Under the Stars

| Chapter 4 |

Ginny and Harry each had their wand pointed toward him.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Hermione could hear Harry growl loudly at the Malfoy heir.

"Out for evening stroll, Potter," Hermione read Draco's lips, "Haven't you heard of it? I would expect you haven't since you don't have parents."

Harry growled and tried to attack Draco, but Ginny blocked both of them with a shield charm, "No, Harry! I won't have you bruising yourself up this year. You don't need it."

Hermione resisted the urge to move forward in the water toward her friends. Draco laughed, "Better listen to Weaslette, Potter, she'll keep you on a good short leash."

"That includes you, Malfoy," Ginny growled and stepped toward him, her wand jabbing into neck, "So I'd watch your back."

"Back off, Blood Traitor," Draco growled down at the red head. Hermione watched as all that Ginny did was send a stinging hex at him causing him to jump.

"Come on, Harry," Ginny said, "It's getting past curfew," and Harry and Ginny walked off back to the castle.

Hermione's eyes traveled back to the blonde male on the beach. Draco turned his head away from the Gryffindor couple and turned to look at the water. His eyes landed on her and seemed to stare right into her eyes. She froze, her eyes watching him in return. She watched as he raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side in confusion at her. Then he righted himself and started to walk slowly toward the water. Hermione backed away from him, making as little movement as possible. He froze and then sat down on the ground, his long legs stretched out before him. Then he did something surprising, he started to sing.

"Upon one summer's morning," his voice was all Hermione could think about and hear, "I carefully did stray," it was thick, lustful, but sharp when needed. The perfect tenors voice that had Hermione fanning herself. Must be all those pureblood traditions, Hermione thought, "Down by the Walls of Wapping," Hermione found herself entranced by it like how her mythological counterparts were said to hypnotize sailors, "Where I met a sailor gay."

Hermione found she had to answer his call, "Conversing with a young lass," she watched as Draco froze and stood up, his silver eyes roaming the black water for her, "Who seem'd to be in pain."

"Hello!" he called out, but she just smirked.

She would not answer him. He would just reveal her true identity to the world and she would be dead. So she responded with just singing, "Saying, William, when you go, I fear you'll ne'er return again."

"Hello! Please answer me!" he called out. She was slightly taken back at his pleading. She never knew he even knew how.

"My heart is pierced by Cupid," she continued to sing and she moved farther and farther away from him. After this, she would leave him alone. He was none of her business, "I disdain all glittering gold."

Suddenly she watched in horror as Draco Malfoy ran toward her, the water lapping at his legs. She stopped singing, the splashing water now so terribly loud. When the water began to be too much for him, he swam out toward her. She suddenly started to panic and she dove under the water, her tail flipping above water before slipping beneath the surface behind her.

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It was her voice again, the voice of the person who saved him from the water, and he had to find her. It echoed in his ears as he ran into the war, even though the voice had stopped. His eyes drifted over the surface of the water, but all he could see was the faint shape of something sticking out of the water. It couldn't be the mysterious person that he had heard when he woke up on the beach, could it?

The water began to pull him down and he dropped into it, his arms stretching out. His mother had taught him from a young ago how to swim and he would admit he was very good. He was able to cross a 50 meter Olympic Swimming Pool in pretty easy time. He stopped though as the dark shape suddenly disappeared and a fish tail came up. He smirked, got you, he thought. He held his breath and dove under the water, his eyes wide trying to see in the dark water.

He couldn't see anything at first until a sudden flash of blue got his attention. He looked to his left and there she was, for that was what the mysterious person was. His eyes went wide as they ran off her body. She looked like the mere people of the Black Lake, but was more human than fish. He had never seen such a creature as her. She had long aquamarine tail where her legs were supposed to be and the scales, around her hips, transformed into soft pale skin. Her torso was that of a woman, one that he couldn't make out her face of. Her long, brown hair, traveled behind her and he noticed that it was laced with small blue orchids. Her breasts were covered with a hard shell like bra which was the same color as her tail. She was thin, as if she had not gotten much to eat. He wasn't surprised though since the Black Lake was a dangerous place to be in. He watched a little bit more as the mere woman swam deeper and deeper before disappearing into the darkness.

His lungs burned and so he swam to the surface, a triumphant smile on his face. He would find out who and what she was and then he would come up with a plan to capture her. Maybe the Dark Lord would finally look down on his family with pride. No, he thought, I shouldn't. It's not right, and he scratched off that bad thought.