I know that the last chapter was kind of slow and not very exciting, but I think this one has a bit more plot in it. And it's longer!... I hope

Thanks go to Bloody Serpent 2, and fairytopian for reviewing

Giosseppe: Thank you for being so faithful. Yes, Severus and draco were a bit ooc, and you are right. Things are a bit different than cannon so people will seem to be ooc. I can't be helped

Spiffy Squigglemink-mantra III : Wow what a mouthful. Thank you very much for the praise. I thought it was odd that this could be the first Mer!Harry. I knew that I recognized your name. I read your story a while ago…but then you never updated, but then again I shouldn't be one to talk about not updating.

Bloody Days of Dust: I love you so much! Thank you for everything that you said! I really haven't planned very far ahead in the story yet so I hope that I won't disappoint you. As for pairings, I love you again! Harry would never marry Ginny in a gazillion years. I don't like bashing people, so I give her a relationship with someone else to keep her away from Harry. But, I really think that Harry won't have a love interest in this story as it would conflict with the plot.

Harry did eventually make his way back to the Gryffindor dorm room. It was so late that no one was still hanging out. Harry gave a small smile when he saw Ron and Hermione curled up on the sofa, sleeping. He felt bad that they had waited so long and they were so tired that they didn't notice they fell asleep on the same couch. If he wasn't so tired himself, he would have taken some pictures for blackmail material. He also felt bad that they had to sleep on the couch, so he curled up in the armchair next to them.

In the morning, Harry woke up to Hermione's surprised gasp at the predicament that she herself had woken up to. Ron was still dead to the world around him and hadn't noticed anything. Harry blinked tiredly at Hermione's startled expression as his mind recovered from his sleep and he remembered.

That was soon forgotten however, when Hermione realized that Harry was sitting right next to her and was not dead.

"Oh, Harry. You're okay! We were so worried about you! What happened?" She said in a quick succession. Harry chuckled. Her face was red with anger and she had her hands on her hips. She started to remind him Mrs. Weasley. "This is not funny Harry! We were so worried that something had happened to you! What if it had?"

"I'm sorry Hermione. I really am" Harry said, his lips still pulled into a small smile.

Hermione huffed and turned toward Ron, who had started drooling. She rolled her eyes and reached to the couch and grabbed a pillow to hit Ron over the head with. "Oh, Ronald, do wake up."

"It wasn't me, it was Fred and George! They did it, I swear!" Ron shot up into a sitting position and covered his eyes.

"Oh, really Ron?" Harry commented, "What exactly did Fred and George do?"

"Huh, what? Oh, nothing. They didn't do anything." Ron tried to look innocent and sheepish at the same time. "Hey, Harry! You're back. Where'd you go, mate?" Ron tried to change the topic to something that he knew would take Hermione's attention away from his 'proclaimed' innocence.

"I- I really don't want to talk about it right now. I'm sure everyone will be bugging me about it at breakfast tomorrow, so let's just, I don't know, talk about something else?" He looked, and felt, hopeful that they would drop the topic and, in time, everyone would forget his little stunt.

"Sure thing, mate, no problem. So, anyway…"

They talked until and after people started to come down for breakfast. Most were too busy to notice Harry sitting there, but the few who did would tell everyone they could when they got downstairs. But Harry was having fun talking to Ron and Hermione. It wasn't like on the train when he had left. They talked about everything they could think of: new classes, Snape, Malfoy, food, and to Ron and Harry's despair, SPEW. He was glad topics like, the Prophesy and Sirius had remained untouched.

As soon as Ron realized that they had been talking for over two hours and that breakfast was almost over, he panicked; and the three of them went their separate ways to shower and get ready for the new day.

The three of them walked down the moving staircases toward the great hall, and they were still laughing and joking with eachother. Harry looked at the smiling faces of his best friends and thought to himself, 'this is why I have to- no, I want, to stay here'.

As expected, the entire great hall went silent as soon as they entered, but Harry didn't let it bother him. People looked and whispered and he let them think their theories on what happened, none of them would be right anyway.

"Hiya, Harry. Have a nice swim?" Ginny joked from across the table as the golden trio sat next to each other in a row.

"Yeah," Harry joked back, "It was refreshing." The group around him laughed. As they ate, he didn't think anyone missed Neville eating only with his left hand, keeping his right hand hidden under the table, and Ginny's missing left. Ahh, love is in the air.

"Harry, are you ready to go?" Hermione asked once she finished.

Confused Harry answered, "Ready for what?"

"Why, potions of course. It wouldn't do to be late on the first day of NEWT classes."

"I don't have NEWT potions Hermione. I only got an 'E' on my OWLs."

Hermione looked slightly put out and confused, "Oh, I thought you were."

"McGonnagall offered to talk to Snape about it, but I didn't want to be a bother."

"It's Professor McGonnagall and Professor Snape, Harry. And I'm sure it would not have been a bother."

"Oh, well. I'm not taking it, so I've got a free period now, when all of you have to go to class." He finished smugly. Hermione huffed and gathered her books so that she could be at least ten minutes early for class. Ron hung around for a while after that, before heading out, possibly to be ten minutes late to class.

Harry wished that Hermione had not mentioned potions class. Because whenever potions were mentioned, Harry had to think of Snape and after last night, it just gave him a headache. He had managed not to think about Snape when he concentrated on other conversation, but now, he had no choice but to consider everything that happened between them.

Harry wandered the halls, trying to think of an alternative, but it seemed unlikely. He accidentally passed a couple making out in an alcove that hadn't realized was there. He blushed and moved on.

Snape hated his father, but Harry still knew very little about his mother. He had no idea who she had been friends with in school, and it was entirely possible that she could be friends with anyone. If Snape had been friends with his mother, it would explain how he knew some of what was going on. However, Harry still did not wish to cross paths with the potions professor if he could help it. It was a vicious circle that only lead back to the one place he did not want to go. The only other person he could ask for insight about his mother would be Adel.

He continued to walk, probably in circles throughout the school, once again passing the hidden alcove. This time, one of the occupants was different, but the other was the same. He considered for a moment, but dismissed a thought. Draco Malfoy couldn't possibly be dating Lavender Brown and Padma Patil. Draco Malfoy didn't date anyone.

Harry really had planned on never going back to the lake. He planned to simply wait out the time period where he wouldn't have to worry about being a freak merman anymore. There were too many unanswered questions for him to simply leave it alone.


That night, after going to bed early and sneaking out underneath his invisibility cloak before anyone else went to sleep, Harry went down to the lake. This time, he thought ahead and laid out a towel before removing his clothes. This way, he would not be soaked when he went back to the castle.

This time, he slowly slipped into the water and melted into his new form before swimming into deeper water. He had watched the lake water shimmer in the moonlight and was so engrossed in his visions that he missed the small, almost imperceptible gasp from behind him.

He once again reveled in the feeling of utter weightlessness that he felt while under water. He had to shake himself out of it and remind himself not to get too used to the feeling and that this is a one time thing. He could get all the answers to his questions now, and not worry about coming back. The only reason he had to return this time was because he didn't understand everything that was happening the first time. He had been too overwhelmed to think straight.

This time, everything would be clear and once he had answers, he could go back to how his life was before all of this.

.

.