Hermione woke up with a start. Ever since the night of the Yule Ball, she was constantly worrying about Harry.
People had died in this tournament before, and not only that, someone had probably expected that to happen considering he hadn't put his name into the Goblet.
It was only six in the morning, but she was now awake so she decided to get up. All she wanted to do was see Harry, to make sure he was alright, but she knew she couldn't do that. The steps were charmed and he didn't have a dormitory to himself. If Ron saw her in there it would be embarrassing, but if Neville or Dean saw her, that would be a completely different story. They hadn't known about the two of them yet.
Hermione tightened her red and gold striped tie around her neck, and pulled her hair into a messy bun. There were loose strands that didn't make it into the bun, but seeing as that was inevitable, she decided to tuck them behind her ears and move on.
As she walked down the steps to the common room, her heart skipped a beat. She had heard someone, muttering nonsense to themselves, and immediately she knew it had been Harry.
Sure enough she was right. Harry was sitting on a chair by the fire, looking at some book. Hermione hadn't recognized it, so she thought it was personal and left it at that.
"Harry!" She yelled and ran up to him wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Mione." He muttered into her shoulder. "What are you doing up? It's six in the morning."
"I-I know." She stuttered "I just worry about you, constantly."
"Hermione—" He objected
"Harry people have died in this tournament, when they willingly volunteer. But you didn't. Doesn't that say something?" She said
"Well those people probably weren't hit with the killing curse as a child, and then hunted down by the Dark Lord ever since." He teased
"Even still, Harry. I couldn't imagine something happening to you." She said
"I told you I figured out that clue from the egg, haven't I? I know what to expect, I'll be fine." Harry reassured her
"Well, this afternoon, I'll be at that lake with you." Hermione smiled "I'll be in the stands cheering you on."
Harry smiled to himself at the thought. He had immediately felt stronger when he knew that Hermione would be with him.
***
***
It was now the afternoon, and Harry stood on the dock to the black lake with the three other champions.
He was being cheered on by Ron, Neville and the other Gryffindors. Fred and George were easily the most enthusiastic, they had told Harry they were routing for him. Said it would look good for Gryffindor and upset the Slytherins.
Though this had helped, it didn't compare to Hermione's support. And it wasn't just because she was his girlfriend, but because there was something about her. Something that made Harry feel more powerful. He hadn't known if it was love or just their friendship, but he had felt this way about her for a while now.
But this was the reason she was anchored to the bottom of the lake. It had been his fault that she was in danger.
Of course they weren't in life or death danger, but if Harry couldn't save her...what would happen? Would the judges just leave her down there? He shook the thought out of his head. It wouldn't make sense to put other students in danger.
Dumbledore was giving a long speech about the task, but it all became background noise due to the awful taste of gillyweed in his mouth.
The whistle blew, and while the other contestants dived into the lake, Harry had to be pushed. The audience had gasped, assuming that Harry had been injured or harmed in some way.
His neck had been irritated and as went to scratch at it, he saw his fingers webbed together. His feet were just the same, making him look like a human-fish hybrid. Then, he let everybody know he was alright by flipping above the water before submerging himself once more.
Hermione was down there. He didn't even need to be down there to know that. If this was the person he cared for the most, then it was Hermione without a doubt. And although he had cared for Ron a great deal too, his care for Hermione was different. Ron was his friend and they were silly together, but Hermione was his confidant, whom he could tell anything to.
When he reached the bottom of the lake, he saw Hermione anchored to the bottom. This task was now already than the first. It had looked like he was staring right at Hermione's corpse, and that was far worse than battling a dragon.
He unchained her the second he saw her. All Harry wanted to do was swim to the top of the lake, not to come first, but to leave this lake as soon as possible. He just wanted to see Hermione as herself again.
But as he was unraveling the chains around her feet, he noticed that Fleur wasn't down here. Maybe she was hidden behind Krum's obnoxious shark form, but as he looked up at the surface, he saw Fleur standing at the dock.
Harry had been so worried as to what would happen to Hermione, that he can almost sympathize as to what Fleur is feeling. This was her little sister, and Harry couldn't just leave her.
He immediately went to save her, however all the while he was wondering if Hermione would be disappointed. He didn't think so because he was saving someone's life, but it was possible that the gillyweed would wear off and he could drown.
At first the mermaids were not letting him leave the lake with both girls. (Probably the weirdest sentence I've written) They were holding their sharp tridents at his throat and all Harry could say was 'but she's my friend too' and the mermaids backed off, however they were very hesitant and angry about it.
Harry could feel the Gillyweed wearing off, his webbed feet and hands were returning to their normal state. As he neared the surface, Harry had trouble breathing. By this time it had seemed as though it had almost completely wore off.
Harry kept swimming. After all he was so close, he couldn't just give up now. And before he knew it they were all breathing fresh air once again.
Ron helped Fleur's sister out of the black lake as Hermione hugged Harry.
"You did it!" She yelled
"Hermione I...I came last." He said "I almost drowned down there when I told you I'd be safe."
"This is a difficult tournament. You tried your best, that's all that matters."
"But I took longer rescuing Fleur's sister." He nodded in her direction "I couldn't just leave her down there."
"Harry, you did the right thing." Hermione said "I don't care how long you took because it doesn't matter."
"I don't think the judges will see it that way." He said
Dumbledore was announcing the winner.
"Cedric Diggory!" He called and the Hufflepuffs and most of the school roared.
"However, due to a recent change in events, second place goes to Harry Potter for doing the honorable thing."
There was a lot of booing, mainly from Hogwarts and Durmstrangs. Beauxbatons couldn't really be upset with Harry after what he'd done.
One more task...I thought
