FINITE | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [4]

𝘅𝗹𝗶𝘃 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸

The first thing that hit Gwen was the sting of cold water. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before, a thin blouse and some trousers that were now weighing her down; she was in the middle of the lake, her mouth open wide to let in cold, clean air, surrounded by about two dozen grey skinned, yellow eyed, green haired merpeople, who were all smiling at Harry.

The next thing that reached her ears was the crowd; it was making a great deal of noise, shouting and screaming, everyone on the lake shore seemed to be on their feet, peering at Gwen and Harry as though they feared they would be dead.

Gwen coughed up a great load of water, then turned, noticing Fleur's little sister, struggling to keep her head above the water.

'Oh, Merlin,' she said, swimming toward her and holding her up. Gwen looked at Harry, who was treading water, spluttering for fresh air. 'Come on,' she said, and together, the two of them swam back to the shore, holding up the little girl who clearly couldn't swim very well.

The merpeople accompanied them back to the bank, where immediately they were met with Ron.

'What did you bring her for?' he said, grabbing Harry's arm to help pull him from the lake. Once Harry had climbed up, he took Gwen's arm, who was still supporting the little girl.

'Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her,' Harry panted.

'Harry, you prat!' Ron said. 'You didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let anyone drown!'

'The song said--'

'It was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit!' said Ron. 'I hope you didn't waste time down there, acting the hero!'

Gwen was still supporting Fleur's sister, holding her hand as they waded out of the shallows onto dry land, both shivering and panting. Ludo Bagman and Professor Dumbledore were beaming at Gwen and Harry as Ron accompanied them out of the water, Percy, who was very white in the face, came splashing forward, followed very closely by Felix and Lucille, who were as pale as their hair. Meanwhile, Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting violently to return to the water.

'Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she hurt?'

'She's fine!' Harry said, but his voice was barely more than a murmur from pure exhaustion.

Lucille had suddenly broken forward, throwing herself onto Gwen and almost knocking her backwards. Little Gabrielle was still shivering, holding Gwen's hand, searching for Fleur desperately.

'Gwen! Oh, Merlin, we thought--' Lucille was shivering as badly as Gwen was. Felix was suddenly holding Gwen's free hand, yanking her, Lucille, and Gabrielle further onto the bank. Fleur Delacour had broken free from Madame Maxime's restraints and was now hugging her sister.