26. UNDER THE SEA.. OR LAKE..

The next morning was the second task, and Theodore was walking around, accompanied by Draco and Bianca, all of them very concerned. They ran into Fred and George. "Theodore, mate, you don't look too well."

"Elara didn't come back after she went to see McGonagall last night, and I haven't seen her this morning. She's missing."

"We'll keep an eye out. Hermione's gone too; Ron told us."

"All students, please take your seats. The task will start in 10 minutes." Came Dumbledore's voice from the judge panel, above the lake. The group went to the seats and when they arrived at their seats, they saw Harry skid onto the mud beside Fleur, splattering her robes with mud. They all were stood in front of the lake.

Bagman raised his wand to his throat and after muttering a spell, he spoke, his voice reverberating throughout the whole area. "Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One. Two. Three!"

All 4 champions jumped into the lake. The people in the stands couldn't see what was happening, but when Cedric came out, a girl with dark hair under his arm, people started to understand what was taken from the champions. The girl he rescued was his girlfriend, Cho Chang.

Theodore sat down suddenly. "Oh, fuck."

Bianca dropped down beside him. "What's wrong?"

"Elara. She's down there. She's Harry's to rescue." He dropped his head in his hands, and closed his eyes, breathing heavily.

Loud noise came from the crowds, and Theodore stood, hoping to see Harry with Elara, but it was simply Fleur, pulling herself onto the mud, covered in bleeding cuts and shivering. Then, he was disappointed once more when Krum came out with Hermione, his head in the shape of a shark.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on." Theodore paced up and down the stand, running his hands through his hair. Then, there was a ripple in the water, and Theodore stopped moving and turned to face the lake.

Harry emerged from the lake, and in his arms were a silver haired girl that looked like a younger Fleur, and a dark haired girl that was no other than Elara. She opened her eyes as soon as they broke the surface of the lake, and coughed as water came into her mouth, blinking furiously to try and see.

Theodore rushed down the stairs of the stands as soon as he saw her, and he ran right for the closest edge on the side of the lake. "Morning Harry." Elara grinned when she saw her god brother.

"Hey." He smiled back tiredly. He was struggling to hold the little girl. So, Elara, at full strength right now, wrapped her arm around the silver haired girl who was coughing now, and took her weight from Harry. "Thanks."

"You got it." Then she turned to the girl. "Hi, I'm Elara, I'm gonna help you get to the shore, ok?"

"Thank you. I'm Gabrielle. Fleur's my sister."

"It's nice to meet you, Gabrielle." Elara pushed herself and the girl to the side of the lake, where Fleur was, on her knees. She held her arms out and Elara lifted Gabrielle slightly so her older sister could take her. Then, she could feel someone else lifting her and Harry up.

When she looked up, she saw it was her boyfriend. "Hey, Theo."

"Hey, Lara." He hugged her closer to his chest. "You scared me."

"I scared me too, if that makes you feel better." She laughed shakily. "It's cold." She wrapped her arms around herself.

"Shit." Theodore wasted no time in taking his jacket off and wrapping it around her, and then wrapping his arms around her to warm her even more. "Better?"

"Much. Thank you." She looked over to where Harry was being wrapped in a blanket by Ron and Hermione (who was also wrapped up but looked dryer and warmer as she was rescued earlier). He saw her looking over at him and walked over to her.

"You feeling alright?" He asked her.

"I feel brilliant now that I'm out. How are you?" She asked, hugging him lightly, before letting him go.

"I'll be alright. Just a little cold."

"Good."

"Cold? Someone cold?" Came Madam Pomfrey's voice.

Hermione saw them both shivering and so she waved Madam Pomfrey over. "Over here, Madam."

"Hermione, what the fu-" Elara started speaking but before she could finish, Madam Pomfrey had poured a hot potion down her throat that caused steam to come out of her ears. Then, she did the same with Harry, before leaving to shove the potion down someone else's throat.

Fleur came over, Gabrielle under her arm, and both of them wrapped in blankets. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

Fleur turned to Elara and smiled at her. "And you 'elped him. Merci, merci beaucoup."

"Of course, Fleur. De rien." Elara replied, welcoming Fleur in a hug, and then doing the same with Gabrielle. "I'm glad you're alright, Gabrielle."

"Thank you for helping me." The little girl looked at Elara shyly, who merely smiled back and patted her shoulder. The two sisters waved, both of them smiling, then they walked away and towards Madame Maxine, who placed a hand on Fleur's shoulder.

The trio waved goodbye as well, and after Harry hugged Elara one last time, they headed towards the castle. "You worried all of us today."

"Yeah, that's that McGonagall called me for yesterday, and I couldn't exactly leave to tell you and then come back. I'm sorry for worrying you." Elara twisted her body and kissed her boyfriend shortly, before she was hugged tightly by a pair of slender arms.

"Hey, Bia."

"Hi, idiot." Her best friend let go of her. "You scared the living daylights out of me, you absolute bitch."

"So sorry." Elara sent her a teasing smile, as she leaned back against her boyfriend's chest, who in turn, wrapped one of his arms around her waist, and the other one held her hand, their fingers laced together.

"You're going to be the death of us one day, Elara Black." Bianca shook her head, a smile present on her face as she waved goodbye and walked back towards where the twins were stood.

"How about we get you dry?" Theodore proposed.

"That sounds absolutely wonderful." She replied, getting up. Theodore kept his hand still laced with hers as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer for comfort and to warm her up, and then they walked back to the Slytherin dorms.

Once they got there, Theodore's shirt was also partially wet from the towel and Elara's hair. "You go ahead and shower, I'll shower once you're done." Theodore nodded his head towards the bathroom. Elara nodded, and after gathering some clothes, she headed for the bathroom, and stepped under the warm stream of water that flowed from the shower.

Once she was done, she wrapped the robe around her body and headed for the pile of clothes she had placed on the counter. It was a pair of pyjamas, different from the ones she had been wearing the past few months. The weather was getting warmer, and so her pyjamas were getting more suited for such weather.

They consisted of a pair of black silky shorts, and a matching silky full sleeved shirt. And after drying her hair quickly with a spell, she pulled some socks on and walked out of the bathroom, not even pausing before she threw herself on the bed. "Tired?"

"Exhausted. So, hurry up and shower so we can take a nap. I haven't had a good night's sleep in so long, and this will probably be my only opportunity in a while." Elara turned over in the bed and looked up at Theodore who was stood near the bathroom door.

"Yes ma'am." He mock-saluted his girlfriend, before walking into the shower. Elara leaned her back against a pillow and closed her eyes. She didn't know how long had passed, but Theodore walked out of the bathroom. "Lara?"

"Still awake." She opened her eyes and saw he was stood there, his hair falling into his eyes, and dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a short sleeved pyjama top. She opened her arms and he lay down on the bed, placing his head on her stomach. Her hands went to his hair automatically and she ran her fingers through it. And slowly, her eyes closed, and she drifted off into a short, but satisfying sleep.