Yes, I did have a good birthday yesterday, for those that are wondering :) 43 years young eh, Merlin, how time flies!

Fred and George didn't lead me to McGonagall's office though, they led me to the hospital wing. Inside were Cho Chang, the Slytherin girl that Viktor Krum took to the ball, and a girl of about eight who I didn't recognise. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, as well as Madame Pomfrey were standing at the far end. Once I'd been settled into a bed, and the twins had left, McGonagall stepped forward.

"Well, I'm sure you're all wondering what this is about" she said

"I'm assuming it's something to do with the second task" said the Slytherin girl.

"It is indeed Miss Proudclough. The champions have been instructed to spend up to an hour in the lake outside, searching for something that has been taken from them. Something that... they'd sorely miss"

"You mean we are going to be trapped, we will need to be saved?" the eight year old asked, and by her French accent I assumed this was a relative of Delacour's, possibly a sister.

Dumbledore spoke in response to this.

"Technically yes, but I'd like to assure you that you will not be in any danger whatsoever. If you are not found within an hour, the Merpeople shall return you safely to the surface"

"You know this for a fact, do you Professor?" said Cho

"The Merpeople have given me their assurances"

"And you trust that they'll stick to that?"

"They have given me their assurances, Miss Chang" Dumbledore replied more firmly.

Cho didn't look convinced, but fell silent.

Proudclough muttered something which sounded like "too trusting, can't wait for him to be removed"

"Are there any more questions?" asked McGonagall

"Yes, actually!" spat Proudclough. "You've not asked any of us for our permission! What if we don't fancy spending an hour at the bottom of the lake? I for one, certainly don't!"

"The hostages chosen for this task are bound under the same magical contract as the champions are. That is, you will die if you refuse to participate. I am not bluffing" said Dumbledore.

"So that's why you couldn't get Harry out!" I exclaimed "I thought it had to be something like that!"

Dumbledore turned and looked directly at me

"Indeed Miss Weasley. Believe me, I tried everything I could to find a way around this, but I sadly could not. However, I have every faith that Harry will make it through. He has proven he is exceptional multiple times already, and I believe this time is no different. Now, Poppy, if you would like to do the honours please"

Pomfrey raised a tray which had four glasses of liquid on it.

"These are filled with a powerful dreamless sleep potion. You will each drink these, and the effects will immediately wear off when you emerge from the lake. To ensure complete fairness and transparency, you must all drink at exactly the same time"

I took a glass, and when the four of us had them, Pomfrey counted down from three. I swallowed it all in one gulp, and blacked out right away.

SPLASH!

I awoke with a start, coughing and choking, finding myself at the surface of the lake, in Harry's arms, with celebratory music playing. The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet. 2 thoughts came to my mind right away. One, I hoped that they didn't think there was a chance I and the others could have died, and two, what were they watching for an hour? They wouldn't be able to see what was happening? But that didn't matter at the moment, as I saw all my mates as well as Ron and Percy sitting at the waters edge, clearly, they had fought their way through the crowd to get to me. Harry and I swam over to them. Delacour was actually at the waterside too, some distance away. I was confused as to why, seeing as she was a champion, and as to why she looked so fretful.

Percy seized me and tried to pull me towards the stands, but I shook him off.

"I can walk, thank you very much!" I told him

"You're the first back with your hostage!" Demelza said "that'll be maximum points!"

"What, you mean Fleur is out?" I said, indicating to her.

"Yeah, she got attacked by Grindylows. Didn't make it to her sister"

"Forget all that!" Amy said "I'm just glad you both got back alive!"

I rolled my eyes

"Amy, they were never going to let any of us die! Think about it!"

"I did try to tell her myself" Demelza said

"Were there any Honkyronkers down there Harry?" Luna asked. Harry ignored her.

"Well done Harry, seriously!" Ron said "you've only been gone 45 minutes. You've smashed it!"

Hermione could only nod, and I saw she looked a little awkward. But before I could ask her what was up, Madame Pomfrey forced a hot potion down my throat and Harry's, which warmed us very quickly, steam gushing out of our ears. There was then a wait of about 15 minutes, and during this, Harry engaged Ron in conversation, presumably about what happened in the lake, and Demelza told me "I have some good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Well" I said "traditionally it's best to get the bad news out of the way first, means you can be cheered up"

"Alright, well, the bad news is, this arrived this morning" She handed me a newspaper.

She handed me a newspaper, which was open to a certain story. The headline told me all I needed to know.

"HARRY POTTER TOYS WITH GIRLS AFFECTIONS"

I folded it up.

"I'll read it tomorrow. I can't be arsed to look at Skeeter's shit right now! What I'm wondering is why it took her so long to publish this!"

"She probably wanted to time it with the second task, hoping it might affect Harry mentally going in to it"

"What's the good news then?"

Demelza dropped her voice.

"Ludo's been caught"