Chapter 15
The Second Task
Ok, the few days after that were really awkward. And not because of Draco and I, hell no. That was when the awkwardness made way to snogging.
I had told Harry the next day about Draco and I…and let's just say…he had a cow, pig, goat, sheep, pretty much an entire barn when he found out.
I had long since started to see what Scar meant with Ivy, so I had ignored her for a while.
The day before the challenge, I was in the library reading up on ways to survive underwater with Harry, Ron and Hermione. I was getting more annoyed by the minute, there was nothing there!
"You find anything that'll help, Harry?" I asked, turning to my brother.
"No, sis." Harry growled, as annoyed as I was "There's nothing here!" he added, slamming the book closed and earning a dark look from Madam Pince, the librarian.
Ivy came up to our table (she insisted on helping too.) and plopped a few books down in front of Harry. "If there's anything you need, Harry, just ask." she said in more softer tone than her normal one and if I was hearing correctly…she sounded rather…sad.
"I wouldn't take her advice unless you like wrong information." I muttered when she was out of earshot.
Ivy came back with another book "I don't know if this'll help, but it's about sea creatures that could be in the lake and if you know what's down there you can figure out a plan to get past them and know what not to do." she said, sounding back to normal before looking up at Harry "O-of course I'm not s-suggesting anything. I-I-I should go find some more books." she stammered before hurrying off in the other direction.
"What's with her?" I asked, watching her pick out book after book "She sounds like she's around a totally hot guy, like mine, with toilet paper stuck to her shoe."
"That's not it, sis." Harry muttered as Professor McGonagall walked into the library.
"Hello, Mr and Ms Potter." she greeted sternly before turning to Ron, Hermione and Ivy "Mr Weasley, Ms Granger and Ms Duff, you must come with me." she said, beckoning to the door. "The Headmasters require your assistance." she added as Ron, Hermione and Ivy got up and followed McGonagall out.
"See you, Harry, Han." Ron said, smirking before following McGonagall.
"Bye." Hermione and Ivy said together, leaving me alone with Harry.
"Well, what is her problem?" I demanded, leafing through the book on sea creatures. "It couldn't be about Draco, I haven't told her."
"You're not the only one she gave wrong advice to about the first task." Harry said, taking another book
"She told you wrong information too?" I asked, following Harry and taking a book in the pile I haven't read
"Yeah. She said she heard a bunch of Beauxbatons girls talking about it and she ran to tell me. I told her not to wait, because Hagrid was going to show me on the Friday, but she said you had to know at that moment, or you wouldn't have gotten enough studying done in time and ran off. When she found out it was really dragons, she locked herself in her dorm room all day. Hermione finally managed to get her out before dinner." Harry said, putting his book to the side.\
"Scar told me she gave me the wrong information on purpose." I muttered, leafing through another book to find any dangers that could be in the lake.
"Zimmerman may have gotten her facts wrong." Harry said coldly (he wasn't a real fan of Scar) "Ivy's been trying to make it up to me by helping me in this task, but she's scared she'll steer the two of us wrong again."
"She also told me Ivy wasn't a really good friend for me…" I said, trailing off as I slammed my book closed in annoyance "Nothing's here."
"That's your drama. I'm just letting you know why she's upset." Harry said, slamming his books closed and getting up. "We'd better get to bed."
I nodded "Yeah, we'd better." I said, getting up and following Harry out of the library "Hey, Harry…um…my swimsuit is in my common room. Can I maybe leave it in your dorm so Draco doesn't find it?"
"Ugh!" Harry said, rolling his eyes "Why do you not want Malfoy seeing it?"
I shrugged "I just bought it…and I said I look really good in it…and he's insisting I try it on for him. And he's probably snooping around to find it. I don't want him to see what it looks like yet."
Harry retched as I neared the dungeon. "Gross! Why would Malfoy want to see you in a swimsuit that just passes for modest?"
"Because he says I have the body for it." I said, entering the dungeon seeing Draco holding up the shopping bag with my new swimsuit in it and smirking.
"Told you I'd find it." he said, starting to open the bag "Now let's see what shopping my girlfriend's been hiding."
"No you don't!" I shouted, lunging for the bag and tackling Draco to the ground.
"Get off!" Draco shouted as I grabbed the bag.
"I'll take that." I said, ripping the bag from his hands and smirking down at him "What have we learned?" I asked.
"Don't mess with your girlfriend's clothes?" Draco asked, smirking.
"Good boy." I said, pecking him on the lips before getting up.
"I suddenly love learning." Draco said smirking. "I also learned that snooping around your girlfriend's dorm is a no-no."
I laughed "Awe, look who passed Good Boyfriend 101." I said sarcastically.
"When do I get my diploma?" Draco asked, smirking.
"Just got it." I said, sticking my tongue out at him.
"That was barely a gold star." Draco said, pouting.
I sighed "Oh, for the love of Skinner, Drac-" I started, only to get cut off with a kiss.
"If you want something done, you have to do it yourself." Draco said when he pulled away. "Can I see the suit now?"
I shook my head "No, not after you were nosing around my dorm. Now, to make sure you keep your nose out of my shopping, I'm giving this to Harry." I said, starting for the common room door, Draco following.
"Here." I said, handing Harry the bag. "And whatever you do, do not let Ron, Seamus, Neville, Dean or any boy in your dorm see it." I said as Harry started for Gryffindor Tower, me and Draco following.
"Yeah, Potter. Hannah promised that I'd be the first to see her in it." Draco said, taking my hand.
"Draco, go back into the common room! I'll see you later." I said, giving him a quick kiss and smirking when Harry gagged.
"Do you have to do that around me?" Harry asked, faking vomiting.
"What, Potter?" Draco asked, taking hold of my waist "You mean this?" he added, kissing me deeply.
Harry retched "Nasty! Do you have to do that with him, Hannah?"
I ignored him and proceeded to snog Draco, almost breaking off with laughter when Harry gagged.
"GET A ROOM YOU TWO!" Harry shouted finally, again, we ignored him.
"Get used to it, Potter!" Draco snapped, breaking the kiss, but still having me by the waist.
"Oh, for the love of Skinner!" Harry sighed, grabbing my arm and pulling me to his common room. "Oh, bloody hell, Hannah. Now you've got me in the whole 'Skinner' fad!"
I smirked "I knew it! You down, now I gotta get Draco to say it."
"Oh, hell no." Harry said, rolling his eyes as he said the password for the Fat Lady "Malfoy's annoying enough."
"Shut the hell up, Harry." I said, walking through the common room and walking up the stairs to Harry's dorm and stuffing my shopping bag into his bedside table.
…
When I got back to my common room, I ran into Scar while she was brushing her teeth.
"Hey, Scar." I said. "What are you doing?" I asked.
Scar took the toothbrush out of her mouth and smirked at me "Hey, Han. Just getting ready for bed.
I started laughing "I'd be in bed right now if Draco wasn't snooping through my shopping." I said, plopping myself down on the couch.
Scar rolled her eyes "He's going to see you in it anyways, Han." she pointed out.
I nodded "Yeah, I know. I want him to wait to see me in it, though." I explained.
"Oh," Scar said, nodding "Do you know what the next challenge is?"
I nodded "Yeah. We gotta go down into the lake and save something we care about in the hour given."
Scar smirked "You mean like a broom?" she asked, sitting down next to me.
I laughed "I think brooms float, Scar." I said "That'd be a pretty easy challenge for me, then."
Scar blushed "Not if they enchant them." she muttered, before standing up "Come on, we need to go to bed."
I nodded and stood up "Yeah. I could use all the sleep I can get. Night." I said, heading for my dorm.
…
The next morning, I was standing on the dock of the Black Lake, freezing my ass off in my swim suit.
"Damn the January cold." I muttered, watching my breath rise into the clouds.
Harry had gotten something from a house elf that morning for the second task that he was going to chew on to survive underwater…I think he called it…Gillyweed. Either way, he gave me half of it.
Ron, Hermione and Ivy weren't in the stands. I was confused…why would they miss out on this challenge to do whatever they were doing?
"Any last minute advice?" I asked, turning to Harry.
"Get in there, grab your thing, then shoot out as fast as possible." Harry said as I felt someone coming behind me.
I glared at Harry and sighed "Besides the obvious!" I said, turning around to find Draco and Blaise behind me "Hey!" I said, throwing my arms around Draco's neck.
"Hey." Draco said, wrapping his arms around my waist "I guess I'm glad I waited to see this."
I bit my lip. He was talking about my one piece (I know, stupid to buy in January, but what are you going to do? I needed a swimsuit for the challenge!). It was midnight blue with the halter fastener, and a silver strip around the middle.
Blaise cleared his throat "Hey, Han. Have you seen Ivy? She said she'd meet me here." Blaise asked.
I shook my head "Sorry, Blaise. I haven't seen her since last night." I said before biting my lip and turning back to my boyfriend (*giggle* still too good to be true!) "I'm nervous." I admitted, turning bright pink.
"You'll do great, love." Draco said, smirking and kissing me quick before Mr Bagman started announcing "Got to go. See you when you get out."
I nodded and kissed him again "Yeah. Don't worry about me too much." I said to Draco's retreating back.
"Remember, when the cannon goes, dive in and chew the Gillyweed." Harry reminded me (*sigh* again!)
"Yes, Harry." I said, rolling my eyes and turning to him, smirking "And remember…don't die!" I added, giggling.
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed just as the cannon fired. Fleur, Krum and Cedric dived in just before Harry and I.
"NOW!" I shouted as I dived, shoving the weed in my mouth and chewing.
Harry following suit was the last thing I saw before I jumped in.
The water was freezing! I nearly gasped when I was fully submerged, but thought better of it and started swimming, taking my wand out of the belt in my suit.
The water was murky. I face palmed myself and rolled my eyes.
Shit! I thought, pulling out my wand I can't see!
"Lumos." I said, igniting my wand tip.
I saw there was a whole lot of seaweed around me and something up ahead of me.
I smirked "That was smart." I congratulated myself (The Gillyweed made it easy to breath, talk, and swim in the water.) as I swam towards the something.
It was five chains, each holding down five different…people!
I groaned "Who do we have here?" I asked myself, going down the row and seeing who I was working with.
"Cho Chang," I said first. I shook my head. I honestly did not like Cho Chang at all. She was playing Harry around like a violin, in my personal opinion. (Harry had a huge crush on her.)
Chang was out of the question for me. She must have been Cedric's. Stupid Cedric decided to take her to the Ball.
"Some girl I don't know." I said, turning to a little blonde girl. Definitely not. I didn't know who she was. Must be for Fleur.
"Ron!" I gasped when I reached him. Couldn't be. Ron and I weren't exactly close…must be Harry's. After all, Ron is Harry's best friend.
"Mione!" I gasped again, watching Hermione bob up and down against the chain. Hermione was a no as well. Must be for Viktor, she went to the Ball with him.
I groaned when I saw the last person. "For the love of Skinner!"
It was Ivy. Definite match. My best friend. More like my sister.
"You have got to be kidding me!" I sighed, looking around the bottom of the lake for something sharp to cut the chain with.
No wonder Blaise couldn't find her I thought as I looked around the lake floor.
Harry swam into the clearing of seaweed and started looking with me.
"Come on! We only have an hour!" I shouted before Harry threw me something.
"Hey!" I shouted catching the thing, thinking he was being a pain in the ass before looking down.
It was a sharp rock.
"Thanks, bro!" I said before starting to hack at Ivy's chain.
Harry nodded and waited for me to finish.
I hacked Ivy free and started swimming away, before noticing that Harry wasn't moving.
I shrugged, thinking he'd be ok as I saw Cedric swimming towards the hostages.
"Cedric!" I shouted, tossing him the rock "To cut Chang loose with!" I added, swimming to the surface quickly as the Gillyweed started wearing off.
When my head broke the surface, Ivy had come to just as a blistering wind bit through my skin.
I swore "Next time someone takes you down underwater in January, I'm just leaving you to fend for yourself." I stated, shivering.
"Glad you feel that way," Ivy muttered sadly as I started swimming for the dock "So why did you save me in the first place? Why not take another person and leave me?" Ivy asked.
I turned to her and started doing a back crawl "Easy. I hate Chang's guts, I don't know the little girl, Ron and I aren't necessarily close, and Hermione's going out with Viktor. That left you. And why think like that?" I asked.
"You just said that you'd leave me to fend for myself. I knew you were still mad at me. I just knew it! Harry said you weren't but still."
"Oh, sweet mother of Jeff Skinner, Duff!" I shouted annoyed "I said that because it's freezing in this water! Merlin's pants, I was just joking. And what makes you think I was ever mad?"
"I gave you the wrong information about the first task! I could have killed you because I was too stupid to wait!" Ivy shouted as we neared the dock as Cedric came up.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin! You got it from a bunch of misinformed French bimbos and you wanted me to know what the challenge was! That's just a mistake based on good intentions. God, don't have such a guilty complex!" I shouted.
"So you aren't mad?" Ivy said, pulling herself up onto the dock and having a towel wrapped around her.
"Merlin's pants…NO!" I shouted in annoyance, starting to climb up the dock "I am getting rather annoyed at your guilt trip, though." I said as a towel wrapped around me.
"You did great!" someone said behind me.
"Ok, glad we're friends still." Ivy said smiling as Blaise ran over and started fussing over Ivy as Harry started up with Ron and…the little girl.
I groaned when everyone started fussing over him and Ron and the little girl "Again, I'm out shadowed by my brother." I sigh as I shivered.
It was announced that I had tied with Harry, and Harry, Cedric and I were getting a head start in the last challenge.
I smirked "I guess I can be in the same level as him…" I said as everyone continued the fuss over Harry and the girl (who turned out to be Fleur's sister) "but I'm still ignored."
"Hey, let's go!" Ivy said coming out of the crowd and turning to me.
I smiled. "In a minute. I want to find Draco first." I said, standing up and throwing my sopping towel aside.
"I guess you won't be looking long." Draco's voice said behind me before wrapping me in a towel and into a hug "What did I tell you? You did great." he said, kissing the top of my head before turning to Ivy "Duff…" he said tonelessly.
"Malfoy." Ivy said sternly as Blaise wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Silence fell. I bit my lip and looked around at everyone, hoping someone would say something.
"Well," Ivy said finally, breaking the tension "I can say there's a party in the Gryffindor common room and you're invited, Han."
I beamed "Of course she is, Duff." Draco said, rolling his eyes "She's a Potter."
"Sadly, no Slytherin boys allowed." Ivy continued, turning to Blaise and Draco. "Come on, Han." Ivy said, turning to me "I've gotta make sure you get changed and go to the party." Ivy explained, taking my arm.
I rolled my eyes and kissed Draco "See you later." I said quietly.
