Hope you like chapter, I made it long! Sorry for not updating earlier, I got really busy and all...I'll be more prompt in the future! Thanks for all of your reviews, and keep reviewing please!! :)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hermione choked on the air and felt as if she was glued to the ground as she stared into the black eyes of her smirking potion's master. Her mind flitted through countless excuses; none however she knew would work on Snape. She quickly stooped down and clawed at the packets of ingredients strewn on the floor; but Snape was too quick for her. He grabbed a packet just as she was about to pick it up and held it close to his face. "Shredded Flaxen? What else have you got there," he said.

Snape took a few steps closer to her. "I did not expect to see such a student like you back here in my private stores." Hermione noticed the emphasis he put on the word private. "However you have probably come here for a reason." He said as he stared thoughtfully at the stone wall ahead while rubbing his chin. Hermione felt waves of nausea wash over her; she knew Snape was deliberately taking his time. Without warning he stepped up and grabbed the ingredients which she had slowly loosened her hold on. "Bicorn horns? Billywigs? Jellied newts? What can you possibly need these for?" He said as he studied his packets with a puzzled look on his face.

Hermione watched as comprehension dawned on his face. "Ah…But this cannot be. Ms. Granger?" He said as if he could not believe his eyes. "A-Are you pregnant?" Hermione knew what to say now. "No I'm not. I-I was doing a bit of studying on my own and I w-wanted the ingredients."

"I see. But you do not have my permission." He said smirking openly and evilly. Hermione's heart stopped then thudded louder and louder. Snape had almost found her out…well who wouldn't find out in a few months from now… She shuddered at the thought of looking overly conspicuous soon and have millions of eyes wash over her as she traversed Hogwart's halls…

"Ms. Granger!" Snape said angrily snapping her back into reality. "Please return those ingredients to my keeping and return to class. We will discuss a suitable detention of my liking"; he smirked at the thought "after class."

Hermione did not want to do what she was about to do; but he had left her no choice. She felt as if she was betraying Dumbledore's trust as she pulled out a slip of parchment from her robes. She held it out for his suspicious eyes. "I have permission from the Headmaster." She said. He scanned the paper wordlessly then gave her a slightly resigned look. "You may take the ingredients then." He turned and faced his back towards her. Hermione took this as a signal to leave. She clutched her ingredients and hid them among the fold of her robes. She reentered class unnoticed, as the class was trying to protect itself from the aqua colored spark their cauldrons were emitting.

She slipped her ingredients inside her school satchel and was about to turn around when she felt a light tap on her arm. She jumped slightly then turned to face Harry's worried eyes. "Hermione have you seen Ron at all, since last night? Because he didn't come back to Gryffindor Tower after dinner…I was wondering where he was. He's not in classes either." Hermione scanned the class with her eyes and sure enough she had not spotted any redhead.

She felt like there was a stone sinking slowly to her stomach; the stone being her guilt. Where had Ron gone? Then suddenly her words from last night echoed around her head and she saw Ron's hurt expression. She closed her eyes and winced as if in pain. "I-I don't know where he is Harry…" She said turning to look at him. "I hope he's alright wherever he is, because I'm starting to get worried. I'm thinking about telling Dumbledore." Harry replied. She nodded and he walked back to his seat. Hermione slowly began chopping her nectar reeds with cold fingers and thoughts of Ron.

Ron slowly opened his eyes and blinked once; twice. His surroundings seemed to sway in front of him and they looked blurry. A door in the corner opened and a person came in with greenish hair tangled with twigs and a body with a slight greenish tinge. Ron gasped as he noticed that it was not a person; it was a mermaid. Her tail had silver scales that would have gleamed in the sunlight; but were suppressed with the dark water. Water? Ron felt he could not breathe, and he tried to raise his hands for help; then darkness enveloped him once more.

Hermione raced through the empty halls; her nimble feet making no sound on the flagged stone floor. She felt the sweat on her body cool and she felt cold as she ran to her dormitory. The portrait swung to the side and she rushed into the room with her ingredients. She felt sick to her stomach as she ran the steps to her room then dumped her things on the bed. She dropped on the bed and blinked back tears of frustration and self-pity. She got up hastily wiping them away and set about getting her ingredients ready. There was no time to think. She mixed the ingredients then let them simmer. Then she did a complex time spell that she had learned over the summer which took her three and three fourths of an hour forward in time. This time the contents in the cauldron were a deep magenta and she dipped in her ladle. She hesitated putting the steaming contents into her mouth but the paper had said take no heed for heat. She sipped the potion then swallowed it when she realized it was strangely chilled.

She felt the cold potion running its course through her veins and she lay on the bed in exhaustion. When the feeling stopped she sat up and pulled up her robes. She let out a cry of anguish for her stomach was bright red, as if it had a terrible rash. She ran her hands over it, but it just seemed like it was colored red, there were no rash like effects. She slumped back on to the bed and wept.

Ron awoke once more, and this time he was not afraid. He had been subconscious for a long while, and bits and pieces of his for now fragmented memory flitted through his mind; a kind face peering at him concernedly, putting a spoon made of cool stone to his lips. He had enough energy now to lift up his hands and he felt his face for gills. He knew he could have not survived in the water if he was not regularly being fed gillyweed. He removed the reedy covers he was using and he saw a dark green tail emerge from underneath. With newfound muscles he flexed it and took a curious swim around the little hut-like cabin he was inside. He approached the door and put his hand on the smooth stone knob, which was made of a smoothened rock.

Suddenly the door opened to his surprise and the same mermaid he had encountered earlier came inside, and he saw delight and fear wash over her face at once. She quickly shut the door behind her and appraised him with wide eyes. "Get back on the bed," she said in a sort of throaty gurgle. He listened and waded back to the bed. She walked over to a wall and lifted a large leaf covering the window. She squinted and peered out. She sighed gratefully and went over to a stone counter and started mixing things inside a mortar. Ron saw her hold a wriggling ball of gillyweed which she slowly crushed with powerful strokes with her pestle. Then she came to him and held out the bowl. He looked at the slimy rat tails which had separated and mixed with a blend of other things distastefully. She forced down a few spoons, and then he did it by himself.

She watched him from a corner of the room then spoke; "Do not leave this place. My people will not welcome the likes of you. I will take care of you until you are well. Then you must leave and not return." She said this with a sad note in her voice. There was a loud rapping noise on the door and her eyes widened in fright. She hid Ron under the bed then draped the reed bedclothes over the bed in such a way so as to conceal him. The knocking grew louder and more impatient, and she opened the door.

"Sirena. Who were you speaking to? I forbade you to meet anyone." She was pushed aside; Ron could see through the cracks in the woven reeds. A large merman with tangled greenish hair and a beard with things woven into it from the lake made a cursory look around the room. Ron stiffened as he approached the bed and he saw the stone bowl with a few of its remaining contents strewn on the floor. "What's this?" He growled and he picked it up. "It's only food." Sirena said in a small voice. The large merman flung the bowl towards the other wall in a fury and it resounded with a clang. He then came toward Sirena and pushed her towards the bed. "Once I found out who's been here they will go to the Maersken, along with you!" Sirena was sobbing now and he left while banging the door shut.

Ron waited a few minutes then tapped her tail through the bedclothes. He was not sure if it was safe to come out. She made a startled "oh!" and helped him out. "Who was that?" Ron said brushing himself off. "H-He is my so called husband. I was forcefully married to him, and he does not tolerate me seeing anyone…I am very alone, and am not allowed to see my friends either. She sobbed more and Ron comforted her by whispering comforting words in her ears and putting his arm around her, while he gazed at the upturned bowl lying across the room.

Hermione had gone back to classes after using a simple vanishing spell to clear up her potion mess. She had gone around with a bleak mood, and she supposed having a good cry had helped. She was going to tell Draco the news when they were alone together tonight.

Her mind didn't seem to be on the lessons, and she kept imagining various scenarios in which she told Draco the news, and saw how he reacted. Finally it was dark outside; as she came back up from dinner after having a brief chat with Ginny and Lavender who made her feel a little lighter. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

Suddenly she heard a faint whiny voice saying; "Draco I know you want me! Why isn't it like it was before, we had such good times! I could make everything better and you wouldn't have to console yourself with that- that-. "No! I'm not leaving! I'll make you happy, we are meant to be!" Hermione knew that voice. She climbed the stairs rapidly but slowly, and peered through the tiny space in which the door had left open. She opened the door all the way and gasped at what she saw; Pansy Parkinson was lying on top of Draco kissing him earnestly with her robes hanging open. Hermione felt the world reel beneath her feet and she crumpled to the floor.