8

                                    

                                          
Sorry for the long wait. Here's a longish chapter for you!
Harry's pov
                          
I hurried down to the Black Lake with Neville. The stands were already crowded with students. Y/n, Ron, and Hermione weren't back yet. Maybe they were already at the Lake. The Weasley twins passed by taking bets. I looked at the slimy gillyweed in Neville's hand.
                          
"You're sure about this Neville?" I asked.
"Absolutely,"he said.
"For an hour?"
"Most likely."
"Most likely?!"
"Well there is some debate among herbologists as to the effects of freshwater versus saltwater," he explained.
"You're telling me that now?! You must be joking."
"I just wanted to help."
"Well that's better than Hermione, Ron, and Y/n," I said. "Where are they anyways?"
"You seem a little tense Harry."
"Do I?" I snapped.
We stood with the other champions. Mad-Eye stood next to me.
                          
"Welcome to the second task," Dumbledore said over the speaker. "Last night something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lay on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have one hour to do so and hour only. After that they'll be on their own."
                          
"Put that in your mouth," Mad-Eye said hoarsely.
I shoved the slimy worm-like plant in my mouth and immediately gagged from the taste and texture.
"You may begin at the sound of the cannon," Dumbledore boomed.
                          
The cannon kept out a bang and the other three champions dived in. I felt someone push me into the water. I started thrashing around to get to air and accidentally took in a mouthful of water. Instead of my lungs burning, I felt normal. I looked at my hands and saw webbing in between my finger. I saw my feet were longer and also webbed. I touched my neck and felt gills. I shot out of the water and did a flip and the crowd cheered.
                          
The murky water surrounded me and I started swimming. I could hear singing in the distance. Something started tugging at my legs. I turned around and saw little Grindylows grabbing my ankles. I got out my wand and fired jinxes at them. They let go immediately and I kept moving toward the voices. I heard the singing getting louder. I pushed back some seaweed and saw four people chained to rocks. I looked closer and saw Ron, Hermione, a blonde girl, and Y/n. Her h/c was floating around her face and she looked so effortlessly beautiful. I swam over to them and the merpeople moved close, brandishing their weapons and hissing a little. I heard seaweed rustling behind me and Cedric came closer. A large bubble was floating around his head. He swam toward Y/n. He nodded his head toward Ron. I assumed that I was supposed to get him instead. I started cutting Ron's chains with a rock and soon he was free. Hermione was next to him so I freed her next. Cedric had set Y/n free and grabbed her waist. He nodded at me before swimming upward. I felt a pang of jealousy. Now Y/n would like him more because he saved her. I shook the thoughts out of my head and grabbed Hermione and Ron. The merpeople started to come forward and hiss at me. 
                          
"But she's my friend too!" I told them.
"Only one," they said.
A human with a shark head shot through the seaweed. I assumed it was Viktor Krum because he grabbed Hermione and swam back to the surface.
                          
Your pov
                          
Light flooded into my vision and my eyes shot open. I became aware that I was in the Black Lake. Cedric had an arm around my waist and the other was raised in a fist. He had a wide smile as the crowd cheered him on. He helped me out of the water and wrapped a towel around me. I smiled at him.
"Good job Ced," I yelled over the crowd. I hugged him, not really caring that we were both drenched in water.
Viktor Krum got out of the water holding onto Hermione and I smiled at her. I looked around and noticed Harry wasn't back yet. Fleur was back but she didn't have anyone with her. She was shivering and looked anxiously at the water. Suddenly Ron and Gabrielle Delacour popped out of the water. Fleur rushed to her sister and held her close. Harry came out of the water shortly after.
"Ah Harry!" Dumbledore said.
"Get him another towel," Barty Crouch said.
"I want all the judges over here now," said Dumbledore.
I ran to Harry and hugged him.
"That was so brave of you Harry," I told him. (Omfg this feels so cheesy). "Are you okay?"
"I'm excellent actually," he said.
"Harry! You must be freezing!" Hermione cried and handed him a towel.
"Attention, attention!" Dumbledore said over the crowd. "The winner is...Mr. Diggory! For showing unique command of the bubblehead charm!"
I started clapping and cheering as loud as I could. I met Cedrics eyes and he shot a wink at me.
"Mr. Potter would have finished first had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr. Weasley but the others as well. We've agreed to award him second place for outstanding moral fibre!" Dumbledore yelled.
Once again I cheered and clapped as I looked into Harry's smiling face.