V2

The Second Task

It was a nice day, cold but clear, and tensions were running high.

Fred and George had somehow bypassed my wards to wake me up early and try to brighten my mood. All it managed to do was make me irritable and grouchy. "Sorry," one of them said, patting me on the back. We sat at a breakfast table at least two hours before everyone else in the Great Hall. "But we had to do this when no one else was around!"

"Do what?" I asked irately, rubbing my temples. I'd fallen asleep at my desk probably two hours before the twins had woken me up. I didn't do well when I didn't sleep but I'd still been researching ways to breathe under water for an hour and not die. There was the bubblehead charm which wasn't foolproof and then there was transfiguration, which I was okay at but not strong enough to actually perform well. Then there were potions. I was good at potions. There was one that I had found but I was missing one ingredient. Professor Snape wasn't going to just hand over a selkie scale and neither was Plump.

George (or the one I figured was George) held out a vial with something strange in it. "Give you this."

My heart didn't dare to beat in fear that the twins were pulling one of their pranks. "I swear to God and Merlin above, if this is some kind of joke..."

"Nope," the other one said, snatching the vial from his twin before I could grab it. "Just a gift from your two favorite Weasleys."

I eyed the vial warily. "Selkie scale?"

"We think. Could be a fish, really."

My reach for the vial resulted in me putting an elbow in my omlette. "No, seriously!"

"Seriously," they said together, a mischievous smile on their faces.

I relaxed my body and stared between the two of them. They wouldn't just give it away for free. "Whaddya want it for?"

"What?" one asked, looking affronted.

"Can't it just be from the bottom of our hearts?" the other asked.

I stared them down and they sighed, "Fine."

George gave a cheeky little grin and said, "Give Krum a good snog and we're even."

My cheeks flushed and I was pretty sure my entire body was on fire. What? No way! "As if! We're just barely friends, I'm not gonna go up and just—"

"Please?"

"For us?"

"No, there is no way that I'm makin' out with Viktor Krum just to win this tournament." Although the thought had definitely crossed my mind when we'd been dancing... No! No matter how good he'd felt against me and how sweet he'd been, it didn't matter. We were barely friends as it was.

"We're just joking, Leigh," Fred said with a cheshire cat grin.

"Yeah, it really is just from the bottom of our hearts!"

"Or for a kiss," they said together. I tried to protest but they held the vial up over my head and kissed either side of my face.

I laughed and elbowed them away before grabbing the vial. I stood up, grabbed a croissant, and kissed them each on the cheeks as well. "Thanks, guys. You're all that and a bag 'a chips."

LLL

I held the almost-finished potion in my hand as I walked down to the second task with the General a few hours later.

"Do you have the right potion, Lieutenant?"

"Positive."

"Good. I just want you to know, that whatever was lost—"

I gave him a look and he quieted instantly. "Look, sir, I know that you want to help me out as much as possible, but I can do it. I really can. And if the potion doesn't work, I always know transfiguration spells, and then there's always the Bubblehead Charm. I have backups. I just wanted to be as thorough and prepared as possible."

He smiled softly at me, putting his hand on my arm—I was surprised. The General wasn't one for physical contact, much less to reassure someone. "I know you'll do well, Leigh. You're just like your mother."

I blushed, half angry and half tired. I was used to being compared to her but it still frustrated me. I'd never be as good. I'd never be my own person. Not that I didn't love my mother—I definitely did. But it would be nice to accomplish something without her name attached. "Not…just. I'm still me."

"I know. Now lets go, I see Krum ahead of us and I'd rather not be behind the Durmstrang delegation in being punctual."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head; the General knew that I didn't care for Krum much but it wasn't all of Durmstrang's fault. Then again, the General and Karkaroff seemed to have issues.

"Welcome, Miss Nelson!" Bagman cried. I smiled nervously and shook his hand. I noticed that there were large audience stands situated along the bank although it made me wonder whether anyone would be able to see anything. It was slightly overcast and the water looked murkier than normal, if that was possible. "I assume that you know Mr. Weasley, here?"

I looked to the tall, nerdy-looking redhead who had been at the Yule Ball sitting next to Harry. "You're Fred and George's brother, right?"

He nodded seriously, shaking my hand very curtly. "I'm filling in for Mr. Crouch."

"Oh…sorry to hear he's not here," I said as the unknown Weasley shook Viktor's hand. The General just nodded while I felt uneasy. I don't feel this way with any of the other Weasleys…maybe it's just this guy. It also made me sad that Mr. Crouch wasn't there. I wanted to thank him for my recommendation. I hoped that he was okay.

"When the rest of the Champions get here," Bagman said, staring pointedly at Viktor and I, "I will space you along the banks. If you must get ready, please do so now."

I nodded, moving over towards the bleachers to leave my things in a relatively safe place. I undid the belt to my BDU, untied my shoes and kicked them off, taking off my socks as well, and pulled down my pants to show my swimming suit shorts. Then I pulled my shirt over my head, feeling a little self conscious about my body as I did so. It was just a plain black one piece with the trunks over the bottom. It wasn't like I was trying to impress anyone. I wrapped a towel around my shoulders and sat down, careful not to jostle my wounds.. I pulled up my hair, putting it into a ponytail instead of a bun like normal.

Viktor came and sat down beside me, clad in only swim trunks and a towel around his shoulders. Unsurprisingly, he was exceedingly fit. There was a healthy dusting of hair on his chest and some that fell further down his stereotypical washboard abs and disappeared into tight black trunks that left nothing to the imagination. I felt my face turn to fire as I made myself look away. "How are you doing?"

"Goot," he said with a real smile rather than his normal smirk. It was nice to see him actually expressing emotion for once. I assumed it was because he was a naturally competitive being and he lived off of adrenaline. Most Quidditch players did. Same with Quodpot. "Ready!"

I smiled back at him and blushed harder when the towel fell from my shoulders. I didn't quite catch if his eyes drifted lower and I didn't want to know if he thought that I was attractive. I didn't care. We were just friends. "I think I'm ready."

"You svim," he said, gesturing his head out to the lake. "I see." He obviously meant that he saw me doing laps in the water every few days.

"I like the water. It keeps the pressure off of my hip and it's good exercise."

He grunted in affirmation and stared out onto the water. His leg bounced up and down with bottled energy. "You heep, eet is bat?"

Sometimes his accent was really thick and hard to understand but I realized that he was asking how I was doing. I refused to look at him, narrowing my eyes. "It's fine." There was a slightly awkward silence, and then I, being my completely guilty, I-can't-believe-I-can-sit-here-and-be-so-rude self, said, "Sorry, sorry. I'm not used to people asking for the sake of me. Usually they ask to find a weakness."

He looked at me like, You already told me!

"I know, I already told you. Thanks for asking how I'm doing." He smirked his smirk and nodded, his leg still bobbing up and down and making me want to throw my hand on his knee to stop it. That was a little too forward though. "Your English has gotten much better. Has Hermione been helping you?"

He nodded, looking grim. "Da. I half noot see her."

That shocked me a little. "Is she okay?" His shrug made me worry. "I feel like Fred or George would have said something to me if there was something wrong with her. I'm sure she's fine."

"You are friends?"

The shrug from my shoulders seemed to shock him. "Acquaintances. I've seen her in passing. She seems like a sweet girl, I understand why you asked her to the dance." We watched as students from all of the schools started flocking towards the docks.

We sat in companionable silence until he said, "Teel me of America."

"It's my home. I'm actually really homesick right now. America has my family, and without family…I don't know where I would be." I kept staring out at the filling bleachers, rubbing the class ring I kept on my right hand for good luck. "Do you miss Bulgaria?"

He nodded, looking less grim and more sad. "My Maйka and Bashta een Bulgaria." I assumed he meant that his mother and father were there. "Bashta, he vant me play Quidditch." It amazed me how perfectly he could say that word. Although he seemed a little bitter about his father. I wished that the language barrier wasn't quite as bad. "Your Bashta?"

My dad's face appeared in my mind. Specifically the picture he and Mom had sent over Christmas. "He's a goof. On the outside he's a big, strong military man. On the inside he's like a little kid. He wants me to follow my dreams. He'd be happy if I joined the military and he'd be happy if I worked just about anywhere else."

Viktor's eyes were soft when I finally met his gaze. His knee had stopped bouncing. "Da," he said, as if he had met my father before and agreed. He was silent for a moment, his brow furrowed in concentration.

I noticed that Cedric and Fleur had appeared, standing in their own swimsuits as well. Harry was nowhere to be seen.

We were all called up to the judging table as a group. I wrapped my towel around my shoulders tighter and walked towards the lake with a pair of disposable flip-flops. The unknown Weasley was looking at us, appearing quite upset. "It appears that Mr. Potter is not—"

Suddenly a small form came barreling down the hill, past the group of spectators walking down to the stands. "I'm…here…" he gasped, sliding to a halt in the mud. Viktor and I stepped apart to allow him to come between us.

"Where have you been?" the redhead asked in a disapproving tone. "The task is about to start!"

"Now, now, Percy," Bagman said, looking relieved, "let the boy catch his breath!"

I noticed that, while Bagman and Dumbledore looked pleased to see Harry, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime did not. The General, as always, looked jolly and I could never tell what emotions were brewing under his ice blue eyes.

We were all taken to the bank and lined up about ten feet away from each other. Viktor was standing on the left side of me, Fleur on the right, both of them having their wands at the ready. I dropped my towel and took out my vial and wand. With a deep breath to steady my nerves I put the small scale in the vial and shook it around, watching it turn a light blue color.

"Sonorus!" Ludo cried, and his voice boomed out across the dark water. "Well, all our champions are ready for the Second Task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One…two…three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air, and applause erupted from the stands. Bottom's up! Nothing happened for a moment. Then my vision became blurry. I couldn't even see what the other champions were doing less than ten feet from me. My body felt dehydrated so it made sense to go into the water. It should have been cold but it was perfect to my changing body.

This is supposed to happen, I told my panicking body. It was normal for the change from the potion to kick my body into gear. Once I was halfway in my vision cleared and I saw my reflection. My skin was glowing in the light of the day, my brown hair now falling down around my naked upper half, hiding my breasts. My legs were quickly turning scaly; I could feel them popping out of my skin. My neck was aching and splitting, meaning that I was growing gills. I threw myself under the water so that I could breathe.

I swam forward, down, around…I struck my legs out, amazed to see that I didn't even have feet anymore. My legs had twined together, becoming a dark tan and maroon tail. So it wasn't a Selkies scale that I got…it was a siren's! I didn't think that it would be a problem. A sea creature was a sea creature in my book and as long as it allowed me to breathe under water for at least an hour, it would be perfectly fine with me. Thanks Fred and George, I owe you one!

I quickly swam forward, amazed at how light I felt and how beautiful the lake was when seen through a sea creature's eyes. I'd swam there multiple times before and nothing compared to the speed and ease at which I dipped through the underwater currants. Though I noticed that it was nothing but silence as I got deeper and deeper. There was fog and, even though I was a creature of the deep, I could only see maybe five yards in front of me.

I'd heard rumors about a giant squid, and had seen its tentacles on numerous occasions, but I didn't see it now, or any other things. No merpeople, no grindylow, and no champions...at least until my newly-honed siren senses made me realize that I was being followed.

I looked back and saw that the small, horned water demons known as grindylow were swimming after me, confusion written on their faces. They were actually cute when not trying to kill you. Maybe, when I'm done finding what I've lost, I'll come back and try to study them for Care of Magical Creatures.

I swam deeper and deeper, time seeming to get ahead of me. I thought that I would never find what I needed and I had no clue if I was even going in the right direction. I stopped and cursed under my breath, wishing for a sign. That sign turned into a grab at my tail. I looked back, expecting to see a savage grindylow trying to attack me, but instead saw it pointing to the right of me.

"Thank you," I said to it. I noticed that my voice had a very beautiful quality to it. If it could have blushed, it would have.

I swam in the direction it had pointed and started hearing a snatch of a haunting mersong.

"An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took…"

I swam faster and saw a large rock emerging out of the water ahead. It had beautiful paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. I swam past it, following the sounds that suddenly sounded so familiar. They were from the egg, I realized, but the words had changed.

"…your time's mostly gone, so tarry not

Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"

I don't know what you are, but I'd rather you not rot, if you're important to me, I thought, a worry line etching across my forehead. I looked forward to see a cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae looming ahead of me. They were an all sides; I saw face staring back at me. They were definitely Selkies, and with the glares they were giving me, I sort of wished that I was one of them, too.

They had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, the same as their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. Spears were clutched in their hands as they stepped out of their dwellings to watch.

As I swam on, more and more came out, watching me, pointing, talking behind their hands. And then I came upon what appeared to be a town square where many were gathered, even a choir, calling the champions to them.

And behind them were five people—Hermione, Ron, the Asian girl that Cedric had taken to the dance, a small blonde girl whom I didn't know, and—

"DAD!" I cried out in anguish, swimming as fast as I could now. Cedric had somehow beaten me there. He had used a sharp stone to cut his date free and was rising to the surface already. I went to one of the merpeople with a spear and asked to borrow it.

"We do not help. Especially champion who changes to Siren," he said in a harsh, croaky voice.

I bitterly turned around, clenching my fists together. I noticed that it hurt and looked down to see that my nails were razor-sharp. I quickly reached forward and cut the ropes binding my father. I caught him and started swimming upward.

Then Viktor sped by me, his head a shark, and the shark's mouth holding Hermione's rope. He drug her up and made the surface before me.

That was when I felt my legs cramping. Wait—legs? I looked down to see that my legs were back to normal. My swimsuit was back as well, and my gills— Shit, I can't breathe!

I quickly broke the surface, though, before it became a problem, and held my father to me. I breathed in air as if I had never had it before. "DADDY!" I cried as he looked around, confused, swimming for the both of us.

"Leigh—lets get to shore first, alright?" he asked, and I nodded, my eyes full of tears. By the time we got to the shore, we were both freezing, our lips blue, but I still held onto him, crying. "Hey, baby girl, shh…"

"I-I-I th-th-th…y-y-you w-w-were d-d-d-d…wh-wh-what was I-I-I…"

"I know, I know…" he whispered, and we were both taken to the General. Towels were put around our shoulders. I didn't let go of him for another five minutes. It made me cry even more to see that he was still in his battle dress. "Hello, sir," my father said softly, shaking hands with the General, his teeth still chattering. The General asked him something and my dad said, "I don't know what to expect anymore, actually. I just go with the flow when it comes to the magical world. Always have."

I was worried, then. Because of Rappaport's Law, technically my parents weren't allowed to marry. The segregation in America was terrible. My mother had been fined and prosecuted for a long, long time because of it...only making her more famous. My father had become the exception. He'd become the new standard of no-maj and wizard marriage laws. But not every wizard was okay with it. We still got hate mail sometimes.

The General shook my father's hand and looked a little stiff about it.

"Are you alright, Leahn?" Viktor suddenly asked. I turned around, wiping a tear from my eyes. He was almost completely transfigured back, his teeth still pointed and his eyes looking rather feral. It scared me, actually. His words were similar to the first ones he'd ever spoken to me, the day we put our names in the goblet.

That seems like so long ago. "I-I think I'll be fine," I sniffled, glad to have the warm towel around me. "I won't be swimming for awhile though."

His smile was scary. Someone near us burst into tears. I figured it was from his frightening appearance but it was actually my fellow female champion. "She ees steel down zere!" Fleur cried, trying to get out of Madame Maxime's hands. "I must go back!"

My curious gaze fell on Cedric who was hugging his girlfriend to him protectively. "Fluer was attacked by grindylows and forced to forfeit. Her lost person is still down there."

I vaguely remembered a little blonde girl that had been strapped up next to my dad. "She's just a child," I whispered, my eyes turning to my dad. It felt wrong to be happy that he was with me while Fleur's little sister could be left to rot. It wasn't right.

"Get over here!" an old woman suddenly cried, wrapping me in a large blanket. She then shoved a drink down my throat, instantly warming me up and making steam come out of my ears. "Death by cold is the only death anyone'll be catching, I wager."

"I don't think I'll ever understand magic," my father said, also now in a blanket. I huddled closer to him. He smelled like the lake but also like chocolate and gunpowder. It reminded me of home and made me nostalgic for America, more so than when Viktor had been asking me about it.

"It's okay, you're not meant to."

"Was there a reason I was here, trapped under the lake? Do I even want to know?"

I sniffed, then sneezed. "I'm not sure you do. Just know that it was a competition to save something we loved and you were my something."

He made an embarrassing dad noise and pinched my cheeks. "Aww, I love you too, my little Doodle-bug."

"Daaad," I groaned, pushing him away from me, "not in front of the other contestants!"

"Fine, fine." He pulled me into his warm blanket so that I had twice the blanket to keep me warm and watched the lake for something to happen. "So what now?"

"Now all we have to do is wait for Harry. I wonder where he is?" Almost like it was rehearsed, I heard a commotion down by the water's edge. There were three heads that bobbed up to the top of the water instead of two.

A group of people helped the three out, Fleur instantly attacking her sister. "It was ze grindylows…zey attacked me…oh, Gabrielle, I thought…I thought…"

Over by the water's edge, Dumbledore was talking to a merperson who seemed to be the leader, deep in conversation. Then he nodded, and the merperson swam away. "A conference before we give marks, I think," he said to the other judges.

While the judges were in a huddle, Madame Pomfrey went to take care of Ron, who was now in his older brother's clutches. She then tried to help Fleur, but wouldn't hear anything of it, instead wanting her sister looked after. Fleur then kissed Harry on the cheeks, and then Ron, and hugged her sister. Hermione hugged Harry and Ron and Viktor was left looking a little lonely.

"Your transfiguration was pretty good," I said, feeling a little sorry for him.

Viktor's teeth were almost back to normal. "Potion better. Goot idea." I blushed in pride at his praise.

My dad looked between the two of us and said, "Can you do that, too?"

"If I wanted to."

"Hey, Doodle-bug, what was the shark's favorite programming language?"

"Please, don't..."

"Jaw-va!"

Suddenly Bagman's voice came up loudly. It shook me out of my embarrassment from my dad. "Ladies and Gentlemen! We have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake and we have therefore decided to award marks out of sixty for each of the champions as follows…

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubblehead Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her thirty points."

There was applause from the stands. My father and I applauded politely as well.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. I saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him fifty-five points.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty-nine points." Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, though I did as well, giving him a smile.

"Leigh Ann Nelson used a very well brewed Transfiguration potion, though one that turned her into an enemy of the Merpeople in the Lake, and came in third place. We award her forty-five points."

"Wha—?" my father growled but I shushed him with a glare and an elbow to his ribs.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect. He returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all the hostages to safety, not merely his own. Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However…Mr. Potter's score is fifty three points."

I smiled, listening to all the praise for my competition. That meant that Cedric and Harry were tied for first, Viktor and I were tied for second, and Fleur was last.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of May. The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

It's over…it's over…thank Merlin, but its over…

I clung to my dad for the walk back to the castle, being quiet, both of us just happy knowing that the other was alive and well.

Viktor Krum

Hours later, while the Champions and their hostages—minus Harry, Hermione, and Ron, who had left hours ago for a Gryffindor party—were sitting around the fire in the room they had been made Champions in. Leigh was sitting on her father's lap, her arms around his neck, listening to the beating of his heart.

Viktor then knew where her looks had come from—they had the same facial structure, the same hair, the same olive complexion, and the same build, minus her shoulders and arms. His eyes were olive green, whereas hers were hazel. Their cheekbones and chin were both the same, though his eyes and nose were shaped differently.

Something was strange about the way the American wizards treated this man, though. He was obviously a muggle which Viktor vaguely remembered from the wand weighing ceremony. Her mother was Rene Reynolds, a very prolific pure blood. As in most of the world, Viktor just assumed that it had something to do with a blood feud.

Leigh was slowly falling asleep as she fell and rose with the rise and fall of Jonathan Nelson's chest. He and Viktor had been talking softly across the fire about Quidditch, America, and the Army—the real Army—for hours, and Viktor understood where Leigh got her smile and her way of speaking from. He was a very easy-going man, though seemed strict. It was obvious that he loved his daughter. It also helped that he spoke almost fluent Russian which Viktor knew and could speak relatively well.

Mr. Nelson talked a lot about his family—his wife, his three daughters, and his son, and looked like the proudest father in the world as he glanced down at his daughter who was starting to fall asleep. He was muggle and had a hard time grasping the idea of magic, but his wife had done all that was possible to make it easier for him.

Viktor told him about Bulgaria, and the Quidditch team and Mr. Nelson told Viktor about how his wife used to be one of the best players in the world. Viktor already knew that of course but he listened anyway. He told Viktor that Leigh Ann was going to intern with the United States government that summer, probably working with international relations. Viktor told him that he would be happy to see her again this summer when his team faced America's in Quidditch.

And then, Mr. Nelson tried to tell Viktor about football, how it was a little like Quidditch, but it was difficult for him to understand. Finally, though, Mr. Nelson conceded, telling him that maybe one day he would be able to show him.

Then he looked down. "I think it's past someone's bedtime," Jonathan said softly, kissing his daughter's forehead. Leigh's mouth was in a small O of slumber, a very, very soft snore coming from her. Her hair had fallen from its holder, strands lying against her soft tan face.

"Will you be able to find her quarters?"

The man nodded his head, slowly standing up, holding his little girl in his arms. Even in his older age, the man was incredibly strong. "The General showed me earlier, when the nurse was fixing her up." Then, his olive green eyes looked into Viktor's brown ones, and he said, "It was good to meet you, Viktor. I'm hoping that you will watch out for my baby girl."

"She is a good friend. I will."

"Good. Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mr. Nelson."