Final POV of the second task. It begins right before the task starts.
SUSAN III
"Susan. Don't bring anything with you. It's useless," Harry told her.
She only stopped filling her bag for a moment, before resuming. "What do you mean? I could still find something tonight. I'm not going to abandon that close to the second task," she said, her mind set.
"Even if you find something, you won't be able to tell me before tomorrow morning. It will be too late to learn a new spell."
"We cannot be sure of that," Susan argued. Why was Harry telling her to stop helping him? "Anyway, there are tons of books you cannot bring with you, you and Ron. Furthermore…" An idea struck her mind at this moment. "What is the password of your common room?"
"What?" Harry asked bewildered.
"Give me the password to your common room," she repeated, feeling irritated. "If I find, I'll come and tell you. Even if you're in your dormitory, I'll be able to come and see you. Hermione told me that girls are not stopped from entering boys' dormitories, just like in Hufflepuff."
"We cannot travel in the corridors at night," Harry reminded her.
"So what? I would rather take the risk of getting a detention if it can help you get through this task alive." Right now, as Harry was only a few hours from a task in which he would risk his life, and for which he still had no way to breathe under water, the last thing she worried about were rules and laws. There came a time when you had to break the rules to do what was right.
"Okay. The password is Banana Fritters," Harry finally told her.
"Thank you. Bye."
She kissed him quickly, then left. As she walked towards her common room alone, she thought that she should have wished him good luck for tomorrow, but then concluded it would have been useless since they would see each other in the morning. In the meantime, anyway, the most important was to find a way for Harry to survive the second task.
Susan was exhausted. She spent almost all her free time outside of lessons and short meals with Harry, Ron and Hermione, going through what looked like the entire inventory of Hogwarts' library. Of course, she knew they didn't go through all the books of the library, but it almost felt like they did. They had to find something. There ought to be something, a solution. The organizers could not have been stupid enough to give a task that wasn't feasible.
Almost crumbling under the weight of the books she carried in her arms and over her shoulders in her bag, Susan struggled to descend the stairs. She almost stumbled more than a few times. She really brought as many books as she could with her. She couldn't let Harry go down in the lake without a way to breathe.
Although the feeling couldn't surface right now, so occupied her mind was to think about ways of getting Harry out of this situation, Susan was afraid for him. She didn't see him during the first task, but she knew more than enough to know that luck was no stranger to the fact that Harry got out of it alive and without serious injury. And she couldn't bear the idea of letting him go into that second task without doing everything in her power to help him.
Now that she thought about it, she should have written to her aunt or even her parents, asking them for advice on how to breathe under water. However, it would have been hard to explain to them why she needed to know that. She didn't tell her family yet about her and Harry. She didn't really know why. She just felt that it wasn't the right time. Harry didn't inform his own family either from what she could gather. His mother was somewhere, in an unknown location, and he had no way of contacting her. She wondered how Lily Evans Potter would react when she would learn that Susan was dating her son. She met her a few times, but they never exchanged more than a few words, mostly consisting of saying hello.
But all of this didn't matter for now. She arrived in front of the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, panting under the weight of books. She litterally dropped those she carried in her arms, these arms feeling in part numb under the effort. She then tapped the right barrel to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff, and the lid of the barrel opened, giving way to the common room.
Susan recovered the books she dropped earlier and brought them with her inside, immediately going to an isolated corner where she knew she would be left quiet. She had lots of stuff to go through, and not much time to do it. She wondered what would happen if these books contained nothing to help Harry. After a quick battle inside her brain, she decided that if necessary, she would try to go to the library and to spend the night there, even if she risked detention. Her clean record was less important to her than helping Harry survive an hour-long dive into a freezing lake.
"Miss Bones," a voice said softly behind her. She just sat down and opened the first book she was to consult, and jumped as Professor Sprout called her.
"Professor?" she said, panting.
"Excuse me. I didn't want to scare you." Her Head of House frowned. "Are you feeling well?"
"Yes. I'm just… a little tired." She realized that she was panting heavily and tried to steady her breathing.
Professor Sprout looked a little concerned. "Do you need to go to the infirmary? I can escort you there if you want."
"No. No, I'm fine, professor. Thank you."
"If you say so." The professor still looked concerned. "But you need to come with me anyway, Miss Bones. The Professor McGonagall wishes to speak with you."
Susan frowned at this. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"
"I don't think so, but my colleague didn't put me in the confidence. All the same, you must come. She told me it was very important."
Susan was worried. Did McGonagall want to reprimand her for spending so much time helping Harry for the second task? Because champions were not supposed to seek or to receive any help from other students or professors? She remembered that she called for Hermione in the library as well. Was it the reason why Hermione was summoned to McGonagall's office? Then why wasn't Ron summoned as well? And why weren't they all summoned at the same time?
Despite all these misgivings, Susan followed Professor Sprout dutifully. She couldn't refuse to obey an order from a teacher or someone in a position of authority. It wouldn't have done any good to refuse to follow her Head of House anyway.
"You really don't look well, Miss Bones?" Professor Sprout told her as they travelled through the corridors of the school. "Are you really sure that you don't want to go to the hospital wing?"
"I'm sure, professor. I'm only tired, that's all," she answered.
"Well, I suggest you take a good night of sleep tonight. You have no lesson tomorrow. Be careful, Miss Bones. Your O.W.L.s are next year. If you burn yourself down this year, you will not be able to get through the next."
This was nothing to reassure Susan. "How was it when you went through your own O.W.L.s?" she asked.
"Hard, back in the time. And I'm not trying to sound smug, but I was a very good student. And still I got to work a lot that year. Getting your O.W.L.s is not that much a question of intelligence, but rather of work."
Susan already knew that, but it was refreshing to hear it from her professor. Unlike Snape or even McGonagall, Professor Sprout never hesitated to give advice or help to her students when they asked for it. Still, for now, Susan hoped that her meeting with McGonagall would be short.
"Here it is," her professor said when they arrived in front of the door that gave on the office of the Transfiguration teacher. "You may go in. She'll be waiting for you."
On that, Professor Sprout walked away. Susan opened the door of the office, walked in, and turned to close it.
"Susan?"
She turned away to come face to face with Hermione who was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"Hermione? What are you doing here?" Susan asked.
"Fred and George told me that McGonagall wanted to see me, remember?"
Yes, Susan remembered. But she assumed that whatever it was that the Head of the Gryffindor House wanted to speak about with Hermione would be over. It wasn't, obviously.
"For me, it was Roger who told me that."
Susan turned to see that another girl was sitting in another chair. She had long black hair and Asian features. She recognized Cho Chang, the Seeker of Ravenclaw. She saw her often with Cedric lately. No wonder since they were dating. Susan often wished that people kept talking only about them and only about them, as the news that they were dating also elicited a lot of interest from the whole castle, while they would leave her and Harry alone.
"And you? What are you doing here?" Cho asked.
"The Professor Sprout told me that McGonagall wanted to see me," Susan replied.
"Well, any idea what we're doing here?"
Susan had no answer. She wasn't expecting to see anybody else in that office. Stranger, McGonagall was not even there.
"Susan." Hermione stood up and made her turn away from Cho. "Did you find something for Harry?" she whispered.
"No," Susan replied in a ushed voice as well. "I just arrived in my common room and was about to keep searching when Professor Sprout told me to follow her. Do you think McGonagall summoned us because of that? Because we were trying to help Harry?"
"No, I don't think so. If that was the case, she would have summoned Ron as well. And why would she bring Cho and Gabrielle here for that?"
"No, that doesn't make any sense… Wait. Who is Gabrielle?"
Hermione glanced on her right. Susan followed her gaze until she saw the small figure of a little girl, sitting straight in a chair.
"I think she is Fleur's little sister. But she doesn't understand English and my French is rusty, so I couldn't get much out of her."
Susan saw why Hermione thought she was the sister of Fleur Delacour. She had the same silvery hair.
"We should get back to our dormitories. The second task is tomorrow. There isn't much time left," Susan said.
"I know, but as long as McGonagall…" Hermione said.
"Excuse me," Cho Chang interrupted their whispering conversation. "Could you involve me? I would like to know what we're doing here me too."
Susan had no idea. She looked at Gabrielle though. "Does she know something?" she asked.
"I don't know. She doesn't understand us."
Susan took a closer look at Gabrielle. She noticed that the little girl seemed to sit in a manner that was meant to be elegant, similar to how her sister behaved. However, she was avoiding everyone's gaze. Susan didn't like Fleur Delacour, especially after the negative comments she gave not only on Susan, but also on everyone else during the ball, but her sister didn't seem haughty or to behave like she was superior. Despite her pose, Susan had the impression that she was intimidated by her surroundings. It was true that she was very young, and likely lived in France. Susan wondered why they made her come here. Did she come to assist to the second task? But no other family members of any champion came to the first, not even those from Hogwarts. What was she doing here?
"I'll try something," Susan said. She approached Gabrielle, who slightly moved to look away from her.
"Bonjour, Gabrielle. Comment vas-tu?" (Hi, Gabrielle. How are you?), she said very clearly.
The little girl slowly turned to look at her, looking both afraid and suspicious. "Vous pouvez parler en français?" (You can speak French?)
"Oui, je peux." (Yes, I can.)
"Les deux autres ne me comprennent pas." (The others can't understand me.) She looked at both Hermione and Cho while saying it.
"Hermione te comprend un peu. Elle a déjà passé des vacances en France." (Hermione can understand you a little. She took some vacation in France.)
"Vraiment?" (Really?) She looked at Hermione with interest, then back to Susan with the same interest.
"Oui, vraiment." (Yes, really.)
"Mais vous me comprenez mieux." (But you understand me better.)
"Oui. Ma mère vient d'une région d'Amérique du Nord où les gens parlent la même langue que toi. Elle me l'a apprise en grandissant. Nous nous parlons encore en français à la maison." (Yes. My mother comes from a region in North America where the inhabitants speak your language. She taught it to me as I grew up. We still use it to communicate between us at home.)
Gabrielle looked at Susan with even more interest. "Comment vous appelez-vous?" (What is your name?)
"Je m'appelle Susan. Et toi, c'est bien Gabrielle?" She nodded. "Tu es la soeur de Fleur?" (My name is Susan. And yours is Gabrielle? You are Fleur's sister?)
Her eyes grew wide. "Vous connaissez ma soeur?" (You know my sister?)
"Oui. Nous nous sommes croisées à plusieurs reprises." (Yes. We have met on a few occasions.) Susan thought it was better to not tell this little girl how she and her big sister got at odds recently.
"Comment va-t-elle? Madame Maxime est venue nous voir à la maison pour nous dire que Fleur avait besoin de mon aide, mais elle refuse de me dire pourquoi. Lui est-il arrivé quelques chose?" (How is she doing? Madame Maxime came at home to tell us that Fleur needed my help, but she refuses to tell me why. Did something happen to her?)
"Non, elle va très bien, Gabrielle. Rassure-toi. La dernière fois que je l'ai vu, elle allait parfaitement bien." (No, she's doing very well, Gabrielle. Don't worry. The last time I saw her, she was very well.) It was this morning, at breakfast.
"Mais… Pourquoi m'a-t-on fait venir ici? Et qu'est-ce que vous faites là, vous?" (But… Why did they bring me here? And what are you doing here?)
It seemed that Fleur's little sister had no idea why she was there either. She seemed afraid now.
"Nous sommes là parce qu'on nous a dit de venir. Mais je suis sûre que tout va bien. Toi et ta soeur, vous êtes en sécurité ici. Tu sais, il y a beaucoup de gens qui disent que Poudlard est l'endroit le plus sûr au monde. Enfin, surtout en Angleterre. Je suppose que beaucoup disent que Beauxbâtons est l'endroit le plus sûr chez toi." (We are here because we were told to come. But I am sure that everything is fine. You and your sister are safe here. You know, there are people who say that Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. Well, especially in England. I suppose many say that Beauxbatons is the safest place where you come from.)
Gabrielle looked away for a moment. "Fleur m'a déjà amené à Beauxbâtons. C'est vraiment magnifique comme endroit." (Fleur made me visit Beauxbatons once. It is a very beautiful place.)
"Je l'ai entendu dire. J'ai failli aller étudier là-bas." (I heard. I almost went there to study.)
"Vraiment?" (Really?) Gabrielle asked, looking very interested all of a sudden.
"Oui. Mes parents ont considéré de m'y envoyer." (Yes. My parents thought about sending me there.)
"Pourquoi n'y êtes-vous pas allée?" (Why didn't you go?)
"Mon père a fréquenté Poudlard quand il était jeune et il a insisté pour que je fréquente la même école que lui." (My father went to Hogwarts when he was young. He insisted that I go to the same school he attended.)
Gabrielle nodded. "Je dois dire…" She began to spoke in a lower voice. "Ne dites surtout pas ça à ma soeur, mais… Elle n'a pas arrêté de m'écrire depuis le début de l'année. Nous nous envoyons des lettres presque à chaque jour. Et Fleur n'a pas arrêté de me dire comment Poudlard était laid et froid et austère. Mais honnêtement, je trouve que c'est plus beau que Beauxbâtons ici." (I must say… Don't tell anything to my sister but… She wrote to me nonstop since the year began. We write to each other almost every day. And Fleur never stopped telling me how Hogwarts was ugly, cold, stark. But honestly, I think it is more beautiful than Beauxbatons here.)
Susan smiled. "Tu as ma parole. Je n'en soufflerai pas mot à ta grande soeur." (You have my word. I won't tell anything to your big sister.)
"Merci." (Thank you.)
"So, what does she say?" Cho asked at this moment.
"Qu'est-ce qu'elle vient de dire?" (What did she just say?) Gabrielle asked Susan right after, looking at Cho.
Susan was about to answer to both questions when another door opened behind McGonagall's study. From the door, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr Bagman and Percy Weasley poured in. Susan remembered the latter from the Yule Ball and from last year when he was Head Boy. Professor Snape walked in with them, and Susan immediately tensed. She always expected the worst whenever this man was around. The fact that Igor Karkaroff was there as well didn't make her feel any better. She avoided him carefully ever since the year began. She couldn't forget that this man had been present when almost her entire family was murdered, and how he claimed to have played no part in their deaths at the trial of Peter Pettigrew over a year ago. Susan hated this man as much as she was afraid of him. She tried to avoid his gaze as much as she avoided Snape's glare.
"Everyone is here?" Dumbledore said, his eyes travelling from Susan to Gabrielle to Hermione to Cho. His gaze and presence reassured Susan. "Perfect. Please sit down, all of you."
They all did as Dumbledore instructed. Susan found herself sitting between Hermione and Gabrielle. Madame Maxime came to stand next to the little girl and talked to her in ushed tones, reassuring her. Susan wondered why they were all there with the judges of the Triwizard Tournament, but Dumbledore answered her silent question on the spot.
"You certainly all wonder why we gathered you in this office so late in the day," Dumbledore resumed. "So we are going to explain it to you right away. Ludo."
The Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports stepped forward, his easy smile largely in display.
"As you all know, the second task will take place tomorrow at nine thirty," he explained. "The champions have had three months to prepare for this, and to find out the truth about the clue that was left for them in the golden egg they recovered in the first task."
Indeed, but that had not been enough. Susan hoped that Mr. Bagman would complete his explanations quickly so that she and Hermione could go back to helping Harry before the task in question. However, the former Beater looked as willing to take his time to explain as he looked excited. Her aunt talked a few times about Mr Bagman in her presence, and although she never specifically talked against her colleagues, she never said anything very positive about him. She even went so far as to say that former Quidditch stars were not always the best managers once. All that to say that Susan felt this man was way better at running shows than at being efficient, just like in this moment.
"Apart from the champions and the judges, no one knows what the second task will be about," he continued. He couldn't be farther from the truth. "But we are going to tell you what this task is about. After you listened to the clue we left to the champions."
Susan then realized that something looking like a fish tank was positioned on the desk. Percy Weasley then produced a golden egg identical to the one Harry had, and carefully placed it into the water of the tank. Then he opened it.
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.
This left Susan somewhat puzzled. She knew the words of the song. Harry had copied them on a piece of parchment so they could take another look at it whenever they felt necessary while searching for a breathing solution, and Susan read it so often that it was printed into her mind. However, she never heard the song itself, and it had a strange effect on her to hear the words like this.
"As you can tell from these words," Bagman resumed as Percy closed the egg, "the champions' goal for the second task will be to recover something very dear to them. This is where we require your help."
Susan frowned. Why did they need their help on this? Were Susan, Hermione, Cho and Gabrielle supposed to help them determine what was the most valuable to each champion? Susan doubted she could provide any assistance on that. The only champion she really knew was Harry, and she didn't think that she knew him well enough yet to really help them. They had not been together for long enough. Hermione and Ron or his mother would certainly be better placed to provide the information.
"If you allow, Mr Bagman," Percy Weasley said at this moment, "I will continue from now on. There is a colony of merpeople in the Black Lake. They have agreed to help us organize the second task. The champions will have to dive deep into the lake to the colony, recover what was taken away from them, and bring it back to the surface. All that within an hour. This is the goal of the second task. To test the logical and deduction abilities of the champions through the enigma of the golden egg, then to test their magical knowledge, ingenuity, determination and perseverance."
All remained silent after Percy's explanations. Then Hermione spoke up. "Percy, why are you telling us all of this? Why are we here?"
Percy seemed offended by Hermione's question. But he replied nonetheless. "Because, Miss Granger, the champions must save what is the dearest to them. Or more precisely, who is the dearest."
For a moment, no one said a word.
"What?" Cho asked after a moment.
Susan was stunned on her side, but she wanted to say the same word without managing to utter it now that Cho did. She looked at the others. Hermione looked just as horrified. As for Gabrielle, she didn't seem to understand. Then, Madame Maxime, who translated the whole conversation to her since the beginning, explained to her what it meant.
"QUOI?" (WHAT?)
"Please," Percy said, raising a hand. "All the precautions have been taken. You will not be in any danger."
"Really?" Susan managed to croak. "No danger? You want to send at the bottom of the Black Lake in February, and you're saying that there is no danger?"
"What will happen if the champions cannot bring us back to the surface?" Hermione asked.
"Or if a champion ends up stuck at the bottom of the lake and dies?" Susan added.
She imagined Harry, trying to dive to the bottom of the Black Lake while holding his breath. The lake had to be at least hundreds of meters deep. He would never make it. Susan would remain stuck at the bottom of it. Worse, Harry might get himself killed if he tried to reach her. It wouldn't be the first time he would go on an almost suicidal quest, if she considered what happened since he arrived at Hogwarts. If he was ready to endanger his own life to stop a teacher from getting a Philosopher's Stone at the age of eleven, what would he be ready to do to save someone, whoever it was, at fourteen of age?
"Please, calm down," Professor Dumbledore said at this moment, and his voice was enough to refrain Susan from panicking. "We have arranged everything with the merpeople, and we will ensure with their help that you all are perfectly safe. Severus, please." The Potions teacher produced four small vials from his robes and handed it to the Headmaster. "This potion is going to place you into a deep sleep. You will not experience any dream. We will bring you to the lake early next morning not long before the task begins, and the merpeople will bring you to their village, where you will wait for the champion you have been assigned to arrive. You will sleep the whole time. The potion will also allow you to breathe underwater and keep you warm as well. You will wake up when you'll reach the surface. If a champion doesn't succeed in bringing you back to the surface, the merpeople will do it once the time limit is spent."
Susan thought this potion could help Harry, until she realized he would not be able to do much if he could breathe under water only while sleeping.
"Eh… Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. "Forgive me, but… What about the champions? What if one of them gets stuck somewhere? Or faints in the water? If he drowns? What's going to happen to him?"
"I reassure you, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said soothingly. "The merpeople will keep a close eye on the champions and bring them back to the surface as well if they find themselves in danger. We don't intend to endanger anybody here. We want to give the champions the impression of danger to push them to their limits, but that's about it. Mr Weasley is right when he says that all the precautions were taken."
Coming from Dumbledore, this reassured Susan to a certain extent. However, the idea of spending time at the bottom of the Black Lake, with creatures and magical beings she didn't know for the most part, was not a prospect she looked forward to.
"Now, you must drink this potion. The effect will be better if you drink it long before going into the lake," the Headmaster declared.
"Wait, Albus," Bagman said. "I think they ought to know who is supposed to save them." He turned to them. "The young Miss Delacour here will have to be saved by her own sister, Miss Fleur Delacour."
Susan looked at Gabrielle. She looked utterly terrified. Although she didn't understand English, Madame Maxime spent the entire conversation translating everything for her, and she didn't seem to be reassured by Dumbledore's or anyone else's reassurances.
"For Mr Krum, it will be you, Miss Granger," Bagman continued.
Cho Chang looked in surprise to Hermione at the mention of it. Susan was not that surprised. Hermione told her after the Yule Ball how she and Viktor Krum ended up going together. Still, it was unexpected, she had to admit it, considering how recent their relationship was.
"For Mr Diggory, it will Miss Chang."
Susan was not surprised again. She and Cedric could be seen together almost at all time now. The girl from Ravenclaw looked embarrassed, flattered, and afraid, all at the same time.
"As for you, Miss Bones, Harry Potter will have the duty to bring you back to the surface."
This should be no surprise to Susan. By elimination, once it was clear that Hermione was Viktor Krum's hostage, the only other person here who Harry was really close to was Susan. Still, she felt strange at the thought that she would be the person who Harry would miss the most. She wondered how the judges made this kind of decision. Did they simply look whether or not the champions had a girlfriend, then chose a family member if that wasn't the case?
However, something else bothered Susan at the same moment. When her name was said aloud, Karkaroff had stared at her intensely. She sustained his stare for a time before looking away, not wanting to have anything to do with this man. She already despised the fact that he was here, at Hogwarts.
"Professor," she asked Dumbledore, "are we forced to participate to this task? What if we don't want to?"
A sudden silence fell on the office. Everyone looked at her, and a part of Susan wished to disappear. She hated having everyone's attention on her.
"It is a great honor to contribute to such a great and famous event like the Triwizard Tournament," Percy Weasley said, his voice sounding official. He also looked at her with hard eyes. "This competition brings closer wizards and witches from around the world, and this is a great opportunity to reinforce links between all magical communities."
"I know," she said. She also knew that it was an opportunity for schools and headmasters to improve their standing and fame. And for a student to win a fortune. She didn't say that though. It was another truth that she said. "But I also know that people got killed in the past participating to this Tournament. And I don't want to be the cause of someone's death."
Percy looked as if he was punched into the stomach. The other judges looked uncomfortable at best, furious in the worst case.
"This Tournament…" Percy began, but Dumbledore stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Miss Bones," he said, "I understand your misgivings. But I swear that I would never have allowed the Triwizard Tournament to take place if I wasn't sure and didn't make sure myself that all students would be safe. And neither would Madame Maxime or Professor Karkaroff have allowed for this otherwise. You and the champions, as well as the students who will watch the second task, will not be in any danger. We are merely creating an appearance of danger. But if you really don't want to be part of this, you don't have to."
This caused surprised among the judges. "Professor Dumbledore…" Percy began to protest, but he stopped him with a hand raised. The Headmaster continued to speak to Susan on his conciliatory tone.
"But you must know that if you refuse to go down in this lake, someone else will take your place. And Harry will still have to compete in this task. Your refusal will not change anything to the Tournament. And if you believe there is a real danger, then all you will achieve is transferring the danger on someone else."
Susan let the words sink in. If Dumbledore said he would never have let the Tournament take place if there was any danger… She trusted Albus Dumbledore. Everyone trusted him in her family and in the Wizarding world. After what happened at the Quidditch World Cup, and also after Peter Pettigrew managed to get inside Hogwarts repeatedly last year, her faith that the Ministry of Magic could ensure their safety was shaken, especially after her aunt confessed that the Ministry was not perfect, but Dumbledore… If someone could be trusted, it was him. If he organized the second task, it was probably safe. It certainly had to be safe.
"Also, I must inform you, Miss Bones," Dumbledore resumed, "that if you choose to not participate to the second task, you will not be allowed to go back to your common room for the night. We sadly cannot take the risk of you repeating everything you just heard to anybody."
So, even if she didn't go into that lake, Susan would not be able to warn Harry about what was coming. This removed one of her main reasons to refuse. And if the only result of this was to let someone else go deep into that lake… No. She couldn't let someone else go in her place. And if Dumbledore said it was without danger… Maybe she could take a chance.
"Okay. I'll do it."
"Good!" Mr Bagman yelled enthusiastically. "So, better make them drink the potion right away. The youngest first."
Dumbledore gave one of the vials to Madame Maxime. She reassured Gabrielle again, saying she would be with her sister when she would wake up and that everything would be fine. Despite being afraid, the young French girl drank the full vial with one single gulp after some hesitation. For a moment, nothing happened. Then her body slacked and she fell backwards into her chair.
"Now, your turn, Miss Bones," Dumbledore said while handing her a vial.
Susan took it carefully. The liquid was green, but fluid. She looked towards Snape. It was probably him who prepared the potion. She didn't trust any potion that this professor would make. However, Gabrielle had just taken it. Susan looked at her. She could hear her breathe. She looked to Hermione then.
"We will see each other tomorrow morning, I guess," her friend said, an uncertain and resigned expression plain to see on her face.
Susan looked back at the vial, then to all the people, the judges and professors standing in front of her. All seemed to be waiting impatiently. She crossed Dumbledore's eyes. Reassuring blue eyes. She took a heavy inspiration. When she would wake up, the night would be gone, and she would be at the surface of the Black Lake. Shivers went through her body at the thought of the freezing water.
She thought about Harry, who had not found a solution to breathe under the water. She told herself that maybe it was for the best. He wouldn't be able to go into the lake if he had no way of breathing under water. He would probably forfeit, and Susan would find him on the shores of the lake, probably disappointed but alive and well, after the merpeople brought her back to the surface. This thought was something that reassured her.
She went for it. She brought the vial to her lips and emptied it.
Despite its color, the liquid had the taste of clear water. For a very short moment, Susan thought the potion didn't work. And then, darkness fell upon her as if a switch was turned off, and she wasn't conscious of anything else.
The next moment, she was emerging from water, coughing. Her throat was burning, and she spit large quantities of water that somehow got stuck into her mouth. A cold wind was hitting her head, while her body below was freezing in liquid. Her wet hair was covering her eyes, and she had to removed them with her hands to see what was going on.
Susan needed a moment to realize where she was. She heard screams all around her. She almost drowned into the water again, but managed to maintain her head up. Turning on herself, she managed to get over her confusion, realizing that it was already over. She was back to the surface. It was as if no time had gone out.
She saw three tall wooden towers with hundreds of people on them, clapping and screaming. She swung her arms to prevent herself from falling into the water again. Then she heard something else close to her, something akin to whining, but weak. And coughing too. She looked at the origin of the sounds and saw a little girl with wet hair struggling to remain above the water, only two meters away from her.
Susan went to help her immediately, swimming through the cold water that seemed to be entering her lungs.
"Hey! Grab my arm!" she said to the little girl. She then remembered who she was. Despite her wet hair, the silvery shade was unmistakable. "Gabrielle! Attrape ma main!" (Gabrielle! Grab my hand!) She reached for the little girl, and Gabrielle finally got her hands on Susan's arm. "Accroche-toi à moi!" (Lean on me!) Susan almost screamed to her.
"Fleur!" Gabrielle screamed.
"Accroche-toi!" (Take a hold!)
Susan proceeded to swim, trying to keep Gabrielle above the water level. The little girl didn't seem able to swim. She headed to the nearest wooden tower as quickly as she could. Susan swam pretty well, but it was harder while almost carrying a child, especially in such cold waters while she kept coughing and spitting water all the time.
"Viens!" (Come!) Susan looked up, seeing Fleur Delacour on the floor of the tower, wrapped around blankets and with wet hair as well, extending her hand as they approached. Susan pushed Gabrielle forward. "Allez. C'est fini, viens. Donne ta main." (Come. It's over. Come. Give me your hand.)
Susan let Gabrielle climb the ladder first since she didn't know how to swim. When she was up on the tower, Susan climbed the ladder as well, and once on the wooden boards, she collapsed on them.
"Susan!" She recognized Hermione's voice and looked up to see her running in her direction.
"Miss Granger!" Madam Pomfrey was saying with her authoritarian voice. "You must rest!"
"Where is Harry?"
It took some time for Susan to register what Hermione just asked, and what it meant. She straightened up the moment she understood. "He's not here?!" Susan asked.
"No. He didn't come back with you?"
Susan looked back to the lake. There was no one in the water. "The merpeople didn't bring us back?"
"No. You appeared alone. Harry is the only one missing." Hermione was clearly panicking from her voice, and Susan felt herself panicking as well now.
Harry. Where was he?
"Miss Bones. Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey was saying on a hard tone. "You must warm yourself." She grabbed Susan's arm.
Susan wasn't entirely sure how she came to do such a thing, but the next moment, she was getting herself free from Madam Pomfrey's grip and jumping back into the freezing water under everyone's screams.
The force of the impacts threw her deep into the water.
"Haaarrrryyyyy!" she screamed.
But her scream was muffled by the water. She tried to find him with her eyes. If the merpeople didn't bring her back to the surface and Harry was the only one to be unaccounted for, then he couldn't be far away. He had to the one who brought her and Gabrielle back to the surface. He couldn't be far. He had to be close. But the water didn't give her more visibility than a few meters in front of her, and soon by screaming repeatedly, Susan was forced to head back to the surface for oxygen.
She took a large inhalation once in the open air. Whole people kept screaming not far away. She looked around, hoping to see Harry, but there was nothing but the wooden towers and the water surrounding them. No, that couldn't be. He couldn't have drowned. She was about to dive into the water when…
Something emerged from the water all of a sudden. Susan screamed, fearing that it was the Giant Squid, but it soon became evident that whatever this red figure was, it wasn't big enough to be that creature. And when the person flew through the air to land heavily on the deck of the tower Susan just left, the crowd cheered madly. And Susan saw people rushing to him.
Susan burst into a mix of tears and laughter. She swam as fast as she could to the tower and climbed back the ladder as people where putting towels on Harry. She rushed to him and knelt by his side.
"Harry? You're fine?" she screamed.
He nodded, coughing. Without thinking, she kissed him at this moment, only for him to cough water into her mouth.
"Oh, sorry!" she said, fearing she might have made things worse.
"Come here, you!" the voice of Madam Pomfrey said. She grabbed them by the arms and led them to a place where Krum, Cedric, Fleur, Gabrielle, Cho and Hermione were already, and roughly placed them next to Hermione, Harry between her and Susan. She wrapped them into heavy towels, then made them drink a hot potion, which resulted in Susan's ears sending steam out.
"Harry! Susan! You did it!" Hermione said. "How did you do it, Harry? You found out how?"
This was something Susan had not thought about. How did Harry manage to remain under water for so long? They were nowhere near to find a solution to that problem when she left the library.
"Well… Not really… It's a long story," he said. He was shivering. Susan realized she was shivering as well. She had never felt so cold in her entire life.
"It's alright, Hermione," Susan said. "Leave him some space."
She seized his hand and squeezed it strong. A minute ago, she had been afraid for his life. But now here he was, alive and well. The details about how he got under the water were secondary next to that. All that mattered was that he was alive. They were alive.
"Hey. It's over, Harry. It's over," she said.
"I know. I'm sorry," he said.
"Sorry about what?" she asked, laughing.
"I… I couldn't bring you faster… Fleur didn't make it to the village of the merpeople… I couldn't let her sister behind…"
Susan didn't understand for a moment, then she did.
"Oh, Harry…" she said. "We were never in danger. Dumbledore just gave us a potion so we would sleep while we were under the lake. The merpeople were to bring us back to the surface if you didn't come to bring us back."
"What?" Harry had a defeated expression.
"It's true, Harry," Hermione said. "Don't tell me… You really believed something would happen to all of us after an hour?"
Harry sighed at the realization of the mistake he made, and he looked down. "I lost time for nothing," he said to himself on a desperate tone.
Susan squeezed his hand tighter. "Hey. It's fine. We're all safe. It's all that matters."
Truth be told, she was angry as well, that Harry waited in the village of the merpeople for nothing, spending more time at the bottom of this freezing lake without good reason, but she felt it wouldn't be appropriate to berate him right now. So instead, she did something she never did before, especially not in public. She let her head lean against his shoulder.
"It's alright. Everything is fine," she said, panting.
She realized how weak she felt. Somehow, Harry placed his arm around her shoulder a short time after. Susan closed her eyes, feeling how cold and shivering her body was. The potion warmed her, but her clothes were still entirely wet with the deep cold water of a frozen lake in February. She listened to the crowd still talking very loudly around her, her head still leaning against Harry while her wet hair stuck to her face.
"You saved her." Susan opened her eyes to see Fleur Delacour standing in front of Harry, just as wet as before. Susan wondered why the French champion hadn't been able to bring her sister from the bottom of the lake herself. "Even though she wasn't your hostage."
"Yeah," Harry replied on a regretful tone.
Fleur lunged on him, pushing Susan away from him in the process as she kissed him twice on each cheek. Susan opened her mouth in shock, about to protest, especially as she saw Harry reddening, something she never witnessed up to now. But before she could say a single word, Fleur was staring at her.
"And you… You helped him?"
Susan was so surprised by the question and the absurdity of the situation that she stammered. "Well… Not really… I mean, I just helped her swim to here…"
Before she could realize it, Fleur was hugging her in the most tightening hug Susan ever experienced, almost choking as Fleur was crying on her shoulder.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
She then turned away and went back to her sister. Susan was stunned. The girl who told her headmistress that she was fat during the Yule Ball just hugged her. Right as she was still wondering what just happened, the voice of Ludo Bagman resonated.
"Ladies and gentlemen. We have reached our decision. Mer-chieftainess 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. Miss 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."
People applauded, mostly politely, at this announcement. One person who wasn't happy with the score was, not without surprise, Fleur Delacour herself, but not for the reasons Susan would have suspected, as she surprisingly declared:
"I deserved zero."
"Mr Cedric Diggory," Mr Bagman resumed, "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. We therefore award him forty-seven points."
Very loud cheers followed the announcement. Susan would probably have joined if it wasn't for her freezing state and the fact that Harry was sitting right next to her after getting her out of the bottom of the lake. She however noticed Ernie and Sally-Anne joining the cheers enthusiastically.
"Mr 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."
Loud cheers again, especially from the Durmstrang students led by Karkaroff.
"As for Mr Harry Potter, he used Gillyweed to great effect." Susan frowned, wondering what Gillyweed was. "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." Susan put her hand into Harry's again, after Fleur had dislodged her. "Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However… Mr Potter's score is forty-five points."
This was a surprise for almost everyone, and loud cheers followed. Harry's mood seemed to improve. Susan, on her part, noticed how Bagman had stared at Karkaroff while he gave the score. Susan deduced that it was him who refused to give Harry top marks. Even at Hufflepuff, Karkaroff's decision to only give Harry three points out of ten in the first task was viewed as an injustice. Susan, however, felt her good mood somewhat decreasing when she saw Fleur cheering loudly with all the others.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," Mr Bagman then announced. "The champions will be notified of what is coming, precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
"Alright. Speeches are done. Now back to the castle," Madam Pomfrey howled as she pressed all of them towards small boats on which they took place under the continuing cheers of the crowd. Susan recognized the boats on which they arrived in their first year. They headed towards the shores by themselves once they took place in them, still under the applauding screams of the crowd.
Susan was in the same boat as Harry, accompanied by Professor McGonagall. The journey on the lake was long, and nobody said a word. There were questions Susan wished to ask to Harry, but she felt that now was not the time. So they just stayed there, under towels now filled with water, clasping each other's hand. Once on the shores, Madam Pomfrey hurried them to the castle, and Susan got the impression that it was only a single minute before they walked into the infirmary.
Once there, the ambiance grew less tense and more relaxed. They were given chocolate and another dose of warming potion, along with warm clothes, in which they changed behind screens. The judges were away, and people were talking joyfully. Susan's hair was still wet and kept coming onto her face. Maybe she should use the spell that she performed for the Yule Ball more often, although it wasn't recommended to use it repeatedly.
When she came back from behind the screen, Hermione and Krum were discussing together. Fleur was holding her little sister, who sent a smile towards Susan when their eyes met. Fleur was holding her so tightly that it was as if she was afraid that the floor would swallow her. Cho Chang was leaning her head against Cedric as they spoke in low voice. Harry was alone, taking a sip of hot chocolate. Susan went to sit next to him and helped herself with her own mug of chocolate.
"Ah. It does some good," she said as warmth spread through her body again. Despite the many potions they drank and the warm clothes she now wore, her skin still remained partially frozen, and her hair was still cold wet. She would need a good shower once she was back in her common room.
"Yeah. I never thought I would appreciate chocolate so much again," Harry said, taking another gulp. "I thought I was done with it after last year."
"Why?"
"I ate too much of it. Dementors."
Susan understood immediately. Yes, chocolate was heavily suggested for someone who just met Dementors. Susan remembered the horrible feeling she had when she came anywhere near those things. The feeling of hopelessness, that all joy was gone from the world. She almost fainted during the Quidditch match they interrupted, and needed a long hot shower after it, just like she needed one right now.
"I hope they will let us leave soon," she said.
"Yeah. Me too." His green eyes looked into her at this moment. "Want to do something after that?"
"As long as it's not outside in the cold," she said, and they both laughed.
"Alright," Madam Pomfrey declared, coming out of her small office. "None of you suffers from hypothermia, which is a miracle, considering what happened today. You're all free to go. I highly advise that you rest for the remainder of the day. No intense physical activity of any sort. You take a hot shower the moment you arrive in your common room or wherever you live right now."
Madam Pomfrey didn't need to tell her the latter. They all stood up at the same time. No one wanted to stay here any longer. Hermione joined Harry and Susan. Susan noticed how Krum looked embittered.
"So, Harry. How did you do to get into the water for over an hour?" Hermione asked him. "What is Gillyweed."
"It's a plant," he answered. "It allows someone to breathe under water for about an hour," he answered.
A plant. A plant? Susan wanted to punch herself into the face. She knew, she felt from the very beginning that they weren't taking the right approach. They focused so much on finding a charm that they didn't even think of searching plants.
"I can't believe we didn't think about searching among plants earlier," Hermione said, echoing Susan's thoughts. "Well, that was good thinking, Harry."
"It wasn't me. It was Dobby."
Susan frowned. Who was Dobby? If she didn't know who he was, Hermione seemed to know by the way her eyes grew. "Dobby? The house-elf?"
"Yes. He's working in the kitchens now. He found me in the library this morning. I went back there during the night to try to find a solution and fell asleep. He woke me up and gave me the Gillyweed minutes right before the second task began."
Susan was even more bewildered. "Who is Dobby?" she asked.
"Well…" Harry began. "He's house-elf who used to work for the Malfoys. You remember in our second year, when a wagon of the Hogwarts Express was detached and a Bludger kept chasing me during a match."
"Yes, I do remember."
"Well, it was him. He knew the Chamber of Secrets was going to open, and he tried in his own way to keep me away from Hogwarts."
Susan was even more bewildered. "By sending you a Bludger that tried to kill you?"
Harry almost seemed to find it funny, which Susan did not. "He said he only wanted to injure me enough to convince me to head back home. Anyway, at the end of the year, we kind of… forced Lucius Malfoy to free him, and he started to work in the kitchens of Hogwarts. I had not seen him for two years. This time though, his help was really helpful."
Susan couldn't argue with that, although she was skeptical whether his future help would truly be as helpful as today, considering helping meant crushing someone's arm for this elf.
"Well, you were lucky, Harry," Hermione said. "And courageous, too. You heard the judges. You showed moral fibre."
Susan had to agree with Hermione, who strangely winked at her as she said the words. They arrived at a place where their paths diverged.
"Well, glad you're okay, Susan," Hermione said. "I got to go now."
Her friend headed for the Gryffindor Tower, leaving Harry and Susan alone together.
"Well, I guess we must go separate ways from there," he said, hesitating.
"Yes, I guess." She realized that she was holding his hand again. She hadn't realized their hands joined.
"So you… still want to do something… after all that?"
"Yes."
And then, without thinking, she leaped forward and kissed him.
Their kisses had always been timid, reserved, as if they were afraid. This time though, Susan kissed him with her full lips, opening her mouth. After a moment of hesitation, Harry reacted and kissed her the same way.
She didn't know whether the butterflies in her stomach, the general shaking of her body and her ragged breath were due to the cold water still affecting her, or to the kiss, but she didn't want it to stop. So they kept kissing. She didn't know for how long, but she didn't want it to stop. So she kept attacking Harry's mouth, a warmth spreading through her body, a warmth that had nothing to do with the one she felt after drinking chocolate or a potion.
After a certain, unknown time though, they had to break off to take back their breath. They were in each other's arms, and their foreheads touched each other, and they were both breathing heavily. Susan was still trembling.
"See you later. Meet me in the Entrance Hall," she said. And then she walked away.
She rushed to the Hufflepuff common room, all excited, her body experiencing something she never felt before. When she entered her common room, she was welcomed by loud cheers and screams of welcome. She thought that people would focus on Cedric, but she didn't expect people to want to hear from her what happened at the bottom of the lake. She couldn't say anything since she was sleeping while it happened.
She required some time, as many people dragged her from one place to another, asking her questions about how it was to be saved from the merpeople, but she managed to make her way through the crowd and to reach the dormitory. Once there, she sighed in relief. Really, people got excited for nothing. She wished things were like before the Yule Ball, when everyone only saw her as a normal person. The fact that she was dating Harry didn't make her any different overnight.
The thought of her boyfriend made her smile. Then she laughed, quite stupidly. Even after nearly a month together, there were still moments when she found it surreal, to call Harry her boyfriend. Not that she had much time to think about it over the last few weeks, with all her spare time focused on finding a charm when they should have been looking for a plant.
Susan went to the washroom and removed her clothes. As air came to contact with her skin, it was as if a slightly cold breeze brushed her, and she shivered. She quickly entered one of the showers and opened the tap, allowing a large amount of hot water to fall on her head.
Susan remained under water for a long time. The hot water felt so good after emerging from the freezing Black Lake. No matter the potions, the chocolate, the towels and the dry clothes she was given, her body was still shuddering, and the feeling of cold water remained stuck on her skin, in her hair. Now it was all gone as the hot water swarmed its way from the top of her long hair that fell over her face and down to her feet, removing the remnants of the hours spent at the bottom of the Black Lake. She took her time, enjoying her time here.
When she finally came out of the shower, she dried herself, put on new, fresh clothes and left those Madam Pomfrey gave her to be picked up by the elves, then began to brush her hair. Susan knew it was relatively long to brush it, but she still enjoyed doing it, and she wanted her hair to be perfect right now, thinking of who she was to join in the Entrance Hall. Still, she wished that it took less time to brush them.
She escaped the humidity of the washroom by leaving to continue brushing her hair in the dormitory. There, she came face to face with Hannah, who had obviously been waiting for her.
"Hey, Susan. Are you fine? How did it go down there? Were you conscious? How was it to be saved by your boyfriend?"
"Hannah, give me a break, please," Susan pleaded as she sat down on her own bed.
"Sorry." Hannah truly looked sorry. That was one of the things Susan appreciated from her best friend despite her tendency to gossip impulsively and uncontrollably. She could realize when she went too far, and stopped when it was the case. "But seriously, are you fine?"
"Yes, I am, Hannah," Susan answered while continuing to brush her long hair. "Dumbledore made us drink a potion to put us to sleep last night. He gathered all of us in McGonagall's office, explained to us what the second task was about, and he made us drink the potion, saying we would wake up when we would be brought back to the surface."
"So, you slept the whole time?" Hannah's concern gave some place to curiosity again.
"Yes. I was drinking the potion, then the next time before I could realize it, I was emerging from the lake and spitting water."
"Whoa. Still, that's something. So you really remember nothing of the task? You saw nothing down below? You didn't see the merpeople? Or Harry saving you?" She said the latter with a small smile.
"No. I saw nothing, Hannah. Like I told you, I was sleeping the whole time. Before I emerged from the water and helped Gabrielle to the tower, I remember nothing."
"Gabrielle?"
"Fleur Delacour's little sister."
"Oh. I see. I found it a little strange when I saw you both emerging at the same time. I never expected Harry to bring her with him. I thought he would only bring you back to the surface."
"He thought that we were all going to die if we stayed at the bottom of the lake," Susan explained. "Bagman said the truth. He wanted to make sure that everyone was safe."
Hannah smiled. "Well, you've got quite the boyfriend, Susan."
Susan couldn't stop herself from releasing a short laugh. Hannah was looking at her with a large smile.
"I'm glad you're okay, Susan. You know, when the second task started, I didn't get why you weren't in the crowd. I assumed you stayed in the common room like last time, but I was sure you would have wanted to encourage Harry, and I was wondering why I didn't see you the evening before or this morning. Then, when Cedric emerged with Cho, I began to fear the worst. And then Viktor Krum appeared with Hermione, and I was really afraid. You have no idea how relieved I was when you came out."
Susan saw the sincerity on Hannah's face. Despite her flaws, Hannah did remain a true friend, who was concerned first and foremost by the well-being of those she loved.
"Next time, just don't jump back into the lake."
Hannah's comment resulted in both girls laughing.
"I've got to go and see Harry. He's waiting for me in the Entrance Hall," Susan said, finishing to brush the last strands of hair.
"Oh," Hannah almost purred, in the kind of suggestive way Susan usually didn't like. "I hope you're going to thank him in an appropriate way."
Susan shook her head, although she couldn't stop a smile from remaining on her lips. "We're just going to spend time together. It is about time."
When she considered about her intensive time in the library over the recent weeks, and even before when Harry was preoccupied by the golden egg, Susan didn't enjoy any real quality time with Harry ever since their date at Hogsmeade when they kissed for the first time. But now, the second task was over, and the only thing Susan wanted now was to recover the lost time.
"Can I ask you a service, Hannah?"
"Yes," her best friend replied.
"Can you make sure that people leave me alone while I go through the common room?"
"I can try something," she said after a moment, uncertainty giving way to a somewhat wicked smile.
It didn't work entirely well. Hannah was decently good at attracting attention on her, and she didn't mind it unlike Susan, but keeping the attention of nearly two hundred people away from Susan was almost an impossible task to accomplish in such a tight space for only one person. Still, Hannah did her best, attracting significant attention on Cedric Diggory before Susan came out of the dormitory, and when some people still came for her when they noticed her presence, Hannah came to act as some sort of shield. As a result, Susan only needed two full minutes to get out of the crowded common room, Hannah sending her a wink as she left.
Susan found Harry in the Entrance Hall. It was obvious that he took a shower like she did, although his hair was just as messed as always. She didn't mind that detail though.
"Sorry," she said. "Did I make you wait?"
"No. I… just arrived," he said.
"Okay. So… what do you want to do?"
"Let's walk."
"Not outside," she warned.
"No, of course. I didn't plan to bring you outside."
They proceeded to the stairs. "So, tell me. What happened in the Black Lake? Because I was…"
"Asleep?" he completed.
She nodded. Harry began to tell her exactly what happened, from when he went to the library at night to keep searching for a charm up until he brought her back to the surface. However, he didn't have time to tell her the whole story. For about ten minutes after they left the Entrance Hall, and after wandering some time through the corridors, they arrived in one such corridor that was almost completely abandoned and never used. Susan wasn't sure who got idea of the two of them, or if they thought about the same thing together, but they ended in an alcove, behind a statue, kissing.
This wasn't like any kiss they shared before this day. It wasn't timid, or soft, or restrained. It was more like the one they shared before they went to their separate common rooms earlier today. They kissed each other passionately, with their mouths wide open, their arms wrapped around each other. Susan was moaning, and searching for her breath, something that never happened before today. The butterflies in her stomach and the trembling of her body her body was definitely not due to coming out of the Black Lake, and the feeling of warmth and heat spreading across her members was certainly not the result of a warming potion or chocolate. Harry was holding her by the waist with one arm while his other hand wandered through her hair she just brushed. Her own hands travelled across his back and neck, making passages through his hair and messing with them further.
She broke their kiss to breathe some air. Her eyes met his, and she laughed, which he returned before resuming their kiss. They had to break it again though, and this time she said something.
"Harry, can you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
"Don't put again your life in danger to save me when I'm not in danger."
"Promised," he said after a while. "Can you promise me something as well?" She nodded. "Try to not get stuck at the bottom of a lake again?"
They laughed again and returned to their kissing. Susan didn't know for how long they remained there, in each other's arms, kissing, and to be honest, she didn't care. But for once in her life, she was glad that the Triwizard Tournament took place at Hogwarts this year. Or else, she might never have dated Harry otherwise.
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Next chapter: Hermione