Credits: All the references to Harry Potter, the world
of Hogwarts and the magical community are J.K. Rowling's. All the rest
are mine. (duh)
Author's note: Here it is. I'm depressed. And tired. There's no more sugar in my stomach. I'll just have to make do with... ::brightens:: PIXIE POWER! Yay! Okay, now I'm better. Read and review!
Chapter 9
"Man, I'm so bored!" exclaimed Nirry Wednesday
afternoon. "There's just nothing to do!"
Hermione looked up from where she was finishing an essay for
History of Magic class. "Did you finish all of your homework?"
Nirry nodded. She got up from her chair and went over
to the window. Harry and Ron gave each other a look. They had now
grown used to Nirry's unusual mood swings. Last time she got like this,
she had been snarly all day long and gone to bed early.
Not today, however.
"Want to play Exploding Snap?" suggested
Harry. Him and Ron sat in armchairs by the fire. Nirry shook her
head still restlessly, and continued to stare outside. All she could see
was a view of Hagrid's cabin, the greenhouses and the lake.
"I know!" cried Nirry after about ten minutes of
staring. "I'm going swimming." Harry, Hermione and Ron
gaped at her, speechless.
"Excuse me?"
Nirry was already up the stairs. "I told you, I'm
going swimming."
She deserted her friends, leaving them open-mouthed at the
bottom of the dormitory stairs. Homework, school and essays were
forgotten. In a minute, Nirry reappeared with a black plastic beach bag
stuffed hastily with a towel, a pair of goggles, and fins.
"You're-you're going?" Hermione spluttered
finally. Nirry gave her a look of annoyance.
"Well, duh, what does it look like?" she smiled at
the three. "Have fun! See ya guys!"
With that, she strode over to the dormitory wall, jumped
down, and left behind a wake of very confused and shocked classmates. The
room was silent for a moment. Then Hermione began to gather up her
parchments and books.
"Well, we can't just leave her there, she'll
freeze."
Ron looked at her in amazement. "You're saying we
should go in after her?"
In answer, Hermione left her things abandoned on the table
and sprinted upstairs, yelling over her shoulder, "Come on!"
Harry and Ron stared after her in amazement.
"There's something wrong with everyone here today, isn't there,"
Harry muttered to himself. Then a thought struck him. "Ron-
you don't think- she's going swimming in the lake?"
Ron slowly started to grin and opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, though, Hermione came rushing down. She held a
bulky backpack in one hand and her wand in the other.
"Well?" she asked impatiently, "aren't you
coming?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other, then at the rest of the
people in the common room. They were still standing, frozen, as they were
when Nirry ran out the door.
"Yes!" Harry blurted out before he could think.
"Wait-"
Hermione gave a satisfied nod and began hauling them out of
the dormitory. The last thing Harry saw as he was pulled out was George
and Fred's envious faces grinning, amused, at them.
* * *
They arrived just as Nirry was dipping one foot in.
Her face showed no sign of surprise as she greeted them. "Hey, decided to
finally show up, did you?" With a grin, she gave her hair a flip and
plunged into the water. She didn't even flinch.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she called to
them, laughing at them. The air was so distracting that Harry could only
shiver as he stripped to his swimming trunks. Glancing at his friends, he
saw that Ron was trembling uncontrollably, and Hermione's lips were turning.
Nirry, on the other hand, looked perfectly comfortable and happy in the water.
Harry took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, ran
quickly to the edge of the lake, and threw himself in without a second thought.
The next second, he couldn't think at all. The intense
cold swept his breath away and made him numb form head to toe. He sank until
his feet reached bottom, while his head was still above water. He could
see Nirry splashing and diving around deeper in the water, and he shivered as a
cold wind blew.
"HOLY-" Ron said as he stepped into the
water. "God, it's freezing!" Nirry swam over to them,
paralyzed in the water. She looked impatient.
"Well? Come on!"
Harry thought she might have a screw loose in the
head. "N-Nirry, it-it's freezing!" He could barely feel
his toes now.
Nirry glanced at him, submerged in water and his skin
turning purple from the cold. Hermione stood shivering on the banks of
the lake. Harry thought she smiled at them.
"Well, duh you're cold. I'd be cold, too, if I
didn't have a Heating Charm on me!" She said. Suddenly she burst
into giggles.
"You look so funny!" she gasped out, making water
ripple as she shook from laughter. Harry felt the pangs of annoyance.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he said, curling
and uncurling his toes in the water. He glanced down. The murky,
inky-black water swirled around him, and he had a sudden vision of the giant
squid. He started to move quickly out of the water when Nirry stopped
him. She took out her wand.
"Thermaliaous Totalus!"
Three times, and she was done. Harry held his breath
and then let it out in one big whoosh. He no longer felt the cold.
The water was nice and cool as a spring breeze, no longer
teeth-chattering. Harry relaxed as Hermione finally jumped in. A
wave of water went over their heads, and it started a full water war.
Nirry went down head-first into the water to kick up a tidal
wave of water at Ron, who had just sprayed her with a water hand trick right in
the eye. She kicked furiously, and was propelled to the very bottom of
the ten foot deep bottom she was swimming over. Her head brushed against
some seaweed.
Nirry pulled away in disgust, swiping at the weed with her
hands to shoo it away, but the seaweed wouldn't let go. Nirry clawed at
it still more, but it was now intertwined with her fingers as well as her
hair. She lay helplessly, trying to withdraw her hands, but every move
she made seemed to entangle her even more.
Her lungs started to feel the need for air. Nirry felt
the sudden sharp pain of fear. She let out one frightened squeak which
came out as bubbles, and tried even more vigorously to rip her way out of the
maze of weeds, which were now becoming thicker and more rope-like.
Just as she felt a strand of seaweed rip, she heard a huge WHOOSH.
Without meaning to, she opened her eyes.
And found herself in a large, underground cave with marble
pillars and two other doors on the far side similar in appearance to the one
she had just fallen through. The humoungous cavern was empty of any
people except for her.
Without warning, something came out from behind her and fell
heavily on top of her.
"Nirry!" Harry's hoarse voice penetrated
through her soggy hair. She looked behind her in time to see Ron spring
out right before Hermione landed on top of him. They lay in a pile before
the white door.
Nirry jumped up. People were coming through the
right-hand door. She held out a hand to the other three.
"Shhh."
They froze, waiting in the open, dripping wet and gripped
with fear and confusion.
"I dare say we might have time to practice more than
four times a week, if necessary." At the familiar voice, Nirry
straightened out slowly. Harry and Ron stared at her as if she was crazy.
"It's okay," she mouthed, "it's-"
Albus Dumbledore strode into the room that held Nirry,
Harry, Hermione, and Ron followed by Professor McGonagall and Hagrid. He
saw them the minute he walked in, and he stopped abruplty, faint amusement as
well as puzzlement on his face.
There was a shocked silence. Nirry smiled tremblingly.
"Um, hi."