Sirius's son

Second task and animagi

True to Rigel's words. Hagrid had come back the following day not exactly his usual self but teaching nonetheless. He had captured two unicorn foals. Unlikefull-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavenderwent into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even PansyParkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them.

"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at around four. Don' go pure white till they're full-grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies . . . don' mind boys so much. . . . C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want . . . give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps. . . . 

When Eliza and Harry reached the Great Hall the noise was almost deafening. The excitement of the second task appeared to be making everyone very loud and cheerful. Eliza and Harry sat down next to Ginny.

"Morning, how are you both feeling?" She asked tentatively, Harry tried to mumble fine but the word died in his throat, Eliza merely looked at her plate, her face paling.

"Hey guys, Eliza, have you seen Rigel? He didn't come back last night after seeing Professor McGonagall." Ginny asked.

Eliza shook her head, and looked at Harry her heart constricting, she could see the cogs turning in his mind, and he looked up at her with wide eyes.

"We've taken what you'll sorely miss...too late, it's gone, it won't come back. Oh, fuck...they've got Rigel and Ron...and Hermione, for Krum...I can't..."

Eliza tuned out of his ramblings, she tried to keep a clear head, Rigel wouldn't get hurt. She tried to convince herself that it would be fine but she couldn't help remembering the reason the tournament was canceled, she heard Professor Dumbledore in her head 'until the death count became so high that the tournament was discontinued.

Eliza barely noticed when Professor McGonagall came to collect her and Harry, the next thing she knew she was in the tent. She forced herself to concentrate on the instructions but her head felt like she had too many thoughts.

After another seemingly small amount of time Eliza found herself outside the tent, she wasn't looking at the audience, her mind was still spinning. She heard a whistle but didn't move a muscle, it wasn't till the other champions had reached the water's edge that she realized the task had begun. She could feel the adrenaline building and she pushed the Gillyweed into her mouth, it was like chewing a piece of foul-smelling rubber.

When she was waist-deep she felt her mouth constrict and suddenly she couldn't breathe, doing the only thing that made sense she dove into the water and took a breath, the oxygen entered her lungs and relief swam around her head.

After ten minutes she had lost track of the other champions and was on her own. In another scenario, she could have seen the beauty of the green waters of the lake and enjoyed the feeling that swimming gave her but she was so concentrated on getting to Rigel that the ambiance of the lake was lost on her.

Every so often she could hear snatches of the mermaid's song but she couldn't figure out the direction it was coming from. She felt like she was swimming in circles, surely an hour was nearly up. She also felt as if she was being watched but she couldn't see anyone, or anything, near her.

She had managed to find Rigel tied and surrounded by a dwelling of merpeople. When she tried to find something to cut through the bonds, Eliza had instead taken out Rigel's arm and the sword of Slytherin appeared. She took it and cut through the weed-like slicing cake. She caught him and pulled him upwards hoping that the champions would come.

"Oh, God!" Rigel gasped, as soon as they reached the surface, the charm breaking off. "Eliza you found me!"

Immediately Madam Pomfrey came up to them wrapping them with towels. The duo moaned as he and Eliza were hit with warming charms. Eliza leaned onto his shoulder and he kissed her on the forehead rubbing her hands.