Fragments of the Sea

Auspicious Αγάπη

Draco shivered as his feet entered the icy water of Black Lake. The water at his feet was strangely warm, but that could just be the Hot-Air Charm he'd used earlier. He'd been waiting 15 minutes for that stupid Hufflepuff! Was this just some ploy to humiliate him? Of course the only reason he'd have fallen for that would've been because 'Puffs aren't exactly known for their cunning...or their smarts. But then why was he still here?

Draco growled. Fooled by a Hufflepuff, and on top of that, one whom he'd become(not-so) slightly attached to. Draco prepared his wand to cast a drying spell, but when he opened his mouth, it wasn't his voice that came out.

"Rictusempra!" an otherwise soothing voice called out. 

Draco felt as the spell hit his body and couldn't help breaking out into peels of laughter as the Tickling Charm took affect. He wanted to scowl, to stomp away, to curse and jinx the witch(judging by the pitch of the voice) who had the audacity to tickle him. As the spell died down and Draco steadied himself and thought up lists of awful things to do to the uncivil witch, a head appeared in his view. 

A girl's face was just under the surface of the water, shadows and light waltzing across her regal features. A playful smile spread across her face, showing slight dimples on the girl's cheeks, and accentuating the mischievous light in her perpetually shifting, bright green eyes. Raven hair drifted behind her like ink, melting into the depths of the dark water. Draco gaped. 

"Perci?" he sputtered. The girl, now confirmed to be Perci if the wave were anything to go by, giggled and elegantly spun in the water, before surfacing. Draco guessed that she had cast something similar to the Bubble-Head Charm, because her hair was dry. "Hey, Dragon. Did I get you with the tickle charm?"

"Dragon? I thought it was 'Albino'." Draco immediately regretted his words when Perci smirked. "Would you prefer if I called you that? Besides, 'Dragon' is your actual name. It's what 'Draco' means, right?" She grinned up at him and reached her arms out. Placing her hands right next to him, she easily pulled herself up out of the water, and sat down next to him. Apparently, she also wore muggle clothing to sleep- a flowing, short sleeved white shirt and shorts that almost reached her knees. A blueish-green blob of fabric was wrapped around her waist, and Draco noticed that the leather cord he'd often seen poking out of her robes was dangling around her neck, decorated with beads. 

"Anyway, we're here for a reason, aren't we? You go first." She seemed somewhat...vulnerable, and was, for once, serious. Why...Oh, yes; Draco recalled the events: 

"Well, to be fair, there are also the ones without a home to go back to," Perci told him, ignoring his second statement.

Draco was intrigued. "Which one are you?" He cocked his head to the side a bit. Perci's eyebrows shot up. "Huh?" Draco rephrased his question. "I mean, are you locked out of your home or do you not have one? You said both are here."

⇺⇷ஓΨஓ⇸⇻

Perci had listened to his explanation silently, ocean orbs scanning him, watching for every detail and change in his face and tone. When he finished, they sat in on the shore, basking in the cool, still air. Draco waited for her to speak; he knew that if he pushed her too far, she wouldn't share anything, and he was too curious for his own good. 

Finally, she wet her lips and opened her mouth, eyes sad and avoiding looking in his general direction. "My mom is a pureblood. She chose to live as a muggle, after moving to Manhattan- that's why I can't go home- too far away. I attended school like any other kid, save for the obvious fact that I am a witch." Perci's voice was raw and she swallowed. For the first time since he'd met her, Draco saw that her shoulders were slumped, and she didn't exude her regular easy confidence. It was quite jarring, to say the least.

"My dad...He's a bit more complicated. I'm a sore spot for some of his family, so it's unusual if I visit. He wasn't a wizard at all, and his DNA is...different," she strung her sentences together carefully, as if reluctant to speak about her past. "Among his kind, I am a half-blood; but, because of his unusual...everything, I am also a pureblood witch." 'What?' Draco's brow creased.

"Another thing about him...his side of the family is evasive, manipulative, and quite frankly, insane." Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning flashed, lighting up the dark sky. "Y'know, when first met my dad, I was 12-" Draco interrupted. "12? You were 12 when you first met him?" he asked incredulously. Perci giggled softly, and nodded in confirmation. 

"Yes. Anyway, I was 12, and he told me that...he wished I was never born. He assured me that he said that only because my life would be dangerous, being his child. A great example would be that the very same evening, the Council, consisting of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, along with my father, voted on whether or not to kill me. That happens a lot. I haven't been voted dead yet, so I should count myself lucky for that, but quite often I find myself in a situation where they are trying to decide if I am worth more to them dead or alive.

"But that's just my life at this point." Perci's lips curved up in a pained smile. Draco had subconsciously moved closer throughout the horrifying speech, and he, on instruction from the instinct he rarely listened to, enveloped her hand in his, squeezing it. She looked over, surprised, but relaxed and laid her head on Draco's shoulder. He discovered that he didn't mind; in fact, he was comforted by the closeness. 

"I remember when I was younger, about 5 or 6, and I was outside for recess. All the teachers and kids were already headed inside. I was over by the fence and a tall man came up to me.

"He had on clothes not fit for the season, and when he smiled, his teeth were crooked and yellow. The weirdest thing was that he had one eye. The man reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. He passed it to me from over the fence. 'From your father, to your mum,' he told me. I shoved it into my pocket before any of the teachers could see, and when I looked back up, he was gone. At the time, I knew something was wrong, but it wasn't until years later that I truly found out everything. He was a cyclops, who apparently worked for my father."

"But cyclopes are notorious for their viciousness and barbaric tendencies, they'd never pass up a chance to stomp a young witch!" Draco exclaimed. "Not according to the texts. And besides, how the bloody hell did your father get some working for him anyhow?" Perci laughed, and Draco was suddenly very glad that it was dark out, so that the shadows would hide his face, which turned as red as the Remembrall he stole from Longbottom first year when he realized that he loved the sound of the light, joyful noise.

"Perhaps not all of them are bad, Dragon. I've met quite a few- I'd even consider one of them my brother! But I do understand where you're coming from. However, they make their own choices, you know. Not all of them are vicious monsters, though not all of them aren't, either." She lifted her head and looked up at him, almost nose-to-nose. Draco's face was getting redder than Weasley's hair now, and Perci wasn't helping matters when she beamed up at him, her radiant smile making his heart beat faster. 

"The thing about fate, Draco; even if we can't change the big picture, our choices can alter the details. That's how we rebel against destiny, how we make our mark on the world. Not through war and conquest, or tales of heroics- choices. So the only question: what will you choose to do?" After her enigmatic analysis and divulsion of Draco's soul, she smirked at him, and leaned in closer, accidentally brushing her lips against his cheek and stopping a hairsbreadth from his ear. She dropped her voice to a whisper. 

"By the way, when I told you my mom lived in Manhatten..." He heard her voice falter, and she began speaking with an accent. "Surprise! I'm American." she told him. Draco's lungs released all the air they contained at the close proximity and the Slytherin Prince blinked. When he opened his eyes, she had vanished, gone without a trace. He felt the tingling sensation in his cheek linger for a moment

And the thought-to-be frozen-hearted boy was all alone again.