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         Blair was awoken by a light tapping on her shoulder. Blair rolled over and buried her face into her pillow. 

"Blair? Come on, you have to eat." Harry's soft voice made Blair open one eye. Harry was looking at her with a sad smile. Blair smiled back weakly before going to the bathroom, all eyes in the room following her. 

Neville let out a sigh. "Oh, Caelum's gone back to her mood." 

"I know, but Hermione asked where she was. She seemed guilty. Do you think I should tell her?" Harry asked.

Seamus shook his head with slight anger in his eyes. "Don't. Let Hermione make a move this time." 

"Well, she has to make a move soon because the second task is coming up." Dean said. The five boys sighed simultaneously. They had no idea how to cheer up their friend, but they stopped discussing when Blair came out, looking better, but still sad.

Blair suddenly turned to Harry. "Hey, Harry. Fleur said we have to take a bath with the egg. Let's go to the Prefects bathroom soon, alright?" 

Harry smiled and nodded. Blair went back to her bed. The five boys exchanged glances but didn't try to force her because they knew that only Hermione could get her out of her mood.

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Until the first day of the new term arrived, Blair stayed inside the boys' dorm, thankful for Dobby and her friends who had brought her food every time. All her friends tried dragging her out, but Blair was too stubborn. She didn't want to face Hermione yet in the fear of hearing hurtful words again.

Since she had no excuse anymore, Blair finally went out of the common room after a week. She still didn't eat in the Great Hall but went out for her lessons. She made sure to avoid Hermione at every class, even if she saw the witch try and chase after her, but even Blair was surprised at how adamant she was at avoiding Hermione.

Finally, Care of Magical Creatures came. Blair smiled at the thought of seeing the Skrewts, but she frowned as she saw an elderly witch at Hagrid's door. "Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow. 

"Who're you?" said Ron, staring at her. "Where's Hagrid?"

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher." 

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly. 

"He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly. Blair glared at the unpleasant laughter from Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins. Dean and Neville held Blair back when she tried to go to them.

"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. 

Blair whispered to Dean. "Cover for me, I'll be right back." 

"Caelum, hey!" Dean whisper-shouted after her, but Blair had already snuck past everybody and went on her way to Hagrid's cabin. She knocked on the door. "Hagrid! It's me, Blair."

Blair heard a noise from inside and sighed and knocked again. "Hagrid, I know you're in there. Let me in, it's cold." She heard the footsteps and the door opened. 

Hagrid pulled her into a hug as he closed the door and started crying. "Little B!" 

Blair patted him on the back. "Hagrid, what's wrong?" He pulled away and handed her the Daily Prophet. Blair's eyes widened as there was an article with Hagrid's picture on the front.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the parthuman Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.

Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening."

"I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."

Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions. "I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject.

As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror.

While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.

In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power — thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter and Blair Wood are unaware of the unpleasant truth about their large friend — but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter and Blair Wood, along with their fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.

Blair looked up at the door with fury in her eyes as she stood up, but Hagrid picked her up by the hood of her robes. "Let me at them, Hagrid! How could they? How could they expose a private part of your life? And Malfoy, let go, Hagrid!" 

Hagrid let her go before blocking the door. "I know yer mad, Lil' B, but calm down, will yer?"

Blair took a few deep breaths before she sat down with Hagrid at the table. Blair looked Hagrid in the eyes determinedly and held his hand. "You're not a monster, Hagrid. You're not dangerous. You're Hagrid, our friend, and we love you just the same." 

Hagrid burst into tears and hugged Blair once more. "Thank yer, Blair. Thank yer. Yer should go back to class now." 

But Blair grinned at him for the first time in days. "I'm staying here, Hagrid. You can't get rid of me."

After lunch with Hagrid, Blair went back to the castle and immediately looked for Neville, Dean and Seamus. 

Seamus looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And where have you been, young lady?" 

But their eyes widened as for the first time in days, a fire was lit in Blair's eyes, and she looked... alive. Blair smiled at them mischievously. "Prancers, are you up for an adventure?"

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Hermione frowned when she looked around the table. Hagrid didn't show up the whole week, but at least, they talked to him during the weekend, but this time, Blair was missing. She asked Harry and Ron where she was, but even they didn't know and they lived with the girl. Hermione missed Blair. She wanted to apologize for what she said, but it seemed that she was so hurt at what Hermione said, and she had the right to be.

Suddenly, someone came running in. It was Neville. Neville ran over to Harry, Hermione and Ron and panted. "Hermione, you've got to stop her!" Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged confused glances. 

"Who?" Harry asked. 

"Blair." 

The trio followed Neville out to the corridors and saw a small crowd around the middle. They pushed to the front and saw Blair, twirling her wand in her hand, staring Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle down.

Blair smirked mischievously. Hermione saw Seamus and Dean at the side, trying to talk to her, but it was no use. Blair had her eyes set on Malfoy, her eyes steeled into a glare. "How dare you? You little ferret. How dare you say that everyone hates him when he hasn't done anything to you?" 

Malfoy crossed his arms and smirked at her. "Why? Missing your half-breed pal?" 

Malfoy's words seemed to have struck a nerve in Blair, and she raised her wand. "Colloshoo!" 

Malfoy's eyes widened. He couldn't move, but as he brought out his wand, Blair smirked and raised her wand again. "Titillando!"

Malfoy started laughing and dropped his wand. Crabbe and Goyle started advancing towards Blair, but Blair merely pointed her wand at them. "Levicorpus!" Crabbe and Goyle were hoisted into the air by their ankles. 

The crowd around Blair started laughing, and Blair merely smirked before she glared at Malfoy, who picked up his wand. "Not so arrogant now, are you, Mallory?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville had moved over to Seamus and Dean, who looked at Hermione with uncertainty. 

Seamus whispered to Neville. "Why'd you bring them here? You know, she didn't want her to see this." 

"I know we agreed to let her because it's the first time we saw her show an emotion other than sadness in days, but what if she goes too far?" Neville whispered back so that only he, Seamus and Dean could hear. Seamus and Dean hesitantly nodded.

Hermione looked at Seamus, Dean and Neville. "Why didn't you stop her?" 

"Well, it's the first time she looked alive in days." Seamus coldly said. 

Neville nudged him when he saw Hermione look down in guilt. "We tried, Hermione, but we didn't have the heart to push on." Hermione just sighed as she turned her attention back to Blair.

Malfoy pointed his wand at Blair. "Locomotor Wibbly!" But Blair brushed it off with a small shield she conjured wordlessly. Blair suddenly met eyes with Hermione in the crowd. Her eyes softened and she let her guard down and lowered her wand. 

Malfoy took that as his opportunity to cast a spell at Blair. "Expulso!" 

Blair was blasted back with a burst of blue light and thrown to the pillar. "Blair!" Hermione ran to her.

Malfoy smirked and cast another one. "Flipendo!" 

"Protego!" Blair shouted while shielding Hermione with her body just in time to deflect the jinx. The jinx hit Blair's shield and went back towards Malfoy. 

Blair stood up shakily and walked over to Malfoy, who was lying on the ground. She grabbed him by the collar and growled lowly. "Don't you talk bad about Hagrid again or I swear, this won't be the last of it." Blair dropped him and went back to her friends, clutching at her side.

"Bloody hell, Blair." Ron merely said.

Blair grinned at him before her eyes went to Hermione. She looked down and felt ashamed of herself. She showed off again. 

Hermione sent a look at Dean, who nodded and clapped his hands. "Let's go! I'm hungry." The others protested but followed Dean anyways. Blair was about to follow when Hermione grabbed her hand. Blair looked surprised but kept quiet. Hermione smiled and tugged at her hand.

The two of them walked in silence. Hermione led her to Gryffindor Tower. A few people praised Blair for her daring, but she just smiled weakly and followed Hermione to the girls' dormitory, not wanting to look like a show-off to Hermione. Thankfully, none of their roommates were there. Blair didn't think she could stand their giggles and stares at the moment.

"Sit." Hermione commanded softly. 

Blair did as she said and watched Hermione take out something from her closet and walk back to Blair. 

"Take off your clothes." 

Blair blushed. "W-What?" 

Hermione looked at her confused before her own cheeks flushed. "You idiot! I-I meant take them off so I can apply some ointment. I'm sure you have a bruise."

Blair, still blushing, turned around and took off her robes, sweater and shirt before she faced Hermione in her sports bra. Hermione blushed at the sight of Blair's abs. Her training that summer had definitely paid off. Hermione cleared her throat before she started applying the ointment on the bruises that formed on Blair's skin. Blair winced as Hermione's cold fingers made contact with her warm skin. 

"I'm sorry." Hermione suddenly said. 

Blair let out a sigh. "It's fine, Mione. I-" 

"No, Blair! It isn't." Hermione's voice rose. 

Blair was about to say something, but she let Hermione continue. As she finished, Hermione put down the ointment and stared Blair straight in the eyes. "Look, Blair. I know I hurt you, but I want to tell you I didn't mean any of it."

Blair looked down, but Hermione cupped her cheeks with her hands and made Blair look at her chocolate brown eyes, and Blair felt her resolve breaking down. She saw guilt and sadness in Hermione's eyes, but Blair thought she imagined it, but she could've sworn she saw a flicker of the same look she had in her own eyes whenever she stared at Hermione. Adoration. Love.

"I think I was just too scared to admit it, but I like it. I like the way you'd ask me out in front of everybody. I like how you naturally throw a flirty line at me. I like how you are so persistent even if I rejected you so many times already, and I really like how you're always there for me no matter what happens." Blair's jaw dropped at Hermione's sudden confession, but Hermione wasn't finished yet.

"At first, it was irritating me so much that I sometimes thought of hiding somewhere to avoid you. Then, it became amusing to see how you chase after me adorably, but it suddenly changed, Blair. Everything changed." Hermione was the one who looked away this time. She wasn't ready to pour out her feelings yet. She took a deep breath and spoke again all while looking into Blair's grey eyes.

"What I'm trying to say is that I miss you, Blair. I miss having you around, I miss talking to you, and I just miss everything about you, and I'm really sorry I hurt you. I understand if-" Hermione was cut off. Blair suddenly leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Hermione's cheeks flushed, and she felt it again. The strong ramming of her heart against her chest. The butterflies in her stomach. Everything she felt for Blair Wood and Blair only.

Blair pulled away, but a smile grew on Hermione's face when she saw Blair grin with the fire back in her eyes. Blair Wood was back. "You were forgiven the moment you held my hand, Granger. Though I'd have to admit, when you asked me to take off my clothes, this wasn't quite the scenario I was thinking of." 

Hermione rolled her eyes and smacked Blair on the shoulder lightly, but her cheeks were a deep shade of red. The two of them smiled at each other. They were fine, and they always would be.

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Everyone was pleased to see Blair back to her normal state, flirting with Hermione once more and pranking around with Fred, George and the Prancers. Not even the fact that Snape had given her detention for a whole week after learning about the duel she had with Malfoy could bring down her mood.

But it was time for Blair and Harry to figure out the secret of the golden egg. They decided that Blair would do it and would relay it to Harry once she found out what it was. Blair used the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map as she muttered her thanks to Ron, who had waited outside to give the Fat Lady the password. 

"Good luck, Blair." 

Blair smiled before she moved and checked the map a few times. When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, she located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Fleur had told her. The door creaked open.

Blair slipped inside, bolted the door behind her, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around. Blair looked around amazed at the sight. It was definitely worth becoming a prefect if you could bathe in there.

Blair moved forward, looking around, her footsteps echoing off the walls. Blair started thinking. How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? Nevertheless, she put one of the fluffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps.

"Wicked." Bubbles and foam came out of the taps and Blair laughed as she played around with them. Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, and bubbles, which took a very short time considering its size, Blair turned off all the taps, pulled off her pajamas, slippers, and dressing gown, and slid into the water with only her undergarments on.

Blair stretched out her arms, lifted the egg in her wet hands, and opened it. The wailing, screeching sound filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the marble walls, but it sounded just as incomprehensible as ever, if not more so with all the echoes. She snapped it shut again and let out a sigh. Then, making her jump so badly that she dropped the egg, which clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone spoke.

"I'd try putting it in the water, if I were you."  Blair's eyes widened when she saw Moaning Myrtle there. 

Blair let out a sigh and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Myrtle! I'm- I'm barely wearing anything." 

"I closed my eyes when you got in," Myrtle said, blinking at her through her thick spectacles. "You haven't been to see me for ages."

"Yeah- well, I've been busy" said Blair, bending her knees slightly, just to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn't see anything but her head.

"You didn't use to care," said Myrtle miserably. "You used to be in my bathroom all the time." 

Blair squirmed in her position. "Well, someone told me off. I thought not to come back."

"Oh, I see," said Myrtle, picking at a spot on her chin in a morose sort of way. "Well anyway, I'd try the egg in the water. That's what the French girl did. I was hoping to catch Diggory, but she showed up instead." 

Blair looked at her surprised. "You've been spying on him?"

"Sometimes," said Myrtle, rather slyly, "but I've never come out to speak to anyone before." 

"I'm honored," said Blair awkwardly. "You keep your eyes shut, please." She made sure Myrtle had her glasses well covered before hoisting herself out of the bath, wrapping the towel firmly around herself and going to retrieve the egg.

Once she was back in the water, Myrtle peered through her fingers and said, "Go on, then... open it under the water!" Blair lowered the egg beneath the foamy surface and opened it and this time, it did not wail. A gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words she couldn't distinguish through the water. 

"You need to put your head under too," said Myrtle, who seemed to be enjoying. "Go on!"

Blair took a great breath and slid under the surface — and now, sitting on the marble bottom of the bubble-filled bath, she heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to her from the open egg in her hands:

"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."

Blair let herself float back upward and broke the bubbly surface, shaking her hair out of her eyes. 

"Hear it?" said Myrtle. 

"Yeah. 'Come seek us where our voices sound.' Hang on, I need to listen again..." She sank back beneath the water. It took three more underwater renditions of the egg's song before Blair had it memorized; then she trod water for a while, thinking hard, while Myrtle sat and watched her.

"I've got to go and look for people who can't use their voices above the ground." Blair said slowly. "But who could that be?" 

"Slow, aren't you? I thought you'd know by the way Hermione Granger keeps on rejecting you." Myrtle's words made Blair think of Hermione and remember what she said in her third year. 'I'd rather go out with the Giant Squid in the Black Lake!' Then, she saw the painting on the wall. A mermaid.

Blair turned to Myrtle with realization in her eyes. "Underwater!" 

Myrtle smirked. "Well, that took fast. There are still lots of bubbles." 

"Myrtle, there aren't merpeople in the Black Lake, are there?" 

"Oooh, very good," she said, her thick glasses twinkling.

"That's it, isn't it?" said Blair excitedly. "The second task's to go and find the merpeople in the lake and..." She realized that the merpeople were sure to live in the bottom then let out a sigh. How was she supposed to breathe underwater? Then, she remembered. 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss.' What were they going to take? Hermione? Her socks? Herman?

Blair took the egg, climbed out, dried herself and wore her clothes again. 

"Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again sometime?" Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully as Blair picked up the Invisibility Cloak. 

"I'll try," Blair said hesitantly. "See you, Myrtle, thanks for your help." 

"'Bye, 'bye," she said gloomily.

Blair hurried back to the Common Room and told Harry and Ron all about it. "I know I said I'd be the one to do it, but I think you should try it too, Harry. The Prefect Bathroom's amazing." Blair told them. 

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Aika. I'll go tomorrow." The three of them bid each other good night and tucked themselves into bed.

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"Godric, I hate this." 

Blair was in one of her detentions in the classroom near Snape's office. She stretched her arms that were sore from scrubbing the cauldrons without magic when Snape came in, looking absolutely furious. He glared at Blair. "Get out, Wood. You're done for the night."

Blair stood up and took her bag and went out the door when Snape called her name and walked to her with a cold look in his eyes. "You better watch out, Wood. I do not condone stealing from my stocks." Snape sent her one last glare before slamming the door in her face.

Blair shrugged as she went on. She reached the top of the stairs when she saw Moody, talking to an empty space. Blair smiled and walked over to them. "Mister Alastor!" 

Moody smiled at her as a voice from the space beside Moody spoke. "Hey, Aika." 

"Oh, James. How was the bathroom?" 

"It was amazing, Blair. Just like you said." Harry said.

"I was just talking to Potter here about how he'd make a fine Auror." Moody said. 

Blair turned to Harry excitedly. "That's great, Harry. Maybe you could join me and Mister Alastor one of these summers." Though Blair couldn't see him, she was sure that Harry was grinning. 

"Nothing like a nighttime stroll, Potter, Little B. See you in the morning." Moody went back to his office and left the two champions alone.

Blair slipped under the cloak with Harry as the two of them walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry told Blair about his night with Filch almost catching him, seeing Crouch on the Marauder's Map, Snape seemingly hiding something in his office and how Moody saved him. 

In turn, Blair told him about Snape warning her about stealing ingredients. The two of them thought about it hard, even as they got back to their dorms. They bid each other good night and retreated to their own beds. Blair thought about how strange it all was, but she shook herself out of her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a bushy-haired witch.

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