As the Sister of Harry Potter

The next morning was a bit of a haze. Sort of like the morning after the Yule Ball, but even worse.

‘Holy Merlin… we kissed last night, didn’t we?’ I asked myself, sort of in shock still. I hadn’t been kissed in ages, so the feeling seemed a little… odd. I still got a bit fluttery thinking about it.

There was no one in the dorm, and I had a free period before Herbology, so I wandered on down to the Library to catch up on some Charms work. When it was finally time, I walked on out to the grounds for Herbology.

There was a bit of a crowd outside the greenhouses because there was only just enough space cleared in the snow for us to stand. Diggory was at the back, seeming to be there waiting for me. He winked and his gloved hand took my freezing, bare one. I tried to keep myself from blushing. I really didn’t want any attention right now.

Unfortunately, Ophilia had other plans. She greeted me with a, “Where the bloody hell were you last night?!”

Sprout walked up and started unlocking the greenhouse doors, so I said, “Tell you in class,” and we proceeded inside.

Today we were reviewing poisonous plants and Sprout eventually set us to work in pairs identifying poisonous and nonpoisonous plants. Ophilia was very impatient, and the second Sprout told us to get to work, she grabbed my arm and whispered, “Tell me everything!” I sighed and began to relay my night, while Sarlanda listened in. Ophilia got so excited, she started waving her arms around wildly and almost stuck her hand in a Bubotuber. Luckily, Greg walked behind her in that moment and she ended up giving him a good smack in the face. Go Ophilia.

“Jeeze,” I said, after Greg left, tending to his nose, “Calm down Ophilia, it’s not that exciting…”

“But it’s so cute!” she exclaimed rather loudly.

I flinched.

“And can you keep your voice down please?”

She looked a little put out, but she continued her interrogation at a lower volume. By the end of class, she had sucked out almost all the tender, minute details from me. I was glad when class was over, not because of Ophilia, but because I was starved. I hadn’t eaten breakfast, and now I was really craving lunch. I took off as soon as possible, hopefully not hurting her feelings, but I’d make it up to her later. I slid into a seat next to Neville and was about to tear into a loaf of bread when Harry, Ron, and Hermione swarmed me.

“Jen, you have to come to the library, we need your help!” Harry pleaded.

“Harry! I haven’t eaten in hours!”

“No time for eating, I really need help! If you don’t, I’m probably going to drown tomorrow morning!” I looked at the bread, about to cry because I was so hungry, but I grabbed it and let the trio drag me off to the Library for my second visit today, scarfing food as fast as possible.

The story Harry told me as we ran to the Library made me want to slap him and leave. Apparently, he just figured out the clue in the egg three nights ago. And the task was tomorrow. Like I said, I about smacked him.

“Well,” I started out, irritated, “you could use a Bubblehead Charm, but A, I don’t know how long it will last or sustain oxygen for that long, and B, it’s quite a difficult charm to cast correctly, especially if you’ll be going underwater with it. So it’s pretty much out of the question, since I can’t cast it for you…”

My lunch and dinner time ended up being consumed with finding an alternate way to get Harry to be able to breathe underwater for an hour.

Near eight, I had an epiphany. “OH! I just remembered… there’s some kind of plant that lets you do it! What’s it called… Gangywild? No… something weed… Gorgaweed? No, no… Gillyweed? Yeah! It’s called Gillyweed, and-”

“Miss Potter, I hate to interrupt you, but you, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley all need to come with me.”

The grizzled voice of Moody interrupted my streak of brilliance, and I opened my mouth to say so when he did it again.

“NOW. No arguing!”

Resentfully, I got up, and the three of us followed Moody out of the library, leaving Harry all alone with only my hint about Gillyweed to go on. I drug my feet all the way down to the first floor and into McGonagall’s office. She was there, along with Dumbledore, Snape, and a small girl who looked quite a lot like Fleur.

“Um, Professors, are we in trouble?” was the first thing out of Hermione’s mouth. Silently, I swore at her. ‘Never ask that question unless you have a damn good reason.’ I recalled Fred’s words from second year like they were said only hours ago.

“No Miss Granger, none of you are. You are, however, going to be used in the second task tomorrow,” said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling.

Ron looked confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Obviously, Weasley, you four are the bait for the champions.” Snape replied with little pity.

“Wait, what? ‘Bait?’ What exactly does being bait entail?” I asked, slightly panicked. I didn’t want to be bait for anything or anyone.

“Relax Miss Potter, it’s a simple process. You four will be put under a powerful sleeping enchantment and placed at the bottom of the Black Lake. Your champion will rescue you and you will wake up when you reach the surface,” explained McGonagall.

“And what if your champion fails to reach you?” I argued. I could see that happening, me just drowning underwater because I wasn’t rescued in time. With my luck, that was a highly likely probability.

“At the end of the time, the merpeople will bring you up if your champion fails.”

“Who’s getting who?” Ron asked.

‘Thank you for asking that, dear Ronald,’ I congratulated him in my mind.

“Mr. Potter’s getting you; Miss Delacour, her little sister; Mr. Krum, Miss Granger; and Mr. Diggory, Miss Potter,” Moody answered.

I thought for a moment. I guess Diggory coming to get me wouldn’t be that bad, but I didn’t like the idea of being underwater for goodness knows how long, in freezing cold water, and asleep to boot. Eventually, I gave in, and one by one, Dumbledore set the enchantment on us.

-

Harry awoke the morning of the second task with his face in a book and his Invisibility Cloak half off. He was also being prodded, and that was what had awakened him.

“Harry Potter! Wake up! Harry Potter needs to go save his Wheezy!”

Harry sat up and tried to focus his vision. “Who, wha? What’s a Wheezy?”

Dobby poked him again. “Harry Potter! You need to save your Wheezy! The task starts in twenty minutes!”

“Dobby? Wheezy? You mean Weasley? Ron? I have to save Ron?” Harry asked, pulling the cloak fully off him and standing up.

“Yes, your Wheezy!”

“But Dobby, I can’t, I don’t know how I’m going to breathe underwater!”

“Eat this before you go into the Lake!” Dobby shoved a slimy, plant-worm thing into his hands. “It’s Gillyweed, Harry Potter!”

“Gillyweed…? Thanks Dobby!” Harry said, sprinting to the grounds, shoving the Cloak in his bag as he went.

He made it down to the tent by the lake in plenty of time to change. He then went out to stand by Cedric on the bank. Cedric looked relieved to see him. “There you are Harry!”

“Sorry… slept in…”

“Welcome to the Second Task! Our champions have one hour to find something precious to them that was stolen last night, and now resides at the bottom of the Black Lake!” Ludo Bagman’s voice boomed. The crowd cheered, and Harry took the Gillyweed out of his pocket. He looked at it in disgust.

“Champions… start!”

The four champions made their way into the water.

When Harry was abut waist-deep in the freezing water, he said, “I hope you’re right Jen,” and swallowed the Gillyweed.

It felt like someone was suffocating him, because Harry couldn’t breathe properly after eating the plant. There was a burning sensation on the sides of his neck, and when he set his hand on it, he discovered he had gills. Dipping underwater, he took in a fresh breath with his new gills. After a few gulps, he examined the rest of himself, finding his hands webbed and his feet grown into powerful flippers. Exhilarated, he kicked forward and flew through the water. Thus, Harry began his journey through the Black Lake.

-

I’ve now decided I greatly dislike Grindelows. Especially now that my leg is bleeding like mad and I almost got eaten by the Giant Squid. When I get out of this lake, I’m asking Jennifer what’s the best way to get rid of the little demons. Speaking of her, I hadn’t seen her at all this morning. I wonder what’s up with her.

Anyways, I swam deeper into the lake, looking for whatever it is I’m supposed to be looking for. I had reached the bottom and was now swimming around, keeping my eyes open for more Grindelows. I heard a low moaning sound from my left and fins flashed passed me. The merperson continued on, and I followed. A few more passed me by, and I eventually came to ruined stone buildings, with lots of kelp and merpeople everywhere. In the center of the ruins where there was a lot of kelp, four bodies were tied down to the kelp, and there was someone circling the bodies. As I got closer, I discovered it was Harry. The floating bodies were a little girl with silver-blonde hair I didn’t recognize, Harry’s friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and…

‘Jennifer!’ I thought, panicked. I swam swiftly over to her, pulling my wand out of the strap on my leg. I shot a spell at the kelp, breaking it, and grabbed her arm. Her skin was clammy, her hair billowing around her, looking sickeningly like blood flowing from her head, and her face was stuck in her usual characteristic worrying frown. I looked at my watch. Ten minutes left to get to the surface. Looking up to Harry, I tapped my wand to my watch. He nodded, and I swam up, towing Jennifer behind me.

She had better be alright.

-

We must have hit the surface, because I finally woke up.

Woke up into hell.

Immediately, I couldn’t breathe. I had forgotten about it until now, and now my asthma attack came. It was like suffocating, like someone was squeezing every ounce of air from my lungs, like my breathing pipe had been reduced to something as big around as my pinky finger. My breathing came in short, strangulated gasps, if you could call it breathing. The asthma attack was blurring my vision, which wasn’t so great to begin with. All the sounds were overwhelming. There was the crowd cheering, the water, and my own suffocation. And then Diggory’s voice, panicked.

“Jennifer? Jen, what’s wrong?”

Oh yes Cedric, just let me catch my breath here so I can tell you I’m going to go into cardiac arrest if I don’t get out of the water. I felt him dragging me through the water.

“Oi! Help! Get Pomfrey or something!” he yelled. At least he was careful not to put my head underwater.

By the time I got to shore, not even gasping was getting even the tiniest bit of oxygen in me. Madam Pomfrey was not within my vision, and Diggory was holding me on the shore as I slowly killed myself unintentionally. Then there was a flying blanket or two, and Pomfrey’s voice.

“Get those around her, Diggory,” she ordered, and I felt her wand tip on my throat. “Anapneo!”

Air rushed into my lungs as my windpipe unclenched itself, and I went into a violent coughing fit. I think I upchucked a bit of water, but I just kept sucking in air. I shivered in Cedric’s arms, coughing still, but feeling a bit better. I was so, so cold, and me and cold didn’t mix well.

I finally opened my eyes and looked up at Cedric, who was looking helpless, scared, and a bit hurt. He embraced me gingerly.

“Are you okay?”

“Now I am, thanks.”

“What happened?”

“I have asthma, a-and it’s usually not a problem, but if I’m running for a long time or I get really cold, it acts up… bad.”

He held me tighter and kissed the top of my head.

“You bloody scared me… let’s never do that again, shall we?”

“Good with me…”

By the time Diggory helped me to my feet, two more people had surfaced after Krum and Hermione. I thought it was Harry and Ron, so I rushed over to the shore, wrapping myself in another blanket at I went. However, I was only half right.

Ron sure was there, helping Fleur’s little sister out of the water. But I didn’t see Harry anywhere in sight. I ran up to the red-head, frantic. “Ron! Ron, where’s Harry?!”

“He should be coming right up…” he said, looking out into the water.

Nothing. I could feel tears coming up in my eyes, and I tried to hold them at bay. I really didn’t need to be crying like a sissy in front of the entire school.

“Harry!” I called out helplessly, searching the dark water for any sign of my little brother. My voice just seemed to echo out across the waves.

Without warning, Harry shot out of the water and landed heavily on the shore, coughing and spitting up water. Out of nowhere, Hermione rushed to him, and as did I.

“What happened?” I asked as Hermione wrapped him in blankets.

“Bloody Grindelows. And my Gillyweed gave out couple meters under. That’s when they attacked…”

“Well, I still think you did wonderfully,” said Hermione matter-of-factly.

“Hermione, I finished last.”

“Second to last. Fleur never made it past ze Grindelows,” Hermione said, adding on a little accent at the end.

Harry grinned, and we helped him stand.

“You sure you’re okay Harry?”

“Yeah, my neck just hurts a bit…”

Peeling away the blanket a bit, I was the circular red marks made by the Grindelows.

“Don’t worry Harry, they don’t look too serious. They should fade pretty quickly.”

He nodded, and we wandered back over to the rest of the champions and bait. Fleur rushed Harry.

“My little sister! You saved ‘er! Merci!” She embraced him and kissed both his cheeks. Harry seemed a little flustered.

Finally, the judges finished debating over the scores, and the crowd shushed as Dumbledore rose to announce the scores.

“Seeing as Miss Delacour did not finish, we grant her fourth place.” Groans came from the blue-clad Beauxbatons students.

“Mr. Diggory will be awarded first, finishing five minutes over the time limit.” Roars came from Cedric’s supporters, and he pumped his fist into the air. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Git.

“Mr. Krum finished behind him, fifteen minutes after the time limit, but we grant him third place instead.” The Durmstrangs voiced their disapproval; loudly. Dumbledore shushed them however.

“Instead, we grant second place to Mr. Potter, for not only saving his hostage, but Miss Delacour’s as well.” Harry’s supporters burst into cheers, myself included. He deserved this. I hugged him tightly.

I stuck around to chat with people and congratulate Harry. However, when most of everyone was gone, Diggory pulled me away towards the path past the forest back up to the castle.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere quiet.” So we did. A ways away from the lake we stopped. “Sorry, but I’d much rather be alone with you than with all those noisy people.”

I laughed. “Alright, sure.” We stood under a great fir tree, enjoying the quiet. I stared at the ground, nervously fiddling with my hair because frankly, it was a bloody mess.

Diggory watched me fuss with the tangles, smiling slightly. Reaching over, he ruffled my hair so it was even more of a mess.

“Stop it!” I insisted. “It already looks bad enough without you messing it over.”

Diggory pulled his half-smirk. “It’s fine Jen.”

“Can we go up to the castle? I smell like lake water,” I whined.

He laughed. “Well, so do I.” He pulled me close, our noses nearly touching. “I guess we can just be smelly lake people together…”

He closed the gap between our lips and kissed me, gently but solid. It was a real kiss, quite unlike our first one, which to me had seemed awkward and shy. Or maybe I had made it that way, I don’t know. All I knew was my heart was pounding a million miles an hour.

CLICK, FLASH

I pulled away as fast as possible and looked at the source. A woman with rigid blonde curls and jeweled glasses was standing there, along with the man who had just taken our picture. A floating notebook was next to the lady, with a green quill scribbling furiously in it.

“Ah, Mr. Diggory! Fancy seeing you here!”

“Yeah,” Cedric growled between clenched teeth, “Fancy that.” I had never seen him this angry before.

I glared at the lady. “Now who the bloody hell are you?”

“Rita Skeeter, love.”

“Oh!” I started. “So you’re that pesky lady who writes lies in the paper! I see now…”

She gave me a nasty expression of shock. “And who are you dear?”

“None of your business, I’m afraid.” I just knew she wasn’t the person I should be giving my name out to, but really, if she didn’t know who I was… not to be big-headed, but I was kind of a recognizable person.

Skeeter took up the quill and notepad and wrote a few lines in it, then said, “Well, it was fortune bumping into you Mr. Diggory. Good day.”