Author's Note: Third installment! The plot is going to start with James and eventually, many more of the students will find themselves in odd predicaments. So, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the legends/fairy tales that I include in my story.



James let out a yawn as he was trimming the grass around the lake. Isn't that what the caretaker and groundskeeper were for? He knew they were just trying to find something new to punish him and Fred with separately but he hated doing this by hand the muggle way. He let out another yawn as he started to swerve towards the lake. He caught himself and moved away from the lake. "Come on, James, almost done," he muttered to himself. He had resorted to talking to himself to keep himself awake but it was not working too well as his eyes started to drift shut and suddenly, he felt himself step into the cold water. His eyes snapped open, but at that moment, his foot slipped on the muddy ground and he was immersed in the lake.

He was sinking fast and all he could see was water. He struggled to swim back to the top, but a grindylow grabbed onto his leg and was dragging him deeper. He opened his mouth and water surged in. It was not the most intelligent thing to do. He tried to cough it all out, but more water started to fill his mouth and travel into his lungs as he wanted to breathe but couldn't from the water all around him. He was not thinking clearly anymore and his lungs hurt from the water that had entered.

He could barely see in the water and it made it worse when the edges of his vision started to become black. They were enclosing fast and he wanted to scream out for someone to help him, but he could not breathe and he was choking on the water. He kicked and struggled, fatiguing himself quickly. He felt himself going deeper and deeper when he finally gave up struggling and the blackness enclosed around him but he thought he felt something wrap around him. Probably another grindylow or the squid. At least this will be over, he thought before no more thoughts entered his mind.

---
Why was there a human in the lake? She barely saw any of them down this far unless it was some game like one that had happened all those years ago at the Triwizard Tournament, but she was sure that it was not one. The mermaids would have been told if they had some sort of game in the lake, right? She watched him curiously as he struggled and he was being pulled deeper down by a grindylow. For some odd reason, she felt bad for him and the young mermaid knew that she probably should be saving him since she had been watching him all night as he cleaned up around the lake. She had been curious of him the whole time and she wanted to get closer, but no one would want to be around a mermaid, she was sure of that since they did not speak the same language when she was on land. Her voice would have sounded like a piercing scream to him and she knew that he would not be able to respond back to her. He would probably even cover his ears in pain from her voice. She did not think she would exactly be what a human male would want to be around.

Oh no, he was getting worse and she swam quickly as she saw him stop struggling. That could not be good since he could not breathe like she could in water. She grasped him around the waist and started to swim upward. The grindylow let go as soon as she started towards the surface. She was glad she did not have to fight the creature off. The human was hard enough to swim with. He was like a dead weight and almost hard to maneuver as she tried to reach the surface. She had to hurry if she did not want him to die.

She broke through the surface of the water and laid him on the grass nearby. He was not breathing and she started to panic. He could not die; she was not going to let that happen. She pulled herself onto the dry ground beside of him. She brought her grayish lips down to his and gave him a quick puff of air, all she could manage since she could not be on land for long. She pounded him on the chest a few times before he let out a cough and water spilled out of his mouth. He kept coughing and she dared to wipe the black hair away from his face. Even with him spilling out his stomach's contents on the side of the lake, she knew he had to be by far the most handsome thing she had ever saw even compared to the merman down in her village.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and she darted off into the water, hoping that he did not see her. She would be in trouble if a human had seen her on the shore. Her kind usually did not go to the surface of the lake or help the human kind. She would probably be severely punished if anyone found out. So, she swam deeper, to her home, wishing that she could be back with him.

----

What had saved him? When he opened his eyes, he saw a tail splashing down in the water and his first immediate thought was that it had to be a mermaid. He lay in the grass for a few moments, trying to get his bearings and figure out what had exactly happened and why a mermaid had saved him.

He jumped up from the grass in an instant and sprinted from his spot. He did not care that he was soaking wet or that no one came to retrieve him just yet. His clothes were sticking uncomfortably on his body and he wanted to rearrange them but he needed to reach the school. It was a good thing that he was athletic, but even so, he was still panting as he ran from getting sick and almost drowning. The school seemed like it was so far off in the distance and he wanted to collapse on the ground. He kept running forward until he made it to the front stairs and bounded up them in two jumps. He threw open the doors and took off down the halls, not caring if he was dripping all over the floor or that they were not allowed to run in the school. He was taking the steps two at the time, screaming Fred's name.

When he finally entered the trophy room, he collapsed on the floor gasping for air and Fred was giving him a concerned look.

"JP, what's up? Why are you all wet?" he asked, standing near the trophies as if to protect all his hard work.

It took a few more minutes until James could finally speak and he ran a hand through his black hair, it slicking back in odd angles from the water. "You'd never believe what happen to me!" he replied with a hoarse voice.

"I'm not sure if I want to know," he said, letting out a chuckle.

"Nah, you'll get a kick out of it." James paused for effect before spilling what he was going to tell his cousin. "I almost drowned."

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure a mermaid saved me."

That was when Fred started to laugh hysterically. "Sure, James. A mermaid came from out of the lake and saved you because she felt like it."

"She did save me, I'm sure of it and I saw her, I know I did."

He was still laughing so much that he was doubled over and clutching his stomach. "This is too much, just stop."

"I can't believe we're best friends and cousins and you don't believe me," he said angrily, his arms crossed over his chest.

He started to calm down at his friend's anger. "C'mon, mate. It's just a little hard to believe from you. I wouldn't even believe it from myself. We're not exactly the most truthful students in the whole school."

"Give me a truth potion if you want but you'll see that I'm telling the truth!"

"Sure, James," Fred said, still chuckling.

"I'm not lying! Why would I lie to you? What would I have to gain with this?" James asked, fuming.

Fred shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. You always try to pull one over on professors to get away with things."

"This is different! You're my best mate and cousin!" he reiterated.

"It's just hard to believe."

"I'm not kidding! Get your head out of your arse! I'm done here if you're not going to believe me."

Before he left, he ran his wet hand over one of the trophies, leaving a smug and Fred started to shout after him about all his hard work and how much of a prick James was at that moment. He stormed out of the trophy room, sure that what he saw was true and that he was not making it up at all. He was just going to have to prove it to him even if that meant dragging Fred down to the lake with him to show him that she really was there. He made his way to the common room and fell into his bed, thinking about the mermaid. He had seen a few pictures of them and even though they weren't as pretty as muggle legends made them out to be, he could not believe that she would save him instead of letting him drown. Maybe it would be wise to tell his girlfriend about his near death experience but instead, he drifted off to sleep from the exhaustion of the night, his dreams filled with mermaids.