Starling Darling, Harry Potter Love Story

Fourteen

Star and comment!

SHE WAS IN THE Black Lake this time. She looked up and watched as her hair floated above her, being carried by the filmy water. Then, all of a sudden, she couldn't breathe. Her lungs contracted but no air came in. She felt small. Enclosed. Trapped.  The vast, dark water was the only thing her rapidly blinking eyes could see. The only thing Star could think was that she was going to drown. There was no goodbye to her parents, her friends, or other loved ones. There was even a possibility no one would find her body. The resident Selkies would probably feast on her decaying flesh like it was a Thanksgiving meal and leave her gnawed bones at the bottom of the water. For the second time in the past couple of days Star was terrified.

"Breathe," A wispy voice murmured into her ear. Its serpentine words grasped onto her lungs and enabled her panicked lungs to be able to breathe.

She could breathe.

Her heart rate slowed to a comfortable pace, and she looked at her surroundings. Star didn't expect her vision to be so clear, especially when the beauty of the water had been disguised with her flawed vision. Her eyesight was so sharp. She felt like when children with poor vision put glasses on for the first time, or when the colorblind finally got to see the true color the world holds. There was no more clouded vision, just the pure magnificence the lake held. She could see the vast array of fish and seaweed and all of the sea life the Black Lake had to offer. As she stared, in awe, she felt something large stir the water next to her.

She turned her body around. Nothing.

Something moved again.

She turned, again. Nothing.

"Who's there?" Her voice came out clear, not muddled.

"Starling," An entity whispered.

"Whoever that is, show yourself!" She let the confidence her fathers had taught her shine brightly through her words.

A face peeked through the seaweed. The face looked kind but the teeth it smiled at her with were a frightening sight. They were sharp and pointy, made to bite through the flesh of unsuspecting sailors. These were the sirens she had always seen when she looked at the lake through the windows in the Slytherin common room.

The siren started to swim toward her and Star began to move back frantically. The siren stopped in her tracks at Star's movements.

The siren pointed toward itself, "Aglaope."

"Uh, Starling?" Star pointed to herself.

Aglaope put a webbed hand in front of her mouth to cover her pleasant laugh. "I know."

"You, uh, do?" Star questioned. "Oh my Merlin, I'm going crazy. This is a dream, I'm talking to a siren. Of course, this isn't real."

"You're not going crazy. But, you are correct, this is a dream."

"What?"

"I brought you here, Star."

The revelation shocked her system. Star's surroundings became cloudy and she yelped at Agalope, confused as to what was going on. Aglaope looked calm, unlike her. The rest of Aglaope's words were drowned out as someone shook her awake, effectively knocking her out of her dream.

~~~

"I still can't believe you almost slept in late! You were going to miss the champions getting picked!" Aveline chuckled.

"Yeah, I don't know how I did either," Aveline gave Star a weird look before shrugging and pulling her to their seats in the Dining Hall next to The Golden Trio and Noren.

"Hey, Star!" Noren practically cried, waving his hand in the air.

"Noren," Star nodded toward the boy.

Star went to take a seat next to Hermione until Aveline hastily took the seat from her. Leaving the only other seat next to Noren, who looked at her brightly. Star begrudgingly took the seat next to him with a humph.

"I can't give you a proper apology in here without everyone hearing us but know that I am so sorry Star," He whispered to her. "I had no right to do that. Merlin, I don't even know why I did that, which is not an excuse. I know that now."

Star angled her body toward him. "It's ok, Noren. Honestly, I really just don't know why you snapped. Were you tired or something? Either way, you out of all people know how much I absolutely hate fighting. I can't stand it. I know you want me to get with him but I, really, just can't right now. I'll tell you and Aveline later but something is going on, going on."

"I'll apologize to you more later, and buy you something even, but what do you mean, going on?" He questioned.

"I've been having dreams, only two so far, but they always have the Black Lake in them and there's always an echoey, womanly voice. And, in my last dream, I saw the woman."

"Woman? What do you mean?"

"To be honest, I really shouldn't even say woman. I should say siren."

Before Noren could get another word in to express his surprise, Professor Dumbledore spoke, his voice booming. His speech was not long, although it felt like it to the many people who put their names in the Goblet of Fire. Star thought risking your life for some money and fame was stupid, the whole Triwizard Tournament didn't sit right with her. While a little bit of fame and money was nice, to her logical brain it wasn't enough to risk your life over.

Every single student and teacher in the Dining Hall watched in awe as the Goblet of Fire swirled and sparked before spitting out a slightly charred piece of paper.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore's deep voice sounded throughout the room. Viktor's friends clapped him on the back, and Star quickly spotted Aleksei. He noticed her after Viktor had walked away. He smiled at her, but she felt nothing. She didn't feel a single warm feeling like she oddly felt when she stared at the boy who had annoyed her for the past three years. She newly, yet reluctantly, had decided she didn't hate Harry as much as she had thought. She did not like him.

"The Beauxbaxtons champion is," Star looked away from Aleksei and stared at Dumbledore, who stared straight back at her with the same knowing glint in his eyes, "Fleur Delacour!"

Cheers and the occasional congratulatory French word were shouted. Madame Maxime looked insanely proud as Fleur walked to the room where the other champion had disappeared into.

"Last, but not least, the Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" Star and her friends screamed for Cedric. While Star, Aveline, and Noren were not incredibly close to Cedric he was always kind to them and they even hung out on the occasion.

Cedric walked past where Star and Noren sat with a smile on his handsome face. "I did it, Star!" He saluted the younger girl.

"I'm proud of you, soldier! Go do your duty!" She saluted back. He grinned and laughed before running off to the champion's room.

"Well, that concludes this adrenaline-inducing day. I send all of my luck to the newly chosen champions! Thank you all-" Dumbledore did not get to finish as the goblet swirled once more, its fire turning blue, and spewing out another piece of paper. Dumbledore snatched the paper from midair, his eyes going slightly wide.

"What?" Star asked no one in particular. She looked to the side to catch Harry's gaze.

"Harry Potter?" Dumbledore stated, his mouth going thin. Star and Harry were still staring at each other and both of their eyes went wide. The crowd broke out into chatter.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore bellowed again.

Star was still staring into his eyes. "Go, Harry," He didn't move. "Harry get your ass up and walk over there! Now."

He got up, his feet staggering. He waddled over to Dumbledore, giving him a cautious look before vanishing into the dark hallway.

PLEASE READ THIS AUTHORS NOTE!!!!!!! >>>>
➟ Guys, I know Sirens are half-bird half-woman but let's say they adapted into what they are in this story! In this story they are mermaid-like but kind of scarier with sharp teeth and sharper fins! So, don't come for me because I know what sirens look like according to mythology! (I take Latin in school!!)