The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

P8. Our Magic is Who We Are

If anyone makes covers and would like to make a different cover for this story, let me know because I don't quite love the one I've got going on right now. DM me if you would like to help out!

Aki, Dioleh, and Imani went down to breakfast together and headed over to the Slytherin table. As she sat down, Dioleh spotted Andre at the Ravenclaw table. Standing again, Dioleh said, "I'm going to go let Andre know we're meeting up later." Moving between tables, she stopped by the Ravenclaw table, sitting across from Andre and grabbing a bagel from a plate in the middle.

"Hey," Andre said, glancing down the table nervously.

"What's wrong?" Dioleh asked. When he didn't answer, she laughed, remarking, "It's not like we can't act like we're friends. We have classes together."

"Right," he said, letting out a relieved smile.

"So, listen, Imani, Aki, and I were thinking the four of us should meet up later and just get to know each other a bit, you know?" Dioleh explained, buttering the warm bagel as she talked. "Maybe by the lake and we can get some work done while we chat, yeah?"

"Sure," he replied, giving a shy smile.

"Cool," she said, taking a bite of her bagel before adding, "Meet up in an hour?" He nodded and she went back to her table. "He's down," she said, continuing to finish her breakfast.

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Andre was already sitting under a large tree waiting for them when they arrived, carefully working on an essay for potions. "Hey," Aki said, sitting down next to him. Looking up, he smiled and greeted them as they all sat down.

Setting aside his book, Andre asked, "So, why did you really want to meet? I get the feeling it isn't just because you all want to be best mates."

"Well, I think it would be good if we're close, but yes there was another reason," Dioleh admitted. They each looked at her with curiosity. "I was thinking, we need to figure out a way to protect our people from being slaughtered. If we can't, our people will become extinct."

"How?" Andre retorted heatedly. "The rumour of our enchanting voices doesn't protect us anymore. Other merpeople are using that rumour to frame us for their misdeeds and their grab for power. What can we do to change any of that?"

"We can figure it out," Imani said, coming to Dioleh's defence. "We have seven years here. We have time."

"Our people are being killed daily," Andre said, lowering his voice as some students passed by. "What do you really think we can do? We've barely learned to control our powers. There are much more seasoned sirens that don't know how to stop this, what makes you think we can?"

"Because we're gaining a new perspective while we're here," Dioleh explained, also talking quietly. "If we can understand how they think, we can learn to stop them and protect our people so that what happened to my family won't happen to anyone else."

"That's what happened to your mum, wasn't it?" Imani asked.

Drawing in a deep, painful breath, Dioleh said, "She died because she had the audacity to sing above the surface." Andre flinched, his eyes downcast while Imani and Aki looked at her with pity. "Stop," Dioleh snapped, glaring at the pitying glares. "I don't need or want your pity. It was a long time ago. But don't you see what's been happening? The moment they got the upper hand, they couldn't let us have peace. We have to be able to do something."

"Dioleh, if we do anything, we could get ourselves, Ebony, and Julio killed," Aki said gently. "Nothing we do is worth it if more sirens die."

"I just hate feeling powerless," Dioleh said.

"I don't think anyone likes that feeling," Imani said. The group fell into silence. "Look, we need to stick together as Julio and Ebony said. We need to have each other's backs, no matter what. So, let's make a pact. No matter what, we need to stick together, like one tribe."

"We also can't forget who we are," Dioleh said. "Maybe we should start practising magic again. Our real magic."

"You heard Ebony and Julio, it's too dangerous," Andre hissed.

"Dioleh, it's not that big of a sacrifice," Aki said. "We can still use our powers in the lake."

"Not really," Dioleh countered. "We can't do big magic."

"And you want us to?" Andre shouted.

"Shh, no," Dioleh hissed, looking around to see if anyone was around. Thankfully, everyone near them was still too far to hear them. "I just mean we can still practice our magic in the lake out of sight."

"You have no idea how-" Andre began heatedly.

"How?" Imani asked, cutting off Andre's angry retort.

"Down in the deepest parts of the lake," Dioleh explained, lowering her voice even though there was no one nearby. "If we lose our magic, we lose who we are. We aren't wizards or witches." Lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, "We're sirens. Our magic is who we are. We aren't able to control water and storms for no reason. If we lose our traditions, what is the point of even being sirens?"

"I don't know, maybe surviving," Andre snapped.

"Surviving isn't worth it if we're not living," Dioleh said. "Come on, if you're with me, meet me at eleven next Friday out in the lake." Leaving the others, Dioleh headed inside the castle to wait.