Underwater Miracle

Disclaimer: All characters and places in this story belong to J.K.Rowling, however the plot is mine. Does that satisfy you Mr. Lawyer-person?

A/N: Thanks for 374 reviews go to: Jockaroo, animegirl-mika, KeeperOfTheMoon, asd,  Queen Li, draconas, Akira Gown, MysticalStormz, MoonDancerCat, JoeBob1379, Katrina, Yousei Kaijou, hyper_shark, The Dragon Guardian Of The Sea, Ell, Dragon of all that is good and chocolatey, Italia12, MaliShka, Sao, heavengurl899, kei-chan, WormmonABC, Eleanor, JAMtilldawn (x3), willowfairy, StarJade, ~* paper star *~ Hp1fan, Angel: da Newsies fan, mya14, Dragonsbane, JoyNspirit, Red Magic Marker, mutsumi, firey fairy, Purple People Eater, StarJade and Jessica!

Sorry this is a day late – fanfiction.net was down yesterday *grumbles* Major landmark – the entire fanfic of Darkness and Light has just crossed the 50 page mark!

VERY IMPORTANT – The wonderful Immensity has been translating Fire and Ice into Russian! Thank you tons for all your hard work, Immensity – I'm really honoured. Any Russian speakers should go to www.potter.ru to see the results of her hard work!

Responses to questions: It's not going to end when they get together, unless my characters start rebelling on me… There's still lots of plot left to go, and the end is nowhere in sight! I know the fluff is a bit unfluffy, but fluff is really really hard for me. *sniffs* Must get a boyfriend. This is a work in process, meaning that I haven't written it all yet and therefore cannot update more than once a week. Unless someone lends me a time machine…

Thanks to everyone who pointed out the little mistake with timing! *gives cookies to all of them* I need people to point out mistakes like that. Only the other day someone pointed out an error in Chapter 2 of Fire and Ice… I have no idea why no one noticed before!

Without further ramblings, here's onto the story. This chapter: Ditty's dangerous plan, a giant squid who's just a romantic at heart, and something you've all been waiting for…

~*~

The next day was colder than the one before. The wind wailed around the towers of Hogwarts, breathing it's ice-laden breath across the landscape. However, once again at three o'clock, Draco met with Hermione to walk in silence around the lake. Trudging across thin layers of ice, feeling the earth slip under their feet, they made their speechless circuit. A pointless, everlasting circle.

It wasn't that they had nothing to say. They had plenty of things to ask, so many things they both wanted to find out. But they were not, Draco realised, the kind of questions you could ask a stranger. And that's what Hermione was now: a stranger. He simply didn't know her anymore. The Hermione he knew was the one who loved him back.

Draco tried not to think about her, but it was hard when she was walking with him, just a pace or two behind. It was hard to listen to anything other than her footsteps, her breathing. How could he ever forget her?

Concentrate on other things, he told himself. The wind blew icy against him, but he didn't even shiver. After all, he was more than used to cold, and in comparison this weather was like a frozen blessing. It raged against his face, stealing the warmth from his skin. He let his hand dangle in the cold, leaving it there until it burnt blue. He was used to that kind of pain. It was familiar, almost reassuring. The pain of the body was easily cured: it was the heart whose disease could linger for a lifetime.

They had almost reached their starting point, and he was hoping that after this he could avoid her for the rest of the day at least. It was too painful to be near her. Tomorrow was Monday, and he would be back in class where he could pretend, maybe, that none of this had happened.

And that was when a muffled shout came from behind him. He whirled in time to see Hermione, his Hermione, be whisked off her feet and pulled into the air by a dripping purple tentacle.

~*~

'It's happening!' shouted Harry.

Up in the abandoned Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron were kneeling on the window ledge, spying through the Omnioculars. Ditty and Iggy, who had been delighting over this new game of 'chess' the boys had introduced them to, looked up.

'Are you sure?' Ditty squeaked.

'Of course we're sure.' Ron replied without turning from the glass. 'Look at the size of that tentacle!'

Ditty helped the aging Iggy over to the window. Earlier that morning, Iggy had visited the lake with a wheelbarrow full of food, to have a little conversation with the squid. Their plan was simple: the squid would pretend to attack Hermione, Draco would rescue her, and she'd start to trust him, or at least they hoped she would. As it turned out, the squid was female and quite a romantic at heart, and had agreed to help at once.

Harry passed his Omnioculars to Iggy, wincing as the squid flailed the tentacle holding Hermione into the water. 'I hope she's alright…'

~*~

For an instant, Draco stared at the giant tentacle in something akin to shock. Then adrenalin kicked in, and without thinking he ran to the lake edge, kicking off his shoes as he went and prising at the clasp on his cloak.

'Hermione!' he shouted, as the squid brought the tentacle holding her down, slicing the air in half, to smash against the water. To his relief, she appeared again almost immediately, coughing and spluttering but unharmed.

Draco pulled the wand out of his cloak pocket, thankful he had brought it. There was no way he could attack the squid from this far away though. It would risk hitting Hermione. He tugged at the clasp on his cloak, knowing that if he tried to swim with it on it would drag him down to a watery grave but impatient to rescue her.

'Hermione, I'm coming!' he shouted out, finally losing his temper with the clasp and yanking on it with every ounce of strength he possessed. The fabric on one side tore, and a good tug was enough to get it off.

He threw himself into the water, gasping for a second at the Glacios-like temperatures. He swam as fast as he could, clinging to his wand and hoping he didn't lose it. Above him, he heard a thin and distant scream, growing louder and louder as the great fleshy tentacle descended. He glanced up, saw Hermione in the creature's grasp, completely sandwiched in the tentacle with only her head visible. Then it hit the water, sending a tidal wave splashing over his head.

Thinking fast, he dived under the water, peering through the gloom. He saw the tentacle, and Hermione on the end. He didn't have a plan. The only thought that was wedged firmly in his mind was the impulse to get to Hermione.

He swam as hard as he could through the dim water, yet it still took what seemed like centuries to reach her. As the squid brought its tentacle up to raise her into the sky yet again, he grabbed on to the slimy flesh, clung to it for all he was worth.

Then they broke the surface, gasping in air and coughing out water.

'Are you alright?' he asked as soon as he could breathe. He was clinging onto the tentacle, directly facing Hermione, although this was more from luck than design.

'Draco… you came to save me…' she said. Her face was pale, her eyes widened. He hoped she wasn't going into shock.

'Of course I bloody well came to save you.' he replied. 'Are you hurt?'

She seemed to pull herself together. 'I'm fine. Cold and wet, but fine. What are you going to do?'

'Erm…' Draco paused, looking as sheepish as it was possible for a Malfoy to look. 'I hadn't really got to that part yet. I have my wand though.' It occurred to him that very few spells would work on a creature this size, and he inwardly cursed his rashness.

'Oh. Well I have a suggestion.' Hermione said, as the squid lifted them ever higher.

'What?'

The squid paused in its upwards trajectory.

'Hold on. Tight.'

And then they were rushing, the wind whipping at soaking wet clothes, and Hermione was screaming. They tore through the air, Draco clinging on for dear life.

And then they hit the water.

Bright winter sunlight was replaced by the dull, distilled underwater glow, screams replaced by heavy silence. The squid tugged them this way and that, and Draco could do nothing but look at Hermione and try to tell her with his eyes it would be alright. He would be here.

There was a horrible moment when Draco thought the squid wasn't going to let her go. That they would both die down here, lungs burning for air. He didn't know how long Hermione could hold her breath…

And then, miraculously, the squid released them, sliding away into the shadowy depths. He grasped for her hand, kicking upwards for the surface, up and up towards the light, kicking and hoping for that elusive fresh air…

Draco's head broke the water, and he gasped in the air. Hermione's head broke the surface a second later, and she began coughing so hard she could barely take a breath. It was over. They were safe.

But then something dragged Hermione down, pulling her hand out of his, and he looked into the water to see her panicked and frightened face looking back up at him, hair struggling and billowing around her face like a fearful aura. He didn't have time to think: he simply took the biggest gasp of air he could and dived after her.

~*~

Up in the Gryffindor common room, tension was growing. The four plotters watched with a mixture of eagerness and tension. They watched as the squid flailed Hermione around, feeling quite glad that the creature had no intention of hurting her. They saw Draco dive into the waters, grasp onto the squid's tentacle with Hermione and be raised high into the air. They watched the surface in nervous anticipation as the two figures swam up to the surface, wondering what would happen now the danger was over…

'Something's wrong.' Harry said suddenly. And indeed, something was. The familiar head of the soaking Slytherin had appeared above water, and then Hermione's, but less than a second later she had vanished back under the surface.

Ron froze. 'Harry,' he asked, paling, 'is there anything else in that lake?'

Harry thought back to fourth year, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. His eyes widened.

'Grindylows.'

~*~

Draco kicked his way through the eerie darkness. He could almost see the bottom of the lake: fortunately they were close to the shore, and the water wasn't too deep. A forest of weed stretched away on all sided of him, but nowhere could he see Hermione.

He turned, thrashing through the water. His lungs were already burning, and he could feel his heart thumping, trying to send the last remnants of oxygen around a body that cried out for more. He span, turning this way and that through the liquid, peering through the dim and murky light for any sign of movement…

And there! A hand caught his attention, vanished. Then Hermione half-struggled her way out of a bed of weeds, kicking and twisting. Clinging to her was a horde of Grindylows, malicious smirks on their horned faces, dragging her back as though it were all a marvellous game. He kicked himself closer, pointing his wand at the water demons.

'Beluanocte!' he shouted. The spell didn't make a sound, and a large bubble of his precious air vanished upwards. But an inky black stream poured out of his wand, forming itself into a ghastly face with rather more fangs than were absolutely necessary. It was admittedly a Dark spell, but right now he didn't care.

The translucent creature flew at the Grindylows, making hissing noises that were something other than sound, chasing the creatures away from Hermione and into the murky cobalt distance. With lungs screaming for air and the edges of his vision wavering, he kicked over to Hermione, grasping her by the shoulders. Her eyes were open but unseeing, and she floated limply in the water, her hair mingling with the weed.

Fear rising within him, he grabbed her around the waist and swam for the surface, knowing this was a race against time. The light was tantalisingly close, seeming to shimmer just above him, but every kick was slower as his entire body cried out in protest for oxygen. Hermione was dead weight, pulling him down, until he felt as though he wasn't moving at all, just kicking fruitlessly and moving nowhere…

Death lurked beneath him, Life above, and he was caught in-between. He strained, trying desperately to reach the surface, reach the air. He wouldn't let the water claim them. He wouldn't let them be doomed forever to a watery grave, couldn't let Hermione die… Darkness closed in, reaching an icy hand towards him to kill them both…

And then he broke the surface, gasping and spluttering the blessedly sweet air. He gave Hermione one last tug, holding her face above water, checking desperately for her breathing, feeling with frozen fingers for a pulse…

There was none.

For a second his own heartbeat stopped. No. This couldn't happen, she couldn't die… she couldn't! Hermione… He raised his wand, amazed to find he was still clutching it in a death grip and hadn't lost it underwater. Gently, he pressed the tip to her throat.

'Vivere.' he whispered, watching a silver spark flicker for a second across her skin. Draco pressed two fingers to her throat, feeling for a pulse. There was nothing. 'Vivere.' he muttered again, his voice urgent with a flicker of fear. He trod water; not feeling the cold, not feeling anything but the rush of his bloodstream, a roar composed of a million tiny voices crying out against her death…

And then a movement under his fingers as the sluggish and stilled blood moved. And then another, and another, and another, and her chest rose to breathe in the oxygen, and she was alive.

The moment he realised this he felt a sudden burst of energy pour through him. Most other people would have classed it as pain, but to Draco it was merely a rather severe tingling. It flooded through him like fiery sunlight made liquid, a river of something like celebration, something like joy. For an instant his arm where it clung desperately to Hermione glowed. His nerve ends vibrated with its power.

And then the world suddenly seemed to flip, and he suddenly realised he was in the middle of a freezing lake in winter, feet pedalling the water automatically to keep them afloat, bobbing up and down slightly. His fingers were still pressed to Hermione's neck, feeling the steady pulse. Her skin was pale with cold, blue-tinged.

Draco kicked out for the shore, going slowly with muscles that protested against every movement. He swam, clinging to Hermione, until the shore came up to meet him and he pulled himself upright onto legs that didn't want to obey him. The cold breeze whipped him cruelly, sinking into his soaking clothes. He didn't shiver.

Hermione lay as if dead on the ground: he had to watch her chest rise and fall a few times to convince himself she was actually breathing. Draco picked up his cloak, glad it was dry, and carefully placed it over Hermione's inert form. He felt strangely empty, as though even his emotions had been through too much exercise with too little oxygen, and refused to work properly.

He glanced up at the castle, wiping some pale and wet hair from his eyes. Hermione probably ought to see Madame Pomfrey, he realised. And what about the cold? She could catch something…

Kneeling by her side, he pulled out his wand. It would be easiest to get to the school if she were awake… 'Enervate' he muttered, and Hermione's snow-white eyelids slowly flickered open, revealing chocolate brown orbs. Just looking at her eyes, he realised, made him feel warmer.

Hermione blinked, seeming to bring Draco into focus. 'Draco?' she asked, her voice a whisper.

'It's me. Are you alright?'

'I'm fine, I…' Her face screwed up in immense concentration. 'What happened? We were walking and the squid… you saved me.' She finished on a note of something like surprise. Her tone hurt like a glass splinter piercing the skin, and Draco's mind began automatically to flick through witty ripostes.

'Did you imagine I'd watch as you drowned?' he asked, a slight drawl in his voice but no malice. He could never feel malicious towards her, after all. 'Sitting on the sidelines, cheering on the Giant Squid, waving a little flag, perhaps?'

Hermione gave him a look that was a mixture of irritation and sympathy. 'No, of course not. It's just… well, I'm not exactly used to you being my knight in shining armour, so to speak.'

Draco's eyes alighted on the nearest tree. He didn't look at her: eye contact would just have been uncomfortable. 'I wouldn't expect you to.' he said finally. 'Not now: not yet.'

There was a moment's pause. The wind picked up, making dripping hair slap against icy skin. It seemed to blow away the mention of anything romantic: as long as it wasn't spoken, they could pretend it didn't matter. Hermione shivered, drawing Draco's attention.

'We should get back to the school.' he said, standing up. Hermione scrambled to her feet, holding the cloak around her.

They walked in silence for a little way. Finally Hermione spoke, but as she did so her teeth were chattering.

'What exactly happened?' she asked. 'Everything's confused… We were walking… and the squid caught me, and then you tried to rescue me, but when it let us go… Something was pulling me back down.'

'Grindylows.' Draco remarked helpfully.

'That's right, I remember now. They were trying to drown me.' Hermione's voice didn't change: it sounded as though she were talking about a dream, or something vague and formless dredged up from her subconcious.

'But then… there was something about your father, I remember that.'

His father? Draco's father had been there? Draco suddenly experienced a rather bizarre mental image of Lucius sitting regally amongst a bed of weeds. He shook it out of his head impatiently.

'My father wasn't there, Hermione.'

'He was! There was this little stone room, and lots of noise, and he… he tortured you, I think, and then he tried to kill me but you jumped in front of me and then Ron Stupefied him.' Hermione frowned. 'No, wait… that doesn't make sense though.' She sighed. 'Maybe I'm going mad. Maybe it was a dream, or a hallucination, or…'

She paused, because Draco had stopped dead, staring at her with a light in his eyes and the first smile to light up his face in days.

'Not a dream. Not a hallucination. A… memory.'

~*~

*stuffs fingers in ears to drown out screams of fans* Yes – Hermione got a memory back! Although of course not all of them yet… Just the one. For anyone who was confused, no, Lucius wasn't there. When she was, well, dead, Hermione had a flashback to the attack on Hogwarts and got confused between what happened for a bit. However, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Lucius yet… *cough*

Again, I peppered things with Latin: 'Beluanocte' is from the words 'belua', a monster, and 'nocte', meaning from the night. 'Vivere' simply means 'to live'.

Hmm – I wonder that that energy-thingy was??? Was it anything important? What do you think?

Well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. You know what I'd enjoy? Reviews!!! (I also put up some original pieces and rather bed poetry which you could look at if you are bored…)