2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

13 | THE SECOND TASK

ACT TWO, the returned
CHAPTER THIRTEEN, the second task

    Admittedly, Iris had been a little surprised that Harry had come to her for help on the second task.

She knew that Harry had asked her for help on things before, but he had been acting a little weird lately around her. He'd blow off meeting in the Astronomy Tower in some instances or avoid her all together. She hadn't been completely oblivious to the glances that he'd give her and Theo on some occasions either, but everyone else seemed to be surprised that Iris and Theo were together, in some way, as well. Oliver had reprimanded her for not telling him immediately, Pansy tried to pry Iris for details, Draco teased Theo relentlessly for "finally gaining the courage to make a move". Iris finally managed to coerce Harry into meeting her in the Astronomy Tower and he caved because he realized that he was being a bit ridiculous because he knew that he should've expected this to happen. After all, this was Iris and they weren't together (no matter how much he might have liked for them to be) so he needed to get over it and worry about other things like the Triwizard Tournament for example.

"You want me to help you find a way to survive underwater for an hour?" Iris relayed to Harry after he finished telling her about how he had finally figured the egg out thanks to a clue that Cedric Diggory had given him. "If only we could learn human Transfigurations and turn you into a human submarine, or something."

"Hermione suggested the exact same thing. I guess my only choice is to go the library." Harry frowned deeply at that. "I figure that if we were careful enough, you could join us in looking in the library. As long as no one really sees us together, we'll be fine."

Iris hated the sneaking around part of their friendship, but she agreed nevertheless. Together, her, Hemione, Harry, and Ron searched the library for answers through lunch, evenings, and weekends to no avail. Iris's friends were suspicious as to her whereabouts, but she always just lied and said she was looking for a book. Theo was beginning to become the hardest to lie to about her whereabouts since he would ask for them to spend time together and Iris would have to lie to him at times when she had already agreed to help the Golden Trio. He didn't push, but Iris could tell that he was going to start growing suspicious too. 

February twenty-fourth, the day of the Second Task, was approaching and Iris could tell that Harry was beginning to feel panicked since he hadn't found a solution to his problem yet. 

Around this same time, Theo sat down with her and asked her to be his girlfriend.

"I've really enjoyed spending time with you these past two months and I think that we fit really good together." He had said to her, bringing a smile to her face. "You're incredible, Iris Rosier, and I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend?"

She had said yes and immediately wrote to Calypso, who was the only person that she had been keeping updated on the progression of her and Theo's relationship. Calypso was supportive and helped Iris work through her feelings, encouraging her to not keep everything bottled up. Iris had even heard from Sirius in a short letter that brought a smile to her face.

Heard about Theo. If he breaks your heart, let me know. I'll end him. Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl.

The evening of the second task came before Iris knew it and she found herself in the library with Harry, Hermione, and Ron searching for anything that could help them as the sun went down. She couldn't see any of them as they tore through the pages looking for answers due to the piles of books that separated them.