CHAPTER TWELVE:

(A/N: why does that kinda look like Charlie...)

Third Person P.O.V.:

The month or so leading up the Second Task had gone by in a blur, and despite the core four's constant attempts at figuring out a way for both Harry and Charlie to breathe for an hour underwater, they still hadn't found anything.

When classes continued after the holidays, Charlie spent majority of his spare time in the library to research, meaning Hermione was undeniably thrilled. They still had yet to talk about what they were to one another, but that didn't stop them from snogging secretly amongst the bookshelves when no one was looking.

In fact, their inability to keep their hands off of one another would, quite expectedly, get in the way of them making any progress when it came to the Second Task situation. However, luckily — or unluckily, depending on how you look at it — Viktor Krum would make a daily visit to the library just so he could see Hermione.

Imagine his unamused face when every time he saw the bushy haired girl, she was accompanied by the, undeniably better-looking, brown eyed boy. Krum's constant lurking, however, would definitely force the two Gryffindors to worry about something other than their sexual tension.

Charlie did find it odd how the Bulgarian was so obsessed with the bushy haired girl. To Charlie's knowledge, Hermione and Viktor only talked a couple of times and then went to the Yule Ball together, but that was it — surely that wasn't enough time spent to warrant such behaviour.

However, Charlie didn't find it necessary to question Hermione about it any longer. He believed her when she said that he was the only boy on her radar — not to mention, her constant attack of kisses was more than enough proof of her honesty.

So, Charlie turned his attention in earnest to the most urgent problem facing him; how to survive underwater for an hour.

He sat with Harry, Hermione and Ron in the library during the evening the day before the Second Task, tearing feverishly through page after page of spells, hidden from one another by the massive piles of books on the desk in front of each of them.

Charlie's heart gave a huge leap every time he saw the word, water, on a page, but more often than not it was merely, "Take two pints of water, half a pound of shredded mandrake leaves, and a newt..."

"I don't reckon it can be done," said Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table. "There's nothing. Absolutely nothing. 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 muttered, moving a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms with her nose about an inch from the page. "They would never have set a task that was undoable."

"Yes, they would," said Ron simply, turning to face Charlie and Harry. "I say you two 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, I reckon."

Charlie simply crumpled up a piece of paper that he had torn from his notebook and chucked it in the ginger's direction.

"Idiot," he muttered, causing Ron to giggle after finding his own joke hilarious.

"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly one Ron's direction. "There just has to be!"

She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before.

"This is hopeless," Harry sighed, putting his head down in defeat, "we're definitely going to lose."

"There's got to be a charm or something," Charlie huffed. "Don't give up just yet."

"Oh, this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

Charlie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves.

"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.

"Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. You too, Hermione."

"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised.

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

"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George said simply, urging the two of them forward. "Lets go!"

"We'll meet you two back in the common room," Hermione told Harry and Charlie as she got up to go with Ron — both of them looked very anxious. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"

Then, she shifted her gaze to Charlie specifically and gave a him a reassuring smile, "It's not over yet, we'll figure this out."

Charlie smiled as if her words had encouraged him.

"Right," he said softly, and with that, Hermione and Ron had left with Fred and George.

By eight o'clock, Madame Pince had extinguished all the lamps and came to remove Harry and Charlie from the library. Staggering under the weight of as many books as they could carry, the two of them returned to the Gryffindor common room, pulled a table into a corner, and continued to search.

There was nothing in Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks...

Nothing in A Guide to Medieval Sorcery...

Not one mention of underwater exploits in An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Charms...

Or in Dreadful Denizens of the Deep...

Or in Powers You Never Knew You Had...

There was nothing.

The common room had emptied slowly around them. People kept wishing them luck for the next morning in cheery, confident voices; all of them seemed to be convinced that there was to be another dazzling performance like the First Task. And yet, neither Charlie or Harry could answer them, they just nodded, feeling as though there were golfballs stuck in their throats.

By ten o'clock, the two boys had been searching for hours, and neither Hermione or Ron had returned to which Charlie was starting to worry. He knew that Hermione would've rushed back to help him by now, and her absence didn't help his ability to focus. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't seem to care less as his head was buried deep in a familiar-looking book.

Charlie nudged his friend slightly, "What've you got there?"

"This is that book that Neville lent me that day at the lake," Harry explained, lifting the book in Charlie's direction slightly, "Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean."

"Yeah?" Charlie raised a brow, "Find anything that could work?"

"Maybe," Harry muttered before reading the page in his head; gillyweed... interesting.

"That's good," Charlie said getting up from the table, "as for me, I'm going to borrow the Invisibility Cloak. I want to see if I can find anything in the Restricted Section in the library."

Harry nodded at his friend before continuing to read. Charlie walked up the stairs to their room, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were all snoring soundly in their beds as the brown eyed boy retrieved the cloak from Harry's trunk.

As he descended the stairs once again, Charlie said goodbye to Harry before slipping out the portrait door and heading back down towards the library. When he reached the doors, he threw on the cloak, and slipped inside carefully.

He lit up his wand so he could see his surroundings. The large room was eerily creepy in the dark, but nonetheless, Charlie found his way over to the Restricted Section. Lifting one leg and then the other over the rope, the young boy looked up and down the stacks of shelves, hoping that one would stand out to him.

And after what felt like another hour of searching, Charlie spotted an old purple book in the Charms section. He reached out and pulled it down. Wiping the dust from the cover, Charlie read the title aloud in his head:

Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk
First Edition

The Book of Spells was a huge success, and was used in several magical schools around the world, so it was undoubtedly familiar to Charlie. However, never before had he seen the First Edition copy and its contents.

The spell book was designed to help enable one to preform a range of basic and not-so-basic spells that are known to enhance, protect, and enliven life. There were standard spells like the Knockback Jinx or the Patronum Charm, but what surprised Charlie, were the spells hand-written in the margins, faded but standing out as though meant for him to see.

And then, as though a guiding light was sent from Merlin himself, Charlie stumbled upon the Bubble-Head Charm. A charm in which a bubble is formed around the mouth of the caster, giving them a continuous supply of oxygen, allowing them to breathe where they could not otherwise.

"This could work," Charlie muttered to himself.

He spent the next ten minutes or so memorizing the incantation before he put the book back where he found it, and set off towards Gryffindor Tower once again.

By the time he got back to his dorm room, he was beyond exhausted. The only thing Charlie seemed to notice was that Harry had seemingly gone to bed as he heard his friend snoring when he put the Invisibility Cloak back.

After that, however, Charlie had plopped down on his bed and dozed off quickly, failing to realize that Ron hadn't returned — meaning, Hermione hadn't either.

———————————————

Charlie awoke the next morning to Harry shaking him harshly. He opened his eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight, before gazing up at his friend with a groggy expression.

"Let's go!" Harry shouted, "We need to hurry! The Second Task begins in ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes?" Charlie croaked. "Ten — ten minutes?"

He turned over to look at the alarm clock on his bedside table; Harry was right. It was twenty past nine. A large, dead weight seemed to fall through Charlie's chest into his stomach. He was suddenly doubting whether or not the Bubble-Head Charm would work properly, but nonetheless, he threw the covers off of himself, and got out of bed.

He was quick to get ready. Charlie threw on black and scarlet swimming trunks and a simple white t-shirt before looking towards Harry, who was waiting for him anxiously.

"Did you figure something out?" Charlie asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Harry breathed out, clearly panicked, "I think so. Neville ended up finding me some gillyweed, so I'm hoping that works out. What about you?"

"Bubble-Head Charm," Charlie said simply, "should be interesting to see what happens — lets just go."

The two practically ran out of their dorm room, sprinted down the steps, charged out of the common room, paced through the castle, and pounded down through the lawn towards the Black Lake.

The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water as the two Gryffindors ran flat-out around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Fleur and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Harry and Charlie sprint toward them.

"We're...here..." Harry panted as the two of them skidded to a halt in the mud, accidentally splattering Fleur's robes.

Dumbledore smiled at his grandson and Harry, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look at all pleased to see them...

It was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had thought they weren't going to turn up.

Charlie bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath; he had a stitch in his side that felt as though he had a knife between his ribs, but there was no time to get rid of it; Ludo Bagman was now moving among the champions, spacing them along the raised platform at intervals of ten feet. Charlie was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was holding his wand at the ready and glancing at him with a taunting expression.

Nonetheless, Albus Dumbledore had wanted to check in with his grandson before he began the task.

"All right, Charles?" Dumbledore whispered as he approached. "Know what you're going to do?"

"Yeah," Charlie panted, massaging his ribs, and his grandfather smiled proudly.

Albus gave Charlie's shoulder a quick squeeze and returned to the judges' table. Bagman had checked each champion before he pointed his wand at his throat, his voice booming out across the dark water toward the stands.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One... two... three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Charlie pulled at his shirt and slid off his shoes before taking out his wand and pointing to himself, "Respirare Leporem!"

(A/N: another made-up incantation because JKR was too lazy to think of one... 👀 jk all love lmfao)

With the bubble formed around his mouth, Charlie stuffed his wand into his pocket and then, before everyone else, dived into the lake from the platform. It was so cold that he felt the skin on his legs burn as though he was swimming through fire, not icy water. As he made his way down into the depths of the lake, Charlie began to panic, the doubt of the charm not working consumed his thoughts once again.

Then, quite suddenly, Charlie felt a sense of safety in the depths of the water, as though he was a professional diver with scuba gear. He had been beneath the surface for a good ten minutes, and he had not once felt the need to gasp for air; the charm had worked. Even more so, the water didn't feel as icy to him anymore after awhile.

Silence pressed upon his ears as he dived deeper towards a strange, dark, foggy landscape. Charlie could only see ten feet around him, so as he sped through the water, new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud, littered with dull, glimmering stones. He swam deeper and deeper, out towards the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque.

Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople — or, thankfully, the giant squid.

Light green weeds were stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Charlie was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom... and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle.

Charlie twisted his body around and saw a grindylow, a horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around his leg, its pointed fangs bared — Charlie stuck his hand quickly inside his pocket and fumbled for his wand. By the time he had grasped it, two more grindylows had risen out of the weed, seized handfuls of Charlie's trunks, and were attempting to drag him down. He tried a bunch of different spells for defence, but no sound came from his mouth...

A large bubble issued from his mouth, and his wand, instead of sending sparks at the grindylows, pelted them with what seemed to be a jet of boiling water, for where it struck them, angry red patches appeared on their green skin.

Charlie pulled his ankle out of the grindylows grip and swam, as fast as he could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over his shoulder at random. Every now and then he felt one of the grindylows snatch his foot again, and he kicked out; finally, he felt his foot connect with a horned skull, and looking back, saw the dazed grindylow floating away, cross-eyed, while its fellows shook their fists at Charlie and sank back into the weed.

Charlie slowed down a little, slipping his wand back inside his pocket, and looked around, listening again. He turned full circle in the water, the silence pressing harder than ever against his eardrums. He knew he must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.

He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. Charlie was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took...

Charlie swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead.

It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. The brown eyed boy swam on past the rock, following the mersong.

...your time's half gone, so tarry not
Lest what you seek stays here to rot...

A cluster of stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Squinting from a distance, Charlie saw faces... faces that had no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom....

They leered at him as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. They were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at the bubble around his mouth, talking behind their hands to one another.

Charlie sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes. A whole crowd of merpeople were floating around four people who were bound tightly by ropes to anchors on the ground.

The boy squinted again, gasping slightly as he clued in as to who had been taken — his mind was so clouded with preparation for the task, he hadn't even noticed that these four people hadn't been there showing support in the crowd.

All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were bobbing onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths. From left to right, the order was as such:

Ron Weasley.

Hermione Granger.

Gabrielle Delacour.

And... Elaina Dumont.

Charlie shook his head in confusion as he watched their lifeless bodies sway in the distance, the line from the mermaid's song replaying over and over in his head:

And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll surely miss.

There was one captive for each champion. Harry's must be Ron, and Fleur's was, quite obviously, her sister, but the other two options made Charlie furrow his brows; one had to belong to Krum and the other to himself.

In his heart, Charlie knew that the person he'd truly miss most would be Hermione, without a doubt, but then why was Elaina being held captive — surely, her and Krum weren't a thing?

Nonetheless, he, without second thought, focused on saving Hermione. Shrugging off the thought of Elaina being at the bottom of the lake, Charlie sped towards the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, but they did nothing.

Charlie dived toward the rocks that were littering the lake floor, and snatched up a rock sharp enough to cut the binds holding the captives. Swimming back up, he looked around and saw no other champion in sight — what was going on? Time was running out, wasn't it? Where was everyone?

But again, shaking off the opposing thoughts, Charlie focused back on the task. The boy held on tightly to the ropes holding Hermione up, steadying himself before he went to raise the jagged rock towards her bindings —

Then suddenly, several pairs of strong gray hands seized him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from Hermione, shaking their heads, laughing.

"You take your own hostage," one of them said to him. "Leave the others..."

"What?" Charlie shook his head, puzzled, "That is my hostage!"

"No," the merperson said flatly before pointing over to Elaina, "that's your hostage..."

"Okay, there's clearly been a misunderstanding —"

But the merpeople couldn't care less as they pointed their spears aggressively under the boy's chin, furious that he was questioning them.

Suddenly, Charlie understood.

No one knew about him and Hermione being together; they had yet to tell anyone. So, judging by their dates to the Yule Ball, it only made sense that Charlie's captive was Elaina, and Krum's, as painful as it was to admit, was Hermione.

Sending one last saddened glance towards Hermione's lifeless body, Charlie swam over to Elaina and this time, the merpeople didn't stop him. He raised the jagged rock once again and, after minute of hard work, the binds broke apart, releasing the French girl into his arms.

Charlie looked down at his watch to see how much time was left — it had stopped working.

Then, the merpeople around him pointed excitedly over his head. Charlie looked up and saw Harry swimming towards them. There were gills on the side of his neck and his hands and feet were webbed — the gillyweed seemed to work.

"Go!" he mouthed as he spotted Charlie, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!"

Feeling enormously relieved, Charlie handed Harry the rock, allowing him to cut Ron free. Harry pulled his hostage upward and out of sight after handing the rock back to his friend. He thought that Charlie would follow behind him, but the brown eyed boy didn't move.

He couldn't just leave Hermione, or Gabrielle for that matter, down in the depths of the lake without any type of reassurance that they would be alright. Especially since time was running short, and according to the song, the hostages would be lost after an hour...

Suddenly, the merpeople started screeching animatedly. Charlie turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water towards him; a human body with the head of a shark...

It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured himself — but badly.

Krum swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that his new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Charlie was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half.

Darting forward, Charlie hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Viktor reluctantly seized it and began to cut Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backwards glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.

Charlie breathed out in relief, but where was Fleur? She should be here by now, and yet, there was no sign of her. There was nothing to be done except...

He snatched up the stone, which Krum had dropped, but the mermen now closed in around Elaina and the little girl, shaking their heads at him.

Charlie pulled out his wand, "Try me, I dare you."

The brown eyed boy tauntingly held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. Slowly, the boy put one finger down after the other.

One...

Two...

Three...

Before Charlie even got the shot off, the mermen had scattered. The boy instantly darted forward, hacking at the ropes around the little girl's ankles until she eventually came free. Then he seized both girls around the waist and kicked off the ground, giving him momentum to swim towards the surface.

It was very slow work, getting back to the top, but Charlie was determined to return both girls safely to the surface, despite them weighing him down like anchors. The boy's legs were seizing up in an effort to keep swimming, but he knew that he was cutting it close with the time, so he gave it all of his strength.

Suddenly, he was drawing in breaths with extreme difficulty as the bubble around his mouth was now evaporating, and yet the darkness was definitely thinning now... he could see daylight above him...

Charlie kicked his legs so hard and fast it felt as though his muscles were screaming in protest; his brain felt waterlogged, he couldn't breathe, he needed oxygen, he had to keep going, he could not stop —

And then he felt his head break the surface of the lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making his wet face sting; he gulped it down, feeling as though he had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pushed Elaina and Gabrielle up the ladder to the platform before he climbed after them.

Charlie collapsed as his legs met the hard ground. He was on all-fours now, shivering and trying to suck in as much air as possible, but coughing from the undeniable intake of water he had in his system.

The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet. Elaina and Gabrielle had awoken with a gasp, looking around, scared and confused, but also grateful to have been saved.

The boy swore he saw Elaina mouth a quick, thank you, in his direction, to which he gladly nodded before the French girl huddled close to Gabrielle.

"Charlie, you prat!" Ron shouted as he and Harry came rushing towards their friend on the ground, "Why'd you save both of them?"

"Fleur didn't turn up," Charlie panted, still trying to recover, "I couldn't leave Gabrielle down there."

"You do realize that the song was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit, right?" scolded Ron, "You wasted time down there acting like the hero! They wouldn't've actually let her drown!"

"It's fine," Charlie said, annoyed, trying to catch his breath, "don't worry about it, just" — he pointed to the two French girls shivering in the corner of the platform — "help them."

Doing as they were told, Harry and Ron were quick to grab towels and rush over to Elaina and Gabrielle's aid, leaving Charlie on the floor, staring up at the sky as he had now turned on his back.

His grandfather was the next one to rush over, leaning down over him, blocking the sun from his eyes.

"Are you alright, Charles?" he asked, panic evident in his voice.

Charlie sat up, looking up at his grandfather with a slight smile, "All good."

Albus sighed out in relief before helping Charlie to his feet and urging him towards Madame Pomfrey before he returned to the judges table, "I need all the judges over here now!"

"Come here, you," said Madame Pomfrey as Charlie approached; he was shivering slightly from his lack of clothing.

She seized Charlie by the arm and pulled him over to the others, wrapping him so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and then she forced a spoonful of a very hot potion down his throat, steam flying out of his ears.

"Charlie!"

A voice called and the boy hadn't even turned all the way around before he was engulfed in a tight hug. Realizing that it was none other than Hermione, who was alive and well, Charlie reciprocated the hug, relishing in the moment with her as if they were only two people around.

"Are you alright?" she cried, taking off her own towel and wrapping it around him, "You must be freezing! Merlin, Charlie! You scared the hell out of me, but you did it! You figured it out!"

"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Viktor Krum, looking at the two's embrace with a slight sour expression.

Charlie had the impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Charlie... but personally, I thought you preformed admirably!"

The brown eyed boy laughed, "I, quite obviously, came in last, Hermione."

"Next to last," Hermione corrected with a wide smile, "Fleur never got passed the grindylows!"

Charlie hadn't even gotten the chance to react as Madame Pomfrey pushed past them, Elaina in her arms. She led her over to Charlie and the others, gave her a blanket and some Pepperup Potion, then went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madame Pomfrey to clean them.

"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Charlie.

"You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

Charlie smiled and whispered so the judges wouldn't hear, "I owed you one."

Fleur grinned widely before leaning over and kissing Charlie twice on each cheek to which Hermione sent a furious glare in her direction. Charlie, noticing this, had unnoticeably slipped his hand into hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

Hermione's angry expression fell and it was quickly replaced with a knowing smirk; she knew she had that boy wrapped around her finger — she was just waiting for him to make it official.

Just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. We have been told exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

There was a slight applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her head in defeat.

"Harry Potter, who used gillyweed to its great effect, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the crowd; Charlie even saw Cho, who was in the stands, give Harry a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-five points."

Charlie's heart sank — if Harry had been outside the time limit, he most certainly had been.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty-two points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

"Charlie Hawthorne, like Miss Delacour, used the Bubble-Head Charm," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, we have been informed that Mr. Hawthorne was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Almost everyone around him gave Charlie half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks, but Hermione looked at him as though she had never found him more attractive than in that moment — every girl loves a hero.

"Most of the judges," Bagman said, giving Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Mr. Hawthorne's score is forty-five points."

(A/N: just gonna pretend that it's Charlie lol)

Charlie's stomach leapt — he was still tying for first place with Harry with eighty-five points. Krum was furious in second with eighty points, and Fleur was in third place with a, still manageable, sixty-two points; it was still anyone's game.

Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at their friends, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.

"There you go. Charlie!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all — you were showing moral fiber!"

Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Charlie on to listen.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

——————————————

After a successful night of celebrating with the entirety of Gryffindor House, Charlie sat in the common room.

He couldn't sleep, his body was still pumping with adrenaline, so instead, he came down and sat on the couch. He stared mindlessly at the fire, going over the events of today in his head. It was well past midnight, and the only sound heard within the room was the crackling sound of the fire, as everyone else had gone to sleep early after such an eventful day.

Charlie's mind was racing with thoughts, but after today, one thing had become clear in his head —

But right as he was about to admit it to himself, a pair of arms had snaked around his neck from behind, and a kiss was planted upon his cheek. He hadn't even heard Hermione come down the stairs as he was too preoccupied by his raging thoughts.

"It's late," she whispered in his ear, sending shivers down the boy's spine, "what are you still doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question," Charlie said, a cheeky smirk forming on his lips.

He leaned his head back just enough for Hermione to lean down and connect their lips for a quick kiss, which was only broken as their smiles crept in.

"What're you thinking about?" Hermione asked, smiling down at him as they separated.

Charlie reciprocated her smile, but his was a lot more playful, while hers was a lot more loving.

"Well, you, of course."

Hermione playfully rolled her eyes, "So cliché."

"I know, but it's the truth," Charlie said with a laugh as he stood up from the couch, causing Hermione's arms to unlink from around him.

She watched him with a curious gaze as he walked around to where she was, and grabbed both of her hands with his, interlocking them.

"I've been sitting here thinking about you, well about us, really... and about what exactly is going on between us," Charlie said softly, swinging their hands back and forth lightly out of nervousness.

Hermione's breath got caught in her throat as she peered up into his eyes; the same sparkle in them as before.

"You know," he began, "I've spent most of my life scared, and quite frankly, unsure of what could come next. Growing up, my father instilled in me ideologies that, to put it gently, are cruel and degrading to those who aren't deemed pure," — he stopped to take a shaky breath — "and yet, I look at you — someone who, quite literally, represents everything that I've been taught to be against — and my heart races."

Hermione's cheeks flushed pink, for she could practically hear Charlie's heart beating out of his chest; she found it quite adorable that he was so nervous.

"My point is," he continued, their hands still connected, "I'm not scared or unsure of what I want anymore. In the lake today, when I saw that you were being held captive, I didn't even have to think twice about trying to save you. You are, without a doubt, who I would miss in this world had something happened." — he paused again, this time to collect his thoughts — "Coming to this conclusion, I've realized that life is far too short for me to not be honest about how I feel."

Charlie breathed slowly; he wanted to make sure he said everything perfectly, he didn't want to mess this up. Hermione just kept looking at him, waiting in anticipation, but she could've guessed what was coming, and her answer was already confirmed in her head.

"So, with that said," he laughed slightly to cut the intensity, "I'm not scared to admit that I have fallen for a Muggle-born witch, much to my father's potential disappointment. I am no longer scared by the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about you, even when we were walking a fine line between friends and more than that. I'm not scared by how vulnerable you make me feel, or by how your giggle can literally make my heart beat out of my chest."

"For the first time ever, my head is clear, and I am confident in saying that I have never been more sure about anything in my life than I am in this moment, than I am about you," — there was so much confidence in his voice after every line that Hermione's heart ached for him — "So, Hermione Granger, as much as I love our secret little rendezvous between the bookshelves and our stolen kisses when no one is looking," — both of them laughed — "I would really love it if we put a title on what this is... will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," Hermione breathed out instantly, tears of happiness flowing from her eyes; she didn't even have to think twice.

"Really?" Charlie said softly, meeting her gaze with a relived smile.

"Yes, Charlie," Hermione said again, this time throwing her arms around his neck in excitement and pulling him close, "a thousand times, yes."

Then, she reaffirmed her words with her actions, smashing her lips onto his. This kiss was different than all the ones they had shared before. There was so much more raw emotion in this kiss than any other; joy, happiness, relief, euphoria, anticipation, and even love, though it was too early for them to admit that. Not to mention, it was much softer and intimate, instead of passionate and sensual.

"Finally," Hermione muttered against his lips as they pulled away, "it took you long enough."

Charlie rested his forehead on hers; his smile never leaving his face, "Better late than never, I suppose."

"I suppose," Hermione mimicked playfully, causing her boyfriend to laugh before she silenced him with another kiss out of excitement, realizing that she could finally refer to him as her boyfriend.

(A/N: why am I fangirling over my own story... wtf lmao)

"So," Charlie said as they pulled away again, "what are we going to tell the others?"

Hermione sighed. She knew it was only a matter of time before everyone found out, but was it wrong of her to want to keep their relationship to herself for a little while? Their friends, as much as she loved them, could be so intrusive.

"We'll tell everyone... eventually..." she breathed causing Charlie to raise a brow prompting her to explain why, "I just — I want us to enjoy being together first before it suddenly becomes a thing for everyone else. You know how Ron and Harry are, and then there's Ginny —"

"I get it," Charlie laughed slightly, stopping Hermione from babbling on, "those secret little rendezvous in the bookshelves are just too good, you don't want them to stop."

Hermione playfully slapped Charlie's shoulder, trying to wipe away the newfound smirk on his face before she snaked her arms back around him.

"So what if I don't?" she teased, "I don't hear you complaining."

"Oh, I'm not," Charlie smirked, "although Madame Pince might —"

"Charlie!" Hermione scolded, slapping him again, and even going as far as to push him away slightly.

The brown eyed boy chuckled softly, being mindful that people were still sleeping, but nonetheless, he pulled his girl close once again, leaning his forehead back down on hers.

"Our little secret," he whispered, causing heat to rise in Hermione's cheeks, "for now."

Hermione nodded, "Just for now... I promise."

Charlie beamed before he captured her lips again. The two stood there, snogging mindlessly in the common room, without a care in the world, for almost an hour — they were really relishing in this moment together.

Then, at almost two in the morning, they both found it best to call it a night. They walked to the stairs together, but when it came time for Hermione to go one way, and Charlie to go the other, the boy found it difficult to end the night.

He kept doing this thing where he would kiss her goodnight, let her go, but then pull her back, and kiss her again. Charlie managed to successfully do this trick three times, even though Hermione knew exactly what he was doing.

But when he went to pull her back for a fourth time, Hermione squealed, "Charlie!"

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his cheeks were hurting from the amount of smiling he was doing, "I just — I want to make sure that this... is real."

Hermione looked at him, her heart practically bursting from his cuteness, before letting him pull her back once more, kissing him lightly.

"It's real," she whispered, pulling back.

"You're my girlfriend," Charlie said softly, a playful smile dancing on his lips — he loved the way the word felt coming from his mouth.

Hermione giggled, "and you're my boyfriend. So, for the last time," — she placed a final kiss on his lips — "goodnight."

With that, she retreated up the stairs towards her dormitory, tempted to go back as she saw Charlie watching her intently — god, it should be illegal how much that boy made her heart race.

"Goodnight."

The boy stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, waiting for the sound of her footsteps to disappear, before silently punching the air in victory.

He did it.

Hermione Granger was now his girlfriend.

Charlie couldn't recall a period in his life where he had been happier than he was in this moment. He snuck into his dorm room that night, sliding into his bed before finally dozing off.

As one could probably assume, both of them went to sleep that night feeling absolutely overjoyed.

In the words of Hermione Granger:

It took you long enough...

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Author's Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*

I think I can safely say that Goblet of Fire is some of by best work... lol

FINALLY! WE DID IT!

Hope you enjoyed ;)

Much love to you all! Until next time!

xo, Selena