"Lily" Teagan called "Lily, get up! You slept through
breakfast." Lily woke groggily and ate the toast that Teagan had
brought for her. "We're going down to the lake to go swimming and
lay out. Want to come?" Lily nodded and changed into her white
bathing suit that showed off her auburn hair and sparkling green
eyes. Lily surveyed her reflection, her short 5 foot 1 thin frame
looked more tan than usual against her white bikini. "Come on Lily!"
Teagan called to her, and Lily pulled her hair, that reached to the
middle of her back, into a neat ponytail. Once Teagan and Lily had
come to the common room, they met Sirius, James, Remus and Peter. They
all went down to the lake together. After lying down, Sirius had done
something to the other 3 boys that Teagan and Lily hadn't seen and the
3 of them chased Sirius across the grounds. Teagan laughed "Boys" she
muttered and both girls closed their eyes. Footsteps came towards Lily
and a fuzzy thought came to Lily "They guys are back." But soon two
sets of hands grabbed Lily's ankles and wrists. Her eyes snapped open
and realized that a much taller Lucius and Severus pulled her towards
the lake. "No, no" Lily screamed, "I can't swim!" Teagan was up and
running after them "Severus! Severus let go of her!" New, familiar
voices were now also shouting, "Let Lily go!" "She can't swim!" "Can't
you hear her?" Lily grew frantic as they reached the waters edge and
they began swinging her "No! Guys! I can't swim!" "Then float Mudblood"
said Lucius maliciously before he and Severus let her fly into the
deeper part of the lake. She screamed as she hit the lake and water
filled her mouth. Lily sputtered above the water before sinking under.
Something slimy grabbed Lily and pushed her out of the water. Lily
screamed as she briefly saw James and Remus swimming out to her,
Sirius beating up Severus and Teagan slapping Lucius as Professor
Mcgonagall came tearing out of the castle before she was pulled under
completed by the slippery tentacle and Lily knew no more.
* * * * *
Something poked Lily and she opened her eyes. When her eyes
focused on her surroundings she gasped and then coughed but soon
realized that she could breathe. Lily looked up and calculated that
it must be miles until the surface of the lake. She looked at the
thing that poked her. A young, well built, fairly hansom man. To
Lily's surprise, instead of legs he had silver fins and short wild
green hair. It shocked Lily to see that she also had fins. "What
happened? Who are you?" "I'm Camden, I bought you from Galia, the
giant squid and then I changed you into a mermaid, because" Camden
looked at her anxiously "One day you'll be my wife." Lily's eyes
widened, "I'm only 15!" "And I'm only 19, that's why I said one day
you'll be my wife." "No! You don't understand" Lily protested, "I'm
a student at Hogwarts! I need to get there to go to class and complete
my 5th year, to start my 5th year!" "But you can't leave, once here
you can't leave until someone comes for you." Lily sighed, "They'll
look for me." "Yeah, ok," said Camden "So, I'll show you to your
dwellings and then I'll show you around the village." It took Lily
awhile to get use to her fins that were a distinct silver color. Lily
later realized that she had gills on her neck and she figures that was
how she breathed. Lily was stuck in the mermaid village for 6 weeks
when Camden came to get Lily from her dwellings to meet his friends.
They were very rowdy, and Camden had to be very protective of her
because many of his friends were looking for betrothals. During this
particular outing, Camden and his friends went to catch snipits.
Snipits looked like snakes with fins and shark-like teeth. It was a
common challenge to try and catch them. A raw snipit was a delicacy,
even though Lily despised them. Camden kissed Lily on the cheek before
he left "Lily," he said "You stay on this rock until I come back from
catching snipits." Lily nodded her thoughts fell on Camden's sister,
Clover. The other day, Clover came to Lily to help her understand
mermaid customs. "Now Lily." Clover had said, "When Camden turns 20
you'll be married. Every merman is married when they are 20, the wife
can be as young as 12. You're really lucky to be betrothed to Camden;
he's a lot gentler than a lot of the other mermen of his age." Camden
had told Clover the secret of what Lily really was "I can't marry him.
I'm not ready for marriage." "Lily," Clover said in a soothing voice,
knowing that Lily was getting worked up "There is nothing you can do."
Clover's voice echoed in Lily's ears "There is nothing you can do."
Lily jumped as a hand clasped around her wrist. One of Camden's
friends Tor was pulling Lily towards the village. "Tor! What are you
doing?" Lily asked, "What happened to Camden, is he all right?" For
tightened his grip "Camden is still hunting snipits. Tor saw Lily's
quizzical look "I turned 20 four days ago." Horror, blinding terror
filled Lily. "No! I belong to Camden!" Lily shrieked, "Not anymore
you don't!" Tor growled, the village was in sight now. Lily considered
telling Tor the truth about herself. Camden had made her promise not
to tell. "I'm not a real mermaid." Tor stopped and looked at her
incredulously. "You lie." He said quietly "I'm not lying! I'm a
student at Hogwarts. You can't marry me." "You lie!" Tor shouted and
continued to force her back to the village. Lily grabbed a stone and
knocked Tor in the side of the head. Lily yanked her arm from Tor's
grip and swam the opposite direction with Tor right behind her. Lily
passed the rock where she was suppose to be waiting for Camden on and
straight into the 10 foot long reeds where the snipits lived. Tor
followed Lily but lost her in the reeds and he swam slowly over them
looking for her. Lily tried to remain still and calm but the slithering
of the snipits around her made her shake with fear of being bitten.
One snipit swam into her hair, which made Lily jerk with surprise,
and the snipit bit her in the beck. Lily grabbed the snipit and tossed
it aside., she felt her neck, the snipit had ripped one of her gills.
More snipits started to circle her; they became very frenzied when
someone or something was surprised. One snipit lunged at Lily but
expecting it she shot out of the reeds with about 20 snipits following
her. Lily saw Tor about 30 feet away; she turned and swam as fast as
she could. Lily looked behind her as she blindly swam forward and saw
there were more snipits following her and Tor was behind them as she
was turning her head around to where she was swimming Lily ran right
into something. That something turned out to be Camden, who grabbed
her forearm and easily shoved Lily behind him, caught the snipits
following her. When he saw Tor he gave him a questioning look. "He
was going to steal me! Steal me and marry me!" Tor scowled "Come on
Camden! You know I'm 20, you're still 19. Can't I have Lily and you
can find someone else?" Lily felt herself go deathly pale, for one
wild moment she thought he's accept. "Never, you can rest assure
that the rest of the village will hear about this." "If you tell
about this, " Tor countered, "I'll tell the village that she," he
pointed at Lily" is not a real mermaid." Camden turned to Lily, fury
filled ever inch of his body as he grabbed her and yanked her in front
of him. "Why did you lie?" he bellowed tightening his grip on her arm
"I, I, I would s-say anything to g-get out of m-marrying Tor."
Unexpectedly Camden hit Lily across her cheek. "That will teach you
never to lie again." Lily's eyes filled with tears but she refused to
let Camden see her cry so she turned and swam towards the village.
Lily missed the rest of Camden and Tor's conversation.
Weeks later when her head had stopped throbbing and the bruise
had disappeared Lily ventured out of her dwellings. Camden had not
come to visit her since he had stuck her, which Lily liked because she
was absolutely terrified of the thought of him coming over. AS Lily
swam past the eerie dull-red colored flowers, Camden swam up to her.
"I thought I told you not to go out on your own!" he said sternly, Lily
winced, closing her eyes, she waiting for him to hit her. Instead
Camden tenderly touched the place where he had hit her and then he
stroked her hair. "Oh Lily," He started "I'm sorry, we can't get
married with you being scared of me." "M-married?" Lily stammered "I
thought you turned 20 months from now." "No," Camden said, a smile
spreading across his face "In 5 days I'll be 20." Lily couldn't believe
it. "Time flies when you're in love." Camden laughed nervously and ran
a hand through his short wild green hair.
breakfast." Lily woke groggily and ate the toast that Teagan had
brought for her. "We're going down to the lake to go swimming and
lay out. Want to come?" Lily nodded and changed into her white
bathing suit that showed off her auburn hair and sparkling green
eyes. Lily surveyed her reflection, her short 5 foot 1 thin frame
looked more tan than usual against her white bikini. "Come on Lily!"
Teagan called to her, and Lily pulled her hair, that reached to the
middle of her back, into a neat ponytail. Once Teagan and Lily had
come to the common room, they met Sirius, James, Remus and Peter. They
all went down to the lake together. After lying down, Sirius had done
something to the other 3 boys that Teagan and Lily hadn't seen and the
3 of them chased Sirius across the grounds. Teagan laughed "Boys" she
muttered and both girls closed their eyes. Footsteps came towards Lily
and a fuzzy thought came to Lily "They guys are back." But soon two
sets of hands grabbed Lily's ankles and wrists. Her eyes snapped open
and realized that a much taller Lucius and Severus pulled her towards
the lake. "No, no" Lily screamed, "I can't swim!" Teagan was up and
running after them "Severus! Severus let go of her!" New, familiar
voices were now also shouting, "Let Lily go!" "She can't swim!" "Can't
you hear her?" Lily grew frantic as they reached the waters edge and
they began swinging her "No! Guys! I can't swim!" "Then float Mudblood"
said Lucius maliciously before he and Severus let her fly into the
deeper part of the lake. She screamed as she hit the lake and water
filled her mouth. Lily sputtered above the water before sinking under.
Something slimy grabbed Lily and pushed her out of the water. Lily
screamed as she briefly saw James and Remus swimming out to her,
Sirius beating up Severus and Teagan slapping Lucius as Professor
Mcgonagall came tearing out of the castle before she was pulled under
completed by the slippery tentacle and Lily knew no more.
* * * * *
Something poked Lily and she opened her eyes. When her eyes
focused on her surroundings she gasped and then coughed but soon
realized that she could breathe. Lily looked up and calculated that
it must be miles until the surface of the lake. She looked at the
thing that poked her. A young, well built, fairly hansom man. To
Lily's surprise, instead of legs he had silver fins and short wild
green hair. It shocked Lily to see that she also had fins. "What
happened? Who are you?" "I'm Camden, I bought you from Galia, the
giant squid and then I changed you into a mermaid, because" Camden
looked at her anxiously "One day you'll be my wife." Lily's eyes
widened, "I'm only 15!" "And I'm only 19, that's why I said one day
you'll be my wife." "No! You don't understand" Lily protested, "I'm
a student at Hogwarts! I need to get there to go to class and complete
my 5th year, to start my 5th year!" "But you can't leave, once here
you can't leave until someone comes for you." Lily sighed, "They'll
look for me." "Yeah, ok," said Camden "So, I'll show you to your
dwellings and then I'll show you around the village." It took Lily
awhile to get use to her fins that were a distinct silver color. Lily
later realized that she had gills on her neck and she figures that was
how she breathed. Lily was stuck in the mermaid village for 6 weeks
when Camden came to get Lily from her dwellings to meet his friends.
They were very rowdy, and Camden had to be very protective of her
because many of his friends were looking for betrothals. During this
particular outing, Camden and his friends went to catch snipits.
Snipits looked like snakes with fins and shark-like teeth. It was a
common challenge to try and catch them. A raw snipit was a delicacy,
even though Lily despised them. Camden kissed Lily on the cheek before
he left "Lily," he said "You stay on this rock until I come back from
catching snipits." Lily nodded her thoughts fell on Camden's sister,
Clover. The other day, Clover came to Lily to help her understand
mermaid customs. "Now Lily." Clover had said, "When Camden turns 20
you'll be married. Every merman is married when they are 20, the wife
can be as young as 12. You're really lucky to be betrothed to Camden;
he's a lot gentler than a lot of the other mermen of his age." Camden
had told Clover the secret of what Lily really was "I can't marry him.
I'm not ready for marriage." "Lily," Clover said in a soothing voice,
knowing that Lily was getting worked up "There is nothing you can do."
Clover's voice echoed in Lily's ears "There is nothing you can do."
Lily jumped as a hand clasped around her wrist. One of Camden's
friends Tor was pulling Lily towards the village. "Tor! What are you
doing?" Lily asked, "What happened to Camden, is he all right?" For
tightened his grip "Camden is still hunting snipits. Tor saw Lily's
quizzical look "I turned 20 four days ago." Horror, blinding terror
filled Lily. "No! I belong to Camden!" Lily shrieked, "Not anymore
you don't!" Tor growled, the village was in sight now. Lily considered
telling Tor the truth about herself. Camden had made her promise not
to tell. "I'm not a real mermaid." Tor stopped and looked at her
incredulously. "You lie." He said quietly "I'm not lying! I'm a
student at Hogwarts. You can't marry me." "You lie!" Tor shouted and
continued to force her back to the village. Lily grabbed a stone and
knocked Tor in the side of the head. Lily yanked her arm from Tor's
grip and swam the opposite direction with Tor right behind her. Lily
passed the rock where she was suppose to be waiting for Camden on and
straight into the 10 foot long reeds where the snipits lived. Tor
followed Lily but lost her in the reeds and he swam slowly over them
looking for her. Lily tried to remain still and calm but the slithering
of the snipits around her made her shake with fear of being bitten.
One snipit swam into her hair, which made Lily jerk with surprise,
and the snipit bit her in the beck. Lily grabbed the snipit and tossed
it aside., she felt her neck, the snipit had ripped one of her gills.
More snipits started to circle her; they became very frenzied when
someone or something was surprised. One snipit lunged at Lily but
expecting it she shot out of the reeds with about 20 snipits following
her. Lily saw Tor about 30 feet away; she turned and swam as fast as
she could. Lily looked behind her as she blindly swam forward and saw
there were more snipits following her and Tor was behind them as she
was turning her head around to where she was swimming Lily ran right
into something. That something turned out to be Camden, who grabbed
her forearm and easily shoved Lily behind him, caught the snipits
following her. When he saw Tor he gave him a questioning look. "He
was going to steal me! Steal me and marry me!" Tor scowled "Come on
Camden! You know I'm 20, you're still 19. Can't I have Lily and you
can find someone else?" Lily felt herself go deathly pale, for one
wild moment she thought he's accept. "Never, you can rest assure
that the rest of the village will hear about this." "If you tell
about this, " Tor countered, "I'll tell the village that she," he
pointed at Lily" is not a real mermaid." Camden turned to Lily, fury
filled ever inch of his body as he grabbed her and yanked her in front
of him. "Why did you lie?" he bellowed tightening his grip on her arm
"I, I, I would s-say anything to g-get out of m-marrying Tor."
Unexpectedly Camden hit Lily across her cheek. "That will teach you
never to lie again." Lily's eyes filled with tears but she refused to
let Camden see her cry so she turned and swam towards the village.
Lily missed the rest of Camden and Tor's conversation.
Weeks later when her head had stopped throbbing and the bruise
had disappeared Lily ventured out of her dwellings. Camden had not
come to visit her since he had stuck her, which Lily liked because she
was absolutely terrified of the thought of him coming over. AS Lily
swam past the eerie dull-red colored flowers, Camden swam up to her.
"I thought I told you not to go out on your own!" he said sternly, Lily
winced, closing her eyes, she waiting for him to hit her. Instead
Camden tenderly touched the place where he had hit her and then he
stroked her hair. "Oh Lily," He started "I'm sorry, we can't get
married with you being scared of me." "M-married?" Lily stammered "I
thought you turned 20 months from now." "No," Camden said, a smile
spreading across his face "In 5 days I'll be 20." Lily couldn't believe
it. "Time flies when you're in love." Camden laughed nervously and ran
a hand through his short wild green hair.
