January had been bleak, both through the weather, and the student's attitudes- but it was finally over, and the second Triwizard task loomed ahead. After the dragons, students were a mix between excited, and downright nervous for what the chosen champions had to overcome this time.

Summer was busy writing a letter to Hayden. She had had limited contact with him since the Yule Ball, and she was scared to hang out with Raphael anywhere where he could possibly see them.

"Who're you writing to?" Fred came up behind her and leaned his head over her shoulder. Summer immediately snatched up her parchment so that he couldn't read it.

"Hey, that's none of your business."

"You're right, sorry." He jumped over to take the empty space beside her. The rest of the group were already sitting there, around the crackling fire. Summer noticed that Fred was looking rather dejected, as he sat there tapping his leg, seemingly having nothing to occupy him.

"Don't you have some homework to do or something?" He shook his head, and rested it on his hands. It wasn't until he started humming absentmindedly that she stopped scribbling, and looked up- huffing out a breath.

"Ugh, fine! I'm writing to Hayden, what's so interesting about that?"

Fred sat up and suddenly seemed alert.

"Hayden? But he's in the school with you, why would you need to write to him?"

"He still hasn't had a proper conversation with me in person... Every time I try he just avoids or ignores me." Fred looked deep in thought for a moment before answering.

"I can see why not... But, you're not in the wrong, no one is. He was just trying to protect you, Sum, and I think he feels like you rejected that."

"But hurting someone over a misunderstanding isn't protecting me, I didn't want him to do that. You know what he's like by now Fred. He acts first, thinks after. He can't just ice me out." They sat in silence for a second, then she hastily scribbled out a chunk of writing from her parchment.

"I know. Are you sure Raphael apologised for whatever he did to hurt you? You never explained properly what happened."

"I will in the morning, I'm going to get an early night I think."

"Okay then, want me to walk you to the steps?"

"Fred," she said through a laugh, "They're about a ten-second walk away." Summer rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Fred's shoulders and bid him a good night, before standing up to leave.

"I'm going to sleep early tonight guys, I'm exhausted." Summer explained- yawning.

She leaned over to hug everyone, then squeezed out between two sofas, trudging up the stone steps.

                                    ❀❀❀

A couple of hours later, they were shocked when Professor McGonagall entered the common room, looking slightly panicked.

"Have any of you seen Miss Blanchet?" The twins glanced at each other, and Katie and Alicia did the same.

"She went up to bed," said Lee.

"Is everything alright?" Angelina asked.

However the professor didn't reply, only briskly made her way upstairs with the same pursed expression.

She descended a few minutes later, followed by a half-asleep Summer. Fred watched as she pulled on a pale blue jumper over her cami, and her legs were barely covered, as she only wore some sleep shorts.

"What's going on? Are you alright?" Fred leapt over the couch to her. "Where are you going?"

She shrugged, and yawned, stretching her arms up so that a little slither of her stomach was shown, Fred had to remind himself to keep his eyes on her face.

"She just told me to follow her, I'll probably be back soon."

"I'll wait here for you, okay?"
She nodded and smiled at him before hurrying through the portrait hole after McGonagall.

"What was all that about do you think?" Lee leaned into the group.

"No clue, but I heard her talking to Ron and Hermione earlier, maybe it's about the same thing."

"Doubt it," Angelina shook her head "Although I did see Harry alone all this evening."

"Yeah that's weird, they always hang out together," Katie said.

"Are you really going to wait up for her Fred? It's almost twelve."

"I said I would," he replied, "But feel free to go up."

That only left George and himself, after Katie had gone up. She was the last to go, and had been constantly glancing at the entrance, before saying "Tell her I said good night," and then left.

"Yeah mate, she's right, it's getting late, I'm sure we can explain tomorrow, she'll get it," George nudged Fred, who jumped with a start.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, five more minutes," he mumbled, leaning his head back on his arm, and closing his eyes, "She has to come back at some point."

"Well, it's not going to do anyone any good for both of you to be half asleep, come on." He rose from the armchair he was in, and whacked Fred round the head with a pillow to make him stand.

"Ugh, fine," he grabbed the pillow from his brother's grip, smacked him back, and tossed it back on the sofa, as he collected his books to take upstairs.

❀❀❀

The next morning, George finally got Fred to come down to breakfast, after he was insisting on waiting for Summer.

"She's probably already down there! Hurry up, I'm starving." He moaned.

Once seated, Fred scanned over the table for Summer, but she was nowhere to be seen. He uncertainly took a seat, and kept averting his gaze to the large doors that led into the hall.

"Okay, obviously something's wrong," George admitted to his friends, as he picked at some sausage.

"Maybe she had a family emergency," Lee asked in a hushed whisper. Fred and George gave each other the same look- worried- for they knew if this was true, it was likely to be bad.

"Can't be, look behind you," Angelina spoke under her breath, just as Hayden approached their table.

"Have you guys seen Summer?" He asked, as he paced back and forth.

"No, we've been wondering the same thing," said Fred.

"I knew it, she tried it on me last night too, but of course, I said no, they're crazy! They can't do that to students,"

"Do what?" Lee began to ask, but he had already stormed off back to the Slytherin table to get his bag, before leaving the hall entirely.

"Uh, what exactly did he mean by 'They can't do that to students'? What have they done to Summer?" Alicia was nervously glancing at her friends, noticing Fred wasn't saying anything, but his hand was clenched around his spoon.

"I'm going to find out," he made an attempt to get up from his seat in the direction of the staff table, but was pulled back down by both George and Lee.

"Relax mate, she'll be fine, it's not like Hogwarts is known for killing off its students is it."

"Look at what Harry's gone through the last few years." Ginny had piped up now, and the twins looked at her moodily.

"Thanks, Ginny, really helping the nerves," replied Fred.

"Yeah, go back to your porridge and mind your own business," George added, and his sister gave a 'hmph', and turned away from them to talk to her friends.

Fred and George were so on edge as they made the way down to the lake that afternoon, that they kept dropping their money bags, that they were using to take bets. They were yelling out to the students descending the hill to the lake, Fred more hoarsely. When they had finished, they joined the rest of the students on the great stand, out in the middle of the lake. Spotting Hayden angrily talking to Professor McGonagall however, caused them to join the section for the champions instead.

"What were you thinking? Sending children down there? What kind of fucked up school is this?" Hayden seemed to be becoming increasingly frustrated the more McGonagall replied so calmly.

"D'you reckon this is about Summer?"

"Must be, he wouldn't be so angry otherwise." They continued to listen.

"Please calm down, Mr Blanchet, I can assure you they are perfectly safe-"

"Safe? Safe?! Are you kidding me?" By now, he was shouting, and people were starting to look over, nudging their friends in their direction as they did so. McGonagall then said something lowly in his ear, and Hayden was almost laughing in frustration, as he walked away from the professor, kicking through a plank of wood as he did so.

"Until April!" The professor shouted after him, as she hurried back to the raised teacher's box, and when she had her back turned, Hayden had thrust his middle finger at her.

Cedric, who had been warming up, went over to his friend, and Hayden could be seen urgently talking to him under his breath. He patted him on the back as he did so, and nodded to him, as Hayden audibly wished him luck and came over to the twins.

"Alright you two," he leaned against a piece of wood that was part of the dividing fences.

"How did you get away with talking to her like that?" Fred watched Hayden glare over at her as she made her way for her teacher booth at the other side of the stands.

"I didn't. I have detention for the rest of the month,"

"Wait, so what exactly is going on?"

"Let me explain,"

The previous evening, Snape had burst into the Slytherin common room, demanding that Hayden followed him. Confused, he obliged and found himself in McGonagall's study. Ron, Hermione, and Gabrielle were already there- looking anxious as they waited to hear why they had been brought together.

The professor explained about the second task, "We would just put you in a sleep now, and you would be unconscious until the champion assigned to you surfaces the lake with you."

Hermione and Ron were conversing under their breaths, meanwhile, Gabrielle looked terrified. He wanted to comfort the poor girl but knew there was nothing he could do.

"No way," he said. "You've got to be kidding me, you've all gone crazy, what has this school come to?" He could tell the other students were seriously side glancing at him, but continued.

"Mr Blanchet, I can assure you there are many safety precautions in place-"

"Fuck your safety precautions, you said under seventeens couldn't even enter but that's turned out to be false didn't it?"

"That was an unexpected circumstance and-"

"And what? You expect us all to take the risk that our deaths might be an unexpected circumstance?"

"That's fifty points from Slytherin, the way you've just spoken to me," McGonagall frowned at the boy.

"You think I care? I swear to God, you better not bring Summer into this either, find someone else for Cedric, but leave my family out of this." He kicked a nearby bookcase and left the room- slamming the heavy wooden door behind him.

"Wait, so Summer and my brother are at the bottom of the lake? What do you mean?" Fred started trying to get nearer to the edge.

"Don't be stupid, Fred," George held an arm up in front of him to guide him away, but then stopped abruptly.

"Ron is down there, George, and Summer!"

"Yeah, but obviously they have some sort of system in place so that everyone gets out safely," reasoned George.

"I don't know... Have you seen how many people used to die in these things?" Hayden sat down and put his head in his hands.

"Look, the lake is massive, all we can do is wait, Cedric's gonna find her don't worry," George watched Fred and Hayden's worried expressions.

"Yeah..." Fred mumbled and tapped his foot impatiently. The cheering crowd felt distant in his head, and he knew the sound of the horn to start the task was only going to be the beginning of the longest hour of his life.

                                     ❀❀❀

Summer opened her eyes. She was immediately hit with a plethora of unpleasant sensations. Her muscles currently felt tense, icy cold, and weak. She gasped for air as she tried to gather her surroundings, she was in the lake, woken at the time she had been told she would. But where was Cedric? Just then, she felt arms wrap around her waist and give support as relief flooded through her. She saw the stands not too far away, full of cheering students, yelling Cedric's name.

It was short-lived, however, as she felt something grab her foot. Cedric seemed to be experiencing the same problem, as he started thrashing around. He tried desperately to keep her afloat, but there were too many of these creatures now. Summer felt herself being dragged down and splashed about as she attempted to swim closer to the dock. Just as she thought she had shaken the mermen, more like sea monsters, her whole head became fully submerged under the surface once more, only this time, she had lost the strength to keep fighting. Cedric was lower down, still using the bubblehead charm, fighting off ones of his own, and occasionally tried to shoot in her direction., but it was no use, she had no wand, no defence. Her thoughts started to feel more simple, as she couldn't hold her breath for another second, and gasped for oxygen, only to take in murky lake water. The last thing she heard was a girl screaming and muffled shouting. Then she floated away into a much calmer, clear blue ocean.

Hayden had seen enough. As soon as he saw her struggling, he had dived into the water, despite the shouts of warning, and had reached her only as her body became still.
"No... No..." He kept saying to himself, as he shot spells at the heads of the merpeople and pulled her lifeless body up and above the surface, keeping her mouth open and facing up. Fred was now also close to them, and took half her body, as they swam with her back to the bank. A group of people, including George and even Fleur- who had been the one who screamed and alerted them in the first place helped to pull- until Summer was safely out of the water. It was then too that Cedric's head popped back up, causing more sighs of relief from the onlookers.

Hayden was repeating a variation of 'this can't be happening', 'please wake up' and 'not this time', as he began pressing on her chest. By now, many onlookers had crowded around the scene, watching in fear.
"You're okay," Fred brought her head up to lay on his knees and tried pressing her stomach this time. Hayden ran his hands through his hair as he watched Fred attempt CPR, pushing on her chest now.

She was wearing only the shorts and cami from the night before- not even the jumper, which was nowhere to be seen.

Just as the teachers and headmasters approached, the girls' eyes shot open, and water began to trickle out from the side of her mouth.

"She's going to choke!" Fred pushed her up as quickly as he could, and Hayden held her so that her chin rested over his shoulder. No sooner than that, did she start coughing and throwing up dirty looking water, with flecks of green, which must have been seaweed of some sort. Hayden's robes were drenched in the foul-smelling liquid, but he didn't care, she didn't die, and that's all that mattered.

Once she had finished, she shakily wiped her mouth and collapsed back into Fred's lap.
"Wh-Why did you d-do that," she shivered violently, which prompted Fleur to run to retrieve a fluffy towel, which she wrapped around the girl's frame.
"I didn't want you to be sick on yourself, you're already soaking," Hayden didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was furious at the faculty- especially McGonagall, and confused, that that of all things, was what Summer was worried about when she had just almost died. He gave the teacher a dirty look as he tucked the blanket Fleur had brought tighter around her, and Fred lifted her hair out of it, to make her position more comfortable, and she curled up into a tight ball.

The others still hadn't returned, causing more frantic whispers ruminating around the crowd. Half were staring at her, and the other, the dark lake water.
"Summer!" She turned her head slightly, to see her friends calling and waving to her from the other side of the stands.
"Are! You! Okay?!" Alicia was shouting at the top of her lungs to the girl.
"Yeah! We can't get through!"
"Don't worry," Fred whispered to her, gave them a thumbs-up, and yelled, "She's okay!" During which, he covered her ears to stop her from jumping at the noise.

When she focused on her surroundings again, she saw Fleur with her head buried in Hayden's shoulder, and every so often saying something in french to him, to which he would nod solemnly. Fred was currently stroking her hair, which soothed slightly the pounding of her head and heart- as realisation finally set in. She could have died- Hayden was right. But before she could think any further, Cedric came over and crouched down.
"Summer, I'm so sorry! I did everything I could, I didn't know that would happen and-"

"It's fine," she croaked out. "Honestly, it's not your fault," she said, trying to give him a weak smile, but even Fred knew from her eyes that she didn't mean it.

"Are you okay though? Surely you ought to go to the Hospital Wing?"

"I think I will after this is finished, or at least for a warm bath," she spoke through chattering teeth- causing Fred to rub her shoulders before wrapping his arms tighter around her with the blanket.

Now instead of five soaking wet students, there were ten. Everyone was finally back, and the scores were to be announced shortly. Once Hermione and Ron had found out about what had just happened, they started bombarding Fred and George with questions, and after George had taken Ron off to the side to talk in private, Hermione began insisting on going to Madame Pomfrey that very minute.

"I mean honestly, letting you go in there in only that, are they trying to make you ill?" At this, Hayden glanced over and held out his hand towards her.

"See, at least I'm not the only one who thinks there's something wrong with these teachers," he shook his head just as Hermione opened her mouth to retort- probably something to defend her beloved professors, but Summer spoke hastily before she could get her words out.

"I'm okay, really, Hermione, but thank you," she smiled at the girl as she continued to shiver, causing her to give a doubtful look, but lay off all the same. Fred had also now removed his own jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Come on, let's get you up," he said to her, softly, as they began to announce the winners. But Summer didn't care, even if Cedric had gotten first place- she just wanted to get somewhere warm.

She was extremely unsteady on her feet, as they tried to avoid the crowd by leaving early. Almost halfway up the steep slope to the castle- Summer's legs gave out completely, but she didn't let herself cry, she was going to hold it together.
"I feel pathetic," she moaned to Fred, as he now carried her for the remainder of the journey to the dormitories. He wanted to joke about the jelly-leg hex to lighten the mood, but was unsure how she would take it under the current circumstances, and spoke sincerely instead.

"Shut up, Sum. Let me tell you, I wouldn't have been half as brave as you were in that situation, you deserve a rest." He set her down at the base of the stairs and held her up, with one hand on her waist, the other on her shoulder.
"You gonna be okay to sort out what you need?" He asked her, stooping as low as his height would allow him, to be level with her eyes.

She was still shaking from the cold, and soaked through the little clothes she was wearing, even though the roaring fire was enough to heat anyone nearby. She stayed silent- unsure herself of what would happen.

"Would you be okay with coming up to the boys' dormitory then?" Fred asked, and she nodded, with only a slight movement of her head- so that it could have been more of a jerk. "Alright, here we go." He stooped to pick her up and ascended the stone steps to his dormitory. He shared only with George, and Summer was relieved at how neat it was.

"The bathroom is just through that door, if you need anything call out for me, okay?"

"Okay, thanks," she called from the shower she was now standing in.

When she had finished, she stepped carefully onto the bath mat and wrapped herself in one of the maroon fluffy towels hanging up.

"Um, Fred?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't have any spare clothes with me."

"Hang on." She heard a rummaging sound, then saw the bathroom door open a crack, and Fred's arm extended through, holding two neatly folded items of clothing.

"Sorry, they might be a little big."

"It's okay, thanks." Summer took them and saw that they were a dark green jumper, and some plaid pyjama bottoms. Fred was right, she had to roll the bottoms three times just to stop them from trailing behind her on the floor, and the jumper almost reached her knees. When she came out, Fred's heart almost stopped.

"What's wrong?" Summer had seemed to notice his reaction.

"Oh, nothing," he scratched the back of his neck, "Wow, they're really big on you aren't they."

"Yeah," she laughed and flopped down on his bed next to him.

"I'm tired, Fred," her eyelids suddenly felt heavy from the relief of finally being comfortable.

"Sleep, sunshine, you've been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours," Fred moved out of her way so that she could lay back, and he lifted the covers for her to get under. He, however, sat next to her, lying on top of the covers, and staring up at the curtains of his four-poster. Occasionally, he glanced over at the sleeping girl beside him, and was thankful she was here, and not in the bottom of the black lake.

                                   ❀❀❀

Fred was just falling asleep, when George came in.

"Shh," Fred urged him to be silent, as to not wake the sleeping girl.

"Hayden's waiting outside, he asked me to check if Summer was here, I'll tell him yes," George rolled his eyes and walked back out, but poked his head back through the doorway, "By the way, this is not what I meant by 'get a room'," he chuckled, and Fred smiled to himself, hearing his twins' footsteps retreating, as he closed his eyes.