Harry woke to another bright, cold sunrise with low, scudding clouds and still trees.
"Mornin' sunshine." Seamus said, already up and dressed.
"Shut up Seamus." Dean groaned, turning over and putting his pillow over his own head.
"Morning." Harry said, sitting up and stretching.
"I'll see you down there Harry, all the best in case I don't see you." Seamus said, pocketing his wand and heading out of their dorm.
Harry stood and looked around. Neville was still asleep, his hangings half open as usual and Ron's curtains were still fully drawn.
He felt refreshed after the best sleep he had had in what felt like months and went to brush his teeth and get ready. He cast the first of the two spells he had scheduled for the morning – one to even out his mood and the other to prepare his body for extended exposure to cold – then went down for breakfast.
The Great Hall was full, even at seven am. The honour guard he didn't want assembled around him almost instantly to protect him from well-wishers, hangers on and – to his pleasure – the press. Neither Ron nor Hermione was at breakfast. Hermione not being there wasn't unusual as she regularly missed meals when studying hard or sleeping in after a late night, but Ron missing breakfast was almost unheard of.
"I don't know where he is, must've come to bed late last night, I don't remember him coming up." Neville said when asked.
Lavender and Fay Dunbar didn't know where Hermione was, claiming they hadn't heard her go to bed. "Maybe she fell asleep in the library again?" Lavender said churlishly.
But the person whose absence Harry felt the most was Pansy. She was nowhere to be seen and Tracey and Sophia claimed to have no idea where she was, but Blaise also said that Draco hadn't been seen since the previous night either.
When none of the other champions appeared for breakfast, Harry started to wonder whether he was making the best use of his time, made his excuses and decided to head down to the gardens to prepare a little more.
As he reached the entrance doors, Malfoy's voice boomed up from the dungeon stairs. "Potter, wait there!"
Immediately on guard, Harry's hand went to his wand and he tensed, feeling his recent duelling training kick in.
But there was no threat. Draco climbed the stairs holding a large bundle of black cloth. "I can't believe you almost buggered off before you got this." Draco said, his chin on top of the bundle.
"What's this Mal- Draco?" Harry asked.
Pansy appeared on the stairs behind Draco and ran toward Harry, jumping into his arms.
"I'm sorry I'm late," She said, looking tired, "we were working since before dawn."
"Working?" Harry said, relieved and exalted to see Pansy's beautiful face.
"On this." Draco said acidly, flinging out the bundle which turned out to be a large, heavy cloak. He turned it around to reveal a Gryffindor scarlet field with the letter running down from shoulders to hem. He looked profoundly bored.
"Do you like it?" Pansy gushed, taking the heavy garment from Draco and putting it around Harry's shoulders.
It fit perfectly and when on, wasn't as huge as it seemed. It was warm and comfortable.
"I made it myself, and all you need is… this." Pansy said, taking out a gold chain, fitting it to the cloak so it was held together in the middle of his chest. "The cloth is enchanted to dry you off and keep you warm – for when you get out of the water."
Harry grinned, he had never owned a cloak, nor anything custom made for him. Gratitude swelled up inside him and he grabbed Pansy in a hug, trying to put across all his feelings in that one huge embrace. "Thank you." He breathed into her hair.
"I may vomit." Draco drawled behind them.
Harry released Pansy and they turned to Draco.
"Draco helped," Pansy said, "I was struggling to get the letters to hold in place and stay as iridescent as I wanted."
"Thanks Draco." Harry said, a little ashamed at his initial thought that he might have been under attack.
Draco shrugged. "It was nothing. Couldn't have the partner of one of our champions not appropriately garbed, could we?" He stepped forward and offered a hand to Harry.
Harry shook it.
Close up, Draco leaned a little closer. "Make sure you give Beauxbatons and Durmstrang a good kicking, yeah? I'd rather Diggory didn't win either, honestly."
"So I'm the best of a bad bunch?"
Draco laughed. "What kind of world do we find ourselves in?" Then he turned and strode into the Great Hall for breakfast.
Pansy and Harry crashed together again, like they'd been starving without each other and managed a few quick kisses without the light show starting up.
"I missed you." Harry said.
"I'm sorry, I left the mirror in my room – I just wanted to get this done for you."
Harry stepped back, shrugging his shoulders deeper into the cloak, marvelling at the warmth and comfort of it. "It's fantastic, I think I'll have to start a cloak collection."
She smiled and kissed him again, causing a few bright shimmers to dance off the walls and wolf whistles from a couple of Ravenclaws passing through the hall.
"Go and eat, I'm going to the gardens to do some more meditation."
"No! I want to be with you." She said, outraged.
He kissed her, stopping when her eyes started shining. "Look, you've not slept nor eaten: last thing I want is you falling asleep halfway through the task. I need my cheerleader. Go and eat, I'll see you about nine?"
She nodded reluctantly, hugged him again and turned her icy, blazing gaze toward the Great Hall.
Full of fire, Harry went out into the morning air.
Ludo Bagman's magically amplified voice boomed across the Black Lake, distorted into incomprehension by distance and drawing Harry out of a deep meditation.
Harry stood and walked over to the terrace that looked down on the Lake to see the Durmstrang ship had moved to the far eastern edge and a long pier, jutting a full quarter of the way over the enormous body of water. There was already an enormous crowd gathered around the whole lake and a general dull buzz of chatter reached out toward him.
He was ready, he was prepared.
"Ready?" Pansy's voice cut through the air.
Harry turned to her and nodded, his heart full of love for her. Maybe it was the meditation that helped him get the clarity to admit that to himself. Love – LOVE. What a feeling. He felt static crackle down the hairs on his arms as he looked at her.
"You're so beautiful." He said.
And it was true. She had changed her clothes, now wearing a knee-length dress in her favourite green and his gold with tall black boots and a black jacket against the cold. She blushed and stepped toward him.
As their hands met, crackling sparks arced between them, feeling almost like kisses.
She looked at him, her eyes shining as if they'd been kissing and Harry wondered if she had been thinking the same as him.
"You're ready." She said, almost a command.
He nodded, lost for words.
She took him by the hand, lacing their fingers together and thus they walked down to the Black Lake.
Harry saw countless familiar faces as Pansy led him toward the pier but caught no sign of either Ron or Hermione.
The sound of the cheering grew as they caught up with Cedric who was being bodily carried by a group of shouting Hufflepuffs. They made the pier at the same time and were greeted by McGonagall, Sprout and the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge. At some point someone had put a scrap of paper into his hand.
Sprout proved to be her normal effusive self, pulling the much taller Cedric down into a crushing hug, while McGonagall sufficed with a knowing smile and a nod that filled Harry with a glowing pride and confidence.
Fudge, complete with his hideous lime green bowler hat stepped forward, shaking both of their hands. "Congratulations, gentlemen," he said, "all the very best of luck."
They turned then and Harry embraced Pansy, holding her for a thousand years. When they broke apart, she had tears in her eyes. "Go break a leg." She said, kissing him on the cheek.
He unbuckled his cloak and put it on her. "Keep it for me."
"Always."
Cedric was waiting for him as he turned back to the lake. "Shall we?"
Harry smiled and nodded. He tugged at his robes and dropped them to the plank floor of the pier, stepping out in his trunks. Cedric had done the same and stood like some tall, muscled giant before holding out his hand.
Harry shook it and the crowd erupted in cheers. Together they walked the length of the pier to where Dumbledore, Maxime, Karkaroff, Percy Weasley and Bagman waited for them, Fleur a tiny shining shape beside Maxime.
When they were about halfway there, Krum appeared through the crowd, angrily threw down his robes, distractedly shook hands with Fudge and stalked up the pier toward them.
When they were all assembled, Dumbledore laid a hand each on Cedric and Harry's shoulders and turned them to face the water. "You both have all you need, I have no need to wish either of you luck." He said simply, stepping aside.
Maxime had stepped away from Fleur too, leaving her standing, her toes on the edge of the pier, eyes closed. She wore a swimsuit the same silver-gold as her hair and seemed to shimmer like some idealised painting.
On his left, Krum and Karkaroff seemed to be having a disagreement. The champion was shaking his head and cutting the air with his hand. Karkaroff looked furious, his teeth bared and eyes wild.
At a soft but carrying cough from Dumbledore, Karkaroff stopped and hastily composed himself, clapping Krum on the shoulder and moving back to join the other headmasters.
Percy, standing next to Bagman gave Harry a furtive thumbs-up.
Bagman, wearing his too-short quidditch robes again, grinned at all four of them and touched his wand to his throat, incanting, "Sonorous."
His voice boomed out across the water to the hundred, maybe thousand strong crowd.
"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."
As he spoke, Harry remembered the parchment. He opened his hand and unrolled the little ink stained scrap.
In a hasty hand was scrawled the words.
"It's Ron – they took Ron. Bring him back – G."
Ron's tidy space and absence from breakfast suddenly made sense. Harry crumpled the parchment and shoved it into the pocket of his shorts.
Hagrid, rowing one of the boats normally reserved for escorting first years to the castle, bumped against the pier. Harry reached into his full bandoleer and took out the Draught of Water Wandering, flicking the stopper out with his thumb.
"Let's hear it for our four champions: Diggory, Krum, Delacour and Potter!" Bagman called out, followed by a deafening roar from the crowd. Climbing down into the boat with a helping hand from Percy, he looked at the champions one more time before they set off for the judges' stand. "On the count of three, then. One . . . two . . . three!"
On two, Harry threw back the potion, swallowing what tasted like strawberry liquorice but impossibly bitter. Gagging, he saw Cedric draw his wand and dive into the black water on 'three".
The crowds were roaring with excitement as suddenly, Harry couldn't breathe. It was like air in his mouth wasn't going into his lungs, like a pillow had been pressed over his face. He tried to inhale, but his chest heaved as if against iron bands. He clapped his hands around his throat, his crazed brain wondering for a moment if Snape had poisoned him and felt…
He dived into the water and inhaled through the long slits that had appeared on either side of his neck. Gillyweed was quite literal then, he thought, drawing another then another breath, feeling his panic dissipate.
The water felt cool and pleasant against his skin and he noticed that his hands and feet had elongated slightly and become webbed. He swam, gliding effortlessly through the water which, far from being black, seemed well-lit to him now.
Deeper he went, barely feeling the pressure change as he went further into the strange, alien world of the Lake in search of whatever had been taken from him.
