Under the Stars

| Chapter 5 |

It was lunch time the next day, and Draco was in the library as his friends went off to the Great Hall. They probably thought he was looking for some Slytherin girl to flirt with in the halls and maybe taking her in the broom cupboard. It was the exact opposite though. He walked down the Restricted Nonfiction Section, his fingertips running over the soft leather spines. He started to hum the song again and all he could see was the magnificent creature from the Black Lake. He stopped as he got to the section he was looking for and pulled out the first book title that caught his attention: Seirína. He took a seat at the small desk that sat in the corner by the book shelf and opened to the first page. His heart ran fast, he wanted to know everything about her, he needed to know everything. His eyes began to read:

'Mermaids appear throughout the many cultures of both the magical world and the non-magical world. Each world and each culture within has their own version of mermaids. Overall, though, mermaids have been defined as an aquatic creature who are a mix of a human and a fish.

'Mermaids are mostly known to be of the female gender, but there are some sightings of them being of the male gender. They are called mermen and are extremely rare. In the magical world, mermen were human males who have been transformed because they chose to be with the one they love, a mermaid. This only happens every twenty-five years, though. In the non-magical world, though, mermen were born the way they were and could never walk on land. Both of these types of merman exist and both are equally as rare.

'Mermaids each have a special power which differentiate them and is true for all kinds. This varies between each and reflects their personality...'

He looked up, a smirk on his face; he had found the jackpot. He stuffed the book into his robe quickly, looking behind him for any on lookers. There was none and he marched out of the library, his mind running. The bell went off on his way to his dorm and he stopped short, groaning at his lack of luck and time. He turned on the ball of his feet and marched his way to the other end of the Dungeon, for Potion's class. He was the first one there, the Professor not even in the room yet, which Draco found odd.

He took a seat at one of the tables towards the storeroom. He looked toward the entrance of the classroom and then glanced down at the large rectangular bundle sticking out of his robes. He opened up his bag beside him and slipped the leather book into it as silently and as quickly as possible.

"What are you hiding there, Mr. Malfoy?" the calm voice of the Potion's Professor echoed in his ear drums.

He turned suddenly to his god father, his eyes wide and his heart beating a little too erratically, "Severus! Nothing!" he said suddenly.

Severus Snape glared down at his god son, "Draco," he growled lowly in a parental voice.

"It's just a book, godfather," Draco told the truth knowing his godfather wouldn't trust him anyway.

"Whatever it is, Draco," Snape rolled his eyes, "Just know where your priorities lay," and just as he said that, the first student appeared. It was a girl with bushy brown hair and wide brown eyes, her arms piled high with books. She stopped in her tracks once her eyes landed on the two Slytherins, "Don't just stand there, Miss. Granger. Sit down or I will take ten points from Gryffindor," the girl ran to her seat at one of the tables in the middle of the room. Snape turned back to his godson, "Heed my words," Draco looked down at his lap, refusing to meet his godfather's black eyes. Draco didn't know exactly what Snape meant, but he didn't like it.

More students started to flow into the classroom and Draco sneered at many of the Gryffindors that walked in. Once everyone was seated, Snape rose from his seat behind his large black desk, "Good afternoon class," he drawled out, but no one responded and that was exactly how he liked it, "Today we will be brewing Aqua Spiritus (Water Breath). Can anyone tell me what this potion does?" Hermione Granger's hand rose up into the air like a lightning bolt and Draco watched as his godfather rolled his eyes, "Anyone who isn't an insufferable know-it-all," this caused many of the Slytherins to snicker including Draco and Hermione's hand lowered, "No?" he drawled out the 'o' and waited for someone to raise their hand. Snape looked at his godson expecting him to answer, but Draco did not though he knew the answer, "Well then, Aqua Spiritus is a potion which will give the drinker the ability to breathe underwater for six hours," Draco perked up at this, maybe this wasn't the potion he was thinking of, and it could help him to figure out about the mermaid in the lake, "You will find the recipe on page two hundred and eleven in your books. You will have the entire class block to brew this potion, but there is a catch to this assignment. I usually don't do this," he said to himself mostly and to Draco it sounded like he could hardly believe what he was saying, "But you will need to work with partners on this, assigned ones," Draco looked at his godfather in disbelief, what was he doing?

The whole class was silent, knowing better than to challenge Snape. Six years of having him as a teacher would do that to a class. Snape sneered down at his class, "I will partner you up at random and if one of you dares to wine about it, you will spend your next two Friday nights in detention with me," he cleared his throat and his eyes narrowed in on his first victims, "Potter with Weasley," the two best friends looked at each other with joy in their eyes, "Brown and Finngan. Bulstrode and Largebottom," several of the Slytherins burst out into laughter as Neville Longbottom's cheeks burst into red flowers. He picked up his stuff and moved next to the brown haired girl with sparkling green eyes and thick rimmed black glasses. She looked at him for a moment before turning back to Snape, a scowl on her lips, "Settle, settle," Snape smirked at his Slytherin students and they quieted down, "Thomas and Zabini," the two dark skinned males glanced at each other before Blaise sighed in disgust and moved his stuff next Dean, "And," he paused, his black eyes roaming over the class, "Where are Nott and Parkinson?"

"In the cupboard on the second floor, shagging, Professor," Blaise Zabini announced and watched with joy as many of the Gryffindors flinched in disgust.

"Ummm," Snape simply said, slightly speechless, but not surprised, "They'll just miss this potion's assignment then," and he paused before continuing, "And finally," the two looked at each other already knowing, "Malfoy and Granger," the room was silent as the two stared at each other waiting for whoever moved first. Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco before she sighed and gathered her stuff reluctantly and joined him. Snape looked at his class, the tension so thick he could cut it with a knife, "You may begin."

Draco glanced at Hermione, something familiar beyond having seen her bushy head every single day. She looked up at him, probably sensing him looking at her. She narrowed her eyes again, now glowing with angry flames, "What, Malfoy?"

Draco sneered and stood up, walking away from her and toward the store room. Hermione watched him go, her eyes losing their glow quickly, pity and sorrow now in their face. She so badly wanted to help him now that she knew his secret, but she couldn't in this form. He would never trust her, so she needed to gain his trust about this form in her mermaid form. She smirked down at the table, what a perfect idea!

An hour later, Snape sighed in defeat at his class. No one had finished the potion to perfection and he was slightly surprised at several of the pairing who did not finish, such as Draco and Hermione. He stood up, a couple minutes before the bell, "Class," he called their attention with ease, "Since you imbeciles could not finish a first year potion," he exaggerated, "You are to write an essay about this potion with your partner, one foot minimum," he growled and many of the students groaned at the work, "I don't want to hear it!" he snapped at them, "You are to clean up your area before the bell rings and then you may leave," and with that he returned back to his desk, grading first year papers that made him want to set fire to them.

Hermione turned to Draco, her face blank and poker face like, "Meet up in the library after supper?" she asked carefully.

"No," Draco shook his head, his voice calm and not filled with venom, "I have... ummm... something... I need to do," he stumbled.

Hermione smirked, slightly scaring Draco at the Slytherin grin on her face, "One of your girls I assume."

Draco growled, his eyes flaring with anger, "You do not know what you speak of," his knuckles grew white around the table top, "Why can't you just mind your own business, Mudblood?" He yelled at her, grabbing his things, and marching out of the Potion's class. Snape didn't even bother looking up, but everyone in the classroom turned to watch him go before looking at her.

Hermione sighed, her eyes watering slightly, and she looked down at her workspace, now almost clean. She thought that maybe they could have been kind to each other, but clearly Draco was still the same child she met. Someone came up to her and she looked up, her dull brown eyes meeting her best boy-friends green eyes. Harry Potter looked at her worried. She simply shook her head and he understood. He nodded and walked back to Ron Weasley who looked back and forth between the two worried. She shook her head at him and he turned around. She loved how they could simply communicate without speaking and understand each other. They were true friends and she was happy to have them by her side.

But Draco, Draco Lucius Malfoy, he was a mystery. She glanced up at the door he had stormed out of. There was something about him. Ever since she heard him sing last night, she was hypnotized by him. She looked at him with a new light now, one that she hadn't before. She could see his face clearly now, and his dark edges made sense now. She didn't even know him, but she felt like she did, like she had for millions of years.