Chapter Text
Screeching laughter, a shout of protest, a gargle and a hand clinging to Harry's shoulder. Surprised, the eighteen-year-old wizard whirled around, barely able to gasp for breath before he was pulled under the surface of the water.
It was a wonderful day; the brightly shining sun made the entire student body of Hogwarts cheer with joy. Early in the morning they had all gone to the Great Lake, had secured themselves places in the warm sun and were now swimming in the lake or playing magic ball games on the shore to pass the time. An ordinary early summer Sunday in Harry's eighth school year.
But at the moment, Harry wasn’t feeling too peaceful as he emerged from the water, panting and frantically searching for his lost glasses while he brushed his wet hair out of his eyes. Hermione, who had pulled him under the water – probably unintentionally, as she had been dunked by Ron – also just reappeared from under the water, shouting some very creative curse words at her boyfriend. Ron just laughed and hurriedly fled towards the shore. Harry found his glasses in his hair, where they had gotten stuck. Better stuck than lost. With great effort and misery, he freed the spectacles from his tangled hair and put the frame back on his nose. His two best friends had already waded to the shore ahead of him and continued to squabble there. Harry sighed amusedly and hurried to dry land towards them.
“You are impossible!” Hermione giggled just as Harry caught up with them, then she swiftly pulled Ron down towards her for a kiss.
That was Harry's cue and he walked past them, back to the picnic blanket where they had left their things. He hardly paid attention to a group of Slytherins, who all jumped into the water enthusiastically. Instead, his gaze fell on the blond boy, who had made himself comfortable on the shore and made no effort to follow his friends. Harry tugged his lips into a knowing grin as he strolled effortlessly towards Draco Malfoy, who was resting not too far from his picnic blanket anyway.
“No desire to cool off?” Harry asked and came to a halt in front of Draco's place.
The blond eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders, “Apparently not.”
“Afraid you'll ruin your perfect hairdo?" Harry asked triumphantly, very sure that he was hitting the bull's eye with his assumption.
“Bugger off, Potter. You're blocking the sun!”
All right, the Slytherin refused to be provoked, but a little fun couldn't hurt. “But something that cools you down would be exactly what you need right now!” Harry remarked. He then began to shake his head with such force that his wet hair made drops fly through the air and certainly also in the direction of Draco.
A very unmanly screech confirmed Harry's theory. He was just about to look up to grin victoriously at Draco when a jet of water hit him right in the face. Gasping, Harry staggered back. He needed a moment before he found his balance again and then watched Draco Malfoy, who was probably responsible for the flood of water, run away.
“Oversensitive as always," Harry grumbled, glancing at Draco for a moment, who was heading for the castle. Harry then walked untroubled to his picnic blanket. Malfoy's vanity and melodramatic reaction shouldn't bother him, they didn't really hate each other that much anymore anyway.
~
Monday morning, 3 a.m., found Harry lying awake in his bed. For a while, he tossed and turned impatiently until he decided that he could do something else to pass the time. Hurriedly he drew the dark red curtains of his canopy bed, muttered a Lumos, and opened the Marauder's Map to keep himself busy. He often did this when old memories or just the lunar cycle deprived him of sleep. As usual, he scoured all the dormitories, enjoying the fact that he spotted two students who were not sleeping in their own beds and were roaming around in other beds. A Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff. What a scandal!
Harry's gaze continued to wander further across the Hogwarts' corridors until he finally scoured the Grounds. Now that the weather was getting warmer, he’d be able to catch more and more couples hanging around outside their beds and in the wild, past night curfew. But tonight, it wasn't a couple that caught Harry's interest. No, it was an all-too-familiar name that was definitely not to be seen in the Slytherin dormitory. Draco Malfoy was at the Great Lake. Harry arched his brows. If the bloke felt like cooling off, why didn't he just take a shower instead of sneaking off in the middle of the night? The lake was not that safe at this time. But before Harry could worry too much about it, Draco started to make his way back to Hogwarts and Harry's eyelids became heavy as he drifted off to sleep.
~
“Crap, crap, crap!” Harry cursed loudly as he rushed to class, 15 minutes late.
McGonagall would not only kill him but also expose him in front of the whole class, Gryffindors and Slytherins alike. Ron had tried to wake him up three times before he had given up. A treacherous decision, at least Harry thought so. And now he hadn't even had breakfast.
Inelegantly but effectively, Harry slid around a corner and turned into the next corridor. Not far from him, he spotted another straggler who was in no less of a hurry than Harry. To make matters worse, it was Draco Malfoy. Actually, this wasn’t a bad thing, but he was the one that had kept Harry awake by his nightly activities.
For a moment, Harry pondered whether he should draw attention to himself, when he noticed the Slytherin’s unkempt hair. No time for vanity today? Well, a little payback couldn't hurt, then. With a single movement, Harry drew his wand and quietly hurried to get a little closer to Draco. “Aguamenti!"
The jet of water that shot out of his wand was not particularly strong, but certainly strong enough to throw Malfoy completely off balance. Flabbergasted, he turned to Harry, then opened his eyes wide in shock. Before Harry even had a chance to laugh at the expression, the blond opened a door a few feet away and disappeared into what appeared to be a broom cupboard. Perplexed, Harry stared at the door and again at the puddle at the spot where Draco had stood a moment ago. A rumble from the broom cupboard brought his attention to the door again.
“Um, Malfoy?" Harry asked, still puzzled.
An angry grumble behind the door made Harry jump. “Get lost! Or these words will be the last words you ever hear!” That was definitely Draco's voice, even if it sounded a bit distorted by the wood.
“Are you okay though? It was just a joke, I thought-"
“GO AWAY!"
Harry stared at the doorknob for a moment, wondering whether he should simply ignore Malfoy’s words, but somehow, he felt a bit queasy. Something was very wrong here and it was perhaps not the right moment to find out what it was. So Harry turned on his heel and hurried on to his transfiguration class.
~
Harry hardly noticed the conversations at the lunch table, he was too busy staring, not very discreetly, at a certain blond Slytherin. Since the incident before the transfiguration class, Harry couldn't stop brooding over what Draco's strange behaviour was all about. He had told his friends about it, but they didn't seem to understand his distrust, so Harry pondered on his own. If he didn't know better, he'd think Draco was afraid of water. Did that exist? Aquaphobia? Then why had Draco been at the lake? Shouldn't he generally avoid water if it frightened him?
Lost in thought, Harry shoved a spoonful of pudding into his mouth and chewed on it. Petunia would have slapped him on the head for it, but the Dursleys were far in the past.
“Harry?" Hermione interrupted Harry's thoughts.
“Hmm?"
“Let it go. If you really think something's up, ask him. I will not bear to witness your obsessive pursuit of Malfoy again!" Hermione's tone betrayed that her reprimanding was futile, so Harry decided to ask Draco about his behaviour. On that occasion, he could also ask him directly why he was sneaking out of his dormitory at night. Yes, that was a magnificent idea! Draco would definitely not consider him a stalker! But at least then his sixth year at school would not be repeated.
After lunch, Harry thought of a few questions he wanted to confront Draco with. The questions “Why do you react like a startled cat as soon as a few drops of water touch you?" and “Where do you hang around at night?" sounded as ridiculous as they were, yet they were at the top of Harry's mental list. After all, he couldn't care less what Malfoy would think of him afterwards. He was Harry motherfucking Potter, he was definitely allowed to ask absolutely inappropriate questions.
Harry “motherfucking” Potter, unfortunately, didn't feel so casual anymore when he faced the blond man and nervously asked him for a private conversation. On top of the fact that Draco was flanked by his friends, he looked particularly condescending today. Wonderful timing to draw his attention to the fact that he was constantly being watched by Harry and, in his opinion, was behaving strangely. This could only go well!
Nevertheless, Draco agreed and strolled deliberately slowly, following Harry until they were out of earshot. Harry's gaze fell on a portrait, showing a little witch who was peering down her gigantic nose at them and was eavesdropping with great interest; perhaps a broom closet would be a more suitable place for their purpose, but he didn't want to awaken certain memories of the morning unnecessarily.
“So, what's on your mind, Potter?" Draco asked while he examined his fingernails with fascination. Well, that was an excellent start.
“I need to talk to you!" Harry explained determinedly, ignoring the little witch in her picture frame.
Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, I could guess that this wasn’t going to be an unplanned rendezvous.”
Harry's cheeks became hot and he had to force himself not to lower his gaze to the tips of his toes. What a conceited –
“What was that this morning?” Harry interrupted his own thoughts.
Draco's eyebrows sprang up and he now looked directly at Harry. “You're the one asking me? You ambushed me!”
“I didn’t just – You were the one that started it at the lake!” Actually, that wasn't quite the truth either, but to shake his hair in Draco's direction could really not be described as an attack.
“Along with the fact that I haven't started anything, you're acting absolutely childish!” Draco replied dryly, devoting his entire attention to his fingernails again.
Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair; that didn't develop into an explanation, so he had to go all in. “All right, but where do you sneak off to at night?" Harry didn't think it was wise to tell Draco that he knew very well where he had been and that the why was much more important to him.
Draco raised his gaze again and frowned. “I don’t have the faintest idea what you're talking about. Now if you'll excuse me, I have essays to –“
“Aguamenti!"
When talking didn't help, action had to follow! At least that was Harry's train of thought as he drew his wand and then cast the spell on Draco. Whether this had been a good or bad idea, he could decide later.
“Bloody hell, Potter!" Draco reacted quickly, really quickly. This surely had something to do with the fact that he hadn't been attacked from behind and he could actually see what Harry was doing.
Harry expected many things, but not that Draco would raise his hand and freeze the water in the air to ice. In shock, he looked at the ice first, then at the blond and then at the ice again. “Wandless magic?!”
The ice cracked noisily as it dropped to the stone floor as soon as Draco let his hand sink to his side again. “You’ve caught me there. Now you know my secret and can mind your own business again!”
Harry's jaw dropped, but he couldn't gather himself before Draco turned around and disappeared back to his friends. That didn't make any sense at all! Why would this be Draco's secret? And why would he be so casual about it if Harry found out? It didn’t explain his bizarre fear of water, nor the nightly trip to the lake. The wizard tried to tell him a cock and bull story, Harry wasn’t able to explain all of this otherwise.
Unfortunately, this behaviour did not curb his curiosity at all. If he’d told Ron and Hermione about it, they would probably strangle him with their own bare hands, but he had to find out what was really going on with Draco. Call it an old habit or a gut feeling, but Harry trusted this feeling without batting an eyelid.
~
The darkness of the night lay heavy over Hogwarts, causing a tight feeling in Harry's chest. He really had no idea what he was thinking. This was one of the worst ideas he had come up with since the beginning of the school year and the year was almost over, so this was saying a lot.
Once again, Harry looked at the piece of parchment in front of him. Draco was still on the shore of the Great Lake. He hadn't moved an inch for the last quarter of an hour. Harry stepped out into the cool night air and pulled the invisibility cloak tighter around him. It wasn’t cold, but not warm enough to walk around in just a t-shirt. Harry walked at a fast pace along the small path leading to the Great Lake – and also to the forbidden forest, but Harry certainly didn't want to go there at this hour.
Even though the lakeshore was free of bushes and trees, some of the plants stood a few meters away from it and offered Harry extra protection. The invisibility cloak was useful, but hiding, in addition, would be of help. Harry was just looking back at the map when he heard a gurgling sound. A gurgle? Yes, there it was again! Harry narrowed his eyes to see better in the dark, that's when he spotted him.
Draco.
He stood not far from him, but not close either, right in front of the water. One more step and he would have waded in. Harry frowned. The Slytherin seemed to be speaking. Very quietly and absolutely incomprehensible stuff. Just when Harry was thinking about coming closer in order to be able to listen better, there was this gurgling again. It came from the water – no, it was the water. Or was it? Was that a figure between the gentle waves there? Well, if that was the case, at least Draco wouldn't be talking to himself, which somehow soothed Harry. But also not really, because a figure really seemed to float between the waves and appeared only remotely human. Wandless magic, my arse!
Harry decided spontaneously to step closer, when Draco rose suddenly and without another word he hurried away, dangerously close to Harry's hiding place. For a moment Harry considered following him, but he could already imagine how Draco's answers to his questions would turn out. So instead, Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off his body and slowly and carefully walked towards the place where Draco had just been standing.
The lake lay calm and dark in front of him. Nothing moved, no gurgling, no strange shapes between the waves, only the light wind glided gently over the water’s surface. Harry squatted down and fixed his gaze at the spot where the figure had been seen a moment ago.
“Hello? Is anybody there?” Really, a glorious question, he was at least as smart as the people from his cousin's horror movies who asked this question frequently.
But there the gurgling was again, and a head broke through the waves and turned to him. Harry had to use all his willpower not to cry out because this creature in front of him was really freaking frightening. The upper part of its body was strongly reminiscent of a human being, but the skin was pale, sunken, translucent and grey. Long, dark hair fell over the creature's face – if you could call this grimace that. Its eyes were no more than black holes, and its mouth was as wide as that of a toad’s, but in no way amusing to look at. Its sharp teeth flashed razor-sharp, allowing a premonition of what they could do.
The creature stared at Harry, interested but also haughty. Harry cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his guts. “Um, hello.” For heaven's sake, was there a way for him to act any dumber?
The creature didn't answer but tilted its head a little, which made it seem even eerier. Harry tried giving it a weird smile. Then something stirred in the water. The creature actually raised its bony arm and stretched it out in Harry's direction as if it wanted to shake his hand. Harry laughed hysterically for a moment, staring at the grey hand. Dark scales were visible in some places, and he clearly saw that its hands were webbed.
This was his chance of gaining the being's trust and then asking it about Draco, however he fit into this picture. So Harry smiled a little more confidently now and reached out for the creature's hand to grab it. Only gently and briefly, but amicably, to not leave a false impression. Just as Harry loosened his grip on the squidgy hand again, the creature's broad mouth widened into a grin so vicious that Harry's smile was instantly wiped from his face.
Then it took hold.
Firmly.
Firmer than Harry could have expected from those thin fingers and he screamed. Loud and panicked, even though the end of the scream was swallowed by the water that surged around him.
With furious speed, he was pulled deeper. He swallowed down lungfuls of water and lost his vision as he couldn’t see even the slightest bit in the darkness of the water. He only knew that this would be his end if he didn't start with his counterattack. He tore at his hand by which he was pulled into the depths, reached around him, searching for his wand, but nothing helped. He was unsuccessful and became dizzy.
Gasping for breath, he swallowed more water, kicked around, but his struggle only caused him to lose consciousness even faster. Just as Harry accepted his inevitable fate, he felt it. The pressure on his hand, it came loose! A heartbreaking scream rang out, then everything around him turned to black.
~
Harry coughed, spat water and at the same time gasped for air, the sweet air that enveloped him again. He opened his eyes, blinked the tears away from the corners of his eyes and thrashed around wildly as if by reflex. But there was no one there. Harry turned his head to the side and realised that he was not alone after all.
His gaze fell in disbelief at the blond man, who was up to his shoulders in the water and only had one hand on the rock he must have hoisted Harry onto. Harry blinked faster, straightened up slowly, got his breath back and continued to stare incredulously at Draco. Something seemed to have changed about him, but Harry was too confused to be able to pin it down to any detail.
“Clear off!“
Startled, Harry shrank back, that was Draco's voice, but different. On the one hand, it was dark and pithy, but on the other hand so butter-soft that Harry almost felt comfortable. Then he noticed what had changed about Draco. He was gleaming. As if he was glowing from inside out. And then there were those strange slits on the side of his neck that Harry would almost not have noticed if Draco hadn't turned to the side for a moment to look out frantically at the dark lake.
“You have to leave, now!”
Harry just couldn't take his eyes off Draco, even though he could only see him up to his shoulders. It was absolutely surreal and either he was having the barmiest nightmare of his life or he had found out Draco's secret. So far he could only guess what exactly this secret contained. Harry’s gaze fell on Draco's hand that was holding on to the rock and he almost jumped up and ran away. It wasn't a human hand, somehow it was, but not really. The hand was webbed and reminded him a bit of the creature's hand, which definitely didn't make him feel any better.
“It will come back, but it won’t be alone. So leave or die!”
And then the fascinating hand vanished from Harry's field of vision. As if there was nothing wiser, Harry leapt closer to the edge of the rock and looked down into the lake where Draco had just disappeared.
The glow actually made sure that he could still catch a glimpse of the blond. As the slender body slid deeper into the darkness, Harry's eyes widened in horror. Instead of legs he clearly recognised a fish fin on the blond man's torso before he lost sight of him in the darkness.
For half a second Harry stared into the blackness, then jumped up as if stung by an adder and took to his heels like never before, almost forgetting to pick up his invisibility cloak and wand. He grabbed his things and hurried down the path that led him straight back to the castle.