BellySquid: thank you so much for your review! I've been studying English for 20 years so I think my English level is good enough to try translating my stories, but it's so damn difficult haha. I'm glad you like their personalities, I'm always trying to stay close to the canon Draco and Hermione. A lot of things are going to happen in the following chapters, and now I have more time to translate them. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-two

Polyjuice potion

Draco was at the Slytherin table, quietly eating his breakfast.

His gray gaze never left the huge table in front of him, where Hermione was sitting between Harry and Ginny. He was unconsciously spinning the bracelet he wore on his left wrist as he stared at the Gryffindor girl, remembering everything they had done in recent weeks and the feeling of having her body against his.

"What is that thing?" Pansy asked. She was next to him, gobbling down some scrambled eggs.

Draco blinked several times, returning to reality and giving his attention to his friend.

"An amulet" he answered, taking another bite of his toast.

"Who gave it to you?"

Draco glanced back at the Gryffindor table.

"Hermione gave it to me a month ago. It may protect me from the merpeople's influence" he murmured softly.

Pansy raised an eyebrow.

"You've been with her for many months now, Draco. Don't tell me you're falling for that muggle-born" she said with a suspicious look.

He clenched his jaw and frowned.

"You just said bullshit, you know" he growled through his teeth.

Draco refocused on breakfast and his eyes drifted back to Hermione, scowling at her.

"I don't fall for anyone."

"You don't have to convince me" she answered, rolling her eyes and sighing.

They continued eating in silence, with the blond boy in a very bad mood. When he saw Hermione standing up and leaving the Great Hall with her friends, Draco also got to his feet and walked away from the Slytherin table without a word.

"What's wrong with Mr. Grumpy today?" Theo asked, feeling puzzled.

"He just can't admit what's happening to him... I've been able to accept it before him" Pansy replied with a snort.

Theo frowned, not understanding what she meant. Pansy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You all are idiots, you guys don't realise anything" she murmured, laughing.

"What are you going to do now, Hermione?" Ron asked as they walked down the ground floor's hall.

"I'll take a book and go out to read near the lake, like every Saturday" she commented.

Harry and Ron exchanged a knowing look.

"What if you come with me to the library for a moment? I need your help with potions work" Ron said.

He needed to distract her, keeping her away from the garden so that Harry could carry out his master plan.

Hermione looked at her friend in surprise, smiling at him. It was the first time Ron had asked her for help since they were friends again.

"Sure, Ron. Let's go" she agreed, and the two headed for the stairs to go up to the third floor.

Harry and Ginny stayed behind, hiding behind a huge statue.

"You know what to do" Harry murmured, pulling a small vial from his robe.

Ginny nodded, getting lost among the crowd and going to the dungeons. Harry uncorked the vial and downed the entire contents in one gulp, grimacing.

"Fuck, I forgot how disgusting it is" he muttered through clenched teeth, holding back the urge to gag.

He crouched down and stayed behind the statue as his body began to change, clutching the girl's uniform Ginny had given him before she left.

"What a pain in the arse" a Slytherin boy muttered contemptuously, entering his common room.

Draco, who was sitting by one of the round windows overlooking the bottom of the lake, turned his head to look at him.

"What's the matter, Smith?"

"There's a Gryffindor girl out there screaming your name, Malfoy. Tell her to go somewhere else" he answered with a pout.

Draco frowned, walking to the wall that led out into the dungeons. Hermione had never come looking for him there, and he couldn't believe it was her. Once he saw Ginny, his brow furrowed even more.

"What do you want, Weasley?" he asked, a little annoyed.

"You have to help me! I can't find my brother or Harry, and Hermione is acting very strange. She has a blank expression and doesn't respond to anything I say. She was walking to the castle doors all alone and I couldn't stop her. I think something's wrong with her" Ginny said with tears in her eyes.

A very painful lump formed in Draco's throat. It all sounded too familiar.

"Do you think she was going to leave the castle? Towards the lake?" he asked, starting to walk faster and faster.

"I don't know, maybe. I think she'll be out on the grounds by now" Ginny answered, trying to keep up with him.

"Shit" he muttered, starting to run as fast as his legs could.

Draco took the stairs three at a time and ran through the stone hallways, dodging all the students he came across.

A minute later he was going through the huge wooden doors, breathing fast. The muscles in his legs were tense, but he didn't stop and kept running down the hill to the lake.

How in the hell could a mermaid have bewitched Hermione? She didn't have the emotional problems he had... but that wasn't the time to ask himself those questions, he had to get to her and save her before it was too late.

The castle was getting farther and farther away as he kept running.

There was no one around the lake, but Draco recognised Hermione's hair. She was entering the lake and the water was up to her waist.

"Granger!" he yelled with fear.

He took his wand out and threw himself into the water without thinking, trying to reach Hermione, who was getting deeper and deeper. Draco caught her arm when the water was up to her neck.

"Hermione! Wake up!" he exclaimed, holding her forearm and looking around them, in search of any mermaid that was close.

Hermione was staring into the distance, like she couldn't hear his voice.

Draco started to shake her, but he remembered that she could get him out of his trance by slapping him.

He was about to hit her when he saw Hermione's brown eyes focusing on him.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" she asked hoarsely.

He sighed in relief and hugged her, his wand still in his hand.

"You fucking scared me. Come on, let's go back to shore" Draco murmured under his breath, tugging at her.

The two of them swam and Draco held her hand, watching her with a concerned frown as they made their way to shore, where Ginny was waiting for them.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I saw something strange and suddenly I woke up in the lake with you" Hermione said, clearing her throat.

"What's wrong with your voice? Are you sick?" Draco asked, holding Hermione's face in his hands and looking at her eyes. He didn't remember that Ginny was only a few feet away from them.

Hermione blinked a few times, coughing.

"Maybe" she murmured softly.

Draco snorted, making a complicated movement with his wand and creating a blast of hot air that dried their clothes. He wrapped his arms around her waist again and sighed, finally relaxing.

"I got scared because of you, know-it-all" he whispered, a small smile on his lips.

"Why did you go into the water? That mermaid could have chased you, taking you to the bottom of the lake to kill you" Hermione said in a low voice, not returning the hug to the blond boy.

"Do you think I care? I couldn't let something bad happen to you. I already told you that I'd save you if the same thing ever happened to you" Draco grunted through clenched teeth.

All of a sudden, the fruity smell of Hermione's hair began to change and Draco opened his eyes.

He saw that her hair was shortening and darkening at full speed, and also her body was growing a few inches, until she was the same height as him.

Draco pulled away from her to look into her eyes, watching with an horrified look how they were changing color.

"What the fuck...?" he didn't finish the question when he saw a lightning bolt-shaped scar appearing on Hermione's forehead.

Draco released her immediately, taking a few steps away and glaring at the person in front of him with his grey eyes full of fury.

"Hello, Malfoy. Thanks for not kissing me" Harry murmured with a grin.

Draco felt pure rage wash over him and he slammed his nemesis on the chest, pushing him away.

"What the hell do you think you're you doing, Potter?" he yelled, out of his mind.

Ginny appeared, standing between them.

"Don't fight, please" she asked with pleading eyes, glancing at Draco.

"It was just a joke, don't get so upset" Harry said, closing the robe he was wearing and trying to hide the skirt from viewers.

Draco clenched his fists, giving him a venomous look.

"I won't fight you today because your girl is here, but if you dare to do something like that to me again, I'll kill you. Watch your back" he warned, turning and walking away with furious steps.

Once they were alone, Ginny and Harry burst out laughing.

"That was super fun, Harry. I loved it" Ginny admitted, trying to calm herself.

Harry couldn't speak for a couple of minutes, until he was able to control his laughter.

"Me too, and now we know that he really loves her. He has risked his life, something he wouldn't do if he didn't have strong feelings for her."

They heard some giggling around and Harry pulled his robe tighter, but it was too short and part of his legs were showing.

"Let's go back inside, you need your uniform... you left it behind that statue, right?" Ginny asked, starting to walk.

"Yeah, I hope no one took it or I'll have to walk around the castle in a girl's uniform" Harry muttered under his breath, quickening his pace.