It's been a week since the Yule Ball, and Harry was right back at square one. He still didn't know how to get the clue out of the egg, and it was the beginning of January. That meant he had less than a month to figure out the clue, or have no choice but to face the challenge, not knowing what he was going to face. He was walking across the Wooden Bridge by himself, when Cedric came towards him. Harry tried to quicken his pace, but Cedric stopped him. "Harry I wanted to thank you for telling me about the dragons." Cedric said. Harry replied "No problem." then started to walk away. Cedric then asked him "Have you ever been to the Prefect's Bathroom on the Fifth Floor? It's the perfect place for a bath. Maybe you should take your egg, and mull things over in the hot water."
Cedric then left, leaving Harry to ponder what he just said. Later that night, he then went to the Boys' Dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, got his egg and his pajamas, then headed to the Prefect's Bathroom on the Fifth Floor. He said the password "Pine Fresh" and walks inside. Inside, he sees a bath the size of a pool, and a painting of a mermaid, which was wide awake. He filled the tub with water and bubbles from several taps, took off his bathrobe, and got in. The water was excellent, and he went for a swim inside of the tub.
When he was done swimming, he sat by the wall, and looked at his egg. "I must be out of my mind." He then opened the egg, and it screeched like it usually did. He shut it closed, then said "I'm definitely out of my mind." Then he heard a familiar voice come from behind him "I'd try putting it in the water, if I were you. That's what he did. The other boy. Cedric." Harry turned around, and saw none other than Moaning Myrtle. "Myrtle," Harry said, pushing more bubbles towards him "did you say put it in the water?" Myrtle nodded, and flew next to him.
Harry grabbed the egg, and opened it underwater, and much to his surprise, the egg didn't screech. He put his head under the water to listen to the egg's message, and it sounded like an angel singing. "Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, an hour long you'll have to look, to recover what we took." Harry brought his head from the water, and was breathing heavily. "Myrtle, there aren't merpeople in the Black Lake, are there?" Myrtle laughed then said "Well done. It took Cedric ages to figure it out. By the time he did, almost all of the bubbles were gone." Harry told Myrtle "Close your eyes, I'm about to get out and change." Myrtle did so, until Harry put his pants on.
Harry was walking towards the door with his shirt still off, and his egg, when it swung open. The person who opened it was Harry's new girlfriend: Daphne Greengrass. "H-h-hey Daphne. What are you doing here?" Harry asked. Daphne and Harry both blushed when Daphne looked at Harry's chest and abs. Daphne then replied "I usually take a bath in here. What are you doing in here?" Harry told her about the clue to the egg, and she looked at him with concern and worry on her face.
"What's wrong, Daph?" Harry asked. "You have to go in the Black Lake for an hour, that's what's wrong." Harry hugged his girlfriend, and whispered in my ear "Don't worry, I'll come back. I've survived worse than this before. Trust me." She buried her head in his shoulder, and Harry patted her back. "I've got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow okay?" Daphne nodded her head, and released Harry from their hug. Harry walked to the Gryffindor Common Room with his egg, and found Ron and Hermione holding hands while they were sleeping. "Come on you two. Off to bed." Harry said waking up both of his friends. They woke up, but they wanted to know about where he'd been.
Harry sat down on his favorite couch, and said "Cedric told me to take my egg to the Prefect's Bathroom on the Fifth Floor, so I did. While I was taking a bath, Myrtle came in, and told me to put the egg under the water. I did that, and the egg said 'Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, an hour long you'll have to look, to recover what we took.'" Hermione said " 'Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground' is obvious, it's the merpeople. 'An hour long you'll have to look, to recover what we took' again is obvious, but potentially problematic."
Harry stared at her in disbelief "Potentially problematic," he asked sarcastically "when was the last time you held your breath underwater for an hour Hermione." That's when Neville made his presence, and said "If you're looking for a way to breath underwater, you can always try gillyweed." Harry looked at Neville, then asked "What's gillyweed?" Neville then lit up like he always did when he talked about stuff that dealt with Herbology, and said "It's a plant native to the Mediterranean Sea, and causes you to grow gills and webbing between your fingers and toes, so you can breathe and navigate through water easily."
Harry clapped Neville on the back, and asked him "Do you think you can get your hands on some gillyweed for me, before the Second Task?" Neville nodded his head energetically. Harry, Neville, Ron, and Hermione then went to their respective dormitories, and changed into their pajamas to go to sleep. While everyone was sleeping, Harry took out the book Sirius gave him, and started looking through the spells, jinxes, and curses, as he didn't want to revisit the graveyard again. He stopped on a particularly interesting charm that allowed the user to breathe underwater called the Bubble-Head Charm. "I'll use this charm, just in case Neville forgets about the gillyweed. He put the book away, put his glasses on the nightstand, and slowly drifted to sleep.
A couple more weeks passed, and Harry was happier than he ever been. He was passing all of his classes so far, Snape was taking it easier on him, and today was Valentine's Day, which meant that he and Daphne were going on a date to Hogsmeade. They were going to double date with Ron and Hermione, since they were all going to the same place. They all left the castle after their last class of the the day, and headed towards Hogsmeade. Daphne showed them a place on the outskirts of Hogsmeade called Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, and sat by two tables that were next to each other.
Madam Puddifoot came and took the order's of the two couples, and Harry got a cup of tea and a zucchini sandwich, Ron also got a cup of tea and a corned beef sandwich, Hermione got a cappuccino and a ham and cheese sandwich, and Daphne got exactly what Harry got. While waiting for their food, Daphne and Harry held each others hands, and looked into each others eyes lovingly. Harry got over the table and kissed his girlfriend, and Ron just tried to copy everything that Harry was doing, which actually worked.
A few minutes later, Madam Puddifoot brought back their orders, and the group enjoyed a particularly joyful lunch. They then paid for their food, and went to shop for awhile. Hermione and Ron went to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, so Ron could get Hermione a new quill set, and Harry and Daphne went to a new jewelry shop that just opened called Franklin's Jewelry, so that Harry could get Daphne a rather special locket and necklace. While Daphne was looking at the earrings, Harry was talking to the jeweler. "Can you place protective enchantments on any of your items?" Harry asked, to which the jeweler answered "Yes, we actually can, but it costs just a little bit more."
Harry picked out a locket and a necklace that were both silver with a sapphire and an emerald in it, then said "Can you put your most powerful enchantments on these two, and make it so that only that those she chooses as her friends can touch her?" The jeweler said "Of course, I can. It will just cost you forty-five galleons." Harry dug the amount out of his bag, and handed it to the man. "I'll just need half an hour to finish putting the enchantments on. Come back then." the jeweler said, and Harry nodded.
He and Daphne then met up with Ron and Hermione at the Three Broomsticks at four-thirty, and they each got butterbeers with ginger in it. "How was your day so far, you two?" Hermione asked Harry and Daphne. Harry and Daphne said at the exact same time "It was perfect." Harry then asked "And yours?" Hermione replied "Likewise." They then started talking about everything, until Harry remembered about Daphne's locket and necklace that he had to pick up. "I'll be right back. I've got to go pick something up from a shop." he told everybody. He left the Three Broomsticks and headed towards the jewellery store to get the two things. He walked through the door, and the man he talked to earlier was putting the two items in a bag.
Harry walked up to him and said "I've come to pick up the locket and necklace that you've put the charms on. The ones with the sapphire and the emerald on them." The man looked at him, then said "Ah yes, it's right here and ready to go. I hope that she finds quite to her liking." Harry smiled and took the bag, and walked back to the Three Broomsticks. After he sat back down next to Daphne, he was immediately bombarded by questions. Ron asked "Harry, what did you get?", Hermione also asked "Harry, what exactly did you get, and Daphne asked "What did you go get Harry?" Harry then pulled out the long black box, and a smaller black box out of the bag, and handed them to Daphne. "I gotten you some things to remember me by, my love." Daphne opened the boxes, and was nearly in tears when she saw the locket and the necklace, and she hugged Harry then asked "Will you help me put it on?" Harry did so, then the group went back to the castle.
It was a very enjoyable day for Harry, and he felt like nothing could ruin his mood, not even the continuous nightmares that he kept having. That night, he went to sleep in a very good mood, and to make his mood even better, he didn't even have the same nightmare that he usually did, and he finally had a peaceful sleep for now.