A/N: One difference between this story and canon which I don't think I've made clear is that Nagini is not a horcrux at this time. I honestly think that Voldemort would have waited until he had a full body before using such difficult and dangerous magic. So right now, she is just an intelligent familiar, though perhaps with a fairly strong familiar bond.

Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "Something Like Your Family" by Luan Mao. McGonagall tells the first years that their house will be like their family. Well, Harry's experience with "family" doesn't give him a reason to expect or hope for much... and he certainly isn't disappointed. Dark/tragic story.

Chapter 35 - Got Me Under Pressure

Monday, February 15, 1995, Morning.

Voldemort groaned as he returned to consciousness and tried to take stock of his tiny body. Nothing is missing, nothing burned or withered away, but everything aches! As bad as these past few months have been, last night was some of the worst pain We've ever felt.

As he opened his eyes, he could see that it was now morning and was thankful that he had survived... whatever it was that had hit him. Something is definitely wrong with this body, he concluded. The question is, will it last long enough? Is it worth putting up with the near-constant discomfort and regular bouts of pain until the proper time for the ritual, or do We change plans and do something else?

He couldn't see a clock from his bassinet, and he didn't dare use the magic necessary to cast a Tempus spell, but he was sure that it was nearly time for his potion. Probably past time. "Nagini," he croaked out and heard his familiar move somewhere in the room. "Get... Wormtail."

Nagini slithered into the room that the rat-man was allowed to use and immediately saw that rousing him wouldn't be an easy task. She was seriously starting to wish that she hadn't bonded with this master.

As she moved around the drooling lump, she could tell that her master had tortured his servant well past the breaking point last night. Not that she could blame him — she, too, had suffered from whatever had afflicted her master, and she had also wished for something to bite. She had even been tempted to bite the rat-man, just to get a little relief, but dared not.

Now, though? Maybe just a little taste, to see if it gets him moving...

Monday, February 15, 1995, Evening.

With nine days to go before the second task, the champions were again gathered together to discuss strategy if hostages were taken.

"Alright," Jasmine said, taking the lead this time instead of Hermione, "how does everyone stand with regards to hostages? Hermione, Neville, and Ginny are the most likely hostages for me, and they've all written home asking for letters denying them permission to take part in the tournament. What about the rest of you?"

"Cho is the one most likely to be taken as my hostage," Cedric said, "but I haven't been able to convince her yet of just how serious this is. She definitely doesn't want to hide in the Chamber of Secrets." He sighed with exasperation before saying, "I'll keep working on her, though."

"I 'ave not been able to make many friends," Fleur said next, "but I 'ave asked ze two students closest to me to ask for such letters from 'ome because neither wants to 'ide. Zey, too, are waiting for replies."

"I can say the same," Viktor reported next. "I have three close friends who came to Hogwarts vith me, none of whom vish to go into hiding. Two already have such letters and the third is vaiting."

"Good," Jasmine said. "It sounds like we're doing well there. Hermione has parchment for each of you with the tracking charms we all considered best when we met last time." At this, Hermione pulled out some parchment and handed a piece to each champion. "We're hoping that the letters will prevent them from being taken, but you can use this charm on them and anything important that they'd always keep with them, like a bracelet, just in case."

The other champions all nodded in agreement and thanked Hermione for the information about the charm.

"So if the hostages are taken care of," Jasmine continued, "or at least as much as we can, that just leaves strategy. How does everyone plan on travelling through the water? Based on Neville's advice and research, I placed an order for gillyweed and I'm still waiting for it to arrive."

Cedric groaned, "Ugh, that would be so much better than the bubblehead charm I intended to use!"

"Oui," Fleur agreed, "Ze bubblehead charm distorts what we 'ear and see underwater. How much will you 'ave?"

"Sorry," Jasmine said with genuine regret, "but I ordered it well before we all started working together. I'm only getting enough to use in the task plus a little to practice with. There won't be enough for all of us, and there's no time to order more."

"No worries," Cedric said as he waved away Jasmine's apology. "We should have thought of it ourselves. The bubblehead charm will still work, it's just less than ideal. How about you, Viktor?"

"I vill be doing self-transfiguration," the Durmstrang champion replied as the others gasped. "I vill transfigure myself into a shark."

"Wow," Hermione said, clearly impressed, "that's really complex magic. How long have you been practicing?"

"Since shortly after ve got the eggs," he responded. "So far I only have my head transfigured, and I don't know if I vill achieve full transfiguration before the task begins. But I should have at least half my body done."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "We can work with this. I assume that your sense of smell underwater is radically heightened like a real shark's?"

"Ja," Viktor said with a scowl, "and the Black Lake does not smell pleasant."

"Good," Hermione said. When Viktor aimed his scowl at her, she quickly added, "I mean, it's good that your sense of smell is so strong, not that the lake smells so bad! That sense of smell, and your growing understanding of how the lake should smell, could prove invaluable. Fleur and Cedric will only be average swimmers because the bubblehead charm does nothing for that. Jasmine should be a very fast swimmer because of the changes to her hands and feet, though not as fast as Viktor, even if he only gets half of his transfiguration done."

"And 'ow does zat help us?" Fleur asked.

"We all know where the merpeople's village is," Hermione explained. "Assuming that's where the hostages are, there's less of a need to hunt. On her own, Jasmine had planned to swim near the surface then dive when she got above the village. There will be more light and fewer obstacles on that route."

"I like that idea," Cedric said while the others nodded.

"So why don't you all do that. Viktor, you can swim the deepest — even as a partial shark, you'll scare away most things that might be interested in any of you. This will keep those above you safer. Also, with your extra speed, you'll have time to loop around periodically to make sure nothing's coming from any direction."

"That sounds like a good idea," Viktor said.

"Cedric and Fleur will be the slowest," Hermione continued, "so you two should go in the middle. Jasmine can swim at the top of the formation, nearest the surface. She can keep an eye on you two and get to either of you quickly if you run into any trouble."

When the two older champions looked like they were going to object, Hermione hastened to add, "This isn't because you're weaker or anything. It's simply that she will be able to move faster. Whoever is at the top will be able to see everyone else and they will need to move fast to help, if help is needed. Viktor will certainly be faster than her, but his fierce looks and sense of smell will be more useful farther down."

This seemed to mollify them, if only barely. "Then when we get above the village," Viktor said, "I guess I should dive down first?"

Hermione nodded, then said, "I think that makes sense, and for the same reasons as having you swim the deepest on the way to the village. We don't know how the hostages will be kept. They'll be in a room, or cage, or something like that I'm guessing..."

"Let Viktor swim around and above ze hostages to watch for new problems," Fleur chimed in to say. "Cedric, Jasmine, and I will either all release zem, or split up ze jobs of releasing and protecting against attack. If necessary, two can fight while ze third frees ze hostages."

Hermione nodded, saying "That sounds good. You'll need to be flexible since you never know what you'll encounter, But with Viktor in front, Cedric and Fleur in the middle, and Jasmine in the back ready to rush in to help whomever is in trouble, you should be able to tackle any obstacles."

"Ja," Viktor said, "There is a lot of flexibility in that formation. On the Bulgarian Quidditch Team, ve use a similar formation with me in front, two chasers behind, and the third chaser with the quaffle in back. In front, I break up the defenses while the chasers decide how to arrange themselves to get the quaffle into one of the hoops."

"The one thing we'll have trouble with," Cedric said, "is learning how to work together properly. We won't have time to train together to work as a team. If we do end up doing this together, though, we can't act like we would if we were doing it alone. I'll have to force myself to watch only my side, for example, and trust that Fleur will watch hers while Jasmine watches our backs. I won't be as effective if I give in to the temptation to look in every direction like I would if I were alone."

The other champions all looked thoughtful at this, realizing that this was a complication they'd have to spend a bit of time considering.

"I need to tell you all something," Fleur said, "which will affect 'ow we work. As a Veela, doing anything underwater, especially anything magical, eez particularly difficult for me. Veela are creatures of air and fire, not of water and cold. My unique Veela abilities will be suppressed, and my magic will be weaker. I will not be completely incapacitated, but I will be slower and weaker zan I would be on land or in ze air."

"Did that help you with the first task?" Cedric asked.

"Oui, a bit," Fleur said, "but not as much as you might zink, since I did not use either air or fire as part of my strategy. But I zink ze dragon saw me as slightly less of a threat."

"Will you be able to hold the bubblehead charm long enough?" Hermione asked, worry obvious in her voice.

"Oui, I believe so," Fleur answered.

"The rest of us can keep an eye on you," Cedric said, "Well, mostly Jasmine and I will, since Viktor will have most of his attention directed outward towards possible incoming threats." The Durmstrang champion nodded at that. "Think of a signal for us that you're in trouble," Cedric continued, "and one of us can come over to reapply the charm or do whatever else is needed."

"Zank you," Fleur said, relief and appreciation evident her eyes.

"That means you'll all have to make sure you can cast the bubblehead charm silently," Neville interjected. "Especially you, Jasmine, even though you don't intend to use it for yourself."

Jasmine nodded and said, "Actually, we should have a standard signal for any of us who runs into trouble — say, just waving our hand back and forth over our head. There's not much we can do and still be obvious."

"What about casting a bright light spell?" Viktor asked.

"If we have to fight, we'll be casting spells anyway, and we can't afford to look every time another one of us casts," Cedric said.

"Ja, of course," Viktor replied with a nod.

Hermione started to think about this problem and realized that any magical in a fight had a problem with communication. Muggles could use tiny microphones and earphones, but those wouldn't work in a heavily magical environment. She wondered if there were any magical equivalents or if something could be created, so she wrote herself a note to research that later.

"OK," Jasmine said, "we've dealt with the hostages as well as we can and we have a strategy. I guess all that's left is to gather together the day of the task and find out what's going to happen..."

"Actually," Hermione interrupted, "I have two more things. First, I was going to work with Jasmine next Saturday on spells she intends to use under the lake. You're all invited to come, too. It might be helpful if you were all familiar with what spells the others would be using."

Everyone agreed with that — seeing unfamiliar spells being cast in that kind of environment could cause confusion.

"Good," Hermione said. "The last thing is a bit odd, but it is important. Do any of you have a copy of the tournament rules? Have you even seen them?"

Viktor, Fleur, and Cedric were all surprised at those questions, then even more surprised when they realized that they couldn't give a positive answer to either one of them.

"No," Cedric said, "but wouldn't there be a copy in our library?"

"Unfortunately," Jasmine answered, "there isn't. And we haven't been able to locate one. We even asked the Headmaster for a copy back at the beginning of November, but he hasn't given one to us."

"I am sure zat Madame Maxine 'as read ze rules," Fleur said slowly, "but I 'ave not. Now zat I zink about it, I am not sure why not."

Viktor shook his head and said, "I have not seen anything about any rules, but you are right that ve should have. I vill ask Headmaster Karkaroff as soon as I can."

"Oui," Fleur added, "and I will do ze same."

"Thanks," Jasmine said. "I think we could all benefit from knowing more about what we are and are not allowed to do as champions in this tournament."

Wednesday, February 17, 1995, Evening.

Working in the Room of Requirement, Hermione and Jasmine were focused on expanding their repertoire of spells they could cast silently. Their immediate goal was to be able to cast a silent Diffindo, though they hoped that once they were successful with that, it wouldn't be long before they could cast the more powerful Lacero silently as well.

With both spells, they also wanted Jasmine to be able to cast it in a long, wide arc to hit as many targets as possible and with enough force to do at least some damage. They knew that this could be critical when facing a large number of opponents at once, as Jasmine was likely to have to do in the Black Lake just a week from today. They knew, for example, that the grindylows tended to roam and hunt in packs.

"Diffindo!" Jasmine whispered, her voice only barely audible. She'd been slowly working on both goals at once: gradually decreasing the volume of her voice while also taking longer swipes with her wand, thus lengthening the arc of her cutting spell. Unfortunately, both actions decreased the force of the spell when it struck a target, so she had to work hard at every stage until she got the spell back up to sufficient strength that it accomplished anything.

"Any luck yet?" she asked Hermione.

"Not yet," Hermione answered, clearly starting to feel tired from the use of so much magic. If they continued too much longer, Jasmine realized, they might not be able to do their wandless casting practice in bed later before going to sleep.

Now more determined than ever, Jasmine closed her eyes and focused as much as she could on visualizing the idea of cutting, then clamped her lips together as she slashed her wand. Zip! went the cloth as it was cut from the large bolt hanging above it and fell to the ground.

"I did it!" Jasmine cried, punching the air.

"That's great, Jas!" Hermione congratulated her. "Did you do anything different?"

"I think so," Jasmine answered. "Before casting it, I focused hard on just the idea of cutting — no specific cuts or targets, just cutting. It's not exactly a concrete thought, so it's hard to explain how to visualize it, but I must have managed because I was able to cast it — and in a fairly wide arc, too."

Hermione looked at the results of the spell and nodded, convinced that that was the way to proceed. Jasmine watched her close her eyes for a few moments, just as she herself had done, then open them and cast a silent Diffindo.

"You did it!" Jasmine said happily, grabbing Hermione in a hug and spinning her around. Even at their normal power, Diffindo was not an insignificant charm, and the ability to cast it silently could prove incredibly useful.

"OK," Hermione said, "let's do this a few more times just to establish that the first wasn't a fluke, then we move on to Lacero, right?"

"Right," Jasmine agreed. After a dozen more silent castings of Diffindo, the two witches moved on to Lacero. As expected, they found that it wasn't too hard to cast it silently since they could already do so with a very similar spell.

By the end of the practice session, they could cast both silently and in either short or wide arcs. They knew they'd get better with practice, but for now these results were good enough for Jasmine's immediate needs.

Thursday, February 18, 1995, Evening.

Ginny Weasley sat alone at a table in the Gryffindor common room, books and parchment sitting untouched in front of her. Usually she'd be studying either with her fourth-year friends or with her third-year classmates. The former were all in the library working with their twice-weekly study group, and she was ignoring the latter because she really needed some time by herself to think.

Her problem, quite simply, was that she had discovered that she was a bit more uncomfortable with Jasmine and Hermione being a couple than she had expected to be. She still liked both of them and still wanted to be their friend. In fact, this desire had nothing to do either with the witch's debt she owed Jasmine or the oath she gave... at least, she didn't think it did. Magic could be unpredictable and do funny things, but she was confident that her desire to be friends with them was from the heart rather than magically induced.

She also didn't think that they should be punished in any way for being a couple. She didn't think that they should be denied jobs, lose all their friends, or be expelled from their families. However, she hadn't yet been able to get past how uncomfortable their displays of affection made her. She hadn't seen them do anything explicit, but even just the hugs, hand-holding, and occasional small kisses could be enough to make her shiver... and not in a good way, that was for sure.

Most of the time, in her head she thought that there was nothing wrong with Jasmine and Hermione being a couple. They were already such close friends, what did it matter? How was it any of her business? Other times, especially when she witnessed the more obvious signs of their romantic connection, she was inclined to regard such relationships as wrong, unnatural, and contrary to the social order. When she thought about being with another witch in that way, she just felt ill and couldn't understand how any witch could do such things with another witch. Doing them with a wizard was more natural — it just made more sense.

I know that such ideas come from my mum and the witches' magazines she reads, Ginny thought, but that doesn't mean those ideas are wrong, does it? But are they wrong? And why do I keep waffling back and forth like this?

It would be so much easier if they just kept their feelings — and hands — to themselves, then I wouldn't have to deal with this, and they could go on as normal. I already know they're a couple, so why do they feel the need to flaunt it in front of me?

I have no idea what I'm going to do, and there isn't anyone I can go to to ask for advice. Sighing, she opened up her Transfiguration text in the hope that maybe she could still get a little work done on her essay.

Friday, February 19, 1995, Afternoon.

Senior Branch Supervisor Earchewer sat deep in thought as he considered the new documents that had been delivered to him early that morning.

He hadn't been surprised when the Gatekeeper had returned his report with explicit instructions to monitor the situation and only file a second report when something new and significant had developed. Well, something new had indeed come up, and "significant" hardly sufficed to described what he was looking at. He never would have bet even a single bronze knut that the Veela, of all people, would have taken such an explicit and intense interest in two young English witches who hadn't even completed their OWLs. The Veela were notoriously secretive and insular; as far as Earchewer knew, they didn't take much of an interest in anyone, though to be fair he had never worked in France or in any of the other countries on the continent where Veela had their largest enclaves.

Still, this seemed to him to be a remarkable development. It would be even more interesting, he was sure, if he could find out more about this Delacour family. He'd put in a request for background information before lunch, but it came back marked "Denied" with a notation about a security classification he hadn't even heard of, much less possessed himself. He didn't know what they did or what kind of intelligence the Goblin Nation had on them, but it was sure to make this new information about their personal involvement with the two witches shoot right to the top of someone's priority list.

It wouldn't be his list, though. He'd be praised for having a source of information inside Hogwarts, and he might even get a nice bonus for passing along such valuable material; once he did pass it along, though, that would be the end of his involvement. It would be someone else's problem, thank the Great Goddess. This was something he didn't want to get too deeply involved in.

He would, however, send down word to the rest of the branch's staff to ensure that those two witches were treated well whenever they came in next. Unless he received instructions to the contrary, Earchewer figured that it would be best if they were handled with a bit more respect than normal. Anyone who attracts that kind of high-level, positive attention from the Veela probably merited it, and he had already approved their use of the special testing area, though an oath prevented him from learning how that was going. Better safe than sorry, he concluded.

After he had collected all of the relevant material and sealed it inside a special Gringotts pouch for later delivery, he returned to the more mundane work that usually filled up his day, noting that it had seldom seemed more appealing.

Friday, February 19, 1995, Evening.

As it turned out, casting spells silently underwater was a different matter from casting them silently in the open air. Jasmine had assumed they'd be more or less the same, which would explain why she was so frustrated during her attempts to cast silent spells while submerged in the pool in the Room of Requirement.

Jasmine knew it was selfish, but a small part of her was glad that Hermione was having just as much trouble as she was, despite the fact that her girlfriend had a lot more experience with being in water. Misery loves company, I guess...

"Jasmine!" Hermione called out when she broke the surface of the water after having failed for the umpteenth time to cast any spells while submerged. Jasmine was sitting at the edge of the pool, trying to think about what their problem could be and what to do about it. Not being able to cast any spells while under water would be a sure ticket to failing the second task — and possibly losing hostages, which would be far worse.

"What's wrong, Jasmine?" Hermione asked as she dog-paddled over to the side where her girlfriend was sitting.

"I think we must be missing something," Jasmine responded with a frown. "I won't claim that we should be instantly fantastic when casting underwater, but we should have had some better results by now."

Hermione pulled herself up out of the pool so she could sit next to her fellow Gryffindor and said, "I suppose you might be right." After a moment's thought, she continued, "Do you think that it's the act of holding our breath? Maybe it's distracting us or something?"

Rolling her eyes, Jasmine said, "Of course, I don't know why I didn't think of it before! I mean, even if that isn't the reason, using the bubblehead charm while doing this would make so much more sense because we wouldn't have to keep coming up for air!"

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione groaned, "That's so obvious! I'll never live that down!"

Grinning, Jasmine said, "I won't tell if you don't."

"Deal," Hermione replied fervently.

Both witches applied bubblehead charms to themselves and returned to the water. Fortunately their growing power meant that their charms lasted quite a bit longer than they did when they first tried casting them. Once again, they failed to cast the spells silently, but only at first. Soon, they were able to cast weakened spells against the reinforced wall on the deep end of the pool.

After about twenty minutes of practice, they both reemerged from the water and once again sat on the side of the pool. "Well, that went better," Jasmine observed.

"Agreed," Hermione responded as she adjusted the bathing cap which protected her bushy hair, "though I did notice that our spells were still weaker than they usually are, even when cast silently."

"I noticed it too," Jasmine said. "Could it be the water itself?"

Hermione nodded and said, "I think it must be. Water causes sound to travel more slowly, we move more slowly in it, and it refracts light, too. It only makes sense if water interferes with spells, perhaps absorbing some of the energy as it travels."

"Refracts?" Jasmine asked.

"Changes direction," Hermione answered, "It's something you'd study in muggle physics." She then took her wand and inserted it halfway into the water. "Notice how my wand doesn't look straight?" she asked. When Jasmine nodded, Hermione continued, "That's light being refracted by the water. The wand hasn't actually been bent, but the light bouncing off of the wand and back towards your eyes is being shifted by the water."

After thinking about that for a moment, Jasmine asked, "Then why doesn't that happen to our spells? They have light, or maybe are light, or something."

"Because it only happens when the light moves into or out of water," Hermione explained. "As long as the spells stay in the water, you're fine."

With that bit of good news, the two witches returned to their spellcasting practice.

Saturday, February 20, 1995, Morning.

Albus Dumbledore sat looking at his desk and despaired. He needed hostages for the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, which was now just four days away, but his plans for whom to pick might have been derailed. It had been made abundantly clear to him that if anyone was picked to be a hostage, their parents or guardians needed to give permission. In principle, Dumbledore understood that, but actually putting it into practice would be horribly inconvenient, to say the least. The magic of the tournament required him to produce hostages — what if all of those important to a champion said no?

Unfortunately for him, his very first attempt went pear-shaped rather quickly. He thought he had been polite to Mr. Chang, the father of Cho Chang, but the man was absolutely incensed that anyone would endanger his daughter like that, and all for what he called a stupid school competition. Dumbledore tried to placate the man, explaining that there was no real danger, but he refused to listen and angrily insisted that if Dumbledore wanted to endanger someone for the sake of Cedric Diggory's desire for glory, then he should...

Now that's actually not a bad idea, Dumbledore mused, only now giving Mr. Chang's sarcastic suggestion serious consideration. He probably had no expectation that I'd actually follow his advice, but as it turns out it's better advice than he could have imagined!

Smiling now at his clever reversal of his bad fortune, he leaned forward to make a note and moved on to the next name: Fleur Delacour. I may not know Veela very well, he thought, but from what I do know, there's only one choice. What's more, it's not really my job to contact any parents or guardians in this case. I'll leave it to Madame Maxime, but I'll subtly suggest that she is acting as in loco parentis for the hostage and therefore has the authority to make such a decision on her own. That will make things go faster.

With two down and two to go, Dumbledore's mood just kept improving. Third on his list was Viktor Krum. Perhaps there was a Durmstrang student here who would serve, but it was easiest to simply use his Yule Ball date, Miss Granger. If they were close enough to go to the Ball together, then they are close enough for her to still qualify as his hostage, Dumbledore concluded. So, no change there. Karkaroff had agreed readily enough to use Miss Granger, despite her muggle heritage.

Finally he turned to Jasmine Potter. Ideally he'd use Neville Longbottom, though he still wasn't sure how he felt about the possibility that this might enhance their romantic relationship. He hadn't decided whether that pairing would be good or bad in the long run. However, he was pretty sure that Madam Augusta Longbottom wouldn't give permission for Neville to participate, and there was no way he'd try to use the boy without talking to her first. Tracking down Gellert and dueling him one-on-one on a desolate battlefield in continental Europe was one thing, but crossing Augusta Longbottom on a matter of family safety was quite another. He liked all his bits and parts where they were and in one piece, thank you very much.

Fortunately there were a couple of other possibilities for hostages for Miss Potter… not many, because of how she'd been ostracized in the school, but a few. It was a pity that it was better for her in the long run to learn to endure the popular opposition like that. Right now, though, he just needed one student whose guardians could be convinced to give permission, or whose guardians could be ignored because they lacked sufficient political or economic clout to make life difficult for him, thus ensuring that he fulfilled the obligations that had been magically imposed on him by the Tournament.

Ah, he said to himself, I could always choose… but then I'd have to… yes, I think I can make that work.