Everlasting (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Obstacles

For a moment you paused, but, upon realising that time was running out, you untied Harry. Taking a hold of his body, you began to swim upwards. All was well, and you were right by the surface, when, suddenly, you felt yourself be hit with a strong force of water, causing Harry to spiral out of your grasp, and you be sent away as an after-effect of the force. Harry's unconscious body had, luckily, floated to the top, and he had been pulled out of the water, however upon Harry's appearance and your lack thereof, glances began to be exchanged and murmurs began to spread.

"Potter was female Potter's, wasn't he?" Draco asked, moving to the edge of his seat to look closer. "But where is she?"

"I don't know," Blaise said, standing up and stepping closer to see the scene better. "She's not there."

"Nowhere?" Draco asked, following up and looking closer. "What does this mean?" He asked, approaching Mad-Eyed Moody.

"I don't know," he responded brusquely, turning away, looking into the water in an attempt to find you. "But it can't be good."

You, meanwhile, turned behind to take a look at the what the force had been, only to discover a - well, what was it? It resembled a shark, only far more gruesome, with much sharper and larger teeth, and bulbous red eyes, and far larger than what one would associate with a shark. It began to charge at you at an immense speed; its speed was the cause of such a strong force around it.

Panicking, you began to kick your legs and charged off through the water as quickly as possible, dodging, swimming, until you felt yourself swim into the darker parts of the lake; you were now surrounded by tall seaweed, and the density of the water had increased. Though still breathable, it was far more difficult now. The only positive thing of this, however, was the shark's, or whatever that was, leave, as you hid in the seaweed. Only until it was fully gone, you slowly swam out of the seaweed, but only then you'd realised how far you had swam from the main area. Time was running out, and you were far away. Soon, the Gillyweed was also going to start wearing off - you had no time to waste. It was time to head back, now.

With ultimate speed, you began to force your way through the water, swimming as fast as possible. On the way, you passed the very area of mermaids, and discovered that all the slots had been emptied, except from one. The French girl. You checked your watch: three minutes. Three minutes! Until the end of the task! Where was Fleur!? You bit your lip, looking down at the scene. Of course, Fleur was not coming. And so, what was to happen with the French girl?

No time, no time! Down you went - like the saviour you were. The second you began to untangle the French girl, the mermaids began to nitpick you with their tridents, poking you and threatening you with them.

"Only one!"

"Oh, fuck off!" You groaned back, grabbing the girl and, with as much speed as possible, swimming to the surface and towards the platform. Seconds were now remaining, and everyone on the platform was now looking at the lake in horror.

Though I am a biased judge, and therefore oughtn't have an opinion, I am inclined to say that, by reasonable judgement, Draco's worry far exceeded Cedric's. That is not to say that Cedric was not worried; for Cedric was pacing up and down the platform, constantly turning to the lake, constantly fiddling with his fingers, asking constantly for the time. But, you see, Draco sat. Draco sat and only sat. He sat in silence, gaping at the lake. He did not bat an eye, he did not blink. And therefore, Draco's nerves were far more active than Cedric's. Mr Malfoy was past the stage of panic; he was now in the stage of horror.

But - what was that! A body had re-surfaced! The little girl! She had returned, and Fleur's eyes beamed with joy and tears as she pulled her own little sister out of the lake, grabbing onto her small body and hugging her tightly. But where was the saviour?

And there were you, with the worst luck in the world possible. Out of all the times possible, the Gillyweed had chosen to wear off at the very moment you were to succeed. In only the last second you had managed to push Fleur's sister up onto the surface, but with that, your body began to sink down, and you had lost ultimate control over where you flew. An down, down, down you went. Into the plain darkness. Falling slowly, drifting through, and the only thing you could see was the light of victory above yourself; the very surface that could have saved your life. Your ability to breathe was diminishing too, and soon enough, you were left holding in the little oxygen you had. That was it. You could have sworn that your life flashed before your eyes, as the darkness began to encompass your view, and even the little light of victory now began to fade. A pale, lifeless face you had become.

But, indeed, you knew there was someone awaiting you on the surface. You knew not whether he was sitting, or standing, but you knew he was there. He had gotten you the second task, and therefore you couldn't let him down.

With the little energy you still had left, you gripped your wand tighter. And, gritting your teeth, you lifted your hand upwards.

"Ascendio!"

With that, you shot up into the air. Finally - above the water did you ascend! Falling onto the platform, you gasped for air. Everyone had immediately surrounded you, wrapped you in towels, cuddled you, attempted to warm you. The little energy you had left in you allowed you to gasp for the oxygen you needed, and all you were now left to do was shiver. Your pale face had caused Draco's face to pale down, mimicking that of a pallid wall, thinking for a moment he was looking at a corpse.

"[F/n]!" Cedric cried out, taking a hold of your body and hugging it tightly before taking a look at you. "Can you hear me? [F/n]!"

"Fuck," was the last thing you managed to groan out before your head fell back completely and you lost consciousness.