Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Wow! Thanks so much for the positive responses to the last chapter! Please keep the reviews coming, they help me keep writing! Thanks again! I'm glad you found it so great, especially that one line a few of you mentioned!

Just to let you all know, this is the second to last update for about six days or so. On Friday, I am going on vacation. I am coming back Tuesday, but my flight gets in rather late in the day, so I imagine I'll probably be tired. So I'll most likely update again on Wednesday. So please enjoy these next two updates, the one now and the one tomorrow. Don't worry though, I definitely plan on coming back and continuing where I left off! I hope these next two chapters keep you happy.

Chapter 34: The Second Task

January and most of February passed in a blur for Harry and his friends. Hogwarts was the usual hustle and bustle, and they continued with their daily activities. Harry and his group of friends (minus Ron) kept talking to the Slytherins, and said group began to open up more and more to them. Helena, the first-year Slytherin girl who had shyly talked to them the first time they had ever had a meeting, began to share her life. Her parents had both been in Ravenclaw, and she had been horrified when the hat put her in Slytherin. Many people in the school had hissed as they walked by her, whispering about how she was going to turn out just like the rest of the Death Eater scum the Slytherin house had produced. She was so relieved to finally find a group of people who were ready to accept her as she was.

As for Theodore Nott, he was continuing to receive harassment from Draco Malfoy and his two goons. The three of them even got in-school suspensions for three days because they hexed him so badly he ended up in the hospital wing. After that incident, he was found to have Blaise Zabini with him at all times. This unfortunately meant that Zabini was next on the list for verbal taunts and physical threats. The Hogwarts staff were now seen hovering around them more frequently. Hopefully, the hysteria would die down soon. If Harry or his friends saw them in need, they would definitely help them.

Harry's therapy sessions were also progressing well. Remus was also starting up with teaching Harry Occlumency again. It was true that he hadn't had any Voldemort-related dreams lately, but Dumbledore still deemed it important for him to keep up with the training.

The second task was approaching, and Harry grew more and more nervous. He and Cedric spent much of their time in the library, reading as much as they could about merpeople. They both had figured out exactly what they were going to do in the lake. The month before, Neville and Harry had exchanged information about the different books Mad-Eye Moody had given them in September. Neville's favorite subject was plants, and once you got him started, you couldn't get him to stop. He unknowingly told Harry exactly what he needed to know about a plant that could help him breathe underwater. It was called gillyweed, and it allowed a human to develop gills for an hour so they could achieve that goal. The following Hogsmeade weekend, Harry was seen going into the store that sold potions supplies, the apothecary, and he bought some with his own money. The only other way to get some was to go into Snape's office, and he wasn't ready to have Snape's wrath flung upon him once again.

The second task was supposed to take place on the morning of February the 24th, right after breakfast. So when that day came, Harry awoke with the jitters, like he had done the day of the first task. As he sat down at breakfast, he glanced over at the Hufflepuff table, where Cedric was also looking nervous. Both of them had talked to Fleur and Viktor a few days before, and both of them had said they were ready. They'd both worked out the clue for the egg on their own, but thanked the Hogwarts champions for their concern.

Harry couldn't help but see that Ginny and Hermione were missing from the table. "Hey, Ron, where's your sister?" he asked curiously.

"Why do you want to know?" demanded Ron suspiciously.

"Just wanted to say good morning, is all. Is that a crime?" Harry asked testily. He really wasn't in the mood for Ron to get on him today. His jitters were growing worse with every second that passed.

"All right, no need to get snappy," said Ron, scowling. "I dunno. I haven't seen her all morning either."

"And what about Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her either," said Ron. "This is so strange. Bet they overslept or something. They'd better wake up soon. It's really unlike Hermione, though."

Little was Harry to know that Cedric was asking his friends the same questions about his girlfriend, Cho. It was plain to see that she and Cedric were deeply in love, and growing closer by the day. Harry often glimpsed them walking down the halls holding hands, or sharing secret smiles.

xxx

After breakfast, Harry and Cedric walked down to the lake together. Their friends had all wished them luck, and told them they'd be cheering for them. The rest of the school would be following them down to the lake in a few minutes' time.

"Are you nervous, Harry?" Cedric asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, very," Harry admitted. "You?"

"Yeah, I wonder what's going to happen," Cedric said. "Don't worry though, mate. You'll do fine, just like you did last time."

"Thanks. You'll do great too."

"Thanks."

When they got to the lake, they found Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley, and the other judges, and Viktor and Fleur waiting for them. "Hello, hello!" exclaimed Bagman, beaming. "Are you folks ready to get this started?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry replied. Cedric nodded, also in the affirmative.

"Good, good! When the rest of the school arrives, you will hear me introduce the task. Then, I will blow my whistle, and all four of you will go into the lake. You then will swim until you find the merpeople. They have something of yours which you will desperately want back safely. Your goal is to find the means to get them back. The first person to get back to the shore will receive the most points."

"Is zat all?" asked Fleur, who was looking terrified.

"That's all!" smiled Bagman. "Now we just have to wait for the rest of the school to arrive!"

The seats which had been near the dragons' enclosure were now set up at the opposite bank, rising in stands. After a few minutes, they started to fill up, the whole school piling into them. Harry knew that Sirius and Remus were coming again today, and he could bet that Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur had families that were also coming to see them perform this task.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" bellowed Bagman. "Welcome to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!" The crowd roared with applause and cheers. He then went on to explain the task again. Before Harry knew it, the whistle had sounded. He pulled the gillyweed out of his pocket, popped it into his mouth, and chewed. He almost gagged, it tasted so awful. As he waded into the lake, he wondered again why on Earth he had been put in this ruddy tournament. The lake was freezing cold, and goose pimples started to rise all over his body.

"Good luck," Cedric called to him as he also waded in, patting Harry on the shoulder.

"Thanks, mate. You, too," Harry said in the midst of chewing the disgusting stuff. Once he'd swallowed, he continued to wade until he was waist-deep in water. He could hear catcalls and jeers from the stands as he went further in, and he knew people were wondering why he wasn't underwater yet.

Suddenly, he felt two piercing pains on each side of his neck. He immediately pressed his hand to his throat and saw two slits there. They then began to grow into gills, and the pain was excruciating. He then knew what he had to do; he dove underwater and kept swimming.

He swam for a very, very long time, past clumps of mud and all different kinds of rocks. There was no sign of any of the other champions, any objects he might have lost, or any merpeople. "Hello?" he tried to call out, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a large bubble.

Then, all of a sudden, something grabbed his ankle. Harry looked down and saw a grindylow. This was a water demon that Harry had learned about from Remus in Defense Against the Dark Arts class last year. How do I get rid of grindylows? he thought frantically as he tried to twist out of its grip, but it wouldn't loosen. What do I do? He fumbled in his pocket for his wand. What use would this be? he wondered to himself. "Relashio!" he shouted, but once again only bubbles came out of his mouth.

A jet of boiling hot water erupted from the end of his wand and hit the grindylow. Angry red patches appeared on it where it had been hit. He had to do this a few more times, since a couple of other grindylows swarmed around him. He finally managed to get his ankles out of their grip, and hurriedly swam away.

"Oh hello there, young Harry!" a voice suddenly said from beside him. Harry looked, and there was Moaning Myrtle. Astonished, he fumbled for what to say. He finally came out with, "Myrtle, what are you doing here?"

"You might want to try over there!" she said, pointing to her left. "I won't join you, though; they don't like me very much. They always chase me if I go near them."

"Uh, thanks," Harry said.

"You're most welcome. Why don't you come and visit me in my bathroom anymore? It gets very lonely, you know."

Harry didn't know what to say to this.

"Promise me you'll come and pay me a hello!" she squealed, sounding as if she were about to cry.

"Okay, I promise," Harry managed to get out. Myrtle then floated away from him.

Relieved, Harry swam in the direction she had pointed to. A little while later, he began to see crude stone dwellings. He saw faces looking out the windows, faces with grayish skin, yellow eyes, and long, green hair. They bore no resemblance at all to the pictures of merpeople he had seen in the books he and Cedric had been studying. Cedric had also told him there were pictures of merpeople in the prefects' bathroom. As Harry swam on, some of them left their dwellings to watch him. They clutched spears in their hands, looking menacing. Even though they looked different, Harry instinctively knew they were merpeople.

As he sped on, more and more merpeople surrounded him. The houses were growing more numerous, and the merpeople were talking behind their hands, staring at the human fixedly. Suddenly, a very weird sight met his eyes. A whole slew of merpeople were standing before the houses that lined what looked like a large village square. A choir was singing in the middle of it, beckoning him forward. A huge stone statue of a merperson was also very nearby, and tied to the statue was-

"Ginny!"

Harry suddenly had déja vu, thinking of the Chamber of Secrets. This was the second time Ginny needed saving. What was Dumbledore thinking? This was so dangerous! he thought angrily as he swam towards her. He could also see Hermione there, oh no! And there was another little girl who looked like Fleur's sister. He guessed that Hermione was Krum's hostage. But there was no sign of anyone for Cedric.

He must have freed his already, Harry thought. He guessed Cedric's had been Cho, and he was swimming with her safely back to shore. What would happen if an hour went by and he wasn't able to save Ginny in time, or what if Krum or Fleur didn't show up? he thought in panic. How am I supposed to save Ginny? No evil Tom Riddles or basilisks were there this time, just a bunch of ropes with two of his very best friends in the world tied to them, and Fleur's little sister, someone he didn't know but who was definitely an innocent life. How the hell could these judges and Ministry people allow this to happen? he thought. This was playing games with people's lives! The hostages seemed to be in a deep sleep, and all Harry wanted to do was return with them safe and sound.

He swam over to a merperson and beckoned anxiously to him. "Help me!" he cried.

"We do not help," said the merperson sternly, pointing his spear at Harry. Harry tried to wrench the spear out of the merperson's hand, but its grip was tighter than ever and he refused to let it go.

Harry's mind was going a mile a minute. He needed another course of action, now! He saw several sharp rocks at the bottom of the lake, and quickly picked one up. He began to hack at the ropes binding Ginny. Eventually, they came away, and Ginny floated, unconscious. As he began to hack at the ropes binding Hermione, one of the merpeople swam over and shouted, "Only one!"

"But she's my friend too!" Harry cried. "I can't just let her drown! And I can't let Fleur's little sister, either!"

"Only one!" the merperson repeated, and Harry knew what he had to do. He had to wait for the other champions, no matter what. This was beyond a joke. He wanted to return with Ginny to shore, but he knew how extremely guilty he'd feel if anything happened to Hermione or Fleur's sister. He didn't care if he was the last person to get back. Human lives were much, much more important. He didn't care if he won or lost this God-awful, dangerous tournament anyway.

Suddenly, he saw something monstrous swimming towards him. It looked a cross between a shark and a human. It began to snap and bite at Hermione's ropes, and after a minute, she was also free. Now I just have to wait for Fleur, he told himself stubbornly. I just have to.

But Fleur didn't come. After minutes and minutes of waiting, he knew he could do nothing but try to fight the merpeople if they attempted to stop him from saving Fleur's little sister. They swarmed around him the moment he began to cut at her ropes again, and he furiously pointed his wand at them. They suddenly backed off, looking terrified. He then remembered what he'd read in the library: merpeople were terrified that wizards could hurt them. Relieved that they weren't going to do anything more, Harry succeeded in getting Fleur's sister free also.

It was one of the most difficult feats of his life, trying to swim with both of them back to shore. He swam the way he'd come, past the stone dwellings, past all the other merpeople. When grindylows tried to grab him again, he used the "relashio" spell once more, and they loosened their grips, defeated. Before he knew it, Harry was feeling pains on his neck again, and he lifted his face out of the water. He could now reach the bottom with his feet.

He could see that ginny and Fleur's sister were waking up, drenched and shivering. "H-Harry?" Ginny said slowly, looking at him and the situation they were in.

"I've got you, Ginny," Harry said softly. "Don't worry." Fleur's sister said nothing, just gazed at her surroundings. "Are you both all right?" he asked, extremely concerned.

Fleur's sister nodded, and Ginny said, "I'm f-fine, just r-really cold. Professor McGonagall told us to drink this potion and suddenly, here we were. She explained to us what would happen, I just wasn't prepared, that's all."

"It's okay," Harry soothed, and then they were at the shore. The crowds were roaring and cheering, and Percy Weasley rushed over to them. Harry could hear what sounded like Fleur also. She was screaming, "Gabrielle! Gabrielle! I failed Gabrielle!"

"No, you deedn't, she eez all right," Madame Maxime was trying to comfort her. "Look over zere!"

He could also see Cedric and Cho holding each other, wrapped up in towels. Before he knew it he and Ginny were also covered in them, drying themselves off. Ron ran through the crowd, and the look on his face was a cross between relief and anger. "Thank Merlin," he breathed as he got to Ginny. "Thank Merlin you're all right. What the hell did they think they were doing, putting you in that lake?"

"I'm f-fine, Ron, please stop that," Ginny said bravely.

"I still can't bloody believe it," muttered Ron. Fred and George showed up at that moment, also expressing their relief. Fleur couldn't get to her sister fast enough. She threw her arms around her, sobbing with joy. She also hugged Harry, kissing him twice on each cheek much to his pure embarrassment.

"You saved 'er! You saved 'er!" she wailed. "Zank you, zank you, zank you! You saved 'er!"

"You were wonderful, mate," Cedric said. "I should've thought to wait for the other champions as well."

"It's all right. I guess I was just panicking," said Harry, his face flushing. "I should've known that Dumbledore wouldn't let anyone drown."

Cho was beaming at Cedric, who was still holding her close. None of the teachers were intervening or telling them that they were being inappropriate; they were too relieved that everyone was all right. Krum and Hermione were talking quietly, and Hermione beamed at Harry, pride in her brown eyes.

Sirius and Remus swept Harry into a hug as they made their way through the crowd and to him. "Cub, you didn't need to wait for the other champions," Remus said fondly, stroking Harry's messy hair. His adopted son had such a kind heart; even though he'd been brought up in horrible surroundings, his capacity to care for others was insurmountable.

"Yeah, but we're extremely proud of you, kiddo. You're one of the bravest people we know," said Sirius.

Harry looked at them, his face flushing again at his stupidity. He had just been reminded of Voldemort again when he'd been stuck in that predicament, and from the way his guardians, Cedric, Hermione, Cho, and Ginny were looking at him, they knew that was why he'd reacted the way he had.

When the marks came from the judges, Harry received second place. Cedric had come out with Cho first, then came Viktor and Hermione, and Fleur had never made it because she wasn't able to defeat the grindylows. Even though Harry, Ginny, and Gabrielle had been last to come out, they still awarded him second place because of the chivalry and bravery he had shown in the water.

Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, and as Harry, his friends, and his guardians made their way back to the common room, Harry couldn't help thinking that there was only one task to go and then this tournament would be over. But he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. He couldn't help but feel that before this was all over, something was going to go terribly, terribly awry. As he relaxed on one of the couches with Ginny sitting next to him and Sirius and Remus on the squashy armchairs, he hoped with all of his heart that he was wrong.