A.N: Written for the Quidditch Leagues Round 12 with the Seeker prompt "The Little Mermaid.
Narcissa hated being the youngest sister. She was always babied by her parents, and felt like she was second best to Bellatrix and Andromeda.
She hated it when Bella and Andromeda went to Hogwarts, left her at the family manor, watching the calendar for the days to tick by. She hated that her sisters developed quicker than her – when they came back from Hogwarts for the holidays, they were womanly and curvy; Bellatrix in the bottom and Andromeda in the bosom. Narcissa was stick thin and awkward, her chest flat as a pancake. But most of all, she hated that she wasn't allowed to swim in the depths of the lake in their country home until she was fifteen.
When Narcissa finally turned fifteen, she awoke at six in the morning, and didn't wait for her sisters to wake up. She dressed quietly in her bathing suit, which was powder blue, and headed outside. It was cold; the sky was white and gleaming with the recent sunrise, and the grass beneath her feet was crisp and damp. The air smelt fresh, and she inhaled deeply.
Narcissa wanted to savour this moment; she had been waiting for it for so long. She trod into the soft, muddy bank first, letting the water slosh around. She walked further and further into the water, until it was at her waist. She had a pile of Gillyweed in her hand, and she took a deep breath and shoved the horrible, slimy substance into her mouth, gulping it down quickly, and then plunged her head under the icy water.
It was beautiful. The light seemed to land differently here, and everything was a shade of green or blue. Fish fluttered past her, and there wreaths of flowers growing on the mossy underwater rocks. She smiled, plucking a particularly red flower out and adorning her blonde hair with it.
On and on she swam, until she began to see spires that looked like they should belong to a village. She ducked behind a rock to get a better look.
It was a small, underwater community. There were little huts and larger ones, and a great rock in the middle of the village, and it looked as though there were carvings across its breadth. All below her were merpeople. They had green-tinged skin in different shades, their toned, slender bodies ending in a long, scaly fishtail. They had strings of teeth and seashells around their necks and adorning their heads, and some were carrying long, sharp spears.
One particular merman caught Narcissa's interest. He was young, about her age, with a smirking facial expression, and long dark hair that hung in his eyes. His shoulders were broad and muscled. He didn't carry a spear or wear shells around his neck, but the older man who was swimming alongside him did. He was the biggest of all the mermen, with the longest tail and the thickest hair and the most shells and teeth on his necklace. Narcissa figured that he must be the chief.
She sat there for what seemed like hours. It was so unusual; an entire village was living right here, below her holiday home. She wondered what it would be like to live alongside them, to not have to worry about the pressures of school, floating around in the blissful, cool shade of the lake. Narcissa hung there for so long, time ticking away without her attention. She didn't notice when the webs in her fingers and toes began to fade, and only panicked when her gills vanished.
Narcissa gasped involuntarily, her lungs flooding with water. She was choking, and she kicked her legs rapidly, trying to swim to the surface. But she was so far under. She looked up at the sun, which was wobbling through the water, and wondered about how fresh that sun was – it was still early, and already she was going to die. She stretched her hands out in front of her, gleaming white and wrinkling, and slowly, she blacked out.
In her long, endless dream, she was floating out of the darkness and into the light, with a pair of strong, secure arms around her. Water was beating in her ears, but then the wind was cold, and she was sucking in gulps of oxygen. She opened her eyes, momentarily dazzled by the sunlight, and was mesmerised by a pair of glittering blue eyes. She blinked, and they were gone. The last thing she saw before falling asleep on the sandy bank was the splash of a fishtail vanishing under the lake.
It was Walburga and Orion who took their three nieces to the country holiday home during the summer, with Sirius and Regulus. Nothing had ever gone wrong, up until now.
Orion discovered Narcissa asleep, with her face in the sand. He carried the unconscious girl back to the house.
Walburga had wrung her hands in distress. It was her who would pay if Narcissa had lost her life. From that moment on, she banned her niece from returning to the lake.
Barely just fifteen and she had a lifelong ban.
When Narcissa awoke and was told the news, she fell into a deep depression. Bellatrix and Andromeda were desperate to know what had happened – she was gone in the lake all morning, and then she turned up unconscious. They bugged her and bugged her, but Narcissa wouldn't tell. She sat in her bedroom chair every summer night, watching the lake for every ripple and shudder. When she slept, she dreamt of the bright-eyed merman with the long hair. Those eyes accompanied her for her whole slumber, and his singing voice longed for her to return. She remembered the floating freedom she had felt while she was under the water; like she was weightless and made of liquid. On land, she felt heavy and clumsy. Under the water, she was strong and adept, but on land, she was the littlest sister, who was always going to be patronised. In the lake, that merman had rescued her and dragged her back to the surface of the lake. In the wizarding world, Narcissa doubted that there were men who would pay her any attention, let alone save her life.
Finally, when she could hold in her anguish no longer, she spoke to her cousin. He was clever and quiet, and spent most of his time flying his broomstick or staying shut up in his room. She was sure he could keep a secret. She found Regulus in the grounds by the oak tree that looked over the lake. He was swaying on the swing, his dark eyes focused ahead. Narcissa sat beside him heavily, and sighed. Within minutes, she was exchanging the whole story of her failed visit to the lake, and describing the adoration she was feeling for the mysterious merman. She thanked Regulus inwardly that he didn't scoff at her childishness.
"What is their life like, Regulus?" she asked her cousin. "Do they live like we do?"
"Merfolk live for approximately three hundred years, and the Chief is usually the oldest and wisest. His son would be next in line to take over him. They don't have currency. Everything is paid for in pride. The strongest and fastest live in the best huts and have the most luxuriant huts, and the weakest have to suffice with less."
"It's so…old fashioned," muttered Narcissa in response. She spoke about the shells and beards.
"Usually they were more shells when they are more important." That explained the huge wreath of shells and teeth around the Chiefs neck. Narcissa sighed, leaning against Regulus and looking at the rippling surface of the lake. How much she longed to sink her head back under that water and join back with the world that she had instantly fallen in love with. Regulus was watching her intently, as her icy blue gaze washed longingly over the lake. "Cissy, do you actually want to be a mermaid?"
Narcissa flushed. "That's ridiculous," she whispered, but she couldn't deny that the thought had come to her in her deepest, darkest dreams. Sometimes she woke up and rubbed her legs to check if she hadn't developed scales and fins overnight. Regulus continued to stare at her, and she knew that he didn't believe her.
"Come on," he told her, standing up off the swing. "You need to stop mourning about the lake. We're having a party tonight, as it's nearly the end of summer. Let's go inside and get ready." Regulus held out his hand.
Narcissa took his hand and allowed him to lead her back inside the manor.
The party wasn't really a party. It was more of a typical lavish Black affair, where all the closest relatives came and sipped Daisyroot out of champagne flutes and sat with their legs folded elegantly on the velvet seats. A golden harp was bewitched to play tinkling music softly, so that voices could still be heard, and waitresses dressed in smart white shirts and robes floated around the crowd, holding trays of oysters and shrimps and pumpkin bites, all of which kept replenishing magically.
Narcissa wasn't in the mood to socialise, and she sloped off upstairs.
She reached the balcony, and found Regulus was leaning against the bannister, looking out into the night. He stepped back and smiled at Narcissa. "You look lovely," he said, fingering the lacy sleeve of her robes. She was dressed in a powder blue affair, with long, lace sleeves, and a matching lace train. Narcissa smiled back, albeit weakly, and thanked her cousin. She commenced to look out at her precious lake again, which glimmered under the moonlight.
After Narcissa gave a shudder from the cold, Regulus shrugged off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. She thanked him again, and then looked at her cousin with tears in her eyes. "Regulus, I so desperately want to go back…" she whispered.
"I know," Regulus replied. "And I think I could help you."
Under the moonlight, Narcissa was sitting by the lake, her legs and robes dangling into the cold water. Due to the party upstairs, no one had noticed that the pair had slipped away. "This is an old potion, and I have to say something while you drink it. It will make your legs disappear and a fish tail grow in place of it. You can only live with the tail if you can bear the pain." Regulus told her.
"The pain?" Narcissa looked at her cousin, the colour draining from her face.
"Your legs will fuse together to create the tail. It will feel like your thighs are being slit right open every time you swim. Can you bear it?"
Narcissa thought of the open lake, and the beautiful merman with his bright eyes, and she nodded.
"But you won't be a true mermaid until you can win the love of a merperson. Until that happens, you won't be able to speak. If the merman you want doesn't love you by sunrise the day after tomorrow, then your legs will grow back and you'll never be able to return to the merfolk again. If he does love you, you can stay as a mermaid for ever, and your voice will return."
"It's like a bad fairytale," murmured Narcissa, as she took the jar from Regulus. It was a clear blue liquid, with green glittery shimmers running through it. She inhaled deeply, and was sure she could smell the ocean within it. "Bottoms up." In one long breath, she gulped down the potion.
Regulus hadn't been lying. Narcissa let out a screech of pain as her legs sprung together. Her kneecaps felt like they were breaking into a thousand pieces, and her shins seemed to be stretching out. A huge, imaginary needle was threading through the flesh of her inner thighs, stitching them together. Narcissa didn't dare look under the skirts of her robes to see what her legs looked like; and with one last gasp of pain, she fainted, landing with a heavy splash in the water.
Slowly, she sank and sank, deep down to the bottom of the lake.
When Narcissa opened her eyes, she was underwater. She found that she could breathe easily, as if it were oxygen flowing into her lungs, and when she looked around her, her vision was clearer. She held her fingers up to her face, and realised that she was still wearing her lace robes.
She was laying on a flat rock; the rock that was in the centre of mervillage. When she sat up, her blonde hair fanned around her.
The green-faced, scaly merfolk were surrounding her. Most of them were wearing ugly, intimidating expressions; their narrow green eyes seeming to reject Narcissa. But some, namely the bare-faced, long-haired prince of her dreams, his face was a picture of shock.
He was the first to swim over to Narcissa, his strong tail beating the water around him. When he spoke, Narcissa found he was speaking in English, and his words sounded normal, as if she were listening to him above the water. But she couldn't reply; when she opened her mouth only a stream of bubbles flew out. She looked at him sadly, her eyes expressive. Thankfully, he seemed to understand.
When his friends and relatives edged closer, their teeth bared and raising their spears, he threw out his arms in front of her protectively. He took Narcissa's hand and led her to the biggest hut, which seemed more castle-like than all the others. He swam up to one room inside it, and told Narcissa she could stay in his room with him. He said his name was Hydra, and explained that the others were fearful of Narcissa's unusual looks. Her skin was still white like the humans above, and her hair the colour of sunlight. Most of the merpeople hadn't seen the sun properly as they didn't venture above the surface very often, so everything down here was the murky green colour of the rest of the lake. Hydra gestured to his own green-coloured skin when he said this.
Narcissa didn't care what colour he was; she still thought he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her life. She only wished she could tell him.
For the next few days, Hydra showed Narcissa everything in the lake and beyond. She swam alongside him to the deepest, darkest areas of the lake, and followed him out to a lone, white-sandy beach, where they lay on the hot sand together, and he told her about all of his sisters. Hydra was the youngest of his kin, and always felt patronised and left out. Narcissa wished she could tell him she knew how he felt, but he seemed to gather anyway. He told Narcissa he had seen Andromeda and Bellatrix come to the lake, but none of them were like her.
For days she saw something new in the lake that she could never dream of, and then slept in a hammock in his bedroom. Once, she was sure she could hear someone shouting her name, and she rose in a silent, melancholy fashion to the top of the water. She saw Bellatrix and Andromeda sitting together on the wooden swing, and Regulus was crouched by the water edge. They held out their hands to Narcissa, but they all looked sad. In that moment, Narcissa missed her family so much, but she had made her choice.
She loved Hydra more and more each day, but he never seemed to show more affection to her than she wanted. He protected her and kept her by his side, and for it the other merfolk were generally kinder to her, now. But she felt as though he treat her like a dumb child, and his affections seemed more brotherly than in the way she wished. Every night before she fell asleep, and she looked over at his sleeping form, she wished that she could wake up and he would tell her he loved her.
Finally the day came when the Chief said that Hydra needed to marry. The Chief was getting old, and wanted to retire from running the merpeople in the lake, and only Hydra could follow in his footsteps, but he wanted to ensure he was married first of all. Hydra was placed in the Chiefs throne in the castle, and Narcissa hung by his side. Nearly every mermaid in the village approached Hydra, and they all spoke in mermish. Narcissa assumed they had been made beautiful by their mothers; their long, lanky tendrils of hair had been knotted above their heads, and wreaths of water flowers had been sewn into their hair. They bowed deeply, stuck out their bare chests and flicked their long tails like angry cats. Hydra seemed uninterested in all the mermaids; apart from the final one.
She was young, and her tail was shorter than the rest. She wore a single red flower in her hair and a string of teeth around her throat. Hydra took her hand as if entranced, and they swum off together.
Narcissa was left alone in her hammock for quite a while, and when Hydra finally returned, he told her he was going to marry the mermaid. When Narcissa's eyes seemed to fill with anguish, he came over to her and kissed her forehead. "I wish it could be you, but my father wouldn't allow me to wed someone who came from the land," he told her gently.
The mermish wedding was to happen almost immediately. Narcissa watched from the window of her room mournfully, as Hydra and his bride arrived at the same rock where she had landed, wearing belts of seaweed and flowers in their hair and around their neck. The whole ceremony was performed in mermish, so Narcissa couldn't understand a word of it, but she figured when the deed had been done, even though it was nothing like a human wedding.
Hydra leaned forward, and kissed his bride passionately, and their tails entwined.
It was like a knife went through her heart, and then her tail. Yes, it was like her beautiful, scaly fishtail was splitting right down the middle. She was voiceless, so she couldn't cry out in pain, but she felt tears coming to her eyes and dissolving into the water around her. Suddenly, the voices from the wedding seemed to be more babbled and gurgled; they hadn't sounded like she was underwater before, but now they did. She looked down at her tail, and noticed that her long, slender white legs had grown back.
Narcissa gasped, and water poured into her mouth. She could no longer breathe underwater. She kicked her legs viciously, heading for the surface.
When her head broke through the water, she inhaled air gratefully, feeling oxygen flooding her lungs. She paddled over to the edge, and climbed out onto the bank, feeling quite breathless.
Suddenly, Bellatrix, Andromeda and Regulus were flying down the hill from the manor. Regulus wrapped her in his jacket, and Bellatrix immediately flew into a rage. "What were you thinking? Why would you do something so ridiculous? You're a witch, you stupid girl! Oh my lord, we can't tell Aunt Walburga where you really were…"
Narcissa found her voice was back now that she was on land again, and she allowed her siblings to half-carry her back to the manor. She looked back at the lake, realising that she would never be allowed to venture into the merfolks depths ever again.
But sometimes, when she visited the manor in future, she would sit on the swing, and Hydra's shiny dark head would break through the surface of the water, and he would wave to her, like a long forgotten dream.