Chapter 20

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and co. I created Melissa.

"You're sure you're ready for tomorrow?" Mel asked as she ran her fingers through Cedric's hair. They were in the common room: Mel was sitting in an arm chair trying to study and Cedric was sitting on the floor, leaning against the armchair and scanning his potion's essay.

"I promise," he said, tilting his head back to look at her. "In fact, I think it's going to be much easier than the first task. There aren't any dragons, at least."

Mel sighed and absently turned the page of her Herbology text. Cedric's explanation of tomorrow's events failed to soothe her nerves. The second task was the next morning. She could not believe it was here already, but the nervous twisting knots in her stomach assured her it was.

"Hey," he said, turning around and taking one of her hands in his. "It'll be fine, ok? Just try to relax."

"I hate this stupid tournament," she muttered. He sighed in defeat and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey Mel, Sprout wants to see you in her office. Just Mel, mate," Ryan added as Cedric made to get up.

"What for?" Mel asked, getting up and putting her books in her school.

"She didn't say," he shrugged.

"Will make sure Angela or Lindsey takes this up to the room?" she asked Cedric as she handed him her bag.

"Sure," he said, taking her bag. He gave her a quick peck and whispered, "It'll be fine."

She forced a smile and nodded. "Good night."

Mel walked to Professor Sprout's office, which was on the second floor. The corridors were strangely busy for the late hour. Given, she saw mostly professors and prefects, but it was still more people than she would normally see while patrolling at this hour. She reached Professor Sprout's office, which two doors down from the faculty's lounge, and knocked.

"Enter."

"Good evening, Professor," Mel said, entering and closing the door behind her. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, no," Sprout said in what was supposed to be a reassuring manner, but Mel could sense her nervousness. "Please, sit down."

Mel sat in the chair opposite the head of her house, noticing Sprout fidget in her own seat as she did.

"How much has Mr. Diggory told you about tomorrow's task?" Professor Sprout asked.

It was Mel's turn to fidget in her seat. She probably knew more than she was supposed to about the tournament. Was she, or Cedric, in trouble?

"Er…."

"Don't worry, dear," Sprout said, calmly. "I figured he's told you something, if not everything. I'm aware how close you two are."

Mel blushed; hoping Sprout never discovered just how close she was with Cedric. "I know he has to retrieve something from the lake, but that's it."

"Well, he's not really retrieving a thing, per se," Sprout mumbled. She took a deep breath and sighed. "The champions will be retrieving something that is very valuable to them. They will have an hour to do so. The catch is they will be retrieving a person."

"Ok, and I'm here because…?" Mel asked, her voice shaking nervously.

"With your permission, you will be given a potion that will put you into a deep sleep. You then be put under a spell that will allow you to breathe under water. We then place you and the others in the lake, where you will be retrieved by your respective champions. Once you are returned to the surface, you will awaken from your sleep. There is no harm or danger to you in any of this," she added.

Mel laughed humorlessly. No harm in being unconscious at the bottom of a lake for an hour? Who were they trying to kid?

"Um, well, I guess… all right?" she said, not really feeling as if she had a choice.

"Good," Sprout said, sounding as if it was anything but. "If you'll follow me, we'll go to the faculty's lounge and meet the others.

They stood up and walked down the hall to the lounge. When Mel entered, she saw Harry's two friends and a small platinum-haired girl that could only be Fleur's sister already in the room. The girl looked terrified, while the other two were extremely pale. Mel noticed Professor McGonagall in the corner. Her lips were pressed together so tightly they were nearly nonexistent. She looked down right indignant about the situation. Mel sat on the other side of the young girl, and tried to give a reassuring smile.

"In these cups is the sleeping potion," Professor Snape explained in a board tone. "As I'm sure as been explained already, you will only awake once you have been returned from the lake."

The cups were handed to each of them. Mel looked in hers: The potion was an inky purple colour and odorless. She only hoped it was tasteless two. Taking a deep breath, she drank the potion in one gulp. The effects were instantaneous. She felt her eyes droop and close of their own accord. The last thing she was aware was someone laying her down on what she could only assume was a gurney.

XXX

"So, no one's seen Mel?" Cedric asked for the twentieth time that morning.

"No," Drew said. "Angela said she never heard her come in last night; and no one's seen her this morning."

"Don't worry about her Ced," Ryan said, patting him on the back. "Wherever she is, she wants you to focus on this task, not her."

"You're right," Cedric said as they reached the edge of the lake where the champions would enter. However, he could not help but to continue to worry about her. Had she had another vision? Was she in the hospital wing?

He waved good-bye to his friends and stood in line with the other champions. Fleur and Krum looked almost calm, but Harry looked very agitated. He actually looked a little green. Harry saw him and nodded in a gesture of good luck. Cedric returned the gesture.

Cedric could hear Bagman giving the recap, but only vaguely registered what he was saying. All to soon the whistle was blown, signaling the start of the task. Cedric waded into the icy water. He stopped when he was about waist deep in, said the Bubblehead charm, and dove in.

He body screamed in protest as he swam in the freezing water. He could not remember ever being this cold during a quidditch game. He swam through the murky water to what he assumed was the center of the lake. He was careful to look around every few yards for the other champions or magical creatures. About thirty minutes in, Krum shot by him, scaring up a herd of grindylows.

Cedric saw Krum get pulled down by three grindylows as a number of them pulled him down into the kelp. He tried to pull out of their grip, but found that was impossible. Taking a chance, he shot a Stunning spell at the one holding on to his right ankle. While he was able to say the spell clearly, only sparks shot at them. Apparently it was enough, however, as it and two others let go. Quickly, he shot the spell at the others and swam out of the kelp. He swam faster, making up for lost time, and was careful to keep several feet between him and the kelp bed.

After five more minutes, he came across a small under water town. In the center of which was a large statue of a merperson with three people tied to it and two hovering next to it. As Cedric neared, he saw the merpeople lurking in the shadows and from in their houses. He saw Harry looking frantic with an unconscious Weasley floating next to him. Then he saw Mel tied to the statue. He sped up and used a spell to cut the ropes. After making sure he had a good grip on her, he nodded at Harry and pointed to his watch, showing him they only had ten minutes left. He stayed long enough to see Harry nod in acknowledgement.

Cedric swam straight up for the surface. It seemed to take almost no time at all to reach it. He broke the surface and removed the Bubblehead charm. He heard Mel coughing and shifted to make sure she was above the water.

"It's freezing," she said, her teeth chattering.

"Hello to you too," he said, rolling his eyes. "Can you swim?"

"Y-yes."

He let her go and they swam for the shore. She was swimming fine, but he could not stop himself from helping her every now and then. He caught her as she stumbled up onto the shore. He could the crowd cheering for him, but was more concerned with getting Mel warm and dry. Cedric led them over to Madam Pomfrey, who had blankets and cups of something waiting for them. As she fussed over them, he noticed a scared looking Fleur standing a few feet away. She had some angry looking cuts on her face, but was determinedly staring at the lake.

"Drink these," Pomfrey said, handing them the cups. Cedric recognized the liquid as a warming potion. He drank his quickly, though, he noticed, not as fast as Mel drank hers.

"Cold?" he smirked.

"And wet," she said. "Were you the first back?"

"The first back with 'the thing I would sorely miss,' at least," he said, kissing her forehead. "Harry was there before me. I'm not really sure what he was doing, but he didn't follow me back up here."

"Do you think he misinterpreted the clue?"

"No idea," Cedric shrugged. He wrapped his arms around her, hoping to warm her up a bit as he was still concerned that she was too cold.

Krum emerged with the girl he was with and the Yule Ball a few minutes later. He noticed the girl was tomato red as she and Krum walked onto the shore. Harry did not appear for another fifteen minutes. He and one of the Weasley's were helping the young, platinum haired girl get to the shore. Fleur pulled herself out of her Headmistress' grip and ran to meet them. She was quickly followed by Percy Weasley, who was sitting in for Mr. Couch as one of the judges.

"Can you imagine what growing up with him was like?" Cedric muttered, as he watched Percy fuss over his younger brother. Cedric had had to work with the former Head Boy during his fifth year: Percy had made them write reports about rounds and keep organized files on the repeat offenders. The work had been so tedious, Cedric had considered quitting being a prefect.

"Well, considering you also would have grown up with Fred and George, I imagine it was quite chaotic."

One of the merpeople surfaced and began talking to Dumbledore. After a ten-minute conversation with the merperson, Dumbledore went to converse with the other judges.

"What's going on?"

Mel shrugged and let go of him, as their friends surrounded them. Drew and Ryan congratulated him, while the girls hugged Mel.

"See, told you she'd turn up," Ryan said. "And no, I didn't know this is what they wanted her for. What's taking so long?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Finally, Dumbledore came to the edge of the lake an announced the scores. Cedric had won for coming back within the allotted time and with his hostage. He was followed by Krum and Fleur. Apparently, Fleur had been attacked by the grindylows and forced to drop out of the task. While Harry had arrived well outside the time limit, the judges had awarded him extra points for 'outstanding moral fiber." He and Harry were tied for first.

His friends' faces darkened at the announcement, but Cedric did not care. There was a lot more at stake than winning this game. Besides, Hogwarts was in the lead. They trudged back up to the castle, where warmth, dry clothes, and food awaited them.

"You did good today," Mel said, kissing his cheek.

"Thanks, love," Cedric smiled.

XXX

Mel carefully poured the second of two potions into its vial. After two months, all her potions were finally finished. The potion that would expand her powers had taken longer to brew than expected, but it was done along with the Draught of Living Death, which she had brewed as a safety precaution. She finished pouring the Draught into its vial, sealed it, and magically cleaned and packed all her potions' equipment and ingredients.

She placed an unbreakable charm on the vials and placed them inside her bag. For the first time, she felt as if she had some control over the situation. The last task was only a month away; and, as of late, she had been more nervous and on edge than ever before. It was so bad Angela and Lindsey had taken to avoiding her. Cedric was as nervous as she was, but was handling it better—at the least, he was not snapping at his friends.

Mel paused outside an empty classroom, which Harry and his friends were using to practice spells for the last task. Cedric had been doing the same, though he had been refusing to let his friends help him. When Mel had asked him what he thought about Harry getting help, he had said Harry needed the help as he was two to three years behind in magical training and had more than a maze to get through. Mel had a feeling Cedric would have been helping Harry if he could do so without suspicion. Mel sighed, moved away from the classroom, and continued to the Hufflepuff common room.

Even though classes were over for the day, the common room was practically empty. The weather was warm enough to enjoy the grounds; she figured most of the students were doing just that. She walked over to sit by Cedric, who was making yet another list of spells to try.

"Hey," she said, kissing him on the cheek as she sat down. "They're done."

"Correctly?" he asked in what was supposed to be a joking manner. However, she saw through it.

"Of course," she said defensively. "So, I'll drink the power expanding potion, and you'll have the Living Death one in case that one doesn't work. If you have to use the latter, I have the Wiggenweld Potion—the antidote for Living Death—brewed and ready."

"It all just hinges on Harry being able to bring me back," he sighed.

"He will," she said confidently. "I promise this going to work. Just as long as—"

"We follow the plan exactly. I know," he said, putting the book down and running his hands through his hair. "I trust you, but that won't stop me from worrying."

"Same here," she sighed, offering a week smile. He chuckled and rubbed his eyes with his hands.

"Tell you what," he said, giving an exasperated sigh. "Go put your things away and change. We're going to fly for a bit."

"Is this an attempt to distract us from our worries?" Mel asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but we do need to relax. If flying doesn't work, there are other things we can try," he said suggestively.

Mel laughed and shook her head at him. "I don't think I'm that stressed out."

"But I am, and I could die. You shouldn't deny me such simple pleasures," he pouted.

"You're really gonna try and use that one, huh?"

"Boy has to try," he said innocently.

"Mmhmm," she said, standing up. "Go get your broom. I'll meet you here in ten minutes."

"Fine," he said. He paused before they separated at the staircases. In a whisper he said, "Just for the record, you didn't say no."

Mel rolled her eyes at him again and continued up to her dormitory. Honestly, he can be such a child, she thought.

AN: So, I just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who has added this story to a favorites and/or alert list. I'm glad you all are enjoying it and want to see where the story's going. I think I'm going to try to finish up GoF in the next chapter, which means chapter 21 will be fairly long. However, that doesn't mean this story is over. I will continue to post Mel's seventh year and subsequent years in this story. This way, all of you wonderful readers will only need to wait for update alerts and not look for another story. :)