It was the night before the second task, and I was more nervous than ever. Harry and Hermione finally apologized for being rude to me yesterday. Believe it or not, Ron was the one who talked some sense into them. If it wasn't for him, I still wouldn't know what the clue was from that egg. Harry told me that night we went to the library. It was me, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, who were helping me study.

"Harry, tell me again," Hermione ordered him. He repeated the lines again. "The Black Lake, that's obvious." She hit Ron, waking him up while Harry repeated more lines. "Again, obvious. Though, admittedly, potentially problematic."

Harry looked up at her. "What? When's the last time you held your breath underwater for an hour, Hermione?"

"Look, Harry, we can do this. The four of us can figure it out," Hermione said.

"Hate to break up the study session. Professor McGonagall wants Granger and Weasley in her office." The two left us as Moody called Neville and I over to him. "Longbottom, you help these two put their books back." He left after that.

Harry sighed and took his books. "I can get these. I'll see you later, Max." He left me with Neville as we put the books back.

"You know..." he started as we were putting the books back. "If you're interested in plants, you'd be better off with Goshawk's Guide to Herbology. Did you know there's a wizard in Nepal who's growing gravity-resistant trees?"

"That's cool," I said. "But I'm not really into plants." I paused, realizing something about the second task. "You think there's a plant that can allow Harry and I to breathe underwater for an hour?"

"Well, you could always use Gillyweed," he replied.

"Gillyweed? What's that?"

"Like you said before, it's a plant that allows you to breathe underwater."

"How can I get some?"

"I have some that I'll let you and Harry use."

I squealed and dropped my books on a table and hugged him. "Thank you so much, Neville!"

He chuckled. "No problem, Max. You go back and get some sleep. I'll put your books back for you."

I smiled at him. "You're the best." I ran out of the library, heading towards the Gryffindor Tower. On the way there, I heard voices. I stopped in my tracks so I could listen.

"What are you talking about, Draco?! What do you mean you were forced to kiss Potterette?!" It was Goyle.

"I'm telling you, that horrible woman slammed us into each other and we ended up kissing. You're acting like I've developed feelings for her or something."

"Have you?"

"No!" Malfoy denied quickly. Too quick, if you asked me. "I...forget it, Goyle. It doesn't matter, anyway. That article was a load of rubbish."

I felt my heart stop for a small moment, but shook my head at the idea that Malfoy really had feelings for me.

After the two left, I quickly ignored the thought and continued running back to the tower to tell Harry about the Gillyweed. Luckily, when I got there, he was in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Harry!" I practically jumped on him. "I've got to tell you something."

"Max!" Harry was startled by me. "You scared me. I've got something to tell you, too."

"Well, mine's more important. After you left, Neville and I were talking and he said he had some Gillyweed!"

"What?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Gillyweed. It allows you to breathe underwater. We can use it tomorrow!" I jumped up and down with excitement. "We're not going to die!"

Harry chuckled and then motioned me to sit down. "Okay, Max. Now it's my turn."

"Okay," I plopped down on the couch beside him. "What's up?"

"I had that dream again," he told me. "But this time, I was him."

I gave him a puzzled look. "You were who?"

"The Muggle caretaker. I was the one being killed."

I turned to look at the fire. "Merlin..."

He tried to wrap his arm around my shoulder, but I got up from the couch before he could. "What's the matter?"

I shook my head and gave him a weak smile. "Nothing, Harry. I'm just going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." I went upstairs and got into my pajamas. I drifted off to sleep.

*******

It was too early to be doing the second task. I woke up, feeling like crap rather than feeling nervous. I was pretty sure the second task was going to be just as dangerous as the first one. But I didn't want to jinx myself.

Well, too late for that.

Ron and Hermione never came back last night. I was worried about them. Harry and I had the faintest idea on where they went. On the way to the lake, Neville gave us the Gillyweed.

"You're sure about this, Neville?" Harry asked him.

"Absolutely," he replied.

"For an hour?"

"Most likely."

"Most likely?" I repeated.

"Well, there is some debate among herbologists as to the effects of freshwater versus saltwater--"

"You're telling us this now?! You must be joking!" I said.

"I-I just wanted to help," he said.

"Well, that makes you a right sight better than Ron and Hermione," Harry told him. "Where are they, anyway?"

"You two seem a little tense," Neville commented.

"Do we?" we said at the same time.

There was a crowd of people when we got to the Black Lake, which didn't help with my nerves at all. Harry and I parted ways with Neville, joining with the other champions at the edge of the pier.

"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. Simple enough, except for this: They will have one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own. No magic will save them."

All the champions looked tense. Harry and I put the Gillyweed in our mouths and almost threw it back up. Moody hit our backs. Like that helped.

Suddenly, the cannon went off. And then, we went under. Harry looked like he was choking while I was screaming his name. We both had web feet and web hands. We also had gills. As the others were swimming away, I swam with them while Harry was behind me.

I spotted Cedric and followed him. He didn't seem to notice that I was following him. I didn't even bother to go see if Harry was still behind me. I was such an awful sister. He'd forgive me later.

We heard voices singing, so we decided to follow them. I was still behind Cedric when I saw a figure being pulled down. It looked like Fleur. I spotted four figures being hung. It was Ron, Hermione, Cho, and Gabrielle, Fleur's little sister. They were cold. It looked like we had to rescue one. And Ron was our treasure. Cedric came and told us to use our wand. He got Cho and began to swim away with her, then Viktor came and grabbed Hermione.

I noticed that Fleur hadn't showed up yet. I was wondering if she was going to get her sister. I motioned Harry to take Ron once he caught up with me, and he did. I broke the rope that was holding down Gabrielle and grabbed her.

I was struggling to get up to the surface. All of a sudden, things got worse. I was being pulled down by Grindylows. I couldn't see Harry above me, and my web feet and hands were fading away, along with my gills. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. There was no use in crying out for help.

I definitely jinxed myself this morning.

I pushed Gabrielle up so she could float up to the surface. I stopped trying to fight back and just floated there. Everything was blurry. I had little energy left in me. So I said one last spell.

"Ascendio!" Suddenly, I was out of the water, flying in the air. I landed right beside Harry, coughing up water. Suddenly, it was like third year all over again.

I fainted.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Woah. Yeah poor Max. Always seems to happen to her.

Well here's another chapter. I probably won't start the next book until the middle of November. But I'm over halfway done with this book so who knows. I know that I won't be done by the end of this month. But yeah.

So comment, vote, you know. I love comments. :D Bye for now!

-A