another love; harry potter

twenty-three

\ wherein ariel has her eric /

"ARE YOU READY?" Hermione asked me tentatively as we sat near the lake in the courtyard. I studied the page of her textbook that read the spell to transform me into a mermaid once again. 

"...not really, no."

"Can I be a mer-"

"No, Ron."

"Okay," I said finally, taking a deep breath. "Okay. Vollo esse syreni." there was a pause. 

"Did it work?"

"No," I pursed my lips. "Obviously I wasn't going to get it on the first try- FUCK I- AHH- CAN'T- CAN'T BREATHE- FUCK-"

"Get in the water!" Hermione said, her eyes wide with panic evident in her gaze. I gasped for breath but it felt like Iw as just losing it, and I felt someone shove me forward, and suddenly I was underwater...but I could breathe perfectly. 

I took a minute to calm myself because, what the fuck?, my legs were gone. And in place of them was a shiny, smooth tail. 

My hands were webbed and pale, but from what I could tell, I didn't look nearly as bad as the mermaids that swam in the lake, however I looked as though I could still pass for one.  I gently lifted a hand to my neck and felt for my gills. 

I swam back to the surface and poked my head out of the water. 

"Wow," Ron, Hermione, and Harry breathed simultaneously. 

"Yeah, it's- it's weird," I said, finding that my voice was the same. "How do I look?"

"Pretty," Harry sighed, before shaking his head and saying, "good. Pretty good." I grinned. 

"Thanks, I guess."

"You don't llook like the other ones," Ron frowned as he pointed to an image of a real mermaid, which looked absolutely horrifying. 

"Be grateful," Hermione shook her head. "And, you can swim well, right?"

"Yeah," I paused and went back underwater to take another gulp of air quickly. "Yeah," I said, coming back to surface. 

"Okay...now, to do the countercurse." Hermione began, flipping through the pages, before frowning, panic flashing across her face. 

"What's wrong?" asked Ron and Harry immediately. 

"I can't find it."

"What?" Harry exclaimed, grabbing the book, before frowning. "It's right there!" Hermione, on the other hand, was almost rolling over with laughter. 

"Yeah, okay, Eric," Hermione laughed. 

"Eric?" Ron repeated. Hermione motioned to me and Harry. 

"Ariel, Eric. From the story." Ron blinked. 

"Er...okay. Try the countercurse, Pheobe." he pushed the book towards me. 

"Nolo essi syreni." And almost instantly, my legs were back and I could feel the gills I had disappear. Harry outstretched a hand to pull me out of the water, but I took it, laughing, and pulled him into the water as well. 

"You should've seen that coming," Hermione grinned as Harry shook his head. 

"Honestly, you really should have," I said as Harry squinted at me for a second before grinning and splashing me with water. 

"Oh, yeah? Then you should've seen this coming." and suddenly we were splashing each other with water and laughing, but Ron and Hermione looked entertained watching us, so Harry and i swapped mischievous looks before dragging them both into the water. 

"Hey!" Hermione squealed as I pulled her in. 

"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted, emerging from underwater, all of us absolutely soaking, but, after Hermione and Ron had gotten over the initial shock and temperature, we were all laughing and splashing each other. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

"You haven't WHAT?" Hermione roared. 

"I didn't figure out the egg!" Harry exclaimed, looking kind of like a scared child. 

"YOU SAID-"

"I lied!"

"YOU WHAT-"

"Hey, Pheeb!" said a voice, and I turned in my seat on the couch in the common room to see George holding out a toffee to me with a grin. 

"Want it?" 

"Absolutely not," I said promptly. 

"Good choice," said Neville nearby, who accepted a candy and had his nose become an elephant trunk. 

"Our newest addition- Trunk Toffees!" George said proudly. 

"A bargain- only a Galleon per box!"

"Mum would hate that," said Ron with a small grin. "But it's bloody amazing, how they've been creating so many different cool things," Ron said to me before the two of us looked back to Hermione and Harry, who were arguing like an old married couple. 

"Fine! But don't you dare blame me when you manage to die tomorrow!" Hermione harrumphed. 

"I'm not going to-"

"Pheobe's got it all planned out already! She's had it planned out for a month!"

"Well- maybe not a month-" Hermione snapped her head towards me with a glare so fierce I shut up abruptly as Harry scowled childishly. 

"Well people work at different paces!" Harry exclaimed as I flipped open my textbook. 

"Not when it comes to breathing for an hour underwater!" Hermione stormed up to our dorm haughtily, but the three of us just stayed silent, knowing she was genuinely concerned.