"Harry, you told me you'd figured out the egg weeks ago!" Hermione exclaimed, frustrated. She and Harry were standing on the Wooden Bridge. "The task is two days from now."

"Really? I had no idea," came the sarcastic response. "I suppose Viktor's already figured it out."

"Wouldn't know. I haven't spoken to him since the ball." Or to Draco.

"Right."

"You are trying to figure this out, aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It just means these tasks are designed to test you, in the most brutal way; they're almost cruel. And um...I'm scared for you. You got by the dragons mostly on nerve. I'm not sure it's going to be enough this time."

"Hey, Potter!" Harry turned around to see Cedric Diggory.

"Cedric," he acknowledged.

"How are you?" the older boy asked.

"Spectacular," Harry replied, trying his best not to sound sarcastic.

"Look, I realize I never really thanked you properly for tipping me off about those dragons."

"Forget it. I'm sure you would have done the same.

"Exactly. You know the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor? It's not a bad place for a bath. Just take your egg and mull things over in the hot water."

__________________________

"Come seek us where our voices sound.

We cannot sing above the ground.

An hour long you'll have to look,

to recover what we took."

Harry finished telling Hermione and Ron about what happened in the Prefects' bathroom.

"So you're saying that..." Ron started, "Myrtle was ogling you this whole time?"

"There are merpeople in the lake?" Hermione said at the same time as Ron. She turned to the redhead and said, "That's what you got from his story? That Myrtle was looking at him? Who cares? The important part is that Harry is going to have to breathe underwater for...what was it again?"

"An hour long you'll have to look," Harry supplied.

"Right. Potentially problematic."

"Potentially problematic?" Harry repeated. "When was the last time you held your breath under the water for an hour, Hermione?"

"I hate to break up the skull session," Moody said as he walked into the aisle. "Professor McGonagall would like to see you in her office. Not you, Potter, just Weasley and Granger."

"But sire," Hermione pleaded, "the second task is only hours away and-"

"Exactly. Presumably Potter is well prepared by now, and could do with a good night's sleep. Go. Now! Longbottom!"

The boy poked his head around the corner.

"Why don't you help Potter put his books back?" Moody asked, but it was really an order. Neville nodded.

"You know, if you're interested in plants, you'd be better off with Gorshok's Guide to Herbology. Do you know there's a wizard in Nepal who's growing gravity-resistant trees?"

"Neville, no offense, but I really don't care about plants. Now, if there's a Tibetan turnip that will allow me to breathe underwater for an hour, then great. But otherwise-"

"I don't know about a turnip, but you could always use gillyweed."

_________________________________

Draco and his friends got situated  on the viewing stands in the middle of the Black Lake. He assumed that these stands had been built here recently and just for the Tournament because he'd never seen them before.

"I wonder what it is that they have to do," Adrian said. They soon found out.

Dumbledore amplified his voice and began to speak, "Welcome to the second task. Last night something was stolen from each of our champions; a treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface."

"Put that in your mouth."

Draco turned around to see Moody instructing Potter. The Gryffindor fourth year had what looked like leaves in his hand. He shoved it into his mouth and started choking. Draco stifled a laugh. Moody thumped Potter on the back a few times.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was saying, "They will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they will be on their own. No magic will save them. You may begin at the sound of the cannon."

BOOM!

The three of-age champions swiftly dived into the water. Potter, on the other hand, was still struggling with his gillyweed. (Draco finally recognized it from Herbology.) Moody had to push him into the water.

"What's the matter with him?" Draco heard Finnigan ask Thomas.

"I don't know," came the reply. "I can't see him."

Longbottom turned around and exclaimed, "Oh no! I've killed Harry Potter!"

"If only," Draco muttered as Potter shot out of the water, eliciting cheers from the boys. Longbottom turned around just after Potter hit the water again.

Not to long after the start of the second task, some attendants brought Fleur Delacour out of the water.

Dumbledore said, "The Beauxbatons champion, Miss Delacour, has unfortunately been forced to retire. She will take no further part in this task."

Draco looked over at Blaise and frowned. "What do you suppose happened?" he asked. Blaise just shrugged.

At fifty-one minutes, Diggory and Chang burst out of the water.

"Oh, so this thing that had been stolen," Theo deduced, "was a person."

Next appeared Granger with a shark head that turned into Krum. So Granger was Krum's treasure? Perhaps she didn't fancy Draco after all. That was a relief, he supposed, but now all he could think about was how he could've saved her faster.

An hour had almost passed.

"Devenir patet," Draco whispered, whipping out his wand and pointing at the water before him. The entire lake became clear and he could see everything. However, since he didn't perform the spell extension that would enable everyone to see through the water, only Draco could see through it. Not too far from him was Potter, holding onto two people. He suddenly let them both go and started to sink. He was being attacked by the grindylows.

The hour chimed and Ron Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour emerged from the water. Fleur immediately rushed to her sister.

Draco turned his attention back to the water. He watched as Potter somehow managed to blast all the grindylows away from him, but that was all he could do. He sank further and made no move to use his wand again.

You'll just have to thank me later, Potter, Draco thought to himself as he whispered, "Accio Potter."

The boy shot out of the water and landed right on top of Draco.

"Ugh!" Draco managed to groan. "Get him off of me." In his head, he was thinking, Thank Merlin it worked.

Soon, the Gryffindor was rolled off of him and given a towel. Draco was given a towel, too, because Potter's landing had gotten him wet.

"I want all the judges over here, now!" Dumbledore demanded. After a bit of fussing from Potter's friends, Dumbledore reappeared.

"Attention!"

But no one was listening. Some people were cheering "Krum! Krum! Krum!" while others rooted for Diggory.

Dumbledore amplified his voice and said, "Attention!" Everyone who was in a five meter radius around the old man covered his or her ears.

"The winner is...Mr. Diggory!"

There was a lot of shouting and cheering.

Dumbledore continued, "He showed unique command of the Bubble-Head Charm. However, seeing as Mr. Potter would have finished first had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr. Weasley, but the others as well, we've agreed to award him...second place."

Potter's friends exclaimed in delight while Karkaroff yelled, "Boo!"

"Yay!" some first year near Draco said.

Draco turned to him and pulled his hat down over his face before leaving. Secretly, though, he was very thankful. Hogwarts had to win, whether it was Diggory or Potter.

A/N: I encourage you all to share this book with your friends, comment, vote, and keep on reading! Thank you all so much!