IN THE GRYFFINDOR Common Room, Hermione Granger was hard at work studying for a Transfiguration exam. Studying in the girls' dormitory had grown too hectic over the last few days — Lavender Brown was now open about her crush on Ron and planned on wooing him soon, and Parvati Patil was trying her hardest to assure the blonde it was a bad idea. She felt a weight fall beside her and turned to see her black-haired best friend eyeing her cautiously.

"Hermione, can we talk?" Harry asked, and the brown-haired girl nodded slowly, placing a bookmark in her textbook.

She turned to face him, an emotionless look on her face. "What about?" Truthfully, she knew what this was about. It was just two days before the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. He drummed his fingers against his ratty jeans nervously, biting at his lips. Ron was nowhere to be seen.

"I hate that we're fighting. Well, technically you and Ron are fighting... I hate being caught in the middle of this. You're one of my best friends, and it's been two months since the Yule Ball and we've barely uttered ten words to each other. Please, can we end this?" He pleaded, green eyes sparkling with sincerity. "Ron's far too stubborn to ever apologize, but I know this has got to be killing you too. I'm surprised you've held out with Lavender and Parvati for as long as you have, honestly..."

"Harry, I don't want to fight either, but Ronald really hurt me. And you're right, he is far too stubborn, but I would've gone with him if he just asked-"

"Do you like him?" He asked, interrupting her tangent.

She sighed, moving her textbook from her lap and adjusting herself on the couch so she was fully facing her friend now, knee bent on the cushion. Harry moved to sit in the same position. "Ronald... he and I are a complicated duo, Harry. Honestly, I try not to waste my time on things involving romance, and I know you want to comment on Viktor, but that was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I don't feel anything for him, in fact I have barely spoken to him since the Ball. All he wants to do is watch me study, and it's annoying, to be honest. But with Ron, we're such good friends. You, me, and him. If anything were to happen between us, well, I'd hate to imagine how horribly it could go. But I also don't want to see him with anybody else..."

"You always put everyone else's feelings before your own. It's an honorable thing, and terrible at the same time." Harry noted, and the brown-eyed girl smiled.

"Regardless, I'll let this go, assuming you can get Ronald to stop being such a git." She extended her hand for Harry to shake, and he let out a laugh.

"Deal."

————— ↯ —————

In the library, the Golden trio were hard at work in attempting to crack the golden egg's riddle. Cedric Diggory had approached Harry earlier in the day and told him about the prefects' bathroom, where he later discovered what the horrible shrieking sound the egg made sounded like under water. The second task was in less than a day now. Hermione Granger ran her hands through her now bushy hair once more.

"Tell me again." She demanded.

"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."

Harry replayed what he'd heard yet again. The Gryffindor girl sighed, relaying every connection she could make to the phrase. Obviously, the task was to take place at the Black Lake, but nobody understood what was 'taken.' Harry said his belongings were exactly the way he'd left them when he returned to his dormitory earlier.

"And how exactly am I supposed to stay underwater for an hour? I'll drown!"

Before they could get any further into it, Professor Moody rounded the corner of the bookshelves they'd been seated within, his wooden leg clanking loudly throughout the library. Far off, Madam Pince made a shushing sound.

"Sorry to break this up, but Professor McGonagall would like to have a word with you." He claimed, gesturing to Hermione and Ron. The two exchanged odd looks but left quickly, not wanting to keep their Head of House waiting. The professor then had Neville Longbottom help the boy with his books and this in turn led Harry to getting exactly what he needed.

"And you're sure Gillyweed will work?"

————— ↯ —————

Blaise Zabini walked into the Slytherin Common Room with a cautious look on his face. Draco Malfoy was walking alongside him, hand braced around his arm so as to keep him from running off. From the leather couch facing the passageway, Pansy Parkinson gasped. Theodore Nott, who'd been sitting with her, sputtered in disbelief.

"What's he doing here? I thought he was expelled!" The brown-haired boy exclaimed, moving to protectively block Pansy from Slytherin's 'real' bad guy.

"I only said I'd be sure to see him expelled if he tried anything on Pansy again. He's been staying in a guest dormitory, thanks to Dumbledore, and he's been receiving his homework and lessons in private. You seem to forget I hold a lot of power over this school, Theo." Draco answered, shoving Blaise further into the common room.

"And you're letting him come back?"

"He promised to behave. Pansy, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was doing this..." The blond looked towards his friend sadly, but the dark-eyed girl shook him off dismissively.

"If I allow myself to be afraid of things... of people, I'll never get anything done in life. Blaise, welcome back." She said humbly, stunning everyone around her.

"But Pansy," the dark-skinned boy claimed in shock. "I took advantage of you!"

"You merely kissed me. It was nothing." She crossed her arms over her chest, moving so Theodore no longer stood in her way. "Honestly, no harm done!"

"That's where you're wrong, Pansy!" Draco butted into the conversation, moving past Blaise to stand beside the black-haired girl. "Harassment isn't nothing, regardless of the form. I'm so tired of people dialing down what's happened to them to not appear as an inconvenience. Blaise performed an action without your consent, and therefore that's considered taking advantage of someone. Regardless of whether he's 'sorry' or not, it happened and it should be acknowledged."

"Feminism!" Daphne Greengrass fist-bumped the air, having walked in just at the edge of Malfoy's speech. "Wow Draco, I never knew you felt so strongly about this."

"I may be an arrogant prick, but I'm not a monster." The Slytherins all laughed, and things eventually returned to how they'd been before. Blaise was kept away from Pansy for most of the night, seated on opposite couches or behind a wall of guardians whenever he stood up to stretch his legs. Gradually, the common room came alive even further as older and younger students placed bets on who'd win the Second Task. In spite of his dislike for Potter, he hoped the boy would at least come in second assuming Diggory made first. He couldn't stomach the thought of some other school standing them up on their own turf.

Oi, when did he develop school spirit?

————— ↯ —————

It was a cloudy afternoon as students gathered into boats to venture into the stands in the Black Lake. The Second Task was less than an hour away, and as the Slytherins made their way down to the boats, they passed by two of the elder Weasleys – famous pranksters Fred and George – calling out biddings for the outcome of the event. Pansy brushed passed Fred, ignoring his comment about 'inconsiderate Slytherins' and sidled up next to Blaise. They hadn't spoken much since they'd been reunited.

"All right?" She asked him, and he stared at her, stunned.

"Draco would kill me if he saw us talking right now. He's still very much under the impression that I'm planning to lure you into my dormitory, or perhaps the Forbidden Forest and have my way with you." He claimed, and Pansy rolled her eyes.

"He's so protective of me... like a brother my parents never gave me the privilege of having. I love him to pieces."

"Just not in the romantic way," Blaise confirmed, and Pansy nodded.

"Did you not hear me say he's like a brother? Listen, I may be a Pure-Blood and therefore have a superiority complex, but I am not a member of the Black family."

The two laughed and made their way into a boat, sitting with a few Hufflepuffs as they rowed towards the high-risen stands positioned for the event. Pansy had her back to the stands as they rode the gentle waves of the lake, and her eyes caught sight of the four Triwizard Champions making their way down the path: Harry Potter appeared incredibly tense. She looked around, confused as to where the Golden Boy's best friends were... she'd noticed they'd all made up the previous morning at breakfast.

In the stands, Ludo Bagman announced the rules of what was supposed to happen in the water. The champions had an hour to retrieve something they'd 'lost,' and Pansy stood with Draco watching as the crowds cheered. A younger Gryffindor in front of them held omnioculars and was cheering particularly hard for Potter, so Draco thumped him in the back of the head and then pretended that he hadn't. When Filch fired the cannon, the tributes made their way into the water, Potter struggling for a moment before being pushed off the dock by Moody.

Far off, she could hear Seamus Finnigan talking animatedly with Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom about Potter's chances of winning. They couldn't see well into the murky water and Neville made a comment about having 'killed Harry Potter!' The Gryffindor in question emerged a second later and did a flip, splashing back into the water. Cheers erupted everywhere, creating a deafening sound around the vast lake.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Potter will be eaten by the Giant Squid." Malfoy remarked, and the dark-eyed girl frowned, facing her friend.

"I thought you wanted him to win!"

"Only if it means proving we're better than those blasted Durmstrang students, or even better than those frilly little things from Beauxbatons. Merlin, even the men from the school look as dainty as women!"

"You know, you're kind of sexist." Pansy remarked, but Draco chose to ignore her. His inner hero apparently only came out every so often, and attempting to provoke it just would not work to her benefit.

The hour sped by quickly: Fleur Delacour was eliminated from the competition after an encounter with the grindylows and soon Cedric Diggory took the lead as he pulled Cho Chang, Ravenclaw's Seeker from the water. Apparently, the champions were locating and saving people. Krum emerged moments later with Hermione Granger, startling Pansy considerably. Granger was being used as bait for a competition? A competition that very easily could've left the girl dead assuming the champions failed to complete it? She was outraged!

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Malfoy muttered, noticing how his friend fumed with anger beside him. "Wanted Granger to drown, did you? You know, I would've thought she'd be the one Potter had to save... they are dating, aren't they?"

"No," Pansy snapped. "Granger is single."

"Figures." The blond laughed. "Who'd want to date her?"

Says the boy who gawked at her in her shiny blue dress and fancy hair when he first saw her during the Yule Ball, Pansy thought. I would date her gladly.

The hour was almost up now, and Potter had yet to surface with... would it be Weasley? And what would happen to Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle? She'd learned that was who was down there after the French girl blubbered over her for the better part of the hour. Time was nearly up, and suddenly an enormous gust of magic could be felt throughout the stands as Harry Potter Ascendio'ed out of the water, clutching Weasley in one arm and a young blonde girl in the other.

The three were pulled from the water and Pansy watched as Hermione rushed to throw a warm towel over her friend, and Fleur moved to kiss each of his cheeks. There was cheering all around, and again Draco thumped the poor Gryffindor who hadn't thought to move the first time it happened.

For the second task, Cedric Diggory took away the most points: a total of 47, though his overall score left him tied with Harry Potter for first place with a grand total of 85. Potter had received 45 points for the second task, Krum 40 points ( leaving him with an even 80 over all ), and Fleur a pathetic 25 points. The Slytherin princess already knew that both of the Hogwarts houses with leading points would be partying that night, and a part of her wished she could join in the fun.

Draco laced his arm through hers and the two made their way towards the boats once more. Secretly, she knew he was pleased that Hogwarts was winning, but he'd never show it based on the simple fact that it was someone like Potter carrying their victory for the whole school.

Boys, she thought, rolling her eyes.