The second task crept up on Azalea, to be honest. One minute she was asking Professor Longbottom for gillyweed, the next she was telling her friends all about the task and what they understood of it so far, and then next it was the day of it.

And she still hadn't acted upon her feelings for James.

Right now, she was walking down to the pontoon with James. Just the two of them. She had been informed by McGonagall that her parents were on their way, but as she was needed down at the stands, she was entrusting her friends to welcome them and help them get down to watch.

"You ready for this?" James asked her as the two of them reached the pontoon, where boats were going in and out to the stands. There were three of them, all three tiered, in the middle of the water.

"Yeah, I guess," Azalea said with pursed lips.

James chuckled slightly, raising his eyebrows. "Having your family here's not making you nervous then, Edwards?"

"Nah, not really," she shrugged as they began to get in the boat. "Besides, it's not even my family that's here. It's just my parents. If it was my family..."

She trailed off, looking down.

"Hey," James placed his hands on her shoulders. "She isn't here, okay? You don't have to worry about her today."

"Yeah," Azalea nodded, giving him a hopeful smile. "Yeah, you're right."

As they got into the boat, sitting side by side, Azalea's left leg and James' right pressing up against each other (a fact they both tried desperately to ignore), James leaned closer to her and murmured. "You with me, Edwards?"

And Azalea nodded, reaching for his hand and interlocking her fingers with his, a thrill running through her as she did.

She was always gonna be with him.

Whether he wanted her to be, or not.

✾✾✾

"Welcome to the second task!" McGonagall called out over the raucus. "Last night, deep in the Black Lake, three prizes, once for each pair of champions, were locked in three cages. The champions' task is simple; in order to win, they need only find their prize and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this; they will have one hour, and one hour only to do so."

Azalea sighed, seeing Fred, Louis, Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Lily, Alice and her mum and dad across the platform from the place she was standing, shivering in the cold air in just her navy blue bathing suit, waving at them. They waved back, her mum and dad especially, and Azalea just wished she could go and hug them.

But she couldn't. She was stood on a platform with all the champions, the black lake before them, a small wad of slimy green gillyweed clutched in her hand.

"You'll see them later, Edwards," said James from behind, her and Azalea sighed, rolling her eyes as she turned-

Oh, fuck.

And she just froze.

Because holy shit, James Sirius Potter had abs.

Like, okay, she knew he played quidditch like a maniac, but so did she, and she didn't have a chest anywhere near as toned as that.

He was fucking jacked.

She tried furiously to avert her eyes as she stammered back. "Y-yeah."

"Right, come on," James said, frowning slightly at her before he held up his gillyweed. "Let's do this."

Azalea nodded, grinning. "Let's do this."

The plant tasted disgusting. So much so that Lea almost gagged as she gulped it down. James, as well, had trouble swallowing it, but eventually, when both of them had managed to get it down, their eyes connected, and they smiled slightly.

"Champions!" McGonagall's voice called out. "You may begin on the sound of the cannon!"

Azalea bit her lip, the gillyweed threatening to come back up before she felt fingers interlocking between hers, a hand gripping hers tightly.

Azalea felt her heartbeat thrumming in her ears as she looked at James, her eyes wide and full of an emotion neither of them could quite place.

"Whatever happens down there," James said, voice low and meaningful. "I'll always be there to help you, okay?"

Azalea nodded, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Ditto."

James grinned as they both turned, looking to the water.

When the cannon went off, the two of them wasted no time in jumping into the water, not even getting to hear the claps and cheers and shouts of joy from their friends and family. Azalea smiled as she dove in, though, the only thing keeping her grounded being the man of her dreams' hand clenched in her own.

And as her body hit the cold water, she was glad she had James' hand. Their bodies sunk like stones, just as the gils began to form.

Azalea cried out in pain as she felt the sides of her neck with her other hand, bubbles coming out her mouth as she felt the lumps on the sides of her neck, and then looked to James.

I can open my eyes.

James, too, had the gils, and was grinning at her as he gestured to their feet. Azalea looked, and almost gasped out in shock, because her feet were flippers.

And then she noticed something. James' hand, which once fit perfectly in hers, was uncomfortable. Azalea took her hand out of his, holding her hands up to her face and seeing that they were now webbed.

"Holy shit," she said, but it just came out as a load of bubbles again.

James grinned back at her, his face practically shining, as he pointed a finger onwards. He turned back to her and she nodded, kicking her legs.

The lake was fucking vast. Azalea and Iames swam through it, swiping past plants on the lake floor and small fish that were swimming throughout it.

Azalea gasped as they swam off the edge of a cliff, going down, down, down... she knew James was beside her but she'd never felt so isolated, down at the bottom of the lake, trying to find a 'prize'.

The water didn't feel cold anymore. Azalea didn't feel any sort of shiver as she and James kicked and flapped their legs, moving on.

When they reached the huge forest of seaweed, they started to hear a song. It was a strange. The voices were melodic and tuneful, and Azalea found them calming as she and James pushed through the huge vines.

"Merpeople," he told her, and even though bubbles came out his mouth, she could still read his lips. "That's who's singing."

Azalea nodded. She understood now. They were singing because they were leading the champions to them. They were drawing them in.

Azalea felt her heartbeat thumping in her chest as she and James pushed on. She felt him next to her, and was very thankful, because if he wasn't there, she didn't know what she'd do.

As they continued their swimming journey, Azalea began to wonder if James would ever see her the way he used to again. He used to ask her out consistently, sometimes not going a day without doing it. Azalea would say no to every single one of them, on top of refusing the gifts he sometimes offered.

When he'd said he was going to stop asking her out this year, he'd meant it. Despite following her on her date with Lauri, he'd done nothing all year to prove that he still liked her. And with Lauri, that was different. She'd fooled herself into thinking he still liked her as a way to boost her ego, when in actual fact, he didn't.

And her liking him now... it was pathetic. She'd never liked him, ever, and now she was being fucking desperate, just waiting for him to ask her out, which he'd told her she wasn't going to do.

And yet now, all she wanted was for him to ask her out. Because she knew now that if he did, she would say-

"Azalea?"

She jumped, coming back to life as she looked at James, who had just spewed more bubbles.

She frowned. "Yeah?"

James gestured to in front of them, where a load of seaweed formed a sort of wall; a forest. Azalea raised her eyebrows as James asked. "D'you think it's this way?"

She nodded. It wasn't really up for discussion. And besides, they needed to get moving. They'd been swimming for what felt like ages and she was very conscious of the time.

"Come on," she said to James with a small smile that turned to a smirk. "Unless you're too scared?"

James chuckled. Even in the water, it sounded nice. "I never get scared, Edwards," he replied. "Let's go."

But, as they continued on, he realised he had missed out a key piece of information in that sentence.

(I never get scared, except when we're talking about my feelings for you).

✾✾✾

"That is forty five minutes of the champion's time gone!" McGonagall announced to the crowds up above. "All still remain under the water, none having retired from the task."

Just across from her, Alice stood between Lily and Azalea's parents, biting her lip.

"They'll be fine," he redhead friend murmured to her. "It's James and Azalea, they always are."

"Yeah," Alice said, looking at her with a small smile. "Of course."

She looked to Annabelle and Chris, smiling slightly and deciding that she might as well make light of this.

"I bet you're really disorientated, huh?" She asked with a smile. "First time here can be a lot."

"You can certainly say that," Chris replied. "Tell me again, what exactly are Azzie and James using to breathe under there? Gilsweed?"

"Gillyweed," Lily said with a giggle. "It gives them gils so they can breathe under there, and open their eyes."

"Oh, right," Chris nodded. "And is it a potion, or...?"

"It's a plant," Alice smiled.

"God, I know nothing about you wizards and witches," Chris shook his head with a grin.

"No, you don't," Annabelle, his wife, grinned. "Don't worry. Once your daughter gets up here you can speak to her about all this."

"Yeah, we're just hoping she and James get first or second so they can stay in front overall," Lily shrugged. "And so that we can see Lauri get humiliated."

"Lauri? Isn't that the boy Azalea dumped?" Chris frowned.

"Yeah, and he's a champion in this too, he's the shorter of the two Durmstrang ones," Lily rolled her eyes. "James and her both hate him. We're just crossing our fingers they beat him."

"Is this about Lauri?" Fred and Louis, who had been talking to Neville behind them, asked. Lily and Alice nodded. "Yeah, we saw him this morning. Wasn't seeming very confident, actually."

"Good," Alice said with a smirk.

She turned back to the water, crossing her fingers, her toes, her everything.

Come on, James.

Come on, Lea.

✾✾✾

Azalea's arms and legs burned as she kicked them, but she didn't tell James that. She continued pushing through the tall seaweed before them, trying to find a way out of this never ending maze.

When they finally got through them, the redheaded girl gasped at what she saw.

There were merpeople everywhere. Azalea's mouth fell slightly open as she looked around. They were floating around in all sorts of places; this appeared to be their colony. At the top of it, there was a massive stone arch and what looked like the ruins of a castle, but she didn't let herself focus on that.

What she was focusing on were the three cages underneath the stone arch that the merpeople were floating around, not ready guarding. They were sort of medium sized, with something identical that Azalea couldn't see inside them, and a gold keyhole.

Azalea felt the golden key pressed against her hip, the one she knew she needed to bring today, to open the cage.

And by the looks of it, they were the first two here. None of the three cages were open.

Azalea and James practically glowed as they beamed at each other, knowing they were going to win the task, and because victorious, and-

WHOOSH!

The pair jumped apart as two... sharks appeared, flying through the water as they made their way to the cages-

And then Azalea realised they weren't sharks at all. They were half shark-half human. And one of them had the unmistakable form of Lauri Krum.

Shit!

Azalea and James rushed after them, swimming with all their might towards the cages, trying to beat the two sharks that were Lauri and Adrian. Azalea had to get there. She needed to beat them. She absolutely needed t-

When they got up to the stone arch and the cages, Azalea saw that they were labelled. One had AV + LK on it, one had AB + EW on it, and one had AE + JP on it.

Lauri and Adrian dove for the one showcasing their initials, swimming right up to it and pulling their key out of nowhere, swiftly fitting it into the lock. Azalea and James, too, swam right to their cage and took out their key with the stupid inscription on it, the one they had worked so hard to get on the first task-

WHOOSH!

"Fuck!" Azalea cursed angrily, as Lauri and Adrian retrieved their prize and shot straight away to the surface.

"Stay calm," James told her, praying she could read him. "It's okay, we're still ahead."

Azalea shook her head, her hands shaking even in the water as she slipped the key into the lock and opened it.

Now that she was thinking about it, she hadn't actually even seen what the prize was. Weirdly enough, it was a small box, that looked like it was wooden, with words embossed in gold on the top of it.

Azalea didn't have time to read it, however, as she held it in her hands, turning to James. "Come on, we need out of here."

Leaving the key in the lock and taking the box, Azalea and James made to leave. They were confident that if they were quick, they could make up the ground they had lost. The Beauxbatons pair hadn't even managed to get up out the water yet, they'd be fi-

"Argh!"

"URGH!"

"AZALEA!"

Next thing Lea knew, she was being seized by something, screaming in pain as she felt sharp barbs impale her body. Tears came to her eyes as she twisted, seeing the grindylow, a deep water magical creature, below her, one of its tentacles wrapped securely round her leg.

James, meanwhile, had never felt so scared in his life, seeing the look of fear in her face. He swam right over to her, grabbing her arm gently as he tried to kick the grindylow off her.

"Argh!" But then another one of the tentacles with those little hooked barbs wrapped round her other leg. Azalea cried out again, her face twisting as she twisted and turned, feeling the barbs create cuts and scrapes in her legs-

"Fuck!" James yelled, as he tried to get the tentacles off her, but another was wrapping round her arm now, and she was cursing and screaming, her whole body on fire, and he'd never felt more angry. That was his girl that was being hurt right now, and he'd do anything to make sure she was never hurt again.

Azalea, meanwhile, was shouting in pain, her whole body on fire as she felt cuts form on her legs and arms from trying to get the barbs out. She writhed and twisted, but didn't get far because the barbs tore her skin and left cuts and scrapes, and undoubtedly drew blood.

"Shit!" She screamed, as another tentacle wrapped round her. This was it. They were going to lose the task. Lauri was going to beat them. She was going to let her family and friends down. They were going to be so disappointed, and it would be all because of her-

"ARGH!"

As another grindylow joined in, another couple tentacles ripping her legs apart and dragging her down, she lost all hope.

She wasn't getting James, and she wasn't getting out of this, either.

Her partner, meanwhile, was trying his hardest to not cry as he tried to pry the grindylows off her, broken by the fact that she was in pain.

"Lea, are you okay?" He kept asking her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "Azalea!"

But Azalea was in pain, her head swimming and her ears ringing, her whole body on fire. She'd tried this whole task to not give up hope.

But in that moment, she failed.

✾✾✾

Lauri and Adrian appeared out the water just as the clock struck for an hour.

"Is that a-? Who is it?" Lily asked, as the crowd went up in applause. She craned her neck, trying to see into the water as she just hoped with all her might that it was Lea and James-

"Shit!" Alice saw them first, pressing a palm to her forehead and groaning.

"Why? Who is it?" Lily asked.

"It's Lauri and Adrian."

"What? No!" Lily yelled, jumping up to see the two boys, grinning widely as they got a hand up onto the platform, seemingly uninjured as they clutched a weird wooden box to their chests.

Alice and Lily collapsed against the barrier, Fred and Louis too.

"Don't give up," Annabelle, who had watched all of this unfold, said with a smile. "They'll be there. They'll come."

And their friends knew this was true.

But it didn't stop them worrying.

✾✾✾

"URGH!" Azalea screamed, bubbles coming right from the back of her throat as another grindylow joined in dragging her downwards.

And then, oh fuck, the worst happened.

Oh, SHIT!

James felt it, too. Slowly, ever so slowly, their gils were starting to deform and disappear. When Azalea lifted her hands up to her face, her fingers were no longer webbed.

"NO!" She screamed, tears in her eyes as she tried furiously to kick the grindylows off, her legs only hurting more due to the barbs on the tentacles still stuck on them, creating cuts and scrapes.

Shit, shit, shit- they were going to lose their gils, and then they wouldn't be able to breathe, and then they'd d-

"REDUCTO!"

✾✾✾

All the Edwards/Longbottoms/Weasleys/Potters in the crowd groaned when Eleanor and Adelaide surfaced, holding that same wooden box that Lauri and Adrian had gained. They swam to the ladder on the side of the platform, getting the help of their friends from Beauxbatons to get up.

"No," Lily moaned. "They're- they're late, and-"

"Adelaide and Eleanor were late, too," Albus reminded her. "They're probably just held up, Lils, they'll be fine."

"But what if they're not?" Alice asked. "There's more creatures than just merpeople in that lake."

"Hey," Louis said firmly, making them all turn to him. "They will be fine. Yes, they'll come third on this task, but they'll be okay. They can still come back from this, they can still win."

Alice looked at him apprehensive, nodding slightly.

She knew it was true.

But she needed help believing it.

✾✾✾

"REDUCTO!"

The barbs tearing out of her hurt like a bitch, but the relief Azalea felt at the grindylow was being cursed backwards was palpable as all four tentacles unwrapped themselves from her. Her arms and legs were left bloody, but Azalea barely noticed, what with the way James was looking at her, eyes trailing her up and down.

He couldn't speak, neither of them could. They were both drowning, their legs no longer flippers and their gils no longer existing.

But, as they floated there, Azalea felt a hand interlock with hers. It was cold, yet clammy, and it was James Sirius Potter's.

And as her eyes connected with his, his blue, beautiful, comforting and perfect eyes, she realised she couldn't go on like this.

She couldn't be friends with him anymore.

But looking at him gave her the confidence to do something. She reached for her wand, holding it in a shaky hand as she raised it above her head.

"Ascendio!"

She and James were together as they shot out the lake, Azalea's whole body burning, the cuts and scrapes all over her legs and arms bloody, her whole entity shaking.

When they got to the top, Azalea realised they were floating barely five metres away from the platform. When her ears unblocked she realised that her family and friends were cheering and whooping for them, despite the fact they came last.

But she wasn't paying attention to them. She wasn't even paying attention to her aching, bloody, scraped limbs.

Not with the way James was looking at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, and his concerned voice was like music to her ears as he looked at her, his eyes widening as they trailed her top half, which was out the water. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you sooner, I was trying to get them off you, I just couldn't and it meant you get hurt and I'm so, so sorry, Azzie, I-"

In that moment, Azalea didn't care that they lost the task.

She didn't care that her parents and her best friends were watching.

She didn't care if he didn't like her.

She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him, smashing her lips to his.

When he didn't kiss back for the first second, Azalea was already drawing back, her eyes full of panic, big and wide.

But James just stared at her, his beautiful girl with the green eyes and fiery red hair, with a look of awe and pure love, before gently cupping her wet cheeks with his still soaked hands and kissing her in return.

Their lips were soaked and slightly salty, but neither cared. His hands were soft and somehow warm on her cheeks, despite the fact they'd just spent over an hour in an ice cold lake.

And Azalea heard Alice and Lily and Rose screaming. She heard Fred, Louis, Albus, Hugo and Scorpius' wolf whistles and their shouts of "finally!". She even thought she heard her mother's small chuckle, and her father's groan.

But she didn't care. She didn't care about any of it. All she cared about was how James' lips slotted against hers, how his hands were so gentle upon her, how she wanted to kiss him deeper, how she wanted to kiss him forever-

But now wasn't the time. They knew this, given that they pulled away, smiling insanely at each other as both their cheeks went crimson.

Over all the wolf whistling and cheering, Azalea heard Hugo shout. "Uncle Harry owes me ten galleons!"

Even though she stuck her middle finger up at him, she couldn't help but smile.

As James held her hand in his, squeezing tightly three times, Azalea didn't think she'd ever felt so happy.

And seeing the look on Lauri's face?

Well, clearly winning wasn't everything.