"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚋𝚘𝚢."

𝟙 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕡 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕, 𝟛 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕡𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 - 𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕒 ℝ𝕠𝕕𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕠

─── ∙ ~☾~ ∙ ───

Harry and Ron watched as the two girls left before returning back to the books they were sifting through.

They thought it would send a message for Mad-Eye Moody to go away but he only lurked behind them. 

"Longbottom!" He suddenly shouted, causing Neville to peek his head out from where he was behind the bookcases. "Why don't you help Potter put his books back. Weasley, come with me."

Ron gave Harry a panicked look, before clambering after the limping teacher. 

Sighing, Harry stacked his books and gave Neville an awkward smile that involved no teeth, before getting up to return his books. 

"Y'know," Neville started, "If you're interested in plants, you'd be better off with Gobshawk's Guide to Herbology. Do you know there's a wizard...in Nepal...growing gravity-resistant trees?"

"Neville," Harry said annoyed, "No offense, but I really don't care about plants."

Neville's face sunk as he turned back to trying to help Harry with his books. 

"Not 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 turnip," Neville said, his face lighting up, "but you can always use Gillyweed." 

Harry looked at him intrigued. 

"Gillyweed?" Harry asked. 

"Yeah, it should help you breathe underwater for an amount of time," Neville said.

"And where would one find Gillyweed?" Harry asked. 

"I'm sure Professor Snape has some," Neville suggested. 

"I'm also sure he won't be delighted to give it to me," Harry said thoughtfully.

"I'll get it to you then," Neville said. 

─── ∙ ~☾~ ∙ ───

"Bets? Any Bets?" Fred and George were shouting, while they walked the opposite way of the crowd. 

It was the day of the second task and the three schools had gathered in their coats and hats to watch at the Black Lake.

"Step up mates, don't be shy!" the twins continued. 

"Three lads!"

"One lady!"

"Four go down!"

"But do four come up?"

Ginny who was walking to the task with a certain blonde-haired Ravenclaw she fancied walked right in between the boys banging into their shoulders.

"Don't be so mean," she scolded before taking Luna's side again and going to the lake. 

"You sure about this Neville?" Harry asked as he and Neville made their way to the task. 

Neville handed him the slimy green plant. 

"Absolutely," Neville said. 

"For an hour?" Harry asked.

"Most likely."

"Most likely?" Harry whispered as more students surrounded them. 

"Well, there is some debate amongst herbologists as to the effects of freshwater versus saltwater..." Neville said.

"You're telling me this now!" Harry whisper-shouted. "You must be joking!"

"I just wanted to help," Neville said timidly.

"Hey, Potter!" Harry heard his name being called. 

He slightly gulped to see Tracey and Daphne heading towards him, followed by Blaise and Theo.

"Have you seen Y/N?" Tracey asked not even trying to hide her resentment towards the green-eyed boy. 

"Erm—we're not really on speaking terms," Harry said. 

"We know that," Daphne snapped, "We're just asking if you've seen her."

"No-no I haven't," Harry said failing to not show how intimidated he was by the two Slytherin girls. 

"Okay," Tracey said before grabbing Daphne's arm and pulling her ahead. 

Blaise and Theo followed pursuit not hiding their laughter at the two girls' actions.

A lump started forming in Harry's throat. Was Y/N that mad at him to not even show up to the second task. Come to think of it he didn't see Hermione this morning either and she was a nervous wreck yesterday knowing Harry still hadn't figured out the task. 

He thankfully looked to see Ron walking to the boats with Seamus and Dean and he gave him an encouraging thumbs-up.

"You seem a little tense Harry," Neville pointed out.

"Do I?" Harry said surveying the students who were heading towards the lake dock. 

When he didn't see Hermione or Y/N, he sighed and turned around following the crowd. 

Soon, everyone had reached the dock where all the stands were. 

Fleur didn't try to hide her annoyed look and muttered something in French that Harry was one hundred percent sure was an insult. 

"Welcome to the second task!" Dumbledore's voice rang out. "Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts."

Harry couldn't hide the confusion on his face. He didn't see anything missing the previous night or this morning. 

"These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake."

Harry looked around noticing the spot by the Black Lake that he and Y/N always went. He then looked across the way to where he and Y/N had cast their Patronus's in Year three. 

Why had those stupid word's ever come out of his mouth. Word's he wished he could take back. Now she refused to even watch him face danger again. You think she would at least find enjoyment in that. 

"In order to win," Dumbledore went on, "each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough."

Moody grabbed Harry by the arm taking him out of his consuming thoughts of Y/N and pulled him to where the other champions and their friends stood.

"Except for this. They will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only."

"Put that in your mouth," Moody ordered, confusing Harry how he knew of the Gillyweed.

He looked down at the slimy plant in his hand. Sure wasn't a chocolate frog. He took a deep breath before putting it in his mouth. 

"After that, they will be on their own. No magic will save them," Dumbledore advised.

Harry immediately began choking on the green plant. How could something taste like it had been sitting in the dungeons for 100 years and never saw the light of day? 

Mad-Eye Moody was trying to help him get it down by slapping him on the back but he felt like he was chewing battery acid. 

While Harry was trying to keep down the Gillyweed the other champions were waving at their friends preparing for the task. 

"You may begin at the start of the canon," Dumbledore announced.

As soon as the cannon rang out the three other champions jumped elegantly into the lake, while Harry was pushed in by Moody still trying to chew the Gillyweed. 

Suddenly an overwhelming feeling of pain came from his hand's feet and neck as he struggled in the water to keep afloat. 

His hands made their way to his neck and he realized his skin seemed to have formed gills. 

He looked down at his feet which now were webbed as well as his hands. His eyes went wide as he realized he looked like something that belonged in 'Jaws'. 

"What's the matter with him," Seamus asked Dean and Ron as they crouched on the dock to look into the water. 

"I don't know, I can't see him," Dean said. 

"Oh my god!" Neville yelled frantically, his hands going to his hair. "I've killed Harry Potter!"

Harry started to get a hang of his webbed feet and he glided through the water with ease. He swam to the surface flipping into the air causing the crowd, including Ron, Dean, and Seamus to erupt into cheers. 

Neville however looked relieved he hadn't committed manslaughter. 

Harry easily moved through the water with the help of his webbed feet. The water seemed to grow darker the further he got from the surface. It was odd to easily breathe through the water, still getting oxygen to his brain but Harry managed well. 

Fish flickered past him as he moved, and he entered a tall patch of greed weed as he began to search for whatever 'lost treasure' the tournament members had apparently taken. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fleur with something that resembled a plastic bag around her mouth that was helping her breathe. Her hair floated around her in the water but it was apparent the two weren't the only beings in the weed. 

Suddenly the sound of something moving fast through the water circled around them, and Harry quickly came to realize Grindylows had seen them. 

When Harry looked back, Fleur was gone. 

In the distance, he could hear singing, but he didn't know exactly where it had come from. 

Harry managed to get out of the weeds and move through an old arch that was sitting at the bottom of the lake. 

He sped up and once he reached a more open part of the lake he was stunned to see a crowd of merpeople surrounding four people who were tied to a statue.

"Y/N?" he said even though his voice was muffled and only bubbles came into the water when he spoke. He drew closer noticing who the four people were. 

Y/N was tied between Hermione and Cho, and on the very end was a girl who couldn't be over eight. Fleur's little sister Gabrielle. 

All of them seemed to be in a deep peaceful sleep, despite them being at the bottom of the lake. 

He swam towards Y/N and placed his hands on her face. Her cheeks were cold. 

He looked around in confusion until he realized, this was the treasure. His most prized possession. 

The thing he cared for the most. 

Cho for Cedric, Hermione for Krum, Gabrielle for Fleur, and Y/N for him.

He looked to see the rope of weed that was binding the three other girls. He tried to pull at it but the weed was much stronger than anticipated. 

He looked around and noticed that a lot of the merpeople were carrying spears that looked like they would be sharp enough to cut something. 

Harry swam up to a merman who had a long green beard and tried his best to mime out his request. 

"We do not help," the merman said, his voice raspy. 

"Oh, COME ON," Harry said fiercely, but all that came out was bubbles. 

He tried his best to pull the spear away from the merman but all he did was pull it back and laugh maniacally. 

Fed up, Harry turned around looking for anything sharp.

Littered at the bottom of the lake were an abundant amount of rocks. Harry dived and inspected them until he found a quite jagged rock that looked like it would do the job. 

He began to hack at the weed that was holding onto Y/N and after several minutes that caused his arm to grow sore, he had successfully freed her. 

Y/N kept afloat rising a bit higher than she had before but she still remained towards the bottom of the lake. 

Harry looked around at the other hostages. The water was still, other than the merpeople, and there was no sign of the other champions. 

He turned to Hermione and began to try and break her bindings too. Suddenly he was seized by stone-cold grey arms pulling him away from Hermione and laughing. 

"You take your own hostage," one of the mermen who grabbed him said, "Leave the others."

"No way!" Harry protested even though he wasn't able to make a sound in the water. 

"Your task is to retrieve your own...leave the others..." they ordered. 

"She's my friend too!" Harry protested, only bubbles coming out. He then gestured to Cho and Gabrielle, "I don't want them to die either!"

He tried to fight off the mermen who were pulling him until he saw Cedric come into view. 

"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking rather shaken up. "Fleur and Krum are coming now!"

Harry felt relief wash over him as he saw Cedric take a knife from his pocket and cut Cho's ropes. Cedric pulled her up to the surface and out of sight. 

Harry waited around impatiently with one arm looped through Y/N's. Where were Krum and Fleur?

The song said, after an hour, the hostages would be gone. 

Suddenly, the merpeople all screeched as a 'sharkman' began gliding towards them. Harry quickly realized it was Krum who seemed to have done a terrible job trying to transfigure himself. 

Krum began to use his sharp teeth to gnaw at the ropes but Harry immediately realized by the way Krum was cutting the ropes he could rip Hermione in half. 

He lept forward and tapped Krum on his awkward shoulder and handed him the jagged rock he had used to free Y/N. 

Krum took it and easily cut Hermione free. He grabbed the young girl by the waist and pulled her up without looking back. 

Harry started to become nervous. There was no sight of Fleur and he had no idea what those merpeople would do to Y/N, him, or Gabrielle if time was up and they were unfortunate enough to still be at the bottom of the lake. 

He decided he had to attempt to take a second hostage. He grabbed the rock Krum had dropped but the merman began to close in on him, Y/N, and the little girl. 

He suddenly drew his wand making the mermen stop laughing and freeze. It seemed they didn't know a lot about magic because despite it being barely useable in the water, it still managed to frighten them. 

"You've got until three!" He shouted, bubbles shooting from his mouth. He held up three fingers to make sure they understood, "One.." he put down a finger, "two..." he put down a second one...

They all scattered. Harry immediately went to cut at the young girl's robes and successfully got her free. He linked one arm through Y/N's and one arm through Gabrielle's before pushing off and trying his best to lift the two girls up using his webbed feet to push. 

They rose higher until a swarm of Grindylow began grabbing at his ankles and around them. 

Harry used his last remaining strength to push the two girls up towards the surface. 

─── ∙ ~☾~ ∙ ───

Y/N gasped as soon as she reached the surface. She didn't register what was going on until she found herself sinking a bit in the black lake and immediately began treading water. 

She took in her surroundings as her chest rose and fell heavily at the adrenaline rush. Her head felt like it might burst. 

She felt the movement of a body next to her and realized Fleur's little sister was struggling in the water to stay afloat. 

"Hey it's okay," Y/N said trying to disguise her own panic. She whispered something in French to the young girl and began guiding her to the docks. 

She could see Fred, George, and Ginny clapping from their spots on the stands, and see Hermione getting a towel, as her hair was matted to her face. 

Ron helped Gabrielle and Y/N out of the water as Fleur came rushing to help as well speaking fast in french towards her little sister. 

Y/N was immediately wrapped in a towel by Hermione as soon as she was safe on the docks and Daphne and Tracey were clambering down from their spots on the stands to see the shivering girl. 

Ron gave Fleur a towel for a sister as Fleur and Gabrielle headed towards Madame Maxime.

"Oh thank Merlin your okay!" Daphne said frantically as she threw her arms around her friend and kissed her head. 

Y/N was still trying to catch her breath as she was dripping wet in her robes. 

"You are okay aren't you?" Tracey asked. 

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Y/N said smiling at her and Daphne. "Are you okay Hermione?" Y/N asked looking to the right of her where Hermione was.

"Yeah, yeah I came out of the water a bit before you," she said. 

Y/N smiled and nodded. 

She suddenly looked around noticing Cedric and Cho, and Krum. "Where's Harry?" she asked wiping her eyes with her towel. 

"He didn't come out of the water with you?" Hermione said, her eyes growing wide as she surveyed the rest of the dock. 

Y/N and Hermione exchanged panic looks as they both leaned forward to look into the water. 

There was no sign of him at the murky surface. 

Every single reason Y/N had to be upset at him went out the window. Her breath was shaky as she felt herself grow sick. She already lost her family no matter how dysfunctional it was, losing Harry....she didn't know if she would recover. 

Not him too. 

Hermione gripped onto Y/N's arm as the crowd looked into the still water. 

"Come on Harry," Y/N whispered.

Suddenly, Harry with his wand risen mustered up all his strength to clearly say the words 'Ascendio' and splashed out of the water landing right next to Y/N on the dock.

She and Hermione screamed as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"OH MY GOD! THANK MERLIN YOU'RE ALL RIGHT!" Y/N exclaimed throwing her arms around him as he was catching his breath. 

Seamus was rubbing Harry's back as he directed Dean to get him another towel.

Harry was slightly taken back that Y/N was hugging him but as soon as he registered it he hugged her back tighter than he had ever before. 

When they pulled apart she kept her hands on his shoulders. Even though those entrancing green eyes still brought hurt from that night at the Yule Ball, all she could think about was how thankful she was to see him alive.

Life was short was something Y/N learned over the summer. Did she really want to spend it being mad at someone who despite it all made her happy?

"Y/N I—" Harry was cut off when Fleur came with Gabrielle after her towards where Harry was. 

"You saved her even though she wasn't yours to save," she said thankfully. "My little sister...Thank you!" she wrapped her arms around Harry before giving him a look, "This doesn't mean what you did to her is still okay—"

"Fleur!" Y/N interrupted smiling at her friend, "Ron helped me and Gabrielle too. Why don't you thank him?"

Forgetting all about Harry, Fleur stood up and went towards Ron. 

"You? You helped?" she asked frantically.

"Well..yeah, a bit," Ron said trying to be causal. 

"Oh!" Fleur said, kissing both of Ron's cheeks making his face go bright red. 

"Merci," Ron whispered touching the place where Fleur had kissed him. 

Y/N laughed as Hermione looked furious.  

"I finished last," Harry sighed. 

"Next to last," Y/N corrected. 

"Fleur never got past the Grindylows," Hermione said. 

"You did amazing given that you brought up two people," Y/N said, her gaze moved to Cedric as he started to move over to them but Harry kept his eyes glued on Y/N. 

"Are you okay Y/N?" Cedric asked. 

"I'm good Diggory," Y/N smiled. "Are you okay Cho?"

Cho smiled even though her hair was dripping water into her face, "I'm alright thank you."

Y/N's smile seemed to be actually happy at the moment. Something that Harry hadn't seen in a while. 

"Why did you bring up two people exactly?" Hermione asked Harry. 

"Fleur didn't show up I couldn't leave her," Harry said. 

"Harry you prat," Ron said rolling his eyes. "You didn't take that song seriously did you?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. 

"Dumbledore wouldn't just let us drown," Y/N said. She held his face in her hands, "But what you did was admirable."

Harry smiled by the touch of Y/N's hands on her face until they were both seized by Madame Pomfrey. 

She wrapped them both in blankets so tight they felt they were in straight jackets and then gave them a hot potion that immediately caused them to warm up but not before steam shot from their ears. 

"Ladies and gentlemen," Bagman's voice rang out, "we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us 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."

"I deserved zero," Fleur said. 

"No don't say that!" Y/N encouraged. "I think you did amazing!"

Fleur smiled at her even though she felt very disappointed in herself. 

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour. We, therefore, award him forty-seven points."

The Hufflepuffs cheered loudly and Cho kissed Cedric sweetly on the cheek as he smiled brightly. 

"If he was out of the time limit I definitely was," Harry huffed. 

Ron gave Harry an encouraging look. 

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

Karakroff and the rest of the Duramstrang clapped loudly. Karakroff had a smug look on his face obviously thinking he was superior. 

"Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter 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."

"Most of the judges," Bagman gave Karkaroff an annoyed look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However...Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

There was a mix of cheers and boos from the audience. This meant Cedric and Harry were now tied for first place. 

"Second place!" Hermione encouraged as cheers and groans mainly from Duramstrang went out. 

Krum didn't look happy at all and attempted to engage in a conversation with Hermione but she was too busy clapping for Harry to listen. 

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

"Thanks Ron," Harry said sarcastically.

Harry caught the eye of Adrian who just like the rest of his school did not look happy. Y/N sent Harry a warm smile, something he had not seen towards him in ages. 

His stomach was flipping times a million. Between getting second place in the second task, and hope for him and Y/N, Harry smiled one of the first genuine smiles he had in months. 

─── ∙ ~☾~ ∙ ───

"Hey," Y/N greeted as she walked into the Gryffindor common room to be greeted with Ron and Hermione. 

"Hey Y/N," Ron said as Hermione smiled at her. 

"Have you seen Harry?" Y/N asked. 

Ron and Hermione both didn't even try to hide their smiles. 

"Not like that," Y/N sighed rolling her eyes. "I just need to talk to him."

"Haven't seen him in a while actually," Ron said. "I think he went outside."

"Oh," Y/N said, "Then I know where he is, I'll see you guys later."

"Hey Y/N!" Ron called, "Don't forget! No premarital hand-holding!"

"Fuck off Ron!" she called before exiting the Gryffindor common room.

Given it was still before curfew but the daylight was starting to decline, Y/N had no trouble exiting the castle. 

She made her way down to the place she assumed Harry would go, and not to her surprise Harry was waiting at the Black Lake, secretly hoping Y/N would come look for him. 

"Hey," she said softly as she came from behind the tree he was sitting against. 

"Hey," Harry said looking up at her. 

Y/N hesitated before taking a seat next to him.

They sat in comfortable silence until Y/N spoke, "So today was...something."

"Yeah," Harry agreed looking at the lake. "Look Y/N I'm so sorry about the Yule Ball. I—"

"No," Y/N said softly, stopping him from speaking. "I've heard you say sorry a hundred times..but..let me talk okay?"

Harry nodded slightly gulping despite her calm state. 

"Today was terrifying," she said looking at her fingers and beginning to fidget with her rings. "I thought you had drowned," she sighed, "and then I was thinking about all the things that I could have done to stop it if I wasn't so mad at you..."

"I'm okay, you're okay," Harry said. "That's what matters."

"But it wasn't what was going on that was so terrifying. It was that I wasn't able to stop it, everything was out of my control and I felt powerless," she took a breath, "And I know we've been fighting for weeks now but I...I don't want to fight anymore."

Harry laced his left hand through her right, one hundred percent breaking Ron's rule, "I'm so sorry about everything."

She nodded, "I know. And it's not all your fault about what happened at the Yule Ball," Y/N said shaking her head.

"No it was my fault," Harry said, "I was a complete dick."

"Yeah, yeah you were," Y/N laughed, "But it shouldn't have split us apart just because I had a crush on you and you didn't like me back."

Had? Harry began to think noticing her past tense of the word.

"But Y/N—"

"It's okay Harry," she said. "I just...I want us to go back to how we used to. I don't want the book of you and I to be over."

Harry nodded, "Neither do I. There were so many things I wanted to tell you for the past couple weeks that got replaced with a snarky comment or an eye roll."

Y/N let out a soft laugh. "It was a small crush...I'm over it," Y/N said. "I really just miss my best friend," she said shrugging.

You think Harry would be overjoyed by those words but to be honest he wasn't. She had gotten over her feelings for him. If he had just fessed up sooner, they would be together, and now she's moved on.

But he did miss her. And being best friends with her was better than not having her in his life at all. 

"Yeah, I miss you too," Harry said, his smile fake and genuine at the same time. 

Y/N returned the same smile despite the fact she was lying straight through her teeth.

She still cared for him but not like a best friend. But if that was what it was going to take to keep the green-eyed boy in her life, she was going to do it. She's lost too much.  

She would be lying if she didn't say she wanted Harry to protest to everything she had just said and admit his feelings but...that was the type of love she read in romance novels. 

She hugged him tightly not letting the fact that despite them making up, she still felt sad. She quickly wiped a tear that had fallen and smiled at him. 

"Well I have to go help Theo with some Slytherin party he wants to throw next week," Y/N said standing up, "but I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Harry said nodding his head trying to mask his own feelings.

Y/N smiled back at him, and then turned around and walked back to the castle. 

1 step forward.....3 steps back. 

─── ∙ ~☾~ ∙ ───

𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟒: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟏

A/N: I'M BACK!! For the summer my new updating schedule will be every Sunday and the occasional Wednesday! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT AND I'M SO EXCITED TO WRITE MORE! I'm planning four more chapters for Year 4 and then we start Year 5!