The time of roaming Hogwarts' hallways again came sooner than Marina expected. With her new pet hidden away from the others in a place the others would never seek, she spent her days wondering how the second task would go.

"Had a nice holiday?" Blaise Zabini asked her as they walked to their next classroom. It was time for Potions with the brave Gryffindors.

"Yeah. Wasn't much that happened, though."

"I guess the Malfoys prefer staying in the manor?" Marina nodded at his question. "As does my family. Mother's new boyfriend didn't impress much, to be honest." She looked at him with her lips pursed, well aware that Blaise's mother was famous for her many relationships. "How is the tournament going, anyway? Ready for the second task?"

"I just need a little more time..."

"Need any help? I'm free today." He grinned.

"No, but thanks. Someone showed me what I needed to do with the Golden Egg. All I needed to do was open it underwater." She turned to him, and chuckled. "The Prefects' Bathroom is surprisingly nice."

"Oh, really?" Blaise smiled to her one last time before they walked into Snape's classroom.

What they didn't know was that a certain Gryffindor was walking right behind them, listening to every word they spoke.

Marina was hovering over the books she had borrowed from the library all through February. She was determined to land first place in the second task. The first task had gone just fine, but she needed to impress the judges even more. So, to prepare for the event, she went to study in the Common Room after every class. She had even forgotten to eat and sleep some days because of the many thoughts buzzing around in her head. Luckily, she had her cousin to remind her to take proper care of herself.

"Why are you reading about Merpeople?" a third-year asked her. She had her head resting on her palm. Marina didn't even need to look at her before Draco cut him off.

"Let the star study in peace," he spoke, and the younger girl skipped away. Marina only shook her head.

Merpeople is known for warlike tendencies. They have dragged many unfortunate souls underwater. Due to their large size, it is nearly impossible to put up a fight against them.

Marina was almost certain that the song that had played when she opened the egg had been sung by Merpeople. Narcissa had told her tales about the creatures when she was younger. On her seventh birthday, she had been given a book about them, and when she opened it, she could hear them sing.

No one had ever listened to the Merpeople's honey-sweet tones and continued their day as a wiser person. The Merpeople's songs enchanted them, and she could remember how bewitched she had been when opening the book for the first time. The melody she had heard had been the ocean, golden summer days and new love, all at the same time.

She felt herself grow anxious. What if she was facing Merpeople in the next task? Would they enchant her so she could not move or act?

The door to the Common Room shot up; in came Snape with a bitter look on his face. "Black, Malfoy," he simply spoke. Marina looked at Draco, who had already gotten up from the coach.

Outside the room stood Crouch Junior disgusted as Mad-Eye. Draco's eyes went wide. Marina clasped her book shut and put it away before getting up and out.

"Malfoy, you are to come with me," Snape explained. "The Headmaster wants to see you."

Within seconds, they had passed her in the hallway, and she was standing alone with Junior. She crossed her arms, slightly tilting her head to the side.

"Dark Lady," he began as he looked down. "The second task is tomorrow, are you ready?"

"How ready can one be?" She stroked a hand through her curls, sighing loudly.

"Your father has a suggestion, My Lady." He had spoken to him - that meant that her father was getting stronger and healthier. "Listen, Marina, he wants you to perform a very difficult transfiguration. Not many witches can do it," he told the fourteen-year-old. "But it will land you first place if you do it correctly."

She slept little that night not only because of her nerves to perform well in the task, but also because Draco had never come back to the common room. Junior had told her not to worry about it, but it didn't stop her.

After the night of the ball, Marina had experienced horrible nightmares, and Draco had always been there to comfort her when she woke up. During the holiday, she had found herself wandering off to knock on his bedroom door almost every night, and back at Hogwarts, she would sit in front of the fireplace discussing Quidditch with him to forget the monsters in her head.

At the breakfast table, she had been able to press down two slices of toast before she found herself walking down to the lake with Junior on her side. She felt as if a thousand butterflies had found a home in her stomach when he continued to tell her about the transfiguration she was about to perform. He kept telling her that her father would have her back, but she was really doubting that after he had tortured her.

Harry and Dumbledore stood by the edge of the lake, looking as if they were in deep discussion. Beside them stood Fleur and Maxine, the headmistress of the Beauxbatons academy, fixing Fleur's bathing suit. To the right stood Viktor Krum and the headmaster of Durmstrang. Marina locked eyes with Krum and gave him a smirk as she walked past him.

Passing Fleur and Maxine, Black waved silently to the French champion, who smiled back at her. In Black's opinion, Fleur was underrated. Chanting a dragon to sleep was something few wizards were able to do, but still, most Slytherins would tell Marina that Fleur was doomed to land the last place in the tournament.

She found her spot in-between Harry on the very left and Fleur while she listened to Dumbledore telling Harry how important it was to impress the judges. Students from all three schools were fighting for good spots on the benches behind them.

Judge Bartemius Crouch, Junior's father, came to greet each contestant before the task were to begin. She knew Junior hated him, but put on a big smile when she shook his hand, though it never reached her eyes.

"Good luck, young lady." Crouch grinned before Junior pushed him away.

The stands were slowly beginning to fill up. Marina turned to Slytherin and Durmstrang's bench. Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson were sitting on the first row, both wearing their BLACK FOR THE WIN-buttons.

"Looks like you got yourself a fanbase," Junior marked, but Marina could only wonder where Draco was.

"Welcome to the second task!" Dumbledore announced loudly by putting his wand up to his neck as a replacement for a microphone. "Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions. These items now lay on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each champion needs to find their item and redeem it to the surface. They have one hour to do so - and one hour only."

Marina took off her Slytherin sweater to reveal her dark-green bathing suit. Glancing Potter's way, she saw him force Gillyweed down his throat. Smart. She could have thought of that herself. But the disgusted look on his face told her that it wasn't worth it.

Krum was the first champion to dive into the water, Fleur second, and Marina third. Harry got pushed out by Junior.

The water was ice cold since it was only February. Marina held her breath and let herself sink to the deep bottom of the lake. Her father had told Junior she needed total silence and focus for the transfiguration.

She drew her wand, pointed it towards her knees, and opened her mouth to scream: "Syreni Voco!"

Nothing.

Nothing was happening, but tons of water streaming into her mouth.

"Syre-ni-vo-co!"

A glimpse of white light shot out of her wand and hit her knees. She watched in horror as the skin on both her legs started to melt together. It did not hurt, but it looked horrible.

A sharp pain struck the side of her chest and stomach. She screamed, but the sound got silenced by the water. Her hand found its way to her side; something was forming on there. Junior had told her gills would form on her body. Trying to ignore the discomfort, she shot up and broke the surface.

Marina made a turn in the air, showing every student, professor, and judge her transformation. The Slytherin and Durmstrang bench went mad.

When she dove back into the water, she drew her wand. Pointing it in front of her, she discovered that her fingers had webbed together, and her nails had become claw-like. How strange it was, that only her sides were hurting, and nothing more. Shooting a large bubble out of her wand, she finally managed to get a glimpse of her reflection.

Marina had used the Syreni Voco transfiguration to transform herself into a mermaid-like creature. She had just completed one of the hardest spells known to wizardkind with little effort. Was it right?

Her legs had glued together to become a tail. It was silver. When she moved it, she shot through the water gracefully with little restriction to water resistance. On the side of her hips were fangs, ripping up her the skin on her hands if she rested her arms by her side.

She let water fill her lungs. She breathed it in, allowing it to drag her downward. It didn't hurt her. As she sunk, she found her rest and comfort, every sound drowning before it could reach her. A lily she was, pale under water, her body dancing. Almost forgetting about the task, she forced herself to open her eyes.

Harry was watching her with wide eyes from the bottom of the lake. He had also transformed: he had gills, just like her, and the skin between his toes and fingers had grown together. She looked him up and down, then tore away in the opposite direction.

The Black Lake wasn't as scary as Marina expected it to be. It was dark, but she found her way around. She could hear the merpeople sing in the distance, and if she came close to the surface she could listen to Dumbledore announce news to the audience.

The champions soon entered the merpeople's village. Huge plants blocked their vision. Marina tried to swim in between the plants, but not being used to a tail made it hard. She could swear that she heard someone scream at one point, but she shook her head and ignored it.

Soon, she arrived at an open space. There were a few poles of stone in the area, and behind them, she could see Merpeople lurking. They looked exactly like the ones she had seen in the pictures from the library books: they had dark green hair, grey skin, yellow eyes and teeth, and, like herself, silver tails. They were incredibly tall and looked half-fish and half-human, but their arms looked like wings.

Marina spotted something she would never forget. In front of her, behind the merpeople and poles, was Hermione, Ron, a blonde girl, and Draco, all placed in an enchanted sleep. They were all incredibly pale and in uniforms. Before she could swim closer, a creature swam past her at an alarming speed. She looked at it to discover it was the Durmstrang champion, who had used a spell to become half shark.

The boy swam straight towards the girl he had danced with at the ball. He drew his wand, casting a spell that made the rope holding Hermione snap in two. He looked at Marina, signaling her to do the same. He grabbed Hermione's lifeless body and swam up to the surface.

Marina swam to Draco not long after, cupping his face in her hands. She drew her wand and shot a spell so that the knot holding Draco fell apart. She placed her arm around his waist and begun to swim towards the surface. However, she stopped when she spotted him.

Harry looked at her. "Watch the time," she spoke, her voice light, but the words were silenced by the water.

He looked between Ron and the blonde girl. Who was she? It seemed like the makers of the task had taken those closest to the champions away from them. Draco was one of Marina's closest, Ron Harry's, and Hermione had gone to the ball with Krum, so he had most probably fallen in love with her... But who was the last girl? A friend of Fleur, perhaps? But where was Fleur, then?

Dragging Draco behind her, she swam to Harry. "Save him and go," she said softly. If he could not hear her, he could read her lips.

He pointed at her, then at Ron. She understood: he was going to try to save both. Idiot.

She swam up toward the surface quickly. Draco awoke at once. He panicked, gasped for air, and she placed his hand in hers, telling him to calm down while Dumbledore announced their arrival to the others.

"Marina Black comes second," the Headmaster shouted as she grabbed the ladder to the platform the judges and professors were standing on. Draco began to climb it.

"Perfect!" Junior complimented while reaching his hand out for her to take, ignoring Draco.

"I'm not done."

She must have surprised everyone when she dove back into the cold water. Deep into the blue, she searched for Harry, drawing her wand once again.

Honey-sweet tones. Enchanting music. She was getting close to the Merpeople again. But why were they singing now, and not earlier when she first had seen them?

When she got to the spot where the champions' loved ones had been tied up, she found out why. The Merpeople had caught their prey. It wasn't the little girl or Ron, for they had been set free, and were drifting toward the surface. The Merpeople had wrapped their long wings around Harry, and they were pulling him down to the bottom of the lake.

The Merpeople's faces were now filled with fangs which they used as weapons to hold him down, and their mouths were wide open, vibrating melodies coming from their throats.

There is no homecoming for the person who draws near them unawares... Their song, though irresistibly sweet, was no less sad than sweet, and lapped both body and soul in a fatal lethargy, the forerunner of death and corruption. She knew that under them and Harry existed piles of moldering skeletons.

Shooting through the water, Marina pointed her wand at the Merpeople and created a wave so strong, every creature in the lake traveled with it. A pack of Merpeople met her eyes, hisses leaving them. However, something in them changed when they saw her tail. They pulled back, closing their mouths.

Another wave and they were so distracted they didn't notice that Harry was pulling free from them. He reached his wand above his head, and then shot toward the surface.

Being the last contestant in the lake, she swam around in circles before leaving the Merpeople. Their song never ended. Their voices were high and clear, giving her a feeling of love she had never felt...

Marina pointed her wand at her legs again. "Syreni Voco" once more, and the tail turned into her two legs, her fingers growing apart, the gills and slits on the side of her stomach and chest disappearing. She needed air quickly.

When she reached the platform again, Junior placed a towel on her shoulders and mumbled something about her needing to be more careful.

Fleur had been forced to retire early in the task. She had supposedly been attacked by a swarm of grindylows. The rest of the champions were sitting a few meters away from Marina, looking at her silently. Not one gifted her a smile; not even Harry, who she had saved.

"Marina," a thin voice behind the girl whispered. It was Draco, now with a towel wrapped around him. "How did you do that? A bloody tail?"

That was a good question.

Marina was clueless.