Author's Note:

This chapter is a bit on the long side and yes, I know you guys don't mind, but I'm just saying LOL.

I had this idea of creating a charm that would be very powerful and would have the ability to conceal things in a way that others couldn't; felt that if anyone could create it, it would be the Marauders themselves and why not call it 'The Marauder Charm' in honour of them. Even two of them were quite the genius and I like to think they were smart enough to create something complex like this. I love making Sirius the goofy prankster as well and even though it's completely cheesy, I feel like this is totally something that he would do!

Reviews and Comments: To iKingAnomalyII: Yes, the plot does thicken! Hermione is definitely as sharp as ever and Snape is now aware of the ritual. Thank you! To scrappy8: Thank you! To Leaf Ranger: You think Ginny will be Harry's hostage and it's kind of cliché? Guess you'll have to wait and see. As to Hermione being a brave crusader, she is upset over the injustice of the situation, not at all over Winky being killed to protect her friend. There's a difference. Thank you. To Ari Black-18: You will still be waiting a big longer for Hinny as Harry is clearly still in denial. But Ginny is his first friend ever and Ron is his best mate, but you're right, he's also very close to Neville. You'll have to wait and see. Thank you! To EnchantedLynx: Ha, Harry will definitely have dreams of him replacing Michael… he'll just ignore them in confusion lol. Please don't riot in the streets. Thank you. To Wolf's scream: Harry would definitely wear a badge to support Cedric. We will find out Cedric's reaction to the badges here. I have never seen Mission Impossible as I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but I'll take your word. Ha, yes, Daddy issues. No, Ginny is not impressed with Harry's intervention. Thank you!

To notthatchhavi: Thanks for loving my author quotes for the funeral. Harry is definitely acting the prat. Thank you! To speedsONEandONLY: Papa is treating him as a mix of both, don't worry. I love that Kreacher is your favourite. Thank you! To coloredwords: Hermione is not afraid to speak her mind, even when Harry is behaving in irrational jealously. Justin and Ernie are such assholes, you don't even know it yet. Thank you! To trekkifulron: You think Ginny will figure out Harry fancies her before Harry does? Interesting. Thank you. To MadMile: Thank you and you're welcome! To Diana: Thank you. Yes, Harry is slowly getting to that stage a bit, in terms of keeping things from his parents. We'll see more of it. Thank you! To Moony The Sheep: Thank you, I do try to make my characters feel like real people. You're not rude at all, thank you! To hufflepuffle24: Thank you for re-reading this! That's amazing! To alix33: Zee's cottage has one bedroom, but it's only two couples, they will transfigure the living room into a bedroom LOL. Thank you!

To xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Thank you! To Steelcode: Harry did act a bit like Ron, but with better control of his mouth. Thank you! To supersandman86: Ha, Hermione is very pleased to have seen Harry's reaction. She knows that Harry likes her now. You think Corner will start wearing one of the badges? Interesting. Thank you! To Kejta: Thank you. To Faaan'Taaas'Tilique: Thank you! To geekymom: Thank you! To Jmcglynn522: Yes, you called Dobby lol. Yes, the Hufflepuffs are being douchebags, but Ernie always was one in my mind. Corner is very handsy and Ginny was contemplating the bat bogey hex for sure. Interesting choices lol. Thank you! To leflemmeenrose: Thank you! I adored writing the bit of Hinny. To odysse: Harry is slowly starting to be an idiot for Ginny. Thank you! To Soveliss: Harry is taking Hermione's thoughts into consideration, even if he doesn't agree with all of her SPEW ramblings. He is a bit more mature than in canon. Thank you!

Thanks to Josh for this little idea about the Pensieve, I thought that it was a great idea.

Thank you to my Beta — SilverStarwolfe!

My posting schedule: Once a week and sometimes on weekends.

As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-ONE:

The One Where Harry Thinks He Has Two Hostages

Harry climbed into his bed that night, still thinking about Hermione's words. Michael Bloody Corner was a git and he didn't deserve Ginny, that was all. He wasn't acting jealous. He knew what jealous was as Ron had acted like it at the Yule Ball. He put a silencing charm around his bed out of habit, eyes on the curtains as he thought about what he had seen.

Ginny had been kissing Michael. Not just kissing Michael, but pressed up right against him and Michael's hands had been on her firm arse. When had he started to notice that her arse was firm? He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else, but he kept seeing Ginny. Those chocolate brown eyes staring at him under long golden lashes as he ran his hand down over her bum, the round edges of it, heart-shaped, firm in his hands… She didn't tell him to move his hands or to stop, instead she moved closer to him, standing on her toes to kiss him.

He kissed her back, his hand in that gorgeous fiery red hair, her breasts pressed against his chest, his other hand on that firm sweet arse. Her small hands slid into his hair, down his back and lower and then she was unzipping his jeans.

Harry's hand slid into his pyjama bottoms and pulled himself free, rubbing himself softly as he imagined Ginny's hands on him. He imagined those small hands peppered in freckles gripping him fully and pumping away. He stroked himself faster, reaching down to stroke his balls, fondling them as he imagined her touching him, thought of her rubbing them… he began to really get himself into a rhythm now, his breathing uneven.

His last conscious thought was what it would feel like for Ginny to take him in her mouth and he finished with a grunt, making a mess all over himself. He lied there for a moment, his hand on his cock and swore under his breath. This had been a mistake. He couldn't possibly like Ginny like that, he thought. She was his best friend and having her touch him in that way would be wrong. It was just because he'd seen her kissing Michael, he'd seen green and he knew that.

He just needed to find someone to snog. He was randy and absolutely not attracted to Ginny. Not that he couldn't be, of course. She was beautiful, but they were friends so, it was principle of it. He thought about how incredible she'd looked at the Yule Ball, that burgundy gown, her hair tumbling over her shoulders in fiery curls and he felt his cock stir again. He forced her out of his mind and cursed himself. After the way he had acted in front of her boyfriend, he'd be lucky if they were even still friends.

He'd talk to her and he'd apologize. She'd understand that he was just worried about her. But as he cleaned himself up and fell into dreams, it was a frame of fiery red hair that tickled his stomach as her mouth moved up and down around his cock and when he woke he was rock hard and annoyed with himself.

He'd talk to her and he'd apologize and then things would go back to normal, he told himself.

~ ASC ~

Sirius sat in the kitchen of Number Twelve, his eyes on the blackboard walls of information that they had acquired over the last two and half years. Voldemort's past, the people who he had come into contact with, his known and suspected Death Eaters, the missing people they believed him to be responsible for, and of course, the Horcruxes themselves.

He stared at the list of them on the wall, his fingers tapping impatiently on the table.

FUVP Hit List:

1. DIARY (found in Chamber of Secrets through vault of Abraxas Malfoy) ✓
2. LOCKET OF SALAZAR SLYTHERIN (found in seaside cave) ✓
3. SIGNET RING OF SALAZAR SLYTHERIN (found on Gaunt abandoned property) ✓
4. CUP OF HELGA HUFFLEPUFF (found in vault of Bellatrix Lestrange) ✓
5. UNKNOWN (potentially located within Hogwarts)
6. UNKNOWN
7. VOLDEMORT HIMSELF

With the TriWizard Tournament and Harry's involvement with it, on top of the sudden brutal murder of Crouch, Sirius knew that they hadn't been taking the time to search the castle the way that they should have been. McGonagall and Remus had each done a little recon and they had knocked off a few rooms and areas to no avail, but the castle was incredibly large. Not to mention that the castle was a magical being on its own and had rooms that appeared and disappeared based on the occupants of the castle, extra classrooms or guest rooms, bigger dorms and second dorms, secret passages to explore…

It was like finding that one particular piece of hay in a haystack.

Then there was Winky.

Sirius had been trying not to let it bother him, but bringing her here had been incredibly stupid. Not only had she been privy to all of the information that they had collected, but she could have ruined the entire operation and that was completely on him. Number Twelve was safe, he knew that, but the operation wasn't. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how important it was for it to be taken into secrecy, especially if they brought anyone else on board.

And it was time to bring someone else on board.

He looked down at the letter clutched in his hand. It had arrived that morning and reading the words over and over had done nothing to reassure him of its contents.

Sirius,

I know that it's been a while since we spoke, but I think that I may have figured it out. If I use the right combination of spells I think that I could safely operate on this person and remove the dark magic matter into another object for it to inhabit before it could be safely and properly destroyed. It would be possible to destroy it during the surgery, but the risk of it blowing back into the brain would be astronomical. I think putting it somewhere else would be the wisest course of action.

The tricky part is going to be moving it without angering or spooking it. From what I can see, the dark magic has a mind of its own; its own matter and its own personality, that seems to want to claw its way through everything. I've never seen anything like it and removing it will most definitely be a bit of a fight, but I do think it is possible. It's a miracle that it has stayed in one place like it has all of these years. Once it starts to trickle out, and I do believe that it will if given the right incentive, it indeed could alter the brain and alter the person who it is ultimately inside of. I suggest that we try to remove it no later than by the end of the year. If the person has lasted this long with it inside of them, waiting a few months isn't going to change that, but I do think removing it soon is the best course of action. I would like at least another month or two to prepare myself for the neuro-healing procedure.

I will tell you this — there is risk. If something happens and the dark magic moves or is torn the wrong way, it could seep into the brain and affect the magic of the person. It could be harmful to the physical and emotional well being of said person and to be honest, if something does go wrong; the person could die. Anything to do with the brain is always dangerous no matter what it entails — there is ALWAYS risk.

I want you to know that I don't think that this is going to happen. Like any surgeon, I must tell you that there are odds, but I think that they look good. I would give this a 75% chance of working successfully with no risks or problems, which are excellent odds, however there is still that 25% chance that something could go wrong. It doesn't mean a twenty-five percent chance that they could die, it just means there is a twenty-five percent chance that there could be complications. So, it ultimately comes down to choice of the person on having it removed.

Thea and I will be staying in London for two weeks with the kids in March to visit Thea's parents. I think that it would be a great idea to meet up and discuss this further.

Xander

Sirius read and reread the letter. He had scarcely breathed since he'd read the words the first time and he didn't quite know what to say or do now that he had. A seventy-five percent chance of removing it with zero complications, that was a good number, he thought. He smiled at Kreacher when the elf brought him a sandwich and a cup of tea.

"Thank you."

Kreacher smiled at him. "Of course, Master Sirius."

Sirius reread the letter in his hand, still unsure on his thoughts. By the time that he had finished his tea, he still hadn't come to a conclusion. He said goodbye to Kreacher, checking his watch. Remus should be getting home for the day he thought and quickly Apparated to Wales to see his friend.

He knocked on the door to the cottage, smiling when Tonks opened the front door still in her Auror uniform.

"Wotcher, Sirius!"

"Hey, Tonks. Is Remus home yet?"

"Yes, he's making us omelettes for dinner."

Sirius nodded and followed her back into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of his friend over the stove. "Hey, Moony."

"Hi," Remus said. "Omelette?"

"No, thanks. I um, I need to talk to you. Tonks, do you think that we could talk in private, actually?"

Tonks only nodded. "Of course. I'm going to grab a nice long bubble bath anyway." She smirked at her boyfriend. "You can come join me when you're done. Bring the omelettes."

When the bedroom door closed behind her, Sirius shook his head. "I think that you two are worse than rabbits."

"And like you and Zee are any better," Remus said in amusement.

"We are! You two can't go two seconds without touching each other!"

"When's the last time you and Zee had sex?"

Sirius bit his lip as he remembered how Zee had woken him up that morning with her mouth wrapped around him. "Oral doesn't count."

Remus lifted an eyebrow. "Well, I was planning on thoroughly using my mouth on Nymphadora so, I guess we're not rabbits if oral doesn't count."

Sirius snorted. "Only your mouth, Moony?"

Remus smiled, coyly. "To start."

"My point exactly," Sirius said with a grin.

"And, Sirius? Oral totally counts."

Sirius smirked at that as he moved to take a seat at the barstool in the kitchen.

"So, what's going on Sirius?" Remus asked him.

Sirius cleared his throat. "After what happened in December with Winky, I've been thinking that we need to put a secrecy charm on the entire operation."

"A Fidelius?"

Sirius nodded. "I think so, yeah. I told Dumbledore that we can use Number Twelve as the HQ for the Order which means that I want to move the blackboard into the study where only you and I will have direct access to it."

"That sounds like a wise decision."

"Rem, is it possible for more than one person to be the Secret Keeper?"

Remus looked pensive for a moment. "I believe so, yeah, but it would take away from the potency of the charm, I would think."

Sirius shook his head. "I disagree. I was thinking that we should both be the Secret Keepers of this operation. If we do the charm correctly, it would also mean that Dumbledore, Moody, Bill, Zee, and Tonks would also be under the charm's secrecy and therefore unable to reveal any of the information that it involves. But between the two of us, we could keep it safe."

Remus looked unsure for a moment. "We can divide it. You would be the Secret Keeper of the operation's location being that you are Head of the House of Black already, it would only further your own charms. We could put myself as Secret Keeper of the operation itself. However, putting me as Secret Keeper, Sirius… we both know that Greyback can use my lycanthropy to see —"

"— Rem, don't even try to use that bullshit on me," Sirius interrupted. "I trust you with Harry's life. Snape said it himself, you are way stronger than Greyback and he can't get into your mind. He couldn't do it when you were a child, he's not going to do it now."

Remus nodded. "If you're sure. I think that we should put it on Zee or Tonks myself."

Sirius smiled at him. "We're the Marauders and this is our bloody operation, it's you and me, Rem."

Remus smiled back at him. "You and me."

"Divide and conquer," Sirius said with a grin. "We can each perform the charm on each other. We just have to get the secret just right, so that everyone who does know becomes unknowing until we once more bring them into the loop, correct?"

Remus nodded, sipping his tea. "I believe so, yes. If I am understanding you correctly, you want to create an entirely new charm using the foundation of the Fidelius?"

"Something that fits for this, yes."

"And I'm assuming that you want to get started on this now."

He nodded. "Yes, but first, you need to read this."

Sirius passed the letter over and watched as Remus carefully pried open the parchment that he had been clutching tightly. He read the words quickly, his eyes flashing slightly as he did so before his friends stormy gaze met his.

"A seventy-five percent chance?"

Sirius nodded. "He can take it from his head and put it into an object. Rem, if he does that, if he removes it from Harry, we can destroy it!"

"But there's still a twenty-five percent chance that it will hurt Harry."

Sirius nodded, his face ghostly pale. "I know. Fuck, I know!"

Remus urged Sirius to take a seat again as his friend had begun to pace around the kitchen. "How is he going to do it?"

"I don't know. We would have to talk to him to get some more information, but… there's a possibility, Rem! And you saw what he said about the dangers of not removing it!"

Remus nodded, letting out a slow breath. "After the dream Harry had in the summer I tend to agree with that assessment. But he also hasn't had anything like it since."

Sirius buried his face in his hands. "We have to tell him. We have to admit that we've been lying to him this whole time."

Remus sighed. "He's going to be furious. We promised him that we wouldn't lie to him and that's all we've been doing for over a year."

"No, we were intentionally not telling him, that's different. I'm the only one who directly lied to him this summer after that dream and I felt like a piece of a shit when I did it."

"Sirius, we have to do this thing right. We need to sit down with Xander, come clean about exactly what this dark magic matter is, and talk to him about exactly how he wants to remove it, step by step. I will not go to Harry with this without every available piece of information we have on the subject. This is his choice as much as ours."

Sirius nodded. "I know and that's what scares me. He always wants to do what's right, and as proud as that makes me, it terrifies me, too. He's too damn brave and self-righteous for his own good sometimes!"

"That I agree with," he said.

"I see why you're looking at the secrecy aspect now. We have to bring Xander in on the operation, Sirius," Remus said, carefully. "Now that he knows the dangers of the dark magic we have to inform him exactly what kind it is. We both have seen how quickly the soul pieces lash out when attacked. What if it affects him while he's trying to remove it and he falters? If his magic is shifted for even a second, Harry could die."

Sirius stared at his friend, his eyes dark and stormy. "That's not an option."

"Siri, it is a strong possibility and we both know it! This soul piece has imbedded itself inside that scar on Harry's forehead. We agreed that it's not actually a real Horcrux in the sense that the others have been, but it still is a piece of Voldemort's soul. That has powerful ramifications that come with it. If Xander doesn't understand the properties of it, how can he even attempt to safely remove it?"

"If we bring him on this, Moony… he might change his mind."

Remus stared at his friend, the turmoil in his eyes. "He might, but I won't risk the maybe on the possibility of our son's life. Are you willing to risk it?"

"No, fuck no — what do you take me for?"

"I assume the same terrified parent that I am," Remus said, carefully.

Sirius nodded. "We need to... it's only you and me that know I went to Xander about this. I haven't even told Zee and I assume that you still haven't told Tonks?"

Remus shook his head. "No. We agreed not to tell them until we knew more. Xander's coming to London in March so, we have time to line our ducks in a row. Dora and Zee should be there for that. They might have some insight."

"I agree. Until Xander and Thea come back to London, let's hold this close to the vest. For now, we should try to figure out this charm. I want to create our own. I want this to be the strongest charm for secrecy and safety of any and all that we bring into this operation."

Remus smiled at him. "I agree. Let's think on this a bit over the next few days, see what kind of brainstorms we can come up with. Then on Friday night you can meet me here. Ted gave me a bottle of Jameson for Christmas that I've been looking to open up."

Sirius grinned. "Sounds great. I'll be here and we'll get started."

"Yes, we'll get started," Remus agreed.

~ ASC ~

When Friday came around, they spent hours going over every aspect of the Fidelius Charm. The charm's responsibility was to magically conceal a secret within the living soul of a human being. The trick however was how to record the secret within the charm while casting it to make sure that it was truly concealed in every way, shape, and form. It was an immensely difficult charm to perform. Once cast, only the person whose soul possessed the secret would be able to reveal any or all information pertaining to it. Anyone who had previously been informed of any or all information within the Fidelius Charm would now be cast out until said Secret Keeper revealed the information to them once more.

In the end, they decided to make the secret the operation itself. Sirius would be the sole possessor of the location of FUVP and ultimately the Order of the Phoenix, since the location would be the same including the Horcruxes themselves, and Remus would be the sole possessor of the information gathered on Voldemort, including his followers and his crimes. By putting Sirius as the Secret Keeper of Number Twelve, this also meant that Kreacher was kept safely in on the secret as being the elf of the Black Family, he was magically bound to keep all secrets of his master unless he was freed or given permission to speak of them.

Remus explained that as powerful as the Fidelius Charm was, it was infallible as they both knew. It depended on an individual to keep the secret and even as they both trusted each other explicitly, they knew how dangerous hoarding such a secret could be. So, they decided to tweak it.

Remus remembered how Lily had created a charm to prevent anyone from entering a room if they held any form of malicious intent towards anyone inside of it. It had worked quite well, he remembered, as once the charm had been performed, the person had been immediately expelled from the room. He made notes to add the charm into the complexity of the Fidelius Charm.

Sirius suggested that they also add a charm to prevent anyone from overhearing any potential conversations that they may have about the operation outside of the safety of the charm zone. If anyone was discussing the operation and happened to mention the word 'Horcrux' while someone outside of the charm zone could overhear it, the non-informed party would hear something else entirely. Sirius decided that word would be 'hard-on' and anytime someone said the name Voldemort, those outside of the charm zone would hear the word 'vagina' much to Remus' chagrin.

"Really, Sirius, does it all have to be about sex?"

Sirius grinned. "Think about it, Moony! Someone overhears your conversation and you're talking about how important it is that we find the Horcrux that is concealed by Voldemort and all someone hears is that 'we find the hard-on that is concealed by the vagina!' That's gold!"

Remus chuckled. "And you're actually twelve."

He laughed. "But it's hilarious and you know it! Plus, it's an extra safety precaution, which we can never have too many of."

On that, Remus agreed with.

They worked out a few more kinks, adding in a few others including: The malicious intent charm, a Confundus Charm to disorient and alter the memory of the moment a person interfered, the word befuddlement charm (Sirius choosing all of the codewords to be cheesy sexual innuendos despite Remus' protests), and they divided all of the secrets between the two of them before they mixed the charms together into one.

It took them almost two weeks to create the charm to their specific requirements, but it was worth it.

They called it the Marauder Charm. It kept secrets, concealed identities and conversations, prevented harm and malicious intent to anyone involved or to the location itself, and most importantly — it kept the operation safe.

Once they decided that it was perfect and having tested it on a few random small things, they headed to Remus' home in Wales to perform the charm on each other as if they placed it when they were inside the secret location, Remus would automatically be cast out since he wouldn't know the location of Number Twelve. Tonks was still at the Ministry so they spread out in the living room, both going over their own secrets that they needed to magically conceal.

Remus performed the charm first, moving his wand meticulously over his friend as Sirius concentrated fully on what he was meant to conceal. The Secret Keeper in question had to focus wholly on what they wanted to keep hidden. The wand movements had to be precise and the incantation spoken clearly all at the same moment for it to work. A pink glow emitted from around Sirius and burst into silver signalling that the charm was complete and successful. He picked up his own wand and performed the same charm on Remus with the same results.

They grinned at each other and then Sirius carefully whispered the address of Grimmauld Place into Remus' ear and the two of them Apparated back there and stepped inside.

"It definitely worked," Sirius said with a grin as he led the way into the study where they had moved the blackboard walls. "I can only see the hard-ons on the blackboard wall." He busted into laughter, "Merlin! It even works on us because we haven't even brought each other into the fold yet, and since I don't know the secret, I can only see the fun words!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Let's work the last part of the charm out so that we can both be privy to the information on Vagina."

Sirius laughed again as the charm kicked in for him and Remus grinned.

"You really are twelve, you know that, right?"

Sirius grinned. "Come on, Rem, don't you want to learn more about the Dick Eaters led by Vagina?"

"No," Remus said, concealing his smirk.

The entire blackboard wall was once again available to both of them to read.

Remus let out a sigh of relief. "It's done."

Sirius nodded. "Good. Now we just have to bring everyone else back on board. I'll let Dumbledore know that our headquarters is officially up and running. This room can only be accessed by you or me."

"Blood charm?"

Sirius grinned. "Yes. Since no one will be able to get into the house unless I tell them the location, I think a blood charm will be safe."

Remus nodded as they took a few minutes to set it up; charming the wall to stay hidden as well unless they asked for it. "All right, looks like the Order is back up and running."

"And Operation FUVP is well guarded."

Remus sighed. "I'll write to Adrian."

"And I'll see about getting Arthur and Molly on board."

They both nodded, understanding that it was the start of another upcoming war and neither of them felt very good about it.

~ ASC ~

It was a few days before the Second Task and Harry was sitting in the study hall looking through the many books on aquatic creatures that he could find in the Hogwarts library. He had spoken to Hagrid earlier during lunch about what kind of creatures were in the Black Lake and he had eagerly filled him in.

Outside of the Giant Squid, there were ten other large monstrous squids that lived under the surface and six of them were incredibly dangerous if their territories were invaded. The Merpeople lived in the centre of the lake at the very bottom and their entire village was surrounded by a colony of Kelpies and seahorses who often travelled through portals from loch to loch below the surface. When they travelled through portals, they often brought new creatures with them including a colony of basking sharks who had somehow adapted themselves to the freshwater as they traveled back and forth through the portals, in and out of the saltwater with the Kelpies. There were also Grindylows and tiny black flesh-eating pixies that swam in colonies in the depths of the loch.

Harry found none of this reassuring.

Ron, Hermione, and Neville had been helping him research as much as possible when they were free. Ron and Lavender were now mostly attached at the lips and Hermione was spending a lot of her spare time with Viktor, but Neville was usually around to assist him. He was glad that his friends were happy, especially Ron who seemed genuinely happy to be spending time with Lavender. But as the Second Task drew nearer, he became more and more nervous for what was coming and thought that he could really use as much help as possible.

Ginny was still annoyed with his outburst at her snogging Michael and had been giving him a bit of a cold shoulder as of late, not that he could blame her. He had been a complete git and he knew it, but every time he thought of approaching her to apologize, he imagined her snogging Corner and he saw green again. The fact that he had woken from dreams of him kissing her behind tapestries was simply his subconscious playing tricks on him. It wasn't that he fancied her, he told himself repeatedly, it was just that she deserved someone better than Corner. Neville only nodded at him when he explained his reasoning, but wisely didn't say anything on the subject.

Seamus and Will had also been helping him learn about the creatures under the lake, but he found them distracting as they often ended up disappearing to snog while 'looking for a book' in the stacks. Dean became rather surly at this and as of late he and Parvati had been arguing a lot.

But today, he was alone in the library as he made notes on the different creatures. He looked up when the shadow fell over him and he was surprised when Cedric plopped himself down in the empty chair across from him.

"Hi, Harry," he said, kindly.

Harry nodded, eyes on him. "Cedric. What can I do for you?"

Cedric swallowed carefully before he spoke. "Look, I owe you one for the dragon. If you hadn't warned me about what was coming, I would have been a goner in the First Task."

Harry shifted in his seat. "It was only fair. Fleur and Viktor already knew and well, we should all have a fair footing."

He nodded. "I agree. Did you figure out the clue for the Golden Egg yet?"

"I think so," he admitted, not sure how much he wanted to give away. He did agree with keeping it fair, but it was a competition after all.

"So, you put it under the water, then?"

"Yes," Harry told him. "I heard the song if that's what you're asking."

Cedric nodded and leaned across the table. "I was speaking to my friend about how the 'taken' in question is supposed to be something that we value above all else."

"I know."

Cedric shook his head. "No, I don't think that you quite understand, Harry. The poem never directly says the word object. It's 'taken what you'll sorely miss' which means it is something or someone who is important to you."

Harry's brow furrowed. "What? They're going to kidnap a person?"

Cedric nodded. "It's what I think, yeah."

"But they — how would they — no!"

Cedric shrugged. "I didn't say that I agreed with it only that it's what I think they are leaning towards doing. I just came to this conclusion myself and I thought that you should be made aware. And for the record, Harry, good luck."

Harry watched him hurry off and his eyes stayed wide.

He had to master that charm!

There was no way that he was going to lose anyone to this tournament. He closed his books and stuffed everything into his bag before he called for Dobby. He was skipping History of Magic today, he thought bitterly. He had to learn that charm, no matter how long it took him to do so.

~ ASC ~

Sirius found his son lying on the Sidmouth Town Beach, gasping for breath two hours later. The sight of him lying near the water made his breath hitch in relief. Harry had been missing for over two hours and no one had any idea where he had gone except that he was clearly no longer on the Hogwarts grounds. Sirius had been livid. He had never felt more terrified in his life. He crossed his arms in front of him, his grey eyes relieved at the sight of Harry, but his voice still came out like steel.

"Are you cold?"

Harry's head snapped up and he looked over at his father. "I think that I got it!"

Sirius' eyes widened, momentarily distracted by his son's good news. "Actually?"

Harry nodded and sat up. "Yeah! I've been in the water for almost an hour. It was amazing, Uncle Siri! I could breathe and I could talk and my body temperature evened out so that I wasn't even cold. It was incredible!"

Sirius grinned and helped him to his feet. "That's great, Harry. I'm proud of you."

And then he cuffed him across the head.

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Oh, well, let's see," Sirius said, ticking off his offences on his fingers. "Skipping class, sneaking out of school to come to the beach, attempting a Scuba Diving Charm without supervision where you could have drowned… should I say more?"

Harry stared down at his feet. "I'm sorry. I just… I'm running out of time and I had to master this!"

"And you did and I'm happy for you. But we had this talk in September when you snuck out during the full moon. You are not to leave school without permission! How did you get out of the school anyway?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Dobby."

Sirius snorted. "Maybe having you take on that elf wasn't such a good idea after all."

Harry crossed his arms in front of his chest in annoyance. "Look, I want to try the charm again. Will you watch and supervise so that I won't drown?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "This is not a laughing matter, Harry! Underwater charms are tricky and you should never be attempting breathing charms without someone nearby to assist you."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, looking at Sirius, his eyes pleading. "I just… I wanted to learn it. I didn't think about it like that."

"You didn't bloody think at all," Sirius told him. He sighed in exasperation as Harry's green eyes pleaded at him. "Go on then. Show me this charm."

Harry grinned as Sirius moved into the water with him, wincing at the feel of the cold. Sirius' eyes widened as he watched the charm cover Harry's head and he heard Harry yelp in joy. He brandished his wand around in the water, shooting small spells and lighting his wand to see through the water. Sirius broke the surface, grinning as he saw Harry take the charm off and follow him up to the surface.

"I've got it!"

Sirius hugged him tightly when they got to the shore. "Yeah, you've got it." He performed a quick drying and warming charm on them both before he Apparated them both to Black Cottage where McGonagall was sitting in the living room drinking tea.

"Hello, Harry," she said, sternly making him gulp.

Sirius squeezed his shoulder lightly. "Punishment comes even for champions, Harry."

Harry took the loss of points and the week's worth of detention from her without protest. She told him that his detention would start the night after the Second Task so that she didn't deter him from his preparations. Since it was only three days away, he wasn't sure if it was that helpful.

After she left, Harry told Sirius about his conversation with Cedric and how he thought the Merpeople were going to kidnap a person.

"So, you have to be extra careful, okay? You can't be stuck under the water! You just can't be!"

Sirius held his son tightly and kissed his forehead. "Harry, I love you. No, look at me," he said, framing his son's face in his hands as Harry rolled his eyes at him. "You're an incredible wizard and I am so proud of you sometimes that when I look at you I want to burst. You are a Hogwarts Champion and even if I am kidnapped by the Merpeople, I trust you to find me down there and to bring me to safety. You are ready for this."

Harry nodded and hugged him tight. "I'm ready."

Sirius kissed the top of his son's head. "Okay, now let's get you back to school. Try not to worry about who or what is going to be waiting for you under the water. No matter who or what it is, I know that you can rescue it or them safely. I trust you."

Harry nodded, feeling slightly better.

"And in case for some unknown reason, your brilliant new Scuba Diving Charm doesn't work," Sirius said, moving to grab a jar from the coffee table. "I found you some Gillyweed."

Harry beamed at him and hugged him again. "Where?"

"I have my sources," Sirius said with a smirk. "Now go on, back to school. Remus said that you can use his suite to practice your spells over the next few days. I'll see you on the twenty-fourth. Oh, and Harry? If you sneak out of school again, you will be grounded until your forty-five and serving detention alternately between Remus and Auntie Minnie for the rest of your Hogwarts education. Clear?"

Harry grimaced at his father and accepted the Gillyweed. "Clear."

~ ASC ~

When the day of the twenty-fourth was finally upon them, Harry found himself feeling incredibly nervous. He had practiced the charm a few more times in the Black Lake yesterday afternoon, but he was still anxious and feeling a bit unsure. The deeper he dove into the lake, the more creatures he was going to come across and most of them were incredibly dangerous. Not to mention the idea that someone could be down there because of him…

He had met the other champions in the tent and changed into the wetsuit they provided him with. His was in Gryffindor colours, the Hogwarts crest once more across his chest with his name on his back. He had just finished changing when Ron burst into the tent, his eyes wide.

"Harry!"

"Ron, what's going on?"

Ron shook his head, grabbing his friend's shoulders. "Harry, I can't find Hermione or Ginny and they would never miss your big moment like this!"

Harry stared at him. "Well, Ginny's still a bit peeved at me. We had a bit of a row," he admitted, remembering how he had almost hexed Michael Corner in the hall. She had barely spoken to him since.

Ron ignored this. "Peeved is one thing, Harry, but you know that she wouldn't miss your task! And Hermione is missing too, and I even asked Krum and he hasn't seen her either. Colin said that he hasn't been able to find Ginny anywhere since Dumbledore asked her to his office last night and her roommates said that she never came to bed!"

A ball of fear pitted itself into the bottom of Harry's stomach. Cedric had tried to warn him that the Merpeople might take a person, but he hadn't said anything about them taking two.

"Ron, they've taken what I'll sorely miss."

Ron stared at him for a moment and then his eyes widened. "You mean — the Merpeople took them!"

Harry's heart began to pound wildly in his chest and he could hear the blood roaring in his ears. "They took… I'll get them back, Ron. I'll get them both back."

Ron nodded, slapping his friend on the shoulder. "I know you will." He pulled Harry close for a one-armed hug. "Good luck, mate."

Harry held onto Ron a moment longer before he slapped his friend on the back and watched him sneak out of the tent. Harry's blood was still still roaring in his ears. They had no right to kidnap his friends. He had been thinking that it would be Sirius, he had prepared himself to deal with rescuing Sirius, but to have to save Ginny and Hermione… it was too much. How could they play with people's lives like that?

Harry moved out onto one of the docks that had been erected into the middle of the Black Lake. Stands surrounded the lake so that everyone could watch the Second Task, though Harry wasn't sure if they would even be able to see anything considering the champions would be spending all of their time under the water.

The judges table was full of Dumbledore, Bagman, Karkaroff, Maxime, and to Harry's surprise, Percy Weasley. As Junior Assistant to Crouch, they had assigned him as a judge to the Second Task until they finished choosing a new Head for the Department of International Magical Cooperation since he had been attending the other tournament related tasks while Crouch had been under the weather, or as they knew now, being tortured.

Bagman used the Sonorous Charm on himself and his loud voice echoed across the lake. "I welcome you all to the Second Task of the TriWizard Tournament! Today, each of your champions will be diving below the surface of the Black Lake to find the people that they will miss the most."

Loud cheers erupted from the stands and Harry snuck a look at the other champions. Viktor's face was set in a determined grimace, Cedric looked slightly green, and Fleur was radiating with rage. Good, he thought. They weren't going to take this lying down any more than he was.

He stood on the dock looking out at the smooth, dark canvas of the Black Lake. His heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't believe that the organizers of this tournament would do something as dangerous and reckless as kidnapping people and placing them under the water.

And she was…

They were…

He closed his eyes, fisting his hands at his sides. If anyone hurt Ginny, he was going to hurt them, he thought bitterly. And to have taken Hermione as well… why did he have two people to rescue? That didn't seem fair.

He heard the bell go off, signalling that it was time for the champions to start the task and he immediately dove into the Black Lake. The water was freezing and he could feel his limbs seizing from the impact of the cold water. His fingers felt like they were already starting to go numb.

He pulled his wand from his thigh holster and encircled it around his head, pointing downwards as he said as clearly as he could with water gushing into his throat and making him choke, "Respirare!"

He felt the effects of the Scuba Diving Charm immediately. He felt the jolt of oxygen rush into him and he breathed in relief as his body temperature seemed to regulate to the temperature of the water. He took a deep breath, pleased as his glasses stayed water free and he could see clearly through the depths of the lake as if he had special underwater lenses in them. The charm allowed for him to see, hear, breathe, and speak as if he was on land.

He swam lower, but he wasn't moving very fast. He wished that he knew how to swim a little bit faster, he thought as he watched a small blue fish move lower into the lake. Inspiration dawned on him, and using one of the suggested spells that Zee had given him, he pointed to his feet and said, "Caudal pinna," and watched in amazement as a pale blue caudal fin appeared over his feet, giving him the ability to swim like a fish. The sight of it bolstered his confidence as he dove deeper into the lake, breathing easily as he swam below the surface and through the thick seaweed and underwater plants that surrounded him.

The deeper he swam, the more he came to the conclusion that it was incredibly eerie below the water.

Unlike swimming in the English Channel, this was darker. Everything seemed to give off a greenish-blue glow and seemed dim, but bright at the same time. It was a completely different world; full of flora and fauna and plants like he had never even seen before. The water made them look alive as they moved in the waves and he watched in fascination as one particular green leaf seemed to rise up, slipping over his fin as he swam over it as if attempting to touch him.

He watched fish swim by him, some seeming to look at him in confusion, but most just swam as if he wasn't there. A family of small tiny black fish the size of bottle caps moved in his direction. He shifted slightly to let them swim past and then gasped when they immediately attached themselves to his chest. He reached down to pull them off and choked when their tiny teeth seemed to sink through his wetsuit and into his flesh like leeches. Flesh-eating water pixies, he thought in horror, as he tried to remember what Hagrid had told him about them. Blood speckled the water as Harry struggled, shaking his body in an attempt to free himself. He pointed his wand at them and yelled out the first spell that he could think of.

"Evanesco fish!"

The fish vanished in a loud pop and he let out a sigh of relief, blood still speckling the water as he swam, his eyes peeled for anything else that might look harmless and not be. He dove deeper below the surface, past the little mountains and turrets which looked almost like an underwater cavern. The smooth surfaces of the rock seemed to glisten with a dusting of gold as if jewels had once graced the surface. He touched the rock as he swam past, moving through the thick tangle of seaweed and grassroots that seemed to stretch as high as the trees.

The green creature that appeared in front of him with its long teeth bared, startled him. Sharp teeth dug into his wrist as he attempted to disentangle himself from the creature. The sharp horns and the slimy green claws dug harder into his arm as another sickly green creature reached out to grab his leg.

Harry fought them off, kicking and squirming before he finally pointed his wand and yelled, "Vi Calida Aqua!"

The jet of boiling hot water that shot from his wand hit the first Grindylow straight in the eye and he let out a strangled scream that echoed in the water. He turned his wand on the second one and when the jet of water hit him, he shrieked as well before they both took off in the opposite direction, shooting him dirty looks from over their shoulders.

Harry swam through the thick seaweed, trying to get deeper into the lake and to find the underwater village of the Merpeoples. The shadow that seemed to hover over him had him looking up in alarm as the entire surface above his head seemed to disappear. Something large and dark floated above him and he moved deeper below the water, deciding that it was best not to find out what had darkened the area just as a large tentacle swiped the surface of the rock that he had been resting by.

The long tentacle brushed his leg almost seductively and he shivered, attempting to swim deeper. His attempts were thwarted as the tentacle, almost twice his own height in length, wrapped around his left leg and tugged. He yelped, the bubbles in the water reacting to him and escaping his lips as he was suddenly pulled up and around as a second long tentacle wrapped around his waist and began to squeeze. The first tentacle slid between his legs, trapping him further and when he attempted to get loose, the squid squeezed tighter. Harry made to point his wand at one of the legs and another tentacle seemed to slip out and trap his right arm against his body.

He struggled, attempting to get free to no avail. Harry closed his eyes for a moment. If he could just focus and concentrate on how the squid was holding him, maybe he could break free. He remembered sitting amidst the Devil's Snare in his first year in his attempt to reach the Philosopher's Stone and how not struggling had helped him slip free of the dangerous leaves. He stopped struggling and stayed perfectly still as the squid's long legs seemed to slip and slide over his legs and chest. The one holding him quivered for a moment and then to his relief, let go. He found himself falling slowly to the bottom of the loch floor.

But then the squid's dark eye seemed to lock on him, realizing what he had done, and it dove, tentacles outstretched and Harry gripped his wand, pointing it up at the squid and screamed, "Remordeat!"

The stinging hex shot out and slapped the squid's undercarriage and it let out a sound of rage. Harry attempted to hex it a second time, but before he could, he watched in horror as a long tentacle flung out and swung up to the body of the squid, holding tightly to the flailing figure of Fleur Delacour. A second arm seemed to wrap her tighter before grabbing her by the throat and the Bubble Head Charm that she had been using, suddenly popped.

Fleur's eyes bulged as water seemed to gush into her and Harry knew that if he didn't get to her in the next minute or so, she was going to drown. He aimed his wand at the first squid and shot another stinging hex, this one hitting one of the tentacles around Fleur. The leg convulsed in pain, but it didn't let go so he tried a stunning spell. It seemed to do the trick as the squid froze and shook and Fleur was left dangling in the water. Harry sent another stunning hex at the other squid who was moving towards Fleur in the water. It hit the squid head on and it dropped to the bottom of the lake in slow motion.

Harry immediately swam towards Fleur, ignoring the two large squids who were sinking slowly in the water and starting to shake off the stunners at the same time. He grabbed her hand tightly before he tugged her lower into the lake as the large squid on the left's one eye seemed to watch him with suspicion. He could feel the anger of the creature and he knew that if he was forced to fight it, he had no real way of defending himself. The long tentacle flicked towards them again and Harry's arm gripped Fleur's waist as he pulled her into his arms and rolled through the water, crashing behind a rock as the tentacle slammed into the area where they had just been, leaving a long trail of bubbles behind.

He ducked behind the rock, grabbing Fleur on either side of her cheeks and pulled her lips to his, breathing deeply into her mouth. His lips brushed hers as he pulled away and he tugged the Gillyweed from his pocket, shoving it into her mouth.

"Chew!" he demanded.

Fleur did as she was told and then her eyes widened as she was suddenly hit with an influx of oxygen and she choked, gagging before she took a deep breath, gills forming on the side of her neck and Harry watched in fascination as her hands feet became webbed.

"Merci!"

He grinned, the sound of her voice muffled by bubbles, but he still understood her. "De rien. Nous devons continuer!"

Fleur nodded, her eyes moving upwards to look for signs of the squid. And then she grabbed Harry's arm in shock as the entire lake around them suddenly turned to pitch darkness.

Harry felt the ink touch him before he realized what it was. It felt like acid, bubbling on his skin and into his arm and he knew by the feel of Fleur's tight grip on his arm that she was experiencing the same. He lit his wand, illuminating a long stream of light through the inky darkness and caught sight of one of the squids diving towards them, its large jaws opened as he if it planned to devour them and he shot a reducto curse towards it. The squid screamed and bellowed and blood seeped from it, mixing with the ink.

It seemed to do the trick because it took off and barrelled in the opposite direction, leaving Fleur and Harry with burning skin in the darkened water. Fleur wrapped her arm around Harry's waist and pulled him deeper into the water, rolling them behind a rock and away from the squid ink and the feel of the cold water against his skin provided immediate relief.

Both of them were covered in red burns that seemed to bubble and burst. Fleur's beautiful skin was red and blistered and he knew that he must look the same. She leaned in and kissed Harry's cheek before she swam off in the opposite direction to try to find her own captive and he was suddenly reminded that they were supposed to be working alone.

Harry only looked around carefully, checking for the squid again, but he was pretty sure that the squid had decided to leave them alone. He had always thought that the giant squid was nice. He had seen people feeding it and playing with it in the water, but he couldn't believe that the smaller squids were so dangerous when the monstrous one wasn't. It didn't make sense. He shook the thoughts from his head. He didn't have time to think about the squid at the moment, he had to find Ginny and Hermione. He moved around the rock to get his bearings and knew that he had to be at the centre of the lake by now, he just had to get deeper to find the Merpeople village.

He dove through the water, his caudal fin helping him swim faster through the dark lake and he saw the bright light ahead as he approached the large archway with blue flames dancing in the torches on either side. He could hear the singing now, soft and beautiful in an eerie and creepy way.

Come seek us where our voices sound

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching, ponder this

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour — the prospect's black

Too late, it's gone,

It won't come back.

He held his wand in front of him as he passed the two Merman guards by the arch, each with tall spears, but they only watched him approach cautiously, making no move to stop him.

Harry swam through the doorway and into a city unlike anything that he had ever seen before. Towering turrets made from rock and stone seemed to glisten in the water in bright bejewelled colours and covered in flora and fauna looking like an underwater jungle. One of them seemed to rise higher than the rest with a tall tower that seemed to be beckoning him forward. He increased his speed, swimming faster and around the tower to the courtyard where he saw the four figures, each tied to a mast amidst the ruins of a large ship.

The ship itself had to be at least a few centuries old. It looked like it had once belonged to pirates with the tall masts, the wooden wheel, and the old cannon balls situated around the deck of the ship. The ship itself was covered in green algae, giving off an eerie glow and making the ship look even more sunken and broken below the surface. Long eels swam in and out of the ship's broken windows, a few of them hovered near the tall masts.

The fiery red hair seemed to glisten in the eerie light as he made his way towards Ginny. He put his fingers to her neck, breathing in relief to feel the steady pulse there. She was obviously in some form of enchanted sleep that allowed her to breathe beneath the water. His eyes darted side to side to see Hermione next to her, equally as unconscious and next to her was Cho and then a girl who had to be Fleur's sister by the silvery blonde of her hair.

Harry's eyes darted around him, but he saw no one else in sight.

If there were only four captives here, that meant that Hermione wasn't for him, he realized. He stared at his friend for a moment, surprised to come to the conclusion that Hermione Granger was Viktor Krum's captive. He looked around again quickly, but there was no sign of the three other champions.

What if the other champions had been attacked by the squid like he and Fleur? What if they weren't able to find their captives? When the hour was up and they hadn't arrived to rescue them, did that mean that the Merpeople were going to keep them?

The thought of taking Ginny and running seemed compelling, but he knew that he couldn't just leave the others here when he didn't know if they were going to be saved or not. He pulled the pocket knife that Sirius had given him for Christmas from his pocket and cut the ropes around Ginny's legs and hands. She immediately began to float away and he wrapped an arm round her waist, pulling her into his arms, her long red hair flowing around him and blocking his view.

He grabbed her wrist, finding the hair tie that she always kept there, and carefully tied her hair back. His arms held her tightly as he looked around again, but there was still no sign of any of the other champions. He wrapped Ginny's legs around his waist, attempting to lock her in place before he moved towards Hermione. But the water and her unconscious form fought against him, and he felt Ginny start to float away and out of his arms. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her into his arms again.

He locked Ginny's arms around his neck and said, "Incarcerous!" Ropes tied her hands and kept her in place before he did the same with her legs around his waist, locking her tightly around his body. Her breasts were pushed against him and he couldn't stop himself from looking down at them, the material of her shirt seeming to soak to her skin… he cursed himself. This was hardly the time for him to have to deal with this. The fact that his erection was clearly pressed against her leg was something he would have to deal with after.

He held her tightly in his arms, careful to keep his hands on her waist and back before he turned towards Hermione

The moment he touched his friend's hands, he was surrounded by twenty Merpeople, all of them pointing their spears directly at him.

"You must only take one!"

"But she's my friend, too!"

The tall Merman in the centre only shook his head. "Only one or you will be forced to fight us, wizard!"

Harry held his wand up to do just that when they suddenly all turned and scrambled away in horror and Harry hugged Ginny tightly, burying her face in his neck as his eyes widened in alarm.

A shark was barreling towards them at high speed, his large jaws open wide as he moved towards Hermione. The look of the legs and black wetsuit covering the second half of his body made Harry sigh in relief. He handed Viktor his knife and the shark seemed to nod at him, returning the knife before he took off with Hermione cradled in his arms.

Harry looked around frantically as Cho and the young girl stayed tied to the mast. He glanced down at his watch and saw that he only had ten minutes left to reach the surface before his time was up. He moved towards the two girls again and the Mermen surrounded him, spears pointed just as Cedric, a Bubble Head Charm making his head look like it was trapped in a fishbowl, appeared next to him. He used a severing charm on the ropes, grabbed Cho, and took off.

Harry looked up at the surface again and shook his head, his arms still wrapped protectively around Ginny. Fleur had been right behind him after the squid. Something must have happened. He wrapped Ginny more securely in his arms, checking to make sure that she was still tied into place before he moved towards the young girl. He sent a stunner at the Merpeople and they shrieked and scattered. He shifted Ginny to his right side before he cut the ropes and carefully maneuvered the girl into his arms, wrapping her around his other side as he held on. He held both of them for a moment, trying to figure out how he was going to swim with the both of them securely in his arms.

He kicked his caudal fin desperately and moved only a little, but he slowly managed to swim out of the courtyard only to find himself surrounded once more by the Merpeople. Their spears were all pointed at him.

"Only one prisoner per champion. You must leave the child with us."

"No!" Harry bellowed, raising his wand.

An arrow flew past his head and he rolled, holding onto the girls as tightly as he could and watched as a Merman riding a giant water horse barrelled towards him. Harry pointed his wand at the Merpeople and yelled, "Flipendo!" and the Merman fell back, flipping backwards off of the Kelpie and Harry grabbed a hold of the mane of the large seahorse.

The large head turned towards him, green eyes staring and he carefully flew onto her back. The Kelpie swerved and bucked as if attempting to rid herself of her new riders. Harry stroked the neck of the water horse the way that he had Cloud Dancing, whispering reassurances to her. The Kelpie continued to fight him, but Harry kept stroking the neck.

"It's okay, it's all right," he purred. "I won't hurt you. I just need help getting these girls to the surface. You're safe with me. You're safe. You're a good girl. Beautiful."

Harry's soft voice and lightly stroking hands seemed to be what the Kelpie needed because she seemed to submit to him, letting out a soft neigh that sounded like acceptance.

"Good girl," Harry repeated in encouragement as he pet the Kelpie. "Will you take us up to the surface?"

The Merpeople had recovered and were now pointing their spears at Harry and the Kelpie.

"Release the girl!" one of them shouted, his long spear nicking Harry's leg.

Harry turned his wand on them as his blood speckled the water and they scattered as the Kelpie let out a roar.

The Kelpie turned its massive head and nuzzled Harry's stroking hand before it turned and shot up like a rocket. Harry felt like he was on his broomstick, flying at top speed through a hurricane as water rushed at them from all sides. The fast moving race through the water seemed to wake the girls and Ginny's face nuzzled his neck as she woke, eyes blinking at him as the Kelpie broke the surface with a huge splash.

"Harry?" Ginny asked blearily, blinking in confusion.

Harry pointed his wand at his head as he choked for air and muttered "Finite Incantatem" and took a deep breath, his arms still around Ginny as his caudal fin disappeared as well. "Hey, it's all right, I've got you."

The little girl stirred from next to them and Ginny smiled at her. Her arms and legs were still tied tightly around Harry, but she grabbed the little girl's hand.

"Hi, it's okay. Gabrielle, right?"

The girl nodded, her eyes terrified.

Harry stroked the mane of the Kelpie with a smile, patting the horse on the side of the neck. "To the docks, please."

He untied Ginny and Gabrielle's hands, but he kept his arms around Ginny and neither girl attempted to move from his grasp.

Ginny's eyes widened as the Kelpie swam across the surface of the water and brought them right up to the docks. Fleur was standing on the edge, her eyes terrified as she reached for Gabrielle, pulling the young girl from the water horse and lifting her onto the dock.

"Gabrielle! J'étais si inquiet! Est-ce que tu vas bien? Il vous a sauvé! Oh merci déesse, il t'a sauvé! Je t'aime, Gabrielle!" Fleur exclaimed quickly, covering the small girl's face in kisses.

Harry carefully lifted Ginny off of the horse and onto the dock before he climbed off after her. "Are you okay? You're not hurt?"

She shook her head, her chocolate brown eyes looking up at him as she shivered. "No. I'm fine. I… what happened? How did I get down there?"

"You don't remember?" he asked, his eyes on hers.

"No, I — oof!" she exclaimed as Percy suddenly scooped her up into his arms and hugged her tightly against him. He had obviously run down from the Judges table and his pale face alerted Harry to how worried he was. "Percy!"

"Ginevra! Merlin, when I learned it was you who was… are you all right? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Honest." She let him hug her tightly and she kissed his cheek. "I'm okay, Sir Percival."

He nodded against her, but he didn't let go, his arms still wrapped tightly around his sister and his blue eyes locking on Harry's. "Thank you."

Harry only nodded back, his wetsuit making him shiver on the docks in the February wind as a warm blanket infused with a warming charm was suddenly wrapped around his shoulders. He smiled gratefully at Zee as Sirius wrapped his arms around him as he kissed the top of his head.

"Fuck, Harry!" he exclaimed. "You were under that water twenty minutes longer than you should have been, Prongslet!"

The Kelpie neighed in delight and splashed the dock, making Harry grin.

"I made a friend in the water."

Zee smiled. "I can see that. You know, Kelpies are water demons, but they can understand human speech. They know when someone means them harm and when they don't. They are playful and sweet, but they can also be very dangerous if provoked."

Harry broke out of Sirius' grasp to bend down and pet the horse again. The Kelpie nuzzled his hand in delight. "She's beautiful."

Sirius placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "We have nowhere to keep a Kelpie, Harry."

Harry smiled as he continued to stroke the neck of the water horse. "Thanks for your help, girl. You can go now."

The Kelpie let out a little sound of delight before she fell back and dove under the water.

Harry stood up again and found himself once more locked in Sirius' arms. "Was I really under the water that long?"

Sirius nodded, kissing Harry's cheek. "Much too long. Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, turning Harry's head to and fro to examine him and frowning when he saw the dark red blisters on his neck. He opened the blanket and saw that the blisters spread to his arms as well and part of his wetsuit looked torn and melted and one of his legs was dripping blood down the ankle.

"Pomfrey, now."

Harry only nodded as Sirius led him over to Madam Pomfrey where the other champions and their captives were wrapped in warm blankets as the matron examined them for injuries. He sat Harry down on the bed, his eyes looking through the open tent flap to where Dumbledore was conversing with the Merpeople at the end of the dock.

Madam Pomfrey hurried over to them and examined Harry quickly. "Squid ink, I presume?"

Harry nodded and winced as she immediately began to rip his wetsuit off, shoving it down until it pooled at his waist to give her access to his burns and she immediately began to rub a salve into his blisters. It was hot when it touched him, but it immediately cooled down and he felt instant relief on the burns.

"The acidity of the ink is poisonous if it enters your bloodstream," Pomfrey declared as she pulled the blanket off of Harry and ordered him to take the wet suit off. "It isn't deadly, but it will make you very sick if not taken care of."

She turned her back to give him privacy and Harry tugged the curtain closed around him, undressing into the warm red sweats on the bed, rolling the left pant leg up to his knee to give Pomfrey access to the spear wound, and leaving his shirt off as Madam Pomfrey came back around the curtains.

She immediately went to work examining the scratches and tiny bite marks before she forced him to drink an anti-venom potion to counteract any poisons that may have filtered into his system. The potion tasted like vomit and Harry grimaced as he choked it down.

Zee sat on the bed next to him, stroking his hair. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. The charm worked great, Zee. How's everyone else? If I was twenty minutes over… how did the other champions do?"

Zee opened her mouth to respond as Remus and Tonks came into the tent and wrapped their arms around Harry. Remus kissed his forehead and tugged him to his feet.

"Are you good to come out and get your score?"

Harry nodded and let his father lead him from the tent. Zee came up behind him and wrapped him in the blanket again to fight against the chill of the February winter air. He moved away from his family to stand with Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur. Fleur turned to hug him, kissing his cheek; he blushed red.

"You saved me from the squid and then you saved my seester! After the squid, I was attacked by ze Grindylows and I never made it! Merci! Merci! Merci! If you ever need anything, 'Arry, I am forever in your debt! Merci beaucoup!" she exclaimed, kissing his cheek again.

He only smiled back at her. "Anyone would have done the same."

"Non, zey would not 'ave. Merci, beaucoup!"

Harry nodded at her, blushing when she kissed his cheek again just as Bagman called them to attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We are ready to tally the scores! But first, Professor Dumbledore has something that he would like to say."

Dumbledore stood up, beaming at the crowd. "After speaking with King Lir of the Merpeople, I was informed of what happened below in the village. It seems that despite arriving last, Mr Potter arrived at the courtyard first of the champions and only returned last because he was determined to free all of the captives. After Mr Krum and then Mr Diggory took hold of their own captives, he fought the Merpeople for Miss Delacour's captive. He then fought a warrior for control of the Kelpie and shot away from the courtyard riding the water horse with Miss Weasley and Miss Delacour in tow."

Harry's face flushed as he felt everyone turn to look at him. He felt stupid now, he thought. Obviously Dumbledore wouldn't have let anyone die down there. They would have been safe, but he had let his mind play tricks on him in the eerie dark of the water. He should have just taken Ginny and run, he thought, he would have won.

He watched the judges converse for a moment before Bagman charmed a number ten into the air, Dumbledore a nine, Percy a ten, Madame Maxime an eight, and Karkaroff a seven; giving him a total score of forty-five. His eyes widened in surprise. He was in second place next to Cedric and only two points behind him. Viktor was in third with forty points and Fleur in last with twenty-five.

But the Second Task was over and he felt relieved.

Bagman came down from the judges table, grinning broadly at the four champions. "Well done, champions, well done! You all did splendidly!"

Cedric only glared at him. "Taking live hostages wasn't part of the agreement. We entered into this tournament, they didn't!"

Viktor nodded. "It vas unfair!"

Bagman only scoffed at this. "They were perfectly safe and you all did wonderful!"

"Some of us were thrown into this tournament without our consent already so how dare you throw others into the same dangers! Fleur's sister is a child!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes flashing. "You can't just kidnap innocent people and force other people to save them! None of them were even of age!"

"My seester is only nine years old!" Fleur exclaimed in anger, her eyes flashing as well. "If 'Arry hadn't…"

Harry glared at Bagman. "You've already forced me into this damn tournament when I didn't sign up for it and now you're threatening my friends! You have no right —"

Sirius put an arm around his son's shoulders and a hand across his mouth and tugged him back. "I agree, Ludo. None of these ladies agreed to be thrown under the water," he bent his head to whisper in his son's ear. "Calm yourself, Harry. If you punch him, I'll be honour bound to have to help out."

Harry snorted in response and Sirius pulled his hand off of his mouth. "My father's right, none of them agreed to it, Mr Bagman."

"Well, it was all in the spirit of competition, Harry, Lord Black! They were safe!" Bagman said, looking a little worried. "It's all in the rules of the tournament that anyone and anything valued by a champion can be used against them to help push the competition along."

Viktor turned from where he was standing with his arm around Hermione and glared at Bagman, his voice perfectly calm. "If you ever put Hermione or anyvone else in danger for the sake of this tournament again, I vill make you regret it," Viktor said, darkly.

"As will I," Cedric said.

Fleur nodded from next to him.

"Same goes," Harry told him.

Bagman swallowed when he saw that they were all still scowling at him and he cleared his throat. "Er, anyway, I am here to tell you that the Third Task will not be until the twenty-fourth of June. I'll be meeting up with you a bit before then to discuss the task in question. Until then, carry on and best of luck."

Harry moved back over to his family, letting Remus engulf him in his warm embrace, the bite of the February wind chilling him to the bone. Remus, who always seemed to be rather hot-blooded, felt like a furnace and Harry leaned into him gratefully.

"The Third Task isn't until June and I'm supposed to get a hint about it a few weeks beforehand. Until then, I guess I can just focus on my schoolwork and my detentions, of course."

Remus kissed the top of his head. "Good. You deserve a break. How was it down there? What happened? What creatures did you encounter?"

Sirius took Harry's other arm as they walked towards the castle. "If you're up for it, we'd love to watch the task with you in the Pensieve."

Harry nodded. "That sounds great. Maybe I can see where I went wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Harry," Remus said, kindly. "You have a big heart just like your mother and it's one of my favourite things about you. You were afraid the captives were in danger and wanted to save them. Be proud of yourself for that."

"But if I had just grabbed Ginny and ran, I would have been first."

"And your bravery and attempt at rescuing all of them still brought you up to second place," Remus said with a grin.

Harry smiled as he let his fathers lead him to Remus' suite where he made himself comfortable on the couch, wrapped up in warm blankets. "Are you going to bring the Pensieve here?"

Sirius grinned and pointed to the basin on the coffee table. "I might have planned this earlier on." He took a seat next to his son and smirked at him. "So… the person you'll miss the most is Ginny, eh?"

Harry blushed. "I can't believe that they took live prisoners down there, Uncle Siri! Ginny didn't even know!"

"Hmm, but she's the one you're going to miss most, not Ron or Hermione or Neville or Luna, but Ginny."

Harry blushed darker. "She was my first friend."

"She was," Sirius said with a smile, watching Harry closely.

Zee moved to kneel in front of Harry, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes. "You did wonderful saving her like you did. I'm sure that she's going to be very grateful."

"She's pissed at me," he said, making Zee frown.

"She didn't look angry with you."

He smiled at her. "I saw her snogging Michael in the hall and… we got into a row. He had his hands all over her and she didn't even care!"

Zee smiled. "Well, Michael is her boyfriend, Harry."

"She deserves better than him," he said in annoyance.

Remus only smirked at Zee and kissed the top of Harry's head. "Well, maybe so, but right now that's her boyfriend and you need to be a supportive friend."

Harry nodded. "That's what Hermione told me. Can you believe that Hermione is who Viktor Krum would miss the most?"

They all looked up when Tonks came into the suite. "Sorry, I was with Ginny and Hermione. They are both fine. Madam Pomfrey has given them a clean bill of health. I asked them to come up here and to bring your friends, Harry. I thought that maybe you'd want to share the Second Task with all of them."

He looked surprised by this and then smiled. "Yeah, actually, Tonks, that would be great, thanks."

Zee stood up, smiling. "Why don't you ask Dobby to bring us some snacks and drinks? I'm sure that he'd love the opportunity to check up on you."

Harry nodded and said Dobby's name. The elf appeared next to him in seconds, beaming.

"Harry Potter is a champion!"

Harry blushed. "Er, yeah, thanks, Dobby. Do you think maybe we could have some food and such for everyone?"

Dobby nodded eagerly. "Right away, Mas-Harry Potter, Sir!"

And then he vanished with a loud crack again.

Twenty minutes later, Harry was warmly dressed in jeans and a jumper. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna were all sitting on the floor around the coffee table eating the sandwiches and snacks of fruits and vegetables and crisps that Dobby had provided and drinking warm Butterbeer.

Sirius urged Harry to extract his own memory, having watched Sirius do it enough times now, and Harry placed the long silvery wisp into the basin. Harry twirled it with his wand and said, "Projecto!"

The memory began to play in the basin, but also amplified itself up onto the ceiling like a screen. They all leaned back to look up and watch it.

Harry winced when the squid attacked him. It looked much worse from this angle he thought as the second squid moved in and when he tugged Fleur close to breathe air into her lungs, Ron whistled.

"Snogging under the water now, classy."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I was trying to help her breathe, you prat."

"Good thing that you had that Gillyweed," Neville said with a grin. "Where did you get it?"

Harry nodded. "I didn't want to perform the Scuba Diving Charm on her because Zee said that it's harder to perform on another person than on yourself and I'd never attempted it before. Uncle Sirius gave me the Gillyweed."

"Well, the Gillyweed came in handy," Sirius said, his eyes watching as the squid ink seeped into Harry and Fleur. "You saved her life, Harry."

By the time the memory ended, they were all looking at Harry, eyes wide in amazement.

"What?"

Tonks kissed his cheek. "You are such a little hero. You had no way of knowing that the Merpeople wouldn't have attacked you."

"I wasn't being a hero, I was being stupid. I thought that they were all going to die if the champions didn't rescue them," he said bitterly. "I should have just taken Ginny and left."

Remus smiled sympathetically at him. "You made your choice and it worked in your benefit. I'm very proud of you."

"As am I," Sirius said, kissing the top of his head.

"Thanks," Harry said sheepishly letting Sirius engulf him in a warm hug.

Zee kissed his cheek when Sirius finally let him go. "Now, as much as we'd love to hoard you in here, I think that you have a house that's waiting to celebrate with their champion."

Remus nodded. "Agreed. I doubt you'll need anything, but I'll be here late tonight. I have some exciting marking to do."

"Oh, thrilling," Sirius said making them chuckle.

Harry said goodbye before he followed his friends out of Remus' suite and they began to make their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

Ginny grabbed his arm. "Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?"

He nodded, watching as his friends continued on to the Tower as Ginny tugged him into an empty classroom.

"Look, I'm sorry about Corner, I was a prat — I know it. I just don't like him, and I don't want you to get hurt. You're my best friend, Ginny."

Ginny smiled at him. "I know, Harry. The fact that I was the person you'd miss most definitely drilled that into me."

"Of course you —" he trailed off and let out a small sigh. "Ginny, I don't know what I would do without you. You know that, right?"

"Probably something incredibly stupid," she said, smirking slightly. "Harry, you are one of my best friends and I know that you feel the same. If something happened to you, I don't know what I would do without you either. But, we're friends and I love having you watch out for me the way that a friend should, but I don't need someone else being overprotective of me. I have six brothers who already like to butt their noses into my life."

"I know," he said with a smile.

"Look, you might not like Michael, but I do," she said. "He's my boyfriend and he makes me smile. I like snogging him, even in hallways where anyone can see us."

Harry's face heated. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that."

"Good. As I said, I have six brothers, Harry, I don't need another one. And I can take care of myself."

"I know that, too," he said with a grin.

"Good, because the next time that you decide to meddle where you don't belong, I'm going to bat bogey you. Clear?"

He winced at the thought and grinned. "Clear."

"And Harry?"

"Yeah?"

She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "You were really brave down there. Thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome," he told her sincerely, pulling her close for a hug. "I'm sorry that you were dragged down there on my behalf. It was uncalled for. They had no right to do that to you."

She hugged him tight before she pulled away. "It's not your fault."

"But it is because if you —"

Ginny placed her fingers over his lips. "It's not your fault. And I'm honoured that I'm the person who you'd miss most. If I had to be randomly kidnapped by the Merpeople and put into an enchanted sleep and placed under the water to be rescued by you, I would do it again. I know that you would never let anything happen to me. I trust you with my life, Harry."

He nodded, his eyes still dark. "My point is that it shouldn't have happened. If you hadn't been in an enchanted sleep —"

"— I would have tried to save everyone, too," she said with a grin. "And I would have saved myself because I am not one to sit back and let the men have all the fun."

He grinned. "Definitely not a damsel in distress if you can help it."

"That's right," she said smartly. "Thank you. Now come on; we have a party to get to."

He followed her out of the classroom, his eyes on the sway of her hips before he caught himself. They were friends. A friend that he valued above all others if today had told him nothing else and the last thing that he wanted to do was to do anything that would take her away from him. He watched her hair bounce in the high ponytail.

It was perfectly acceptable to find a friend beautiful, wasn't it?

He was pretty sure that it was, he thought. It didn't mean anything and when he watched Ginny run towards Michael, he only scowled internally.

They were friends and nothing more.

But his dream the other night, the one where he had pinned her against the wall, his hands on her bum as they kissed flashed through his mind.

They were friends and nothing more.

He would just have to keep reminding himself of that.

End Author's Note:

My spells:

Respirare = breath (Scuba Diving Charm)

Caudal pinna = make fin

Vi Calida Aqua = shoots out boiling hot water

Remordeat = sting it

Projecto = to project

Different language words/phrases:

(French) merci = thank you

(French) merci beaucoup = thank you very much

(French) de rien = you're welcome

(French) nous devons continuer = we have to keep going

(French) J'étais si inquiet! Est-ce que tu vas bien? Il vous a sauvé! Oh merci déesse, il t'a sauvé! Je t'aime, Gabrielle! = I was so worried! Are you fine? He saved you! Oh goddess, he saved you! I love you, Gabrielle!

Thanks for reading and please review!