Half-Mer
Chapter 4
Adri snuck silently to the prefect's bathroom immediately after dinner, keeping a sharp eye out for anyone, holding tightly to the necklace Professor Dumbledore had given her on behalf of her mother. Her mother. Adri wondered what she was like and she wondered if she would ever be able to meet her mom. Dumbledore had told Adri everything her mom had told him when he gave Adri the necklace, but Adri needed more information. In the little spare time she had, Adri had been researching mermaids in the library. She thought about the information she had learned that day as she slipped into the prefect's bathroom, checked each stall for feet, and locked the door before looking at the huge bathtub. It was, simply put, amazing. It was a pool-like tub sunk deep into the floor with fifty or more golden faucets with a different gem on each one. Feeling curious, she turned each one on, stripped, then slowly got into the water, thankful there were steps. She sat on the lowest step with the water coming up to her neck and let the warm water wash over her, relaxing completely. She saw a slight glow in the water and watched as her legs fused together and became covered by silvery scales, a powerful tail appearing where her feet had been. She ducked her head under the water as gills appeared over her ribcage and instinctively started swimming, happiness bubbling in her. This was amazing! She could barely keep the smile off her face as she swam for what felt like hours, basking in her mermaid form. She emerged above the surface, flipping her long, wet hair out of her face as she looked up at the clock. She had already been here for two hours, she had to get back to her common room quickly before Filch did his rounds! With a flick of her wand, she drained the tub and watched her tail as it dried out and her tail transformed back into legs and the gills on her ribs disappeared, wishing she could have swum for a little longer. She quickly dried herself off and put her clothes back on before sneaking out of the prefect's bathroom.
Her fellow Hufflepuffs looked up at her as she entered the common room then returned to their studying. She had already finished her homework, so she went to get one of the books on mermaids she had gotten from the library then sat in one of the chairs in front of the room. She was asleep before she had even turned a page and the Prefect girl set Adri's book aside after carefully bookmarking the page Adri was on and gently woke her up to help Adri to the girl's room. As Adri slept, she dreamed of being a mermaid and swimming in the Black Lake, but something was wrong, and she felt like something dangerous was chasing her. She jumped awake, sweat beading her face and it took awhile for her to fall asleep and as she was falling asleep, she wondered if she could tell anyone what she was. No, she decided. For now, she would keep her secret to herself. It felt too crazy, too weird, to talk about to anyone. From what she had read, the only reason she was half mermaid is because her mom had been able to assume human form through powerful magic and come on land. Adri wondered what both her parents were like, remembering the mermaid song she had heard a few nights ago. She wondered if that had been her mom singing and decided to go to the Black Lake at her next opportunity to meet her mom. Maybe her mom had been trying to keep her safe, but Adri NEEDED to know her mom, needed to know what that felt like. She needed to know what was so dangerous that her mom would have chosen to send her away rather than keep Adri with her. As she started forming a plan, she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
"BZZT! BZZT!" Adri's alarm clock went off and she jumped awake with a shriek, falling out of bed and scrambling over to her uniform before she realized it was Sunday and crawled back to her bed. "Adri get up! It's a beautiful day!" Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff in Adri's year said cheerfully, and Adri groaned.
"It's 6 am, I want to sleep in!" Adri whined, and Susan laughed.
"You sound just like my cousins, they hate getting up early!" Susan said, laughing and tugging on Adri's arm.
"You're stronger than you look." Adri grumped as Susan tugged her to the great hall and Susan grinned, still in her pajamas.
"Years of practice, girl." Susan said with a smile as she took in Adri's rumpled appearance. Adri sat down at the Hufflepuff table and pulled some bacon and pancakes onto her plate, pouring herself a cup of coffee and dumping creamer and sugar into it. Adri jumped as Susan started combing and braiding her hair.
"Sorry, I'm used to playing with my cousin's hair and your hair is so pretty and I just started playing with it without even thinking." Susan said apologetically, and Adri shrugged.
"It's ok, I'm just not used to anyone playing with my hair. I didn't have friends before I came here." Adri said matter of factly and Susan hugged her.
"I'm sorry. I'd like to be friends with you." Susan said, and Adri smiled at her.
"I'd really like that, Susan."