Despite the Headmaster's calming, unaffected demeanour as he enjoyed the sweets that everybody else had refused, Hermione felt nervous as she surveyed the room around her. Karkaroff and McGonagall stood behind Dumbledore like twin stone gargoyles keeping watch over a courtyard while the three Hogwarts students sat quietly at their desks. No one had anything to say to one another; Cho only knew Hermione and Ron as the slightly odd friends of the boy whom she had turned down, and half of Hermione's mind – and, she assumed, Ron's – was still back in the library with Harry. However unplanned it had been, it felt like abandonment to not be with him at a time like this; she didn't like the thought that he might fail because she and Ron hadn't been there with him. If he were going to fail tomorrow, she wanted to be fighting alongside him right up until he had to jump into that lake.

Hermione had been relieved when the party had taken a detour to find Cho before meeting the Headmaster. Ever since McGonagall had approached them, she had been worried that they were getting into trouble for helping Harry and that her friend might be penalised the next day as a result. What they were doing wasn't technically against the rules, but Harry had the rather unsettling habit of being the exception to such things, and she wouldn't put it past Karkaroff or Maxime to try to nail him for this. However, while the Ravenclaw Seeker might have been caught helping Cedric, it was much less likely than when it was just Ron and Hermione being summoned. And, if they were going to try to drag Harry and Cedric down for this, she could and would level the accusation of interfering at the two foreign professors, which she knew would be seen as a much heavier infringement than the Hogwarts champions enlisting their friends' aid.

Regardless of her reassurance, the whole thing reminded her of that time in primary school when her whole class was put in detention for something she hadn't done and she'd had to sit in the silent room for half of lunch instead of reading the book she'd been given for her birthday. Her teacher had apologised to her afterwards, stating that she had known Hermione hadn't been involved but couldn't show favouritism by letting only one student leave when there were others who were equally innocent, but Hermione had been absolutely quiet in her class for weeks so there would be proof that she wasn't involved if it happened again. Hermione had been impressed with herself for how long she was able to restrain herself from answering the teacher's unanswered questions, although her silent protest had eventually ended when her curiosity had become too great to hold in.

Besides, the fact that Dumbledore was so quiet disconcerted her. He had made light conversation initially, but his disposition had been decidedly more subdued than normal and, after realising that his students weren't feeling comforted, he had reassured them it wouldn't be long and joined them in silence.

She glanced at the clock impatiently. Yearning to be out of a classroom wasn't a normal feeling for Hermione, and she couldn't say she liked the experience. It gave her a new understanding for how Ron and Harry felt when they kept glancing at the time at the end of a particularly complicated lesson. She just wanted this to be over so that they could get back to helping Harry. Professor McGonagall had said that they wouldn't see him again before the next task, but that didn't mean she couldn't think about it and send an enchanted paper aeroplane if she came up with anything.

Finally, Madame Maxime and a small blonde girl who looked like a younger replica of Fleur entered the room. The girl looked proud and excited, a slight smile on her face and energetic sparkle in her eye, and Hermione wondered whether the half-giant had already told her whatever this meeting was about. The gathered assembly had been waiting for the last few attendees before any explanations were given, but she wouldn't put it past either of the other school leaders to tell their students in the meantime.

"Ah, and you must be Gabrielle," Professor Dumbledore said, his voice soothing like the warm softness of a child's favourite blanket. "Please take a seat; get comfortable. You can take a table, too, while you're at it. This classroom is usually unused, so I don't think anybody is particular attached to any of them. And, oh! Ludo Bagman. Excellent. We can now begin."

The ex-Quidditch player had bounded in after the French ladies, looking completely unburdened. He glanced over at Hermione and Ron with an assessing gaze before briefly acknowledging Cho and the other professors. "How is everyone, then?"

A chorus of non-committing variations of 'good' and 'well' sounded their reply.

"Excellent, as Dumbledore said." His voice was cheerful, starkly contrasting with the mood of the rest of the room. It was almost painful in its exuberance, as if they were trying to look at the sun but being blinded by its brightness.

"As horrible as it is to leave such company," McGonagall said wryly, "I'm afraid I have a detention to supervise. A few of my first years decided it would be wise to attempt a spell at the end of their book without first checking what it did." Her gaze shifted to Hermione. "I only hope my older students have more sense than that."

"Words of wisdom for anyone, I am sure," Bagman said dismissively, but Ron and Hermione looked at one another meaningfully as their Head of House departed. For all that Bagman dismissed her message, she apparently thought they were entering a conversation that necessitated such a reminder, regardless of the Headmaster's continued presence.

Something's amiss, Hermione thought.

"Nobody else has to leave?" Bagman joked. Although he failed to get a response, he continued undeterred. "As I'm sure you're all aware, the second task of the Triwizard Tournament is tomorrow. What you might not know," he said, his eyes fixated on Hermione and Ron apart from brief glances to Cho and Gabrielle, "is that the golden egg from the last task has provided the champions with a clue of what they are going to encounter this time." Hermione didn't react – they'd have known that even if they weren't helping Harry. Even if they hadn't all literally been told it after the first task, the whole Gryffindor common room had been privy to Harry's disastrous first attempt at deciphering the clue. "I am sure that they are all aware by now that the next task is to go down to the bottom of the lake to retrieve something of great value to them." This time, Hermione tried to look surprised, but Bagman was focused on Ron's face; whatever he saw there seemed to relieve him, and he started splitting his attention more equally between the four. "You are no doubt wondering what these things are! Well, it is perhaps more accurate to say who these people are. Yes; you have all been granted the high honour of being chosen to assist in the next task of the Triwizard Tournament." He beamed at them in excitement, and Hermione couldn't help but interrupt.

"You want to send us down there for the champions to fetch. But how?"

"Well, Miss..."

"Granger, sir."

"Miss Granger. You will be put into a kind of magical sleep that will not be lifted until the moment your lungs fill with air once again."

"You would be familiar with the Draught of Living Death, Miss Granger, Miss Chang," Professor Dumbledore said. "Those who agree will be given an extremely diluted and slightly altered form of the potion. Professor Snape has personally overseen its design and brewing at my request."

"It will be completely safe for you, of course," Karkaroff said, and Hermione wondered whether he'd say the same if one of his students were among the party to be sent down there. He probably didn't care all that much about whether the students came up alive, as long as Krum brought her back up satisfactorily. Oh, how it must rankle him that the only Muggle-born in the party was the one whose safety he was most invested in.

"Of course. Didn't I say that?" Bagman grinned at them jovially, as if forgetting safety concerns was the sort of cool thing that would prove he was a fun adult, not a stuck up one, and win him their favour. "The mermaids will defend you from any aquatic predators. Once the hour has passed, they will bring any remaining hostages to the surface, although, after the splendid performances at the last task, we don't expect any hostages to remain uncollected at the end of the time period."

"Enchantments will be placed on you to protect you from grievance while under the effects of the potion," Dumbledore added, obviously unsatisfied with Bagman's limited explanation. "The only danger for you would be if you breached the surface and then were pulled back under. To safeguard against that, a merguard will follow each champion to the surface so that they can intervene should danger be posed to the hostage, and there will be a number of professors near the water's edge waiting for your arrival."

"There's really no need to say which of you would be the goal of which champion," Bagman continued brightly. "It's fairly self-evident, don't you think?"

"Blimey," Ron whispered to Hermione. "I reckon I'll be down there the whole hour, then."

"Harry will work something out; he always does," Hermione whispered back. Ron started to respond, but Cho's voice cut him off, and his whispered words were lost where no one could hear them.

"What if we said no?" Cho asked, frowning at Bagman. "Theoretically speaking."

"Well, then I'd tell you each who would be rescuing you," he replied, looking and sounding confused at the question. "Obviously."

"No, I meant to participating in the task in the first place."

"If you weren't comfortable helping your champion – I'm sorry, that's the wrong choice of words; if you weren't comfortable participating with your champion – then we would find a replacement for you. You would still have to remain in confinement overnight, of course, in case any of the contestants haven't figured it out yet, but you'd be allowed to head down to the lake to bid him – or her – off in the morning."

"If the worst came to pass and nobody agreed, Miss Chang, we could just have a waterproof sign with the champion's name on it," Dumbledore assured her, twirling the end of his long white beard around his index finger as he spoke. "There is no pressure whatsoever for any of you to participate."

It almost sounds like he'd rather us take that option, Hermione thought.

"Why don't you do that to begin with, then?" Ron asked. "Why does it matter what's done there? It's just throwing a different kind of stick for them to fetch, really."

"It matters because it is traditional," Madame Maxime responded, her voice condescendingly stressing the last word as if she doubted that anyone present besides her knew how to properly follow tradition, "for any tasks involving the champions saving something to have the objective being their... beloved. The Yule Ball therefore traditionally had the purpose of both being a celebration for the champions and an opportunity to discern who such beloveds would be. Neither Mr Potter nor Miss Delacour were seen to enjoy their time at the Yule Ball, so replacements have had to be found."

"Well," Bagman said, trying to take back the reigns of the conversation once again. "What are your decisions?"

"I want to help my sister." Gabrielle's voice was strong and determined; regardless, there was an unsteadiness about it.

"If the Headmaster is sure it's safe," Hermione said, meeting the eyes of the wizard in question, "then I don't see why not." Besides, it was utterly fascinating. She knew she wouldn't remember any of it, or that she shouldn't remember any of it, but it was the closest she was likely to ever get to a colony of merpeople. The anthropologic benefits of that alone…

"Sure," Ron grumbled. "Still reckon you should do the sign thing, though."

Cho shrugged. "Like Hermione said, as long as it's safe… I mean, it's not like we're going to see anything anyway if the whole task takes place underwater."

"Good! We won't administer the potions until just before dawn. Don't want them wearing off now, do we?" Catching the expressions on his companions' unimpressed and horrified faces, Bagman quickly added, "Not that there's actually any chance of that; it won't wear off for a few hours unless you breach the surface. Anyway, you'll spend the night here – we'll transform it into a dormitory, of course, and connect it to the amenities next door – under supervision."

"Which colours would you like your bedspreads to be?" Dumbledore asked. "Miss Chang?"

"Erm, whichever," she replied shyly. At his encouraging look, she added, "Blue, if that's alright."

Once he had extracted similar instructions from the others, Dumbledore transformed the room into a spacious dormitory with five four-poster beds, two of which were sectioned off from the others with a retractable screen. A door materialised connecting the reappropriated classroom to the bathroom next door, which, he explained, was no longer accessible from the outside corridor. Two house-elves were sent off to collect enough personal effects for them for the night. Not long afterwards, Percy Weasley arrived, and the delegates started to depart, leaving him behind to supervise the children.

Ron chortled quietly at the thought of his pompous brother essentially being assigned to sleepover supervision duty. "Wonder how he'd tell people about it; supervising special guests, maybe?" he muttered to Hermione, bitterness tinging his tone.

Bagman gave Hermione and Ron another assessing look before he left, seeming displeased with what he found. Dumbledore, the last to leave, lingered to exchange a few words with the older Weasley brother before sweeping his gaze over the four seated children on the way out, giving them what seemed to be an uncharacteristically forced smile.

"Is it just me," Ron whispered to Hermione, not wanting his brother of all people to overhear, "or is Dumbledore worried?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione reminded him. "And I was hoping it was just me, actually. He doesn't like this. Neither did Professor McGonagall."

"I caught that too." They looked around in surprise to find that Cho had moved over beside them. "I don't think they'd let us go down there if it weren't safe – "

"You'd be surprised," Ron muttered, low enough that not even he himself heard the words.

" – but they don't like it, either."

Ron looked up at the sound of his brother's voice, before relaxing when he realised that it was directed at the younger girl. He didn't want to have to sit through Percy bragging about his position again – it was bad enough when it was a letter that he could rip up or burn; it was almost intolerable when there was no way to escape unnoticed. "Then again, they wouldn't, would he? Not with her going down there. No one in their right mind would want to risk her like that."

"She is a bit young," Hermione agreed. "I don't know what Madame Maxime was thinking to ask her to do this."

"Not that. Well, yes, that too. But not just that. It's because she's part-Veela, isn't it?" Grimly, Ron waved a hand around as if that magically explained everything. However, the two girls' reactions were completely different; Cho looked horrified, while Hermione just tilted her head in confused curiosity.

"What does being part-Veela have to do with anything?" Hermione asked. She'd been meaning to research Veelas ever since the World Cup, but she hadn't yet gotten around to more than a perfunctory look at her woefully uninformative Care of Magical Creatures textbook. Nothing else had been available to her initially, and then, by the time she was back at school and had access to the library, she had gotten distracted by schoolwork and the ever-present task of keeping Harry alive.

"Possibly everything," Cho said, a dismayed look on her face.