Check the new dungeon 4 tag on garden-eel-draws if you want to see the setting for the chapter this week! I'm very proud of my rainy nighttime "screenshot".

This chapter was written and rewritten and edited and edited again, and I'm sure it'll be one of the first chapters to get another edit if I ever decide to renovate this fic years down the line. If my attention span keeps acting up like this and making me forget things I wrote literally two sentences ago, I'll have to start slowing uploads down to once every two weeks :/

Draco surreptitiously packed a bag for his meeting with Granger, hoping his roommates' distraction would keep them from paying too much attention. Owls upon owls had flooded the common rooms of Hogwarts throughout the day. As it turned out, they hadn't just been getting delayed; some of them had just plain disappeared into the space between Hogwarts and everywhere else. Some people were only now receiving mail that should have arrived over a month before. Zabini and Crabbe were still reading through their piles of gossip magazines and editions of The Daily Prophet respectively. Crabbe was intensely focused on his struggle, but Draco had caught Blaise giving him curious looks every now and then.

'If I knew how to do a memory-modifying spell, I wouldn't be in this mess,' Draco thought ruefully. Blaise could be trusted to hold onto private information only until the moment when telling people would benefit him the most. The Malfoy family had more than enough clout to ruin the much smaller Zabini household, though, so he could be assured the boy would hold off for now. If Draco lost his parents' favor due to his half-breed transformation, however…

He shook the thought out of his head and crammed a towel into his school bag. Draco would be fine. He would make absolutely certain that he would be fine. That was what he was allying himself with Potters-and-friends for. Their ability to flout the rules and yet still appeal to the Goody Two-Shoes side of society was something he needed on his side. And if they were willing to befriend someone like Hagrid, there was a good chance they would at least tolerate his muddied blood. Most of his fellow Slytherins definitely wouldn't.

Kneeling out of sight behind his bed, he checked his supplies. Mirror, waterproof makeup bag (he was intentionally going to the meeting bare-faced), a towel, and swimming trunks under his robe and cloak. The swimming trunks were just in case, though. At any rate, he was ready to give Granger an example of what he was dealing with and return to the dorm with his human face painted on thereafter.

It was a big risk Draco was taking, showing the muggleborn the full ugliness of this heritage mix-up, but he forced himself to think of it in terms of showing a doctor what was wrong so it could be fixed. The school nurse wouldn't be able to do anything about what plagued him, assuming he could even convince her to wear the glasses needed to see it in the first place, so the school know-it-all who always had her nose in the Hylian Bestiary was his next-best bet. Draco had vanishingly few people he could put any level of trust in, and most of them were too stupid to help; Hermione's goody-goody nature and uncultured upbringing meant he could predict her behavior for the most part, and predictability was a decent enough substitute for trust. He could be certain the girl wouldn't start a rumor campaign or extort him, at least, which was more than he could say for…well, most of the people he was in regular contact with. Slytherin was the house of the ambitious, after all.

His mattress creaked and Blaise's face appeared over the edge. "It's a cold night in the middle of autumn Draco. Where are you going at this hour?"

Draco scowled. "Get off of my bed, Zabini."

"Why? It couldn't get much messier. Anyway, you didn't answer my question."

"It's well before curfew. I can go out."

"At night. In the rain," Blaise said flatly.

It was raining? Because he'd been asleep all day, Draco hadn't been aware. It didn't do much to change his plans, although it definitely lowered his willingness to go in the Black Lake. He pulled a miniaturized umbrella out of his trunk and put it in his pocket.

"Where are you goooing?" Blaise wheedled. He draped himself over Draco's bed and gave the blond an upside-down pout. "Is it Potter-related?"

"No," Draco said truthfully. And then, untruthfully, "I'm going for a bracing promenade after a long, sleepy day. Perfectly boring and drama-free."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Why are you such a terrible liar? Your father is a politician."

"If I were a poor liar, Professor Snape would have assigned me to scrubbing cauldrons for the next month instead of offering to let me skip classes tomorrow," Draco pointed out. He was an excellent liar, just not an imaginative one. It was coming up with a good line to feed someone that he had trouble with; hitting the right tone and mannerisms to make it seem natural was the easy part.

"Well, if you're only going for a walk, I'm coming with you," Blaise declared. He hopped off of Draco's bed and went to fetch his cloak.

"What?" Draco's packed school bag fell from his hands. "I'm going out at night in the rain, like you said. Why on earth would you want to come with me?"

"If all you're doing is a bit of exercise, it shouldn't be a problem," Blaise said airily. His dark eyes held a glint of mischief. "I could benefit from some fresh air, myself."

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. If he kicked up a fuss, Blaise would only become more interested. If he let his dorm mate come with him, then he'd have to miss his meeting with Granger and find some way to reschedule. He gritted his teeth. He needed Granger to start helping him with this before the illusion preserving his human image failed completely. Red Potter was on his side and willing to help, but he was better as emotional support and physical back-up than coming up with feasible solutions to complicated problems. Draco doubted the boy even knew the meaning of the word "feasible".

What if he brought Blaise along to the meeting? The boy was definitely on the brainy side, though in a less exaggerated way than Granger. He didn't go above and beyond for classwork, but he enjoyed reading books about obscure spells and poisons when he wasn't poring over gossip rags. Maybe he would find Draco's situation interesting enough to quietly observe rather than report upon? Draco rubbed his temples in thought. Blaise was an odd fellow. He didn't care much for blood purity, though he definitely had the ambition of a true Slytherin. The boy had a wider range of social contacts than Draco did, with threads of influence running through half-blood and even muggleborn circles. Would it be a good idea to give him more information about Draco's current weakness or was it better to shut him out and endure his whining?

He pursed his lips. Draco had very little patience for other peoples' whining. And jinxing Blaise to silence him in the short term would only result in Draco later getting hit with some esoteric Hungarian hiccupping hex or getting dosed with a mild poison via his morning pumpkin juice.

"Fine. I'm going to talk to someone. It's going to be cold and wet and boring, but if you don't have the self-control to pull your nose out of my business, I guess you can come along," Draco growled. "You can accompany me in Dog's place, since I'm keeping him here."

Blaise paused in tying his shoes. "You were going to go out completely alone?" he asked in surprise. "Why?"

"I just gave him a bath today. Do you think I would give him the chance to roll in the mud a few hours later?"

Leaving Dog to pout by the fire in the mail-strewn common room, they ventured cautiously into the halls. The castle's corridors were no more forgiving at night than they were during the day. In fact, they were more irritating because the Moblins all got their lanterns out after sunset. The only thing worse than a Moblin was a Moblin that could set you on fire before pummeling you into the ground.

They crept cautiously toward their destination with their ears straining for footsteps. Phantoms clanked and Moblins' cloven hooves produced a muted click on the stone. Blaise steered them away from any dark corners he thought suspicious with a haunted look in his eyes. Skulltulas, who hung off of the ground, were one of the types of monsters that couldn't be heard coming at all.

So were Floormasters, whose soft whirring noise was unnoticeable until the listener came within grabbing range. Draco stepped out from behind a corner and caught a thrown piece of plate armor to the shin.

"Ow!" He hopped on one foot and struggled to keep his balance. "Bloody menaces," he spat at the shadowy hands now scooting closer to him and his tagalong. One of them picked up a gauntlet from the dismantled suit of armor strewn across the floor and chucked it at Blaise, who flailed and managed to slap the projectile to the ground. Draco picked up the metal glove once it clanked to the floor and pitched it back.

The gauntlet streaked into a gray blur and hit the closer Floormaster like a bullet. It met the shadow's palm with a resounding slap that echoed around the hall, carrying enough force to fold the monster's arm backwards. The Floormaster squealed in pain, sank into its puddle, and slunk away.

"I did that?"

"You did that?"

Draco and Blaise spoke simultaneously and exchanged surprised looks. Then they had to duck behind the corner as the injured Floormaster's partner in crime started pelting them with bits of armor.

"How did you manage a throw like that?" Blaise demanded with a kind of manic glee. He seemed more excited than afraid. "You're a scrawny fop like every other Malfoy. Where did that power come from?"

Draco bristled. "Caring about my appearance doesn't make me a fop!" He adjusted his uniform with an annoyed huff. "And I don't know how I did it. I've only had one instance of added strength before this—that I know of, anyway. It must come and go whenever it pleases."

"Does it happen when you're in danger?"

"No, otherwise I would have used it in the temple yester—" He clapped a hand over his mouth.

"I knew it." Blaise grinned. "Oh, the trouble you'll be in if Professor Snape finds out…"

"If you like having your face attached and not between Dog's teeth, you'll keep that quiet, too," Draco bit out. "I thought you and the others were done with adventuring anyway, after all of you got in trouble for it."

"Oh, no, I definitely don't want to go into tone of those places ever again. Can't speak for your bodyguards, but Millicent definitely agrees," Blaise said with an emphatic shake of his head. "However, the idea of you willingly putting yourself through that misery entertains me, so I'd love to hear the details later. What did you get from the temple, by the way?"

Draco summoned his whip and snapped it at the Floormaster, which resulted in him snatching the pauldron out of its grip. He took the piece of armor from his whip's claw and turned it over thoughtfully. If it could take things out of monsters' hands, did that mean he could disarm a Wizzrobe or a Moblin with it?

"A whip?" Though Blaise was trying to look nonchalant, Draco detected a hint of jealousy. Like him, Blaise had a certain interest in Muggle torture methods. "It's cool-looking, but would it have much practical use outside of fighting monsters?"

Draco smirked. "No, but it's certainly cool-looking." He snapped the whip again to take the Floormaster's next projectile and then banished the monster with a barrage of white fire.

Their trip to the castle's back exit was mercifully uneventful, though it didn't go quickly. It was five past eight by the time they made it onto the grounds. Draco summoned his Hylian glasses, enlarged his umbrella with a tap of his wand, and picked up his pace as he lifted it overhead. Blaise jogged to catch up with him.

"Where are we going and who are we talking to?" he asked. He huddled under his black parasol, a fashionable little thing fringed with bat-themed lace.

"The back end of the Black Lake, and Granger," Draco said. They were already this far; there wasn't much point in dodging questions now. "She has research skills that I need."

"You are seeking out a muggleborn's help?" Blaise whistled. "Wow, this fish-man thing is really getting to you, isn't it?"

At that statement, a cork popped in the back of Draco's mind. Thoughts he had been entertaining only in his darkest moments slithered to the fore.

Of course it was getting to him! He was a half-breed! One of his family lines was contaminated and no one would have been the wiser if the events of this year hadn't happened! He had been pure, and then he hadn't been, and yet the only thing that had changed were some minor points of biology! His personality wasn't different. He wasn't overcome by the boorish habits that he'd been told came naturally to half-breeds. His magic was just as powerful and still worked the same, even if he was immune to others' spells. He'd been taught all his life that half-breeds were hardly more civilized than magical creatures, and yet he was still Draco! Either his parents had lied about an entire facet of society or Draco was soon going to lose some of his higher thinking, and he didn't know which was worse!

Whatever his face was doing, the sight of his expression made Blaise recoil. "Yikes, I didn't know it was that bad. Erm…I'm sorry?" He gave Draco a tentative pat on the shoulder.

Draco wrestled the imaginary stopper back into place. "I'll get over it," he mumbled. "Hopefully."

They power-walked across the grass bordering the lakeshore in silence. Draco looked out at the vast waters of the lake with warring unease and longing. There was a distinct pull at his being, an alien influence whispering in his ear. It told him to go to the water and…well, he wasn't sure what else it wanted, but there was definitely more. He consciously fought against the urge, though he couldn't keep his eyes off of the lake.

Granger was waiting for them under a tree with the Gryffindor copy of the Hylian Bestiary clutched to her chest and her school bag over one shoulder. She held no umbrella; instead, the drips of rain falling from the tree stopped an inch from her robes and pointed black hat before sliding off to the sides. The items on her person were similarly waterproof.

"Good evening, Granger," Draco greeted. He gave her a formal nod that she returned after a moment of hesitation.

"Good evening, Malfoy," she replied.

"Hello," Blaise said with a little wave. "What spell are you using for the rain, and can you cast it on me?"

Granger immediately seemed more comfortable. "It's an Impervius Charm! I learned it from Practical Household Magic," she chirped. "It's pretty simple." With a tap and an incantation, she waterproofed Blaise's robes. "It only works on objects, though, thus the hat." She pointed to her accessory.

"Ah, I see. That makes sense," Blaise said. "Well, I'll let you two get on with your secret meeting. Don't mind me; I'll just be eavesdropping over here." He ambled a few meters away and observed how the water fell around his sleeve.

Draco flexed his toes inside his shoes, something his mother had taught him to suppress any more obvious expressions of anxiety. How was he supposed to treat Granger now? If he was part-creature, that meant she was now above him. But his family was older and richer than hers, so did that even things out? He didn't want to suddenly start being polite to the girl because she was still annoying in class and Gryffindors were still the enemy of his House, but he didn't know what level of rudeness he could get away with.

"I didn't invite Blaise. I just couldn't keep him from coming along without tying him up," Draco said, unable to come up with anything else.

She gave a little laugh. "I've had a similar experience," she said. "Thankfully, Neville forgave me." Holding up the book in her hands, she asked, "So, you had a research topic you wanted me to look into? Are there any articles in here that I could start from?"

Draco shifted from foot to foot. "Zora," he said. "My father's side of the family has historical ties to the sea, I've developed the same immunity to conventional magic that everything from Hyrula possesses, and I…" He dug his nails into his palms. "I have gills now."

Her eyes opened wide. "You've developed new organs?" she said in a hushed voice. "Hold on—are they on your neck? Let me see." Granger cast an Illumination Charm and conjured her magical glasses onto her nose. Then she stepped right into Draco's personal space and studied his neck. He froze in place, locked up by indecision. His first impulse was to shove her away, but she was just looking at the problem she was going to help him with, but he also didn't want a muggleborn so close to him and he didn't know what to do—!

She stepped back. "So, those go…Er, they go all the way through?" One hand made a throat-slicing motion.

He pressed his lips together and nodded.

"No wonder you were bleeding so much yesterday," she remarked. "It must have hurt terribly. How did you get through that entire temple in such a state?"

The fact that she seemed more sympathetic than disgusted helped soothe Draco's jangled nerves. She'd skipped the step of accusing him of freakishness and gone right to "oh, you poor wretch". "I'm nothing if not stubborn," he said with an attempt at a smile. "A Malfoy always gets his way, as I'm sure you've learned."

She snorted. "Oh, yes, I definitely have."

There was a short silence as both of them tried to think of what to say next. Granger seemed nervous, though not in the way he expected. If she were concerned about being so close to an exotic half-breed, she would have been edging away instead of just fidgeting in place. Draco, meanwhile, was trying not to fall to pieces as he was forced to consider how to turn his current state of being into a list of questions in need of answering.

"Why did you suggest meeting by the Black Lake?" Granger asked. "Not that it isn't an appropriately clandestine location, but I'm surprised you aren't worried about muddying your robes or catching a chill."

"Just in case you wanted to, er…" He hated how uncertain he felt right then. Draco had never wanted to turn into sea foam and wash away so badly before. "I suggested it in case you wished to see a…demonstration. Of my current state." He flexed his toes. His webbed toes. Ugh. "I didn't know it was raining until Blaise informed me some minutes ago. Professor Snape ordered me to sleep the day away under the threat of detention. My inhumanity," he sucked in a shaky breath, "is becoming visible in such a way that he's worried about my health."

Blaise poked his head around the tree behind Granger to opine, "Draco looks like a fresh zombie, to put it bluntly. Did none of you Gryffindors notice it on your adventure yesterday?"

"We were more concerned with not dying, so no," she said. "Although I noticed you spent a lot of time in the water while we were fighting that final monster, Malfoy. Were you able to extract oxygen from it?"

Draco frowned, puzzled. "I could breathe, if that's what you're asking. 'Oxygen' is a Muggle word for 'air', isn't it? Are you saying that there's air in water?"

She winced in a way that told him he'd said something a bit dim. "There's, er…Well, to start off, oxygen is the specific part of the air that we need in order to respire. Air is mostly nitrogen, which is another element. There are natural processes that cause oxygen to become incorporated into water, and it's that dissolved oxygen that gills filter out. That's how fish 'breathe'."

Hearing her speak was like listening to a master of Runes talk about their specialty. It was clearly academic, and yet foreign to any academic languages he knew. "Why do you know more about how gills work that I do?" he asked.

"My parents have been buying me secondary school textbooks so I can keep up with my Muggle education. I had some suspicions, so I re-read the sections about amphibians and fish in my Zoology book this morning. Zoology is a branch of biology focusing on the study of mundane animals, by the way."

"Right," Draco said, unnerved. Just how many things did Muggles study? If zoology was a branch of biology, how many other branches could there be to that one science? How many sciences were there? And how did one even learn about the presence of air dissolved in water without detection spells? "I might have to borrow those books someday."

She beamed at him. "Oh, I would love for you to! I think you would really enjoy Chemistry. It's essentially a non-magical blend of Alchemy and Potions."

Draco had no idea how such a thing would work. What was potion-making without magic?

While he was attempting to wrap his mind around that concept, Granger flipped through the Hylian Bestiary to the entry about Zoras. She looked from him to the provided illustration. "Hmm." The girl started flicking from entry to entry, the page numbers of each apparently memorized. They were all articles about various fish-like creatures. "Humanoid…able to breed with humans…green skin…" she mumbled to herself.

Then the book trembled in her hands and started flipping its own pages. Draco took a step back and Blaise let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

"Granger, is that book cursed?" Draco asked in alarm. "Why are you still holding it?"

"It's not cursed, it's possessed," she corrected.

"Possessed?!" Draco and Blaise shrilled.

Blaise went on to say, "Do you have any idea of the depths you'd have to sink to in order to seal a human soul into an object? That's some of the darkest magic there is!"

Granger hugged the book close, which tempted Draco to snatch it away and pitch it into the lake. "It's not her fault! A demon tore her soul out when she was our age and it never fully settled back in!" she huffed. "All Zelda did was take advantage of her curse so she could teach future generations about her country's history. She never used that kind of magic herself."

"And you're certain she's telling the truth because…?" Blaise prompted.

"If she were only pretending to be a scholar, she wouldn't be adding articles to the book, would she?"

Draco held up a hand. "Hold on, you said her name was 'Zelda'. As in, the traditional name for the women of Hyrule's royal family. Is this spirit a former queen or a peasant named for one?"

"She was the third ruler of the New Kingdom of Hyrule," Hermione declared. "Her full name is Zelda Marinus Harkinian Hyrule." The book vibrated and she looked down. "She says 'hi'. And also…oh, that makes sense!"

Blaise peered over her shoulder. "Zelda says your ancestor may have been a different kind of Zora than the ones mentioned in the book," he reported. "Huh. I've never heard of a possessed object being helpful before."

"His skin is greenish with red coloring at the lips, his eyes are feline and yellow-green, and he has reflective silver spots on his cheeks and nose. I think his hair might also be changing to a coral-ish sort of color," Hermione told the book. "Does that help narrow things down?"

It was strange to hear her rattle off the symptoms of his condition with the same level of ease as Madame Pomfrey listing broken bones. No revulsion, no rejection, just acceptance of the current reality. It was baffling. How was she like this? He had done nothing but try to show the know-it-all muggleborn her place since their first interaction, and yet she wasn't taking advantage of the opportunity to insult his poor breeding. Did she not know how his social standing now compared to hers?

'I suppose it should be expected,' he thought. 'I sought her out specifically because she has so little skill in taking advantage of social standing, but it's still strange to see such obliviousness at work.'

"Alright, so…She says that green skin and red lips are typical of River Zoras, but she doesn't know where the eye color and spots came from," Granger said. "She adds the caveat that never saw one when she was alive, only studied records from the Old Kingdom like the one I'm holding. Zoras were thought to have all turned into the Rito—who are bird-people?—after the Great Flood, but there were probably some lesser-known groups of them that evolved in a different direction." She frowned at the book. "Why, after an ocean-sized flood, would the fish-people become bird-people?"

Between the prospects of hiding gills and concealing wings, Draco was just glad his barmy human ancestor had gone for the fish rather than the bird.

"Is there anything in particular about River Zora that we need to be worried about?" Blaise asked. "A fondness for drowning people or a lack of human speech, perhaps?"

They were legitimate questions, but Draco scowled at him anyway. He wasn't a merperson.

"Blaise, just because he's had a few physical changes, that doesn't mean he's going to act wildly different for no reason." Granger rolled her eyes. "And if he were going to lose his ability to speak, it would have happened yesterday when his gills grew in. Clearly they don't interfere with his vocal cords." She huffed like this was obvious.

Draco pressed his knuckles against the sides of his neck. He had almost lost the ability to speak yesterday and he'd been none the wiser! In hindsight, it made sense that having six large holes in the sides of his airway might make it difficult for him to push air through his throat. Thank Merlin he could hold them shut! Draco didn't know what he would do if he became mute.

"Hmph. Zelda was nice enough to answer you anyway," Granger said to Blaise. "She says that though River Zoras were more reptilian and less humanoid than other Zora races, they could speak surface languages. They were generally hostile to humans, but instead of drowning people they…chased them off with fire? In the water?" She tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, they could breathe fire. That's amazing! Why didn't the original scholars include an article about them here? They sound so interesting!"

"Breathing fire?" Draco squeaked. He didn't need to know much about biology to be certain that developing such an ability partway would be a death sentence. If he didn't also have the necessary amount of internal fireproofing to handle that heat, he would cook himself from the inside like an inbred dragon.

"You're probably only a tiny amount Zora, so I'm sure you won't change that far," Granger assured him.

"Imagine if you lived up to your name, though, Draco," Blaise said with a teasing grin. "I think it would do your mother's side of the family proud."

Were Draco any less civilized, he would have punched his roommate. Instead he raised his wand. "Langlock!"

Blaise ducked behind the tree to avoid the spell. "Kidding, kidding!"

"The real question at this point is how Malfoy could be descended from a magical being native to Hyrule if his family is based here," Granger mused with a thoughtful frown. "No matter what axis separates our worlds, be it across time or space, the fact is that Britain and Hyrule don't share a plane of existence."

Blaise stared at her like she'd spoken in tongues. "Er, repeat that? It couldn't have meant what I thought it meant," he said.

"Hyrule exists—and we know it still exists because people more modern than Zelda have been transported from there—but not on this plane. If you ask me, it's in a dimension right on the other side of ours, but Zelda and I honestly have no idea." She shrugged helplessly. "The peoples here and the peoples there have developed differently. Merpeople are probably our version of Zoras. They certainly look like a bit like River Zoras." She held up the book to show them a blue-ink sketch its ghostly resident had done of a pug-faced, clown-lipped merman with a permanently hunched back and fins on his head instead of wormy hair.

"I have two hypotheses," Granger said, her eyes bright with interest. "One, some of the Zoras here became merpeople, while others became whatever variation Malfoy is descended from. I imagine that's the less likely option because it seems like someone would have catalogued that species by now. Or—" her bushy hair seemed to get even bushier with excitement, "—his ancestor came from Hyrule through a Moon Pearl door or a natural portal, which would mean someone in his family is from another world!" The girl positively buzzed with glee. "Can you imagine? Cross-dimensional ancestry!"

Despite his spa day and the long nap he'd recently woken up from, Draco sagged with mental exhaustion. He was barely able to come to terms with the idea that he was definitely related to something non-human (and maybe as horrendously ugly as the creature Zelda had drawn). He wasn't prepared to tackle the even more bizarre notion that said non-human creature was maybe also from a country so foreign it didn't technically exist. Being an English aristocrat from a historically exiled French family was hard enough.

Blaise's mouth hung open. He looked back and forth between Draco and Granger. "What on earth did you nutters do in the last Hylian hellhole you threw yourselves into?" he asked incredulously. "Fish-people, I understand, but multiple dimensions? What are you talking about?"

"It's none of your business," Draco said.

At the same time, Granger geared up to explain. "Well…"

A wave of rain slapped hard against the surface of the Black Lake. Seconds later, the wind that had carried it hit them hard enough to make them all slide and stumble on the wet grass. Draco was suddenly aware that the common shower that he had walked out into had quickly developed into a heavy downpour and only seemed to be getting heavier. He hadn't noticed much of a change in temperature, but it seemed like Blaise and Granger might have been shivering more. Was he more cold-resistant now?

"I-I'll take a rain-check on that e-explanation, Granger," Blaise said. He pulled his cloak tight around himself to weather another gust of wind.

Draco stepped out from under the tree and peered up beyond the edge of his umbrella. Though it was dark out, the light of the full moon made it bright enough for him to see the swirling sky. There were darker, thicker spots forming in the sea of moonlit gray as more and more clouds seemed to crowd in. Draco had never seen such a tumultuous sky before; it looked like the wind was pushing it every which way, shoving more and more clouds in. The result of the thickening storm was the worsening rain now hammering the grounds. Water came down in fat bullets, the sound of it drumming the lake rising and falling as the sky roiled in silent battle.

"You aren't b-bothered, Malfoy?" Granger asked. She had the edge of her obnoxious scarlet and gold House scarf raised to protect her chilled face. "I s-suppose if your f-family has t-ties to the ocean, y-your ancestor would b-be used to c-colder water, wouldn't they?"

"Perhaps," Draco said simply, because he was full up on thinking about it for today. Maybe tomorrow there would be some kind of reset, and questioning his place in society and his shifting biology would no longer cause a hollow ache in his chest. "Either you and Blaise are being overdramatic—which I expect from him, less so from you—or it would probably be a good idea to table this discussion for now."

"Good idea! We can chat after class or something! Let's go!" Blaise ran for the castle like a derby horse out of the starting gate. It was an impressive show for someone even less athletic than Draco.

Granger stumped past Draco, the Hylian Bestiary hugged tight to her chest as she shivered around it. She paused and turned to look at him. "Aren't you going back in?" she asked. "Did you see something out on the lake?"

The lake? Draco forced his head to turn away. He hadn't realized he'd begun staring at the lake again. "No, it's nothing," he said. "Just looking at all that rain, is all." He jogged back to the castle, outpacing her quickly. The farther away he got from that damned lake and all of its horrible, hypnotizing water, the better!

Notes:

-Draco's ability to withstand the cold comes from Zoras' apparent ability to be frozen and unfrozen without suffering permanent harm. If it gets colder than he can handle, he'll start feeling sleepy. In exchange for that low temperature resistance, though, he can't endure hot weather for very long before he'll overheat.

-No, Draco's great-grandparent wasn't a straight-up Zelda 1 River Zora. Those are just the only other Zora species that Book!Zelda has heard of. I'm treating them as an ancient thing because I disagree with the placement of OG Zelda on the timeline. One more chapter (because I remembered Lupin exists and also noticed a decidedly silly plot-hole that needs some kind of filling-in), and then I'll both explain this Zora thing and post some art. I'm so excited! :D