The Yule Ball ( A Drarry Story )

Thirteen

He wandered further into the kingdom of ruins. Then he stopped. "Draco?!"

If he could have stumbled backwards he would have. But stumbling backwards kind of requires the use of feet, and Harry currently had sort-of-flippers. He gaped at the sight in front of him like a fish out of water. Granted, a very human-like fish. In front of him, was a sight that instilled fear in him, down to his very core.

Large towers of rock rose up out of the ruins, twisting up high and disappearing into the black abyss above them. They loomed ominously over the landscape below them, their immediate surroundings strangely devoid of the ruins that scattered the remaining area. Guarding the bottom of the spires were what Harry was expecting. Merpeople. They held sharp elongated spears and tridents in their webbed hands, floating around the bottom of the rock towers silently, just watching him. But that's not what terrified him, not what had his very bones trembling in blinding fear.

Tied to the spires of rock with thick twists of rope were Draco, Hermione, Cho and a young silvery haired girl Harry could only assume was Fleur's sister. They floated in the invisible current, eyes closed in a deep, dreamless sleep. It hit him like the Whomping Willow. These were the things they had to find. These were the things taken from them. The people they loved. And when the hour was up....Harry's eyes widened. Oh Merlin. What would happen when the hour was up?! He stared in horror at their floating bodies. They couldn't die. Dumbledore would never let it happen. He couldn't.

Harry sped forward, searching desperately for something to cut the ropes with. Looking around wildly, he noted the sharp spear being held by the nearest merman? Merperson? That was really not the problem here! He swam towards the blank faced guard. "Please, I need your spear." He tried to say, but only bubbles came out. He groaned in frustration and gestured frantically towards the spear. The merperson shook its head in resolute refusal. Harry grunted angrily. Seriously?! Someone's life hung in the balance and they were refusing to help? AGH. He shook his head and swam towards the bottom of the towers. There had to be a sharp rock or something, right? He spotted a jagged rock and swooped down to grasp it, the sharp edges digging into his palms, causing him to wince.

He grasped the heavy rope wrapped around Draco's ankle and began to saw at it, which is not exactly easy to do when you have webbed hands. The rope began to fray, beginning to untwist itself. Hope bloomed in Harry's chest as he rubbed the rock frantically against the rope. Suddenly it snapped, and unravelled from around Draco's ankle, drifting to the lake bed. Draco's limp body began to float upwards. With a gasp Harry caught hold of his foot, dragging him down and taking a firmer hold of his arm. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes for a second. He did it. His burning green eyes snapped open in determination. Now he just needed to get back. But wait, he was surely close to the end of the hour. Where were the other champions?

Harry hesitated, still keeping a firm hold on Draco's arm. His gaze roamed over the three others tied to the pillars. He couldn't just leave them there. What if the champions got caught up in other monsters, like he did with the Grindylows? He glanced between Draco and the others, indecisive, biting his lip, until he groaned and stayed floating there. He couldn't just leave them, he had to stay and make sure they were ok. Just until the champions came. Suddenly, something moved behind him and Harry spun around, wand at the ready, only to see Cedric swimming towards him. A sort of bubble encased his head. This must have been what Draco was talking about, Harry thought idly.

Cedric swum past him, making eye contact with Harry before moving to Cho. Grabbing a hold of the rope, he snapped open a pocket knife, the shiny silver blade, glinting in the murky light. Harry sighed. "I really should have thought about that." He muttered. The words came out in a bubble. He scowled at said bubble. Cedric cut the rope holding Cho and began to swim off. He looked back at Harry curiously and tapped his wrist. Time's running out. Harry nodded. Cedric nodded with a frown and kicked off, bringing Cho with him. One champion down. Now Fleur and Krum needed to get here. Like, now.

Mere moments later, Krum arrived. Or. Rather. Krum with a shark head. Harry stared at him weirdly for a moment. Shark head? Interesting. Shark Krum swam to Hermione, giant teeth snapping at the rope. Hermione swayed, coming dangerously close to losing a leg. "Woah! Hold on!" Harry yelled frantically. Krum didn't hear him, but noticed the bubbles and made eye contact with a really freaked out Harry. That shark head was just really freaky. Harry gestured with the rock he still held in his hand and held it out for Krum to take. Once Hermione was free, the Bulgarian champion sped off in a hurry to leave, not sparing a single glance backwards at Harry. The Gryffindor felt slightly affronted, he will not lie. He sniffed. Now Fleur just needed to arrive and then he could at least swing third place. He'd almost forgotten that this was a competition, what with the whole threat of death thing.

He waited for a few minutes before the worry set in. He was probably nearing the end of the hour, fast, and Fleur still wasn't here. He gnawed at his bottom lip, worry beginning to set in. When she didn't arrive five minutes later he decided to move. He couldn't risk the life of what he assumed to be her sister. Picking up the rock that Krum had dropped, Harry moved to grab the rope that tethered the young girl to the rock. Suddenly, with a combined shrill shriek all the merpeople moved at once to surround him, pointing their sharp weapons at him threateningly. Oh dear.

Mwahahaha, cliffhanger. Ya know, if I kept all the typos in this, it would make for such a weird chapter. Two examples of why it would be weird. Krum turned to Mr. UK (?!) And shark turned to Sharon. Sharon! How?! Anyway. Hope you enjoyed. And I've just realised that my book is really weird. The first two or three chapters are like 2000 words long. And the rest of them are like, below 1000. Huh? Do you guys want me to break up those first few chapters? It wouldn't change the story, it'd just make it less of a task reading the first few chapters lol. Please comment and vote! I love hearing from y'all. <3