Breaking Free- Fred Weasley

Chapter 49

I barely got any sleep last night, and to make matters worse George came up to me extremely worried at breakfast.

"Eva. Eva," he pokes me from my half asleep state on the Ravenclaw table. "Did Fred come to your dorm last night?"

"No why would he?" The look of George's face makes my stomach sink farther than it already is. "George..."

"McGonagall came to talk to him last night and he never came back." We both share a concerned look.

"Do you thin-"

"Miss Black," interrupts Flitwick, "I suggest you start to head down to the Black Lake. You champions should be there early."

I nod and share one last despaired look with George before making my way out of the castle. It's a long walk down to the lake, way to long and when I get there Victor and Karkaroff are already at the judges table. I stand some distance away, not wanting to be too close. Slowly the other champions and judges arrive, with Harry last almost missing the task all together. After Harry catches his breath Bagman starts to talk.

"All our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what's been taken from them. On the count of three. One....two....three!"

A whistle shrieks through the air and we all start to waddle out into the lake. At about stomach deep I pull out my wand and say, "Respirare Aqua." I feel my throat slicing open gills like it has many times before and dive into the water before I start suffocating.

At first I'm crawling on the lake floor, still in the shallow end but within minutes I'm deep in the lake, surrounded by plants I've never seen before. This side of the lake is more ominous and creepy. The unfortunate part of the spell is I only have gills, nothing to help me swim faster in the water. And I have no idea where to find the mermaids that took whatever was mine.

It seems like hours that I keep swimming, my legs burning, before I spot something that wasn't a plant. At first from a distance it looks sort of what I pictured a mermaid to look like. But as I get closer I see it's something worse. Now only a small distance away, floats an ugly, small grindylow. Though it was younger and one I knew I had to do something before it attacked me. Taking a deep breathe I focused on the spell Stupefy. I needed total focus for my nonverbal magic. With my entire focus on the creature feet away from me I pull out my wand and yell in my mind. "Stupefy!"

A small light shoots out of my wand, causing the grindylow to fly backwards. Not wanting to stick around to see what it would do, I push with all my might and keep swimming. It feels like I have been under the water for hours but I know it can't be the case, the spell only lasts one hour.

Stuck within my own mind it takes me a second to realize I'm in a clearing with no plants and people strung up by ropes. It takes me even longer to comprehend Harry, floating next to Ron, and next to Ron, Fred. Another little girl floats there and by the looks of it two other people have already been freed. With my tired legs I push towards Fred trying to figure out what to cut the rope with.

As I arrive next to Harry I notice a sharp rock in his hand and take his method. I move to a nearby ledge and grab the sharpest rock I can find before starting to cut the rope. Surprisingly, the rope cuts easily but for me the tricky part was bringing Fred back up. I grab his long lengthy arm and start to swim up. But with my already exhausted legs and my boyfriend's long limbed body, we are barely moving.

Then I could feel it. My gills are shrinking away. As my air starts to run out, my flight mode kicks in and I start to swim and drag Fred up. Ignoring the feeling of fire all over my body. I feel myself choking as the surface comes nearer. Almost there. Almost...there.

Splash

We break the surface, both of us coughing and sputtering. I'm spitting up the excess of water that I had swallowed when the spell wore off. This time it's Fred who swims my body onto Madam Pomfrey's platform.

"Alright love?" he asks, looking more concerned for me than the fact that he was just underwater for hours.

"I'm...f-fine Fred. I...shoul-ld be worried about...you." I sputter out between chattering teeth.

I sit besides Fleur who looks scared out of her mind while George somehow appears on the platform right away.

"Fred!" he runs up to him pulling him into a hug. "Don't ever leave me again." He says more quietly. The two embrace again while Madam Pomfrey comes up to all of us, muttering about the task, and performs a drying spell for the Fleur, Fred, and I.

Exhausted, I start to zone out, the noisy screams of spectators disappearing and I don't even notice until Fred nudges me, focusing my attention on the judges.

"Ladies and gentlemen," booms Bagman, "we have reached our decision. The Merchief has told us everything that happened at the bottom of the lake. Fleur Delacour, demonstrated an excellent use of a Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows and did not retrieve her hostage. We award her 25 points."

"I do not deserve that," she sobs from behind me while her little sister, who had been saved by Harry, comforts her.

"Cedric Diggory also used the Bubble-Head Charm and was the first to arrive. Though one minute outside the time limit. We award him 47 points."

I try to focus on Bagman but my body still shakes and I feel like jello. I really needed to start working out more.

"-award Krum 40 points. Harry Potter used gillyweed and returned last outside the time limit," I hadn't even noticed, "However we were informed that his delay was due to his determination to bring all the hostages to safety. We feel that shows moral fiber and award him 45 points."

I can't help but to scoff. Yes he should be awarded extra points for saving Fleur's little sister, but 45.

"Lastly Eva Black used the...effective Scuba Spell and was third to return with a hostage. We award her 38 points."

Everyone claps as Bagman finishes up by announcing the last task would be on June 24th.

"You sure your alright Ev?" Fred asks again.

"Just exhausted honestly. Didn't expect that much swimming." I smile at him before adding. "Or having to drag your long limbs out of a lake."

"Hey, I've been a good boyfriend and haven't pranked you. I'll change that though if you keep on like this." He smirks at me, helping me up.