𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, fred weasley

˗ˋ 39

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH THE TASK IS HERE

. . .

The final days leading up to the second task passed by quickly, and soon enough it was the morning of February 24th. It had started like any other, and Elodie didn't know if she was comforted by that or not.

Either way, she had woken up at her usual time, and had been able to shower and get changed into the uniform that Madame Maxime had given her the previous day. It was a silver one piece swimsuit, alongside the outfit she had worn for the first task - the sleeves of the jacket fully repaired and any tears else where fixed quickly. 

The scrape on her arm had healed rather quickly as well, the salve from Charlie fixing the broken skin and over a month, it had faded into a scar. The scar was as long as her arm, but all the mattered was that it had healed. 

The Beaumont girl had stuck to Fleur like glue as they went down to breakfast. They stopped only briefly at the Gryffindor table, where George was sitting with Angelina - Fred nowhere to be seen. 

But Elodie barely ever had time to think about that, as Fleur pulled her along to the Ravenclaw breakfast table, and practically forcing her to eat some French toast, knowing for a fact that even though Elodie claimed she wasn't hungry, that was just the nerves getting the better of her.

She was dragged down to the lake by Madamee Maxime after Fleur convinced her to finish her second slice, and had forced a cup of coffee down her - 'It'll help with your nerves' the girl had practically sang as she poured it.

Despite her having eaten, she still felt somewhat empty, the nervousness creating a pit within her stomach. But she didn't really have time to worry, because with her breakfast only just beginning to digest, she had been put on a boat alongside her giantess of a headmistress and heading towards three platforms in the middle of the Black Lake. 

The other two champions were already there, Cedric and Krum shivering in shorts and wearing jumpers over it. She pitied them, but as more and more students appeared on the platforms Madame Maxime instructed her to strip down. 

And so she did, her jacket still shrugged, over her swimsuit. Harry was nowhere to be found - and Fred wasn't either. Clutching her wand tightly, Elodie's eyes began to dart around, looking for that tell-tale flash of red hair. 

But she couldn't see him, or George for that matter. And Fleur wasn't there either for a while, and Elodie had began to panic. Her and Viktor talked quietly for a while in Bulgarian, and soon enough, he pointed over to where people were getting off. It wasn't Fred, but George, who was nodding along to something the girl beside him was saying - Fleur. 

They stood somewhere behind Elodie - who was right by the edge and not allowed any closer in because of how close it was to beginning.

Harry got there mere minutes before it was too late, and so, Bagman began the trial. He made his voice louder through magic, and soon enough, his voice was booming across the water.

Madame Maxime had left her for the judges seat, and when Elodie glanced back, she was told to take off her jacket, and she did so, the cold air hitting her skin and she shivered. Thinking back to it, she wouldn't even be able to remember what Bagman said, too nervous to even take the words in.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, whichwill start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recoverwhat has been taken from them. On the count of three, then.One... two... three!" Bagman's voice said, and a shrill whistle sounded.

Elodie was diving into the water before she could think about it casting the bubble-head charm as she plunged down to the seaweed covered floor of the lake. 

She had no words of encouragement from Fred - hadn't even been able to see him, let alone talk to him. She began to swim in a random direction, thinking over the song that had come from the egg to see if that could help her in locating this lost item of hers. 

And that's when it hit her. It wasn't an item, and it wasn't something. It was someone. 

Fred was somewhere at the bottom of that lake.

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