Chapter 7

'Hello Harry, Hermione'.

'Professor Lupin? What are you doing here?'

The man gave her a smile.

'Remus will be just fine Hermione. And I'm here with Padfoot to watch the tournament'.

'Padfoot's here?! Where?' Harry asked, before he was knocked over by his slobbering godfather.

'Ugh…! Padfoot get off you great mutt!' he laughed.

The huge dog barked and clambered off him, giving him a doggy grin when he glared and wiped away the drool.

'When Sirius read your letter Harry he got worried about you. So he dragged me out the house to come to this tournament. Sorry we weren't able to make the first task' Remus chuckled.

'That's ok, although you really missed out' Harry replied.

Padfoot started whining and Remus looked round.

'Is there somewhere we can talk in private?'

Hermione led them to an unused classroom and hit the door with privacy charms. Padfoot bounded over and transformed back into Sirius, scooping his godson up in a hug.

'I've missed you pup!'

'Me too' Harry whispered against the man's chest.

Sirius pulled away and examined his godson. Then he grinned.

'So you and Hermione huh?'

He barked a laugh when both teens blushed. Remus swiped him across the head and he yelped. The Werewolf just smirked.

'Damn wolf!' Sirius muttered, rubbing his head.

He recovered quickly enough and turned back to the teens.

'So, tell me everything. And what's going on with this tournament? You mentioned that you had been chosen for the forth champion?'

The teens spent some time explaining everything that had happened. Sirius let out a laugh when he heard about the Dragons.

'Why are you laughing?! That could have been Harry facing them!' Remus exclaimed.

Sirius coughed and gave the Werewolf a guilty look.

'Yes, but it wasn't Harry. I just think this Heartright character is brilliant!'

'He really looks out for everyone. He's the first person from Slytherin that doesn't seem to care about blood purity. You really should meet him' Hermione said.

'Wait, Slytherin?' Sirius said with a frown.

Remus sighed.

'We'd be happy to meet him Hermione'.

'I noticed him by the lake earlier. He could still be there' Harry mentioned.

Sirius looked ready to argue, but was given a stern look from Remus and the puppy dog look from Harry. Sighing he turned into Padfoot and the group headed out.

OOO

'Julian!'

The man looked over and smiled as the group approached.

'Hello you two. And I don't believe I've met you before'.

'This is Remus Lupin. He was our defense teacher last year. And this is Padfoot. Guys, this is Julian Heartright' Harry introduced.

'Pleasure to meet you Mr Lupin. And yourself Padfoot' Julian said, shaking Remus' hand and giving the two a thoughtful look.

'You can call me Remus. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I have to thank you for taking Harry's place in this tournament. Why is there a Dragon on your shoulder?' the Werewolf replied.

'No trouble at all. Actually it's been a lot of fun so far. This here's the miniature I picked for the first task. I made the animation spell on it permanent and kept it as a pet, called it Shadey' Julian replied with a grin.

Remus nodded slowly, looking bemused. Padfoot made a noise of bewilderment.

'Oy Julian!' came a yell.

The group looked over as Cedric waved and motioned to his wrist.

'Looks like the task is ready to begin. How about we spend some time together after the task? Harry, Hermione, think you could keep an eye on Shadey?' Julian said.

'Sure' Harry replied and the mini Dragon tamely hopped onto his shoulder.

Shaking his head in amusement Remus accepted the invite to chat later and the younger man hurried away to join the other champions.

'He does seem nice. If a little…'

'Yeah we know. He's crazy, but good crazy' Harry said with a grin.

Padfoot huffed in agreement.

'Come on, we should find our seats' Hermione urged.

The group headed towards the boats and were soon sitting waiting for the second task to start.

OOO

'Right now, I'm sure you have by now deciphered the clue. You must bring back your hostage within the time limit otherwise you will loose points' Bagman explained.

He them smiled brightly.

'Right then, should probably tell you which hostage is yours. Mr Diggory, your hostage is Miss Chang'.

'Cho Chang? I went out with her once? For a week!' Cedric said.

'Miss Delacour's hostage will be young Miss Delacour' Bagman continued.

'My Sister?! You have put my sister in the lake?!' Fleur cried.

'Erhem…yes well… Mr Krum your hostage is Miss Lovegood' Bagman continued nervously, inching away from the furious blonde.

'Miss Luna?! If she has been harmed…!' Viktor growled.

Bagman stammered as he was faced with two angry teens.

'Right…and our last hostage is Hogwarts own Professor Snape for Mr Heartright' he finished quickly, much to the amusement of Padfoot who had to be calmed down by Remus.

Julian paled.

'Severus!' he squeaked then quickly cleared his voice and tried again.

'Severus! You actually put Severus under there?! Oh he's gonna kill me! Check that, he's going to kill you, then he's gonna kill me' he said in despair.

Bagman cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the sudden lump, and continued.

'If the champions will stand on the edge and wait for the whistle. On your marks, get set, GO!'

The four immediately dived into the water. Julian signaled for them to gather a little below the surface. Realising the man had a plan the three headed in his direction. Julian manipulated the water to create a bubble large enough for them to fit in, with the exception of Viktor who hovered nearby in his half shark form.

'Sorry about the delay. I thought you might want some help getting to your hostage'.

'Monsieur please! I have to get to my sister!' Fleur pleaded.

Julian nodded and let out a whistle. The three watched in amazement as a trio of Hippocampus' swam over.

'I've asked these guys to help you out. They know which plants to avoid and will stop the Merpeople from attacking you. Oh and don't worry Viktor, they won't be bothered by that cool transfiguration'.

'What about you?' Cedric asked.

'Are you kidding?! Severus would kill me if it was even hinted I was responsible for putting him down here! I'm waiting until the last possible second to get him out. Less time for him to hex me to next week and back!' Julian exclaimed.

Cedric bit his lip to stop him laughing.

'Why wasn't Miss Tonks your hostage?' he managed to ask.

Julian gave him a grin.

'It's against the law to kidnap Aurors. Now get going'.

The bubble shrunk and the three warily approached the Hippocampus. The horse fish neighed happily and each maneuvered a champion onto its back. Julian gave them a thumbs up as they swam off into the distance. Humming Julian then dropped to the lake floor and whistled a happy tune as he made his way to the Mervillage.

OOO

'You got any threes?' Fred asked.

'Rup rawr' Shadey replied, snuffling its cards.

'This is boring!' George whined.

'Enough Fred! Those four are down there in freezing water trying to save others, and you're complaining!' Molly scolded.

'He's not Fred I am!' the other twin cried.

Ron sat in a corner of the stand, in a huff with his family for being on Harry's side, as usual. He was ignored.

Hermione and Harry were looking over the water's surface, sharing binoculars. Hermione sighed and rested her head on her arms.

'This is a bit boring'.

Padfoot made a noise of agreement as he curled up under the bench for a nap. It had been funny to think of Snape under the water though. Remus suddenly focused on the water and asked to borrow the binoculars. Hermione handed them over and he peered through them.

'How long has it been?' he asked.

Arthur cast the time charm.

'Nearly twenty minutes' he replied.

Remus nodded, then handed the binoculars back to Hermione.

'That has to be a record. I've just seen people surface' he said.

'What?!' came several simultaneous calls and everyone jumped up to look.

'We have movement people. It would appear as though…what the…?!' Bagman announced.

Fleur kept a tight hold of her little sister, while Viktor did the same with Luna. Cho was practically choking Cedric, gushing on about how he must really love her if she was his hostage. The others gave Cedric looks of pity as he struggled to swim and keep a hold of Cho. The Hippocampus had taken them straight to the village, then waited for each of them to untie their hostage before gathering the group and taking them back to the stands. They took off before the hostages surfaced. Because of that, the group thankfully only had to swim a few yards.

'They…three champions have surfaced…at the same time… How are we supposed to judge them if they surface at the same time?!' Bagman hollered.

The three paid no mind to him as they were helped up and given warm towels. Gabrielle, Fleur's little sister, was immediately fussed over by their parents, while Luna's father casually went over to check on his daughter, who was happily drying her hair and explaining to a rather confused Viktor about the little creatures she saw under the lake. Nevermind the fact that she was supposed to be unconscious at the time. Harry and Hermione went over.

'You guys ok?' Harry asked.

'Oh yes Harry. I was just telling Viktor about the Smortleanders I saw while I was waiting' Luna replied.

'Fine' Viktor grunted, still getting his head round what the little blonde was saying.

'Yeah. Wasn't all that hard really' Cedric followed, trying to detach Cho from him.

Fleur just gave Harry a nod, too busy hugging her trembling sister.

'Where's Julian?' Hermione asked.

All three champions gave a small grin.

'He said he would wait a bit before rescuing his hostage. Something about having to get out of the water quick enough to avoid being hexed' Fleur replied.

Harry started sniggering, Hermione gave him a look but that just made him laugh louder.

OOO

'Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me 'earties, yo ho. We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me 'earties, yo ho...Oh I'm here'.

He paused to admire the village.

'Now where might my hostage be…?' Julian mused.

He strolled through the village, waving to any Merfolk who greeted him. A large, mean looking Merman swaggered up to him, wrapped an arm round his shoulders, garbled something, then swam off.

'Nice to see you too Kelly, try to lay off the seaweed and clam cocktail!' Julian called back.

'Poor guy's not been sober since he discovered plants can be liquefied' he muttered as he continued on his way.

'Ah, there he is'.

Professor Snape was tied to a post outside the main hall. Three loose bindings showed that the other champions had completed their task. Julian glanced at the nearby Merfolk and cast a quick translation spell on himself.

'You'd best clear the way. Severus will not be in a good mood'.

They looked at him curiously.

'Ah sorry, you wouldn't know him by that name. Scary dark potion teacher man will be angry to be down here' Julian then said.

It was as if a monster shark had just swam overhead, Merfolk scrambled to get away from the village square, yanking the younger less experienced children with them.

'Severus you have quite the reputation' Julian sniggered, canceling the spell and floating up to cut the man loose.

He grabbed the man and floated to the surface, swimming clear when Severus woke up.

'What the…? Why am I…? HEARTRIGHT!'

'Now before you say anything Severus, I just want you to know that…' Julian started, before ducking when the man discovered he still had his wand on him.

'Mad hostage! Mad hostage on the loose!' he yelped and made a mad dash to the platform.

Severus rolled his eyes and followed, mumbling about Elementals not just controlling the water to let them walk on top of it. Both of them were hauled onto the platform and Julian scurried to hide behind Professor McGonagall.

'Heartright get your sorry arse here this minute!' Severus snapped, snatching the towel from the unlucky person chosen to hand it to him.

'Nu uh, I'm not getting punished because someone was stupid enough to pick you as my hostage!' came the reply.

'Will you stop calling me that!' Severus hissed.

He hated being put in a submissive position. Merlin help any deatheater who mocked him for groveling before the Dark Lord, Nevermind the fact that they did the same. Julian did have a point though, and his evil eye turned to those responsible for knocking him out and putting him under the blasted lake. A few people gulped.

'Pleasant swim?' Minerva asked Julian.

'Oh it was great! I got plenty of cuttings for potion ingredients and caught up with all my friends' the young man replied happily.

The sound of hexing and screams signaled the end of the second Tri-wizard task.