Chapter 17: Trial by Water
It wasn't so long before February rolled around and the second task was upon them. Rose had tried to help Harry but he wanted to take care of this clue by himself. Unlike the other champions, he was determined not to cheat his way through the tournament.
As Rose made her way to the lake, she could not help but feel a little apprehensive about the task that was upon them. She could see neither Harry nor his little friends anywhere. Surely, the merpeople had only taken one of his friends not both? She picked her way to the Beaux-Batons boat and headed to the middle of the lake with her students.
She could see Harry, standing with Professor McGonagall and Mad-Eye Moody. Everytime she looked at that man a deep, dark sense of foreboding settled in the pit of her stomach. There was something off about that man and she had to keep an eye on him.
"Welcome to the second task. Last night something was stolen from our champions, a treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each champion need only to find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this, they will only have an hour to do so and one hour only. After that they will be on their own. No magic will save them. You may begin at the sound of the cannon." The cannon sounded and the champions fell into the water.
She prayed that all those who had been stunned to provide incentive for the champions to be the first to the finish line would be found before the hour was up.
Severus looked for Rose in the crowd. It took him a few minutes before he found her. She looked miniscule next to Madame Maxime but that did not diminish how much she stood out from the crowd. Her hair had come undone and lit the air around her. He could see anxiety etched in her face, her hands held on to the railing for dear life and her eyes searched the waters for signs that her nephew was alive.
He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was his, it still seemed like dream. A woman wanted him and loved him. After everything he had gone through with Lily and thinking he was worthless and would never love or be loved, there was hope. She was his light and his beacon. She was just so beautiful yet so broken. He couldn't stop remembering all the nights they had spent at the top of the astronomy tower after another encounter with the Marauders. Just the thought made his blood boil. Everything they had done to her and him and yet Lily had still entrusted Rose's safety to Black. It was bad enough they had believed that he was capable of trying to force himself on Rose but to think that Black was innocent in all of Rose's bullying he could not swallow that pill.
Spluttering from the water broke him out of his reverie. Her heard a high pitched shout and saw Rose fly to the edge of the platform. Fleur, the Beaux-Batons champion was coming up and fighting the cold air.
Rose wrapped her in a cloak, cast a warming charm on the girl and Fleur stammered to life.
"It was eemposseeble! Ze Grindylows were too strong Madame de Grossaillon! Zey would not let me by!" Fleur blurted angrily. "Madame, what eez my treasure that was stolen?"
"Gabrielle." Rose whispered matter-of-factly.
"Ma petite soeur! Non! Non! Non! Gabrielle!" Fleur shouted into the water hysterically. "Je dois la sauver! Laissez moi y retourner!" Fleur fought against Rose's arms.
"Fleur! Arretes immediatement! Tu sais que tu ne peux pas retourner dans les eaux! Gabrielle va s'en sortir, n'ai craintes!" Rose said as she firmly shook Fleur out of her hysterics.
Time passed and Rose held on to her student as Severus watched from afar. The tension in the air was palpable and anxiety was etched in Rose's face. Time seemed to crawl by, everyone was on edge and awaited the arrival of the first champion. Rose kept scanning the water frantically looking for any sign of her nephew. Suddenly, a head pop out of the water followed by a second one. Cedric Diggory had returned with the Chang girl. Severus nodded in approval, Hogwarts would be first to enter the last task. Before the boy and his treasure reached the platform, Victor Krum erupted out of the water with the Granger girl.
"Odd," he thought. "I thought she would have been Potter's treasure not Krum's."
His eyes went back to Rose and noticed she was was even more tense than she had been, she was leaning forward and searching the water with a desperation that could be sensed by all those around. She had been joined by the Granger girl and Fleur had begun sobbing in the arms of some of her schoolmates. Severus made towards her but Dumbledore stopped him.
"Severus, it would not be wise. You must remember the task. We cannot lose Karkaroff." Dumbledore whispered to him.
Severus gave Dumbledore a look filled with anger but returned to the railing and kept his eye on the water. Time crawled to a stop and the tension around the docks was palpable.
"Hahaha, I knew Potter would be killed before the end of this task," he heard Malfoy laugh.
Before Severus could even react Draco was lifted off his feet and carried to Rose by an invisible force. Fear was etched all over the boys face in such a comical way, he could not help but sneer in pleasure.
"Make one more comment about my nephew and your mother will be lucky to find an eyelash of yours once I am done!" Rose stated dangerously. Her voice had dropped to such a low level, Severus could only strain to hear it.
"Mmm, dangers little flower," Severus thought to himself.
Draco was dropped back onto the platform and the boy disappeared into the crowd.
A sound of waves breaking was heard and all turned to the lake. The Weasley boy and a young girl broke to the surface and began to swim to the platform.
"Gabrielle! Allez viens ma petite! Tout va bien aller!" Fleur encouraged the little girl as she pulled her up onto the platform. The Weasley boy climbed out of the water clumsily and had barely gotten to his feet before Rose grabbed his shoulders.
"Where is he?! Why isn't he with you?" She cried shaking him vigorously.
The water broke and Potter flew into the air and onto the platform. Rose hurried to him and began to whisper incantations over him. The judges hovered in a corner discussing the standings before they were announced by Dumbledore. Severus kept watch over Karkaroff and Rose. Igor was watching her with a look that screamed with lust. Severus' instincts had to be held in check. All he wanted to do was kill that creepy creature for even looking sideways at Rose but he knew he had a mission to follow. He held himself in check, reminding himself that, after all, it was he who would be sleeping with her that night, not Igor.
"Silence!" Albus' voices resounded over the lake. "After much consideration the standings are as follows: in first place, Cedric Diggory for his exceptional use of the Bubble Head Charm. In second place, Harry Potter, it seems that Potter would have been back first had he not stayed behind to make sure all treasures were rescued. In third place, Victor Krum for an excellent half transfiguration and lastly Miss Fleur De La Cour!"
Cheers were heard from the platforms and students began to make their way to the barges. Severus stalked past Karkaroff and was held back.
"We need to talk Severus. You can't avoid me forever!" Igor whispered hoarsely.
"My office, tonight. Don't let yourself be seen." Severus answered.