It was a cold, snowy, and gray November night near the Scottish town of Aberdeen, and Melody Albert was tired of waiting. As yet another snowflake fell on her face, she huddled up even tighter in the blanket draped around her, ready to go back to the hotel where she would be safe and warm. The girl thought of the warm fire, the soft sheets, and the cold water waiting for her kilometres away and sighed.

Suddenly, Melody heard a shout come from the building behind her. Curiosity got the best of her, and she slowly stood up from her comfortable position near the carriage to peek inside the pub through a low-lying window.

People stood chatting loudly at tables by a fire inside. Over in the right-hand corner of the room, a few such tables had been cleared away for dancing. A traditional tune played while people sung along, everybody rushing about the place, seeming so happy and carefree and-

Melody looked at the scene with longing, scolding herself for being so idiotic. If only she hadn't mentioned to the landlord that she was only twelve, he wouldn't have kicked her out and she could be enjoying herself inside- with only water of course. The girl's eyes drifted to a young couple dancing near the fire. A man, with black hair and wearing a white shirt with blue cotton pants was swaying with a beautiful woman with flowing red hair in a blue dress. Her parents. They looked wonderful, gazing into each other's eyes with such emotion that even a twelve-year-old girl like Melody herself could see that they were in love. And in that moment, despite her annoyance that her parents were taking such a long time to enjoy themselves, Melody smiled with happiness.

Noticing the landlord, a scrawny man with straggly brown hair, turning in her direction, Melody slipped back down into her old spot beneath the window. The scene she had recently witnessed kept her mind occupied for a good few minutes, but soon even her parent's perfect romance became disinteresting. Watching the white snow fall on the road in front of her, the girl began absentmindedly tracing her finger through the fluff. In a matter of time, she was drawing pictures of flowers, sunshine, and the blue waves that she loved so dearly back home in Melari. Anything really, that took her brain off the cold and depressing scene in front of her.

However, she quickly ran out of things to draw. Frustrated, the girl searched in the depths of her mind to find something. Suddenly she found herself yet again tracing her fingers through the snow. A triangle, with a circle inside of it. And, through the strange symbol she had just drawn, a long, thin line. Staring in confusion at what she had just drawn, Melody racked her brain for where she had seen such a picture, when the peculiar events of a week ago suddenly swarmed her thoughts.

They had been at yet another tiny church in some little Scottish town that her parents had been so found of visiting on their vacation. After trying to act like she was as fascinated as mum and dad were with the numerous stained-glass windows in the building, Melody had resorted to sitting outside the chapel and surveying the streets alone in the cold. There had been nothing very interesting to look at- just a few schoolboys and merchants selling their wares- until he came along.

The old man was strangely odd, not the conforming, high-powered elders that Melody had had to interact with so closely in the palace. He wore a long, gray cloak and was holding a rope around a sickly-looking white goat. His beard was almost as gray and long as his garments. One of the first strange things Melody noticed about him was that the man had seemed to appear out of nowhere, and was now looking around the area near a citizen's house as if he were looking for someone.

But the main thing about him that attracted her was his necklace. A silver chain connected the also silver pendant to complete the piece of jewelry. It was an odd symbol- a triangle with a circle and line inside. In fact, it was the same symbol that Melody had just finished drawing in the snow.

Suddenly, the man's eyes had locked on her's as she stared at him. Embarrassed at scrutinizing a total stranger, the girl made to head back into the church with her parents when she felt a hand on her shoulder and a calm, yet rusty voice say, "Don't leave quite so soon, Melody."

Melody had whipped around in shock. Shock that this man, this oddball, had said her name. Had known her name. As far as she knew, the girl was fairly sure she had never even seen him in her life. However, although she was terribly frightened, her legs seemed to be frozen. She couldn't move. And somewhere deep down, the girl actually wanted to hear what this man had to say.

When realizing that he would get no reply from her, the old man had pulled her off into the corner of the chapel next to one of the stained-glass windows her parents had been admiring earlier. She watched as flecks of sunlight, peeking out from behind the gray clouds in the sky above, beaded down onto the glass creating a luminescent shine. After a minute or so of goggling the sight, Melody turned back to face the man.

He had looked back at her, a strange emotion of sadness and elation etched on his face. Quickly however, the emotion vanished from his face and a careless expression had overtaken his face. He opened his mouth and hunched over Melody, whispering urgently into her ear.

"I don't have much time," the man had said, looking anxiously around him. "They don't want me to tell you, but the road up ahead is not easy and I don't believe you can go at it alone." To Melody's amazement, slipped the necklace he had been wearing off around his neck and handed it over into her hand. Sensing her astonishment, the man smiled and stated, "Keep it close, Miss Albert. It's very important." And, when the young girl had looked up, the strange man was gone.

Still trying to decide if what had just happened was real, Melody had put the necklace carefully into the front pocket of her yellow dress. It was the only thing that convinced her that what she had just seen was not something made up by her imagination.

Her parents had come outside too afterwards, beckoning Melody to come and get in the carriage to go to yet another town, yet another museum, yet another church- yet another boring outing, while she had contemplated the mystery of the old man and his necklace- a necklace that was supposedly very important in the future.

Horrible screams from all around her shook Melody out of the memory. Standing up in fear, she glanced around where she stood. Down the road, horrible masked figures with black capes were slowly coming towards her. She could barely register the chaos of people and fire happening near her. Desperately, she tried to find her parents in the masses, elbowing and shoving people who came in her way. A flash of red and black and the scream of her name near the carriage she had just left gave her the glimpse of what she was hoping to see. Tears swimming in her eyes, she reached to grab the hand her mother held out for her as the buggy had started to head down the street, both the horse and the chauffer completely forgetting their young master in the ruckus.

Trying with all her might to run as fast as she could, Melody slowly found herself slipping further and further away from her mother's outstretched hand and her father's shouts for help to the passersby to rescue their daughter. The word death seemed to come from everybody's tongues around her. She hardly had any time to register the carriage coming up from behind her. But as she felt the buggy knock her off her feet, and the blood seeping down onto the white snow, the only thing she thought about was the pines stretching high into the sky above her, and the mystery of a necklace that would change the future.

Some applause for my first crossover? *crickets* Oh well, it was worth trying.

So, I was just strolling through this amazing website the other day, herping my derp, and I saw the category of Harry Potter/Little Mermaid crossovers. Since those things are like the two loves I have in the world, I was immediately interested and read all of the stories. Though I loved them all, I was a little disappointed that nobody had really written a fanfic with Melody in it. So, I took the liberty of creating that kind of story for my own!

Actually, this fic will include some characters from my other Little Mermaid story, Learning to Stand, but just a little bit later in the future. Everything that happens in that story will be compatible to what happens in this one.

I guess I should include some more info on the story. Well, it basically takes place in Harry's third year, and though it may not seem like it now, Melody will join in on the fanfic and play a pretty large role in it. And if anybody can guess the strange man that Melody met, and the symbol that she is so curious about, you get an internet cookie!

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it! If you like what's written here, please check my other stories as well. Thank you again!