Chapter 8 — A Leap of Faith

Harry and Hermione walked to the end of the dock and climbed up the ladder onto the boat. The man was waiting there for them and he was exactly as the waitress described. He was a bit scraggly looking as if personal hygiene wasn't his number one priority — his beard was long and greying, and one eye was green, the other brown. A small, hooped gold earring glinted in the moonlight in his left ear. He smiled at them as if he smelled their fear, displaying a set of brown and rotting teeth. Hermione had to stop herself from gagging and losing her dinner on the spot. If he was the guardian of the Sirens as he claimed he was, she supposed he looked the part.

The man gestured for them to follow him inside of the small, but now, brightly lit cabin. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and they slowly followed.

"Have a seat," the man rasped pointing to the two chairs on one side of the table. "Tea?"

"Yes please," Hermione blurted out before Harry could refuse. This man was going to help him, they needed to accept his hospitality even if the boat looked unsanitary.

They accepted their tea graciously and the man took a seat across from them in a chair that looked like it was on its last leg.

"I haven't formally introduced myself, but as Connie said, the name's R.J. Barrett. And you are Hermione—"

"Granger, sir. And this is Harry, Harry Potter." The man's eyes went straight to Harry's forehead and in typical Harry fashion, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat and patted his hair down on his forehead in an attempt to conceal his scar. Hermione grabbed his other hand in comfort.

"Potter, eh? Heard of you, of course. But that's neither here nor there. Let's get down to business. I know why you're here, but I need a little more information. It's my job to protect the Sirens after all."

"Is it?" Hermione asked, gasping in pain as Harry shoved an elbow into her ribs. "I mean, of course, it is, but why do they need so much protection and who assigned you to protect them?"

The man threw his head back and laughed heartily, nothing like the sinister-sounding laugh they had heard outside. "You're just full of questions aren't you?"

Hermione blushed and nodded as Harry replied, "That's what she does."

"Well, no harm in that. I might as well answer them for you." Hermione breathed in a sigh of relief and took a sip of the tea in front of her — it wasn't half bad.

"To make a long story short, the Sirens need protecting because in the last fifteen years or so fisherman and foreigners have taken it upon themselves to hunt the creatures for one reason or another."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "But how can they do that? Can't they defend themselves?"

The man nodded. "They can, but that doesn't stop foolhardy witches and wizards from climbing into the ocean and invading their home. Now, my team and I are in charge of protecting them — the International Confederation of Wizards contacted each Ministry throughout the world and gave them funds to protect the merpeople. When Connie hears a whisper about merpeople, she sends them my way. Not one person has dared go in after talking to me."

Hermione gulped and looked at Harry, hopefully the fear she was feeling showing in her eyes. They needed to get into that ocean, her life and their future depended on it!

"So that leads me back to my earlier statement. I need more information before I can tell you anything or even consider helping you. What you say will be kept in confidence if that is a concern for either of you." His eyes flitted once more across Harry's forehead before looking them both in the eye.

Harry spoke up. "It is a concern for us, but if don't mind me asking, how can we trust you with this information? We've been through a hell of the lot and with another war potentially on the horizon, we can't go spouting information that could be damaging in the long run."

"I don't blame you one bit. But this is where I tell you that both myself and my right-hand man have taken magical oaths to protect the Sirens at all costs and —"

"—I'm sorry," Hermione said, interrupting. "Could Harry and I have a moment to speak before we continue this conversation?"

If R.J was upset that she had interrupted him, he didn't show it. He nodded his head and pushed back from the table. "When you are ready to talk, just holler, I won't be far." Hermione nodded and he walked out the door, leaving them to discuss the matters at hand.

She looked at Harry and his brow was knitted in concentration. He looked at her and asked, "What do you think?"

"Well, I think we should trust him, Harry."

"I don't like it," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I know, I don't either, but what choice do we have. How else are we going to get any answers?" Hermione paused. "And if we are to believe that both he and his right-hand man took a magical oath to protect the Sirens, that would protect me too…" She trailed off and looked at Harry expectantly.

"Is that enough for you to trust him? That I fall under his protection?"

Harry didn't respond right away, but when he did, the hesitance was still there. "But you aren't a Siren, doesn't that mean something?"

Hermione sighed. "Harry, please hear me out." She leaned in close and grabbed his hands in hers. "I don't think we have a choice and just because it's possible that my condition could make its way back to Voldemort shouldn't stop us. If we go down there, we have a possibility of figuring this all out. If we don't, we are back to square one. Please?"

After a moment, Harry squeezed her hands and nodded in agreement. Hermione let go and called for R.J. to come back into the cabin.

Once he took his seat across from them, Hermione looked at Harry again and he nodded his head in what she interpreted as encouragement. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, you see sir—"

"No, no, please call me R.J. I ain't no professor that needs to be called sir."

Hermione smiled. "Okay, well you see R.J. we were in the Black Lake in Scotland at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the Triwizard Tournament. I was a hostage being rescued and while down there I got bitten. After some research and talking to the matron of Hogwarts, we determined I was bitten by a merperson. By the end of the school year, I could fully transform into a mermaid if fully immersed in water."

If R.J. was surprised by her story, he didn't show it. Hermione continued. "So we convinced my parents to vacation here so that we could explore the history behind the earliest recorded race of merpeople, the Sirens of Greece."

"And?" R.J. prompted.

"And," Harry butted in. "While in the library this morning we found some rather peculiar information. It's absolutely vital that we find the Sirens and speak to them."

"What did you find out?" R.J. asked, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

Hermione took a deep breath. "In short it said that the only merperson in a colony that can bite a human is the Merchieftain or Mercheiftainness." Hermione paused and debated divulging the rest of the information. She thought better of keeping it to herself and continued. "It also said that the Merchieftain or Merchieftainness are the only merpeople that can activate a bite mark."

"Activate? What do you mean activate?"

Both Harry and Hermione shrugged. "It didn't say anything else. You see, this is why we have to speak with them immediately. If any merpeople know, it has to be the Sirens."

The man sighed and rubbed his face. "It's quite dangerous you know. They are unpredictable creatures."

"We know," Harry and Hermione replied simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned.

"We're ready for the adventure," Harry added.

"We have been planning this for months, it feels like," Hermione said.

"Very well. I will help you, but I will not tell you where the colony is." Hermione's face fell. "But I will take you there, escorting you there and back safely. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Alright then, come back in the morning, eight sharp. And you boy, don't worry about getting that Gillyweed." Harry froze, realizing the man had read his mind once again without Harry realizing it. "We'll put you in a muggle diving suit and cast a bubble head charm."

Harry nodded in thanks. "We'd better go if we need to be back in the morning. Wouldn't want to worry your mum and dad."

"Thank you so much for your help, R.J. We appreciate it more than you know." Harry grabbed her hand and they waved their goodbyes climbing off the boat and onto the dock. As they made their way back to the hotel, Hermione couldn't help but throw her hands into the air in happiness.

"It's really happening, Harry! I can't believe it! And this is more than we could have hoped for. I just expected to figure everything out on our own, but he's going to help us, really help us."

Harry grinned. "Maybe it was The-Boy-Who-Lived garbage that won him over, you saw how he kept glancing at my scar."

"Awh, Harry, he was just starstruck is all," she said giggling.

Harry smiled at her and she watched as he looked around, the dock dangerously dark and quiet. She knew being in a secluded area worried him more than it would another, especially after the events of the Triwizard Tournament. If anyone knew that he was still on edge from the last several months, it was her.

"Come on," he whispered in Hermione's ear, grabbing her upper arm, willing her to walk faster. "Let's get out of here. It's making me uncomfortable." They hurried off to the hotel and arrived unscathed. They stopped into her parents' room before retiring to their own room. Housekeeping had been in, cleaning and making up the beds. Or bed, since they had been sharing since that night of Harry's nightmare. Quickly, Hermione went through her nightly routine before falling in bed next to Harry, who was already fast asleep. If her mind shut off from the excitement of the day for long enough, maybe she'd be able to get some sleep.

The sun rose bright and early the next morning, Hermione out of bed as soon as the sun made its appearance. She tossed and turned all night, too excited for the coming day. Harry had awoken in the middle of the night due to her restlessness and pulled her close. Only then did she allow her mind to shut down and drift to sleep.

Walking out of the washroom and running her fingers through her wet hair, Harry was just sitting up in bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Harry, you're awake," Hermione said, smiling, bounding over to the bed. "Are you ready for today?"

Harry leaned against the headboard as he reached for his glasses on the nightstand. "As I'll ever be." He pushed his glasses onto his face. "How are you this morning?"

"Tired, but excited. I couldn't sleep any longer."

Harry smiled. "I see that. You only got a few hours of sleep, I am surprised to see you up."

"You know me. I hope I didn't keep you up last night. I was worried you wouldn't be able to sleep after I woke you up."

Harry shook his head. "Nah, I slept fine. I am used to the boys' snoring in the dorm, especially Ron's. You being in the bed with me has completely stopped my nightmares, I'll take your wiggling over the horrors in my head any day." He slid out from underneath the covers. "I'm going to shower. We'll have to eat breakfast and go soon."

Hermione nodded and bit her lip as she watched a shirtless Harry saunter toward the bathroom. She couldn't deny that he looked good — training for Quidditch had left him quite fit and pleasant to look at.

She would never push him toward something he didn't want to do, but she was growing impatient. Harry refused to explain the kiss they had shared months ago and now they were sharing a bed and cuddling throughout the night. Hermione had awoken that morning with her leg draped over his hips, his erection pressing against her belly. She knew she wasn't ready for sex, but that didn't stop her from thinking about it. All she really wanted was a damn kiss. She wanted to feel his lips against hers once more and tangle her fingers in his already mussed hair.

She wanted to do teenage things! And she wanted to do them with Harry. Hermione didn't know why she was letting this get to her; Harry was going through so much especially with the return of Voldemort. His mind was most definitely preoccupied with other things. And come to think of it, hers should be too with this whole mermaid thing looming over her head.

Hermione sighed and sat up on the bed. She jumped in surprise when a tapping on the window grabbed her attention. Rushing to the window a tawny owl was sitting on the ledge, a letter attached to its leg. Opening the window, the owl flew in and landed on the sofa. Her fingers fumbling, she untied the letter.

"What is that?" Harry asked, walking into the room, wearing nothing but a towel tied around his waist, his chest still exposed. Her face heated up and she stumbled over her words.

"I-I don't know. It's addressed to me though. It looks like...but, no it couldn't be."

Harry walked closer and peered over her shoulder. "What is it?" he asked again. Hermione didn't respond and instead slipped her finger underneath the seal, opening the letter.

"Viktor Krum?" Harry asked, blurting it out immediately. She had known for sure just seeing the writing at the top of the page.

Hermione nodded and continued to read. When she finished, she sighed and brought her hands and the letter to her side.

"What does he want?" Harry asked, his eyebrows raised.

She furrowed her brow. "You weren't reading over my shoulder?"

Harry shook his head. "I figured you'd just tell me."

"Here," she said, thrusting the letter into his hands. "Read it and then tell me what you think." Hermione watched as Harry read the letter and when he finished he looked at her curiously and then laughed.

"He asked you to spend some of your summer with him? What would your parents think?"

Hermione grabbed the letter out of his hands and smacked him on the shoulder with it. "Ouch, woman, trying to give me a paper cut?"

Hermione grinned. "Yes, he asked me to spend some of the summer with him right after he pulled me out of the lake. But I didn't give him a for sure answer and we haven't talked about it since."

"So why is he writing to you about it now?" Harry asked, stepping over to his trunk full of clothes and slipping a t-shirt over his chest.

Hermione shrugged and turned away as Harry pulled on a pair of boxers underneath his towel. When she turned back around, he had already slipped on a pair of jeans and was buttoning them up.

"You read the letter. He says he misses me and hopes to see me before the summer is over. But how do you tell someone that is interested in you, that you're not interested?"

Harry grimaced. "I don't think I am exactly the best person to ask about that. I'm pants at the romantic relationship thing. You know that."

Hermione nodded. "It's okay," she whispered. "I can figure it out. I'll wait until we find the Sirens before writing back. Maybe that will give me some ideas."

"How could swimming around in the ocean with some mermaids possibly give you any ideas?"

"You never know. I've come up with ideas in odd places, you never know when inspiration is going to strike!"

Harry grinned and shook his head. "You are an odd one, Granger."

"That I am, now go," she said, shoo'ing him out. "I need to get dressed for a date with the mermaids."

—

With breakfast in their bellies and hot tea in to-go cups in hand, they made the trek back to R.J's boat. Hermione was giddy with excitement, Harry stoic, as always in the face of the unknown.

As they approached the third dock from the end, the white boat came into view. In the daylight, it was even more rundown than she had originally thought. Maybe it was charmed to look that way? Otherwise, why didn't R.J. just magically make it look more appealing?

Harry must have read her mind. "This doesn't look like a government-funded project."

Hermione shook her head in agreement and took a sip of her tea. "But we have no other choice do we?"

"After you then," Harry said gesturing to the boat. Just as they were climbing up the rope ladder, they heard, "There you are. Thought you might have forgotten."

"Were you hoping?" Hermione asked quietly as they pulled themselves onto the deck of the ship. He heard her and let out a booming laugh, one similar to the night before that vaguely reminded her of Hagrid.

"You got a sharp tongue on ya, lassie. I like that. But nah, I wasn't hoping you'd back out. I don't get to go on adventures like these much, I scare 'em all off!"

Hermione smiled nervously and Harry gave the man a tight smile, which R.J. seemingly ignored. "Well come on over here then; I have to get you prepared before we sail off."

They followed him to the other side of the boat, where he had first appeared the night before. Hermione looked around curiously and nudged Harry in the side. "You don't think he runs this by himself do you?" she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Harry shrugged. "Beats me."

Their question was answered moments later when a trap door flipped open to reveal a young man, the polar opposite of R.J. It scared Hermione so much that she had jumped back and a little screech fell from her lips. A bit of her tea spilled on the deck, but the man who had appeared whisked it away with the wave of his hand.

"Sorry," he said, sheepishly giving them a grin. "It's a part of the script."

"Script?" Harry asked, frowning.

"Little sailor humour, you know? Nah, you Brits wouldn't understand." The man climbed the rest of the way out of the trap door and held out his hand. "The name's Geoffrey, but please call me Geoff."

They shook his hand and introduced themselves. "Pleasure to meet you both," he replied.

"R.J. giving you the tour?" Geoff asked.

Hermione nodded. "Though a tour of what, I am not entirely sure."

Geoff laughed. "He is just preparing you for what you could potentially face. I would say don't take it too seriously, but really, you should take it very seriously." He gestured back to R.J. and they turned their attention back to him.

"So I know neither of you know what to expect with the Sirens, the only experience you have with mermaids being the Selkies in the Black Lake in Scotland. Sirens are different. You've heard the Greek legends the muggles spew out?"

They nodded their heads. "It's not legend, it's true. They use to call sailors to their death with their beauty and their singing. Not so much anymore, but it still happens occasionally especially to muggles as magic blood resists the pull... to an extent at least."

R.J. continued, "Sirens are more vicious than the Selkies." Harry looked at Hermione with both of his eyebrows raised and disappearing into his hairline. "Better believe it boy."

"This could turn potentially dangerous which is why we are not going down there with you," Geoff added in.

If the man was expecting an outburst, it never came. Both teenagers once again just nodded their heads. Hermione said, "We expected as much. Especially since we came to Greece thinking we had to do all of this on our own anyway."

"We've faced worse, trust me. The comment about the Sirens surprised me, that's all. Seriously, we've faced worse," Harry said again.

"Be that as it may, this is still dangerous work. Potter, we will stick you in a wetsuit and Geoff will cast the bubble head charm so that you can breathe underwater. We don't mess with any of that breathing equipment the muggles have." R.J. handed the wetsuit over to Harry.

"Now you, girl. Once you get in the water, you'll just have to turn into a mermaid-like you mentioned before. I know you can control it to an extent but you are going to be fully immersed in the water, there won't be much to control. It will probably just happen. Your clothes will most likely be ripped off and fall below, don't worry about that. We'll just hand you a towel when we get you out. Any questions so far?"

"Ho-How will I get out of the water? I have my arms sure, but I don't have my legs to climb up the rope ladder on the side of the boat."

"We have that covered too. This side of the boat opens up and has an extension that is level with the water. Both you and Potter will be able to swim up onto it and it will lift you into the boat."

"Okay," Hermione said, nodding.

"With all of that being said, there might be one slight problem that Geoff brought up when I told him of your situation."

"What's that?" Harry and Hermione asked simultaneously.

R.J. raised his eyebrow. "Do you two always speak like that?"

Hermione frowned. "Nevermind, not important now," R.J. said changing the subject immediately after asking the question. "Hermione was bitten by a Selkie and the Black Lake is freshwater. This here is the Aegean Sea and it's—"

"Saltwater," Hermione breathed, putting the pieces together. "Do you think that will affect the way that I will transform or being able to function in water? I haven't been fully submerged in saltwater since the bite."

R.J. shrugged. "It's nice to be prepared for all possibilities. So if you are struggling in the water, Geoff can also cast a bubble head charm on you."

"Okay, let's do that then."

"Well there is a problem with that solution too, I'm afraid," Geoff piped up from the side.

"And why's that?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time in a while. Hermione knew he was probably feeling a little out of his depth with all the 'what if' and research talk. He never liked either of those things.

"Mermaids can speak above water but most people cannot communicate in Mermish. If we put Hermione in a bubblehead charm, you'll be able to speak to her, Harry, but you won't be able to understand what she is saying back."

"Oh," Hermione breathed, blushing a little, realizing she had forgotten to divulge that piece of information. "I can talk above water in my regular voice, I have tried it. Harry's heard it too."

Harry nodded in agreement. "She's right. There haven't been any problems before, but it's nice to think off all the potential setbacks we may have. If we end up not being able to talk, we can read each other's body language pretty well — shouldn't be an issue."

Both R.J. and Geoff nodded. "Very well. I think that is everything right?" R.J. asked.

Geoff paused. "Almost. The Sirens don't have many visitors, they might not take it well when a half-Selkie and a human enter into their territory. We are their protectors after all...though they think they can protect themselves."

"Isn't there a way that you can warn them that we are coming?"

"'Fraid not," R.J. replied. "We speak little mermish ourselves."

Hermione looked at Harry and she knew that he was thinking the same thing. How could they be protectors of the Sirens if they couldn't even communicate with them? Maybe they just never had to, but again, it didn't matter if they did or didn't because they weren't coming into the Sea with them. She and Harry would be completely alone until they made it back to the surface, and according to R.J. and Geoff, that might not be as easy as they thought.

All that was currently running through Hermione's head was how when she was a little girl she read The Grimms' Fairy Tales and immediately found mermaids to be interesting creatures. That interest was only piqued when her mother had taken her to see The Little Mermaid in theatres when she was ten. That year, she was Ariel for Halloween. And now that it was all in front of her, she was terrified, especially since she was just informed Sirens were particularly more vicious than the Selkies of the Black Lake. And gathering from Harry's expression, he had kept her in the dark about how vicious the Selkies had really been.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. She nodded and squeezed back letting him know she was okay. "I'm going to go put on this wetsuit, I'll be right back okay?"

"Okay," she whispered and walked to the edge of the boat staring out over the sea. What if they never came back? What if they were asking for a death swimming into basically uncharted territory?

"I can hear you thinking from over here, lass, what's on your mind?" R.J. said as he maneuvred some ropes into the correct position.

Hermione sighed and turned toward him. "I am just fretting is all. Hardly anything Harry and I do ever goes to plan. I can't help but think if this one goes wrong too…"

R.J. was silent at first, the rushing wind the only sound. "I am not very good at offering comfort, but by the sound of it, you've researched as much as possible, you have us, and you have that boy in there that I can tell loves you more than anything. If anything happens, he's going to be right there with you."

Hermione nodded and then smiled. "You're right, Harry will be there."

"Here in Greece, we say Chamogelaste when someone is down on themselves."

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked curiously, always wanting to consume more information.

"It means cheer up. Now quit your brooding and turn around." R.J. gave a laugh and walked off in the direction of stern, where Geoff was waiting. When she turned, Harry was standing there in his wetsuit. Every muscle could be seen through the tight clothing and they rippled as he walked toward her. He was pulling at the neck and had a grimace on his face.

"This this is so suffocating," Harry grumbled, continuing to pull at the neck. "I feel so trapped."

"I forgot you've never experienced one before. It's much better in the water and you'll appreciate it more once we get into colder water."

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but Geoff called and waved them over to the front of the boat. "Here is where you'll enter and exit the water. It makes transitioning much easier than climbing down that rope. Once we close this up and you are in the water, you'll change into your mermaid form. I will be right here leaning over the edge in case you are in need of assistance. Do you have any questions?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Well alright then. I have to help R.J. get this thing out to sea. You two just enjoy for the time being."

Geoff ran off leaving Harry and Hermione standing at the edge of the boat. "Do you think we are doing the right thing?" she asked.

"I think we are doing what we can with the resources we have. Why do you ask?"

"I just am nervous is all. I am trying not to talk myself out of this whole thing," Hermione admitted biting her lip.

Harry turned to Hermione and once more grabbed her hand and squeezed it in comfort. "You can do this, Hermione. Pull out that Gryffindor courage I know you have somewhere in there and use it."

"Harry, I just—"

Mid-sentence, Harry pulled her to him and placed his lips on hers once more silencing her anxiety. She melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving her lips against his. This time, he didn't pull away right away and instead brought his fingers into her hair. When he pulled away, Harry grinned at her before going in for another. He placed several soft kisses against her lips before resting his forehead against hers.

"Now about that kiss…" Hermione giggled.

Harry groaned, but a smile spread across his face. "When we get back from this mission, I promise. Though that kiss should have told you everything you needed to know."

"It did, but you know I like to be thorough."

"You wouldn't be Hermione if you weren't."

"Exactly. Let's do this."

"Let's do this," Harry repeated, grabbing her hand once more. They felt a wobble of the boat and they were off. Soon they were speeding across the Aegean Sea and hopefully closer, to some answers.

Big thanks again to HeartofAspen for her amazing insights and support on this fic! I am so thankful for her.

Now, I want to get real with all of you for a moment. In the past, I have had a hard time receiving constructive criticism partly due to my mental health. Now, I am in a better place and would be happy for any type of comment as long as it is NOT abusive. If you feel compelled, positive feedback, in-depth reviews, etc. are all welcome! xx -M