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FOURTEEN BLOW 'EM AWAY!
(NO. 2)
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WHEN HOLLY WAS littler, she always found herself with a place on her school's swimming team, or competing in the local swimming gala for her school, or the annual 'swimarathon' they'd hold for primary schools. She still remembers when she sarted having swimming lessons, how much she loved bolting through the water, her feet kicking off one edge, and setting off towards the other.
She remembers on holidays, when she and her dad — and Eugene, after a short while — would spend a week or so in a pretty villa near the Mediterranean, and she'd spend hours in the swimming pool. She'd swim to the bottom, her chest grazing the small tiles on the floor as she slithered along. She remembers at Durmstrang, instantly signing up to be on the swimming team because she knows how much she loves it. And, okay, she admits, swimming in their lake wasn't terrible, because they all muttered the spell to keep warm before they went in the water, and after that, it was fine. It felt like she was in Spain, without the blue skies, and without her dad reading a book nearby.
So Holly's looking forward to this. Holly knows that she's a fast swimmer, knows that she can maintain an air of cunningness underwater. If she performed well at the first task, then this one is going to be a walk in the park.
She stands next to the other champions, her hair in a pretty plait she sorted out this morning, before she and her friends hurried down to breakfast. Holly keeps on glancing around, because Harry's yet to show up, and she's getting a little worried. Pansy disappeared last night, and she's overheard Fleur say how she hasn't seen her little sister since dinner yesterday, too. Maybe someone's started kidnapping people — she doesn't know why, exactly—
Oh. The egg said something about taking something that they'll miss. This makes a little more sense, with Pansy and Fleur's sister vanishing. It still doesn't explain where Harry is, but then, when can anything explain him?
Holly looks around into the crowd, past the judge's table, and spots her friends. She sees Harlow and Daphne looking at her, and they grin at her. Harlow gives her a thumbs-up, and behind him, she sees Crabbe and Goyle being made to hold up a sign, one that says SUPPORT HOLLY LIPPINCOTT, THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
"I'm... here...!"
Holly spins around, and sees Harry skid to a stop. She feels a little relieved, actually, even if they haven't really spoken since The Three Broomsticks. It would make sense if someone kidnapped him, really. Voldemort would probably love to, if he was still alive.
But the thing with that, how they haven't spoken for a couple weeks. She feels awkward, and naturally, when she knows something is going to be a little uncomfortable, she tends to avoid the situation altogether.
