A/N: I hope it doesn't bother you guys that the times in which some events take place will kinda change here (i.e. Neville/Dobby giving gillyweed) since the books and movies + my own storyline don't always align 😅 I know fanfics pretty much allow us to change whatever we want, but I just wanted to let it out here just in case it confuses some of you :)

"I don't think it can be done."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Analeigh were once again in the library, continuing with their seemingly endless search for a way to breathe underwater for an hour at the least. There was only a week left until the Second Task and they still hadn't made any progress.

"There's nothing. Nothing," Ron was saying defeatedly. "Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds — that Drought Charm — but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."

"There must be something," Hermione insisted. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable."

"They have. Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right. Stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."

"Don't encourage him," Analeigh said, though she was secretly entertained by Ron's suggestion. "You know he'll really do it if that's his last option."

"I know what I should have done," Harry finally spoke up, resting his head on a page. "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."

"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" Ron exclaimed.

"Or a shark," Analeigh suggested. Surely, a shark would be more useful if the lake was as dangerous as it was rumored to be.

"Or maybe a frog."

"But then again, it does take years to become an Animagus," said Analeigh thoughtfully.

"And then you have to register yourself and everything," Hermione added. "Professor McGonagall told us, remember? You've got to register yourself in the Improper Use of Magic Office... what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it..."

"I think Harry was joking, Hermione," Ron told her.

"Yeah, I was," Harry clarified, looking more restless by the second. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by next week."

With a sigh, Analeigh got up from her seat to return a stack of now useless books. As she was walking down the aisle, she nearly crashed into a fellow Gryffindor who had just turned the corner.

"Oh, Neville," she let out a breath when she realized who it was. "Sorry, didn't see you there over these books."

"I-It's no problem," Neville reassured. "Why do you have so many books?"

"Well... Harry still doesn't have a plan for the Second Task," Analeigh admitted, placing the books close enough to the shelf for the enchantments to do its work.

Neville nodded in understanding, catching a glimpse of one of the book titles just before it levitated up to the top shelf where it belonged. Water Resistant Plants in the East.

"Leigh, have you seen this book already? I — oh, hi Neville."

Harry had found his way next to Analeigh, also in the process of returning another stack of books that proved to be useless.

"You know," Neville began. "If you're interested in plants you'd be better with Gorshok's Guide to Herbology. Do you know there's a wizard in Nepal who's growing gravity resistant trees?"

"Neville, no offense, but I really don't
care about plants," Harry replied disinterestedly. "Now, if there's a Tibetan turnip that will allow me to breathe underwater for an hour, then great."

Neville seemed unfazed by Harry's snappy attitude for he said with a smile, "I don't know about a turnip, but you can always use gillyweed."

★ ★ ★

"Remember: 'come seek us where our voices sound.' Just listen for the merpeople and you'll do fine."

It had been a few days since Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Analeigh were suffocating themselves in the library to look for some method to stay underwater for an hour. They allowed themselves to relax a bit since then, helping Harry and Analeigh practice a few helpful spells here and there, but for the most part, they surprisingly hadn't resorted to cramming until the last second, all thanks to Neville's idea of using gillyweed.

It was finally the day before the Second Task and the four of them were sitting in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, giving one another a few reminders before heading to bed.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Unless that gillyweed kills him first," Ron said.

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded. "It's actually pretty genius. I never even thought of gillyweed."

"Are you positive that what Neville gave you was even gillyweed?" Ron asked unsurely, only causing Harry's anxiety to increase tenfold. "You know he's a bit... you know..."

"Don't doubt Neville now. You're only going to make Harry and Leigh feel more nervous," Hermione said disapprovingly.

"What? That boy isn't exactly the brightest —"

"Okay, so he's a bit clumsy," Analeigh interjected. "But isn't Herbology his best subject? That should count for something."

"That's right," Hermione agreed. "We should give him the benefit of the doubt. It's not like gillyweed will poison Harry... right?"

"That's not exactly helping, Hermione," Harry grumbled.

"Don't worry, mate. I guess the worst it could do is make your nose hair grow into ringlets or something," Ron joked.

"Who on earth would want to see that?" Hermione said in disgust.

"I wouldn't mind," a new voice joined the conversation. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

Analeigh and Hermione looked over their shoulders to find Fred and George Weasley standing there, leaning casually on the couch the two girls were seated on.

"What're you doing here?" Ron asked his brothers.

"We were Gryffindors before you, you tosser," Fred said.

"We're actually looking for you," answered George next. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."

"Why?" Hermione said in surprise.

"Dunno... she was looking a bit grim, though."

"We're supposed to take you down to her office."

Ron and Hermione's gazes flickered to both Harry and Analeigh, clearly worried for them. They wanted to be there for their friends before the Second Task, which sounded even more daunting than the first. However, they couldn't just ignore a teacher's request.

"You two should head to bed. We'll see you in the morning," Hermione finally said. She and Ron stood up from their seats, and Fred and George led the two of them out of the common room and to McGonagall's office.

★ ★ ★

Hermione and Ron did not come back to the Gryffindor Tower that night. Though Analeigh fell asleep fairly quickly, she was shocked to wake up the next day to find that Hermione's four poster bed looked as if it had not been slept in that night. Her suspicions were confirmed when the first thing Harry asked her that morning was if Hermione returned because Ron hadn't, either. Apparently, nobody knew of their whereabouts, so Harry and Analeigh ate breakfast in the Great Hall (which was extremely noisy by the Hufflepuff table for some reason) and headed to the Black Lake afterwards without seeing them. They were concerned, of course, but they also had the task to worry about.

After getting changed into a black and red swimsuit and a matching tracksuit on top, Analeigh found herself talking to Cedric outside the tent by the lake as they waited for the Second Task to begin.

"We've got the Bubble-Head Charm down perfectly. Once we've got that covered, I'm sure we'll be alright in the lake," Cedric was saying.

"Right, right..."

He looked at Analeigh curiously, wondering why she still looked unsettled.

"Why do you still look so worried?"

"Well, something strange happened last night, too," Analeigh said. "McGonagall apparently called down Hermione and Ron to her office, and they haven't been seen since then."

Cedric frowned. "Did they get into trouble?"

"I doubt it. Harry's usually involved when those three get into trouble."

Cedric chuckled and nodded, fully agreeing with her.

"Are you sure they didn't just get up early to get good seats?" he tried. "A lot of my housemates did that. I kind of wish my roommates did the same because they would not stop cheering me on this morning. It was quite obnoxious."

"Oh, that was them?" Analeigh laughed, recalling how she had heard a bunch of rowdy boys in the Great Hall that morning.

"I'm guessing you heard them at breakfast, then?" Cedric said with an amused smile. "Don't worry too much about Weasley and Granger, now. I didn't see Alden at all this morning either, so I'm sure he went to the stands earlier and your friends did the same."

And then the long-awaited moment had arrived: the Second Task. The seven champions rode boats together to the middle of the lake where three large structures were set up to house the judges and audience during the task. The champions were tasked to assemble by the edge of the water, lining up by school with Analeigh standing in between Cedric and Harry. As they did this, the chatter from the audience grew louder, all of them reeling in anticipation at what was about to unfold. When Dumbledore stepped up, Analeigh knew that they only had a few moments left before they officially began.

"Be careful," she told Harry. She knew how much of a skilled wizard he was, but it still worried her that he would be alone in this task. It didn't help that all Harry did was gulp in response.

Before she could talk to him any further, Dumbledore had pointed his wand at his throat and shouted, "Sonorus!"

The spell did its job as his voice echoed all throughout the venue, the sound creating ripples of small waves across the Black Lake. The crowd's chatter died down at his voice and he continued.

"Welcome to the Second Task. Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions — a treasure of sorts. These seven treasures, one for each champion, now lie 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 one hour only. After that, they'll be on
their own."

Out of nowhere, Professor Moody appeared by Harry's side and grumbled, "Put that in your mouth."

Analeigh glanced at them from the corner of her eye and watched as Harry obeyed, shoving the gillyweed into his mouth and chewing it. He began choking almost immediately, causing Analeigh to recoil slightly at the sight.

"You may begin at the sound of the canon," Dumbledore finished. Analeigh didn't get the chance to ask Harry if he was okay when the canon fired and Moody quite literally pushed Harry into the water.

Analeigh jumped back in surprise, but the professor was already limping away from the scene. She hurriedly retrieved her wand and muttered the needed incantation under her breath, similar to what all the other champions were doing. And then, almost in unison, they dived into the water.

She held her breath for a moment as the icy cold water engulfed her, wanting to be completely sure that the charm worked. When she opened her eyes and saw that the bubble had fully enveloped her head, she let out a breath. She had succeeded.

Around her, various things were happening simultaneously. She saw Fleur and Brigitte also composing themselves as they had just finished performing the Bubble-Head Charm, too. Viktor and Andrei had transfigured themselves into animals, and Analeigh could not deny that she was highly impressed. Viktor had turned into a great white shark, albeit it seemed to have only worked halfway for the lower half of his body was still that of a human. Andrei successful transfigured himself into a smaller shark, perhaps a tiger shark — well, she assumed that was him since the creature was right next to the half-transfigured Viktor Krum.

And then there was Harry. He had eaten the gillyweed Neville gave him before jumping into the water, and she was now watching him transform in front of her eyes underwater. For a moment, she panicked; it looked like he was struggling greatly as gills emerged from his face while his hands and feet morphed into webbed limbs.  She was already swimming towards him in an attempt to help when he stopped resisting and finally looked back at Analeigh. He had a determined look in his eyes, and the boy had the audacity to show off as he swam back up to the surface and jumped out triumphantly before diving back in. If she could talk to him underwater at that very moment, she would've made a sarcastic comment.

She wanted to check on Harry more, but Cedric had raised his thumbs up questioningly at her. Through the bubble around his head, she could tell that he was asking if she was ready. She answered with a nod, and then they were off, swimming away from Harry.

Analeigh and Cedric began their swim deeper into the depths of the Black Lake. For a while, it seemed like they were just going around in circles. They could only see the occasional school of tiny fish swimming here and there, but after a while, they could hear faint voices singing exactly like how it sounded when they opened the egg underwater. Eventually, they came across a kelp forest and the voices grew louder. Analeigh and Cedric sent each other nods as if to confirm with one another what their next move would be. Then, together, they swam into the thicket of kelp.

It was darker and murkier inside the kelp forest. The two champions had to regularly push away the kelp as it swayed side to side underwater, following the mild currents. It was quiet for a while, the only noise they could hear coming from themselves as they paddled through the kelp.

Suddenly, a figure swam past them, separating Analeigh and Cedric for a second. She let out a shriek of surprise and soon realized it was a mermaid — it had greyish skin, long, green hair, and yellowish eyes and teeth, looking only vaguely human. Analeigh and Cedric watched as it swam expertly through the plants, and without needing to say another word, the two of them decided to follow in that direction.

They swam in silence, apprehensively moving forward as the sound of the voices grew louder until they reemerged from the kelp forest and out the other side of it. They had reached the deeper end of the lake. There were rock formations forming a path and Analeigh could see merpeople stationed all around them. Their fierce gazes intimidated her, but they did nothing as she and Cedric swam through the path.

It was only at the end of the path that their eyes could make out what lay before them: their treasures. When Dumbledore had said something, he meant someone. Seven students, all pale white and unconscious, were bound by ropes and floating in the middle of the deep water. Analeigh could recognize most of them; Ron, Hermione, Alden Brown, Natalie, another young Beauxbatons girl, a boy in a Durmstrang uniform, and an empty spot where a rope seemed to have been cut off which Analeigh guessed was one of the treasures that had already been retrieved.

She was conflicted. She was close to Hermione and Ron, but she was sure one of them had to be Harry's because there was no question at all that her treasure was her younger cousin, Natalie. Even though she knew this was just a task, she couldn't imagine one of her closest relatives dying this way and the grief her family would go through if that happened.

Shaking those morbid thoughts from her head, Analeigh followed Cedric as he had began to swim again. Before they even reached the hostages, Harry had arrived and went straight for Ron, holding his face as if to check if he was alive. Analeigh swam towards her younger cousin, instantly freeing her from the ropes with a simple spell, which Cedric copied seconds later for Alden. It seemed that Harry hadn't thought of that just yet as he was still untying the ropes that held Ron with his own hands.

Cedric then tapped his watch with his wand and looked at Harry, signaling that they didn't have much time left. With that, Analeigh and Cedric began their ascent, hopefully to claim first place.

But something inside of Analeigh was telling her to stay back and help Harry, even if it wasn't her job to do so. As the distance between her and Cedric grew larger, she risked a glance at her friend and found him attempting to save Hermione as well. However, a group of merpeople swam towards him at such a speed that Analeigh didn't even notice them until they were right in front of Harry. One of them pointed a trident at him and screeched in protest.

"But she's my friend, too!" Harry insisted, his voice slightly muffled by the water.

"Only one," the mermaid commanded in a scratchy voice.

That left Ron, Natalie, and the other Beauxbatons girl behind. Analeigh wondered whether she was Fleur's or Brigitte's and why only one of them had retrieved their treasure seeing as the last spot was empty. Did something bad happen to them? She didn't think it was a good idea to stay down there any longer, so she pointed upwards, trying to tell Harry that they should return soon if they wanted to make it within the time limit. She could only hope that the bespectacled boy got the message.

Reluctantly, she then grasped Natalie tighter with her arms and began kicking upwards to catch up with Cedric.

Cedric resurfaced first with Alden by his side. The Hogwarts crowd roared upon seeing their champion snag first place with at least fifteen minutes to spare. He looked around him to check if Analeigh was alright, only for his heart to stop when he noticed that she wasn't there yet. Alden was helped up onto the deck and given towels to dry off by some of their other friends, but Cedric stayed treading in the water for a moment.

"Come on, Ced, get up!" people were telling him.

"But Analeigh — she was supposed to be right next to me!"

While everyone else was on their way back to land, Harry was still deep inside the Black Lake at that point. Although he knew he could just take Ron and go, he was only looking at the young Beauxbatons girl still bound by the ropes. He swished his wand once and released a jet of red light, hitting the ropes and freeing the remaining girl. Harry grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her towards him. He now had her and Ron on either side of him. Hoping that he wouldn't encounter anymore problems, he began swimming upwards with the two treasures.

But he was wrong. As they were ascending, a group of grindylows found their way out of another thicket of kelp and attacked the young Hogwarts champion. One of them grabbed Harry's leg and tugged him downwards, making him start to lose his grip on Ron and the Beauxbatons girl. He even tried casting spells at the grindylows, but there were just too many of them coming at them an once. He was getting outnumbered fast.

Finally, Harry released his grip on the two treasures he held and pushed them upwards to keep them away from the grindylows, praying that the magic would do its work and take them back up to the surface. With Harry now on his own, the grindylows decided to target him as he looked the most defenseless at that point. He fought them off with all his might, but he was getting weaker, and it was even getting harder to breathe — Merlin knows how much longer the effects of the gillyweed would last.

Just when he felt his body giving up on him, Harry felt a burst of adrenaline course through him. Using his last bits of strength, he raised his wand and said, "Ascendio."

A/N: So, I bet y'all thought I'd make Cedric's treasure Cho HAHAHA not gonna lie tho, that was my original plan. I decided to change it bc it just wouldn't make as much sense anymore + there's still room for drama in this story, so stay tuned ;)