Bodyguards

The Lake

The weather was terrible for the time of year. Harry sneezed for the third time as he watched the three champions line up by the lake. He didn't envy them at all for having to dive into that pit of ice in these conditions. Hongbin passed him a tissue and he accepted with a muttered thanks.

Leo had approached him this morning and said that he would be swapping with Hongbin for this challenge and he would be swimming alongside Cedric. When Harry had asked why the pair became silent apart from Hongbin's embarrassed whisper of '

"I can't actually swim..." and after that the subject had been dropped. Harry and Hongbin went over to Leo and Cedric giving them both a pat on the back. Cedric smiled at Hongbin who shrugged apologetically and Leo and Harry nodded good luck, giving each other a small smile. Cedric caught Harry's eye and he grinned as Harry wished him luck, shaking his hand. Hongbin snuck over to Leo and gave him a discreet hug of good luck and thanks which Leo accepted quietly with a small smile.

Dumbledore called the crowd to attention and, as Harry returned to the stands, he noticed Ken with Ravi wishing him good luck and Draco awkwardly shaking Krum's hand before they too stepped over the barrier into the crowd. Hyuk yelled good luck to their leader who looked over his shoulder and both he and Fleur waved back in thanks before turning their attention back to the inky black lake in front of them.

The first few minutes passed with little problem; their spells would still be holding strong and there were no signs of any issues beneath the water. Harry eventually gave up watching the motionless water and turned to teach Ron and Ginny the joys of rock, paper scissors. Hongbin smiled at their antics and then noticed,

"Where's Miss Granger?" he asked. Ginny looked up from her winning paper and answered,

"The lost treasures were important people. Krum and Hermione are practically an item so they are together" Harry continued the statement,

"Fleur's little sister was chosen and Cho is Cedric's" he finished and Hongbin blinked bewildered as to how they found out.

"Hermione figured it out" Luna's voice floated into the conversation and Ginny turned to side hug her friend. Gasps from the front of the stands drew their attention back to the lake and the crowd roared as Krum and Wonshik broke the surface of the water, carrying Hermione back to the platform. Hongbin's eyes narrowed, piquing Harry's curiosity and the pair rushed forward to help the young Gabriella onto the platform, shortly followed by Hakyeon dragging a breathless Fleur who enveloped the young girl into a hug once back on dry land.

"She's not a particularly confident swimmer" Hakyeon explained as they watched with worry as Fleur took gasping breaths and was soon attended by Pomfrey and Snape who gave her calming potions.

"What happened to Leo and Cedric?" Hongbin watched the water watching for his hyung. It didn't make any sense, Leo was the best swimmer out of all of them and Cedric seemed athletic enough. Harry and Wonshik joined him in his worry, looking into the once again still water. Suddenly Cedric broke the surface with a terrified Cho half clinging to him and half dragging them to shore. Hakyeon and Wonshik helped the pair onto the platform and Hakyeon asked,

"Where's Leo?" Cedric looked torn tears streaked Cho's face.

"We ran into a swarm of grindylows and we lost sight of him" Cho admitted and Cedric held her closer, looking into the water with fear. Suddenly there was a blur as Hyuk ran and jumped into the water, ignoring his leader's yell of "Hyuk-ah!" A few more moments of stillness and the tension was rising. Harry and Krum were practically holding the sinker Hongbin back from jumping into the water after the maknae and Ken and Hakyeon were struggling with the desire to jump in themselves. Suddenly there was a loud splash from the water and Hyuk dragged up a barely conscious Leo with his eyes half open. Snape and Ken stepped into the shallow end to haul the boy up onto the platform and called over Pomfrey who started cleaning up the gashes on his arms and legs.

"Hyuk" Snape's stern voice made the group look over and the blonde looked slightly disgruntled but rolled up his sleeve where there were rows of teeth marks from the tentacled creatures and Snape pulled out wipes and began to wipe off the dirty water and slime with care. Harry rushed over to Leo as soon as he opened his eyes and pulled him into a bear hug which the bodyguard weakly returned as he strained to sit up as Pomfrey looked into his eyes for signs of concussion.

"Mr Jung. Drink this" Pomfrey shoved an orange bottle into his hand and he obeyed and tipped it into his mouth. Looking like he was about to spit it back out, he eventually swallowed it down. Hermione looked over at Snape as he forced Hyuk to do the same.

"What happened hyung?" Ken asked Leo who looked over at the boy who was hovering with Draco at his heels.

"I forgot that grindylows come out in swarms. The loss of mermaids should have told me something was wrong but I simply thought they were scared by Krum" he replied, mentioning Krum's shark transformation. Standing up he wobbled and Ken and Hyuk took an arm each and followed a beckoning Snape and Pomfrey to the hospital wing, Harry, Draco and Ron trailing behind, Hermione still checking Krum out for any water based injuries.

Still swaddled in blankets, Leo sat with a cup of cocoa provided by a worried Ariake who had fussed over him until Leo snapped at him. Harry added another log to the fire and poked it with his wand, warming the room a little more.

"You scared us back there" Hermione said as she pulled her own blanket around her, Ginny trying to dry out the girls curls with a towel. Ron nodded and plonked himself down next to the boy who blushed and tried to hide in the folds of the blanket. Ron and Harry grinned at the reaction and turned back to the fire. Ginny gave up and squeezed next to Hermione on the seat, eventually falling asleep on her shoulder. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes and, Ron grabbing Ginny, Harry grabbing Hermione, they took the girls back to the girl's dorm and left them to the fuss of Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil. Leo met them on the stairs and ushered the pair into the boys dorm to sleep themselves and they agreed, flumping onto their beds in exhaustion. It had been a long day.