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Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took.
But past an hour — the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T SWIM?"

Albany huffed, crossing her arms defensively as Merlin shot her a weary look.

"Don't look at me! I grew up by the woods, not the seaside," she snapped, turning away from the judgemental ghost. "I'm just as stressed as you are, no need to harass me about it."

Stressed was an understatement. She had frantically dragged Carly and the twins to the lake after Moody's tip to dunk the egg into the water; while at first, she'd thought nothing happened, it took dunking her own head under the cold waves to hear the eerie words. The song was like that of a siren, and after listening to it as many times as Albany could tolerate the freezing water, the four figured they couldn't be far off. Carly confirmed their theories with a quick library sweep later that evening: there were mermaids in the Black Lake. And they were going to take something from Albany, and hide it. In the lake.

She had an hour. To search a lake.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. Oh, no.

"We covered the Bubblehead Charm at the start of the year, remember?" George had prompted her optimistically, upon noticing her sullen expression. "You still have a week to practice it. That's plenty of time."

Albany had hummed in agreement, too embarrassed to mention her bigger problem. Being able to breathe underwater did nothing for her if she couldn't navigate underwater. Or move at all.

Naturally, she couldn't hide it forever. And so, after a horribly sleepless night, she confessed to Merlin, too exhausted to fully freak out.

"So you've never gone swimming... like, ever?" Merlin pressed, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"No!" Albany retorted, though was chewing relentlessly on her cheek to hide the tremble in her fingers. "I'm a pureblood, you think my parents thought swimming would be a valuable life skill?"

"What do I know? I'm only halfblood," Merlin reminded her.

"Ah yes, the great Merlin's biggest secret," Albany announced dramatically, raising her hands in the air and wiggling her fingers. "Slytherins hate him."

"You're Slytherin—"

"It was sarcasm, you — you...."

"Clotpole?" Merlin offered.

Albany snorted. "What the fuck does that even mean?"

Merlin just grinned knowingly, and said nothing.

"You're so annoying."

"I don't know either, if it makes you feel better," Arthur said to Albany, making his presence known with a 'pop' as he appeared. "But really? You can't swim?"

Albany groaned, throwing her face into her hands. When she glanced up again, Arthur was staring at her expectantly. "No, I just said that to be funny," she deadpanned, and sighed. "No Arthur, I can't swim."

"So you've never gone swimming—"

"Why is that important?!" Albany argued, glad the dorm room was empty and she wouldn't be heard. "We have a more pressing issue at hand, and it's: how the fuck do I learn to swim well enough to go lake diving in the space of a week?"

"Why don't you get someone to teach you?" Merlin suggested.

Albany scoffed. "Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Fred," Arthur chimed in with a confident smirk.

Albany blinked.

"Wrong one," Merlin whispered.

Arthur blinked. "George."

Any amusement from the mix-up hastily drained with the mention of the boy's name. Albany swallowed hard and glanced away. "I — uh — I don't even know if he knows how to swim—"

The smirk was rapidly returning to Arthur's smug face. "You won't know 'til you ask," he teased.

Albany turned away from the two as her cheeks turned red, irritated with how easily flustered she became with that one name. Why was she reacting like this? What was wrong with her?

"Albany?" Merlin called.

"Uh, yeah, I guess it couldn't hurt to ask," Albany mumbled, struggling to will away the colour from her face. "Yeah. I'll go ask him — uh, right now, actually."

Arthur narrowed his eyes at her. "You have class this morning," he reminded her.

"I'll just skip," Albany said, waving away his concerns before she realised what she was doing. "I mean—"

"Skip?!" Arthur repeated, eyebrows furrowing in outrage at the very thought. "You'll just skip class?! Albany, your education is very important—"

"I'm not skipping to go do drugs, Dad!" Albany shot back, rolling her eyes. "I'm trying not to die in this tournament, if you haven't noticed!"

"Albany!" Arthur called after her sternly, but the girl had up and ran.

The halls were bustling as people made their way to and from breakfast in the Great Hall, but Albany found that the crowd would part like the Red Sea if she scowled and held her head high. Whispers followed her as she strode through the corridors, but she wasn't bothered by them for once — she had bigger issues on her plate. Issues so thought-consuming that she failed to notice when one student in front of her didn't move to the side, and nearly bowled him over.

"A— Bronwen!" Harry exclaimed in surprise, catching his balance just in time.

Albany stopped in her tracks, eyes wide and face falling rapidly. "Oh shit, sorry Potter!"

The boy's two close friends stood warily to the side, regarding her with cautious stares. Albany swallowed her discomfort, and then lay a hand on Harry's shoulder, expression grim.

"The egg," she hissed under her breath. "Have you figured it out?"

Harry's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a moment, taken by surprise. "I — no?"

Albany bit her cheek. "Um — it likes water, uh — maybe take it into a bath, or something, the lake was really cold—"

"What?" Harry's face was screwed up in confusion.

Albany stepped back, flexing her fingers nervously. "Look, I owe you one for the first task," she muttered. "Just trust me."

Harry blinked. "Okay."

"Right." Albany clasped her hands together, and then took another step back, acknowledging Ron and Hermione with a reluctant nod. "Um — I'm gonna go, then — see you."

She hurried off before Harry could say goodbye, her pace increasing with every step she took. She'd forgotten how heavy the stress of the first task had weighed on her shoulders, but it was returning with full force as she struggled to come to terms with how soon she was going to be thrown in harm's way once again. In a lake, where she couldn't swim.

The twins weren't difficult to find in their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, laughing heartily at another one of Lee's dumb jokes. Albany faltered in her steps as her eyes were drawn instinctively to George; the cool daylight shining in from the windows lit up every freckle on his face, which was creased into an expression of lighthearted joy. For a brief second, she forgot her worries, lingering in the warmth of the moment.

And then she felt eyes burning through her skull, and glanced up to meet Moody's unsettling stare from the professors' table.

She bit her cheek, and turned away again, resuming her mission.

"George."

The ginger's head snapped around as she called him, eyes lighting up upon recognition.

"Albany," he shot back, grinning.

Albany didn't have time for small talk. "Can you swim?"

George's expression twisted into one of confusion, evidently thrown off by the question. "What — can I — what do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean?" Albany rolled her eyes. "Can you swim?"

"Uh, well yeah," George responded, eyebrows furrowed.

Albany ducked her head, cheeks warming as she mumbled under her breath.

"I didn't catch that?"

"Can you teach me?" she repeated, louder, and bit her cheek.

Realisation slowly dawned on her friends' faces as Albany died on the inside. Fred's jaw dropped, eyes widening.

"You can't—?!"

"Fuck! No, I can't swim!" Albany snapped defensively, and folded her arms, gaze downcast.

"Oh, you're screwed for the second task," Lee noted, wincing.

Alicia elbowed the boy in the ribs. "I think she knows that, hon."

"Yeah," Albany muttered. She glanced hopefully up at George, "so?"

The Weasley in question was staring back at her with a concerned expression that did little to relax her nerves. His face was twisted in thought, and he reached nervously for the back of his neck as he realised the group was waiting for an answer. "Yeah," he murmured. "Yeah, I could teach you — but Al, in a week—?"

"I know," Albany mumbled. "Can we start now?"

George blinked. "Like, now?"

"Like right now."

He cracked a smile. "Sure."

Lee leaped from his chair with a joyous shout. "Lake trip!" he announced excitedly, and Angelina and Alicia immediately yanked him back down onto the bench.

"Maybe don't tell the whole school, Jordan," Angelina chided him, though was smiling herself at the thought.

Albany's eyes widened a fraction. "Oh, you all don't have to come," she said quickly, "I don't want to get everyone in trouble—"

"Allie," Fred said very seriously, "trouble's our thing."

"I'm not missing this for anything," Carly agreed cheerfully, and shot Lee a grin. "Lake trip!"

And so, school was ditched once again.

At least this time it was for educational purposes, Albany convinced herself. Even if she was the only one being educated.

The thought of getting into the water given how cold the weather already was while she was dry and dressed in thick clothes was not an appealing one, but with George's encouragement and a reminder of what was at stake (thanks, anxious thoughts) she gave in. The others seemed to share her reluctance to actually enter the water, as Angelina and Fred seated themselves on the shore, in the middle of a serious conversation. Alicia was in heavy debate with Lee as whether or not to go swimming, while surprisingly, Carly was beyond eager to do so. She was the first one to magically waterproof her underclothes and jumped straight in without a second thought.

Albany gaped in horror. "Are you insane?!"

Carly's head surfaced to reveal her beaming expression, and she shook the water droplets from her face. Her curls weighed a little heavier drenched in lake water, though still managed to retain their shape. "It's not that bad!" the girl insisted, laughing at the concerned faces watching her. "Come on!"

"You heard her," George said with a wink, already half undressed, and Albany blushed scarlet, quickly glancing away.

"Right," she mumbled, shivering more so from nerves than the chilly breeze.

She'd brought a t-shirt and shorts to wear in the water in the hopes it would keep her warmer, but still felt rather embarrassed undressing down to the items in question. She was still wearing the necklace George had gifted her, too, and opted to leave it on, tapping her wand against it and watching the snake curl into the shape of a lion with a smile.

"Last one in is a rotten egg," George called, and Albany turned around in surprise to see the boy already knee-deep in the water. The hair on his arms and legs was standing on end, she noted with amusement. And he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"You got a headstart, that's...." Albany was struggling to recall her words as she focused hard on not letting her eyes drift. George was... surprisingly toned. That's... wow. Um.... She felt suddenly glad for her t-shirt covering her midriff. "That's cheating."

"Not if you beat me," he said with a smirk.

"That's not how cheating works," Albany argued, glancing away and blaming the red in her cheeks on wind burn. "If I win, you still cheated. You can't take that back now."

George laughed, and Albany's stomach flipped. "Oh come on. Entertain me?" he whined, sticking out his lower lip, and Albany surrendered with a sigh.

She shuffled tentatively to the water's edge, where gentle waves lapped at her toes. The water was freezing; she gave a violent shiver as she took a step deeper in, arms wrapped tight around herself.

"I don't know if I can do this," she admitted suddenly, as the water rose halfway up her lower legs. Panic rose in her throat like bile, and she swallowed hard, glancing nervously to George. "It's fucking Baltic out here."

George's expression sombered. "It's still gonna be Baltic this time next week," he said softly. "And you're gonna have to get all the way in if you want to learn to swim."

Albany frowned. He was right, of course, but that didn't make her any happier with the situation. Of course the tournament organisers had to choose a task to be in the fucking lake, just her luck—

"AAUGH!"

Without warning, her entire body was plunged into the icy grasp of the water as a sudden force hit her in the back. Albany surfaced, limbs thrashing in fear and dripping from head to toe; Carly shot her a guilty grin, equally as drenched but far more comfortable.

Albany glared at her, teeth grit to prevent them from chattering. "You—"

Carly's smile dropped immediately. "Did I take it too far?" she asked worriedly, a nervous hand reaching to pull at a stray curl. "Albany, I'm sorry—"

George burst into laughter behind the girls, and became the next victim of Albany's glare. Unlike Carly, he wasn't phased by it and continued to laugh, which made staying mad at him all the more difficult.

"Gold, Carly, that was gold," he chuckled, and the French girl beamed. "Sweet Merlin, I wish I had a picture."

Albany flushed, and she made a face at him, shivering violently. "And I wish I had a nicer swim teacher."

George grinned at her, and waded over from the deeper water. Albany was startled as he moved to wrap his arms around her, though didn't argue against it, frozen in surprise. Somehow, despite the utterly freezing temperature of the water, his body was perfectly warm pressed against her. She fit into his embrace like a hand into a glove.

"See? I can be nice."

Albany couldn't find any reason to argue. Well, that was until she felt George tightening his grip around her body and realised what he was about to do—

"Wait, no—!"

She barely managed to get in a breath before George pulled her backwards under the water once again. This time, she remained secure in his arms as he brought them both back to the surface, but was left thoroughly drenched, freezing, and unhappy.

"I take back any compliments I was about to give you," she muttered, shivering again. "Nice my ass, Weasley."

George was laughing hysterically at her, and she couldn't find it in her to remain irritated with the boy.

"Come on, then, if you're already wet you might as well get in," he teased, wading backwards into deeper water as he beckoned her. "I can't teach you anything in the shallows."

Albany mumbled a string of curses under her breath, though reluctantly complied, and began wading after him, trembling like a leaf. Carly, despite the shallow depth, had managed to stretch out enough to swim by, and sent a playful splash Albany's way as she passed her. Shrieks sounded from behind them as Lee had wrestled Alicia out onto a wooden pier and shoved her in. Albany had to smile at their antics, particularly as a fuming Alicia resurfaced with a handful of slimy lakeweed, which she promptly hurled right at Lee's face.

George and Carly had a point; once the shock factor of first going underwater was dealt with, it wasn't as cold — though it was still cold enough to turn the tips of her fingers and toes purple by the time they were finished with her first lesson. George had coaxed her into floating on her stomach, and offered his arm to hold onto while she practiced kicking her legs. She was happy with the praise she received for her "enthusiastic" kicking, which she had a feeling was a kinder word for violent, though felt quite proud of herself anyways. She had a lot to learn in the next few days, but George filled her with the confidence that it was possible — and with her friends supporting her every step of the way, how couldn't it be?

The only issue, a nauseating thought that lingered in the corner of her mind, was that she wouldn't have her friends in the lake for the second task. And she had a strong feeling that neither Merlin nor Arthur had any hidden water powers to pass on to her.

She was going to be alone, with who-knows-what swimming in the black depths, and the thought was terrifying.

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