabbing at her from all angles and Bella was extremely disorientated as she was pulled from the lake. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"She lay on her side, coughing up water as teachers and students crowded around her. Her throat felt as though she had swallowed broken glass and her eyes were stinging with tears. The voices around her blended together and she couldn't pick out anyone around her even as she looked right at them. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"A woman with a soft voice wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and helped Bella to her feet. She was in that much of a daze, when the woman ushered her into a boat, Bella didn't even flinch. A few short minutes later and Bella was back on solid ground, being led up to the castle by the woman with the soft voice. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The woman leading Bella through the castle was Madam Pomfrey. Over the years the matron had held a fondness in her heart for all of the Weasley children. Bella, though, had spent more time in the Hospital Wing in the past 3 years than Fred and George; and so Madam Pomfrey felt protective over the young Weasley girl. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Are you okay, sweetheart?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they reached the Hospital Wing. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella could only nod, feeling as though everything around her was surreal and she was trapped in a dream that she could not wake up from. Bella's feet were moving on their own as Madam Pomfrey directed her to a bed on the left side of the room./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Bella spent the next few hours in the the Hospital Wing, subjected to examinations and tests of her physical and mental state. After she had been administered with a calming potion and allowed time to recover, Bella at least felt a little more human. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I'm okay, Madam Pomfrey, I promise." Bella said sincerely. "Please let me go back to Gryffindor Tower." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Madam Pomfrey silently contemplated having Bella stay the night so she could keep a close eye on her but then, when she looked at the poor girl eager to leave, she felt she couldn't keep her confined to the Hospital Wing. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""You may return to your house dormitory -" Madam Pomfrey began. "but only if you promise to eat something first." /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""I promise!" Bella said eagerly. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Madam Pomfrey had food from the kitchens brought up for Bella and she made sure to eat every last mouthful, glad that she wasn't going to spend another night in the Hospital Wing. Once she had finished, Madam Pomfrey gave her one last potion to calm her nerves and then sent her on her way. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As Bella made her way through the eerily deserted corridors, she couldn't help but replay the events of the day in her head. The feeling of the water closing in on her was causing her chest to feel heavy and she had to stop, leaning against the wall for support. She knew she had to pull herself out of it, no one was going to come and save her, she had to save herself. She took a few minutes to compose herself and when she felt the weight being slowly lifted from her chest, she stood from against the wall and continued along the corridors, running her fingers along the wall as she walked, knowing that they were there to fall back on should she need them./p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"As Bella climbed the staircase outside of the Gryffindor common room she could hear the ruckus within and she didn't know if she could deal with the commotion she knew she was sure to walk into if she opened the portrait. Although she wanted to get away from it all, she really wanted to just curl up in bed, so she braved it and opened the portrait, the noise within deafening her. /p
p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;""Now or never."/p
