The Fourth Year

Chapter Eighteen- Harry

     I cringed in pain as the gillyweed forced its way down my throat, the taste nearly making me want to vomit three times. Over trying to get the sily plant down my esophagus, I heard the faint noise of a cannon being blasted, Filch setting it off a second before Dumbledore gave him the signal. The others dove right into the Black Lake while I lagged behind, trying to force down the gillyweed. I felt a push to my back and fell in headfirst, the freezing water hitting my body with a hard thud as I smacked the top then slowly sunk down.
                  I flailed around, my body seemingly moving in slow motion underwater. My hands moved up toward my neck as I felt something peculiar: I had gills. Air suddenly flooded my lungs and struck me by surprise as I began to breathe again, reasserting my surroundings. I frantically glanced around, seeing seaweed through murky water wherever I looked. A rapid streak caught me by surprise when it swum past me, my eyes unable to define what it had been. More streaks. What were these things?  The ugly face of some sort of cursed-looking creature slowed down as it zoomed past, my mind able to determine what it was. Mermaids. Thought to be much prettier, I can tell you that they indeed were not what everyone has dreamt them up to be.
                  I decided that it was the best time to get what I had come for, given that I had lost a fair amount of time seeing my feet turn into fins while my hands webbed. I moved my arms in a forward motion when the coast was clear of mermaids, discovering that I was indeed far faster than I had ever been. I quickly swam to the center and clearest part of the lake, my eyes seeing something shocking. Right in front of me were four people: Hermione, Gabrielle Delacour, a girl with red hair that I slightly recognized from somewhere, and-
                  My heart dropped when seeing the final figure that was to the far left, my mouth releasing a small gasp that would normally have caused me to choke on water, which instead felt normal. I moved towards the petrified person to my left, my hand reaching out to caress her frozen face.
                  It was Y/n.
                  A sudden cloud of bubbles flew up all around me, my eyes darting across from me to see Cedric, who blasted the rope of seaweed tied around the redhead's ankles with a shot of red that shot out of his wand, pointing to his watch with it a second later when turning his head to face me. I nodded, which still seemed as if it was in slow motion, and watched him swim up with the girl to the surface, bringing my gaze back to Y/n's lifeless one that seemed to stare behind me.
                  I unconsciously glanced behind my shoulder, glad to have done so because a giant shark-face that I discovered was Krum swam right past me, grabbing Hermione and pulling her to the surface. I was the last one left. I glanced around and grindylows started coming up from out of nowhere, beginning to swarm around me the closer I got to Y/n. I looked over and Gabrielle was still petrified, telling me that Fleur was unable to save her for some reason. I couldn't just leave her, when the hour was up she'd drown. But even if she could swim, with the grindylows and mermaids she didn't stand a chance.
                I glanced between them both, deciding what I was to do. I pulled out my wand, blasting the seaweed off her leg first and then grabbing her arm. I held her by the waist, swimming over to get Gabrielle. I did the same with her and as I was pulling them to the surface, the grindylows started coming, one after another, showing no sign of stopping.
                They started pulling me down, knowing I was breaking the rules by carrying two people instead of just the one I had been chosen for. But I couldn't just leave one! If I had left Gabrielle, I'd never be able to look Fleur in the eye again, and if I had left Y/n behind, Draco would surely try to kill me, this time succeeding. I couldn't bear to leave my best friend in the entire world to die in the middle of a lake when I could've saved her as well. So I broke the rules, and I don't care if I'm disqualified or not. It was the right thing to do.
                 More grindylows yanked at my ankles and legs, pulling me down further into the dark, watery abyss beneath my feet. I had no choice, I had to let them go or all my efforts would be in vain. I let go of each of their arms, pushing them towards the top while I was slowly being pulled farther and farther down. I kept my eyes on them as much as I could, seeing them drift towards the top. I flailed around, trying to kick away the creatures but the more I did the faster I was being dragged down while the number of them seemed to double by the second.
                 I managed to pull out my wand, using the Immobulus charm on the swarming grindylows. However, my strength from fighting them off was quickly fading, and I felt faint, floating to the bottom of the lake. My eyes struggled to stay open as the effects of the gillyweed ceased, seeing seaweed and the water above me. I opened my mouth, having enough energy to point my wand above me, yelling "ASCENDIO!" as loud as I could.
                I flew to the surface, my body feeling the sensation of warm water one last time before I felt the cold wind rush past my face and throughout my whole body, landing with a thud on the hard wood of the platform. Figures rushed all around me, however, the one I searched for wasn't present. Seamus ran towards me, getting on his knees and wrapping a blanket around me with Dean at his side while I continued shivering.
                My eyes frantically glanced around, not seeing any sign of her. After a dozen people asked me questions while Dumbledore himself knelt at my side, talking to me, I couldn't focus on anything he was saying. I was only brought out of my daze when seeing Fleur rushed beside me, her relieved eyes meeting mine.  
               "You saved her even though she wasn't yours to save, my little sister! " she gasped, giving each of my cheeks a kiss before letting me respond. She dashed off with her little sister after giving Ron a kiss on the cheek as well, making him blush and stutter, but my mind was too preoccupied to notice. My ears rang when I heard a loud:
              "HARRY!"
              Hermione knelt down beside me as I groaned at the sudden yelling in my ears.
             "Hermione, ow!" I whined in pain, cringing at the shivers running down my spine.
             "Are you alright?! You must be freezing!"  she gasped, taking off her blanket and wrapping it tightly around me.
             "Personally, I think you behaved admirably," she added while sitting back up, looking me in the eye while Seamus rubbed my shoulder.
             "I finished last, Hermione,"  she struck me by surprise as she pulled my head towards her, giving the top of it a kiss while I yelped in pain.
             "Next to last,"  she corrected with a wide grin, causing me to shed one also. The words she spoke in French right after while explaining why Fleur didn't finish the task bled together and I lost my train of thought until I heard a startling yell come from Dumbledore right beside me.
             "ATTENTION!" he boomed, putting his wand up to his throat to magnify his voice as Hermione helped me stand up. I still held my blanket tightly wrapped around me, trying to absorb every ounce of warmth that I could.
             "And the winner is... MR. DIGGORY!" he announced, his voice still loud and clear. The crowd erupted in cheers as a giant smile spread across his face and the one of the bystanders, the same girl with red hair that I saw in the lake, absolutely drenched with a blanket wrapped around her this time, pushing through the crowd, wrapping Cedric in a tight hug. He seemed to smile wider when he saw her, and as she turned around, I was finally able to pinpoint where I had seen her before: she was one of the girls that Y/n hangs around. 
              Dumbledore proceeded to tell everyone about my "determination" and "bravery", but my thoughts were too pounding to hear the rest. I searched the crowd, still not seeing who I hoped to see. I turned my head and saw Draco from afar on the next platform, where he seemed to be taking a pair of binoculars from a kid who, from where I was standing, resembled Nigel. They weren't together so where was she?
             "Second place!" Hermione cheered, shaking my arms a tad as I came back to reality at hearing those two words.
             After we managed to get through the crowd that never seemed to end, we hopped on one of the boats and headed back to land. When we arrived at the docs, Fred helped me get out while George dealt with Hermione and Ron. But as we were all laughing about the past events while they all constantly congratulated me, my eyes widened. The rest took that as their cue and patted me one more time on the back before heading back to the castle, but I just stood motionless, staring at the person in front of me.
            "Y/N!" I gasped, suddenly regaining my ability to move and rushing towards her, wrapping her in a tight hug. 
            "Harry!" she panted as we embraced, her head fitting into the crook of my neck. We just stood there for a few moments, hugging each other tighter every second to make sure we were both alive. We finally parted, taking a step back while our arms still remained around each other, mine on her waist and hers around my neck.
             "You're alive!" she happily exclaimed, looking me up and down. I softly laughed, giving her a once over as well.
             "I knew you were but it's just good to see it," I grinned, wrapping her in another hug. As we continued to embrace, I heard her whisper, still loud enough to hear her breathless tone.
             "You saved me."
             We parted, my arms still around her while I looked her in the eye.
            "Always," I told her warmly as well as sincerely, both of us smiling with both our mouths and our eyes. Before I could ask her what was happening, she leaned in, giving me a short, soft kiss. When we parted, all I could think was "wow" while doing a fair amount of internal screaming, staring straight at her in shock the entire time. I couldn't believe what had just happened, and if you were to tell me three days ago, before I talked to Parvati, what was going to happen next, I would've said you were absolutely mad.
              But in reality, given the situation and the people involved, what was to come wasn't that mad after all. Draco's always hated me, but I had absolutely no idea what I was in for this time. Because, unbeknownst to both Y/n and I, he had seen us.
              He saw us kiss.