LIKE LIGHTNING | Harry Potter x Reader Fanfiction

⁕ gillyweed ⁕

I woke up on the Gryffindor common room couch, Harry's arms wrapped around me. I used my free hand to rub at my eyes. I had a slight headache, and I groaned at the painful throbbing. Last night had been..... well, fun. I smiled and blushed, remembering how passionate Harry and I had been just a few hours ago. We had stayed there together for about half an hour longer before making our way back to the middle of the common room and watched as everybody played party games or fell asleep. Us two doing the latter. 

Now I lay here, my head pounding. I guess the fun had to end at some point. I slowly tried to move Harry's arm off me without waking up, but then he took a sharp breath and opened his eyes. 

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you." I whispered to him. 

"It's alright. What time is it?" 

"Um," I looked around the room and checked the hands on a clock, "10:47." 

"Ah, yeah we should probably get up." He said, groaning and fixing his glasses as he sat up. 

I grabbed my discarded shoes off of the carpeted ground and gave him a peck on the cheek before saying, "I had a really great time with you last night." 

"Me too, Y/N. Maybe we could hang out later today too. I've got to go figure out what I'm going to go for the second task." 

"I'll see you later then Harry, oh- and don't beat yourself up if you don't find anything right away, I'm sure you'll figure something out soon." I said, ruffling his already messy jet black hair before stepping out of the Gryffindor common room and making my way to the Ravenclaw dorms. I saw a few kids walking back as well, all of us still in our outfits from the night before. I wondered how Arabella was doing. I almost felt guilty; I hadn't asked her if she wanted to join the rest of us at the twin's party. Hopefully, she had had fun on her own with Neville. The two of them were so sweet. 

Harry's POV

It was nearly midnight and I had already kissed Y/N goodnight before resuming my search for something to help me breathe underwater. I had been lucky enough to get help from Cedric about how to open the egg, but the second part wasn't as easy. 

An hour-long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

It was obvious. Hermione had told the four of them, Harry would search for some item underwater, and he only had an hour to do it. Dragons were one thing, he was on dry land, but being underwater was a whole new problem he had to figure out. 

He recited the poem again, "An hour-long you'll have to look."

"Again, obvious, although potentially problematic." 

"Potentially problematic! When's the last time you held your breath underwater for an hour, Hermione?" I asked at her, banging my head on one of the books strewn across the library tables. 

"Look, Harry, we can do this. The three of us can figure it out!" She said, putting a hand on my shoulder." 

Then I heard a gruff voice behind me, "Hate to break up the study session, but Professor McGonagall would like to see you in her office." It was Moody. I went to stand up but he turned to me and said, "Not you Potter, just Weasley, and Granger." 

"But sir, the second task is only hours away." Hermione started, "and-"

"Exactly, and to make sure Potter is properly prepared, he should get a good night's sleep. Go. Now." He said, enunciating each word." The two of them, but not before giving me an "I'm sorry" look. I started to pack stack up the forgotten books but then I heard Professor Moody called over Neville. 

"Mr. Longbottom, come help Mr. Potter put away his books." he said and then walked off. 

I silently helped Neville shelve the books as he rambled on about something to do with Herbology. 

"Sorry, Neville, but I really don't care." I snapped, already feeling sorry as the words left my mouth. 

I tried to cover it up by saying, "Now, if you could find me some kind of plant that could let me breathe underwater for an hour then that would be amazing." 

"Well there is something." he started, and my head shot up from the ancient book it was resting on. 

"Wait really?" I said, now looking at Neville.

"Yeah, Gillyweed." 

"Neville, is there any way I could find Gillyweed in the next couple of hours?" I asked. 

"Well, I suppose Professor Snape would have some." Neville said a bit anxiously. I knew he wasn't a fan of Professor Snape, but I had to ask anyway. 

"Neville.... do you think you could get me some of that? I need it for the second task of the tournament." I asked aprehensivly. 

He bit his lip before saying, "I- I could try." 

"Brilliant!" I said, thanking Neville. We discussed the next few hours. He would sneak into Professor Snape's potions cabinet a steal the gillyweed, and then we'd meet again in the morning by the Black Lake so that I could ingest it before the second task. I walked back to the Gryffindor dorm rooms feeling a bit more spirited. I didn't see Ron or Hermione as I headed to bed and assumed they were still with Professor McGongall. Then I drifted off to sleep, just a tad more eased than before. 

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Sorry that I haven't been updating as much as before. I had a giant slump and needed to focus on school a bit more. But I think I'll get back into the rhythm. 

Word Count: 959