The clue to the second task was supposed to be in the golden egg collected in the first one and so far no one had any idea what it was going to be. And I know that because I happen to be on good terms with all champions except Krum.

So if Krum had figured out what the task would be, I don't know but so far neither Cedric, Harry nor Fleur had any clue about it. The golden egg screeched painfully upon opening and there was no other way they could find the clue either so the days were passing by and their anticipation was increasing.

On the day of the task, we were all supposed to gather at the Lake and that was when it was revealed that the task would be underwater.

"Does Harry know how to swim?" Fred asked from beside me and I shrugged, I had no idea about that.

"But surely he would work something out," Angelina remarked.

My eyes swept over the Gryffindor stands below me as Fred and George had bagged the topmost seats for us so we could have a better view. But it was then I noticed that Ron's unmistakable red hair were nowhere to be seen among the fourth year row.

"Hey, where's Ron?" I asked and Fred and George trained their eyes to that row as well.

"Hermione's not there either. Maybe they went to wish Harry good luck at the last moment," George added.

Maybe.

It's a good thing though that the rift between Harry and Ron had gotten resolved after the first task. It was extremely disappointing seeing such good friends act like strangers before that.

Finally the champions were called out and assembled then the details of the task were announced by Ludo Bagman.

"Oh wait, isn't that Perfect Percy standing next to Bagman?" Fred piped up and sure enough, our elder brother Percy was present there but his boss Crouch was nowhere to be seen.

"I suppose you meant Weatherby," George remarked laughing shortly after.

He was referring to the fact that even though Perce had been working under crouch for a few months, the latter could never get his name right often calling him Weatherby.

"Shut up and focus on the task," I rebuked them because even though Bagman's voice was magnified still with the twins' loud voices combined, it was difficult to hear him.

"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."

At the signal, all our four champions dived into the lake.

Damn it, I could not hear what Ludo Bagman had said before. "What exactly is taken from them? What's the task about?"

Katie spoke up, "they have one hour to go to the merpeople's village and bring back something the merpeople have taken from them. What it's going to be though, I've no idea."

Oh.

So all we had to do was wait and see what would happen next. Fleur and Ced used the Bubble Head charm to go under water, Krum partially transfigured himself into a shark and Harry used Gillyweed.

They had precisely an hour to finish the task and we were all waiting for them to come back to the surface safe and sound.

The surface of the lake had ripples about fifteen minutes later and shortly after Fleur came out chased by Grindylows. But she did not have whatever she was required to bring back from the merpeople and seeing by her face, it seemed as if that thing was very dear to her.

"It was her sister Gabrielle," the whispers among the students about what happened reached us as well, "the merpeople have taken the people closest to the champions and are holding them hostage underwater."

Wait, what?

"So you mean Ron and Hermione are underwater?"

Fred nodded, shaking his head dramatically, "indeed... Poor, poor them."

Apparently, Ron was being held hostage for Harry to save with Hermione as a hostage for Krum to rescue. That means for Cedric, they would have taken Cho Chang.

Cedric emerged at last with Cho and yet there was no sign of Harry nor Krum. But then Krum too emerged at the surface with Hermione and Harry was still not out. The one-hour limit had passed.

"Our poor little pumpkin..."

"It's not a joke, Fred. What if he doesn't get Ron out?"

Perhaps I'm panicking for the wrong reason but come on... If Ron had even an inkling that they were going to put him underwater, he would have refused straight out.

Fleur seemed totally distraught because Gabrielle was still with the merpeople. However, a few minutes later a jet of red light propelled Harry, Ron, and Gabrielle to the surface, much to everyone's relief.

"And the day is saved with the Chosen One rescuing two people instead of one," George remarked.

"See, Kat, you were worrying for the wrong reasons. Not only is our pumpkin safe and sound but Harry has gotten Delacour out as well," Fred added.

Thank Merlin, they are all safe.

Fleur had rushed to Harry and Ron and taken Gabrielle into her arms. It seemed as if she was indeed very close to her sister and not being able to save her had been quite distressing to her.

The task came to an end with the points being rewarded to Cedric in first place, Harry in second place, Krum in third, and Fleur in fourth. Harry had turned up after the three but due to his noble act of saving Gabrielle as well, he was awarded second place.

With the task ending, all of us were to leave for the castle too. The champions and the hostages were wrapped up in blankets and led back to the tent so that they wouldn't catch a cold. It was a cold day in February so of course they had to do that.

But before we had to go back to the common rooms, Fred and George dragged me to the tent as well because they wanted to check on Harry and Ron.

But the sight that met our eyes upon reaching the tent was truly a spectacle.

Fleur had been extremely grateful to Harry and Ron for saving Gabrielle so she was profusely thanking the two and right before leaving, she kissed them on the cheek and then left with her sister.

Harry seemed alright but Ron was blushing redder than beetroot.

"Holy freaking bludgers..." Both the twins almost swore, "he got kissed by a Veela...?"

"Fred, George, you're not going to tease him about it," I do know them very well by now so I know that they would not pay any heed to my words.

Poor little pumpkin was in for a lot of teasing.

"Of course, we're going to tease him about it. Can't let this opportunity go wasted."

And before I could stop them both of them had circled Ron teasing him about what had just happened. His red cheeks matched the shade of his hair and he looked an absolutely adorable mess.

"Kat, please tell them to stop," he spoke up noticing me and though I do feel sorry for him, I can't get the twins to stop.

They were currently doing a terrible French impression, "Merci Ronald. Au revoir Ronald."

And did I mention that Ron had asked Fleur to the Yule Ball but hadn't received a response earlier? Well, Fred and George were teasing him about that too.

"Alright enough," taking pity on him, I grabbed both the twins by the back of their collars and pulled them away from him, "you've teased him a lot. Now stop it."

"But Kat, the fun had just started!"

Well, I hate to say this but I might have to use a little blackmailing here, "my dear Gred and Forge, if you don't let Ron be, I'll have to tell Mum about your latest invention."

As expected both of them straightened, expression changing into a baffled look, "Kat, you dare break our trust..."

"I haven't dared to yet and would never do so either if you don't tease Ron anymore."

Both of them took a minute to ponder on it but then agreed, "fine... But next time we're not going to tell you anything about our inventions, seeing that you use that against us."

However, Ron had let out a sigh of relief as the two finally stopped teasing him, "thanks a lot, Kat. I owe you."

I smiled at him, "anytime, Pumpkin."

His face turned scarlet again from embarrassment because no wonder he hated that nickname.

But what can I say? I love calling him Pumpkin because his reaction after that is totally adorable.

***