Skye didn't think she had ever run so fast. She was already out of breath and she still had to climb all the stairs of the Ravenclaw tower. It was after hours and she was trying to keep her wand dim, but after what she had just done in the Slytherin common room, she needed to tell Jemma. It could not wait. She had already slipped past a few teachers patrolling the halls and now if she could only make it up the stairs.

The brunette was heaving by the time she did so. She had a scribbled note in her pocket which she took out hurriedly. She never remembered riddles so she wouldn't be able to get into the room. Skye just didn't have the head for them like Jemma did, still, getting in would require some work. The hall was quiet, except for her breathing, until she heard someone else coming up the stairs.
"Nox," the light at the tip of the wand went out and Skye quickly hid behind one of the statues. Best not to get caught out so late. She would get into trouble, even if she was the Champion. The Slytherin girl peaked around the edge of the statue and could see by the light of the others wand, it was the Ravenclaw Prefect, having finished his rounds and returning to the common room.

Skye quickly held the note in her hand and whispered an enchantment, pointing her wand at it. Like before when she had needed to sneak a note to Jemma, a white mouse appeared where the white paper had been. She set it down gently and the mouse scampered swiftly through the door as it shut, following the prefect into the common room.

Jemma was lying quietly in her bed in the girl's dormitory, but she wasn't sleeping. Since school had started again after Christmas break, her fears about the second task had also bubbled back up to the front of her mind. After the first task, she had assumed that she, Skye, Fitz, or Bobbi would have figured out what the clue in the black box was, but they still didn't have any idea. They had gotten lucky with the first task, it wasn't even near as dangerous as some of the challenges could be.

A small scuttling noise reached Jemma's ears, but she didn't think anything of it. There were tons of creatures hiding in the old halls and various cracks, holes, and crevices throughout the castle, and the dormitories were no exception. She'd gotten quite used to them, so she didn't even notice that it kept getting closer until she rolled over in an attempt to get more comfortable and had to retain a small shriek. A small, white mouse was just sitting on her pillowcase, staring at her. It had startled her at first, but Jemma's face lit up when she recognized it. The wild mice in the castle were never so purely colored like this, this had to be Skye's delivery mouse again. It wasn't the first time she'd used the spell that year.

She propped herself up on her elbow and reached for the small animal, watching as it turned into parchment with her touch. All the note said was that she should sneak out and that it was urgent. She knew Skye wouldn't send her something like this so late at night if it wasn't important, so she silently slipped out of bed, throwing on a pair of shoes and pulling one of her robes over her shoulders. Wherever they were going, it probably wouldn't be as warm as in the dormitories, where the fireplaces were. She tiptoed to the exit, hoping no one was awake to see her sneaking out.

Skye was sitting behind the statue in the dark, keeping an eye out for the door to the Ravenclaw common room to open. It was late and she knew Jemma may be asleep, but she was willing to bet that she had been up studying, just like she herself had been before she had gotten so frustrated with the black box. The brunette had been so stressed since returning back to Hogwarts from break, and so had Jemma.

It was not unlike Skye to have sudden bursts of violence, as her fight with Bobbi months before had demonstrated well. It was this violence and her frustration on having been unable to open the box that caused her to throw it into the fire of the common room. Having immediately regretted her decision, she went to reach into the flames for it, but the box had turned to ash, putting out the fire. There had been a chill, and with confusion she had reached into the ashes and pulled out a small blank piece of parchment.

Skye had been so surprised she had snatched it up, turning it over in her hands. It had to be a clue about the next task. They wouldn't give her a blank sheet of paper. She had rushed straight away to find Jemma. If anyone could reveal the parchment's secrets, it was her girlfriend.

Skye was still behind the statue when Jemma finally emerged from the Ravenclaw common room, so Jemma completely missed her in a rush to get to the attic and because the halls were dark, almost pitch black. She hadn't seen Skye right outside, so she'd assumed that her girlfriend meant to meet her where they always went when they needed to talk about something important.

The brunette had to scramble from behind the statue in haste, as her girlfriend was already heading down the stairs, probably to go to the attic. She was quiet, still not wanting to be heard by anythings, but she quickly caught up to the smaller girl.

"Jemma," She whispered and grabbed for her arm in the dark. Skye would probably scare her to death just grabbing her out of nowhere, so she kissed her to be silent. They couldn't afford a teacher hearing them up and about.
"Lumos," Skye held her wand up and the light lit up both of there faces, "I had to bring you something," She scrambled quickly into her pockets with her other hand and pulled out the blank piece of paper. "It came out of the box!"

After overcoming the initial shock of Skye jumping out at her and the short feeling of their kiss, the words finally registered in Jemma's brain.

"You opened it?!" She asked, quickly lowering the volume of her voice when Skye gave her a sharp stare and looked around to make sure no one heard her. Breaking rules wasn't really her thing, she hadn't even remembered to stay quiet. Skye nodded enthusiastically and Jemma reached for the blank parchment, eager to see what the clue for the second task was. She was disappointed that it clearly had nothing for them at the moment, but only slightly. Opening the box was probably the hardest part, a simple revealing charm would probably get the job done.

She was excited for the clue, but also curious to know how Skye had finally opened the box after months of research and dead ends, and why she had suddenly come up with the answer in the middle of the night.

"How did you do it?" She asked.

Skye's face scrunched up with a guilty smile, "I may have...sort of...thrown it into the fire," She smiled wider and shrugged. "I was frustrated with it. I have tantrums, you know this." She rolled her eyes and pointed to the paper, "Anyway, when I threw it in, it turned into ashes and smothered the fire, and this was in there. I know they wouldn't bother putting a blank piece of parchment in there, so I knew you could figure out if there was a secret hidden."

Jemma couldn't help but let out a small laugh that she muffled with her hand. She could definitely imagine Skye getting so fed up that she decided to throw the box into a fire. They were very lucky that had been the solution and the whole thing hadn't just melted, or they would be in in a much different scenario.

"There probably is." She said, finally remembering to whisper. Jemma hadn't thought to bring her own wand, so she slipped Skye's out of her pocket. She'd used the other girl's wand on several occasions, it wasn't much different from her own. Holding the parchment in front of her on one palm, she pointed Skye's wand at it. "Aparecium," she muttered. A grin stretched across her face as the ink slowly became visible. She angled her body so that both she and Skye could read the text at the same time.

Skye's eyes went wide as words appeared on the paper and she smiled, nudging Jemma in excitement. She had known the girl could do it. Jemma was the smartest witch in the school. Nothing got by her.

"From the dark realms constellation did I gain my birth, Secret children of Mother Earth, In armour's coat the protection I give, To lie beneath those who live…" Skye tilted her head, eyebrows raising in question as they often did when she was confused. The brunette let go of the paper and leaned against the wall, "What did that even mean? It's a riddle. We open one box only to find another puzzle waiting. They don't want us to figure it out!" She grumbled, voice raising a little higher than she meant it to.

Though Skye was obviously stumped, Jemma's eyes widened and her hands shook slightly. She had to solve a riddle every time she wanted to get into her own common room, so she'd become quite good at them. She knew what this riddle was about, and she definitely didn't like it. The hand that wasn't holding the riddle clenched at her side and she could feel her own nails digging into her palm. The second task was definitely going to be harder than the first.

Skye was waiting patiently to see if Jemma knew what it was. She solved riddles every day so surely it would be a breeze for her. What Skye didn't expect was her reaction. Her girlfriend was suddenly so tense, and it confused her. She took her free hand quickly and grabbed Jemma's, seeing the concern and fear spread over her face.

"What? Jems, what is it?"

Jemma clenched her jaw and loosened her grip on Skye's hand for the other girl's sake. It was clear that her own reaction was stressing Skye out, so she hurried to explain before the Slytherin completely fell apart.

"Dragons. This is a dragon's riddle, I've heard it before." She swallowed a lump in her throat as she informed Skye of her next challenge. Just thinking about her girlfriend trying to fight a dragon made Jemma want to throw up. She reread the riddle to make sure she had been correct about it before she told Skye the rest. "It's about a dragon's hoard, its treasure. I think you may have to steal your next clue from a dragon." She said. She couldn't stop saying the word dragon. Dragons were things she read about and studied, not something she should ever have to see in person. She definitely didn't want one having the opportunity to eat her girlfriend.

The light quickly faded from the paper because Skye had dropped her wand onto the ground and was trying to brace herself against the wall. Dragons?! She had barely been able to handle boggarts and dementors, now they were going to turn around and have them play hide and seek with a dragon?! Jemma had been right the first time, when she had found out Skye had entered the tournament.

"I'm an idiot. I'm going to die. I'm going to be a dragon's over well lunch, crunchy bones and all," Her back to the wall, she slid all the way down till she was sitting on the floor, shaking her head. The brunette's own hands were shaking now, she could see why Jemma's first reaction had been so appropriate.

"Fuck."

"Don't say that," Jemma said quickly, kneeling next to Skye on the stone steps. She picked up the still illuminated wand and held it so they could both see each other's faces. "You'll be ok, we have two weeks to figure it out this time and we know what the task is." She tried convincing her, but she was worried herself. She'd seen how awful Skye looked after the first task and how much it affected her afterwards, she didn't want it to happen again.

"We just have to plan, there's got to be a way. Think… what are you good at that would help?" Jemma asked. She was hoping Skye had an answer, because her own brain was pretty jumbled at the moment.

"It's a dragon, Jemma," Skye whispered harshly. It didn't take her long to get angry when she was upset or frightened. That much had been evident when facing the boggart when she had tried to 'kill' her father. "There's nothing to be good at. What I'm good at won't matter. It's literally better at everything, that's why it's top of the magical food chain," The Slytherin girl shook her head again, looking away from her girlfriend. She knew that Jemma was only trying to help, to console her and calm her down so she could figure out a plan, but it wasn't working.

"It's bigger, it's stronger, it's faster. The only thing I'm good at is quidditch, but with my shitty broom I can hardly outfly a bludger, let alone a dragon! I can't beat it to death with a club!"

Jemma flinched at Skye's harsh words, but she knew her girlfriend wasn't trying to be snippy, it probably just came out. She figured that Skye's level of anxiety was at least ten times higher, she was going to be the one actually facing a beast at least ten times her size.

"There's got to be something…" She said quietly, already beginning to run scenarios in her own mind. There had to be some way to win, or it wouldn't be a task in the first place. If the riddle was accurate, Skye wouldn't have to actually kill the dragon, she just had to steal from it. If she could just come up with a way to distract it, the task wouldn't be as daunting. Skye wasn't very patient, however, and reacted before Jemma could relay this information to her.

"Please, I couldn't even defeat boggarts, Jemma. I'm not any good at this. I'm not a Champion!" Skye scoffed and snatched her wand away, standing up as she did so. "I barely made it out of that dungeon. And by barely, I'm talking the length of a fingernail. It's a fucking dragon! I can't," her voice had risen and it echoed loudly all the way down the stairs. She tensed at her own words before she quickly followed the echo down into the dark, leaving Jemma alone outside the common room. Skye was upset, and deeply afraid. If it was the headmasters' goal to kill them all, it was going to work splendidly.

"The task is dragons. You have to steal something from a dragon." Jemma blurted out. She'd excused Bobbi and herself from breakfast the next morning as soon as they were finished eating so that Jemma could let her know what she and Skye had figured out the night before. She still felt sour because of the way Skye had run away, but she couldn't blame her. She probably would have done the same thing.

"Wow." Bobbi made a low whistling noise, but she didn't seem as phased as Skye had been. It was probably because she'd signed up for this thing on purpose and knew what she was getting into. "Thank you, Jemma. I would have never figured that out." Bobbi smiled. Jemma shifted a little uncomfortably on the stone bench in the courtyard. The blonde was sitting with her side pressed against Jemma's, even though they weren't confined to the crowded space of the Great Hall any longer. "How did you get the box to open?" She asked.

"It was Skye, she opened it, and it was an accident really. Apparently the box is enchanted to reveal its contents when it comes in contact with flames." Jemma explained. Bobbi nodded in understandment and a slightly amused grin hung on her face. She was probably imagining how fire could "accidentally" touch the box.

"That reminds me, I needed to go talk to Skye before class…" Jemma trailed off the end of her sentence. She did need to talk to her girlfriend about what happened the night before, but she also just wanted some personal space back. Bobbi's leg was constantly touching hers as well, and it was starting to drive her a little insane.

"Please stay." Bobbi reached for Jemma's arm and wrapped her fingers around the smaller girl's elbow as she was getting up. Slowly, Jemma sat back down, not really knowing what else to do. She assumed this was about the task. It had probably just sunk in for the blonde that she was going to be facing off against a giant reptile. Well, that's what she thought until Bobbi's hand slowly moved downwards until it was closed around Jemma's. Only Skye was allowed to do that, and Jemma wanted to pull away, but she also wanted to comfort her friend. If Skye wasn't going to listen to her she might as well try to make Bobbi feel better about the whole situation.

"What is it?" Jemma asked. Bobbi had this strange look in her eye. It was a familiar emotion, but she was only used to it when it radiated off of Skye.

"I've been wanting to do something all year, but I haven't had the guts…" Bobbi started. Jemma froze when she felt the taller girl's hand on the back of her neck. This was all too familiar, but it was very, very wrong. None of this was supposed to happen with anyone other than her girlfriend. "Ah, to hell with it." Bobbi said quickly. "If I'm going to be dragon food in two weeks I might as well."

The books in Jemma's arms toppled to the ground as Bobbi pulled her closer and kissed her.

"Damn, girl. Dragons? That's rough," Trip shook his head, grabbing another roll from the bowl full of them before him. He shoved it into some butter before he continued eating. He had been listening to Skye all morning, talk about the second task coming up in two weeks. He was just as surprised as her, to say the least.

"Yeah, I would rather not know, trust me," Skye sighed as she fiddled with a piece of bacon. She wasn't very hungry at all this morning, and had barely touched what she had put on her plate. "How am I even supposed to beat it? Jemma said she thinks I have to steal the next clue from it, but that's only going to piss the dragon off even more. There's no way I could get in and out. They're too fast."

"Looks like you need to do some reading. I bet lil' mama already has a pile of books for you just waiting to be read," Trip laughed then and pushed his plate away. "There are many types of dragons you know. You should probably think up a defense and offense plan for each one they could bring. Tactics will be different. Each animal has its own set of perks."

"Yeah...logically I know thats what I should be doing but...I mean seriously? I came in last on the first task. I hardly made it through-"
"That doesn't mean you won't be good at this one. You gotta turn that frown upside down, little lady," The Gryffindor pat her on the back, which made Skye smile and shake her head at him. He was always much too optimistic for the situation. She supposed she could use some of that right about now.

Both were distracted by the sound of owls. Other students could be heard getting excited, but Skye doubted her mother was going to send her another howler so soon. SHe supposed she should probably write and tell her about the dragons...but then again she didn't know if someone would be reading her letters and making sure that the surprise of the task wasn't given away. She turned her attention back to Trip, but the man was nodding for her to look behind her. When he pointed, her gaze followed his finger where the last of the owls were arriving.

"Oh my god. What is he carrying?!"

Archi, the tiny pygmy owl, was flying steadfast (and with a great deal of effort) towards Skye with the tip of a very long wrapped package grasped between his very tiny talons. Jemma's bird, Strigi was behind them, flapping away for the both of them. The sight was surely something to behold and it made Skye laugh. The little bird wasn't good for mail, but he was at least good for a smile.

"Skye, that's a broom," Trip nodded, hands flying back from the table as the two birds crashed it just short of the plates of food.

"A broom?" Skye reached for the small owl, patting it on the head and scratching his feathers before she did the same to the red barn owl. Tied to the strings that held the wrapping paper together was a small card. With curious hands, Skye reached for it and eager to see who sent her such a gift, opened it up. As her eyes glanced over the writing, she released the card.

Trip leaned forward, looking Skye in the eye. The girl looked frozen, as if she had seen a ghost. "You alright? Who is it from?" When she did not answer, he picked up the card for himself.

"Shit, girl."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Skye unwrapped the broom slowly, cautiously now and her mouth fell open when it laid exposed before her.

"Trip...it's a firebolt supreme. It's a firebolt supreme!" Skye shot up, taking the broom in one hand and nearly tripping over the bench to get away from the table.

"Your father sent you the fastest broom made by wizarding hands?" Trip asked, obviously confused. He knew it was an amazing broom, the best, and it was Skye's deepest desire to own one, but he was concerned at her lack of concern that it had come from her father. She was overwhelmed with excitement.

"That doesn't' matter right now! Trip, I can outrun a dragon with this! I found my strategy! I have to find Jemma! I'll talk to you later!" The Slytherin girl rushed away, leaving the Gryffindor alone at the breakfast table.

She had seen her girlfriend leave breakfast early with Bobbi. The girl was probably telling her about the dragons, which irked Skye a little, but Jemma had made it clear that they were just friends. Skye was trying to put her jealousy aside, after all, Jemma was her girlfriend and they loved each other. Jemma had the right to have other friends. She supposed they all deserved a chance to be able to know if their second upcoming task was so dangerous.

Jemma would probably be in the library and the fastest way to the side wing of the castle where it resided was through the courtyard. She could easily run there and then make it to class in enough time to not be late. Skye raced past other students and then slid through the great wooden doors and out into the sun. She couldn't believe it. Despite the broom having come from her father, Skye couldn't be mad about it. Flying was her best skill but with her Comet, she couldn't even hope to out maneuver a dragon, but with the firebolt supreme…

The broom thudded to the ground. The feeling of having seen her father's handwriting had nothing on this moment. She blinked once, twice, again, but the scene did not change. Her eyes did not deceive her. She was not under an enchantment. Bobbi was kissing Jemma...or...Jemma was kissing Bobbi. Skye couldn't tell. It made all the blood rush to her face and her heart pounded in her ears.

"Jemma?!"

Everything was happening so fast, Jemma didn't even know what was going on. One moment she and Bobbi were talking about the task, the next the other girl had suddenly kissed her. Less than a second later, it seemed, she heard Skye's voice calling her name in disbelief. She pushed against Bobbi's shoulders, definitely feeling discomfort and wanting to get the other girl off her her. She was not supposed to be kissing anyone other than Skye and she didn't like it with anyone else. Her skin was crawling, but it seemed the gentle shove hadn't been enough of a hint to the blonde that she didn't want this. Bobbi's hand on the back of her neck had her trapped, though, and she pushed harder, dying to get the girl away from her. She was sickened by the whole situation, and the worst part was that Skye's voice sounded betrayed.

As quickly as it had started, the kiss was over. It wasn't because Bobbi had finally pulled away or that Jemma had finally managed to push her off, but for another reason. She felt a little bit of the impact as something- or someone- slammed into the taller girl, knocking her away.

Skye had moved with full force, and as a beater, it had been a lot. Her arms had wrapped around Bobbi, using her shoulder to crash into the girl, the impact of which sending them both toppling into the grass. Skye was dizzy, but she was already scrambling back up to straddle the blonde woman. She grabbed a fist full of her robes, just under Bobbi's neck and her right arm was pulled back. Bobbi would remember well what followed.

Bobbi yelped when she felt the impact on her face and the thin stream of blood that followed, running down her chin from her nose. She knew kissing Jemma would have its repercussions, but she hadn't expected her monster of a girlfriend to catch her in the act. The edge of her vision was fuzzy and she could vaguely hear Jemma yelling in the background.

"Skye!" Jemma practically screamed, grabbing the girl's robes. Sure, she definitely hated that kiss and was glad it was over, but she didn't want to see anyone get hurt for it. "Skye, stop!" She yanked at Skye's robe, but her girlfriend just moved her arms until it fell loose, and Jemma stumbled backwards with the garment still clutched in her hands.

"You're not getting off so easy this time blondie! No cameras here to save you!" Skye shouted, regaining her grip on the girl before she wound up for another punch, which she delivered just effectively as the first one. The Slytherin girl lifted Bobbi's head up by the fistful of her robes she had in her death grip, "You leave Jemma alone, got it? Get it through your thick Beau Button skull! Jemma is my girlfriend! Just try your shit again!" Skye thrust her head back down onto the ground, hard.

At this point, Jemma was almost completely positive that Bobbi had a concussion, and she knew for sure that words weren't going to do anything at this point. She gave up trying to yell at her girlfriend and dropped the robes. She wasn't strong, but now she wasn't kidding either. She was actually afraid that Skye would seriously injure another person, so Jemma did what she had to do. She grabbed the back of Skye's collar and yanked backwards, grabbing onto some more of the material at the girl's back to help her pull. Apparently, the only language that was effective with Skye right now was violence.

It took all of her strength to get Skye off of Bobbi and she was pretty sure she'd accidentally choked the Slytherin a bit, but that was nothing compared to what Skye had done to the blonde's face. Jemma fell backwards, landing hard on her ass and still clutching the back of Skye's shirt in her hands.

Skye coughed and grabbed for her throat as she stumbled back with Jemma. The jerk was enough to bring her back to her senses, or at least some of them. She gave a satisfied glance to Bobbi on the ground, nose bleed and all, and some of that blood on her own hands. She used this hand to snatch Jemma's off of her shirt and shove her away.

"I told you so," Skye's jaw was clenched and she frowned at Jemma, bending down only to take her robe back before she marched back to where she had dropped her broom. Shortly after scooping it back up, she went back into the main castle of hogwarts. If the door had ever been slammed before, it was slammed then. She needed to go cool off. Class would have to wait.

By this point, students had gathered around and Professor May had finally gotten to the scene. Her immediate attention went to Bobbi, obviously, because Jemma didn't appear injured, only shocked. She curled in on herself, tightly wrapping her arms around her own body and not even trying to stop the tears welling up in her eyes. Skye was right. The whole time she'd been jealous, she'd actually been seeing the way Bobbi had felt about her, but Jemma had been too stupid and oblivious to notice.

"Are you hurt?" Professor May asked her after heaving Bobbi to her feet and having two students walk her to the medical wing with an arm over each of their shoulders. Jemma weakly shook her head no and finally stood up. May let her leave, and Jemma went straight for the attic. She wasn't one for skipping class, but she was too shaken. In less than ten seconds, Bobbi had kissed her, Skye had gone completely ballistic, and now she knew that they were officially fighting again. They just couldn't get it right. She could tell the fallout was going to be bad, like their fight at the beginning of the year, but this time it was Jemma who had been an idiot. Actually, it'd been her the whole time. Skye was right.