Harry Potter had been thouroughly enjoying his time at Hogwarts thus far.

He still couldn't quite believe his luck, as he sat himself down on the damp grass under the old Beech tree, staring out at the Black Lake.

He was a wizard.

He must've pinched himself at least fifty times since arriving at the school; still not entirely sure whether this was all just an elaborate dream made up from his over-active imagination, and he would wake up in his cupboard under the stairs any minute now.

Dream or not, Harry wasn't going to waste it. He was soaking up the most of everything, and right now- he was relishing in the fresh autumn air. Alone.

He had a free hour this afternoon. Well, not intentionally. He'd been in the middle of his Defense lesson when a searing red hot pain had flared up behind his eyes. His scar had been causing him some trouble lately.

At one point the headache became so painful that he had to excuse himself from the classroom, and, rather embarrassingly- run all the way to the infirmary. The Matron, Madam Pomfrey, had scanned him over, before brushing him off fairly quickly and telling him to go get some fresh air.

"That's the best sort of medicine for headaches, Mr potter" she'd said, as she shuffled him out of the hospital wing doors. "Don't you worry, I'll let your professor know of your whereabouts"

With that said, the Healer handed him what looked to be an absence slip- a pink note containing the Madam's nimble signature in the bottom left hand corner- and told him to be on his way.

Which brought him to now, sitting at the mouth of the lake with his back resting up against the old tree. He watched as the cool wind blew through the branches above his head, before skimming over the waters surface- disturbing the lake and causing ripples to appear in the shallows.

Harry winced at the imprudent throb of pain that still remained behind his left eye. He'd been experiencing these awful migraines quite often since joining Hogwarts. It was a very sudden pain, brought on randomly, which only appeared to intensify with each occurrence.

He just wished it hadn't of happened during Defense this time. They'd been learning about some very interesting blocking spells.

'Pity', Harry thought with a wry smile. It was just his luck he'd be forced to sit out his favourite class. He'd much rather have to excuse himself from one of his more unfavourable lessons. 'Like Potions'.

So, with a sigh, and a rub to his aching scar- Harry tried to tune out his discomfort and focused on the view before him. The polished surface of the lake winked back at him, glowing in the sun and lapping at his feet.

He picked up a fallen beechnut beside him, and tossed it into the Lake. It dived into the water with a small "plonk". He smiled, tossing another nutshell, this one landing further than the last. He watched as it too was swallowed up by the water in its descent- mesmerised.

Regardless of the crisp late-September air- the water looked incredibly inviting. Maybe if he-

'No thanks' Harry thought at once, stopping himself before he could be encouraged any further. He had no desire whatsoever to give the water a try. No matter how good it looked.

He wasn't exactly the strongest swimmer, not to mention his experiences with water had never been "brilliant", per say- and so, he thought it best to keep clear of any deep waters for now.

'Or for the rest of my life'.

So Harry sat back against the tree, and continued throwing as many beechnuts he could find into the Lake, smiling in content.

Within minutes he had completely forgotten about his strange and sudden urge to jump head first into the lake. His headache was feeling much better too, and all was quiet-

"Shouldn't you be in a lesson, Potter?"

Harry started, jumping out of his skin at the voice. He whirled round to face the speaker and upon doing so, felt his expression drop, as well as his heart- all the way to his stomach.

Professor Snape stood a few paces from the boy, watching him with a look of pure contempt.

Whatever Harry had done- which he didnt think was anything at all- Snape was not happy about it.

"Professor" the boy gasped, trying to recover from his initial shock.

The potions master looked down at him from where he stood, and crossed his arms over his chest, slowly.

"Well? Out with your excuses, Potter"

Harry spluttered, "What?"

Snape's dour expression didn't waver. "Why. are. you. here?"

Harry flinched at each punctuated word, before scrambling to his feet and dusting stray bits of grass from his robes. "I have a free period" he explained, not quite looking the man in the eye as he spoke. Instead he focused on a particular spot just behind his professors left shoulder.

He saw the potions master raise a brow at him. "A free period?" He asked in a low voice.

Harry nodded vehemently.

If it were possible, Snape's expression grew darker, and Harry felt himself visibly shrink.

"Mr potter, regardless of what you may believe- Teachers don't just give out free periods" His tone was icy, before turning dry as he said, "Even if it is to the famous boy who lived"

Harry frowned, meeting his teachers gaze head on. He opened his mouth to object but Snape gave him a piercing look, making him think better of it. He stood silent, jaw locked, as the man continued.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Potter, but First year Gryffindors have Defense Against the Dark Arts during this hour" This was true, of course. Snape knew this, and Harry hated that he couldn't otherwise protest to his words. "And I don't recall Professor Quirrel making a cancellation on any of his afternoon lessons". Again, this was true.

"He didn't, but-"

"But" His teacher parroted, cutting him off. The boy breathed sharply out of his nose in frustration, but remained quiet whilst Snape spoke.

"You thought you could play truancy and go skip rocks by the Lake all afternoon, yes?"

"They're Beechnuts, actually" Harry muttered before he could stop himself. Uh oh.

He winced, and -trying not to take notice of the piercing look his teacher was giving him-fished the pink slip out of his pocket. His last ticket to freedom.

Not trusting himself to speak, he wordlessly brandished the form, watching with bated breath as the man snatched it from him and read it out loud.

"Please allow Mr potter to be excused from his lesson..." he began loudly, before his words quieted into a barely audible murmur the further he read. Harry watched as his eyes scanned down the paper, swallowing hard when the man suddenly paused.

Snape looked up at him, brows raised high into his hairline.

"A Headache, Potter?"

Harry said nothing. He just stared up at him, nervously wringing out his hands as they gathered sweat under the mans gaze.

"You've been excused from lessons because of a headache?"

The boy nodded, biting his lip. "Yes, sir".

Snape narrowed his eyes at the boy, looking long and hard at him for several moments, before appearing conceded.

Harry, feeling as though their interaction had come to a close, reached out for his form. He recoiled immediately when, with a flare of his nostrils, The potions master folded the slip up and tucked it away into his robes.

"Absences aren't permitted to students who complain about silly little headaches" he said. And that was that.

Harry bristled at the unfairness of it all, and chirped, "Your not a healer! how would you know?"

In a moment, Snape had leant in exceedingly close- almost a breath away, and spoke in a hushed, threatening tone that made Harry shiver;

"I suggest you head back into the castle, and continue with your lessons like every other student, or you'll find yourself scrubbing cauldrons on Saturday morning. Are we clear, Mr potter?"

His words left no space for argument, neither his expression- which had long grown heavy with impatience. And so, Harry gave into his teachers demand.

Defeated, he grabbed his discarded book bag, shouldering it; and trudged his way past Snape, heading back up to the castle entrance. He felt his teachers eyes on him the entire way.

Just before he reached the doors, He turned, checking to see if Snape was still watching him like a hawk-

Only to find that he was no longer there.

'What?!'

The space where he stood not thirty seconds ago was now empty, and Harry did a quick scan of the rest of the grounds, unable to see any sign of his potions professor anywhere.

He was gone.

'That's odd' Harry thought, scrunching his face up. He shook his head, massaging his sore temple- before checking the spot next to the beech tree again. He half expected Snape to jump out from behind the tree, but nothing moved except for the soft blowing of the tree leaves and the lightly disturbed water in the lake.

'Huh'

Harry gave the beech tree next to the black lake another long, hard stare- waiting a moment just incase his teacher popped back into existence again. But after a good minute, resulting in nothing happening, he gave in. This school was magic after all, so it's not like teachers disappearing on the spot was anything unusual.

"Maybe the greasy git decided he needed a wash in the Lake" he said to himself as he made his way inside, laughing at the ridiculous image it gave him.

Snape, paddling about the black Lake in the cold September air.

Very ridiculous indeed.

Although it was nearing the end of September, and winter was fast approaching, the cold autumn air had yet to tamper with the Black Lake. It still remained untouched by the considerably cooler weather taking place on the surface, with plenty of undersea plantation giving off warmth- enough to heat the waters well into the mid winters.

On land, the infamous Black Lake of Hogwarts appeared just as any other lake did. A vast bowl of dark, deep water. But far below the waters of the Black Lake- another world lived and breathed. A world only few surface-dwellers had the opportunity of seeing with their own eyes.

If they knew where to look, that is.

The morning was quiet, as too was the water.

The perfect time for a swim.

All at once, The Lake moved. The Water swashed- tall tendrils of seaweed scattering in the wake of the large body that moved through the Lake bed with ease. Smaller fish scarpered out the way to accommodate the much larger creature, who plunged through the hoards of freshwater plants, propelling themselves through the water at a speed no man could possibly accomplish with two feet.

Lucky for them; they had fins.

Dark blue scales-almost black if you weren’t looking close enough- glistened in the cracks of light that cascaded down from the land above, as the unknown tailed-creature slithered to-and-fro between the stalks of seaweed: searching.

It was a Merman, one of the half-man half-fish species that were domestic to the Lake. He swam about the deep foliage, digging through the grainy lake floor and picking at the plants with feverish energy.

Severus Snape, though not at all appearing as his usual self, was spending his morning searching the lake beds for fresh ingredients for his lab. After all, The Lake was full of all sorts of tropical wildlife- and many of the jars in his stores held ingredients foraged from these very waters. It was far cheaper than ordering from Diagon Alley- All it cost was a swim.

Large eyes, entirely black in colour, scanned the area as the potions master swam. His Gills quivered behind his ears as they drew in oxygen, desperately trying to keep up with the pace that the Merman was currently swimming.

Finally, he stopped, pausing at a particular large, waxy looking plant that stood raised and sharp- snakeweed.

With deft precision, Severus tugged on several of the plants leaves- from the root of course, as one never pulled snakeweed from the tips of their leaves. Then, with one of the five sharp black claws that emerged from his bony, webbed fingertips- he sliced at the plant. The snake grass leaves fell loose at once, and the entire plant gave a soundless shudder.

Carefully, he surfaced, delicately putting his finds on a flat boulder that protruded from the edge of the castle. He was ready to dive once more, when from the corner of his eye he spotted it. Or rather him.

The Potter boy was back.

Razor-sharp teeth gritted in annoyance, and the Mer-creature watched as the Boy made himself comfortable under the old beech tree once again- the very spot that Severus was to exit the water.

‘Damn it’ He though bitterly, ducking below ever so slightly, so that only his eyes remained above water. Had scaring the boy away the other day not been enough? Was he really this keen to visit a silly old Beech tree?

Not once had he had this issue- and now, in the space of a few days, it had happened ‘twice’. No other person visited this opening to the lake anymore, at least not since his time at Hogwarts. These days the students rather opted to visit the banks closer to the castle- it was more open and had far more space for social gatherings.

This particular opening however, was a little more secluded- the perfect place for him to go back and forth from the Lake unseen. For years it had been his place.

And now, the Potter boy had decided it was his place too.

Too high a risk of being seen, Severus had no choice but to wait it out until the brat left.

So, hidden behind the large rock, tail swishing methodically in the water below him to keep him afloat;

He waited.

—————————————————————————————————

Harry, having not long finished his first meeting with Oliver wood, Captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team- decided he’d sit by the Lake for an hour or so, before students were required to make their way to the great hall for breakfast.

So, he made himself comfortable in his new favourite spot, back rested up against the large tree trunk- only praying that his peace wouldn’t be interrupted by his formidable Potions teacher again.

It wasn’t long after sitting down that Harry started to feel...off. A funny feeling grew in the pit of his stomach as the minutes pressed on, making him squirm uncomfortably on the spot. He became further unsettled when that same feeling climbed up into his throat, making it very hard to swallow past the lump forming there.

The muscles in his neck stiffened, and the hairs on his arms stood upright:

He was being watched.

A sound from behind him made him start. He spun round to stare at the beaten down pathway through the small clearing of trees. The very same path from which he had walked down only moments before. The sound of snapping twigs could be heard- footsteps, and they were drawing nearer.

Harry was on his feet in a flash. He whipped out his wand, holding it aloft, ready to defend himself. Of course, any effort would be fruitless on his behalf; the boy had only learned a handful of spells so far and none of them were considered very effective in self defense. Unless, turning his attacker into a matchbox counted for anything.

Drawing in a shaky breath, he watched as a figure popped out from behind the trees- Harry recognised the familiar head of blonde hair in an instant.

Malfoy.

Harry let out all the air he’d been holding in with a short huff, and lowered his wand, but didn’t put it away just yet. He glared as the boy sauntered forward, Crabbe and Goyle hot at his heels. Draco laughed, and taunted his classmate,

“Not scared are we there, Potter?”

Harry frowned. He looked the boy up and down, before doing the same to the other two boys. Three against one.

“What are you doing here, Malfoy?”

The Slytherin boy shrugged nonchalantly, kicking a small rock with his foot, all the whilst walking closer to Harry, who now had his back to the Lake- (and the hidden creature now watching them with peaked interest)

“Same as you, I guess. A nice morning walk by the lake- isn’t that right boys?”

Crabbe and Goyle nodded, smirking. Their eyes never left Harry.

Harry didn’t believe him for a second, “Did you follow me here?”

The blonde didn’t answer, and leant against the beech tree, picking at the leaves from lower branches, feigning interest. Crabbe and Goyle stopped to stand a few paces behind their friend.

Instead, Malfoy asked (non too politely), “What were you doing with Wood?”

‘So you were following me’ Harry thought, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from blurting the words out loud.

“Why is it any of your business?” Harry bit out instead, watching as Malfoy’s smirk fell, his face morphing into a deep scowl instead. Crabbe and Goyle made a move for him, and Harry-noting their movement out the corner of his eye-took a step back. Malfoy held a hand up. They paused.

‘Wow, you’ve sure got them trained’ Harry thought, snorting in disbelief at the boy. ‘Do they play fetch too?’

With his wand still drawn, Harry felt a little bit braver- He continued, answering the blondes question, “Professor McGonagall made me the new Gryffindor seeker” He couldn’t help the proud little smile that pulled at his lips as he spoke. ‘Take that, Malfoy’

Draco blinked in disbelief, “You’re mad, Potter” he said between laughs, folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head, “everyone knows they don’t allow first years to play”

The two lumps behind him sniggered. Harry watched as they copied Draco move by move, folding their beefy arms across their pot-bellied fronts.

“-Besides” Draco continued, drawing Harry’s attention back to him. “what makes you think they’d even want ‘you’ on their team? I saw your flying the other day. A blind wizard with no arms would’ve flown better than you”

This was a lie of course, as Harry had flown magnificently. Knowing this, Harry only smirked. “Jealousy doesn’t look good on you Malfoy” He replied.

The boy spluttered, taken aback. “You think I’m jealous of you?” He asked incredulously, his voice raising to match his eyebrows, that shot up into his hairline at the boy’s words. He pushed away from the tree, standing upright- and moving closer into Harry’s personal space. “Little Harry Potter the orphan boy, with holes in his shoes and twigs for legs” he faked a kick to Harry’s knees, grinning when the boy flinched- his skinny little legs instinctively springing out the way of the attacking limb. His legs gave way beneath him, and Harry toppled to the ground- hitting the grassy floor with a soft “oof”.

Draco towered over him, “Don’t make me laugh, Potter”

And with that said, the Slytherin first years turned, heading back to the pathway that lead up to the castle. They were finished with him. Harry watched them go, nursing a grazed elbow he’d managed to receive from his fall.

“-Anyway, it won’t be long before Professor Snape inquires that ‘I’ join the Slytherin quidditch team” Malfoy called over his shoulder, boastfully, “and then I can show you what ‘real’ flying is supposed to look like”

“Right” Harry muttered in mock belief, watching the three boys closely as they walked away from him. He gritted his teeth, ferociously shoving his wand deep into his robe pocket. Feeling daring, Harry cupped his hands over his mouth, and called out to their retreating figures.

“The only way you’d get on the quidditch team, Malfoy-” he was feeling ‘very’ daring indeed “-was if your father and his big pocket had something to do with it”

Draco stopped dead in his tracks.

He spun back round to face Harry, cheeks flushed red in anger. He glowered at the Gryffindor boy, “How DARE you speak of my father that way- how ‘dare’ you even mention him in such a way, you sad excuse for a wizard!” He bellowed, words tumbling out of his mouth as if they’d been well rehearsed. Clearly Draco had a knack for parroting his sentences- and Harry had no problem guessing who from. “You’re going to pay for that, Potter”

Looking to the two other Slytherin’s, Draco wordlessly jutted his chin in Harry’s direction. They obliged immediately, and sprang into action.

Harry had merely moments before two rough pairs of hands grabbed him, hauling him off the ground- Crabbe taking hold of his arms, whilst Goyle seized his legs.

“Hey!” Harry cried out, struggling in their grip. He wriggled and kicked, trying to wrestle his way out of their hold. The boys’ were relentless, refusing to let him go much to Harry’s distressing demands.

“Put me down!”

Malfoy only laughed as Gryffindor continued to shout- a dark, humourless chuckle that sent shivers down Harry’s spine. “Enough Malfoy, you win! Tell them to let me go”, Harry wailed, continuing to squirm in the slytherins’ iron grip- they were beginning to hurt him.

Malfoy grinned, white teeth glinting, “why would I do that?”

Harry’s eyes widened, and he let loose a yell when the two slytherins began swinging him back and forth by his arms and legs.

“Stop! Let me go!”

“Alright, Potter” The Boy replied, “We’ll let you go”

Before Harry could object, Crabbe and Goyle had swung him high into the air- releasing his arms and legs;

And Harry could do nothing but scream as he was propelled head first into the Lake.

Water filled his ears, his eyes, his mouth- and Harry came to the fearful realisation that he was, in fact, drowning.

He grappled fitfully under the water, clawing blindly around him- trying with all his might to grab onto something, anything. of course, there was nothing to ground him, and the water fell uselessly through his fingers.

Bubbles filtered out from his nose as the air began to slowly but surely leave his lungs. He kicked his legs, but they flopped about in the water- pointless in the face of swimming.

Terror seized him by the throat, and his heart rattled in his chest. His head swam; dizzy and disorientated- Harry no longer new which way was up or down.

'Oh god' Harry thought, as fear seeped into his bones, drawing in from all corners. 'This is it. I'm dying'

Memories long repressed flooded his mind like a movie reel, playing in a loop- again and again he was forced to relive his childhood fears.

There was water; water everywhere.

Water. Dudley pushing him into the duck pond when he was three, uncle vernon furiously dragging him out by the scruff of his shirt.
Water. A bucket-full thrown into his cupboard one morning, startling him awake.
Water. Dudley and his friends holding him under the water fountain at the park, laughing when he struggled against the many hands pinning him in place.
Water. Aunt Petunia's bony hands forcing his head under the sink faucet as an old, scratchy dish scrub worked clumps of dirt and leaves out of his messy hair.

Water. Now, as he grappled in the Lake, unable to swim a single stroke.

Ringing filled his ears as he sunk deeper into the shallows of the lake. His back hit the cracked bottom of the lake floor; the clay beds, causing dirt to spring free- enveloping him in a a murky cloud of filth.

Seaweed snaked around his legs- sharp and thorny plants slicing into his calves as he kicked and wriggled for freedom.

He gave one last scream for help; but all that emerged from his lips was a short, tinny noise, and a small stream of bubbles. He watched the bubbles as they floated to the surface, and wondered how they managed it so effortlessly.

He spotted movement from the corner of his eye; something large and fast, glinting in the sun as it hurtled It's way through the water. But harry's attention was wavering- as was his ability to stay awake.

His lungs burned with the need for oxygen, and Harry couldn't take it any longer- his body finally gave in to demand with a gasp. Hand-fulls of water seeped into his starving lungs.

Suddenly, A pair of strong arms seized him around the middle; and pulled him upwards through the water.

Harry lost consciousness before he even broke the surface.

—————————————————————————————————


The lone merman observed quietly and unseen as the Slytherin boys tossed potter into the lake, all three of them watching with glee as he sank like a rock into the murky shallows.

The three boys onshore then proceeded to grab potters discarded belongings and scarper, running back through the trees and out of sight- laughing as they went.

After watching his students retreat, Snape turned his scrutinising gaze to the shallows. He observed the waters surface with a long, fixed stare, waiting for the potter boy to breach it and crawl his way out the lake- waterlogged and ready to throw a typical Potter-tantrum when finding all his belongings had been stolen.

Except that moment never came.

The water went still, and a deeply disturbing feeling washed over the merman. A sharp, unsettling pain shot through his abdomen; a gut instinct telling him something wasn't quite right here.

He ignored it.

Instead, he was content to stare at the spot of water potter had disappeared under, watching. Waiting. Just for a little longer at least.

But the lake remained unmoving for a long while, far too long for anyone to be comfortable with- especially when knowing that a student was currently below those waters.

'What in the world is that wretched boy doing?' The potions master thought with a snarl, gills quivering uncomfortably as he exhaled a short puff of angry air. 'too lazy to use your legs, Potter?'

Unsettled, The merman swished his tail to-and-fro where he remained, floating, watching for any signs of the Boy. Long sprouts of seaweed tickled at his scales, sticking to his tail and wriggling in between his fin rays- making him overwhelmed and uncomfortable. The Weeds that grew here this time of year could be quite tough to get around when tangled up in them.

"Perhaps-" Severus mused quietly, a small, niggling feeling of dread making his words wobble.

'How ridiculous' he mentally cut in with a scoff, 'I wouldn't put it past Potter to hoax his own drowning to try and gain some attention.'

He smirked, shark-like teeth glinting through blue lips.

'As soon as he realises no one is giving him the time of day, he'll pop right back up to the surface.' And that was that.

Snape carefully retrieved his ingredients from the rock, before taking leave. He turned, ready to dive back into the murky depths below- when movement caught his attention. He grinned wryly.

'And cue Potter'

Small Bubbles broke the surface; Not the boy.

Snape Bolted.

Discarding the plants in his hands, Snape dived down into the water, swimming as fast as his tail-fin could carry him. The sharp plants and thorny seaweed snagged at his scales, scratching at his arms- but he pushed on through them with vigorous energy.

The shallows drew closer, and Snape searched tirelessly through the plentiful, bushy seaweed stalks that emerged from the viscous clay beds.

'Potter, where are you?'

'There!'. He spotted the boy, half conscious and caught up in a thick nest of thorny plantation- Snape dove for him. With careful but urgent hands, he tugged, pulling the boy free from the sharp foliage; cutting them both in the process.

The boy gave a feeble cry, bubbles teaming from his mouth and nose, before going slack in his arms.

Snape pulled them upwards, breaching the surface;

And headed for shore.

———————————————————————

Harry came to his senses slowly, only managing to drag himself out of the haze that nested at the front of his mind when he felt a short, pesky stinging sensation on his left leg. 'Ouch'.

The prickly touch became sharper, till it was almost unbearable, and Harry grunted in pain. He willed his heavy eyelids open;

only to wish he'd kept them closed.

His mouth hung open, astonished and petrified. 'What in the world is that'

Harry's legs -half dipped in the shallows of the lake, where the rocks and pebbles were just visible still- were being tended to by a- a...well, he didn't quite know what it was exactly. Only that it was horrifying to look at.

It was perched by Harry's feet, fully engrossed in detangling the boys limbs from the thick thorny weeds still tightly wrapped round the bottom half of Harry's body - So much so, that it had yet to notice Harry watching, wide eyed and completely speechless.

At first glance, Harry thought it was a man, a very alien-looking one at that. But then, when he slowly and carefully propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look, Harry realised he was very, very wrong.

For whilst the top half of the 'things' body could well and truly pass for a man (if you squinted, that is), the bottom half could, in fact, not. Because below the creatures hips, we're legs would normally be found; was a fish tail.

Just above the waistline, sickly pale skin met with deep, dappled blue scales, so dark in colour that they quite nearly became lost in the lake water. Harry had to focus his eyes to see the inky scales, only managing to catch glimpses of them when the water rolled over the 'things' body.

A large, black tail fin stood poised out of the water, swishing lightly back and forth over their heads. Light shone through the semi-translucent fin, creating a window for Harry to gaze at the tens of individual fin-rays, as well as the large tail-bone in the middle, linking to the creatures spine. 'Ew' he couldn't help but grimace, for imagine if humans had see-through skin and were able to see to their tail-bones.

Harry glanced back to his legs, more specifically, the hands currently touching his legs. Pale blue fingertips, equipped with long, black nails, that sharpened to a point- sliced through a very thick stalk of seaweed with seemingly no effort, freeing up Harry's leg to a more comfortable level. Harry internally sighed with relief, his leg no longer felt like it was suffocating. It was a marvellous contrast; The creature, with large bony hands, and even larger clawed-fingers, was taking effort to be careful when dealing with Harry's tortured little legs. The hands flexed, and Harry quite nearly gagged at the sight; webbed hands.

Harry's eyes then travelled up towards the creatures face, but the "fish-man" ( at least, harry thought it was a man) was hunched low over the boys legs, sorely fixated on his current task- that Harry couldn't see anything past the long curtains of dark hair. So Harry let it be, and stopped prying- he'd already seen enough of the strange creature to last him a lifetime, he was sure of that.

The fish-man, as gentle as he was trying to be, struggled with the last vine tangled round the boy's leg; and in his effort, pulled too hard.

Thorns pierced the underside of Harry's leg, eliciting a short gasp from the boy.

Harry clamped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The noise had startled the creature;

It's head snapped up to look at the boy, and through dark ringlets of black hair Harry could make out a pair of black-slitted eyes glaring up at him, before thin blue lips parted- giving Harry the perfect view of a set of razor sharp teeth.

Harry promptly opened his mouth; and screamed.

———————————————————————

Snape had not long dragged Potter up onto the shore- it was a challenging task, might he add, as he had to be careful and keep himself still somewhat immersed in the water- when he noticed that the boy wasn't breathing.

'Damn it' he thought with a growl, before long slender fingers frantically checked the boy's neck for a pulse.

The tender thump thump of the boy heart could be felt underneath his fingertips, and Snape quite nearly sagged with relief- before briskly jumping back into motion.

He quickly, albeit carefully, manoeuvred Potter into the recovery position, unhinging the boy's jaw and giving a quick check down his throat to see if there was a blockage. None.

Finding no water blocked in the throat area, Snape blanched, turning an even more horrid shade of white.

The problem wasn't the boys throat, but his *lungs*.

Snape grimaced. He *really* didn't want to have to perform CPR on a *Potter*.

With water having already entered the lungs, And with the boy *still* not breathing- Snape has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. Quite *literally*.

"I really mustn't" he mumbled to himself, torn. A voice in the back of his head countered him- 'you don't have a choice' it said, and Severus gritted his teeth, because it was right. 'The boy will surely die if you do nothing'.

After a small internal battle with himself, snape finally relented. He cupped his webbed hands so that they were shaped like little bowls, and in one fell scooping motion, collected a small handful of water from the lake.

As the water left the lake surface its dynamics began to change. It didn't slip through the mer-mans fingers or roll off the edges of his hand, but stayed perfectly still; forming an ideal dome-like shape. Almost as if it had changed state, becoming semi-solid in the space of a few seconds.

Obsidian eyes glanced at the unconscious boy, before flickering back to the pocket of water clutched in the merman's grasp. A low, guttural whining noise began to emerge from the back of his throat. It was a long, damaged noise, that sounded almost like a sob to human ears- albeit a strained one, like it took a lot of effort and energy to make.

Suddenly, A few tears rolled off the creatures cheeks, before dropping into the dome, fizzing and swirling about in the small body of water before quickly dispersing.

He looked at the boy a second time, before staring deeply into the bubble of water in his webbed clutches. The merman spotted his own reflection glistening back up at him. He sighed.

With his free hand, Snape lifted the boy's sopping school shirt, before massaging the water over his chest area, particularly the spot where his lungs would be- working silently and with precision.

The water at his fingertips glowed, a bright iridescent light shimmered from his hand and engulfed the boy's body, before disappearing as quickly as it came.

Silence. Snape waited with bated breath.

A mere few seconds later (which felt a lot longer for the half-man), a gurgling noise emitted from the boy's throat, before he choked- Water spewing from his mouth in sharp, hacking coughs.

Green emeralds peeked up at him through half lidded eyes, and Snape froze in fear. The boy looked at him for a long moment, wheezing, before his eyes began rolling about unseeingly in his head- and Snape let out the breath he was holding. The boy was very much out of it, and thankfully wouldn't remember this.

As quickly as he woke, Potter fell unconscious again- his breath even and no longer struggled- and Snape was able to get back to work without worry.

He took one hard look at the boy's legs, before his face twisted into an ugly scowl.

Potter's legs were a sight for sore eyes. The entire lower half of his body was tangled up in thick, sharp tendrils of seaweed, Trapping his legs, which were slowly becoming soaked with blood.

Snape peeked underneath the seaweed stalks to find nasty little gashes where the plants had sliced into his legs, no doubt during Potters struggle to swim. His trousers were completely torn, useless- the boy would have to order new ones, or at least borrow some from the "lost property" department for the time being.

He began to slowly unravel the boy's legs from the weeds, being sure to be both attentive and cautious as possible, if Potter woke up for a second time there'd be no guarantee he'd fall back asleep again. Snape had been lucky he'd done so the first time round.

He started with the ankles, unwinding the tricky little vines from the boy's legs, occasionally checking to see if he would stir. The child remained motionless, and the only time He'd show any kind of response to the merman's actions, was when Snape would accidentally snag his sensitive skin with a sharp underside of the plant- eliciting a short noise of discomfort, before silence once more.

It carried on like this for a while; unwinding, re-winding, and unwinding again. Nothing but the sound of the water lapping at the shore, and Potters soft breathing to lull him into a methodical pace.

Snape soon became immersed in his task, so immersed in fact that after a mere few minutes of working, he no longer registered his surroundings. The sounds of the water withered, and scattered into the silence, and Potters small, short breaths dissolved completely.

That is, Until, he pulled at a rather troublesome weed- and heard a soft gasp beside him.

He looked up, startled, his eyes narrowing at his own irresponsibility. He bared his teeth in annoyance;

For the Potter boy was awake. Wide awake.


——-

Harry had barely gotten a good scream out before a large, silky webbed hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his cry.

"Shh!" The creature made a hissing noise at him, as it's other hand came up to wrap around his shoulder, pinning him into place despite his wild struggling.

Harry stilled at the command. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and his heart pounded in his chest. It almost stopped beating completely when the thing suddenly leaned in and spoke.

"You certainly have a way of thanking people who just saved you're life" It growled, black eyes shining.

Harry visibly shook at the creatures voice. It was low, gravelly- and sounded utterly inhuman. A strange noise vibrated from the back of its throat as it spoke, an almost metallic sound; like rubbing two copper pennies together.

With Harry rendered speechless, (in the physical sense too) he had no choice but to sit and listen in fear as the creature continued, "I'd really advise you not to scream: I dragged you out of that lake, don't think I wont throw you back in"

It was a poor attempt of a threat on Snape's part, most certainly not one of his best, but it seemed to do the trick- Harry was terrified.

Harry watched as the merman's gaze flickered back and forth, searching their surroundings, before leaning closer, hand still pressed firmly against Harry's mouth.

"Now" It spoke, voice barely above a whisper, "I'm going to remove my hand, and 'you'" He punctuated the last word with a short jab to the boy's sternum with his free hand. "Are Not. Going.To. Scream. Are we understood, boy?"

Harry shuddered, both from the cold air, his wet clothes, and the fact that a freaking 'merman' was currently threatening to kill him: before nodding wildly.

Obsidian eyes narrowed at him, before the scaly hand was retracted from the boy's face.

"Good"

Harry breathes out through his nose, long and hard- trying to calm his racing nerves. His eyes never left the half-man, who in return was levelling him with a hard stare. Harry scooted away slightly, and the creature got the message- it moved further back into the water.

"Remain calm" it said, and without warning, seized Harry's left leg. The boy flinched, but held his tongue.

With the same previous method, the mer-creature began cupping water in its hands, choking and weeping till it produced enough tears, before dousing the boy's legs with the tear-infused water. Harry watched, both amazed and petrified, as his bloody calves began to glow under the beasts hands. One by one, each cut began to sew itself up- till nothing remained but a few faint lines.

The mer-man did the same for his other leg, and Harry tried to keep his gasps of pain to a minimum. As incredible as the healing process was to watch, it still hurt terribly.

The creature was soon finished; A long, heavy silence filled the air around them.

Harry opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find his words. "Wh-How-"

The creature gave him a very unimpressed look, eyes squinted and gills quivering on its neck as it huffed impatiently at him.

"What-" He eventually tried, but just as he'd found his voice again, it appeared that the fish-man had too.

"I'll spare you the energy of mustering up some gratitude" it began, voice dull and void of emotion- though Harry was unsure whether sea-creatures could even have emotions like humans. "and say 'your welcome', and be on my way"

It turned, ready to disappear into the deep black underworld of the lake.

"Wait!" Harry called as he sat up fully, stopping the half-man in its tracks. "Wait. Please"

The merman looked over his shoulder at him, and Harry shrunk back slightly from the piercing stare he was receiving. Nevertheless, he asked. "What are you?"

The half-man scowled, facing him, and Harry quickly rephrased his question. "I mean, who are you?"

Snape blanched, wishing he'd fled sooner. In fact, he wished the boy had stayed unconscious. Then he wouldn't have to deal with questions he didn't want to answer. Or rather, he didn't know how to answer. No one was supposed to know about this, and up until now, no one did.

Harry, having not received an answer and unaware of the internal struggle the mer-creature was currently having with himself, carried on talking- hoping that the fish-man would answer at least one of his questions.

"I'm Harry" he said, pointing to his own chest. He then pointed at the creature, who followed his hand with its deep-black eyes. "What's your name?"

Harry didn't realise even that question was difficult for the man to answer. 'He can't know' his mind screamed at him, 'he mustn't know who you are'.

Of course, Snape was left with no choice but to conceal his identity somehow, even if that meant coming up with an alias. And He had to be quick about it.

He was silent for a long moment, and Harry grew concerned that he'd overstepped a line. Was it rude to ask a mermaid their name?

Eventually the sea-creature spoke. His answer was one worded, but Harry was appeased nonetheless.

"Hydrus" He said, and a black tongue emerged from his mouth to swipe nervously at chapped, blue lips.

'Ah, Sea-serpent. Well done Severus' the voice in his head mocked. 'Not at all obvious'.

However, the boy remained unaware. He repeated the name, and it sounded a lot more foreign on his tongue than it did on the merman's. He then gave a tentative smile, before looking down at his healed legs.

"That's your name?" He asked, still smiling. "It's...nice"

It wasn't nice at all, and Snape didn't pick it to be seen as so. No, he picked it because he was stupid and put on the spot- and thus decided to go with the Latin equivalent of "water snake".

"Thank you" potter suddenly spoke, and Snape's attention was drawn to him once again. The boy was looking at him, trying to transfer how deeply he meant what he said with his eyes, of which were glowing with profound gratitude. "You saved my life"

Snape snorted, and to think the boy had been scared of the mere sight of him moments before. Did all it take was someone's name for the boy to suddenly trust?

Nevertheless He nodded, acknowledging the boy's thanks, albeit awkwardly. "Yes, well. Be that as it may, I still need a favour from you in return"

The boy's eyebrows rose high into his hairline, resting right where his scar was, hidden underneath his messy, wet fringe. He wordlessly pointed to himself, before grinning when the merman (sighing) nodded his head. Snape leaned in closer, and the boy listened with rapt attention as he spoke low and with warning.

"Don't tell anyone about what you've seen today. Not. A. Soul”

"But Why?" Harry asked curiously, wincing at the stern look the creature gave him in return.

'Think Severus, and fast'. He lapped at his chapped lips once more, before answering the boy, careful not to mess up any further. Well, the worst he could do at this point would be to outright say 'because I'm your potions professor, and if anyone found out what I was I'd be well and truly ruined'.

So instead, he said, "Our 'kind' prefer not to be involved with humans. Your people can often be very dangerous in the face of what they don't understand. It can get violent very quickly, and the mer-people of this Lake are very proud individuals who aren't afraid to-"

"Mer-'people'? There's more of you?"

"That is irrelevant" The merman snapped impatiently, and watched as Harry recoiled. He breathed deeply through his nose to calm himself. "What matters most is your word- no running off and telling people of what you seen in the Lake. Not even the- 'your' headmaster. Is that understood?"

The boy in question chewed his lip, pondering the request, and Snape held his breath. Eventually he nodded. "Don't worry-"



"-Your secret’s safe with me"

Harry ran back to Gryffindor tower as quick as his freshly healed legs could carry him- leaving a small trail of puddles in his wake. By the time he'd left the creature in the lake (who'd disappeared without so much as a goodbye) and reached the castle entrance, breakfast had finished, but Harry's appetite had long left him.

He opted to visit Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary, considering he'd nearly drowned not an hour ago- but he quickly came to the startling realisation that he felt...totally fine. Better than fine, actually. In fact, he couldn't recall having this much energy in his entire life.

Hence the running.

His legs were now bare- having reached the second floor and almost tripping over the torn fabric of his pants, he simply shimmied out of them and stuffed them in his cloak pocket, before continuing his run. His robe was wrapped firmly around him, and he made sure it covered him up as he ran, less anyone suddenly rounded the next corner and notice that he was only in his underwear.

He reached his dormitory in record time, shutting the door behind him and throwing himself on his four-poster bed. Within seconds the sheets were soaked through but he couldn't bring himself to care. His heart was still racing wildly in his chest, and every atom in his body felt like it'd been electrified.

He breathed hard through his nose, catching his breath. "What just happened?" He said out loud to the empty room, voice shaking with adrenaline.

He'd already been blown away by the idea of magic and wizardry and goblins and ghosts, but now 'mer-people' were real too?

He quickly changed out of his wet clothes and into a spare shirt and trousers. His only robe was still dripping wet, so he hung it up on the railing by the wood burner stove and hastily threw on a grey jumper. He wrung out his tie and, still damp, tied it back round his neck. He reckoned It would dry soon enough. Then, he got down on his belly and dug under his four poster bed for and old pair of socks.

That was when the dormitory door swung open.

Harry jumped up in alarm, socks in hand, and came face to face with a familiar head of ginger hair.

"Ron!" He exclaimed, relief seeping into his words. Then he smiled, big and bright. He practically shook with excitement, "I've got loads to tell you-"

Just then, his promise to Hydrus emerged from the back of his mind, rattling around in his head with heavy burden. He faltered, his words dying on his tongue. His heart sank. He couldn't tell anyone,

not even Ron.

Harry fished for something else to say, but to his relief the other boy spoke.

"Why is your hair wet?" Was the first thing he said, looking to Harry's dark, dripping locks, that were slowly soaking through the back of his new shirt.

Harry blanched at the question.

"I just took a shower" he said, balancing on one foot, and shoving his socks on his feet as quick as he could.

Ron tossed him the nearest towel and watched the boy scrub his hair dry. He glanced behind him at the pile of wet clothes on the floor, before turning back to his friend, brows raised.

"In your uniform?"

He saw Harry pause under the towel.

"Uh yeah. It got muddy from training with wood so I thought I might as well clean that too" he finished with an awkward laugh, to which Ron gave him a sidewards glance, before shrugging.

Harry handed the towel back with a small "thanks", before sitting down on the floor and attempting to slip his shoes on. His hair now stood up like a hedgehog, and Ron gtinned fondly down at him. He looked ridiculous.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell me?" He asked.

"What?" Harry said, turning wide eyes up to his friend.

Ron frowned. "You said you had something to talk to me about" he recited, leaning against the bedpost, watching Harry struggle with his shoe lace.

Harry froze, and wracked his brain for a cover up. "Oh yeah" he said, "I was just going to tell you about the meeting I had with Wood" he smiled sheepishly, "I learnt a lot of new things about quidditch"

He jumped to his feet, "But it can wait till later. We're going to be late for first lesson"

He headed for the door, but the ginger haired boy held out a hand, stopping him dead in his tracks. Harry swallowed nervously, fearing his friend had seen straight through his lie.

"You can't go to class like that" the boy said, looking him up and down in alarm. "First years aren't allowed to walk the corridors without full uniform on"

Harry blinked.

Ron sighed, "You need a robe"

Harry frowned, glancing over to the wood burner, where his only school robe was still drying out. He turned back to Ron with a pitiful look.

"Where am I going to find one of those?"


————————————————————————————————

"Lost Property"

Harry read the plaque on the door aloud, before turning to Ron and squinting at him.

"Are you sure we can just take stuff from here?"

Ron huffed dramatically at his friend.

"Harry, it's called 'lost property'- where stuff is left to be forgotten about" he pulled on the latch, pushing open the door and grinning at him "and what's forgotten, can't be missed, right?"

Harry squirmed, glancing around the empty corridor, before conceding with a small sigh, "I guess"

He watched his friend disappear into the room.

"It still doesn't feel right for me to just take it, though"

"Relax. You're doing the school a favour by actually using the stuff in here" Ron reassured, before stopping in his tracks with a small gasp.

"Woah!" Harry heard him exclaim.

"What?" He said, following after the boy and peering round the doorway.

"oh wow!"

It was a jungle.

A mass of miscellaneous items covered the room. From old school clothes, zonko's toys, to broken cauldron pewter's; this room had it all. They towered high above their heads, almost reaching the ceiling, and Harry had to crane his neck to spot the Comet 360 balanced Precariously on top of a very unsteady looking mountain of quidditch magazines.

Harry spotted a rack in the far corner, with at least two dozen robes suspended on coat hangers. bingo.

He carefully waded through a sea of dusty books and toys, before setting to work. He sifted through the mass of black cloaks, looking for first year Gryffindor robes.

"How did you know about this place?" He asked whilst he searched, glancing over his shoulder to Ron, who was having a nose through a large pile of junk.

"Every school has a 'lost and found' office" the boy replied, voice muffled from behind the towers of lost items. "But I heard about this from Fred and George. They've spent a lot of detentions in here, sorting through all this rubbish-"

Harry heard the smirk in his voice, "- They use to steal some good stuff from here too"

Harry picked out a lion-crested robe and tried it on for size. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually fitted him. It was slightly larger around the sleeves than what he was used to, but it'd do nicely until his own robe dried.

"Hey Ron, I found a robe"

He spun round, and began to wade back through the mess, tip-toeing his way to the other side of the room where Ron was still rummaging through boxes.

His foot caught on something, and Harry tripped forward with a startled yelp. He knocked a box with his elbow, and watched it helplessly fall into a dusty old cauldron. Said cauldron then toppled, knocking against another, much larger box; which came crashing to the floor by Harry's feet with a thunderous "bang!".

Both boys held their breath.

Harry expected Filch or a teacher to come running at the noise, but seconds passed without so much as a sound from the corridor outside the room. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"You alright?" Ron called, carefully placing the old broken toy he was fiddling with back where he found it- too afraid to touch anything anymore.

"Yeah" Harry huffed, and crouched by the large box, ready to heave it back up onto the pile it fell from.

He paused.

The lid to the dusty old box had well worn down over the years, and peeled away with barely a brush of Harry's fingers. This gave Harry a good look inside.

Swimsuits.

The box was filled with swimsuits- full body suits, boys trunks, even Speedo's. And when he brushed them aside to dig deeper into the box he found old photos and medals. Lots of medals.

"Hey Ron, come look at this" He said, and without looking up, waved the boy over.

Ron carefully clambered to him, and knelt down beside his friend. Harry handed him an old, black and white photo and said, "look".

Ron wordlessly obeyed.

It was a class photo; boys and girls of all years lined up giggling, smiling and waving up at them. They were outside, beside a large bed of water, all wearing swimsuits. Ron recognised the location instantly.

"Blimey, Harry. Thats The-"

"The Black Lake" Harry finished with a nod, eyes wide with something akin to wonder.

"And see" the smaller boy said, flipping the photograph round and pointing at the small scrawl of writing at the bottom.

'Hogwarts Swim Team- 14th June, 1912''

Ron frowned, bemused, and looked to Harry, who's eyes were glinting up at him. They both peered over into the box, and scanned over the medals. Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Glancing down at all the achievements past students at Hogwarts had made, something powerful began to well up inside Harry. Those children in the photograph had learnt to swim here. Hogwarts school had helped each and every one of them conquer the water, and not only taught them all how to swim, but how to swim outstandingly.

Maybe Hogwarts could do the same for him.

He spoke, "I didn't know Hogwarts had a Swim Team"

There was a small pause.

"It doesn't, Harry" Ron said uneasily.

Harry snapped his head up to his friend, who was watching him with uncertainty.

"What do you mean?" The dark haired boy asked, and that powerful feeling that rose inside him began to slowly deflate.

Ron blinked. "Hogwarts doesn't have a swim team. It's not possible" he shook his head, "Nobodys been allowed to even set foot in the Black Lake for years. Not since before our Bill went here, atleast"

Harry stared back into the box, "But why?"

He felt Ron shrug beside him, "No one knows" then with a flourish, He began packing all the items back into the box, "All I've been told by the twins is that the Black Lake is very dangerous"

"How dangerous?" Harry asked, a dreadfully cold sensation tickling at his spine as he watched his friend wrestle with the heavy box.

Ron turned to him. "Third floor corridor kind of dangerous" was his answer.

And they left it at that.

"Right" Ron said breathlessly once he'd lifted the box back onto its shelf and dusted his robes down. "Let's get going before we're even more late for class"

Harry nodded, and together they meandered their way back to the door.

It was when the redhead was reaching for the door handle that Harry spotted a familiar looking item hooked onto the back of the door.

"Hey!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, startling the other boy.

"What?"

"That's my schoolbag!" He said, pointing to a newer looking bag hung up next to older, more worn and dusty bags.

Relief flooded the boys face at the sight of it. Thank god Draco had the decency not to destroy it. He had a weeks worth of homework in there. Although, now that he thought about it, they were most probably soaked through by now.

"What's it doing in here?" Ron asked, retrieving it from where it hung and holding it up to check for a name tag. True as day, scrawled on the back in wriggly handwriting we're the words; "Harry Potter"

"Oh, I must've left it on the quidditch pitch" Harry easily lied, and wondered whether this would soon become a new habit.

Ron handed it to the boy, noticing it was slightly damp. He didn't question anything, but cast his bespectacled friend an odd look.

"Cmon, we better go before filch comes back" Harry quickly reminded him.

"Right" Ron said, leading the way.

Harry followed, but not before casting one last look into the room before he left.

The swim-team box sat solemn on the shelf, ready to collect dust for many more years to come.

———————————————————————

Over the coming days Harry's mind was anywhere than where it should have been; i.e- his schoolwork.

Gone was his fascination with all things magic; his new, frequent obsession revolved around the mysterious Black Lake that surrounded the castle- and whatever that 'thing' was that resided in it.

The boy would catch himself regularly zoning out in lessons, free periods, and even meal times in the great hall.

He'd arrive to his next class before anyone else, purposely picking a seat by the window whenever he could so he could spend the entire hour gazing out of it, eyes following the slow, graceful movements of the black lake, entranced. Just hoping to spot something move through the water.

With his focus wavering during classes, and his grades taking a sour turn; Harry's appetite for learning started to plummet too.

And a few of his housemates had noticed.

Ron payed it no mind at first, but as soon as fellow Gryffindor first year Hermione Granger started to notice the bespectacled boy's new, and rather worrying daydreaming habits, he too grew concerned.

"Mate" he said one morning during breakfast, stuffing a piece of sausage into his mouth and barely chewing it before he swallowed. "Is everything alright?"

Harry's attention was pulled away from staring down into his goblet of pumpkin juice, and up to face his friend, the foggy look in his eyes suddenly clearing over. He caught Hermione staring a few seats away, and cleared his throat.

"Yeah. course I am" he said to his friend, and then frowned. "Why?"

"Well..." Ron began round a mouthful of eggs, yolk dribbling down his chin.

Hermione intervened before she could help herself, cutting off the redhead. "-You haven't really been yourself lately" she said, and without missing a beat, handed a serviette to Ron. The boy took it and begrudgingly wiped his chin, glaring half heartedly at the girl.

She went on, "You're not paying attention in lessons, which is odd because from what I saw, you seemed to enjoy learning"

"No one could enjoy learning as much as you though" Ron mumbled into his plate, causing a few nearby boys to snicker.

Hermione ignored them, and gave Harry a solemn look. She lightly tapped the side of her head, "Whatever it is that's making you want to hide away up there, can't be good for you, Harry"

Harry gave the girl a long, sideways look, before averting his eyes to his friend, searching his face for some sort of reassurance. Ron just shrugged.

"Hate to admit it, but she's actually right. You need to let it go, mate" he said, before going back to shovelling as many beans as he could into his mouth.

Harry just nodded, despite knowing that he wouldn't heed either of their advice.

And just like that, the conversation was dropped.

Like he had done every morning that week, Harry excused himself from the hall early to make his way to his first Friday morning class-Potions, with Professor Snape.

On his way he stole as many glances at the black lake as possible, waiting. wishing, for something. Anything that would prove he hadn't made it all up.

Alas, like every other time, he saw nothing. Not a tail, nor a scale. No proof that what he saw that day at the lake shore was real.

He was slowly beginning to doubt himself.

What if there hadn't been a lake creature at all? What if, in his wild panic- and the overwhelming fear that those very moments would be his last- he had imagined the whole thing?

Hydrus, a phantom of Harry's own imagination- apparating before him like a vision, ready to coax him into the comforting arms of death.

He shook his head. No.

He knew what he saw. He was certain of it.

How else would he have made it safely out of the water?

He still didn't know how to swim.

It was then, as he was heading down the corridor leading to the dungeons, staring longingly out the passing windows, mid-thought - that he bumped into something.

Something tall, solid, and unwavering.

Harry staggered from the force of the impact, and went sailing backwards, crashing to the hard stone floor. His belongings fell free from his book-bag, scattering across the corridor.

A strong, stern voice called out from above him, "Do you have eyes, Potter?!"

Harry jumped at the sound, and grimacing, slowly looked up to meet the "who" rather than the "what" that he'd bumped into.

Steely black eyes glared down at him over a long hooked nose. Curtains of dark hair fell over a youthful face, that aged considerably the moment a deep scowl weighed at its features.
Which, from Harry's view, was always.

Professor snape loomed over him, looking taller and scarier than ever.

He asked again, "Do you have eyes?!"

Harry Blinked, and- quickly recovering from his initial shock- cleared his throat and replied, "Yes Sir"

"Then use them" was the cold reply, and Harry watched stunned, still sat on ground, as his professor proceeded to dust his robes down with a sneer.

"Sorry" the boy apologised, the only verbal response he could muster as his mind slowly began to catch up with his body. Struck out of his stupor, the boy quickly sat up on his knees and began shoving his belonging back into his bag.

"I'll watch where I'm going next time" he said, when he still felt his teachers withering gaze on the back of his head. 'No, it's fine' he thought, clambering to reach for his parchment that was slowly rolling away from him. 'I don't need any help, Professor'

"See that you do, Potter" Snape huffed, before stepping over one of Harry's schoolbooks, and storming off down the long hallway to their left. Harry watched silently, as his professor turned another corner, heading towards the potions classroom. He caught eye with the boy again, just before he disappeared from sight.

It was a sort of shrewd, calloused look, but at the same time, guarded. And his eyes- they were almost empty looking as they stared darkly down the corridor at him, before disappearing round the corner; as if the professor was hiding somewhere far back in his mind.

Harry would later try to match a word with the look- but he could only, and quite ironically, describe it as "ineffable". Completely and utterly Ineffable.

It was enough to make his spine shiver.

Harry was left to pick up his scattered belongings on his own.

———————————————————————


"Enjoy your swim the other day, Potter?"

Harry didn't even bother to turn around, instead focusing on dropping four horned slugs into his cauldron, one by one- pretending that each slug was the head of the blonde Slytherin boy currently taunting him from the table behind.

He stirred the ingredients in, his knuckles whitening with how tightly he gripped the stirring rod. He heard Malfoy whisper something to his friends, followed by giggling.

Neville looked back over his shoulder at the table of Slytherins, before turning back round and nudging his classmate- and potions partner- in the side.

"What's he talking about Harry?" He whispered, voice small and confused.

"Nothing Neville" Harry murmured back, glancing up towards the board and catching his teacher's eye in the process. The Professor in question was gliding about the classroom, surveying his students as they worked on their Boil cure potion.

He cast the boy a sharp look, and Harry quickly ducked his head. He stared deeply into the murky depths of his cauldron, pretending to be interested in the ingredients swishing about the large basin, less his teacher found a reason to start deducting house points from him.

"Just ignore him" he told his friend- and himself.

But that proved hard to do when the boy continued to prattle on, "I see you found your bag" the blonde boy said, and Harry could hear the smirk in his voice. "We took good care of it for you"

A pause- A giggle.

"We also gave it a nice trip down the toilet"

Ron blanched from the table opposite Harry. He stole a glance at his friend, who saw him staring from the corner of his eye- but refused to look at him. So, that was why Harry bag was damp.

He saw Harry's face crumpled into disgust and embarrassment at the Slytherin boy's words, and watched as his shoulders hunched inward at the sound of their laughter.

Furious, Ron spun his head round and threw malfoy a dirty look;

"Shove off, malfoy" he spat, causing both Neville and Harry to look round at him in surprise. "before your head takes a trip down the toilet too"

Malfoy's smile fell from his face, and the laughter came to a halt. His eyebrows drew down into a fierce frown.

Harry, however, smiled gratefully at his friend. 'Thanks Ron'.

Malfoy recovered quickly, and scoffed, "Coming to your boyfriends aid are we, Weasley?"

Ron opened his mouth to retort, "Look Malfoy,-"

"Potter, Weasley, Longbottom!" A stern voice cut him off, and all three boys jumped in fright at the sound of their names being used by their Professor. "You won't find your potions instructions at the back of the class. Turn around, now!"

Harry and Neville did as they were told immediately, and Hermione tugged at Rons sleeve, forcing him to turn round, before ordering him to help her take their cauldron off the heat.

"Oh dear, Mr Potter, I was hoping that today would mark the one lesson where I didn't have to have a word with you" The Professor suddenly spoke up, his back turned away from his class. Harry watched as he quickly vanished the ingredients list from the chalkboard. Neville sucked in a breath from beside him, "oh no" he whispered in fear as he watched the instructions for their potion disappear, "I didn't write them all down, Harry"

"But, 'unsurprisingly', it seems that you still haven't grasped the adequate classroom manners that I expect from each of my students" The man went on, spinning round to level him with a small, derisive grin. Harry simply sat there and watched as the Professor callously singled him out, and in front of all his peers too. He heard the Slytherins begin to snicker amongst themselves. 'Here it comes'.

"Ten points will be deducted from Gryffindor for your inability to do as you’re told"

Ron was ready in an instant, quickly jumping to his aid, "But, Harry didn't even do anything!"

"Mr Potter doesn't need 'you' to talk for him, Mr Weasley" Snape snapped, eye flitting over the red head, before resting back on Harry.

"'Fifteen' points" he said, glowering at the boy, as if Ron's outburst was 'his' doing. Harry met his gaze head on, unwavering.

"One more disruption from you and it'll be fifty"

And just like that, the lesson resumed, as if it had never been disturbed.

Harry went back to his stirring, whilst Neville cautiously crushed up a few more porcupine quills. They worked in silence.

"I hope our potion works" the boy said after a while, the quills now having turned into a fine powder.

"Me too Neville" Harry said, though he found that he couldn't care less how his potion turned out.

He heard the boy snort, "Trust snape to pair us together"

Harry managed a small smirk, though he kept one weary eye on his watchful Professor, "I think he does it on purpose"

"Oh, Definitely" was the reply.

"Now" Harry said after a few more stirs, dusting his hands off on his robes and turning to his potions partner, "What was the next step after porcupine quills?"

Neville's ear turned a pretty shade of pink. "I wouldn't know" he mumbled bashfully, "I'm rubbish at remembering things"

Harry frowned, "didn't your gran send you that weird ball thingy?", he motioned a small round object with his hands, "you know, that one that told you about stuff you couldn't remember- What was it? A remembrall?"

"Yes" the other boy said, nose turning down to the floor- embarrassed.

Harry pressed on, "Hasn't that been helping?"

"It did" Neville admitted, voice tinted with hope. Then Harry saw his frown deepen, "And then I lost it"

'Oh, great'.

"and now I can't remember where i last had it"

Harry fought to keep his giggle in, biting on his lip, and pressing down hard.

"Oh, I'm sorry Neville". He wasn't.

He went back to stirring Their potion- afraid to look at his classmate in case he suffered an uncontrollable bout of giggles. That was just what he needed- laughing in Snape's class. Gryffindor wouldnt have a chance at winning the house cup.

"It's okay" Neville said, pouring the fine powdered ingredient into their cauldron whilst Harry methodically stirred it in. "This castles way too big to search for it anyway, it could be anywhere by now"

Harry was mid-stir when it 'clicked'.

A room, where lost items of students were collected by the school caretaker and stored away. He thought of the old swim team box, the photos, the swim suits- of the lake and his near death experience earlier that week.

Of Hydrus, the mysterious mer-creature.

An idea popped into his head, one that had been unconsciously stewing about in the back of his mind for a while. And it didn't leave him for the rest of the day.

He spun to face his classmate, who stared at him, clueless.

"Your in luck, Neville-" he said, a wide grin pulling at his lips.

"-I know just the place"

Following Potter's little "escapade" the other week in the lake- resulting in a last minute rescue on Severus' behalf- the potions professor had since remained vigilant in everything he did.

Well, more vigilant than usual, that is.

He believed he was a careful man, only going for a swim in the lake when it was absolutely vital, and making sure he wasn't seen or followed by any lurking students. He'd kept this act up for years, and to this day not a single soul knew about his 'alternative identity'.

That is, until Harry Potter came to Hogwarts.

Now each opportunity to go for a routinely swim became another opportunity to be seen by the Potter-boy again. Or any other student for that matter.

Because if a complete dunderhead like 'Potter' could find out about him, then so could everyone else.

After their chance meeting, Severus had remained sceptical about whether the boy would keep his word. But to his credit, no word or rumours of large-tailed creatures hiding in the lake had been spread about the castle.

'Yet' he thought with a snarl, as he watched the boy work quietly on his boil curing potion. Both he and Longbottom were useless as ever, and Severus was beginning to regret pairing them together for the sake of his own cruel enjoyment. A melted cauldron was definitely not worth an hour watching two incompetent students flap about like flightless birds.

Which was exactly what was currently happening.

Of course, being a teacher, he had to have eyes in the back of his head at all times. After all, he had fifteen cauldrons to keep track of at once- and thirty heads to observe, making sure one wasn't suddenly blown off its neck by a powerful backfire of a ruined potion.

And with more than ten years of teaching experience, he'd grown quick to spot an accident in the making.

Longbottom had just handed his awkwardly sliced ingredients to the Potter boy, who'd stirred the mixture a total of SEVEN times CLOCKWISE, rather than the required counterclockwise three.

Harry himself was too busy zoning out into thin air- pretending that he was listening to Neville's full account of misplacing his treasured remembrall- that he naturally took the ingredient from the other boy, unaware that the item given to him was wrong in the sequence. The Flobberworm mucus was supposed to be next into the cauldron, not the ginger root.

Distracted, Harry scooped a small handful of the ginger, and held it over his cauldron- his attention still on the space Just behind Nevilles left shoulder and not the bubbling potion.

He was just about to drop the ingredient into the cauldron when a hand reach out from nowhere and seized his wrist, snatching his arm away from the potion.

Professor Snape watched through furrowed brows as Potters head snapped up in shock. A gasp tumbled from his mouth, causing all other heads in the room too look over at them.

Severus grimaced down at the two students, dark eyes flickering back and forth between them. Longbottom looked close to wetting himself, barely able to keep eye contact he was shaking so heavily, and Snape grinned inwardly.

Potter however, met his gaze, unflinchingly. Only the small tremor emitting from the arm clutched tightly in the mans grasp gave any indication of the boy's nerves. Snape sneered, because as much as the boy tried hide it, he knew the truth.

He could always see right through the boy.

When he spoke his voice was dangerously low, "drop it".

Harry did so almost instantly- and all eyes watched as the the ginger root slipped from his hand and fell onto the table top with a small 'ping'. The class was silent, the only sound Severus could hear was the Potter boy, as he breathed heavily through his nostrils.

With one last snarl, he released the boy's wrist. Harry snatched his arm back to his side like a whippet, still staring up at him. Neville was looking down at his shoes.

"You idiocy has cost you your potion, Potter" Snape said, voice carrying out across the classroom. With a wave of his wand the cauldron emptied, and the boys' potion was gone. "Clean up your station and see me after class"

As he made his way back to his desk he caught a small snippet of their conversation-

"Did he mean the two of us?" Longbottom asked, "or-?"

"No, Neville" Potter muttered, as he began clearing the ginger root off his work surface. "Just me"

Not twenty minutes later, Severus dismissed his students- all but one, of course- and watched from his desk as the first years quickly filed out of the room- None daring to speak.

Til only Potter was left.

The boy was still stood by his desk area, awkwardly shuffling his feet and nervously clutching the strap of his book bag.

Severus stared up at him for a long moment, drinking him in with calculating eyes.

It was odd to think that the same boy had quite nearly drowned in his arms not a few days earlier. Yet, here he was before him- the picture of health. 'He doesn't know how lucky he is' he thought, jaw clenching.

He stared at the boy for a long moment, before crooking a finger at him, "come here". The child wordlessly obeyed.

He stopped just a few paces short of the desk, close enough to be present in their conversation, yet, far enough to be out of arms reach. He unconsciously rubbed at his wrist, still remembering the long, cold fingers that had gripped him tight.

Severus stared at the boy for what felt a long time, and didn't miss the subtle way his fingers brushed at his arm. He fought a scoff,  'Playing the victim are we, Potter?'

Eventually, he said, "I see you've managed to retrieve your bag?"

"Yes sir" the boy replied, and then with slightly narrowed eyes, "How did you know it was missing?"

Severus grimaced. "Because I, Mr Potter, was 'unfortunate' enough to find it"

Harry fought with everything in him to suppress the grin that itched at the corner of his mouth, he could already hear Ron's reaction in his head when he'd surely tell him later.  "You're joking! Professor Snape put his hand down a bog?!"

"Do you know how it might've got there, sir?" He asked instead, voice quiet. 'Did you know one of your slimy Slytherins threw my bag down the loo?' was the hidden message behind his words.

Snapes eyes narrowed, and Harry feared that he'd had sussed out the true intention of his question.
"It's your bag, Mr potter" he said, voice steady despite the irritation he felt bubbling inside him. "you tell me"

"I don't know sir"

"Yes" he said, and Harry swore he could hear the mans teeth grinding against eachother. "You don't seem to know a lot of things lately. Every student with a brain would know that ginger root goes after flobberworm mucus"

Harry felt anger prickle in his stomach, and clenched his fists to his side.

The Professor was being very unfair. There had been no run down of the potion at the start of the lesson, no demonstrations, and no guidance. All they'd had was a list of instructions to follow on the board- and even then, they had disappeared after twenty minutes. How on earth did the professor expect a class of first years to make a potion going off instructions alone?

Harry's mouth opened on instinct, and before he knew it, words came tumbling out-

"Perhaps that isn't always the students fault, Professor"

As quick as it had opened, Harry clamped his mouth shut. He bit down hard on his tongue till he swore he tasted blood, and begged that he'd only imagined he spoke. But it was too late.

The professor was scowling up at him, telling Harry that he had very much heard him.

"Do not give me cheek!" He snapped, leaning forward in his seat. Harry took a step back out of impulse.

"If I needed advice on how to teach my lessons I would ask a qualified adult! Not a simple-minded eleven year old boy who doesn't even know how to tie his own shoelaces yet, let alone teach a room of thirty children!"

Harry frowned, glanced down at his feet, and true to the professors word; found his laces untied. He looked back up to his teacher, who was fixing him with a very stormy look. One that made Harry's stomach do front-flips.

Then, Snape went deathly silent, which scared Harry even more than when he yelled.

Harry averted his eyes, focusing on the spot just behind the mans shoulder, rather than look him in the eyes. Eye contact with Snape was the pinnacle of disturbing.

After a moment, the man spoke, voice incredibly low-

"For your behaviour today in class- not to mention your appalling attitude- you will be serving detention with me on Saturday evening-"

But Harry was no longer listening, for his eyes had glazed over, focusing in and out on the world- and only a few snippets of the professors mantra were able to slip in through the fog in his mind. The rest of it was lost to him as he lazily glanced over the multitude of potions books on the large bookcase behind the desk.

His idle eyes took him to the top shelf, where a few battered old books sat, tucked away out of sight in the far corner, going completely unnoticeable by each student who walked in, including Harry himself. Until now.

Wait. He snapped back to attention, and leaned forward on his tiptoes to see if he had read that properly;

'Meres and mosses: a guide to underwater ingredients'

And the book next to it,

'From Tails to Scales; hidden properties of large-bodied fish'

And the book after that,

'Swimming with the fishes: magical Merfolk mixtures"

"Merfolk" Harry whispered under his breath, his excitement taking the air from his lungs.

"Mr Potter"

Green eyes flitted back to calculating black oynx.

Whoops.

Snape was serving him a very, very mean look.

"Sorry" Harry muttered.

The potions teacher glared at him for another moment or so, before clearing his throat and trying again:

"As I said, You will serve detention with me. Here. Saturday night." He punctuated each sentence as though he were talking to someone who didn't understand a word of English.

"Don't be late"

Harry just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek when he felt a sentence that would no doubt land him in more trouble trying to force its way out his mouth.

Snape gave a curt nod in return, before speaking again, "And the next time you enter my classroom, Mr potter. Be sure to bring your manners, and leave your foolish daydreaming at the door."

Then he was pointing a long finger at the entrance, wordlessly telling Harry to get out.

What Harry didn't see however, as he barrelled out of the door and down the hallway, was a pair of onyx eyes narrow suspiciously after him, before flitting up to the top corner bookshelf.

With a flick of the wrist, the books were magically nudged further back against the shelf;

hidden from sight.

————————————————————————

Later that day, after lessons had finished and all students met at the great hall for their evening meal, Harry excused himself to help Neville look for his- 'remembering thing'.

"Remembrall" Neville corrected.

"Right"

Harry anxiously lead the way down the winding corridors, hoping that his memory hadn't failed him.

It wasn't long before they'd stopped outside a familiar looking room, and Harry's eyes scanned the plaque above. "Lost property".

Bingo.

"Here we are" he said, patting Neville on the shoulder, before steering him towards the door.

Neville instantly had his doubts- much as Harry the other morning. He dug his heels into the floor, halting Harry's movements. "Are you sure were allowed to be here?" He asked, peering curiously over his shoulder to the other boy.

"Of course" Harry reassured with a small smile, before reaching over and testing the handle. The large door gave way with a small 'click'.

"It's not locked?!"

"No need. No one ever comes in here" said Harry, reciting Ron's very same words.

"But we're going in here"

"Huh...you're right" he said, a smile toying at his lips, and a laugh bubbling in his throat, "I guess filch is an idiot, then"

He nudged the Gryffindor forward again. "now, get moving!"

Together, the two boys pushed the heavy entry open, before slipping around the large oak door and into the room.

"Wow" was Neville's reply upon seeing the room.

They immediately set to work, searching. Well, Neville searched, whilst Harry gave a good act at pretending to.

"I'll have a look over there"

He pointed to the far corner of the room, where he knew the old box was waiting.

"Okay" he heard Neville mumble, too busy rooting through a lopsided chest of drawers to hear him properly. Harry watched as the boy nearly ripped the handle off trying to prise the dresser open, before making his- rather dangerous- journey across the room. He tripped at one point, but managed to right himself before he fell face first into a box of broken broomsticks. Ouch.

There he saw the box, exactly where Ron had left it not a week before.

He reached high above his head, grasping the bottom of it, and cautiously tugging the box off the makeshift tower- the unexpected weight almost pulling him to the floor.

Arms straining and legs shaking, a small 'oof' tumbled from his mouth as he took the full weight of the box into his hands.

"You okay?" He heard Neville ask.

"Yeah. All good"

Struggling, he carefully placed the box down before dropping to his knees beside it- embarrassingly out of breath. If Neville were to look over at him now, only the top half of Harry's torso and head would be visable from behind the box.

Without a second thought, Harry dove into action, rummaging deep into the box. Far past the trophies and medals, the swimsuits and goggles- till his hands met the familiar feel of the old photograph.

With a small tug, the photograph pulled free, dust breaking off into the air around him at the movement.

Harry felt a small tickle at his nose, before letting out a little squeak of a sneeze. He heard Neville giggle at him from the other side of the room, saying "bless you".

Harry thanked him distractedly, too busy admiring the photo once more. His eyes scanned the moving image carefully, drinking in every last detail.

The swim team looked back at him. Older, much taller students stood near the back of the photo, whilst the younger students crowded round the front. Two second year girls could be seen linking arms, whilst another pair of fourth years hugged eachother tightly. Several older boys, possibly sixth years, had their arms wrapped over each-other's shoulders, one ruffling his friends hair jokingly. One of the tallest boys even had a small first year on their shoulders- the little boy brandishing a trophy high into the air. Harry smiled affectionately at them.

Everyone was smiling. Everyone was happy.

"Then why would they stop the club?" He wondered aloud.

"What was that?" Neville called, peeking round a long rack of quidditch uniforms.

"Nothin'" Harry said, but Neville was already making his way over to him.

The other boy dropped down next to him with a small "oof", dust immediately clinging to his robes. Gently, Neville took the photo from him.

"I didn't know Hogwarts had a swim team" he said.

"They don't anymore" Harry said, turning back to the box.

Neville eyes narrowed in confusion, "hmm...I wonder why"

Harry nodded in agreement, arms disappearing into the box again.

"Here let me help" the other boy said when he saw him struggling to sift past some of the heavier items. Together they began digging through to the very bottom of the box.

"Hey, these swimsuits have the hogwarts crest on them!" Neville said, "like the quidditch uniform- look, some even have the houses on!"

His words fell on deaf ears. Harry, too distracted too engage in conversation, wordlessly began pulling at a huge pile of aged parchments from the bottom of the box.

"What's that?" Neville asked.

They were newspaper clippings. Most of them, highlighting the awards the swim-team received, some even stating that Hogwarts was the best competing school for swimming in the whole of Europe. 'Wow' Harry thought, goancing back to the photo of the team, 'They must be some good swimmers'. Harry rooted further into the box, fingernails scraping the bottom-side of the cardboard- where he dug up more forgotten articles;

That's where the news took a turn.

Newspaper clippings from the daily prophet, articles taken from witch weekly, and even letters addressed to the headmaster from the minister of magic himself.

"DEATH OF HOGWARTS STUDENT"

"DROWNING IN THE BLACK LAKE: STUDENT BODY RECOVERED AT HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY"

Harry didn't need to look to know Neville was reading over his shoulder, he could hear his breath hitch in horror as he flipped through each headline.

"FATAL DEATH AT HOGWARTS; HOW HEADMASTER DUMBLEDORE FAILED HIS BELOVED SWIM-TEAM"

"This is awful" Neville murmured, breaking the silence that had hung heavily in the air between them since Harry pulled the articles from the box.

Harry found himself nodding in agreement, wanted to stop reading there, but it was almost like he was being compelled to read on. Neville too, from the way he shifted closer, quite nearly breathing down the boys neck.

"Check this, Neville" Harry said, reading a particular passage out loud, "Minister of Magic to prohibit all swimming activities in all wizarding schools across The British isles following the death of hogwarts student"

He skimmed down another article, reading again, "Swimming activities to become illegal commencing the 28th May, 1975"

Neville picked up another discarded Prophet clipping and read it aloud himself,  "Any member of staff found to be demonstrating said illegal acts will hereby be released from their position."

Nevilles brow furrowed, and he turned to face Harry. "What does that mean?"

"It means" Harry said, "that if Dumbledore or any other professor decided to start the swim team up again they'd be removed from the school."

"Like, expelled?"

"Yeah" Harry shuffled the parchments in his hands so that they formed a neat pile, "but the teacher kind"

He told Neville to continue looking for his remembrall whilst he tidied up. "Are you sure?" Neville asked. "I can help"

"It's fine" said Harry, as he bagan shoving swimsuits back into the box.

"It's a shame" Neville said after a short pause of searching and tidying on their respective parts, checking through a small standing cupboard full of trinkets, "A swim team would've been fun"

Harry agreed, looking down sadly at a full body swimsuit which looked like it once fit a small first year like him.

"A secret swimteam would've been fun too" Neville continued absently, prying open a particularly stiff cupboard door, dust flying up into his face when it finally gave way and opened. "But a professor wouldn't be able to teach us. And I doubt an older student would risk it either."

Harry blinked, slowly looking up at Neville, swimsuit still in hand.

"They'd get into a lot of trouble with the teachers if they-hey, I found it!" Neville cheered, brandishing his remembrall up for Harry to see. "Thanks Harry!"

Harry didn't speak, he couldn't. His brain was moving ten times fast than the rest of him.

That was it. That was how Harry would learn to swim. He didn't need a Hogwarts teacher or one of the older students to teach him- he knew of a perfectly good swimmer already.

He clutched the costume tighter in excitement;

"A secret swim team"

————————————————————————

"Hello again"

Harry had woken up at the crack of dawn every morning to get his chance at seeing the creature again, and on the third morning in a row he'd finally been successful.

He had just been sitting underneath the Beech tree, throwing a handful of fallen tree-nuts into the shallows of the water and watching them ripple when a familiar pair of black eyes broke the surface- glaring up at him.

"It's Hyrdus, right?"

Harry was feeling particularly brave, considering the creature did not look too happy too see him.

Eventually, the-he? spoke.

"I could have sworn we agreed not to have another repeat of our last meeting, human"

Harry had forgotten how rough the merman's voice was, almost jumping in shock at the harshness of his tone. Nevertheless, he smiled.

"Do you see me in the water?" Harry quipped back good-naturedly, patting the grass on either side of him for emphasis.

Hydrus gave what sounded similarly to a snort. "No, I don't" he said, eyes flickering from left to right to gauge his environment, before allowing more of him to surface. Now his entire head and shoulders were above the water. "That would require you knowing how to swim. And last time you were in the water your pitiful little twig-legs couldn't even hold you up"

The boy looked down at his feet, dejected. He heard Hydrus clear his throat- well, at least that's what it sounded like to his human ears-  and change the subject.

"Why have you come back here?" He asked, and not happily either.

"You never said I couldn't" was the smart retort, albeit a mumbled one.

The merman blanched at that- too stunned to form a reply. Possibly because he didn't have one.

The boy looked back up at him, and- visibly pleased that he'd stumped the creature- went on, "You only asked that I didn't tell anyone about you. You never told me I couldn't visit you anymore"

The merman scowled, tail fin protruding from the water to swish about in annoyance. "Well don't." He spat, gills on his neck quivering, "what I did the other day doesn't change anything. you and I are nothing short of strangers. And If you wouldn't mind I'd prefer it if it stayed that way, stick-legs"

If the nicknames were supposed to upset him, then the merman was doing a very poor job.

"Do you know what happened to the swim team here?"

Harry could tell the question took him off guard for a moment, for his tail stopped mid-air, and his all-encompassing black eyes widened significantly.

His voice, though still gravelly and foreign sounding, was quiet when he spoke,

"How do you know about that?"

Harry smiled inwardly in success, happy to have gotten his attention. He fished the photograph and newspaper clipping from his pant pocket- Neville had been unaware that he'd taken a few items from the room in their departure. He'd put them back, eventually. For now, he was simply borrowing them.

He brandished them towards the creature.

"I found this in the schools lost and found" he said, watching the creature draw closer, eyes slitted- reading. When he was finished, he glanced back towards Harry- frowning sharply.

"I'm sure your teachers will not be impressed you went snooping about where you shouldn't"

"I wasn't snooping!" Harry huffed in defence, looking very displeased to be receiving a tongue-lashing from the creature. It wasn't like he got them enough from his professors, now a mermaid was joining in on it?. "I found it by accident"

Well. The First time at least.

Hydrus didn't look convinced.

Harry read the newspaper again.

"It's says a boy drowned here. In the black lake" he looked back up to Hydrus, brows pulled together curiously. "Did you know about that?"

There was a long pause before  the merman spoke, words almost imperceptible.

"Yes" he said, "I did"

"The ministry went ballistic about it" Harry went on, "banned all subjects and extracurricular activities involving the sport across the whole country. No Wizarding schools will teach it anymore"

"So I've heard" the creature said, watching the boy carefully. "Where are you going with this?"

Harry leaned forward, voice quieter than before- as though he were telling a secret;

"Can you teach me?"

"What?!" The merman cried, before falling quiet, ducking low into the water as though to hide himself from any other prying eyes- even though it were only himself and the boy present. In fact, he was sure they were the only two awake at this time.

Harry just smiled.

"Teach me to swim" a beat
"Please"

The merman’s neck-gills did that thing again, the shivering motion- reminding Harry of a cat with their hackles raised. He figured it must be something mermaids did when they were angered. “I do hope you're joking" Hydrus said.


“Not at all” Harry said, “That boy could've been me the other day- had you not saved me"

"Well aren't you lucky I did"

Harry had to restrain from rolling his eyes as the sharp retort, and instead settled on a small sigh. Hydrus was making it very obvious that he didn’t favour him in the slightest- for what, he didn’t really know why. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Perhaps it was because he was human? Or maybe mermaids were just bitter by nature.

"But you shouldn't have had to” he pressed on, “I'm eleven. I should know how to swim by now. But I don't"

He elected to ignore the exasperated huff the mermaid gave, pretending to be very interested in the beech nut he rolled rhythmically between his finger and thumb.

"And I'm sick of being afraid of the water” He said, “Sick of being afraid of everything"

There was silence on the creatures part, and after a few beats Harry glanced back up to the shallows- afraid that he’d disappeared below the water. But he was still there, watching him.

"I want to learn to swim" the boy said, firmly. With finality. Like he’d already set his heart on it.

“And what makes you think I'm best suited as your teacher?” The gruff reply. Always harsh, like grinding metal. Harry was beginning to believe that was just the way mermaids spoke. Not at all how he’d imagined them too.

"Because the teachers at the school aren't allowed to help me. They'd get sacked if anyone found out.” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders, before giving him a hopeful look. “Besides” he continued, eyes shining. “You're already in the water"

The merman regarded the boy, eyes flitting down to the newspapers, eyeing them warily. When he spoke, his voice was low again- dangerous. “Put those papers back where you found them, and forget you ever saw me"

Harry gave a cry of indignation, clutching the newspaper parchment tighter. He opened his mouth to protest, but he was beat to it-

"-I can't help you, stick-legs. Forget it"

And that was that.

The creature watched the boy, seeing the way his mouth clamped shut harshly, eyes glossing momentarily, before he blinked away the moisture collecting there. He sucked in a breath, “Okay” he said, sitting back in defeat. “Fine"

The creature gave one short, satisfied nod and watched as the boy climbed to his feet and dusted some stray grass clippings off his robes.

"Well” said the boy, his tone chipper once again- causing the Hydrus’ black eyes to narrow suspiciously. “It was nice talking to you again. But I've gotta dash. I've have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore in his office” The boy picked up his book-bag, and slung it over his shoulder. “Don't want to be late"

Hydrus watched him turn on the spot and begin languidly walking away.

"And, who knows” the boy went on, tone haughty in jest. “I just might let it slip that on my way up I spotted a certain fish-tailed creature" he emphasised, turning his head back to look at Hydrus "lurking about the black lake"

The creatures tail flicked, splashing the water.

"Are you blackmailing me, legs?"

The boy turned, small grin licking at his lips.

"Is it working, fins?"

'What an insolent, horrid, nasty-"

Severus was running out of the vocabulary needed to explain exactly how he felt about one Harry James Potter. Soon he may need a dictionary to find more words to insult the boy, because he wasn't finished with his ranting just yet.

-conniving little cretin of a boy!"

Conniving. Now that was a new one. And when the word slipped from his mouth it sounded surprised...and almost, slightly, approving. Almost.

For the Potter boy had managed to do something he never thought anyone could;

He'd unknowingly twisted the arm of one big, scary Potions master.

To say Severus was shocked by the boys request earlier that morning would be an understatement. A very big one at that.

And he, disguised as Hydrus, had voiced that.

"What happened to 'your secrets safe with me' ?" He's said after recovering from the shock of the ridiculous request, as-well as the name-calling. 'Fins?' He thought, mentally scoffing, 'is that really the best he could come up with?'

Though, let's not forget, he'd called the boy "twig legs" not too long ago.

"Oh, It still is" the boy had reassured him, still looking far too pleased with himself, "And it will be...if you teach me how to swim"

Blackmailing. How very...un-Gryffindor of him.

"I think it's quite a fair bet" Potter had said, and Severus bared his razor teeth up at him in annoyance, "you teach me the basics of swimming, and I keep you hidden from the school"

That was not a fair bet at all.

Severus had been ready to jump right out of the water and throttle the boy, and then proceed give him a piece of his mind. Tell him just exactly how he felt about the frankly absurd request. And then, of course, to inform him that he would never in all his years left on earth even think about entertaining the boys childish requests;

Granted, none of that happened. No.

Instead; He said yes.

An idiotic thing to do, sure, but nevertheless he'd done it. He hadn't really much a choice otherwise. For all he knew, Potter could very well be a nasty little snitch. And he very much would like his "secret" kept just that. He shuddered to think of it getting out to anyone else. The consequences of that could be far worse than he imagined.

Therefore, He had no other choice but to trust that the boy would keep it, if he too kept up his own side of the bargain.

He watched Potters face brighten upon his agreement, face cracking into a huge smile- he'd even bounced up and down on the balls of his feet; the epitome of pure joy. It only served to annoy Severus more. 'Just you wait till our next potions class, Potter' he thought, 'I have a three foot essay on "the properties of minding your own goddamn business" with your name written ALL OVER IT'

He could secretly get his own revenge back, he surmised, as he grudgingly watched the boy bid him farewell- promising to be back for their "swimming lessons" the following morning. "You better be here too!" He had called, before scampering back up towards the castle.

He could find excuses to give the boy the worst detentions imaginable. Although, would that be a punishment for him too? Having to endure the boys company for longer than necessary. It was bad enough as it was, he needn't more time spent with the boy than he already had on his hands. Or rather, will have on his hands come tomorrow morning.

He later pondered over their deal, mulling the idea over a large tumbler of Firewhisky and reclining peacefully in the chair of his private quarters. Now, in his regular form- as Hydrus couldn't survive long out of the water before dissolving back into Severus Snape.

It most probably wasn't nearly as bad as he was making it out to be. In hindsight, teaching the boy who lived how to swim might be actually be a necessity. A quality skill to have, if ever were the Dark Lord to return. After all, If the Boy truly couldn't swim a stroke (which Severus knew was very likely given the theatrics the other day in the lake), all the dark wizard would have to do to defeat him was throw the boy into a large puddle. Done. A Simple, yet highly effective murder.

Severus chuckled to himself at the silly image, before putting his glass down. That was probably enough alcohol for one evening if the idea of Harry Potter flailing about in a shallow puddle was reducing him to a state of laughter. He had more composure than that.

So he retired for the night, finding a will to sleep, and dreading the very next morning where he'd be forced to teach Harry Potter the basic steps of swimming. Or maybe, they'd start out even simpler than that;

Floating.

————————————————————————————————

"Good morning!" Harry greeted the merman, spotting the top of his head just poking out the water a few metres out from the shallows. Imperceptible to anyone stood further away than where Harry currently perched on the waters edge.

And morning it was. Six o'clock to be precise, the sun having barely risen up into the sky. Stray cusps of sunlight still danced on the horizon, casting pretty colours onto the lakes surface.

Harry marvelled at it, clutching his towel and spare clothes tightly to his chest and breathing in the cool morning air. Then, he popped them down on the rocks beside him, and started to unfasten his robes.

"Not entirely a 'Good' morning" he heard Hydrus grumble when the merman swam closer, head and shoulders out the water. "I often prefer my mornings free of human children"

Harry ignored the scathing comment, opting for a humorous retort, "'guess you'll just have to get use to me then" he shucked himself out of his robes completely, the borrowed swimsuit hidden beneath them now fully visible. It was one of those full body ones, and reminded Harry of those muggle swimsuits that surfers wore. It fit him quite nicely actually, considering it wasn't tailored for him.

Hydrus scowled in reply, though Harry noticed it went away quickly, replaced with something akin to a smirk.

"What?" The boy asked.

"Nice colour" the merman said, gesturing to the swimsuit, which was a mix of black, silver and Green.

Slytherin Green.

Harry frowned, "I hate green"

"I think it suits you" and it was the truth. As much as Harry may loathe the colour, he suited it very nicely.

"Reds better" said the boy with such delight you'd think it were a fact, "these are slytherin colours. But it was the only costume that fit me"

"Hm" was Hydrus' bored repsonse, thought Severus was secretly surprised by the boy. Kudos to him for choosing practicality over silly house rivalry.

Harry chatted idly as he pulled his shoes and socks off, putting them next to his other belongings, "I'm a Gryffindor- our house colour is red. We're the best house by far". He plucked his glasses off of his face at the last moment, almost forgetting he couldn’t take them into the water with him.

Hydrus rolled his large- entirely black- eyes. "I don't really care" he said, "now hurry up and get in. I haven't got all day"

Harry went quiet, looking down at his now bare feet, shuffling them back and forth across the wet pebbles. He inched closer to the shallows, but didn’t make a move to get in just yet.

“Is it cold?” He asked, shivering when a soft breeze brushed past him.

Hydrus sighed, “I assure you, it is much warmer in here than it is out there”. This was true, as the plantation on the lake beds gave off heat, warming the water in its colder months.

He watched as the Potter boy dipped a toe in, testing the waters for himself. Severus inwardly snarled, did the boy not believe him?

He glanced back up at the merman with a squint, and saw him floating a few metres away from him and looking very impatient. “Is it deep?” He asked, aware that the mans (man? Harry figured since Hydrus was male it felt right to still think of him as a man...right?) body was fully submerged.

The “man” in question did not look amused at all by the boys questions. “We’re in the shallows” he deadpanned, “My tail can still brush the bottom of the Lake here. But the water gradually becomes deeper the further out you go”. Good Lord, Severus felt like he was explaining himself to a five year old, never mind a boy of Eleven.

“Is it-“

“Enough with your incessant questions!” Hydrus finally snapped, Startling the boy into silence. “Just get in the water so we can be done with your silly lesson!”

Harry, slightly hurt from the ‘silly lesson’ comment, and feeling much like he was being told off, hurried to comply- though his pacing was probably still exceedingly slow to the merman’s standards. “Sorry” he said, his feet disappearing under the water as he nervously baby-stepped into the lake. “I’m just nervous. I don’t like the water”

“So you’ve said. Quite often, actually” Hydrus replied, shaking his head, long black tendrils of hair sticking to his shoulders. His hair was much longer as Hydrus than it was when he was Severus, reaching almost to his waistline. This annoyed him often, as it only served to get in his way. He peered up through the long, wet curtains of his hair at the boy, edging closer when the first year failed to move quicker into the water.

“Y’know” the boy huffed, stopping when he found the very edge of the shallowest part of the lake, little toes clinging to the the large flat rock before the clay beds dipped into a deeper section of the water. “Your pettiness won’t make me move faster”

“Water. Now”

“Okay! I’m going, jeez!”

But he wasn’t ‘going’, in fact, he was barely moving at all. The boy slowly tried sitting down on the rock, his goal to shuffle his way into the deeper part instead of jumping the rest of the way in.

That was the exact point where Severus had enough. In a flash, the merman had swam the rest of the distance between them, grabbed him by the wrist and tugged the boy towards him.

The effect was immediate.

Harry yowled as if he’d been hurt, panic seizing him by the throat and sparking a chill across his body that had less to do with the water and more to do with the shock. He flailed about out of instinct, trying to stay afloat, water splashing into his eyes and making him more hysterical.

Without thinking, Harry clung to the first thing he could find- which so happened to be Hydrus. Within seconds, his arms had snaked around the merman’s neck and his legs fastened about his waistline. Harry held tightly to him, gasping for the breath he couldn’t seem to find. The mermaids skin was cold to the touch, but smooth, as were the scales Harry could feeling brushing against his feet as his tail swished back and forth in alarm.

“What the-“

Was all Severus managed to say before he had an armful of first year Gryffindor, shaking like a leaf and whimpering into his shoulder.

He was stunned, frozen in place whilst the boy decided to use him as a makeshift life-jacket.

It took him a while to find his voice, “this is ridiculous, remove yourself from me now!”

Harry tried to reply, but the words caught in his throat, all he could do was stutter out a harsh breath. His panic increased tenfold when he felt webbed fingers trying to pry his arms from the merman’s neck. “No!” He cried, “please! I’ll drown!”

He felt rather than heard the man scoff, voice sounding a lot harsher from the close proximity. Like stones dragging across concrete. “Don’t be silly, You most certainly will not”

“Yes I will” Harry murmured, still not relinquishing his hold on the man, staring into space over the mans shoulder where he rested his chin and forced himself to do nothing but breathe. “I can’t stay up on my own”

Severus, feeling slightly awkward, paused trying to tug the boy away from him, simply resting his clawed hands on the boys forearms, not failing to notice the goosebumps littering the boys skin. A response to his fear no doubt, as the water wasn’t exceedingly cold.

“You will not drown” he said, voice slightly calmer yet still stern. “I’ll have a hold of you”

The boys voice was quiet when he next spoke, and Severus didn’t bother to suppress his eye roll.

“Promise?”

“Yes. Now I will not repeat myself again; remove yourself. Your childishness is becoming tiresome”

A few moments later, he felt the boy shift, slowly retracting himself from the mermaid, still cautiously holding onto him- though his grip was far less suffocating than before.

True to his word, Hydrus did not let his grip waver on Potters arm, and continued to hold onto him as he lowered himself into the water, till only his head stuck out from its depths. He elected to ignore the small, scared noises that escaped the boy as he did so, simply grateful that the boy had eventually let go of him.

“There” the boy finally breathed, before craning his neck to frown up at him- seemingly feeling gutsy once more. An almost laughable image to Severus, who not a moment before had the boy clinging to him like his life depended on it. It seemed a Gryffindors bravery only came about when they deemed fit. “Happy?” Harry asked, none too nicely either.

It was Hydrus’ turn to scowl. “Lose the tone, or you can forget your lessons” he said, half tempted to let the boy go, scare him out his wits a little longer. He didn’t, and the boy was thankful for that- he sensed it in the way Potter suddenly grew quiet, ashamed.

“Now. Let’s begin with treading water” he said, and very slowly loosened his hold on the boys arm- still not letting go completely, but that fact didn’t matter to Harry, who began to panic once more.

“Wait!” He cried, kicking his legs, causing the water to stir, “you said you wouldn’t let go!”

“I’m not-“

But his words fell on death ears, for Harry’s breathing had become ragged again.

“Mr Po-“

“Please don’t let me go! I promise I’ll stop being cheeky-“

Harry suddenly yelped in shock when a large black claw reached out and flicked him sharply on the forehead. It didn’t hurt, but it certainly knocked him out of his frenzy. He looked up at Hydrus, who remained permanently annoyed with the boy. “Ow?”

Hydrus sighed, “Dear god, Twig legs” he began, the nickname beginning to stick. “do you want to learn or not?”


“...yes?”

“Then you’re going to have to use those things on the side of your head" he says, lightly tweaking one of the boys ears with the same black claw, "and start listening to me"

"Okay, I'm listening now"

Hydrus seemed unsure, giving the boy a long, quizzical look. He still seemed fidgety. He hadn’t seen anyone this nervous of the water since...well, since ever. The boys chest was still rising and falling dramatically, trying to suck in as much oxygen in the air as he could. Hydrus shook his head just watching him. It’d take a miracle to teach this boy to swim. But he had to start somewhere;

‘Let’s try the beginning’

“Breath” he said, gaining the boys attention instantly. “Breath control is a very important part of swimming. Without control over that, the rest is near impossible”

“It is?” The boy asked, chest still rattling as the air struggled to slip in around his words. The man nodded, big black eyes glinting down at him- still terrifying to look at, yet presently remained neutral in their glare.

“Focus on your breath for a moment. Don’t think of anything else” he said, and the boy did as he was told. Even going as far as closing his eyes to block out any other distractions. “In and out. Slowly”

Finally listening, the boy followed his words- breathing in time to the mermaids helpful words. After a while, Harry noticed- or rather didn’t notice- that everything else began to slip away, even the sensation of the water around him. Only his breath remained- strong and steady in his chest.

“Good” he heard Hydrus say, and the small praise made Harry smile despite himself. It was enough to ground him to the present, where he blinked his eyes open to peer up at him.

Harry noticed the corners of the mans mouth tugged up into a barely noticeable smirk. “What?” He asked innocently, brows pulled tight together in puzzlement, “what is it?”

Hydrus said nothing, instead he held up two webbed hands in front of the boys face. He watched the confusion melt away as the gears in boys head clicked into place;

“You’re floating”