Hey, guys!

I'm really sorry about the extremely long wait. I just got back from camp last week and I've been having this thing called camp-hangover (which basically means missing my camp friends, crying, and sleeping in) so please, please forgive me!

Anyway, please enjoy the chapter and continue being amazing!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

Harry POV

Hurrying down to the lakeside alone the next morning was torture. Hermione and Ron had just disappeared and I had no plans on how to tackle the second task. I really could've used their support.

As I neared the lake, my heart started to beat wildly. I was going to fail and be eliminated. It's over.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Fred and George walking up and down the dock collecting bets. And despite myself and my grave situation, I cracked a smile

"HARRY! HEY HARRY, WAIT UP!"

I turned hurriedly towards the source of the shout. Neville came running down the path leading from the castle. His face was red as he came to a halting stop next to me.

"Have you got a plan?"

"What?" I asked genuine confusion coated the words.

"A plan," he breathed. "…For the task. Are you ready?"

"No Neville, I don't have a plan," I yelled, spreading my arms wide. "I don't even bloody know where Ron and Hermione are!"

"Well, I do. Have a plan I mean," he added as an afterthought.

I raised my eyebrows. Could Neville really help me?

"Here." Reaching for the inner pockets of his robes, Neville pulled out a ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails.

"What the… what is that?"

"Gillyweed, it'll help you breathe underwater for the task."

I took it hesitantly, trusting Neville's knowledge of herbology. We started walking towards the boats.

"You're sure about this Neville?"

"Absolutely," he responded carefully, biting his lip.

"For an hour."

"Most likely," he said, his voice laced with positive uncertainty.

"Most likely?" Neville wasn't sure about the gillyweed?! I was going to kill him.

"Well," he started with a gulp. "There is some debate among herbologists as to the effects of freshwater versus saltwater…"

"You're telling me this now?! You must be joking."

"I just… wanted… to help," he muttered sheepishly.

"Well, that makes you a lot better than Ron and Hermione… Where are they anyway?" I asked aloud, looking around.

Students and teachers filled the remaining boats by the dock. Neville and I jumped into an already crowded one.

"You seem a little tense Harry," Neville stated, watching me with concern.

"Do I?"

We reached the stands and clambered onto the middle one, where the other four champions were grouped.

"Need a hand?"

I looked up at Annabeth's outstretched hand and took it gratefully.

"Thanks," I mumbled, looking around for Ron and Hermione. Where were they?

"No problem," she said, her teeth chattering. She shivered.

The wind coming off the lake was chilly. I was wearing a Gryffindor jumper over my swimsuit, but Annabeth, who wore a tattered orange t-shirt over her own swimsuit, was probably freezing.

A loud cough made us both jumped. Dumbledore's voice boomed across the lake. "Welcome to the second task. Last night something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own-"

Annabeth moved over to the edge of the stand, where Cedric, Krum, and Fleur had lined up. I made to follow her when someone grabbed my arm.

"Put that in your mouth," Professor Moody growled, pointing his chin at the gillyweed. I nodded and did as told. It was as slimy as it seemed. I started coughing. I couldn't manage to swallow. I was choking.

"-You may begin at the start of the cannon," Dumbledore finished.

The canon sounded. I heard Annabeth mutter a small prayer to someone named Posi… Poseidon? Before she followed the other three into the water. A large hand gripped my shoulder.

"Get a grip boy." Then the world turned to shades of green.

A burning sensation filled my chest, my head, the sides of my neck; the lack of oxygen quickly reaching my brain. Suddenly it cleared. My head stopped spinning…. And I could breathe.

I looked down and almost had a heart attack. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed. He twisted around and looked at his bare feet - they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too: It looked as though he had sprouted flippers.

The water didn't feel icy anymore either. I struck out once more, and marveled at how far and fast my flipper-like feet propelled me through the water, and I also noticed how clearly I could see, and how I no longer seemed to need to blink. Soon, I had swum so far into the lake that I could no longer see the bottom. I flipped over and dived into its depths.

It was silent as I swam over the foggy and dark landscape of the lake. I couldn't see that far ahead of me. New images and scenes appeared as I floated past. I swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake

A flash of blonde and orange caught the corner of my eye. Annabeth was just ahead of me, swimming towards the lake's bottom. Toward the ruins of something… since when did the lake have ruins? I shook my head and kicked, propelling myself forward, catching up the Delphi champion.

I tapped her shoulder when I got close enough. She whipped around; a flash of bronze blinded me momentarily. She raised a finger to her lips, hushing me and tapped her ear.

Listen, she mouthed and pointed towards the largest ruin.

I cocked my head. Straining my ears, I managed to catch snippets of an eerie melody:

"An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

Your time's half gone, so tarry not

Lest what you seek stays here to rot..."

Annabeth unsheathed a dagger from a sheath at her waist, hidden beneath her t-shirt. My eyes widened. She only motioned with the blade towards the bottom and started off with long even strokes.

Cedric had taken Cho, and Krum had taken Hermione. Annabeth and I both stayed at the bottom waiting. Where was Fleur?!

Minutes, hours later, Annabeth tapped my shoulder and pointed towards the surface. I nodded.

Distract them, I mouthed.

I snatched up the stone Krum had dropped, but the mermen now closed in around Ron and the little girl, shaking their heads at him. Annabeth brandished her dagger. The merpeople shrunk away from the glowing bronze. I pulled out my wand.

"Get out of the way!" Annabeth yelled… or tried too.

Only bubbles flew out of her mouth, but Ihe had a distinct impression that the mermen had understood the blonde because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon the wand and the knife, and they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them than there were of us, but I could tell, by the looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic than the giant squid did.

"You've got until three!" Annabeth shouted a second attempt to distract them; a great stream of bubbles burst from her lips. I admired her courage and held up three fingers to make sure they got the message.

"One..." I lowered one finger. Nothing.

"Two…" I lowered another finger, meeting the merpeople's eyes.

They scattered. I darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last, she was free. I seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Ron's robes, and kicked off from the bottom. Annabeth followed, holding onto a raven-haired boy. Percy Jackson.

It was very slow work. I couldn't use my hands to propel myself forward; I kicked furiously, but Ron and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging me back down...Taking deep breaths, I fixed my eyes skyward, even though I knew that we were still very deep, the water above was so dark...

It seemed like years later, but the dark lake water around me began to lighten considerably. I followed Annabeth as she made her way to the surface of the water. Light green weeds grew around, shooting up almost to the lake's surface; I ahead, trying to discern shapes through the gloom...and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of my ankle.

I twisted and saw a grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around my leg, its pointed fangs bared – I fumbled for his wand. By the time I grasped it; two more grindylows had risen out of the weed and had grabbed both of my legs, attempting to drag me down back into the lake. It was becoming harder to breathe. With a final burst of energy I let go of Ron and Fleur's sister, pushing them towards the surface- at least they would make it out.

Starbursts of pain exploded on either side of my neck. The water was definitely thinning. More grindylows appeared out of the weeds. They grabbed hold of my arms and legs. My wand went spinning out of my hand, into the dark depths of the lake.

The grindylows pulled me down. I kicked and thrashed- anything to free myself from the creature's grip. What had Professor Lupin taught us about them?

I blanked. A sudden movement of the weeds to my right had the grindylows relinquishing their grip on me….. And fleeing. I turned towards the sound and saw a glowing pair of red eyes glaring back at me.

Those eyes, the colors of burning embers, were the last things I saw before a wave of blackness swept over me, knocking me unconscious.

Alright you guys, that was chapter 9. I know it was short, but I needed it to end there so I can start chapter 10 with a bang!

As always, please review. We're so close to 100! When we hit 100, I'll do a double update ok? Sound fair?

Ttyl

Liz