In the Heart of the Sea

Chapter 1: The Drop Off

Sunlight pierced the water in vivid shafts of glittering gold; it spotlit the loudly colored coral spires surrounding him and made the sand glitter like dust from crushed pearls. Turtle grass and kelp fronds swayed lazily to and fro in the gentle current rushing by outside; it tugged softly on the short strands of his black hair as he rested his head on his arms where he'd folded them atop the sill of the window. Watching numerous brightly colored fish and the occasional bat ray drift passed while going about their daily business. Relishing the glorious sensation of the sun-warmed water brushing against his cheeks.

His gills flared gently as he took a deep breath of morning water and smiled to himself. It would be a good day, he could feel it. He and Ron were going to meet up with Draco on the Abyssal Rim and finally make the otter-faced Git put his pearls where his mouth was. There was no way that the Pufferfish would actually swim out passed the drop off. He was too scared to even put a fin over the edge and neither of them were ever going to let him live it down.

Smirking to himself, the young Mer left his place beside the window of his room and swam down the hallway of the home he shared with his parents to the kitchen. His father had already left to join his two Godfathers, Remus and Sirius, on their patrol rounds-the Siren had been becoming more aggressive lately, so a near constant guard was needed to prevent the predators from swarming the reefs-but his mother was still there preparing breakfast.

"Are you still going out today with Ron and Draco?" she asked him in that overly sweet motherly tone which made it painfully obvious he was about to receive a precautionary scolding.

"Yeah, Mum." He replied, wincing slightly as he took the carved shell plate of sea greens she passed to him. "Thanks."

"That Draco Malfoy is a trouble maker. I want both of you boys to stay away from the drop off; open water is Siren territory and with how aggressive the beasts have become lately your father and I both want you well away from where you could potentially be at risk.

"Yeah, ok Mum." Harry half-grumbled half-sighed around a mouthful of greens and with absolutely no intention of heeding the warning. It'd be him and Ron as well as Draco and-knowing the blonde-Crab and Goyle too; Siren were loners and, even if they were much bigger and extremely territorial by nature, the likelihood that a group of five Mer-even if they were only adolescents barely of courting age-would be attacked were slim to none.

Still, mothers always worried he supposed. It was sort of their secondary occupation.

"We're probably going to go mess around at the Blue Holes. Mid-reef. Heart territory; no Siren for miles."

"Alright. I'll expect you back in time for dinner Harry. Try not to get stuck like the last time you and your friends went out there."

"That wasn't my fault!" Harry protested, turning red up to the fins of his ears. "That was all because of Fred and George and one of their pranks! It's why we aren't taking them with us this time!"

Yes, two years ago he'd been tricked into attempting to squeeze through a hole which was much too small for him and, after subsequently getting stuck, had had to be rescued. Neither of his parents let him forget about that particular embarrassing moment.

"Mum!"

His mother snickered at him from behind her flowing curtain of ruby hair. "I'm sorry darling, sometimes I can't help myself. Your fathers rubbed off on me, I suppose."

Grumbling to himself and still rather red in the face the raven haired Mer swiftly vacated his home before his dear mother could poke fun at him for anything else. Like the incident with the octopus back when he'd still been a small pup that liked to stick his nose where it didn't belong. Literally.