Eh...not exactly the best of chapters but what can I say? My finals just ended and my brain doesn't feel like functioning. On a good note, I did extremely well on my French final...

Anyways, thank you soooo much to everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They are all owned by J. K. Rowling but I do own those characters, which you don't recognize.


Albus Dumbledore was a very patient man. He took his time in doing what he did because he knew that in the end, what ever he did would be done as it should. His philosophy did not make sense to many of his colleagues but it did not bother him in the least.

Christmas was a wonderful time for him. He would get mounds of presents. Some would say that it was rather juvenile of him to look forward to getting presents but he did not mind.

It amazed him the kind of gifts he received every Christmas. In his opinion, a gift showed how well you knew a person. Judging by the gifts he received, it was safe to say that not many people knew him that well. What he really wanted for Christmas was a good pair of socks. Lemon drops would be nice as well.

Dumbledore patted Fawkes, his phoenix absentmindedly. This year had been quite a good one. Nothing had happened, which was a sign that there would be trouble in the future. Any trouble that had occurred around the school had immediately been put to a stop by the Head Boy and Girl.

He let a small smile cross his face as he thought about them. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had been the only two candidates most suitable for the head positions. Yet, they were mortal enemies. He chuckled slightly and held out a lemon drop for Fawkes to eat. Dumbledore knew that Hermione had been at Hogsmeade this night. He had seen her coming in late and found it rather thoughtful of her to spend so much time choosing presents for her friends.

She would not let anything ruin her mood for sure, not even Draco Malfoy. Dumbledore glanced at his fireplace with a relaxed smile. He looked at his clock which read eleven o'clock. So much could happen in an hour. He chuckled slightly and mumbled, "Young love." Pushing himself out of his chair, he patted Fawkes once more and retired to his chambers for a good sleep. He didn't want to miss anything on Christmas morning.


Deep underneath the frozen waters of the lake, Draco was sleeping peacefully on opposite ends of the cell. Hermione on the other hand was wide awake and staring at Draco with disdain etched all over her face. If it weren't for him, they would have been free from this place. He just had to spark an argument in front of the queen and cause her to have a massive allergy attack. Allergy attack.

She snorted to herself thinking about the absurdity of the whole thing. Never in her life had she ever heard of anything so stupid. Nowhere did it say that merpeople were affected by the emotions of the humans around them.

Hermione let out a sigh as she let the thoughts run through her head. It was indeed a fine way to spend vacation. Everyone back at the castle would probably be so wrapped up in having a good time that no one would notice that she was missing.

She glanced over at Draco's sleeping body and scowled. She would never be able to figure out how to get out of here by herself. She didn't even have her wand.

With a disgruntled look plastered on her face, she managed to swim towards him. It was a bit difficult to stay in one place as she could not stand on her fins. She had to fold them in a certain way so that it would not pain her when they were resting on the ground.

"Malfoy, wake up." Hermione looked down at the blond who was peacefully snoring away. She whacked him with her fins and smirked as he slid into the wall.

Draco groggily looked up and rubbed his head. The first thing he saw was Hermione smirking down at him. He scowled at her and asked, "What do you want, Granger?"

"We can't stay in here forever."

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered, "One of us will inevitably end up dead by the time a day is over."

Hermione looked at him with a strange look on her face and said, "You're probably right..."

"Aren't I always," he muttered.

"Oh, do shut up." Hermione glared at him venomously as he smirked at her. "Look, I don't like this any more than you do but I really want to get back to the castle."

"Good luck with that," replied Draco, sweeping his blond hair out of his eyes.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. He infuriated her quite a bit. She sighed and said, "I, unlike you, actually look forward to Christmas." She placed her hands on her hip and looked down at him.

Draco looked up at her sullenly. She had a point. Even though he did not enjoy the holiday one bit, that didn't mean that he should ruin it for her. As much as he hated her, he did not feel like ruining her mood. Besides, if she was in a bad mood, he would have to put up with it for the rest of the time that they were stuck in here. Now that Draco thought of it, if he didn't help her, she would become so angry at him that their "intense hatred" for one another would grow even bigger causing the queen to keep them in here for an indefinite amount of time. He did not want that. No, he would rather eat flobberworms than spend the rest of his life with Hermione Granger.

He scowled and said, "Fine...I suppose I could help you but I want something in return."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

Draco frowned and replied, "Err...when I figure out what, I'll tell you."

She snorted at his reply and sat down a few feet away from him. The only problem was that rather than sitting down, she fell down. "I'll never get used to these," she muttered.

"Then don't stand," snapped Draco, who appeared deep in thought.

Hermione scowled at him before racking her brains for ideas...


The queen was feeling extremely ill. Her nose was very red contrasting greatly with her pale skin. Gráinne's eyes were swollen and held a look of extreme loathing. The two mortals, whom she had taken from the above world, had asked to see her. It was a rather bold move in her opinion. She had the power to kill them with the point of her finger. Perhaps they had resolved their hatred. She managed to let out a slight chuckle that was followed by a rather loud fit of coughing.

One of her maids rushed over to her and comfortingly patted her back. "Are you alright, your majesty?"

Gráinne waved her hand at the mermaid who bowed her head and swam back to her former position. She knew that the mortals had not resolved their conflicts. Seven years of hatred could not suddenly vanish within a few hours. She was curious as to what they wanted to say though.

A guard with long brown hair entered the room and bowed. "The mortals are here to see you," he said.

"Let them in," she rasped. Her black eyes narrowed as Hermione and Draco swam awkwardly into the room. They reminded her of merbabies who were learning how to swim properly.

"What could possibly be so important," she coughed, "that you have so rudely demanded an audience with me?"

Hermione shot a glance at Draco who did nothing. "We've resolved our...conflicts for now and have agreed to partake in a...truce until we leave Hogwarts."

Gráinne shifted slightly in her bed as she regarded Hermione. "A truce you say?" She raised an eyebrow and burst out laughing. Her laughing soon turned into a row of sneezes. Rubbing her nose, she replied, "A truce is nothing. It does not take away emotions. It merely puts them on hold. They are stored away for later use." She raised her pale hand, which had become rather wrinkled and pointed it at the two.

"When you finally do unleash your emotions, do you think others won't be bothered by it?" The queen sneezed and said, "Truces are pathetic." A small smile flitted across her face as she said, "Did you really think you could get away with it?"

"With what?" asked Draco.

Gráinne let out a raspy laugh and replied, "This was undoubtedly part of your brilliant escape plan, blond mortal." She leaned forward slightly and spat. "Mermaids are never to be fooled with. You can never lie to one without getting caught."

She gestured to a maid and let out an ear piercing screech causing Draco and Hermione to flinch. It must not have sounded like a screech because, the maid nodded to her and with a bow, left the room only to bring back a small brown chest about the size of her arm. It was covered with seaweed and shells. She put it on the queen's bed.

Gráinne opened the chest and pulled out two wands. Hermione gasped and said, "Our wands!"

The queen smirked slightly and said, "These? Yes, they appear to be your wands." She began bending them slightly. "I wonder what would happen if I bent them too much."

"You can't do that!" shot Draco, his blue eyes ablaze.

"Oh? Why ever not, mortal?" asked Gráinne in a mocking voice.

Draco scowled at her and replied, "That would leave us defenseless. I thought that merpeople were fair creatures."

Hermione turned to Draco and muttered, "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"I'm trying to get our wands back." He looked at the queen who was scowling at him. "Besides, leaving us defenseless in their territory-

"Would be as good as killing us," mumbled Hermione. She shook her head and looked him in the eye. "I hope you know what you're doing because if you don't and we end up dying, I will hunt you down and kill you myself."

"You can't kill me if I'm already dead," he muttered looking back at the queen who was watching them with a suspicious look. He thought about what Hermione had said and felt himself shiver slightly. Knowing her, she probably would find a way to kill him.

Gráinne was looking at the two with a suspicious look. Mortals' talking between themselves was never a good sign. She had seen enough of them to know that they were planning something. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Placing the two wands back in the box, she gestured for her maid to come. "Give the mortals back their wands," she muttered. The blond one was rather clever, she had to admit. Turning it around so it seemed as though she was the vile one.

The maid swam over to Hermione and Draco and slowly opened the case. Draco snatched his wand from the case and immediately stuffed it into his robe. Hermione on the other hand looked at her wand then hesitantly reaching for it, she asked, "There's a catch, isn't there?"

Gráinne laughed and noted to herself that she did not even sneeze or cough afterwards. "Of course, dear mortal, there is always a catch. You can not expect me to return your lifeline without a price."

Hermione glanced sideways at Draco, who was trying his hardest not to scowl. "What do you want?"

Gráinne cleared her throat and said, "As punishment for lying to the queen and...receiving your wands, I command that the two of you be sent to..." She sat up in her bed and twirled her black hair between her fingers. Her coal eyes gleamed with treachery as she said, "Merda."

"You're joking," burst out Hermione. She realized what she had done and clamped a hand over her mouth as Draco elbowed her in the ribs.

Gráinne laughed heartily and sneezed. "I don't joke. And I definitely do not lie either."

"Merda really exists?" asked Hermione, her eyes growing wider and wider by the second. "I've read about the legend but I never thought..."

"You should think more often then," snapped the queen. She straightened out the blanket that was on top of her and said, "They'll know exactly what to do." To herself, she muttered, "And they won't refuse if they know what's good for them." She sniffed at Hermione and Draco and said, "You both will stay there until I figure out how to dispose of the two of you properly."

"You can't do that!" yelled Draco, his grey eyes flashing angrily as the guards began hauling him and Hermione away. "That's murder!"

"You're in my world now," she cackled in reply. "What I say goes." Gráinne watched with a cold look in her eyes as the two mortals were dragged out of the room. She heard someone clear their throat and turned to see one of her maids looking at her with a curious expression.

"Forgive me your highness but didn't you say that you were not going to hurt them?" The mermaid bowed her head slightly.

Gráinne sneezed two times and began fiddling with her hair. "I did say that and I won't. They don't know that, do they?"

The maid cracked a slight smile and said, "Very good, your highness."


Draco glared at Hermione as his head crashed into the ceiling of the cart they were in. As soon as they had left the queen, the guard had hauled them into a black cart with barely enough room to fit the both of them. "This is your entire fault, you know."

Hermione looked sullenly back at him and asked, "How?"

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered, "Everything's your fault."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and turned away. She looked out the window of the cart they were in and frowned. "I still can't believe that Merda exists."

"Of course it exists," scoffed Draco.

Hermione looked at him with an incredulous look and said, "I know you have no idea what I'm talking about, Malfoy." She shifted her hands, which were bound together by rope and said, "Merda is a group of creature err...the offspring of merpeople who bred with humans-

"With humans?" Draco sneered at Hermione and said, "That's not possible."

"That's why I never thought it was real but apparently it is. Anyways, they were rejected by humans and mer-folk alike because of who they were. It was mostly from the merpeople so they were said to have killed of a couple million merpeople around the world. They finally ended up here and well...somehow, they were stopped. This was way before Hogwarts was founded so it became legend. Naturally no one knows how they were stopped but they were."

Draco stared at her as though she was crazy and said, "What's the point of sending us to them then?"

Hermione's mouth quivered slightly as she replied, "I- I don't know."

Draco groaned and unintentionally banged his head against the wall behind him. "I wish I had my wand," he muttered.

"That was rather rude of them, taking them away right when we got them." Draco rolled his eyes at her and turned away.

Hermione stared at him rather perplexed by his behavior. Truth be told, she was not as worried as before. In fact, she found this place rather interesting. It was a bit like a place you could go to when you wanted to get away from everything. She couldn't understand why he hated it so much. Besides, it was a good learning experience. She shook her head and managed a small smile. She knew that she was the only person who would ever say that.

Draco puzzled her. She found that for some odd reason, he seemed rather tired off everything. She had thought that something was bothering him for a while but she was no expert on the human mind. She wished that she could do something to help him. He would never take anything from her of course but she could always try.

Hermione yelped as the cart haphazardly crashed into something causing her to crash into Draco. Draco pushed her off him roughly and scowled at her reminding her exactly why she detested him. Sighing to herself, she hoped that all this would end soon...