Hey, everyone! Here's another chapter! Hope you like! Enjoy!

Harry landed painfully on his back and lay sprawled out on a bed of leaves. He groaned, opening his eyes. They rolled about lazily for a moment, trying to focus on something, and finally, after a few blinks, he could see the sun brightly shining down from a clear blue sky, the tall trees surrounding him, swaying gently in the breeze. He was still in the forest. Or at least he thought he was.

He picked himself up and dusted himself off, looking around at his surroundings. This was not the same forest he had gotten lost in earlier. Not the common, everyday kind with trees the size of telephone poles all close together and stickery bushes between them. No, this was something out of a Tolkien or Lewis fantasy, a wondrous, otherworldly place where the earth was soft and deep with moss and peat; where tiny white wildflowers twinkled in the green carpet, iridescent bugs with fairy wings flickered in the sunbeams, and every footstep was muffled in the pulverized red bark of a million trees that lived there before. The Forbidden Forest back at Hogwarts was nothing compared to this place. Harry was sure he'd read about this place in one of the books Hermione had given him for his birthday. This was where hobbits and elves, fairies and princesses, knights and ogres had their adventures and intrigues, and where all nature of mischievous creatures lived among the snaking, claw-foot roots.

A brown, snake-like creature suddenly slithered past his feet and disappeared behind a rock. He jumped back a little and chuckled to himself, reminded of a friend back at Hogwarts. The enormous Care of Magical Creatures professor who held such a fondness for all sorts of creatures, no matter how dangerous they could be.

He bent down to pick up his wand and noticed that something was missing. The rag doll, which was his only way back, was nowhere to be found. Wonderful. I'm stuck here. Wherever here is.

His fingers had just grasped his wand when he heard a yelp not too far off followed by a loud splash. Someone was in trouble. He scooped up his wand and ran toward the sound. Terrified shrieks and the sound of splashing water filled his ears. After a few moments, he ran out into a clearing and found himself standing at the shore of a beautiful, blue lake. He stood there, confused, for a moment. Since when was there a lake in Little Whinging? When had there ever been a lake there?

"Harry!!!"

He glanced around, the frantic scream pulling him from his thoughts, and finally spotted someone in the middle of the lake, thrashing about wildly in the water, trying desperately to stay afloat. The person's head went under momentarily than came back up, coughing up mouthfuls of water.

Harry's eyes widened and his heartbeat quickened. He knew her. Her long, brown hair was unmistakable.

It was Hermione!

He made a mad dash for the water and dove in. He felt the cool water soak through his clothes and penetrate through to his skin, sending a shiver through his entire body. But he kept on going. As he swam, he was reminded of the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, a competition he had been forced to participate in during his fourth year at Hogwarts. The first task had not been easy and the second had proven even more difficult. He could still remember the mermaid's song and could almost hear it as he swam toward Hermione.

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…

The Black Lake had been swimming with grindylows and other creatures of the deep, intent on keeping him from finding and rescuing the "treasure" that had been taken from him during the night. And had it not been for his determination to rescue not just Ron but the others as well, he would have received first place instead of third. But the judges had been gracious that day and had awarded him second place for what Dumbledore had called "moral fiber."

But there was only one person in need of rescuing today, and this time Krum was not there to save her. But Harry was. And he fought the water bravely trying to get to her in time.

"I'm coming, Hermione!" Harry called as Hermione's head disappeared beneath the water for a second time. It was almost as if there was something down there, pulling on her. Trying to drown her. She floated back up a second later, taking in a huge, spluttering breath.

Harry's arms and legs were beginning to ache, from both the cool temperature of the water and the tremendous strain he was putting on them. But he pushed his body to keep going. He had to save his friend. And soon. From the look on her face, Hermione wouldn't last much longer. She was fighting now to stay conscious and her arms weren't flailing around as much as they had been. She was getting tired.

"Hermione! Hold on!"

An hour long you'll have to look,

To recover what we took…

At the tournament, he'd had a full hour to find and rescue Ron. But here, he'd been given even less time to save Hermione.

Harry was almost there when the unthinkable happened. Overcome by exhaustion, Hermione had completely abandoned any form of movement. She glanced briefly at Harry, gently smiling her goodbye, then her eyes fluttered and Harry watched in horror as her body sank like a rock into the murky depths of the lake. No…

"Hermione!" Harry took a deep breath and dove beneath the water, searching for where his friend had gone down. He spotted her almost immediately, floating lifelessly above a garden of kelp, her ankle tangled in one of the vines. As he gazed at her pale form, an image of what she had looked like at the bottom of the Black Lake during the tournament flashed in his mind. She looked almost the same…with one exception. In the tournament, she hadn't actually drowned, she'd been put under a powerful spell. But there was no spell this time, Hermione really was drowning.

Harry swam over to her and began pulling at the vine, trying to free her. But the plant was coiled too tightly around her foot. In desperate need of air, he noted Hermione's exact location in his mind, then quickly swam back up to the surface. He took in heaving gulps of air as he floated there, trying to think of a way to free his friend. He thought about using his wand, but then remembered that he couldn't speak underwater. Not without the help of gillyweed anyway. He slammed his fists into the water, frustrated. His wand was useless here. Magic was useless.

More determined than ever to save Hermione, Harry took another deep breath and plunged into the water once more. He couldn't give up. He couldn't just let her drown. He would not allow Hermione to die. He swam around, scanning the bottom of the lake for anything he could use to cut the vines. He finally chose a jagged-looking rock that had been hiding a starfish. He quickly scooped it up, returned to the surface for another much needed breath, then went to save his best friend.

He tried to saw and hack through the vines with the rock, but to his dismay, the plant would not break. It remained firmly in place, refusing to release Hermione. What kind of a plant was this? He'd never seen anything so tough.

Becoming desperate, Harry began hitting and pulling at the vine with all his might. C'mon, you stupid plant! Let her go!

But it would not be moved.

Hanging his head in defeat, Harry let the rock slide from his fingers and swam up to Hermione so they were face to face. He lifted his hand and touched her cheek sadly.

He couldn't save her.

A single, lonely tear fell quietly from his eyes. I'm sorry…

But past an hour—the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

Oh no…what happens next? Will Hermione survive? Will Harry survive? Review to find out!