The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Harry had the impression they thought that Draco might be dead, but they were wrong . . . he had opened his eyes and was spluttering fantastically.
Harry grinned at him as the applause roared in the distance, though confused shouts, probably at the identity of his hostage, were also ringing out. He didn't allow himself to begin thinking about how they were going to explain why Draco would be 'sorely missed' by Harry Potter. In his peripheral vision he saw Cedric surfacing some distance away. Assuming Krum and Delacour had not came up yet, he was the first back – the second task was a success!
He waited for Draco to stop coughing before moving, but sharp fingers were now clutching at Harry's body, the nails digging in, hurting him, Draco's eyes wide and panicked.
"It's okay, calm down." Harry said, fear prickling at him as he realised within an instant of looking at him that Draco's fear of water was far more serious than he had let on. He was now transferring all his weight to Harry, his arms so tightly around his neck that Harry was listing to the side in the water, feet kicking frantically to keep them both afloat.
"Draco!" Harry said loudly, trying to sound calm and commanding "I can swim, I'll get us ashore – stop kicking!"
Draco's legs were flailing wildly under the water, and Harry winced as feet connected hard with his shins more than once.
"Draco – "
His body as a dead weight had been difficult to deal with, but now Harry was finding it harder and harder to keep both of their faces above water, and he had to fight his own instincts now, which were urging him to push away the flailing mass and swim away. Draco was now pressing down on Harry's shoulders in an attempt to push himself higher, and for a moment Harry was shoved under. When he resurfaced, he had no choice but to fill his lungs with air, and bellow "KEEP STILL!", before he disappeared under the water again.
The kicking stopped suddenly, and Harry was able to swim hard enough to keep his nose and mouth above the waves. Draco was gripping him even more tightly, but he seemed to have managed to stop himself from flailing. He could not keep this up much longer though, he angled himself so that he could see the shoreline near the judges, and saw that several people were pushing a boat into the water.
For a moment he calmed slightly – until he caught sight of something else.
Above the crowd - a blurred mass was all he could make out with his glasses lenses so wet - was an enormous screen. And on that screen was what Harry could not see, because Draco had now pulled himself against his chest, so that his chin was on Harry's shoulder, looking straight at the stands where the camera, or whatever was doing the recording, was.
Draco's face, stretched to ten feet tall to fill the frame, was plastered up for all the world to see. One violently trembling hand was also visible, clasped to the back of Harry's head, which was just a black blur to Harry, but he could just make out his neck beneath it. The fear on Draco's face was evident, even with the water on his Harry's glasses he could see it, and he could just hear jeers and laughter beginning to ring out.
Anger spurred him to take action. Trying to speak as calmly as he could, he said, "Draco, you have a potion hanging around your neck. I need you to take it."
Draco's arms loosened slightly, and he moved back an inch or two. One hand moved to grasp for the potion, and for a moment they were face to face and up close, Harry could see droplets on Draco's cheeks which he was sure were not lake water.
Fighting the urge to curse, he prayed that that much wasn't visible on the big screen, however the shouts and catcalls told otherwise.
"I won't let you drown." Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see himself on the screen, and although sound wasn't transmitted too, he could see his lips moving clearly. There was nothing sensible he could do except ignore it, but his temper overruled him – he quickly pushed a hand above water and flipped his middle finger in the direction of whatever was capturing the pictures.
Laughter roared from the stands, and Draco tensed up against Harry.
"I flipped the camera the bird." He told Draco, hoping to make him laugh, but Draco's eyes shut briefly in despair.
"Camera?" he said, coughing a little as he spoke. Harry could hear the humiliation in his voice.
"Don't think about it." He said firmly "Now drink the potion, I've got you. You're safe. A boat's coming." Under the water, he rubbed Draco's back comfortingly with his hand.
Draco closed his eyes again, fortifying himself, before reaching for the potion. He could barely get the cork out, so Harry took it from him and used his teeth, then returned it. Despite his now violently shaking hand, Draco upended the vial into his mouth. Although he coughed very hard for a good thirty seconds, he managed to get it all down, then pulled Harry closer.
"Shit." He was whispering between little coughs "Shit, shit, shit!"
"You're alright." Harry said "You're going to be fine."
Finally, Draco's tremors grew less severe, and Harry thought that by now the potion must have kicked in – at least he hoped so, because the muscles in his legs were about to give out. The applause had long faded away, and the jeers were growing louder. Looking around, Harry could see the boat, but it wasn't close enough yet. Cedric and his own hostage, Cho, were nowhere to be seen, they must have swum to shore already.
"Draco," he said loudly, hoping that his voice would block out the cruel shouts from the shore somewhat, "I need you to do little kicks – but do them very fast, and keep your legs straight."
Draco complied, but almost immediately kneed Harry in the thigh very hard.
"Don't bend your knees!" Harry said immediately, his hand dropping to protect his more tender parts. "Keep your legs completely straight!"
With Draco following his instructions, Harry began to help him swim towards the boat, though his muscles were burning with pain.
It was Bagman who pulled Draco out of the water; evidently as an ex-quidditch player he must have thought he had some expertise in sports injuries. However as soon as part of Draco was on the boat, the rest of him followed too quickly as Draco shoved the judge aside and almost threw himself onto the deck by Bagman's and Madame Pomfrey's feet.
Harry hauled himself up while Bagman rubbed his ribs where Draco had knocked against him and Pomfrey threw a large red towel around Draco and forced a Pepper-up potion into his mouth, before doing the same to Harry.
By time they reached the shore, a large crowd had gathered, Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Pansy, Theo, and the rest of the fourth year Slytherins fighting to stay at the front. Thankfully Madame Pomfrey kept a firm grip on Draco, forcing him to stumble to the medi-tent. Unfortunately Harry could not hide that Draco was clutching his hand like a lifeline; their arms were stretched tight as Pomfrey dragged them through the mass of people, steam from the Pepper-up gushing from both their ears.
"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered, her hair still sodden from her time under water "that was awful to watch. Is he okay?"
"What I want to know," Pansy said loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the tent (which included the other champions and their friends, as well as the judges) "Is why Draco was Potter's hostage!"
The tent fell silent, and everyone turned to look at his group, eyes seeking the pair out as if they were expected to declare themselves.
Harry froze up. He had not planned for this. His eyes were stuck on Pansy. Why had she had to say it just like that? By the way her eyes were set on Draco though, speaking a silent challenge, Harry thought she was already guessing. He had come to know her ways quite well in the relatively short time he had been her friend, and it couldn't have been completely missed by her that Draco had been seen in his presence so often, no matter how they tried to hide it.
It was Draco who acted. He was only a few feet away, sitting on a camp bed and still wrapped in the towel. His eyes were red and he was still very damp, but his expression was defiant. Harry could tell he was still feeling the humiliation of his panic displayed to hundreds of people, but he merely glared at everyone, getting up from the bed and walking towards the door.
As he passed Harry, he held out his hand.
"Let's go." He said, not troubling himself to lower his voice. Someone gasped dramatically, and despite the tension of the moment, Harry wanted to roll his eyes.
Harry took the outstretched hand, allowing Draco to thread their fingers together, though his heart was in his throat and he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to hide his face or not. Draco walked a little ahead, so that their intertwined hands were completely visible, and Harry fought to keep his face nonchalant as someone squeaked "Oh my god!"
The moment they were out of the tent, Harry expected to be released, but instead Draco put his arm around his waist.
"We're really doing this." Harry said, blood pounding in his ears, eyes searching frantically for a hidden corner somewhere where he could take a moment to discretely hyperventilate.
"Too late now." Draco replied, and his voice sounded strained as he led Harry around the side of the tent where there were less people
For a moment they simply stood, still shivering slightly, with Draco's arm like a vice around his middle.
"This is going to be awkward." Harry said finally
"Are you ashamed?" Draco said immediately, his arm withdrawing.
"No!" Harry said immediately, throwing his arm over Draco's shoulders "No. I – It's just, being stared at all the time was bad enough before. Now-"
"I understand." Draco said quietly "It was hard, these past few months. I liked all the attention for a while, but after a week it got annoying fast. I suppose it didn't help that you just had a few months of reprieve as well."
"I think they're announcing the scores." Harry said suddenly, as he heard the sound of Bagman's amplified voice, and the quietening of the audience in the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows. . . . "
Draco tugged on Harry's arm and they tried to shuffle out from the side of the tent inconspicuously. No one seemed to be looking their way after they had slipped away, but Harry was still reluctant to move too far away from their hiding place, and Draco seemed to understand this as he didn't make him move any further than they had to, though he was craning his neck to see the judges.
"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
Applause from the stands.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was second to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour."
Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Harry saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was third to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Harry could see Karkaroff clapping particularly hard, looking very superior.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect to rescue his hostage," Bagman continued. "In addition, the judges want to recognise his ability to remain calm and act wisely in the following struggle that ensued when his hostage was unable to swim – although the judges voted against awarding bonus points. However...Mr. Potter's score is fifty points."
Harry's stomach leapt – he had gotten full points! He was about to turn to Draco and share an elated grin when he felt warm breath in his ear and involuntarily froze up.
"We're tied with Diggory now," Draco murmured, and Harry shivered with something that wasn't cold as he felt the proximity of Draco's lips to his ear. "We could win this."
Harry smiled, reaching out for Draco's hand again. "We? Who did all the work?"
"I did most of the research!" Draco said indignantly, moving away slightly.
"You spent most of the time procrastinating." Harry pointed out
"Only because I knew it would probably involve swimming in the lake." Draco said, more subdued.
"Hey," Harry squeezed his fingers "you did really well, considering everything. "
"Everyone saw me blubbing like a baby." Draco said, scowling now
There was an awkward pause, interrupted by Bagman's voice.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," the voice echoed over the grounds. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
One month? Harry thought, relief flooding through his veins, that's not so bad. He turned to share this thought with Draco, but he continued to pout and look upset.
"You shouldn't have let them make you be a hostage." Harry said, rubbing his thumb over his. "I wouldn't have ever made you do it."
"I wanted to." Draco lifted his chin, features defiant again "I didn't want you to 'sorely miss' anyone else!"
Harry laughed, then sobered quickly as he saw Ron and Hermione in the crowd that was milling about nearby. "Heads up." He said quietly, nudging Draco, who gulped.
"Maybe we should have kept this low-key a little longer." Draco admitted suddenly as Hermione caught sight of them and turned so quickly she might have been trying to apparate. Harry had to fight the urge to flee as she bore down on them, a strong sense of foreboding curdling in his stomach.
A/N: Well guys, the response to my last couple of chapters was kind of underwhelming. No reviews? That makes me sad.
You guys should know by now that reviews make my brain cogs whir…