Last First Kiss {HP Next Generation}

Chapter Seventy Five

"And to you, Fergie, I'll leave you my broom. May it serve you as well as it served me-"

"Knock it off, Hope, you're not going to die!" Fergus shoved an apple into the girl's mouth to stop her from reading the rest of her will to the Gryffindor table. As the month of the February fell upon them, it also meant that the second task was upon the teams. While Hope had had several swimming lessons with Nixie and Sirius, the girl was not appearing at all confident in her abilities to handle the second task. It was obvious that it involved the Black Lake as they had called the teams to meet at the lake before noon.

Hope was up bright and early on the morning of the Second Task and as Henry found her in the common room, he was certain the girl didn't get a wink of sleep the night before. She was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire, just staring blankly into the fireplace with her knitted quilt, her fingers played with a thread that finally brought a smile to her face.

He walked over to her and sat beside her until she finally acknowledged his presence. He knew she didn't want to talk about the task or it would just bring her to become even more nervous. Instead, he invited her to come to the Great Hall and try to eat something. She eventually agreed, but he certainly didn't expect that she was going to start promising her belongings to Gryffindors at the table.

He grabbed the will from her hands and ripped it up. "You don't have to worry about all this, Hope," he said," you're going to be fine. The swimming lessons are going to pay off while you're out there."

Hope turned to face her boyfriend with a face.  "They're going to pay off with giving everyone a good laugh while I'm out there."

"That's not true, Mum says you were doing great after the last lesson. She said you made great improvement from last time."

"She was being nice, Henry!" She said before lowering her head to the table. She let out some dramatic sobbing noises that brought others from the other tables to look over in their direction.

"Suck it up, Hope, we're going to be fine!" Stella's voice rang out as she came up behind them. "Besides you're making a scene."

Hope lifted her head and stared at her cousin. "Last time I checked I was allowed to make a scene whenever I wanted to, thank you very much!"

"Calm down, Hope," Eliza arrived over, looking tired as she stood by her sister's side.  Over the recent weeks from the Yule Ball, Eliza wasn't looking all that great. Things between her and Elliot did not get better and the two hadn't spoke since their argument on Christmas. The friends and family members tried to help, but the two were completely stubborn and refused to speak to each other.

"How am I supposed to calm down, I'm going to end up at the bottom of the Black Lake!" Hope told them. "I don't know about you guys, but that's not the most settling thought to go with your scrambled eggs in the morning!"

Henry pulled her into his side. "You're going to be fine!"

The girl turned back to Fergus. "Please take care of my broom, she's my baby-"

"HOPE!" Everyone yelled.

The water looked especially chilly that late morning as Hope stood in between her cousins before she moved her gaze onto the other competitors. She was met with a stern gaze from one of the Durmstrang boys, causing her to raise a brow. Obviously, the other two schools knew better not to underestimate the Hogwarts team anymore.

Instead of giving stern look in return, she grinned in the boy's direction before turning to her cousins.

"We're screwed," She whispered to them, but Stella and Eliza quickly covered her mouth and turned their attention to the judges as they arrived.

Professor McGonagall looked in the direction of her students to see the twins covering Hope's mouth and sighed in silent relief.

Before the other students arrived to observe the task, they were informed of what the task involved ahead of time. Similar to the first task, they had to find the what they needed below the surface. It was explained that fragments of a key were scattered through the Black Lake and were not accessible with the Summoning Charm. They were to retrieve the three pieces and bring them back to put them together. Once the key was put together they would be given access to the chest that held the final challenge.

They would be separated to different parts of the lake and would have to meet up again to form the key before arriving at the judges' platform.

Immediately, Stella and Eliza looked extremely nervous as they looked down to their younger cousin.

Hope looked extremely pale in that moment. She wouldn't be able to get the help from her cousins, which meant she was doomed.

"Do me a favor," Hope said as the twins removed their hands from her mouth.

"What?" Eliza asked.

"Just push me into the lake now, because there is no way I'm going to be able to do this."

"You'll be fine, Hope, don't worry!" Stella said. "We'll meet you in the middle and help you."

"How am I supposed to get to the middle?!"

"You...you'll figure it out," Stella patted her on the back but shot a look at Eliza.

Hope stood at her part of the lake after McGonagall left her once she was positioned in place. She could see the wooden platform placed in the middle where she would meet up with Stella and Eliza to put their pieces together. But she had no idea how she was going to make her way out there or collect her piece for that matter.

They were given an hour once the sound of the horn went off and Hope could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

When the girl heard the horn go off, she didn't move. She was stuck in place with fear.

As much as she didn't want to enter the water fully and go beneath the surface, she knew she didn't have a choice. She couldn't let her cousins down. Not trying at all meant she was just giving up.

"Oh Merlin, help me," she whispered to herself before she took a few steps back and went to run in. However, as she reached the water's edge, she came to a sudden halt.

"Wait a second..."