It was on the evening before the Second Task, that I found myself trudging through the Entrance Hall, half dead.

I'd just spent the whole afternoon cooped up in a corner of the library finishing the essay McGonagall had set for homework. Setting down my quill, I had turned to stare out at the window just as the sun was setting. The sky was a massive canvas that someone had spilt pink, orange and yellow paints on and then left them to smudge. In short, it was beautiful.

So I had decided to skip dinner and instead go down to the tree by the edge of the lake. I'd been going there often. It was the perfect angle for me to lean against comfortably and stare out over the still body of water.

This evening however, I'd gotten too comfy and fallen asleep almost instantly. By the time I'd woken up, the sun had long since set leaving me to stagger back to the castle using only the dim light from my wand.

If anyone had been watching me, they'd probably think I was drunk as I stumbled over my own feet several times before I even reached the marble staircase.

I had no idea why I was this tired, even after that short nap I had. I guess after a few weeks of minimal sleep my body was finally repaying me.

Grasping the banister firmly with one hand, I focused on getting myself up each step without slipping.

Surprisingly, I made it up one flight. Then another. By the time I reached the third floor, I was growing more confident that I'd make it to my cosy bed without causing a scene. That was before I ran into two familiar faces.

"Lean!" Fred greeted joyfully, to surprise almost knocking me off my feet. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I literally just saw to you this morning," I chuckled, fending off his hug.

"Yeah, but you didn't speak to us," Fred pouted. "You waved and walked off with your 'friends'."

The way he put emphasis on 'friends' caused me to giggle, which was weird as I've never been the giggling type. Maybe it was the lack of sleep.

Standing beside his twin, George rolled his eyes and nudged Fred out of my way. "We're looking for Ron and Hermione," he said. "You haven't seen them anywhere, have you?"

"No, sorry." But seeing the disappointment in both Weasley twins' faces, I suggested they try the library. "Hermione spends a lot of her time there," I shrugged. "Maybe Ron's down there with her."

"The only way my little brother would be at a library would be if Hermione dragged him down by his ears," Fred remarked and George nodded his agreement.

I grinned at that image, knowing too well that was something my friend would do if necessary.

"Come join us," George offered. "As my twin said, we haven't seen you in forever."

I opened my mouth to protest, the prospect of sleep too desirable.

"No," Fred jumped in before I could speak. "You are not getting out of accompanying us this time. Let's go. Ready George?"

Suddenly, I let out a squeal as both Fred and George lifted me into the air by my arms and carried me down the corridor.

Thankfully, the library was only a few classrooms away, so I wasn't being carried long. At the entrance, they put me down but didn't take their hands off my shoulders as we entered the library.

"I'm not going to escape now," I said drawly.

"Better not to take any risks," Fred replied casually.

"Who are you and what have you done with Fred Weasley?"

But before Fred could offer up a response, there was noise of a shutting book behind a bookshelf followed by Hermione's voice. "Oh this is no use, who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," Fred Weasley said, stepping behind the bookshelf, still guiding me along. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

"What're you three doing here?" Ron asked.

"Well, I was kidnapped," I said, sending eye daggers at the twins who only grinned unashamedly. "But these two were looking for you and Hermione."

"McGonagall wants you," George explained.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Dunno…" Fred shrugged. "She was looking a bit grim, though."

"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George said.

Hermione and Ron started to stand, arranging to meet Harry in the common room later.

"Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?" Hermione urged Harry as she left with Fred and George. They'd tried to drag me, but I told them someone needed to stay with Harry.

Of course, I wasn't actually going to stay with the events from New Year's Eve still so fresh in my mind. Once the Weasley twins had gone, I was just going to slip up to my dorm for that long sleep I've been dreaming of for the past few weeks.

But seeing the anxious look on Harry's face as I made to leave caused me to stop in my tracks. I'm not an idiot. Of course, the upcoming Second Task tomorrow would be the cause for a little anxiety, but Harry had assured me he'd figured out the egg long ago. Why should he feel nervous now?

Then it hit me.

"Harry," I said uncertainly. "When you told me you had everything for the second task figured out, you weren't lying, were you?"

Harry's pained expression was answer enough.

All thoughts of my cosy bed disappeared from my thoughts I slipped into the seat next to Harry and picked up the first book.

"Tell me what to look for then," I said and Harry gave me a small relieved smile before explaining what he knew to expect for the Second Task…

"And that's the last one!" Harry exclaimed, throwing up his hands in defeat and slamming the book on the table. Ever since Madam Pince kicked us out of the library, we'd been in the common room, hunched over dozens of books, desperately searching for something – anything – that might let Harry breathe under water so he could retrieve whatever it is was the merpeople in the lake were guarding. But now that it was almost midnight, the number of books to be read was down to zero.

Harry groaned as he hid his head in his hands. "Urgh… what am I going to do now, Lean?"

"Well for starters, you're not going to just give up," I snapped, pulling him back up into sitting position. "I still have one chapter left in this book…"

Harry bent his head to read the title. "Lean, I've read that one already. It's about transfiguring simple non-living objects into other simple non-living objects. It has nothing about transfiguration for living beings."

I snapped the book shut and said angrily, "Fine, what do you suggest?"

Harry paused and then ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, calling out, "Be right back!" over his shoulder.

I sat there, momentarily stunned before standing up and following Harry up the staircase. Harry was already emerging from the forth years' dorm when I reached him. He jumped at my sight, but didn't say anything on the matter, waving the thing in his hand with a grin.

It was the Invisibility Cloak.

With two under the cloak, we had to move kind of awkwardly, but when at last we reached the library, we were awarded by the hundreds of books, knowing there had to be at least one containing the answers…

But as the hours passed, we still hadn't located that book and we growing more and more tired. Harry kept encouraging me to go to bed but I refused every time. What kind of friend would I be if I went back to bed leaving him to face this nightmare alone?

But this wasn't a nightmare. This was reality. It was getting late – early – whatever, and still we had nothing. I was starting to imagine the worst.

"Harry," I whispered. "What if we don't find anything?"

He looked up and stared at me incredulously. "I thought you were the one telling me not to give up?"

"But that was hours ago," I sighed. "If we haven't found anything helpful by now, what's to say we're going to find anything at all?"

"That's the spirit."

"Hey, we talked about this. Sarcasm is my thing."

"Because two people can't be sarcastic."

"Oi! I mean it, Harry," I chuckled before remembering we had snuck into the library after curfew and so laughing loudly was probably not the smartest idea.

"Hermione warned me," Harry said after a long silence. "She told me to start working out the egg clue months ago, but of course I didn't listen."

"Oh Harry, surely by now you'd realise the simple truth of life; Hermione's always right."

"And I'll never forget again."

We shared a smile. Then in all seriousness, I said, "I have faith in you, Harry. You will find something, I know it."

"Thanks Lean," he said sadly. "But I think we both know we're wasting time reading these useless books."

"If you truly believed that, you would have left ages ago. But you didn't. And that determination is what I admire about you."

Harry raised his brows. "You admire me? Lean, you just spent your whole night helping me with something I should've figured out months ago. If that's not admirable, nothing is."

"It's not a competition…"

"Still," Harry said, "I owe you one, Lean."

My stomach lurched as he reached out and took my hand in his. His touch was warm and I could hear my heart beat pick up as green eyes met grey.

And then, just like that, it was over. Harry's hand brushed past mine and he picked up another book, leaving me staring at him blankly. What had just happened?