The Dark Lords Daughter

Chapter 14

     By the time I'm done in the prefects bathroom my fingers and toes are shriveled, looking more like raisins than actual limbs. I take the egg and put my clothes back on, cold now that I'm not in the welcoming warmth of the water. What did the egg mean? Would we be racing to the other side of the lake? But they are taking something we will miss.
I walk out, and look back at the mermaid guarding the doors. Of course! Mermaids sing underwater, hence the song! Would this mean it would be under the lake? How would I last a whole hour under the black lake?

    Luna and I spent the next few days in the hogwarts library, searching through book after book to find any that might help me with my task. None, however fit the standards I need. On the third day of searching Harry and Hermione sit down next to us, and open a large book that I haven't seen before.
    "Whats this?" I ask, as Harry closes the section's curtain so no one comes in. He looks over at luna, before turning to me as if to question how he should act. Luna seems to read his mind, and says.
    "I know you both are together ish, whatever you are." Harry smiles, and opens the book.
    "I got this book from Neville. He says it has all types of plants in it that can help us," Harry says, handing it off to Hermione.
    "Plants? How in the world are we going to use plants? I ask.
    "Simple. Plants are used in potions due to their magical properties and abilities they can give. So taken without a potion one might be able to use a specific plant for their personal gain for a specific amount of time. Take the gillyweed for example. When used in a hydration potion, it acts by allowing the drinker to become more hydrated even in the absence of water. But taken alone, it's able to allow the taker to stay underwater for a given amount of time," Hermione says, sounding as if she's reading it all out of the book.
    "So we could use it for the task," Harry says. I grab the book from Hermione, who has it open to a page dedicated to gillyweed. I read through it.
    "This says they are native to the asian gulf. That's far from here, how are we going to get it?" I ask. Hary smiles slyly, looking at Hermione who sighs.
    "Snapes ingredients stash,"

     Later that night I decide it's too risky to sneak out of the common room again, so I take my broom and fly it through the open window. Harry said he would meet me in the second south corridor, so I fly down to the courtyard, and hide the broom in nearby bushes.
    "Look who's out after hours! Naughty naughty! You think even in those black robes we wouldn't be able to spot you?" a voice says. I turn around, my heart leaping out of my chest. A forest of red hair is in front of me, both on two identical heads.
    "Fred, George! What are you doing!" I hiss at them, grabbing each by the wrist and dragging them inside the castle.
    "Potter is an amerature at stuff like this. We thought you both would need a little help," they both say, finishing each other's sentances. I groan, and beckon them to come as I make my way to the dungeons.
   
     Harry meets us in the second south corridor as expected, and is waiting there long before we arrive.
    "You guys take forever. Let's go," he says, starting to walk to the stairs. Fred steps in front of him, stopping his advance.
    "You can't go that way,"
    "Lots of traps to catch kids out of bed after hours," George finishes, walking over to a sleeping painting. The portrait is of a young girl, holding a basket of flowers. He taps the nose of it, and it swings open from the hinges of the wall, revealing a dark passage.
    "We recommend taking this one," they say un usion, waiting for us to come. I look over at Harry, a little uncertain, but he waltzes right into it. I follow close behind. The passage is dark and musty, but short. After a few turns, we open a door, and Fred and George tell us to go in without them. I got first, followed by Harry. We're in Snape's ingredients closet.
    "Look for anything that resembles Gillyweed," I whisper, quickly scanning shelf's. He does the same, and after a few minutes of searching we find a bottle labeled Gillyweed, with an odd looking green and purple vine plant inside. Instead of taking the whole thing out, we take the whole bottle, and renter the passageway. Fred and George shut the entry behind us, and we make our way back to the courtyard.

    Once we are outside, I convince Fred and George they are no longer of help to us, and they both make their way back to the castle, leaving me and Harry alone together. The castle's windows are lit with firelight, and the stars shine brightly with the moon, leaving us plenty of light to see. I reach my hand into the bushes where I stashed the broom, pulling it out along with a few leaves and branches.
    "You know, a night like this would be considered romantic in some cases," Harry begins, pulling my waist closer to him. I put the broom between us, blocking him.
    "Yes, and why would that be?"
    "You have firelight and stars, what girl doesn't like that?" he replies, pushing the broom away from my face so he can edge closer. Instead I sit down on the grassy hill, the cold dirt lacing between my fingertips. He does the same.
    "The clue said it was going to take something we will miss. What does that mean?" I ask him. He shrugs, laying down to look at the stars.
    "This Gillyweed better work. If Hermione's wrong were walking into the task blind," he says. I lay down on his chest, listening to him take deep breaths. He smells like the broomsticks birchwood, with a slight hint of cinnamon.
    "Hermione's never wrong,"
    "She could be. Did you hear she's been hooking up with Victor Krum? She could be helping him out by giving us false information," he says. I sit back up, and give him a slight sharp slap across the face. He holds it like a baby while laughing. "Im kidding,"
    "You better be. Hermiones never wrong. Come task day, we are going to win,"