IWSC Summer Camp 3- We're going to get wet. Write an AU about underwater exploration
Word count: 2594
Cabin: Weasley
Warnings: implied mental health issues
Author's Note: This was written with the amazing support of the rest of the Weasley cabin (Charbo2567, DrarryMadhatter, and Hummus and Peeta).
The Diary of one Draco Malfoy
May 1963
Lead archaeologist on the Atlantis Exploration
Atlantis.
It has something about it, doesn't it?
You can't quite put your finger on it but it's there.
A mythical city, buried by water and surviving only in accounts after its existence.
A lie.
I feel like Schliemann going after Troy.
Enough of this. I'm trying to make this diary poetic and really I'll only be using it to write up my findings so it feels quite pointless. And now I'm writing as if I'm talking to a real human. Do I need to get out more? Probably but that's not a point of academic research, honestly that's just objective fact.
I hope no one ever reads this.
Good Lord, what am I doing?
Right. Good night. Maybe tomorrow I won't sound as crazy.
The Musings of H. J. Potter
Long suffering 'best friend' of one D. Malfoy
AKA- An Idiot
I don't know how I let him talk me into this but somehow I am now joining Draco in search of Atlantis. Really. I do not have one single idea how this happened. Except, perhaps, he asked me after a very active sparring session. So active we ended up naked and sleeping afterward. Very good for the soul. I don't know why I'm using euphemisms in my own diary.
Anyway, perhaps I ought to have done more to dissuade him from this ridiculous venture. But he fancies himself as the next Peter Throckmorten but better and he wants to find a mythical city, not just a shipwreck. He also fancies himself the next Heinrich Schliemann but I am not certain that one quite fits. Or perhaps that's my own biases against the man. I quite enjoy telling him that he's more of a Joan du Plat Taylor. Apparently they met once and disagree far too much for that to be anything but offensive. I quite admire her really.
No one can dissuade Draco from anything when he puts his mind to it, though, and so he's using his rather healthy inheritance to fund his own exploration since his university said no. You might be fooled into thinking that if his employers say no then Draco would see sense. No. This is not the case. Instead he has bought us both a set of scuba equipment and we're using our holidays to find proof that Atlantis is where he thinks it is and then, he is absolutely certain of this, the university will fund him.
I have doubts.
And, if you asked me, I would much rather be tucked up with a book, thank you very much. But no one ever asks me and so instead of a nice log cabin in the woods for the summer we're going diving.
We're going somewhere in the Mediterranean. I don't know where, I haven't really been paying enough attention. Draco gets this look on his face when he talks about history and I just find myself absolutely entranced by his eyes. So much so that I stop listening to the words coming out of his mouth. I really must stop doing that.
In fact, we are on a boat as I am writing this. The sea really does show you the most beautiful shades of blue. Nothing like the grey seas of England's east coast. Bridlington and Scarborough cannot hold a candle to the cerulean and cobalt turquoise crystal waters of the Med. I might even fancy taking a dip if I didn't know that I'm about to spend hours of my life under the water. I'm not a big fan of all this heat, though. I think I'll take my grey seas back for a little bit of English rain.
Draco is calling me. It would seem that we have reached somewhere significant. He does look beautiful in this sun. I find that every time I see him, my breath is taken away once again. Even if he is a royal prat.
The Continuing Diary of one Draco Malfoy
June 1963
Lead archaeologist on the Atlantis Exploration
Harry is absolutely insufferable. He didn't even manage half an hour in the water before he's begging me to take him back so he can read a book. He doesn't seem to realise the importance of what I'm doing here. Still, he didn't complain on the boat and I know he doesn't like that very much.
Today's Findings
A geometric Greek vase- really more of a fragment and perhaps it's wishful thinking to say it's from the geometric period. More research needed. I may send it back to Luna if I find any more pieces, she knows a lot about Greek pottery.
That's everything except a lot of fish.
Oh, and Harry looks gorgeous with the sun bouncing off his hair. I need to take him to sunny places more often, England does nothing for him.
And I swear that if Harry compares me to Joan again I will be throttling him. If anything I'm Throckmorten or Schliemann; a pioneer in my field. Harry's just too busy with his books to notice that.
I shall be taking Harry out for dinner tonight to discuss our findings. Tomorrow will be a better day. Preferably without Harry waxing poetic about the colour of the ocean. Charming as he is, I really do need to concentrate.
The Musings of H. J. Potter
Long suffering 'best friend' of one D. Malfoy
AKA- An Idiot who fancies himself an archaeologist
We have been wherever we are for nearly a month now (I think we're somewhere in Greece. Really I still have no idea) and I wish I had brought more books with me. I didn't think that I would get through them all so quickly. Or maybe I underestimated how long we'd be here. I definitely underestimated how long we'd be here. It was just for a holiday, he said, we'll be back in a few weeks. Ha! I don't know why I ever believed that. It's not like Draco's funds are going to run out any time in the next century so I could probably be here for the rest of my life. In all honesty that doesn't sound too bad.
I got used to the heat and I'm very much enjoying the way Draco looks at me when I stand at the tip of the boat which I am sure has a proper nautical name but I don't find myself inclined to find it.
I do find myself inclined to record today's exploration.
I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life (yes even Draco). Every day here has been gorgeous compared to the north but there was something about today that just took it to another level. I don't think I saw a single cloud in the sky all day and I would swear that I could see for miles under the water.
I am glad we are beyond holding your breath to dive or I might truly have lost all of mine when I went under today. I think we might even have found something. I don't think it's Atlantis but perhaps a lost temple and I think that would still be a very interesting find. The light refracting through the water gave the whole area a kind of magical glow, that same feeling I get in the highlands of Scotland, as if you could get there and stumble across the fae or, in this case, naiads.
The columns, I think they were Doric, towered above me while I swam around and there is next to nothing that has ever made me feel so awestruck. Except awestruck isn't the word that I'm looking for. It's some kind of indescribable feeling of the beauty and excitement of life and humanity in your chest that you feel so strongly that you think you might be about to burst. You can't keep the smile off your face and you just have to do the cliched thing and hold your hand onto your heart because you can't think of any other way to repress the power of the emotion because it just fills you up. It's like when you look at the night sky and the stars are twinkling at you all those miles away and you think about every other person in the world seeing those same stars and how it's connecting you even though you've never met them. It's like going to Rome and touching the walls of the Colosseum or the Circus of Maxentius and marvelling at how these walls have been standing there for centuries and how the people who built them lived and laughed and loved just as we do and how many more have since touched this wall. It's the incredible sight of human ingenuity and artwork like the words on the pages of a book that have been handed down and handed down from a time we no longer live it but still resonate with us so strongly.
I don't feel I have done my emotions justice here. So I will describe the site more and hope I do justice to that instead.
If I had any idea how to estimate measurements in my head I would give you one, but all I can say about what was left of the temple wall is that it is much bigger than any house of church I believe I have ever stepped in. It was so large that it's difficult to imagine it in its former glory. I have nothing to compare it to and so my mind's eye failed me. But running my hand along the slick stone sent such a shiver down my spine I wondered if an eel had come by an electrocuted me. Fish in a rainbow of colours swam in and around the columns and what was left of an interior chamber.
I took Draco's hand and ran it through the seaweed at the foot of the columns with mine and pressed them up against the stone. I felt so connected to him in that moment I feared my heart might burst once again. Remnants of metope (Draco informed me later of this name) carvings had fallen to the sea bed, a few bits of a cyclops here and maybe a centaur there. Draco compared one to the carvings of the Parthenon of Poseidon and Athena competing to become patron of Athens; water spring versus an olive tree, so I suppose we can see what the priorities of the Athenians were.
I may now have more of an appetite for exploration. Perhaps I will go with Draco next time he leaves for South America. Or perhaps I won't.
The Continuing Diary of one Draco Malfoy
October 1963
Lead archaeologist on the Atlantis Exploration
Findings
Temple ruins. Possibly Atlantis though the lack of other evidence leads me to doubt this. Likely for Athena but the carvings were so faded I could only attempt to compare them rather than really analyse them.
More bits of pottery. I've sent them on to Luna for examination.
Exploring the sea without academic intent might actually be a good use of time. The lack of academic aspect may be unnerving though so I am unwilling to test this out.
My caffeine consumption has plummeted. Harry is very happy about this but I find I am missing my coffee.
The Musings of H. J. Potter
Long suffering 'best friend' of one D. Malfoy
AKA- An Idiot who doesn't know when to quit
Draco seems disillusioned with his exploration. We aren't finding what he wanted to find and I am worried about him. He is drinking far less coffee though and I can't help but feel like that is a good thing.
His initial excitement has very much worn off and even the beauty of the sea is doing nothing to brighten his face. I wonder if it's time to consider going home. But, as usual, Draco just doesn't know when to quit and he won't listen to me.
The Continuing Diary of one Draco Malfoy
February 1964
Lead archaeologist on the Atlantis Exploration
Findings
Nothing new.
My brain seems to be stuck in a rut.
It seems pointless.
We've been going nearly a year now and I don't seem to be finding anything.
I'm not a very good archaeologist.
The Musings of H. J. Potter
Long suffering 'best friend' of one D. Malfoy
AKA- An Idiot who is making me very concerned
The year mark is hitting Draco hard. I've returned to England a few times (mostly to collect more books) and each time I return Draco has sunk further into the dark parts of his mind and I can't find a way to bring him out. I don't want to leave him alone but he's barely looking at me anymore.
For the first time I think I am at a loss as to what is going on in Draco Malfoy's mind. I don't like this feeling.
The Continuing Diary of one Draco Malfoy
May 1964
Lead archaeologist on the Atlantis Exploration
I don't think I want to do this anymore.
The Musings of H. J. Potter
Long suffering 'best friend' of one D. Malfoy
AKA- An Idiot who won't look at me anymore
I thought I saw a glimpse of Draco today. A fish swam along his arm and he squirmed. He caught my eye for a second and I would swear I saw some childlike glee in them but when I swam over to him it was gone.
The ruins were as beautiful as ever, it has been months since we visited them. Draco has been taking us exploring off the coast of the entire island by now. Going further out than I think is probably safe but this is his life. It's his single minded focus and I think it might kill him. I don't know how much longer I can stand to watch him destroy himself.
The Continuing Diary of one Draco Malfoy
July 1964
Lead archaeologist on the Atlantis Exploration
I may have to concede defeat. Atlantis is not here. But I will not forget the sights I have enjoyed recently in my lifetime. And I will keep searching. Underwater archaeology is a worthy endeavour, perhaps I should be joining J du Plat Taylor in her work rather than scorning it so. We may disagree on personal levels but at least we agree in the future of our work.
I am sure Atlantis will be found one day. Schliemann was wrong about Troy for a while until he wasn't. I will be the same.
For now I am returning to England with Harry and celebrating our years of friendship until we are called once again to resume our lectures.
Forever a curious mind and an loving heart,
D. Malfoy
The Musings of H. J. Potter
Long suffering 'best friend' of one D. Malfoy
AKA- An Idiot who fancies himself an archaeologist
We took one last trip into the sea today. We went so deep we could barely see the light any more. I don't think that was very smart of us. But down there, in the silence, we could just be. No expectations, no pressures, no real life. I felt like a boy in love again.
It was peaceful. I think Draco found peace in the water for the first time in over a months.
I think we'll both be tied to the water forever now. And I think I know the theme of my novel now.
Time will tell.