She stumbled into the water, splashing frantically as she ran further and further from shore. The water rose higher over her knees, then her hips before she dove in, her hair streaming behind her. She choked in that first breath of water, closing her eyes as her body attempted to reject it, forcing herself not to cough the water back out.

The transition was always the hardest. Her body still didn't understand the delicate line between water and air, forcing itself to adjust every time.

She relaxed now, floating languidly, deeper and deeper, watching the water change from the tranquil turquoise, to the deeper blue, inky and soft. Her body understood its place now, and she took slow, deep breaths of the cool water, feeling it rushing into her lungs, filling them with the indescribable feeling of being home, of familiarity. A rush of bubble engulfed her as her legs slowly started to disappear, her two feet becoming the long delicate tail of her true form. With a flick of her tail, she propelled through the water, feeling the currents part for her. Her long dark hair flowed behind her, and her tail glowed with ever shifting tones of blues and greens as she dove through the water.

Hermione swam through the darkness, feeling the familiar inky water caress her body and welcome her back. The glow fish swam around her, lighting up the darkness.

She swam towards home, her tail propelling her forward, cutting through the silky waters. It was hard to imagine a time when it hadn't come this easily.

When she was Mer, it was all that she was. She wasn't Hermione Granger; one third of the Golden Trio, or a research assistant. She was just, her. And that was so freeing in a way that she had never felt before.

She always wondered, if one day, what if she just never came back up?