Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Alex Johnson, the main character in this story, is an OC of my own creation — besides the name, which came from a prompt (see below). All rights go to respective owners.

Siren's Call: She Stole the Sea

She was practicing her dance — feeling the energy flowing around her, and through her. Far below her, she listened to the sea crash against the white cliffs, before being pulled back out toward the horizon. If she let herself go, she could feel herself ride the wind to meet the crest of the waves; her spirit flitting in and around the spray of the sparkling ocean.

Alex stopped her movements and opened her eyes. The sun was inching closer to the horizon, and she knew it was about time to head home. She needed the daylight to traverse the trail back to the village.

But she longed to stay, even for just a moment longer. Everyday was the same; everyday, she felt her heart — her soul — be pulled closer to … something. It was always just beyond her reach. If only she could just…

"Whatever," she muttered. Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she picked up her water bottle and started down the path.

She took ten steps, and then all hell broke loose.

A sharp crack of displaced air behind her had her ducking to the ground for cover. It had sounded like a gunshot. She looked behind her to see a middle-aged man — bleeding heavily from multiple wounds on his face and torso — holding onto a young man about her age, and what appeared to be a large Gremlin.

What the hell!

More cracks of displaced air; more men appeared. These men, however, were dressed in all black and were advancing on the wounded group menacingly. None of them had noticed her.

"Give up, blood filth!" one man in black shouted. The men behind him hissed at the injured man.

Alex watched in terror, her pulse racing wildly, as the group was quickly surrounded. She should run. She knew she should run. If any of them saw her, she would be caught.

"Go to hell, Selwyn!" the bleeding man spat. He raised a stick of wood and shouted something. Sickly orange light flashed like lightening. The other man shouted something in a panicked response. Alex watched as the orange lightening hit some sort of force field; it quickly fizzled and dissipated.

Oh my god, is this … magic? Alex's thoughts continued to race, quickly leaping to multiple conclusions. The sticks were wands; the light was magic; Gremlins were real; the men in black were evil.

And she was so very, very screwed.

The man in black — Selwyn — shouted something else in a commanding tone; she wasn't sure what, as her mind was playing catch up. His compatriots raised their wands. The injured man and his friends never stood a chance. The rapidly encroaching dusk lit up with with brightly colored spells.

The fight was over before it could begin.

"Ted!" the young man screamed. "Ted!" The older man lay unmoving on the ground.

"Let's go, Mudblood," one of the lackeys snarled. Alex noted that the man held multiple wands. "We've got places to go … people to see. Incarcerous."

The men laughed, as the young man was wrapped in rope that appeared out of nowhere. They pushed him forward. He stumbled and caught himself. But as he straightened, he caught her eye and sharply inhaled. Selwyn stopped laughing and followed the young man's gaze.

She was so dead.

"What's this?" he said, raising a wand. "A Muggle to play with?"

"Run! Please run! Just run!"

The young man was shouting desperately and fighting against his bonds. One of the men snarled another spell, which quieted him instantly. But that didn't stop him from trying to scream. She saw the words form on his lips.

No!

Please.

Run!

Just run, run, run, run!

She should leave. But she made a mistake; she hesitated. The young man's gaze, despite his worry, was blazing with courage. He could take care of himself — that's what he was trying to tell her. But she also remembered her father's words.

"Stand up for what is right, no matter the personal cost."

"My name is Alex Johnson," she said, looking at the young man. His eyes widened slightly in shock, and she turned her now stormy gaze toward the man in black. "And I'm not afraid of you. Let him and the Gremlin go!"

"Wrong answer," Selwyn said, sneering at her. "Incarceous!"

Ropes appeared out of thin air and bound her body tightly. She fell forward and felt her nose smash into the ground. Blood gushed out and she cried out in pain.

"Silencio!" the man in black growled. She twisted her body and looked up in time to see Selwyn and his lackeys all clutch their left forearms. Weird.

"Seems like we're out of time," Selwyn said quietly, which somehow sounded even more menacing. "Someone dispose of the filth."

A voice shouted something and she was abruptly hoisted into the air by her ankles. She spun slowly in the air and realized that no one was touching her; it was magic, again. The young man began to struggle and she quickly found herself hovering off the cliff.

The sea roared beneath her — or was that the blood pounding in her ears? — and a light blub turned on in her head. They were going to drop her. She swung her body toward the cliff, but her feet were held in place; three meters away from the cliff edge and over 60 meters above the water.

She was going to die.

Her heart pounding, she tried to scream, but no sound came out. The young man was watching her, tears running down his cheeks.

I'm sorry.

The last words spoken to her, and she couldn't even hear them. Then without warning, Selwyn grabbed the young man by the shoulder and disappeared. The rest of the men in black vanished a second later—

The bindings evaporated and she fell to the sea.

Wind roared in her ears. She felt herself cry. A scream echoed on the cliff walls — hers? The ocean raced closer and closer, until is was all she saw.

She hit the water.

Alex felt herself sink into the abyss. After a few seconds, she suddenly recognized three things all at once. One, that fall should have killed her. Instead, it felt like she toppled into a pile of pillows. Two, the water wasn't cold. This time of year, and especially at this hour, the water should have been frigid. But it was as if she was swimming in the Caribbean; it was warm and welcoming.

The third thing she realized that she should be dead. She shouldn't be able to think at all!

Oh, and there was a face in the water staring at her.

Trying to backpedal, she felt the water ripple beneath her hands, and Alex shot to the surface. Sputtering, she fought against the crashing waves — doing her best to not get sucked under the surface.

A hand clenched around her forearm and she let out a scream. But the water abruptly calmed and Alex found herself in the center of a three-meter radius of still water; the sea continued to crashed around it. The head of the being holding Alex broke the surface next to her.

"Wh-What the hell is g-going on!" she sputtered, as she stared into the eyes of a beautiful woman.

At least, she thought the being was a human. There were, however, subtle differences about her that made her otherworldly. The woman's eyes were an array of shifting colors — sea green, aquamarine, then the color of coral — and were slightly bigger than they should have been, if she were human. Her hair was braided with shells and kelp.

And there was the not-so-subtle difference of the tail Alex felt fluttering beneath the surface of the water.

"Daughter of the Sea and Magic," the mermaid said, nodding in greeting, "you are in danger."

Her voice was absolutely mesmerizing. Alex imagined soft waves rushing over seashells on a sunny beach. She found herself relaxing as the mermaid spoke.

"I did just fall off of a cliff," she replied dryly. "That could be considered dangerous."

The mermaid just tilted her head quizzically.

"You do not know?" she asked. "You do not know your heritage?"

Alex suddenly felt cold and grew slightly defensive. The answer was that she didn't know her family history. Her father never spoke about her mother, and rarely mentioned his childhood. But a mermaid — a freaking mermaid! — was talking to her, and she felt like the question being asked ran much deeper.

"What heritage?" she demanded anxiously.

"Hide, Daughter of the Sea," the mermaid practically begged, "and ask your father about why he never speaks of magic."

"What heritage," Alex pressed. "And how do I get home? I can't climb the cliffs!"

"You hold the heart of the sea inside you," the mermaid whispered, "and the connection to the ancient magic. You simply must wish yourself there. And save the young man, if you can."

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Alex shouted. The mermaid slipped beneath the surface of the water. The stillness vanished and the waves once again crashed against the cliff side — and Alex, too.

Pulled beneath the surface, she began to struggle and her wet clothes only pulled her further down. Her lungs were burning; she needed air. But the surface was so far away…

"You simply must wish yourself there."

The mermaid's words gently floated into her mind, and Alex closed her eyes.

There's no place like home, she thought, a touch sarcastically. There's no place like home. There's no place like—

Crack!

Alex opened her eyes and found herself on her back, looking at the darkening sky. She was back on land! Turning herself over, she coughed and took a deep breath. Pushing her wet hair back, she took a look around.

She was back on the cliff where the entire mess started. Suddenly, she felt the urge to run home — to leave the dark cliff behind her. But far beneath her, Alex felt the sea hum, and she thought of the young man. He had tried to save her.

And the mermaid had said she should try to save him.

She had also said Alex was in danger. But from whom?

Alex scowled. Apparently there was more to her life — and her feelings and connection to the sea — than she realized. And her father knew about it. Or at least, he knew some of it.

And he had never said anything!

Ted's body was still on the ground. She wanted to do something for him, but couldn't. There wasn't enough time to bury him, and she didn't have the tools.

But you have magic, a voice in her mind whispered.

She still didn't know what to do. If she waited any longer, the young man might die, too. She needed to get home. Her father was waiting for her. Gremlins were real! The young man was in danger.

There were so many thoughts running through her head. She took deep breaths and tried to quiet them. It took a few minutes, but she eventually came to a conclusion.

"I didn't know you, Ted," she whispered. "I'm sorry you died. But I think I can save your friend. Maybe. I don't know, actually, but I'm going to try."

Feeling incredibly inadequate, she closed her eyes and wished.

In a crack of displaced air, she vanished.

Prompt (Prompt of the Day — The Golden Snitch): (OC) Alex Johnson

Word count (not including title and author's notes): 1897