Hello. I'm really glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. I had worried over whether or not the events would be believable (you know what I mean) but the response says that it was. Thanks for that I appreciated it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter Thirty-One:

By Rosa241

Percy POV:

Oliver has long since abandoned me to go down to the quidditch field. He's having withdrawal symptoms since there's no cup this year. It's a shame really that our last year and the Triwizard tournament have coincided. He'd have loved nothing more than going out with a bang, walking out being the undisputed champion, going out undefeated. It's a shame he can't do that.

Shaking my head I force my thoughts back onto the egg. Stop procrastinating.

The egg sang.

When out of the water it sounded like something was being tortured but underneath it sounded like a song. I swear it's somewhere in the back of my mind. Somewhere in the back of my brain something was sitting there, waiting for me to come across it. Leaning back against the bed I heaved out another sigh.

Screeching…

Singing…

At least Ron and Harry are getting on again. They've been through a lot together these last few years and it saddened me to think that they were falling out. Honestly I think that-

STOP PROCRASTINATING!

I've been doing this all day. Allowing my mind to wander because I honestly can't fit the pieces together. I just can't. It's like there's this barrier inside me that I just can't get past. I've never had this much trouble before, this kind of stuff has always come so easily to me before that this almost surprises me. Almost. I'm mostly recovered now from the…incident…but my brains still feels tired and sluggish. Professor Snape says it'll take a while before the poison is fully out of my system and until then they'll still be side effects. One of which apparently is my brain feeling like a wet sponge.

"Oh this is hopeless…" Standing up I make a point of grabbing my jacket before heading outside. The last thing I want to happen is Madam Pomfrey catching me without it.

Wandering down by the lake the fresh air feels good the staring however is something I could do without. It's inevitable really that people would talk. First being chosen as a champion, then being so ill…people talk. People talk and they always will. I'm just not used to it being about me is all.

"What's up with you?" George's voice surprises me and brings me out of my thoughts.

"Just thinking about the tournament." This stupid bloody tournament.

"Oh so not about the…" Fred trails off as his twin elbows him in the side. Oh for the love of god.

"No. I'm not thinking about being poisoned." They both share an uncomfortable look which sets off something within me. "What?"

For a moment neither says anything until eventually George opens his mouth. "Wish we'd have seen it."

"Oh for goodness sake. You can't seriously be blaming yourselves for this!" Both of them manage to shrug before sharing equally heartbroken looks. "This is no ones fault but the person responsible. Quite how the two of you believe this is down to you is beyond me."

"We were meant to be watching you. We promised. We were supposed to be keeping our eyes open and we missed it. How could we miss it?" Promised?

"What do you mean promised?" This time Fred elbows George who make a valiant attempt to change the topic of conversation but it makes no difference. "Promised who?"

"Charlie." George mentions after a moment. "After the last task Charlie made us promise that we'd keep our eyes on you. Made up promise we'd have your back. That went well."

"Charlie made you promise. I'm going to kill him." Shaking my head I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised. When it comes to being an over protective worry wort Charlie is the best there is. "Well he shouldn't have. Looking out of me is great but seriously you two can't be everywhere at once. If I didn't even see who was doing this what makes the two of you think that you would have more hope."

"We're your brothers, we're meant to be protecting you, helping you and look what happened!" In his frustration he kicks at the ground sending a scattering of stones into the lake water which ripples for a few moments. Watching the water whatever I was planning on saying leaves my brain as the realisation sets into my mind.

Singing under the water, screeching out of it…

Singing under the water…

"That's it. That's it!" How did I not get this before? How did I not see this earlier?

"What are you talking about?" The twins say in tandem, their confusion at my words evident on both of their faces.

"Merpeople."

Moody POV:

Well that's a turn up for the books.

That McGonagall woman said he was intelligent, brilliant in fact but I didn't really believe. Don't get me wrong I know he was good with magic after watching him in action at the cup. Mind you I suppose that really should have been my first clue. He reacted so quickly when him and that other one were attacked by those two idiots. It was instinct, magical instinct, that's rare. I should have realised it then. That was the first clue.

The second clue should have been the staring. I should have realised it when I caught him watching me. It's not like he could have known. He didn't catch sight of me at the world cup I know he didn't and I know that he has no idea who I really am. There's just no way that he could know. Yet he still watches me. I can see him all the time watching me, just watching. He can't know. He can't. But the staring at me…the constant staring…

The kids got good instincts. Too good. I had to put a stop to it. Getting his name into the goblet was easier than I thought. With the tournament to think of he'd have no time to keep staring. Of course I never thought…

That was the third clue and the one that I finally spotted. Krum's plan to get the egg was stupid and it nearly cost him. Fleur had been obviously out of her depth. I wouldn't have to worry about those two beating Potter in the final task. With my help he would out strip both of them and win hands down. Then there's Weasley. He's good, that magical instinct combined with his sheer intelligence makes him a formidable opponent. Truth be told he'd make a decent death eater were it not for him being a blood traitor. Putting his name in the goblet was meant to put him out of action but all it did was make him more of a problem. He could and no doubt would beat Potter. I can't allow that. I underestimated the kid that was my mistake. A mistake I had to turn around.

The poison was meant to end him, it was meant to make him so vulnerable that he just couldn't fight it off. Then I made my second mistake. That potions master was never meant to be able to figure it out. The poison is so rare and so difficult to spot so how did he manage it? I underestimated him. Yet again I made a mistake that could potentially derail all of our plans. The dark lord won't accept my failure.

Not for the first time since this entire thing happened I consider just ending him. I could easily sneak up on him, easily get him alone and just put him out of it. Even with the kid dying the tournament would have to continue it would be perfect. It would put an end to my problems for sure. There's just one problem with that plan. Dumbledore. If it wasn't for Dumbledore then I'd go through with it in a heartbeat. That man is far to powerful and far too suspicious as it is. Going after the kid again would risk my position here and that can't be allowed. I have to be here to make sure this goes off. I have to finish my mission.

All I can do now is wait.

Wait and hope that the lake and it's creatures take hold of the kid.

Harry POV:

I'm not hiding.

I'm definitely not hiding.

Absolutely not.

I'm not-

Oh give it up! I'm hiding.

I feel like I'm ten years old again, hiding away in the cupboard waiting for Uncle Vernon to get home. And what am I hiding from?

Cho and Cedric.

Ever since they went to the ball together they're officially a couple now. I really thought she liked me, I really thought that she was going to say yes. Then she told me she was already going with him. Of all people why Cedric.

I know that I should be figuring out the egg but right now I just don't have it in me. For one night I just want to be a normal teenager and brood over what might have been. For one night I don't want to be Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the boy whose name got put in the Goblet. I just want to forget.

Which explains the hiding.

Sitting away in the darkest corner of the library I've actually been able to avoid people for hours now. Even Ron and Hermione have disappeared from my side.

"There you are, honestly I've been looking everywhere for you."

"There you are, honestly I've been looking everywhere for you." Percy's voice breaks through my thoughts. "We need to talk."

"Can we talk later? I really want to be left alone for a while." Shaking his head he sighs before sitting down. Okay so clearly he's ignoring me. "Look Percy-"

"Merpeople." Wait what? "The second task. It's Merpeople."

All thoughts of Cho and brooding are gone from my mind as I take in his words.

Merpeople?

"You mean Mermaids actually exist?" He frowns at my words before speaking.

"Merpeople Harry. Mermaids is kind of an outdated term." Merpeople exist?

"But wait, where on earth are we going to find Merpeople in Hogwarts?" Still reeling from his announcement I almost miss him standing up and moving over to the window. Eventually I look up long enough to catch him urging me to join him.

"What are we looking at?" My question becomes a moot point as I stare out of the window and down at the Lake. It takes a moment for my brain to put the pieces together but eventually I do. "The Lake. The next task is in the lake?"

And I think we'll leave it there. Okay so I finally got there. They know about the second task which means that it's just around the corner now.

So Charlie has tasked the twins with watching over Percy and the poor boys are feeling pretty bad about the poisoning. Harry is brooding over his lost love. Poor Harry needed a moment to brood over Cho which I honestly don't think the movie really did. She was really the first girl he had a proper crush on and she chose someone else.

Until next time,

Bye x