Chapter 178: Rescuing The Damsel (2/2)
”Oh, Gabrielle.” French flew out of Fleur's mouth as she received Gabrielle from Quinn and hugged her confused sister.
”Come here, you,” said Madam Pomfrey. She took Gabrielle from Fleur and, under the watchful eye of Fleur, warmed up Gabrielle and checked if the young girl was up.
A third-year Hufflepuff called out softly to Quinn and shyly handed him a towel. Quinn smiled and received it with a smile — he didn't actually need the towel, but he pretended to wipe his face as magic stipped water of from his body. He handed the towel back with a thank you, making the girl blush.
He looked down, and he was still in his swim shorts and then at the lake where he had stripped himself of his cloth in the heat of the moment. He shrugged and conjured a simple shirt around his body.
”Well done, Mr. West!” Dumbledore cried. ”you brought Ms. Delacour just in time, though going after Ms. Gabrielle was a little hasty — but, I understand.”
”Thank you, headmaster,” smiled Quinn, ”I was the closest; it was just natural for me to help out.”
He also noticed Karkaroff watching him. He was the only judge who had not left the table, the sole judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Fleur and Gabrielle had got back safely. Quinn smiled and nodded towards Karkaroff with a short head bow.
Quinn looked back at Dumbledore just to find that the old headmaster was missing. Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally, he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, ”A conference before we give the marks, I think.”
The judges went into a huddle. Poppy had gone to rescue Ivy and Harry from Lily's clutches; she led him over to Daphne and the others, gave them a blanket and some Pepper up Potion. Quinn had been a little too fast in his rescue.
As Poppy dealt with the champions and hostages, Quinn squatted at the platform's edge and looked deeply at the lake while pointing his fake wand. A dozen seconds later, his clothes came flying out, sloshing in water, thoroughly soaking.
”He-eh,” he smiled and insta-dried his clothes. Quinn stood up and turned to see Fleur standing just behind him. ”Woah!. .. . Hey, how're you feeling?” he asked.
The Veela threw her arms around Quinn's neck and kissed him deeply right on the lips. Quinn was so surprised that he froze for a second before he remembered that.. .. kissing felt really good. So he leaned into it, and subconsciously his hands went to her waist.
Everyone.. .. everyone who could see Fleur and Quinn stared at the couple — which was a lot of people, including all on the platform (judges, champions, hostages, Poppy, and Lily.)
Harry, Cedric, and Krum stared at the pair with their mouths open a little (Cedric got a jab which closed his mouth). The judges held varying expressions with Dumbledore smiling, ”young people.. .” Poppy and Lily looked a bit scandalized to see blatant kissing happening in front of them.
Finally, Ivy and Daphne, who were soaking wet with towels around them, stared at Quinn and Fleur. Almost immediately, Daphne's dislike of Fleur deepened a few levels; she wanted to get up and separate the two but knew she couldn't do it. Ivy stared at them, and her mind started to play her interaction with Quinn after he saved Harry — his visit to their house, her visits to the AID office, him training them, him rejecting her and how that felt, and finally the dance she shared with him at the Yule Ball.. .. Ivy decided that she didn't like what was happening in front of her.
After a long and deep kiss, they separated, out of breath. Fleur's arms now rested on Quinn's chest as he gazed down at her, his arms still on her waist.
”Not going to lie, but this might be the best thing that happened to me this week — maybe even this month,” and he had found the main, innermost chamber of the fourth vault this month.
Fleur nodded in total agreement, ”It was at the top for me as well.”
”Really?”
”Yes.”
”So, I'm definitely much better than okay, aren't I?”
Fleur chuckled melodiously and nodded, ”Yes, you're better than okay,” she looked up and licked her lips, ”much better than okay.”
Quinn beamed, feeling really happy right now, and gazed at the girls in his arms. He knew what he said about not wanting his first relationship to not be a fling, but right now, Fleur looked a little too appealing — he really wanted to kiss her again.
”Ahem.” That fake cough broke Quinn out of his thoughts. He looked and saw Ludo Bagman looking at them. Fleur and Quinn removed their hands from each other, realizing that they had a lot of company.
”Mr. Bagman,” said Quinn, ”you can continue for today; please conclude the second task.”
Ludo nodded, knowing it was a request even if there was a please in there.
”Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake and we also saw everything from here, so we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows.. . .”
”Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble- Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points.”
Applause from the stands.
”I deserved zero,” said Fleur, throatily, shaking her magnificent head.
”Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was third to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour.” Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Quinn saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. ”We, therefore, award him forty-one points.”
”Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty-four points.”
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.
”Harry Potter used a gillyweed potion to great effect,” Bagman continued. ”He returned first and well inside the time limit of an hour. He was the fastest and worked with the most efficiency; as such, we award him a total of forty-eight points.”
Harry looked proud, and Lily was clapping very hard.
Quinn gave a glance to Bagman before stepping forward to take the last announcement for himself, ”The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June. The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions.”
'It's over,' Quinn thought, sighing, as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes.. .. but then he felt arms wrap around his waist, and he looked down to see tiny silver-blonde staring at him with her big blue eyes.
”Gabrielle, right?” asked Quinn, pulling a smile.
The girl nodded and spoke in a voice that Quinn thought was very lovely and cute, ”Thank you.”
”You're welcome.”
The little girl continued to stare at Quinn for a few seconds before running away. She had said her thank you, but she feared that Quinn would get all yucky-icky-kissy face with her if she stayed. If Quinn knew her thoughts, he would've experienced a very happy blow.
He looked at the lake and smiled. It was a good day. He didn't notice a few sets of eyes observing him with varying looks.
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Quinn West - MC - Kissing feels really good.
Fleur Delacour - Veela - She failed the task, but the kiss balanced it out.
Daphne Greengrass - Slytherin, Hostage - Doesn't like Fleur at all.
Ivy Potter - Gryffindor, Hostage - Things are in.. . flux.
Gabrielle Delacour - Little Veela - Kisses are yucky-icky.
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