Chapter 18

Ginny POV

Another month had gone by, and Ginny was incredibly happy. Even happier than she was the evening of her 13th birthday when she received her Comet 260, which she genuinely thought would never be beat. Her marks were high due to her study sessions with Hermione, the days were slowly but surely getting longer and warmer, allowing for longer and more efficient Quidditch training sessions. Her relationship with Demelza had never been better, and she hadn't seen Juliette for weeks. Life was simply good for Ginny, and she was enjoying it thoroughly.

While Ginny was in her dormitory getting ready to head out for the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, she wondered what exactly would be happening this afternoon. Just as with the First Task, no one knew much about what the Second Task entailed, other than that spectators had been directed to gather near the Black Lake. Speculation that the Champions would have to wrestle the Giant Squid had circulated more than once, but Ginny figured that couldn't possibly be true. At least she hoped it wasn't, as she found the Giant Squid to be quite tame and a bit funny based on the stories she'd heard from Fred and George.

Once she was dressed, she went down to the common room to meet up with Colin, Ritchie, and Demelza, as well as Harry, Parvati, Ron, Lavender, and Hermione. As she arrived in the common room, she found everyone but Hermione ready to go as well.

"No Hermione?" Ginny asked.

Ron shrugged. "We haven't seen her all day. We figure she must be getting some extra reading in before the Second Task or something."

"When she left the dormitory this morning, she did have quite a few books with her. I'm sure she was off to the library, you're so smart Won-Won," Lavender praised Ron. Harry and Parvati exchanged pained looks that made Ginny fight back a laugh.

"Well, I guess we'll be meeting her there, then," Ginny said as she grabbed Demelza's hand and headed for the portrait hole.

Once they got to the lakeshore, they saw three giant sets of wooden stands for the spectators. They climbed up to the very top of the middle set and looked out across the lake. Ginny frowned, wondering what exactly they would be watching during this task. More and more spectators filed into the stands until they were bustling, and then Professor Dumbledore, along with the three Champions, walked out to stand in front of the crowd.

"Our three Champions are ready for the Second Task!" Professor Dumbledor's voice echoed into the stands. "They will have precisely one hour to recover what was taken from them. Three, two, one!"

- BANG -

At the sound of the cannon, the three Champions dove into the lake. Demelza looked over at Ginny, bewildered.

"They're competing under water for an hour? How is that possible?" she asked Ginny.

Ginny furrowed her brow. "I'm not sure… Hey, Ritchie? Colin? How long were you two in the lake during the Yule Ball? Was that an hour, or three seconds?"

The boys made faces at Ginny as she and Demelza laughed. Ginny looked around, trying to locate Hermione, but she was unsuccessful. She did, unfortunately, spot Juliette. She was sitting high up on one of the other sets of stands with the Beauxbatons students. As they locked eyes, Juliette frowned. Ginny's eyebrows rose, as she was expecting some sort of smirk or off-putting seductive smile to be sent her way – certainly not a frown. She observed Juliette briefly before moving on and refocusing on the calm lake, wondering what could possibly be happening beneath its surface.

"Well, this is exciting…" Ron muttered sarcastically. Those near enough to hear him laughed.

"What's under there, exactly?" Harry asked.

"You mean besides the Giant Squid? Loads of stuff. Grindylows, Merpeople…" Ron listed off.

"Aren't those dangerous?" Ginny asked, a bit worried. She wasn't exactly friends with Krum, but she had grown fond of him from the few times they'd shared a table in the library, and definitely wouldn't want him to be pulled apart by Grindylows.

It didn't take long for the spectators to get restless, as there wasn't much of anything to actually spectate. A good amount of time passed by before they saw the first Champion appear – Fleur, the Beauxbatons Champion, stumbling out of the lake and onto the shore. Her clothes were tattered and she had quite a few cuts and scratches on her arms and legs. She was sobbing as well. Madame Maxime quickly wrapped her up in a towel and escorted her away from the view of the stands.

The spectators looked around at one another in shock, seemingly sharing the same sentiment – what exactly was happening under the water, and where were Cedric and Krum?

Nearly ten more minutes went by before Cedric emerged from the water, and he wasn't alone. He and slightly smaller person were wading towards the shore, and he was carrying a third, much smaller person in his arms. Fleur ran out to them and took the person from his arms as she continued to sob. Ginny recognized the other person walking with Cedric to be his girlfriend, Cho. The person that Fleur had grabbed from Cedric looked just like her, and Ginny realized that it was her younger sister who she'd occasionally seen following Fleur around the school. That's when it dawned on Ginny that people had been taken from the Champions. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt her heart plummet right into her stomach as she frantically looked around, searching desperately for Hermione. When she was still unable to find her in the crowd, she grabbed both Harry and Ron tightly, pulling them to her.

"Do you think Hermione is down there? I still haven't seen her, and she went to the Yule Ball with Krum…"

Harry and Ron looked out at the Black Lake, then back at Ginny, their eyes wide with concern.

"You might be right… I mean, she did make us arrive nearly half an hour early to the First Task… There's no way she'd have been this late to this one…" Harry said, trying to remain calm as Ginny grew less and less under control.

"Ginny, what's going on?" Demelza asked, alarmed by her girlfriend's panicked demeanor.

"We think Hermione – We think she's out there for K-Krum…" Ginny choked out as she failed to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes.

Demelza pulled her in for a hug, trying to reassure her and calm her down. Ginny could see Harry out of the corner of her eye, watching her closely.

Suddenly, two more bodies emerged from the lake. Krum was carrying Hermione, who did not appear to be moving. The crowd erupted, thankful that all three of the Champions' hostages had been successfully retrieved. Once onto land Krum gently laid Hermione on the shore and many people ran to their aid with towels to warm them up and dry them off. After the excitement settled a bit, Professor Dumbledore stepped in front of the stands once again.

"First place goes to Cedric Diggory! He not only collected his own hostage and returned first, but retrieved Miss Delacour's hostage as well. In second is Viktor Krum, for collecting his hostage successfully before the time limit. And in third is Fleur Delacour. While she did not complete the task, her hostage was still brought to the surface before the time limit expired, so she too will be continuing on with the Third Task. Thank you to everyone who came out to support, have a pleasant and dry evening!" Professor Dumbledore announced to the stands, smiling calmly.

As the stands started to empty, Ginny, followed by Harry and Ron, immediately pushed past the crowds down to the shore, but was stopped by Professor Dumbledore once she got there.

"Everyone is fine, but they will need to rest… You may see Miss Granger later this evening…"

Ginny defiantly took another step forward and started to argue, but Harry grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Come on… We're not going to argue with the Professor Dumbledore, are we? He said she's fine, and that we'll see her tonight. She's okay, Ginny…" he reassured her as her guided her towards the castle.

Ginny turned to look over her shoulder and saw that Hermione had been able to sit up, but was shivering severely, even with the towels Krum continued to pile on her. They were under the water for such a long time, and Ginny was worried about what it had possibly done to Hermione.

Hermione POV

"Herm-own-ninny, are you okay?"

Krum was kneeling beside her. She could see and hear him, but she was too cold to respond. She tried to nod, but it got lost in her violent shivering.

"Cedric, I am needing more towels here, please."

Hermione watched as Cedric hurried towards her and wrapped another towel around her shoulders.

"Alright there, Hermione? Don't worry, Cho warmed up eventually. You lot were pretty deep, it was plenty cold down there."

He gave her a small smile, then returned to Cho, who was also wrapped tightly in many towels.

After a few minutes, Hermione was able to speak.

"How – How long was I under water? What happened down there?" she asked Krum, still a bit out of it.

"You vere under vater a long time… I partially transfigured myself into a shark … Ve had to get you from very deep in the lake… I am sorry it took me so long to get you up to the surface…" Krum explained apologetically as Cedric handed him another towel, having come back over to check on Hermione again.

"Yeah, what happened to you down there? I saw that you left before I did. I stayed as long as I could to see if Fleur would show, then took both Cho and Gabrielle up with me. The Merpeople were not fond of that, but I managed to get back. Where did you go?"

"It vos the Giant Squid… I am thinking that it saw me in my part-shark form as a threat to Herm-own-ninny, so it tried to take her from me… Once I managed to transfigure myself back into my whole-human form, it let me take her vith me… Ve barely made it to the surface…" Krum said, shaking his head. "I am so sorry Herm-own-ninny…"

Cedric's eyes were wide, staring at Hermione. "Wow… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, see?" She stood up to show them both that she was okay, but wobbled a bit, needing help from Krum to stay upright. "I'll be okay – I'm feeling better every minute that I'm out of the water. Thank you for saving me." She gave Krum a smile, trying to get him to stop worrying, but it didn't seem to be any use.

"Come on you two, let's head inside," Cedric said, motioning for them to follow him and Cho up towards the castle.

"I vill be going back to our ship, but thank you Cedric, and congratulations." Krum nodded at him. "Again, I am sorry Herm-own-ninny. I hope you are okay. I vill see you soon."

"Oh, it's okay Viktor, I'll be just fine. I'll see you soon!" Hermione said, trying to reassure him, apparently to no avail.

Just as they were about to enter through the castle doors, Hermione spotted Juliette lingering just past Hagrid's Hut down on the edge of the forest before catching Hermione's eye and disappearing into the tree line.

"I'm going to stop by and visit with Hagrid. He's got a fireplace – I'll be fine to warm up there. Thank you for your help." Hermione waved goodbye to Cedric and Cho as she headed for Hagrid's Hut, walking straight past it for the edge of the forest.

As Hermione walked deeper into the forest, she came across Juliette, who was sitting at the base of a tree with her head in her hands.

"Juliette…?" Hermione called out tentatively.

Juliette looked up from her hands, tears streaming down her face. Hermione froze – she'd never seen Juliette cry before.

"Oh, Juliette…"

Hermione quickly closed the gap between the two and bent down to grab her, before becoming aware of how soaking wet she still was. She knelt in front of Juliette who was crying harder yet.

"Juliette, what's wrong?"

"What is wrong? What do you zink is wrong, 'Ermione? You were just carried out of ze lake by Viktor Krum! You were under ze water for more zan an hour and I – And I could not protect you!" Juliette cried.

"Juliette, I – I'm fine! I mean, I am a bit cold, but I'm fine!"

Hermione grabbed Juliette's face to try to get her to stop crying.

"Juliette… Hey… Look at me, please?" Hermione implored as calmly as she could.

Juliette looked Hermione in the eyes. "I could not protect you… I 'ated every single minute of zat stupid task… Once I realized what was 'appening, I…" She broke off as she began crying again, a bit quieter this time.

"Juliette…" Hermione said softly, moving both of her thumbs gently against Juliette's cheeks, trying to soothe her.

"I could not bear to lose you, 'Ermione…" Juliette whispered, her voice breaking.

"I know… I'm sorry… I'm right here, Juliette… I'm right here…" Hermione said softly.

As Juliette finally calmed down enough that she'd stopped crying and her breathing had evened out, she looked up at Hermione. Hermione was completely soaked, but warming up quickly now with all of the towels she had draped over her. She decided to take a few of them off, and found that she actually felt better with less of them on her. She removed the rest of the towels, setting them on the ground. Juliette was still staring at her.

"What?" Hermione asked concernedly, standing up. "Have I got a cut or something that I wasn't aware of?"

She looked down at her own body, but saw nothing. Suddenly, Juliette was kissing her. It wasn't the passionate or heated kisses that they'd been exchanging since the Yule Ball, but it was just as charged, if not more. It was desperate, but warm, and… Loving… Juliette had fully pulled Hermione into her body, apparently not caring how soaked Hermione's clothes were. She removed her lips from Hermione's and buried her head in her neck, tightening the hold her strong arms had around Hermione. Hermione smiled at this, and gently rubbed Juliette's back. They stayed like this for quite some time before eventually and reluctantly pulling apart.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked Juliette.

"I should be ze one asking you zat… I am sorry I reacted like I did… I 'ave never been zat scared before…" Juliette said, her voice still wavering a bit. "I do not want to lose you…"

"I know you don't, Juliette, but I'm okay now, you don't have to worry anymore and – "

"No… I am not talking about just zis evening, 'Ermione. I know zis zing we 'ave is for you to be distracted from your feeling for little Ginny, but…" Juliette paused, appearing to try to push herself to do something she was scared and hesitant to do. "But I want to be with you. Not just as a distraction. I want to be with you."

Hermione stood, unable to speak, simply staring into Juliette's eyes. In the absence of tears, they had returned to their typical confident and determined demeanor, but Hermione could also see a faint flicker of fear as she tried to read them.

"If you do not want to be with me, I understand. We can keep doing what we 'ave been doing. I just zought – "

Hermione cut Juliette off by gently pressing a hand to her lips.

"Juliette, of course I want to be with you. Over these past few months where you've actually allowed yourself to be real and vulnerable with me, I've found that you're someone that I want to be with. You are exceedingly bright, driven, and caring. You're passionate and kind. Plus, it doesn't hurt that you're somewhat attractive as well…"

Juliette laughed. "'Ermione, are you really joking at a time like zis?"

Hermione chuckled a little herself. "You're right, I'm sorry. It does scare me a bit, to think about the two of us being together, committing to one another, but…"

"But…?"

"But all you've shown me these past few months is that I can trust you and that you care about me more than just someone to snog. I feel like I can trust you with my heart. And I want you to know that you can absolutely trust your heart with me, Juliette. As soon as I emerged from the lake today, I was happy to have Viktor by my side, but…"

"But…? But what?"

"But all I could think about was how badly I wanted to be in your arms… I trust you to protect me and to care for me, more than anyone else."

"I promise, I will…" Juliette looked at Hermione with a straight face and offered her pinky to her. "Pinky promise?"

A smug smile spread across Juliette's face as Hermione looked at her, shocked, before she pulled her in for a kiss. "Oh, shut up," Hermione said before kissing Juliette, gently yet firmly.

Once they pulled apart, Juliette pushed a few wet pieces of hair from Hermione's face and smiled down at her. Hermione beamed back up at her.

"So… I've never actually done this before, been in a relationship with someone, so you're going to need to take the lead here," Hermione said.

Juliette laughed. "We will 'ave to figure it out togezzer, zen. I 'ave not been with anyone before eizer."

Hermione looked up at her skeptically.

"Well, not exclusively 'ave I been with anyone…" Juliette smiled sheepishly.

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully before placing another kiss on Juliette's lips.

"We're both plenty smart, I'm sure we can figure it out."

Juliette nodded. "'ow about we start with zis?"

She pulled a silver chain out from under her light blue sweater. At the end of the chain was a delicate silver charm with a small crest engraved into it. Hermione looked at it, observing the new piece of jewelry.

"Have you always worn this around your neck?"

Juliette laughed gently. "I zink you would 'ave noticed it if I 'ad, 'Ermione."

Hermione blushed.

"My grandmuzzer wore zis around 'er neck when she got togezzer with my grandfazzer. Ze same with my muzzer wearing it when my fazzer proposed. My sister Jo is now engaged to be married, so she 'as passed it down to me. Zis is actually ze first day I 'ave worn it…" Juliette chuckled softly and took a deep breath. "Maybe it is a sign zat we should be togezzer…"

"I don't need a sign, Juliette."

Hermione smiled reassuringly up at Juliette. Juliette smiled back, then took the chain from around her neck and held it out to Hermione, steadying her breathing as if she was nervous – something Hermione had rarely seen from her.

"'Ermione Granger, would you do me ze honor of being my girlfriend?"

Hermione looked into Juliette's eyes, the green and gold sparks were nearly jumping out at her they were sparkling so much.

"Of course," Hermione said, smiling sweetly up at her.

Juliette beamed and actually blushed a tiny bit as she reached around to clasp the necklace around Hermione's neck. Hermione tucked it into the soaked sweater she was wearing, and put her hand over her heart where the charm lay. The two just stared at each other for a while, smiling, until Hermione noticed how dark, cold, and buggy it had become.

"I should go get out of these wet clothes. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course, 'ave a good night, 'Ermione. I will be zinking of you all night." Juliette smiled lightly as Hermione blushed.

They kissed one last time before parting ways, Hermione heading up to the castle, and Juliette walking back to the carriage.