"Hey, you guys wanna take a bath with me?"
Alison and Sarah looked up at their crazy sister, who continued eating her cereal casually.
"You serious?"
"Mhm. I mean, apparently I have to put the egg underwater for it to work or whatever, so I thought you guys might wanna be present for that."
"Oh. How'd you figure that out?" Alison asked.
"Rosy cheeks told me."
"Ah."
"So when are we doin this?" Sarah asked putting her bowl to the side.
"Well, I wanna do it sooner rather than later, soooo," Cosima drawled as she copied Sarah, "Now?"
"We could. I am curious to see how this will work out," Alison said.
Sarah shrugged, "It's Saturday. I ain't got nothin' to do."
"Double negative, Sarah," Cosima corrected.
"Shut up, ya dictionary, or I won't go at all."
Cosima laughed, "Alright, come on."
"Pine fresh," Cosima said clearly to the door of the prefects' bathroom. It swung open with a slight creak, revealing a large space.
"Cosima how on earth did you get the password to this bathroom? You're not a prefect."
"Connections, my dear," Cosima said walking into the bathroom. Sarah followed behind her with an excited smile on her face. Alison tentatively looked around the corridor before entering herself.
"Oi, check this out," Sarah called, making Cosima skip over in curiosity. "They got like, different little bubble bath faucets.
"Oh yeah, let's do 'em all!" Cosima said, wildly turning all the knobs.
"Hey, Cosima! Be careful, don't flood the place!
"Don't be a spoil sport Ali, I'll stop it before it gets too high. Ooh, speaking of high, I wonder when people actually come in here…"
"No, Cos. Just no."
"It was just a thought…"
Before long, the pool sized tub filled with sudsy warm water. Cosima poked a bare toe in it before smiling widely, shedding her robes and jumping in.
Alison, who had been in Cosima's splash zone, wiped her eyes irritably, "Cosima Niehaus!"
Cosima resurfaced, "What, it's super warm in here. You should come in."
Out of the corner of her eye, Alison saw Sarah take off her sweater vest, "You too?"
Sarah looked at her bashfully.
"Oh Jesus Murphy. How old are you two?"
Sarah slipped into the water with a relaxed sigh, "This shit is seriously soothing."
"Mmm…" Cosima hummed from the other side of the pool.
Alison watched the two float around before she sighed and took off her shoes and stockings, submerging her feet and calves in the water, "There, happy?"
"Better," Sarah commented.
"Can we just do what we came here to do and go? I don't want to be stuck here when a real prefect comes."
"Oh yeah," Cosima said as she righted herself and waded over to where the egg was sitting. She took it and put it under the water. Sarah swam over to her, nodding for Cosima to continue. Cosima unlatched the egg watching it glow in awe as the sound of a muffled song reached her ears. She submerged her head, Sarah quickly doing the same.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
As the song ended, Cosima quickly emerged from the water, sputtering a bit. "Ali can you get my bag?" she asked, wiping her hands on the nearest towel.
Alison retrieved the bag for Cosima who quickly jotted down what she heard on a blank piece of parchment.
"That was freaky," Sarah added, getting out of the water.
"What did it say?" Alison said.
Cosima handed her the paper, dragging her body out of the water.
"'Recover what we took?' What did they take?"
"Nothing," Cosima said, drying off, "Yet. But we still have a couple weeks left until the task, so I don't think they'll take something from me just yet."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I'll have to take a closer look at this," Cosima said after she finished getting dressed with a push of her glasses.
Delphine looked at the crumpled parchment with scribbles and illegible notes, trying to make something of the words. She looked over to where Cosima was sitting, slumped over with her head in her arms and her glasses dangling from her fingers.
"Mon amie."
"Mm…" Cosima grumbled.
"Come on, we have to figure this out."
"Mmm… I'm tired. Can't I just forfeit?" Cosima complained. She had been trying to figure out what the task was about for two weeks before enlisting Delphine to help.
"No, Cosima. You've gotten so far, you can't give up now," Delphine said rubbing Cosima's back. "What did you say before? You are a 'Ravenclaw.' Very smart. This is just another riddle."
"This is different," Cosima said leaning back, rubbing at her eyes. "This isn't just one answer, this is a clue within a friggin' clue."
"And if anyone can figure it out, it's you. Just- here." Delphine said writing something down on a new piece of parchment.
Cosima put her glasses on and looked over Delphine's shoulder curiously before being pushed back down, "Aw man… What are you writing?"
"Patienter."
Cosima smacked her lips, digging through her bag for a snack. She groaned when she couldn't find anything. "Hey, do you have snacks?"
Delphine kept writing.
"Hellooooo," Cosima drawled, "What are-"
"Here," Delphine said, giving Cosima the paper. Cosima looked at its contents, only to find the original riddle in Delphine's neat script, clean of annotations.
"Okay, it's just the- HEY!" Cosima shouted as Delphine crinkled Cosima's previous paper, littered with notes and thoughts about the riddle.
"You need to start again. Nouveau."
"I don't wanna start noovuh. I had ideas already!" Cosima said stretching across Delphine to try to get the paper, "Give…it!"
"Non, start again," Delphine said throwing the parchment away under the desk.
"Ugh. You're a bully," Cosima said, "and I'm hungry. I can't think on an empty stomach."
Delphine pulled out Every Flavor Beans from her bag that she had bought just for this occasion, "I knew you would say that, so I brought a snack. Motivation."
Cosima swallowed as she made eye contact with the candy.
"So every time you think of something, I will give you beans."
Cosima sighed and gave up. "Alright, alright."
Delphine picked up the paper, "Bien. 'Come seek us where out voices sound. We cannot speak above the ground.'"
"It must mean whoever's talking. And the fact that I had to put it underwater must mean whoever they are, they live underwater."
"Good," Delphine said pouring beans in her hand, giving them to Cosima who ate them all at once, causing the French girl to grimace, "How do you eat them like that? I once had a pepper bean. It was nasty."
"It's a strategy. Don't look at them. Put the beans in your mouth."
Delphine nodded, moving on, "'And while you're searching, Ponder this; We've taken what you'll sorely miss."
"I'm not missing anything though. I've checked like, everyday."
"What if they just haven't taken it yet?"
Cosima sighed and scratched at her dreads, "I… don't know. The task is tomorrow, Delphine. Won't I notice if they suddenly take something of value between today and 12 hours from now? And it's like, how small will it be? Will they take like a knut from my fucking wallet? Or so big that it's like, my glasses? Ugh!"
"Maybe, Cosima. Maybe." Delphine said, unsure herself. "Let's move on."
"Hey, where're the beans?"
"That wasn't an answer was it?"
"Damn."
"'An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took."
"That's easy. There's a time limit of one hour during the task," Cosima said holding out her palm. Delphine laughed and shook her head, awarding the eager girl with beans.
Cosima took them happily, bouncing in her seat as she chewed.
"You are like a chiot. A puppy," Delphine said through her giggles.
"You're one to talk. Look at your hair!"
"What about it?"
"You look like a cocker spaniel."
Delphine laughed heartily, "Pourquoi?"
"Because," Cosima said, laughing herself, "Your hair is so fluffy!"
"It is not. It is just curly."
"It's fluffy, madame. This- these," Cosima said, gesturing to Delphine's blond locks, "are puppy curls."
"Arrêtes!"
"Admit it! Don't be ashamed. Work those puppy curls!"
Delphine didn't respond, for she couldn't catch her breath.
"Miss Cormier," Mad-eye Moody called as he hobbled down the aisle of books.
spotting the two giggling girls.
"Oui?" Delphine asked after she calmed down.
"McGonagall wants you in her office."
Cosima frowned, "Why at this time of night?"
"It is not my job to ask questions, Niehaus. I'm just the messenger."
"Well I'll come, too," Cosima said getting up.
"I'm afraid that's not necessary, as you should be getting a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow."
Cosima began to grow irritated, "Delphine was helping me prepare."
Moody looked at Cosima for a moment before exclaiming, "Lovegood!"
Luna Lovegood peeked her head from around a bookshelf.
"Help Niehaus put her books away."
Delphine got up and started gathering her things while Luna came over to Cosima and started to close some of her books. Cosima sat in her chair helplessly watching Delphine walk hesitantly away with Moody.
"Wait, Delphine!" Cosima called.
Delphine turned around, and saw Cosima jogging up to her.
"Just- incase I don't see you before tomorrow, I wanted to say goodbye. So…" Cosima scratched her dreads.
Delphine shook her head with a chuckle and hugged Cosima tightly, "Don't be silly, Cosima. You'll do fine," she said, giving the shorter girl a small squeeze.
"Hopefully," Cosima said releasing her. Delphine smiled charmingly and walked away again.
"Wait!"
"Niehaus…"
"No it's just-" Cosima started, looking at Delphine and jutting her bottom lip out, "the jellybeans…"
"Seriously?"
Cosima held her face.
Delphine handed her the box after fishing it out of her bag, "Pauvre petit chiot."
Cosima took it earnestly, "You're the puppy."
After Delphine walked off with Moody, Cosima sighed and returned to her seat, plopping down with a groan.
"You look tired, Cosima. Maybe all those wrackspurts are catching up to you again. If you want, I could give you glasses that-"
"Luna, just- please…" Cosima interrupted, not in the mood for Luna's unusual drabbles, "I don't mean to be rude, but unless you're talking about, like, a carrot or something that can let me breathe underwater then what you're saying probably isn't of any use to me."
"What about gillyweed?"
Cosima looked up at her, "What."
"My dad uses it all the time when he has to collect walking plants that gather in our lake. It gives you gills and everything."
"Do you have some on you by any chance?"
"No. Not particularly."
Cosima groaned again.
"But I'm sure Professor Sprout would be happy to help. I know she has some. I've seen her collect them myself when I'm out by the lake feeding the thestrals."
Cosima jumped out of her seat, not knowing what to do with herself after hearing such great news. "Oh. My god. Luna, I could kiss you."
Luna looked puzzled, "Although I'm flattered, I'd rather you not," she said politely with a small smile.
Cosima palmed the gillyweed, feeling the slimy substance coat her fingers, "Ew… I'm supposed to eat this?"
Luna shrugged, "My dad prefers swallowing it whole, but you can do as you like."
"I'm thinking that's the better option," Cosima said putting the plant in her pocket.
Sarah sipped at her pumpkin juice next to her, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I guess," Cosima said, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes.
"Hey, where's Alison?"
"I don't know. She was supposed to meet us here, she's never late." Cosima said replacing them with scrunch of her nose.
Sarah looked down at her breakfast with a frown, "She probably had something to do. Don't worry about it."
Cosima sighed, "Okay, I won't."
"Okay where the fuck is Alison?" Cosima grumbled, climbing into one of the small boats at the Black Lake.
"Cos, calm down, yeah? Like I said, she's probably doin' somethin'."
"Yeah but Sarah this is weird, I mean the boats are about to leave!" Cosima said shivering in anxiety. Sarah put her hands on Cosima's shoulders reassuringly.
"Just take a deep breath. I'm sure she's fine."
"But-"
"Breathe."
Cosima inhaled deeply and expelled the air. "But she's never late," she said, lip quivering, "What if I die and never see her again?"
Sarah tsked and brought Cosima into a one-armed embrace, "Cos, don't do that. She's alright. She'll be there."
Cosima stayed silent as she held tightly onto Sarah as the boat left for the starting towers. Sarah rubbed Cosima's back soothingly, but it did nothing to quell the rapid heartbeat she felt against her side.
As they arrived to the start towers, McGonagall greeted Cosima and told her to head to the champions tower, while the rest would go with the other students. Cosima, who was holding Sarah's hand tightly, squeezed it harder, almost to the point of pain.
"Okay, Cos, before you break my hand. Come 'ere." Sarah said, holding out her arms. Cosima quickly jumped into them, almost knocking Sarah over. "I love you. You'll do great, alright?"
"Yeah," Cosima said, releasing Sarah. "Yeah, okay."
"Go kick some mermaid arse," Sarah said, making Cosima laugh.
McGonagall escorted Cosima to the champions tower where the other three were waiting eagerly, stretching and warming themselves up. Cosima just stood still, waiting for further instructions. She patted her pocket to make sure the gillyweed was still there.
"Attention!" Dumbledore exclaimed with use of the Sonorus charm, "Welcome to the second task. Now, last night, something was stolen from each of our champions; a treasure, of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface."
"Put that in your mouth."
Cosima turned to see Moody with one eye on her, leaning towards her inconspicuously. Cosima grabbed the gillyweed from her pocket, wincing at the clammy feel of it in her hands.
"Now," Moody demanded.
Cosima nodded, tossing back the plant, gagging at the texture, she closed her watering eyes and leaned on to the rail for support as she tried to keep it down.
"Simple enough… except for this; they will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only, after that they'll be on their own. No magic will save them. At the start of the cannon-"
BOOM!
The champions, all but Cosima, jumped eagerly into the water. Cosima still coughing from the gillyweed as her body tingled felt a hand push her into the cold water.
Cosima wriggled uncomfortably as she felt her neck painfully split open, but recovered quickly as she felt that she could breathe just as easily as she could above water. Looking at her hands, she saw flesh build up between her fingers, and glanced down to see fully formed flippers.
"Trippy," she said with a bubbly voice. Swimming around, she saw what looked like Fleur swim towards a kelp forest. She swiftly kicked in that direction.
As she approached the slimy leaves, she lost vision of Fleur. She tried to maneuver quickly through it, but found it hard as moving a couple of pieces of kelp just revealed more of it. Cosima sighed and swam upwards just above it to see if the movement of the plants would give her a hint, but she frowned as everything swayed with the natural current of the lake.
Sinking back into the kelp, she felt something brush by her leg. Looking over, she didn't see what touched her leg, but she spotted a glimpse of blue through the leaves. Moving some out of the way, she saw Fleur searching vigorously around for her "treasure." Cosima squinted when she saw something odd around her face and neck. 'Is that… the bubblehead charm? Why didn't I think of that?' she thought before remembering, 'Oh right, I'm a third year student.'
She heard a weird sound behind her, like a small growl, causing her to swivel to see what produced the noise. Seeing nothing but green, she loosened her grip on her wand, and turned back to where Fleur was, but Fleur was gone once more. She frowned and swam above the forest again to look around, keeping her ears open for any sign of her, but it seemed as if she had disappeared.
"The Beauxbatons' champion, Miss Delacour, has unfortunately been forced to retire, and she will take no further part in this task."
Sarah frowned, what the hell was going on down there?
"You think she's alright?" Scott asked nervously.
"She'll be fine, I'm sure. How much time is left."
Scott checked his pocketwatch, "About half an hour. Maybe less."
"Shite," Sarah cursed as she gripped the rail in front of her. "Come on, Cos…"
"Shit," Cosima shouted irritatingly as she searched a sunken boat and found nothing. Swimming upwards to get a better vantage point, she squinted and saw something peculiar in the distance. Getting closer, she made out an arch with four figures floating below it. She quickly swam towards it, hearing mermaids sing and call as she arrived at what she hoped was the end. Her question was answered as she recognized the form of her sister.
"Ali?" She shouted as she arrived at the arch.
Alison stayed unconscious, probably, Cosima pondered, because of a charm. Floating down to her feet, she saw that one of them was tied to a stone merman at the bottom. Trying to untie the slippery kelp it with her webbed fingers was to hard for her to do, so she swam to the bottom and retrieved a sharp stone. Returning to the top, she squinted as she saw a halo of familiar golden hair.
"Delphine?!" She touched her face gently, knowing it wouldn't wake her from her trance, but somehow it was reassuring. Looking at the other two floating students, she recognized them as Hermione and Fleur's younger sister. Cosima then understood that she was only supposed to retrieve Alison, but she definitely wanted to wait and see to it that Delphine was safe as well.
As she began cutting Alison loose, she saw a familiar yellow figure swim towards her. Cedric, also using the bubblehead charm, quickly fired a Reducto spell at the plant holding Delphine to the bottom, 'with fabulous aim,' Cosima pointed out internally. Cedric then took her gently by the arm, turning to Cosima and tapping his watch. Cosima nodded in response, and finished cutting Alison loose.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she panicked as a shark began swimming aggressively at her. As she dodged it, she was baffled to see Viktor's body attached to it. She's never seen that kind of transfiguration before, and couldn't help staring in awe as he dragged Hermione towards the surface.
She recovered quickly, expecting Fleur to swim along any second, but as minutes passed, the girl began to worry. There was no sign of the French girl anywhere. Cosima decided to cut the girl loose herself, as time was running out, and breathing became more of a task. She pulled out the wand and released the girl from the kelp, finally singeing it on the fourth try. She gathered the smaller girl in one arm and Alison in the other as she headed for the surface.
Delphine shivered as she was given a towel at the tower. She was drying herself off when she spotted Cedric, "Where's Cosima? Did you see her?"
Cedric nodded, teeth chattering, "Yeah. She was already at the finish when I got you. She was supposed to be right behind me," he said as he watched Viktor and Hermione surface.
Fleur ran up to Cedric from where she was standing on the second tier, "As-tu vu ma sœur? Était-elle là?"
Delphine put her hand on the panicked girl's shoulder, "Fleur? N'était-elle pas avec tu?"
Fleur shook her head, "Non, J'ai été attaquée! J'ai dû partir plus tôt!"
Delphine put a hand in her hair, "Merde."
"What's happening? What did she say?" Cedric asked.
"Did you see another girl down there?" Delphine translated, "Her sister?"
"That girl was- yeah, I saw her. She's still down there." Cedric said sorrowfully. Fleur burst into tears.
Delphine quickly consoled her schoolmate. "Il n'est pas encore terminée," she said to the sobbing girl, and herself as well.
Cosima was struggling to surface as her feet turned back to normal and her hands were no longer webbed. She desperately pushed her legs as fast as they could go as she ran out of air.
Suddenly something jerked her leg downward. Looking down, she saw a grindylow that had taken hold of her foot and began gnawing on her toe.
Cosima gasped in pain, trying to take a breath, but found that there her temporary gills were gone as well. She pushed the girls upward as the grindylow tugged her further down. She whipped out her wand shooting a reducto spell at the small creature, only to be attacked by another from behind. Trying to shake it off, another grindylow attached to her thigh, then her arm, then her opposite shoulder. As she began frantically resisting the suckling tentacles and sharp teeth of the hoard of grindylows, she thought of a spell that would help her out.
She fired a semi-powerful immobulus spell, that jarred the grindylows temporarily, making them swim away from her.
Alison and Gabrielle surfaced, gasping for air as they were assisted to the towers. Alison took a towel, wrapping it around herself quickly, looking around at who was with her. She saw a concerned Delphine approaching her, and three other champions looking over the water.
"Are you alright?" Delphine said hurriedly, "Why is Cosima not with you?"
Alison frowned, "She's not?" She looked around, and sure enough, Cosima wasn't present. "You didn't see her get out of the water?"
"Non," Delphine said through oncoming tears.
"I'm sure she will soon, we got up here somehow." Alison said, rubbing Delphine's arm as tears of her own started to form.
Cosima kicked as hard as she could as she felt her lungs turn inside out. She had lost a considerable amount of distance from surface fighting off the grindylows, and she was working hard to gain it back. As she unconsciously went to take a breath, she felt water enter her lungs. She kicked hard as she coughed the water back up, only to breathe in more. She saw the light from the surface begin to dim as she gave one last effort to reach the surface before everything went dark.
Delphine and Alison huddled together as they awaited Cosima's return to the surface. Alison poked Cedric, "How much time is left?"
"None, it's ten minutes past the hour."
"They can't help her out?" Alison asked near-frantically.
"No. They can't help her until she surfaces."
"…This is bullshit! She's thirteen years old!"
"I understand, I'm hoping the best for her as well," Cedric said sympathetically.
Alison sighed rubbing her cheek anxiously. She tugged the towel around her tightly as she tried to keep warm.
Not a minute later, she heard a gasp from Delphine. Looking up at her, she saw the French girl looking out to the water in terror. Following her line of vision, she squinted out to see something floating on the surface, gasping when she realized what, or who it was.
Seeing the blue and black shirt, Alison turned to head over to where Dumbledore was standing, only to see that he was already getting the attention of the mediwitches.
They retrieved Cosima quickly, bringing her to the tower where Madam Pomfrey was waiting. Alison and Delphine made to run out to her, only to be stopped by the Hogwarts headmaster.
"Give them space to work, she'll be fine," he reassured.
Alison nodded held Delphine's hand tightly, as they saw Cosima's unconscious body get carried off the boat.
Sarah, who had pushed her way through countless professors to get to her sisters, "What the bloody hell is goin-" Sarah's face paled at the sight of her sister, skin paler than hers, and her lips almost matching her jersey, which was torn in a few places.
Madam Pomfrey put her ear to Cosima's chest, frowning instantly when she heard how much water was in the girls lungs. "Rennervate," she chanted.
Cosima's head lolled to the side, but then nothing else happened.
"Turn her on her side, lake side please." Madam Pomfrey demanded. The assistant mediwitches did as they were told as they turned her towards the lake.
"Rennervate," Madam Pomfrey chanted once more.
A few seconds passed before Cosima began to cough and sputter up water. Alison and Delphine sighed with relief as Sarah quickly grabbed a towel, heading to wrap Cosima with it, but paused when she began to vomit up lake water, rubbing her back comfortingly instead.
"I need all the judges over here now!" Dumbledore called, retreating to where the rest of the professors were gathered.
After Cosima expelled all of the water from her stomach, she began to cough again, and start to shake from the exhaustion and the cold. Sarah wrapped the towel around her, "You're alright now, Cos. You're good."
Cosima looked around and saw her sisters and Delphine looking over her, before looking back at the other champions, Fleur's sister, and Hermione. Cosima sighed and laid back on her back, sighing as deeply as she could, which wasn't very deep at all, "Did I win?" she croaked, making her sisters laugh. "No, but really. What happened?"
Alison wrapped an arm around her, careful to avoid the now vividly red marks that the grindylows left, "We'll find out soon. I'm just glad you're okay, Cosima."
Cosima smiled weakly, "Yeah, I-" she tried, but was cut off by a series of violent coughs. Delphine frowned as the series of coughs lasted for over ten seconds, taking a knee before the girl.
Cosima recovered with a raspy "I'm fine," waving off the concerned girls. She started to stand, but found that she didn't have the strength as her legs shook under her and collapsed. Luckily, Delphine was in the right place and moved to catch her.
"Just rest for now, okay? You did a lot," Delphine reassured as she rubbed Cosima's shoulder.
Cosima just nodded, and relaxed onto Delphine's shoulder.
"Attention!" Dumbledore announced over chanting students. "The winner is: Mister Diggory!"
The Hogwarts cheered in delight as Cedric raised his hands in victory. Delphine clapped eagerly while Cosima gave him a genuine smile.
"However, seeing as Miss Niehaus would have finished first had it not been for her determination to rescue not only Miss Hendrix, but the others as well, we've agreed to award her second place for outstanding moral fiber!"
Sarah, Alison, Delphine, and Fleur cheered in excitement for Cosima, patting her back in celebration. Cosima grinned broadly, weakly holding out a pinky and a thumb, causing her sisters to shake their heads and laugh.
Delphine was curled up in the chair next to Cosima's bed the empty Hospital Wing. After the competition, Madam Pomfrey demanded that Cosima stay overnight, keeping out for any signs of near-drowning side effects. Delphine volunteered to stay with her, as she too was worried about her coughing fits.
Cosima was soundly asleep, having knocked out as soon as she laid on the bed. Delphine smiled at the movement of her chest, grateful that it was moving, albeit shallow. She started to frown as she heard hear lungs gurgle before Cosima started to cough slightly. Delphine moved to rub the girls stomach, and it seemed to work as her fit stopped and evened back out to shallow breaths.
Delphine started to tear up as she remember the fear that she felt seeing Cosima face down in the water. The girl had been a new and important part of her life in the past months, she couldn't imagine finishing this school year without her. Delphine realized how it must've looked if someone had walked in on them and seen her watching the young girl sleep, but she was seriously considering how she would spend the rest of this year.
She reached out and held Cosima's hand tightly, rubbing her thumb over the smooth skin that was slightly discolored and scared, no doubt due to grindylow suction cups. She was honestly ready to spend the entire night awake. It was a Saturday, so she didn't have to worry about school. She checked her watch, seeing that it was just after two a.m.
"Hey sweetness…"
Delphine gasped, seeing Cosima's sleepy face grinning back at her weakly. Delphine smiled, "You shouldn't be up."
"Same goes for you… you know," Cosima said, clearing her throat.
"I'm watching over you."
"I see that," Cosima laughed, but it quickly turned into a fit of wracking coughs as she curled into herself. Delphine was quick to start rubbing her back, helping her ride out the attack.
Cosima leaned back a minute later rubbing her chest, "Ugh, fuuuuck," she groaned.
Delphine gave her a cup of water, "It will get better, I promise."
"When? God, I feel like I'm… still drowning," she said as she took the cup
Delphine didn't respond.
Cosima sighed and finished her water. "Is there anything to eat in- you know what, never mind… I forgot I had friggin'… kelp for dinner."
Delphine curled back up into the chair, biting her thumbnail.
Cosima frowned at Delphine's sudden seriousness, "What?"
"I never want to see you like that again."
Cosima sat back up, putting on her glasses, "You won't. It's over… you know?"
"I know, but there is still one more task left, and you do not have a hint this time. What if it's water again?"
"The odds of that happening… are like a thousand to one, mademoiselle."
Delphine just continued biting her nail. Cosima reached and pulled her hand from her abusive teeth, "Stop that. That's bad."
"You still have one more task left," Delphine stated.
Cosima nodded slowly, "…Why?"
Delphine put her face in her hands, sighing softly.
"What's wrong, Delphine?"
Delphine lifted her head from her hands, trying and failing to catch the tears from her eyes before they fell.
"Hey, hey hey…" Cosima said retaking her hand and squeezing it. "I'll be okay… Alright? I'm here."
Delphine shook her head, appearing to be in the middle of an internal battle with herself. Cosima frowned, "What's going on in there?"
Delphine looked up at Cosima, "I cannot do this."
Cosima had no doubt in her mind that the fear on her face was evident, "W-what?"
Delphine scratched at her head anxiously.
"Delphine, you're scaring me… like big time."
"Desolée. I don't mean to, I am just thinking."
"About what?" Cosima pushed gently, "Let me in…"
"I cannot… um… You are very close to me, you know?" Delphine said, switching her approach.
Cosima nodded hesitantly.
"I cannot see you… like that… again. Ever. Not without… um…"
Cosima rubbed her hand encouragingly.
"Not without knowing what it's like… to be with you."
Cosima's jaw dropped. Delphine looked at her expectantly, but after a minute of silence, she shook her shoulder impatiently, "Cosima?"
"I… I'm sorry, I just- I-" Cosima started to chuckle, "I don't know if I heard you correctly…"
Delphine groaned, "Please don't make me go through that again."
"Don't worry, it's easier the second time."
"I want to be with you," Delphine rushed.
"Like, together together?"
"Oui. Ensemble."
"Holy watershed," Cosima sighed, falling back onto her bed.
"Quoi?"
"I can't believe this is actually happ- are you real? This isn't… heaven is it? Because I have dreamt of this… for like ever."
Delphine laughed, "Non. It's me."
Cosima looked up at her, "You seriously wanna go out with me?"
"Is it such an abstract thought?"
"I mean… you're you."
Delphine giggled, "And you are?"
"Me. Geeky, short, clumsy-"
"Funny, cheeky, brave, smart, cute. Should I continue?"
Cosima smiled, "Yes please."
Delphine laughed, "You are fun- cool. Pretty, cute…"
"You already said that."
"Because it is very true."
Cosima blushed, bringing color to her still pale face. She coughed once before sitting up straight.
"Are you in this… for real?"
Delphine nodded.
"Because I have the biggest desire to be… disgustingly cute with you. Like, everywhere."
Delphine grinned, "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay."
"Including here," Cosima said staring deeply into Delphine's eyes.
Delphine cocked her head with a smile before letting go of Cosima's hand, replacing it on her cheek. Rubbing Cosima's smooth skin with her thumb gave her chills of excitement, and nervousness, but denying the latter, she leaned in and pressed her lips to Cosima's.
Cosima's breath hitched, she had been imagining this moment for the longest time, and yet, she didn't know what she should do. Deciding she should abandon all thoughts, she switched from logical to instinctual for the first time in her life.
Cosima felt Delphine suck lightly on her top lip before detaching and quickly switching to occupying the lower. Cosima hummed in elation as she lightly gripped the back of Delphine's neck. Taking things into her own hands, Cosima turned her head slightly to deepen the kiss, retracting an odd but pleased sound from Delphine.
The two of them broke apart, Cosima breathing a bit heavier than Delphine.
"That was…"
"Magnifique…"
"More like… phantasmagoric."
"Oui."
Cosima smiled bashfully at Delphine, "Are you my girlfriend?"
Delphine returned the smile, "Oui, if you want me to-"
"Oh I want. I want fucking bad," Cosima said.
Delphine giggled as she played with Cosima's ring-less fingers.
"Hey."
Delphine looked up.
"Since we're together now, does that mean that it… won't be awkward for you to sleep with me?"
"Mon dieu, Cosima. This early?"
"No! No-" Cosima fell into another coughing fit, only lasting for a few seconds, but Delphine still flinched and rubbed at Cosima's back.
"I was joking," Delphine reassured.
Cosima rolled her eyes, "Your jokes suck, madame." she rasped. "Come here."
Delphine took off her shoes and got into the bed with Cosima, snuggling under her chin. "Get some sleep, okay? You need rest."
"M'kay."
Delphine listen to Cosima breathe for a few minutes before hearing her speak again.
"Man some shit went down in this bed."
Another giggle.