Skylar didn't see Harry for the rest of the night. She stayed up and waited for him to return, but he never did. She felt somewhat betrayed by him for leaving her here, for not letting her help. She'd always helped him out when he'd needed it and he'd always let her, welcomed it, and yet now for some reason he was neglecting her, leaving her behind. It hurt her more than she cared, or dared, to admit.
It made her sad and angry, was it because she hadn't been around as much? She'd been spending time with Stephen so she hadn't been able to put as much energy into Harry and the tournament, but she'd still made sure to be there when it was needed. She was there to help research as the Second Task approached to make sure he survived, perhaps even succeed. Now it was as if she hadn't done any of that and he was punishing her as if she'd abandoned him.
Maybe that was how he felt… Here she was being left behind by him and it hurt, had Harry felt the same when she'd left to be with Stephen? Well, even so, he should talk to her about it, not try to get even.
Skylar ended up falling asleep in front of the fire in the common room, waiting for Harry in her sadness. Ron and Hermione were not seen for the rest of the night either. Skylar awoke in time for her usual routine and stayed waiting until Ginny and Leon came down from their dormitories for breakfast. Seeing her, they asked her to join which she had no reason to refuse. They were chatting nonchalantly about the task ahead with excitement and in the Great Hall the rest of the school was also bubbling. The teachers at the head table gave off a different vibe of uncertainty. Skylar didn't touch any food even when Leon put some toast in front of her, and she ignored their questions of worry; Harry wasn't at breakfast either. The table was empty of his untidy black hair, was he already down at the lake? The teachers announced when it was time for everyone to move off for the task and everyone got up with excitement, the Weasley Twins were offering wagers on the outcome.
Skylar moved with everyone else through the entrance hall and out onto the grounds, peering expectantly towards the lake where everyone was headed.
"I cannot wait to see what Harry's going to pull off this time." Leon grinned.
"Depends what the task is." Ginny added. "Hey Sky, what is the second task?"
The girl turned to her, being broken from her thoughts by their conversation, she'd hardly heard a word they'd said till now. "Uh, something's been stolen from the champions and they have to swim through the black lake for an hour to find it." She admitted, shaking her head to clear it. She returned to looking around at the crowd as they were moving to the lake.
The seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank of the lake, rising in stands and reflecting in the water as the crowd moved around the edge towards them.
"That doesn't sound too hard…" Leon thought unsurely.
"Holding your breath for an hour and searching the entire lake while fighting off mermaids, yeah, sounds inviting." Skylar said sarcastically.
"Mermaids!?" They repeated, an excited look on their faces. They began all sorts of wondering questions but Skylar wasn't listening. She couldn't see Harry anywhere, what was going on? Did he find a solution last night and was waiting already? She looked along the shore and spotted the judges table, draped in gold and by the shore. The judges table was full, with Ludo Bagman, the three heads of the schools and — Percy Weasley. He was in Crouch's place again. The three other champions were there, Krum being doted on by Karkaroff as usual and each of them were dressed for a swim, looking nervous. Harry was not with them. Skylar paused, why was Harry not there also? Why hadn't he woken her up this morning to tell her he'd found something? She turned back to look up towards the castle, what if he hadn't found anything? What if he was hiding up in the boys dormitory refusing to come?
Skylar almost felt like running back to the castle to look for him, he couldn't not show up! But then again, if he'd found nothing, he couldn't search the lake either…
She became momentarily angry, if he'd let her go with him, this wouldn't have happened!
The stands filled up and the judges were all whispering to one another, glancing back at the school again and again. Minutes passed and nine-thirty grew closer and closer, but still Harry hadn't turned up. The other champions were looking confused as the judges worried. Skylar checked her watch again, there were only a few minutes left before Harry suddenly came streaking from the castle and full out sprinted towards the lake. Skylar couldn't help but release a sigh of relief, she hurried for the stands to take a seat, scanning them as Harry was bent double by the judges table, panting. Her eyebrows furrowed, she couldn't see the red-head or the brown bushy hair. Where were Ron and Hermione?
"Sonorus!" Ludo Bagman's voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands and Skylar hurried over to Ginny and Leon to take a seat.
"Harry was cutting it close wasn't he?" Leon whispered.
"We had trouble figuring out how to breathe for an hour under water…" Skylar admitted. Still he was really pushing it wasn't he, staying and searching so late.
"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. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"
The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause. Harry pulled off his shoes and socks as the other three sprinted into the water and dived under. Harry in his robes waded the lake, slipping and sliding all over the place before he stopped waist-deep. Nothing was happening and he wasn't doing anything, a few Slytherins were laughing from the stands, which advanced with catcalling and jeering.
"What's he doing?" Leon demanded.
Ginny glanced at Skylar but she had her bottom lip between her teeth and her hands clasped together. What was he doing! He was wasting time, he had to go and find the treasure, had he really not found any charm to help him? Was he going to stand there for an hour like a fool? He should have let her go and help! What an idiot he was to do it by himself.
There was a moment before Harry did anything, he clapped his hands over his throat and suddenly flung himself into the water — and vanished. Skylar held her breath, but he didn't come back up, she looked towards the judges table, but they were all talking amongst one another, none of them looked concerned.
"Now what?" Leon questioned, looking around the stands. No one was doing anything but everyone was chatting, asking the same question as Leon.
"Our champions have all descended into the depths of the lake!" Bagman's voice boomed over the lake and the stands quietened as everyone listened. "And so begins the challenge! Each Champion has to retrieve a treasure, taken last night by the Merpeople that live within the Black Lake. The champions have one hour to find the city of the merfolk and return to the surface with their treasure! Each treasure is a hostage! Someone important to each champion!" Murmuring began amongst the spectators, but Skylar's eyes were still on the lake. Treasures were taken last night… Hostages…
Ron and Hermione! Were they at the bottom of the lake as hostages!?
"The golden egg which was received from the First Task contained a clue for the champions. When opened it emitted screams. These screams were the language of the Merpeople, which changes to words when opened under water!" Bagman continued. "The clue helped the champions to discover a way to survive under water for an hour in order to return their treasures!"
There were a few grumbles by some in the stands, after all, they now had to sit here for the hour and wait to see what happened. There was much less thrilling excitement in waiting than in watching like with the first task.
"The first champion to reach the surface with his treasure shall be the winner of today's task! Each will receive points for when they return and how quickly. If they finish outside of the time limit however they will be docked points!"
The stands were excited again and many began to check their watches periodically. But nothing exciting happened until the hour had passed; Fleur Delacour emerged out in the lake, spluttering and struggling. She had no treasure with her, no other person was by her side.
She swam to the bank, struggling and it soon became apparent that she was injured. She had cuts all over her face and arms and her robes were badly torn, she seemed to have been attacked by something within the lake so terribly it had forced her to forfeit. Madam Maxime moved from her seat at the judges table to help her as did Professor Dumbledore. Madam Pomfrey moved in, having been sitting to the side in wait for the champions.
A few moments later however the excitement increased with the arrival of another champion. This time it was Cedric Diggery and he did have his hostage with him, it was Cho Chang. She was dressed completely in her Hogwarts robes and Cedric helped her as they began to move towards the shore. Madam Pomfrey moved to give them both blankets and wrap them up, the water of the lake could not be warm. The people in the stands were getting to their feet, Hufflepuffs were screaming in excitement, Cedric had been the first champion back! Unfortunately he was outside the hour time limit… which meant all the champions would be, Harry had to hurry up!
The spectators got even more excited as Krum appeared, a shark emerged above the water and changed to show his face. It seemed he'd transfigured himself. Beside him, in her robes, was Hermione! Had they been there since last night?
Skylar got to her feet and began to move along the stands to make her way down to the judges. Didn't matter if she wasn't supposed to be there, all her friends had been in the lake, and she still didn't know how Harry had accomplished breathing underwater for more than an hour.
Fleur, Cedric and Krum had all exited the lake, Fleur looked somewhat frantic as her hostage had not been retrieved, Skylar wondered who it might be that she cared for so much, the girl always seemed to be complaining. Hermione being Krum's hostage was a bit cute though, same with Cho and Cedric. Skylar supposed the Yule Ball helped the teachers with those decisions. Ron was likely Harry's, after all, they were best of friends.
Yeah, but you could have been chosen too… Said a little voice in the back of her mind.
She ignored it as Hermione was on the shore and being wrapped in large thick blankets by the judges table, along with Cedric, Cho and Krum.
"Hermione!" She exclaimed when she arrived, interrupting the conversation she was having with Krum. "So this is where you were!"
"Sky! Harry! Is he alright! He figured something out?" Hermione demanded, seeming to forget Krum was there — he didn't look pleased about Skylar's interruption.
Skylar bit her lip. "Of course, it took all night but…" she didn't want to admit she had no idea what happened, or that Harry had left her behind with no explanation. "Anyway, are you alright?"
"Oh yes, we went to McGonagall's office last night and they put a special spell on us. None of us were in danger." Hermione assured. She turned back to the lake and Skylar did the same before Krum trapped the bushy-haired girl's attention, the two taking a moment together. Skylar ignored them, where was Harry?
There were a few minutes before the surface of the lake began to move and suddenly three heads emerged! Harry with his untidy black hair, still having bits standing up even with the weight of the water. Ron, his red hair darker than usual with the water, and a child, no more than eight years old with silver hair that was just like Fleur's, her sister perhaps?
The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming and all on their feet. Ron and the girl were awake and Ron expelled a great spout of water before turning to Harry. They were just as alright as the other hostages and champions.
Around the three rose more people, the merfolk. They had greyish skin with long wild green hair. Their eyes were yellow like their broken teeth and they wore pebbles for necklaces. Their tails were silver and that of a fish as they all rose up like a precession. They carried tridents and spears and were smiling at Harry.
The two boys helped Fleur's sister towards the bank as the mermaids came with them, singing screechy songs like the sound that had come from the egg. The judges were all on their feet, Dumbledore and Bagman beaming while Percy ran straight into the water to grab his brother. He looked white with worry.
Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.
"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"
Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Ger- roff, Percy, I'm all right!"); Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister.
"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…"
"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Harry and pulled him over to Hermione, Skylar and the others, wrapped him tightly in a blanket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat. Steam gushed out of his ears.
"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!"
"Well —" said Harry. Karkaroff was watching them, the only judge still sitting at the table. "Yeah, that's right," said Harry, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him.
Harry glanced fleetingly at Skylar who was watching him, no expression on her face. She didn't know how to feel, she was so filled with relief that he was okay, and he'd succeeded with getting his hostage, even though he was well outside of the hour time limit. But she was irritated he'd left her behind and refused to let her help, or had told her anything about succeeding in finding a solution when they'd been looking for weeks. She wasn't used to him leaving her out or ignoring her. She didn't like it and she cast her gaze away while crossing her arms.
"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum.
Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry… Did it take you ages to find us?"
"No… I found you okay…"
Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."
The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from Percy's clutches; she led him over to Harry and the others, gave him a blanket and some Pepperup Potion, then went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Despite her injuries, Fleur was refusing aid and pushed her sister forwards.
"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Harry. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."
"Yeah," said Harry, though he didn't sound pleased with himself.
Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek, then said to Ron, "And you too — you 'elped —"
"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit —"
Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him. Hermione looked simply furious and Skylar found herself scowling at the silver-haired girl, but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…
"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
Applause from the stands.
"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Cho gave Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points.
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued.
Gillyweed? Skylar raised a confused eyebrow, what was that? How had he found that and gotten a hold of some in one night?
"He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."
Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks. Skylar smiled ever so slightly, of course he did, he was Harry and he would never leave anyone behind, though, he shouldn't have expected Dumbledore to let anyone drown.
"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."
Skylar gapped, Harry was now tying for first place with Cedric. Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.
"There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all — you were showing moral fibre!"
Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes, the stands began to empty also and everyone began to move to the castle with the task being finished. Skylar watched her friends go, being fussed upon by the matron but found her feet somewhat glued to the grass. Even if she followed, she had no idea what she was going to say for a change. She wanted to know how Harry had discovered something called gillyweed, and where he'd found it and what had happened in the lake, but she also felt like she couldn't follow..
It was strange, she'd been friends with Ron for a long time and had met Harry in Kings Cross getting on the train for their first year. They'd always been with her and included her and accepted her. Hermione had been the one slightly out of the herd, their friendship beginning a bit strained. And even when Ron and Hermione had one of their rows last year and refused to talk to one another, or when Ron had even outcasted himself by not believing Harry had not put his name in the fire, Skylar had always been there. She'd always been involved and included and now she felt somewhat ostracised.
This was silly, Harry didn't want her help once and now she felt he didn't like her at all… That seemed an extreme turn of events…
Skylar was broken from her thoughts when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Stephen. "He did it." He said, though he looked a bit nervous. No surprise, they'd had an argument the last time they'd spoken.
"Yeah."
"I'm glad you were able to help." Stephen nodded, smiling weakly.
But she didn't. She was no help at all.
"Want to get some lunch?" Stephen offered.
She walked with him silently towards the castle with the rest of the crowd and into the Great Hall, everyone chatting about the task, the merfolk and how most of the students had no idea what was living in their school grounds. Stephen was amongst them, wondering what else might be in the lake and what the champions each faced. It wasn't until Stephen saw Skylar wasn't eating anything that he realised something was wrong.
"Are you alright?"
She hummed in response. Stephen didn't look convinced, he glanced at the doorway to the Great Hall where she was staring and frowned.
"Sky!" She turned to him, a questioning look on her face. "You're waiting for him."
"Who?"
"Harry!" Stephen looked annoyed and sad.
She paused for a fraction of a moment before answering. "Well of course I am, I want to know what happened, truly."
"So why didn't you go with them to the Hospital Wing?"
"They're supposed to be getting care, not bombarded with questions." She returned. Of course she also had no idea what to say to Harry or whether she should ask about last night, how he hadn't let her help him, whether he was mad she was with Stephen.
"Since when has that stopped you?" Stephen questioned.
Skylar's forehead furrowed. "What do you mean?"
He seemed to have realised what he'd said as her expression became angry. He thought her selfish, selfish enough to care about what she wanted more than someone else.
Wasn't it he who was trying to make her ditch her friends to make himself feel better? What right did he have to think such a thing!
Skylar got to her feet as Stephen looked sorry, and yet, he didn't seem to think he needed to back track, explain himself or apologise. "You know what," she sighed. "That's it."
He looked surprised.
"You want me to ditch my friends for you because you either don't like them or are threatened by them. And because I refuse to do that, for you, I'm selfish and disappointing. You have no right to tell me who I can or cannot be friends with. You don't trust me and it's insulting, all of it. So I'm done. My friends have stuck by me for years, they're family, and with this attitude, it's just not going to work out."
Stephen didn't know what to say for a moment, but his expression contorted with his pain. "Yeah, that's why you're doing this. I know it's because you'd rather be with Harry."
"You are so tiring." Skylar shook her head. "It's because you're childish, selfish and don't trust me. I cannot spend my time with someone like that. You don't hear a word I say."
His lip curled, almost in the same fashion as Snape's did when he saw Harry, just not with as much malice.
Skylar left the Ravenclaw table and moved from the Great Hall, if a relationship was going to cause her so much strife and discomfort then it wasn't the correct one. A part of her was relieved that it was over, another part of her felt guilty, because now that she wasn't with Stephen she could somewhat admit it, he had been mildly right about one thing, she would prefer Harry, even if he wouldn't prefer her.