Fire melting Ice.

Figuring out the second task And Being Taken..

Hermione ran by the common room to pick up her satchel and rushed off to the library to write down what they had heard while it was still fresh in her mind.

She then started deciphering it line by line.

"Come seek us where our voices sound, (You have to go looking for something and follow their voices)
We cannot sing above the ground, (Merpeople can't sing above the ground, that must mean Harry has to face Merpeople)
And while you're searching, ponder this: (Think about what they have taken)
We've taken what you'll sorely miss, (What will Harry miss the most? Will it be an object or maybe a person?)
An hour long you'll have to look, (He'll need to breathe under water for an hour)
And to recover what we took, (He has to take the object or person back from the Merpeople)
But past an hour-- the prospect's black, (He has to find what he'll sorely miss in an hours' time) Too late, it's gone, it won't come back" (If he takes too long he will lose it forever)

She had two months left to figure out a way to help Harry and she was going to need Draco's help with figuring out how Harry was going to breathe underwater for an hour. They also had to find a way to get past Merpeople and any other creatures they might use against the Champions.

She started making a list of things they had to do to prepare for the second task.

1. Find a way for Harry to breathe underwater for an hour.
2. Learn more about Merpeople.
3. Find out what\who will be taken.
4. Teach Harry useful charms like the severing charm.

She had been in the library for almost an hour and had several stacks of books on underwater creatures and charms for everyday use in front of her when Harry came to find her carrying a plate of food tucked under his robe so Madame Pince wouldn't see.

Hermione smiled gratefully and handed him the song with her notes and the list she had made before eating a few bites of the steak and kidney pie Harry had snuck in for her.

After Harry had read through the song and the list he grabbed a book of off one of the stacks and started reading through it.

Hermione finished her dinner and continued reading through her own book, taking notes whenever she found something that might be useful to Harry.

They worked together in a comforting silence until Madame Pince came around to extinguish the torches and usher them out of the library.

They each took a few books with them to Gryffindor Tower and read through them before they started talking about what they had found out.

"Merpeople are very honorable and they are very protective of the things they have to guard. They will put up a fight if you do not follow the rules they have set; so Harry, you need to do exactly what the rules say you must," Hermione said reading from her notes.

"I'll try not to upset the Merpoeple and follow their rules, anything else?" Harry asked.

"Well, I've been thinking about what they will be taking and I'm fairly certain it will be a person, that way there will be more at stake for the Champions. That means that Ron or I could be taken," Hermione replied biting her lip.

"So I not only have to breathe underwater for an hour and go against Merpoeple but I also have to save the life of one of my best friends in that hour; great, just another day in the life of Harry Potter I suppose."

"I might have found a way for you to breathe under water actually. We could learn the bubble head charm but we would have to ask Professor Flitwick for help or we could use Gillyweed."

"What is Gillyweed?"

"Gillyweed is a magical plant that, when eaten, allows a human to breathe underwater. It is said to resemble a bundle of slimy, grey-green rat tails. When eaten, it gives the consumer gills, allowing them to breathe underwater, and webbing between the fingers and toes, allowing them to swim underwater with ease. Gillyweed is native to the Mediterranean Sea and was first discovered by Herbologist Beaumont Majoribanks some time before 1845. However, the magical properties of Gillyweed remained unknown until Elladora Ketteridge ate the plant and nearly suffocated, recovering only when she stuck her head into a bucket of water. That's all I know about Gillyweed, I read about it in Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, I don't know why I thought of it."