"Was that something in the water?" Harry shined his light around the dark room at the low growling sound.

"Relax Potter, it was my stomach."

Harry slumped back down to the table. Oh, yeah. Had it been seven days since Snape had eaten now? Harry had had that apple, but it hadn't done much good when he wish shivering and sick and his body was using up far too much energy just trying to survive. They'd both tried to call for more food, but nothing had come, which meant there was either nothing left to eat, or all of the paths from the food to them were blocked. They'd also tried to call upon the house elves, but there had been no response, and Snape had told him that they were either dead or had tried to flee when the flood first came in.

"Maybe we should try to find a way to higher ground again," Harry said. He was positive there was something in the room with them, and he didn't feel comfortable sleeping for fear it would reach up out of the water over the side of the table and get him.

"You seem to be doing better, but I cannot risk taking you through the flooded castle. I am sure we can survive without food for some time."

"Seventeen days," Harry said, drawing Snape's attention to him.

The Gryffindor seemed so positive, Severus thought. He wondered if that's how long Harry had gone and decided to ask to see if the boy would be truthful with him or not.

"Is that how long you've gone without?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man and turned his shoulders so he could face away from him. "No." The truth was yes. It had been seventeen days this summer when he'd first arrived at the Dursleys that they'd denied him food, and after that only one meal a day. He hated it there.

"You're very thin for a boy who eats every day."

"I'm very thin for a boy who's had one apple in seven days," Harry corrected him.

They sat in silence for long moments, and Harry thought the Potion's Master would say something else, but he didn't. Silence was common for them now and it almost felt strange for Harry to talk to him at all without being yelled at or called names. Seven days of silence, Harry thought. Silence, water, and sickness, the only constants. And, he thought, as he saw something move in the water, monsters.

* * *

Draco knew they were looking for him, and he felt like some sort of escapee from prison. He had paddled out pretty far today after saving Sinistra at sun up, to see if he could explore how far the flooding went, but he saw Hooch flying on a broom scanning the water below and had turned back after that. So far sticking close to the castle had worked out pretty well for him as far as hiding went though. There were still overhangs of windows to hide under, and there was just enough of the bridge from the West Tower to the lower East tower above water to hide in the shadow of. He made it a point to stay away from the part of the castle where he'd seen students fishing from the rooftop. At least out here he didn't feel cooped up. Even hiding from Hooch was better than sitting on his hands and doing nothing.

In the back of his mind, he knew it would only be a matter of time before Hooch actually spotted him though. He had thought to cover the boat in tree branches to disguise it as floating debris, but there were none he could find. He had to have a backup plan. He'd been around most of the castle since yesterday and had already assessed multiple entry points where he thought he could get in to hide if spotted and then get back out into the boat once she was gone. He hated the thought of getting into the water, but if he was going to save anybody else, he knew it was inevitable. What Draco didn't count on was how fast Hooch would find him. The sun was just setting when he spotted her for a third time that day, and it looked as though her fight path was headed straight for him. He didn't fancy the tongue lashing he knew she'd give him and hurried to tie the boat to the overhang at the window he planned on climbing into. He thought he could actually hear her calling his name from a distance, but he didn't hesitate to use his wand to vanish the glass and climb inside. Thankfully here there was only a few inches of water on the floor and he wouldn't need to swim, but she might follow him in, so he ran through the waterlogged room and out into the corridor. He didn't know too much about the East part of the castle other than that a lot of the staff had quarters here and that there were study rooms the upper year Ravenclaw's sometimes used. He thought the apparation class was held here too but only seventh years got to go to that class and he'd never seen the room before.

Around two corners and up a short flight of stairs Draco ran head first into a girl and their heads smacked together.

"Ow!"

Draco took a step back, rubbing his head and looked up at the painful cry of Iris. "Iris!" he said with a big smile.

"Draco? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you," he said, "is there anyone else here?"

"Patty McGee and Professor Jameson are in the room at the top of the stairs with Billy Corner."

"Billy who?"

"He's a first year Gryffindor." She eyed him skeptically. "Have you really come to save us?"

"Yes, I have a boat outside. It has oars." Hm. If he went back with them then he'd be caught for sure. He was positive Hooch was still outside waiting for him. But if he sent them out to the boat, Hooch could take them back to the other part of the castle.

"You can take the boat," Draco said then. "It won't fit us all. You take the boat and I'll get on the next one."

"Are you sure?" He nodded.

"Back down the stairs and take two lefts and there's a room where I've vanished the glass window. There's only a couple of inches of water on the floor. The boat is tied outside. Go get the others." He purposefully let her think he'd lead them back there while he was really giving her directions. When she took a few steps, then turned back to smile at him, he gave her a grin and waited until she was out of sight before he went back down the stairs himself and in the opposite direction. They were taking the boat, he thought, but maybe he could conjure it to himself later to continue the search. At the very least he would be safe here if he couldn't find another way to keep searching without the boat. When he was sure he'd gone down enough corridors so that he was sufficiently lost, he found a broom closet and hid inside, listening for any sounds of people looking for him. He leaned his head back against the wall, still feeling a little crazy, but also satisfied that four more people would be counted as found and alive including Iris. And he smiled, because she'd smiled at him. He'd never seen her smile at Potter before.

* * *

Harry was startled awake by icy cold water and an icy hand around his ankle pulling him deeper. He didn't have time to grab his wand as he slid off the table or to take a breath. He'd simply woken because of the freezing cold, and opened his eyes to find himself surrounded in darkness.

He struggled, but there was no escape, despite that he kept kicking whatever had taken hold of him. He wondered if this thing had killed Snape first, silently so as not to wake Harry. Maybe the thing was as hungry as Harry was, and was looking for its next meal.

Uncertain of which way was up or down, Harry struggled until he saw a flash of light above him and he thought he saw the silhouette of a face in the light. There was another flash of light that came down into the water this time, and just as Harry felt he was going to pass out from lack of air, the icy grip on his hand loosened for just a moment, and Harry was free from it, though his arms felt like lead and didn't want to move. There was a violent splash next to him and someone was pulling him to the surface.

Harry coughed and sputtered as he grasped for the table and Severus helped him get a hold of it.

"What happened?" he asked, demanding an answer.

"Something- pulled me- from the table," Harry said, choking out more of the water. He noted that the water didn't taste good, and was thankful that at least they could conjure clean water from the tip of their wands.

"Did you see it?"

He shook his head. "Too dark."

Severus kept his wand out and shined it around them in the water. They hadn't yet climbed back up onto the table, but if the creature had pulled Harry off of it while they were sleeping, then they weren't any safer there.

"It's time to go," Severus said with finality then. This room was no longer safe, though he was aware that because there was no door, they weren't safe in the hallway either. They were going to need to find higher ground and hope that the way there wasn't blocked and didn't involve an underwater swim.

Harry didn't seem inclined to argue after having been dragged under by an unknown creature, until Severus said, "Whatever happens to me, you must keep going. Try to get to higher ground."

Harry turned to stare at him. "What do you mean keep going? I'm not leaving you behind."

"Potter, you had no trouble leaving me behind from the boat or the other classroom." The stare Severus sent his way was a dangerous one, reminiscent of the man who'd given him detention seven days ago.

That was different, was what Harry had wanted to say. He didn't think he needed help surviving then, but now he was reluctant to separate from the only adult he had access to... the only one who'd ever even tried to take care of him.

"I'm not leaving," Harry said then with resolve.

Suddenly Snape's hand shot out from the water and gripped the front of Harry's shirt collar. "You will do as I say Potter. Now start moving. I stunned whatever it was, but I don't know how long the spell will last when I can't tell what kind of creature it is."

Harry glared at him. "Fine." With weak arms, wand in hand, Harry swam out into the corridor, doing more of a doggy paddle than anything else, just trying to keep his head above water. He could hear Snape behind him, splashing his arms with a stronger swim than Harry felt like he could muster, and kept going in the darkness. The corridor curved around, revealing several more doors and Harry saw what he thought was a hidden passageway behind a soaked tapestry, but he didn't stop to investigate it. He knew there were hidden passageways in most corridors of Hogwarts, some that lead to other hallways, and some that lead to secret rooms or even to staff quarters. The passageways were narrow and winding though, and Harry didn't like the thought of getting trapped in one of them filled with water and unknown creatures.

Wondering if they'd ever find stairs going up or a safe place to stop as his arms were feeling very heavy, Harry heard a strangled sound come from behind him and turned just in time to see Snape go under. Harry turned and tried to think of some curse he could use but his mind was foggy and panicked and he could think of nothing. Instead he used Lumos Maxima to light up the corridor and stuck his wand under the water, at the very least hoping to give Snape some light to see by. He took a breath and ducked his own head under and saw Snape struggling with a Kappa, who had its scaly monkey hands around his neck. He was going to swim forward to try to help, but Snape freed himself then and surfaced. Harry did the same and Snape yelled at him, "GO! I will be fine!" Harry was going to protest but Snape sent a nasty curse into the water then and Harry really did feel like he could no longer keep himself afloat if he didn't find somewhere to rest, so he kept going.

He heard Snape curse in the distance and send off a hex, but the sounds of the struggle and the splashing water grew faint as he swam around another corner and into a new corridor. Harry was lost in the darkness and disoriented with everything under water. After four years and a couple of weeks roaming the castle, Harry thought he would have known it better by now, but found that he was wrong. Water changed everything.

He kept looking behind him, hoping to see Snape swimming towards him instead of a monster, but saw nothing, and instead ended up smacking his head on wooden debris in the corridor. He found himself next to a table and climbed on board with the last of his strength. He had all intentions of staying awake to keep watch for Snape, hoping he'd been the winner in the fight against the Kappa, but his eyes closed anyway, ‘just for a moment' he told himself, and he passed out, dreaming of the water and the Kappa dragging him off of his floating table.