"I doubt they're in here," said Scorpius as he and Albus marched down a seventh-floor corridor.

"The staircase moved us up here," said Al. "So, I'd expect it was trying to tell us something, and besides, Olivia didn't drag us out of bed this morning; I don't think she even came back to the common room after running out like that. The Room of Requirement is our best bet."

The two Slytherins spun as a loud hissing met their ears. Nestly, Filtch's only female cat, stood behind them, hissing and spitting. Her back was arched, and her fur was on end. Albus rolled his eyes and turned away again. There was a flash of red light and, a thump and Scorpius came back into view dusting off his hands.

"How many do you have left?" asked Al, slightly quieter now, Nestly having reminded them that they were out of bed two hours early.

"Uh, I think that I have four more," Scor replied, stopping finally before a blank stretch of wall.

Al paced three times thinking hard, "I want to find my friends. I want to find my friends. I want to find my friends."

The boys waited as a doorway scratched itself into existence. Pushing it open, they found one of the coziest rooms they had ever seen. But more importantly, they found their friends. Albus stared confusedly at Max on the sofa to Rose curled like a caterpillar in a cocoon, and Olivia sprawled over Rose as though she had been rolling around in the night.

Scorpius huffed slightly. "Why weren't we invited to the sleep over?"

Al sighed. "Come on Scor; you get the girls, I'll get Max. Oh, but, uh, wake Rose carefully. If she's in a bad mood when she wakes, she's usually in a bad mood the rest of the day."

It took ten minutes to get everyone out of bed and ready to see Stella. Scorpius was a little frazzled because Olivia had blasted him across the room out of reflex when he prodded her awake. Rose had taken a blanket from the couch and was still bundled in it as they snuck across the grounds. She looked exhausted, and her red hair was tangled atop her head. Max looked similar, but Olivia had always been springy in the morning and was trotting far ahead.

Al wondered how many other students did shenanigan or had other small adventures. He knew that Sugar couldn't be the only ones breaking rules, well, besides James and Tyler. Especially considering how easy it is to sneak out of the castle at night and in the early morning

But then, he thought. I doubt many others know about the tunnels.

Al's hands were shaking though it wasn't even that cold outside. In his bag that was slung over his shoulder, he carried a few pastries and sweets for Stella, a couple of books, his Sugamina notes, and a new t-shirt (he reckoned that his Mimbleton Dukes was likely ruined). Al rung his hands together. Why was he so nervous? Perhaps it was because he hadn't seen her in so long. They had to move quicker as the sun peeked behind the mountains across the vast lake, and crawl pass Hagrid's hut where they heard a lot of loud yips. They decided to visit him after Quidditch practice.

A harsh wind blew against his face causing his hair to fall in his eyes. Al brushed it away and adjusted his glasses, walking slightly faster until he had passed Olivia. What would they do once they met? He wanted to see how her English was progressing; he had left her with a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a book on grammar. He also was excited to tell her about a plant he found which grew backward, starting from a bloom and growing into a bud. Perhaps this was an element they could use in reverse animagi.

As they grew closer to the lake, Al became sweaty. Something, something wasn't right. He faltered in his footsteps, and Olivia grabbed his arm to keep him steady. An unpleasant knot formed in his stomach and he began to run.

"Al!" the others called as they chased after him.

He breathed faster until he came to a streaking halt before the edge of the lake where they were to meet. Stella wasn't there. Al spun to face his friends.

"Somethings wrong," he confessed.

"What do you mean? Maybe she's just late," suggested Scorpius.

"No, no, this isn't like her. Something, something's happening down there." He fell to his knees to stare into the lake's rippling depths. He could see nothing except his own faint reflection. Al touched the surface; the water was still freezing.

"Albus," said Rose cautiously. "You should calm down, okay? I'm sure everything is alright."

"No, you're not," he mumbled. Something caught his ear; it sounded like music. But, this wasn't pleasant, harmonizing music, it was a cry. "Do you hear that?" he asked suddenly, bending so low to the water that his ear was touching it.

"No," the others said.

Scorpius and Olivia bent low as well to listen.

"Wait a minute," said Scor. "I hear it too. It's, uh, it's getting louder… Al? AL! GET BACK!" Scorpius took Albus under the arms and heaved him backward just as a great mass shot from the lake directly where Al had just been.

Olivia gasped in horror. Stella had just burst from the lake and was gasping for air with a look of intense horror on her face.

"Stella!" Al yelped.

"It's on me! It's on my tail!" she cried flailing about.

Albus took her by her arms and tried to heave her onto land where she was desperately trying to go. As he pulled, he noticed a great lag. Something did have her tail and a moment later, he found out what. A merman burst forth with a spear in one slimy green hand and Stella's tail in the other. He bared his sharp jagged teeth and swung the spear at Al. Albus, rage somehow filling his action, wadded into the lake forcefully and attacked the creature which in no way looked like Stella. The man screeched loudly as his voice wasn't practiced above water. Al was freezing and hyperventilating as he swung at the man and caught it in the stomach. He cared little about what his friends were doing behind him. Something stung considerably in Al's side and he found that he had been sliced by the spear.

"Get off Scum! She's mine!" the merman hissed as though he had water in his throat.

At this, Al forced the creature from him using his feet and jumped from the water. Stella had been pulled from the ground and wrapped in Rose's bedsheet. Al gasped which sent a shot of pain through his gash. He fell to the grass and coughed but was forced to move as the man's jagged spear stuck the ground beside him. Albus rolled over while Scorpius took the spear from the ground and threw it across the lake with a surprising amount of distance.

Unfortunately, the Merman wasn't going to give up so easy. He leapt from the water as well and started at them on his stomach drawing himself quickly across the ground with his arms. It was one of the most terrifying sights Albus had ever seen his heart stopped while a blast of red light hit the merman who screeched as he rolled over and began gurgling. Olivia had shot him with a tickling jinx and was now taking Albus under the arm and hauling him backward.

"Oi! Who's tha' then!" As if things, couldn't get any worse or more confusing. Hagrid's bushy head was seen bobbing forward from his hut; he had evidently heard the racket.

"Hurry!" Max called to Olivia as Al was desperately trying to regain his footing which was difficult because of how fast Olly was dragging him away from the lake.

"W-w-wat-water!" Stella gasped as Max carried her in the sheet across the grounds. "Need- water!"

"Where are we going to get water? Not the lake!" called Scorpius.

"There!" called Rose.

Behind the hill, Hagrid was hurrying from was a wheelbarrow full of wood.

"But how are we going to-" Max started, Stella still gasping in his arms. But he stopped as Hagrid caught sight of the merman writhing on the ground and rushed forward. "Quickly, quickly!"

With their heads lowered and their hearts thumping, they took a burst of speed across the hills, praying to Merlin that Hagrid wouldn't hear them. Al couldn't breathe. His gash opened and closed with every step he took and his shirt was now trying to stick to the blood. Olivia made it to the wheelbarrow first and dumped the wood to the ground.

Stella screeched as she tried desperately to catch air. It was more painful for Al to watch than his wound.

"Aguamenti!" Olivia whispered. A small gust of water left her wand to soak the bottom to the barrow but in no way filled it.

"Aguamenti!" Rose tried to help. Hers didn't do much either. Together, she, Olivia, and Scorpius repeated the incantation causing water to fill the wheelbarrow the same speed as though you were feeling a sink; but it wasn't fast enough.

Stella hiccupped, and her breathing slowed. Her eyes began to fall as her chest heaved one last time.

Al gritted his teeth in pain as he ripped his wand from his back pocket and bellowed,

"Aguamenti!" loud enough for Hagrid to easily hear. The wheelbarrow filled with water as Max dropped Stella quickly into it. She gasped as she inhaled gulps of water.

"Albus!" called Rose. "You're hurt!"

"Run!" said Al, limping away. "RUN!"

Hagrid was bellowing something in their direction though they couldn't see him due to the hill nor could they hear him over the sound of their own shuffling feet, heavy breaths, and pounding hearts.

"Where are we taking her!" Olly asked.

"Not the lake!" called Max.

"Maybe the other side!"

"Too risky, not enough time!"

"Think faster guys! What has a great mass of water?"

"The prefect bathroom! That has a swimming pool size tub!"

"Prefects use the prefect bathroom!"

"The kitchens? Those sinks are pretty large."

"Too much traffic!"

"Oh my God, I'm gonna be sick."

"The gardens!"

"The creek isn't big enough!"

"Behind the waterfall is a cave! Al and I found it before Christmas!"

"Filtch!"

Everyone streaked to a halt behind a castle corner causing a great deal of Stella's water to splash out. She pushed herself deeper. She had gills of both her neck and her waist.

"Where?"

Rose pointed to the oak front doors in the distance. Filtch had just unlocked the doors and was starting toward the grounds.

"What's he doing? That man never gets sunlight," whispered Max.

They heard Filtch whistle shrilly. "Come on Nestly! Tututut! Come back to daddy!"

"Scorpius!" Rose barked.

Scor covered her mouth where she slapped his hand away.

The entrance to the gardens was directly pass Filtch and down a hill. They would have to hike at least five miles to get there the other way.

"How do we get pass him?" Max whispered.

Filtch was now duck-walking while clapping his hands together and making kissing noises for his cat.

"We'll have to sprint," said Olly.

"I'm pushing Stella, in a wheelbarrow," Max said in disbelief. "I don't see how that'll work."

"She's right," Al coughed, clutching at his side. "Stella can't stay in this water much longer. It's disgusting, and she's ingesting it."

"Al, you can't even make the trip," Scorpius tried to reason with him.

"Shut up, Scor," barked Al. "I'm fine. Ready?"

He watched Olivia take Scorpius' hand as she always did when running.

"One, two- Go! Go! Go!"

Everyone put everything they could into their legs as they sprinted across the bumpy ground. Stella looked very weak and was losing much water.

"Hey! Who's that!" Filtch's wheezy shout pierced their ears, and they ran faster, keeping their heads down.

Olly took Al's hand too as he was falling behind and losing blood.

"I see you down there! Did you take Nestly?" With a backward glance, Al's heart stopped to see Flitch chasing them with his shoulder's arched and his thin hair billowing behind him, and he was gaining rather fast.

"Get it, Olly!" Max called as he hurtled toward the ivy-covered stone wall.

Olivia released the boy's hands and ran forward. She unlocked the door and swung it open as everyone fell in. Scorpius slammed the door and muttered,

"ProcklockL!" pointing his wand at the lock. There was a click, and everyone fell to the ground, all wondering if they had turned the corner before Filtch saw where they had gone.

"Quickly," muttered Al who hadn't dropped to the ground but likely felt like collapsing far more than anyone else. The pain in his side was becoming unbearable as his adrenalin was wearing away. "We have to get to the creek."

The house elves around the gardens doing their chores, watched them go by curiously but said nothing about one bleeding and four sweaty students pushing a mermaid around in a wheelbarrow. Luckily, the creek was in the Spring season which was the first you come to. The creek was babbling under a willow where fresh grass blew lightly in the faint wind, but where they wanted to go was at the very end. Stella was gripping the sides of her ride and staring, wide-eyed, at everything and seemed especially fascinated in a ladybug that had just landed on the rim beside her.

"There," said Scorpius, pointing to a small waterfall ahead which was surrounded by shallow water and daisies. "Just beneath."

Max pushed the Stella into the creek which was only knee deep. Everyone else wadded in as well and ducked their heads under the fresh water that was showering down. There were a couple shouts as everyone fell armpit deep into the water. Al had forgotten to mention that it was deeper on this side. He pushed his hair away to see a small space, about the side of his dormitory bathroom. Behind them, the water shielded the area from view. If Olivia had never pushed him down the waterfall causing him to slide behind it, he never would have known that it was here. Max tipped the cart sideways, allowing Stella to fall out.

She dove under and emerged a moment later with a large smile.

"The water is wonderful!" she sang. "So clean!"

"Stella?" Al asked.

"Albus Potter! I am so sorry!" she interrupted, gliding over and pressing her hand to his wound which caused him to inhaul and flinch. "You are hurt because of me! Melic stabbed you!"

"It'll heal," he assured her, turning slightly red.

"No, no, Albus Potter, it won't!" she said quickly. "It'll only get larger and more painful with time! It will not heal on its own, and it will become infected, and if not treated quickly, you may never heal!"

"What!" called Rose, swimming forward and ripping Al's shirt open to see the gash that Al only thought was stinging more because of the lack of adrenalin. "How?"

"Rosie!" Max remembered, slapping a hand to his head. "Professor Dalbert, he told us that merpeople soak their spears in water demon poison! Al, we have to get you help!"

"How long do I have?" Al asked Stella who looked extremely sorry.

"Hours, Albus Potter. Hours until your wound is untreatable."

"Here, Stella," Al started, thinking that he had time. He pulled a Widdicker Worbeck long sleeve shirt from his side bag, which was now blood stained, and handed it to her.

She took it looking confused. "Albus Potter, you need help!" she said quickly.

"What I need, is to get you a better shirt," Al shook his head. "Otherwise this whole trip would have been for nothing."

Stella pulled the shirt over her Mimbleton Dukes t-shirt and waited as Albus handed her a container of food.

"Luckily, I had it sealed," he smiled painfully. "I'll bring you some new books later. How's your English coming?"

"Fine, but, please go," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't want you dead."

"Albus, come on," Scorpius tried pulling on his arm, but Al pulled away.

"I'll leave, Stella, one you tell me what in the world happened," said Al.

"They found me, Albus Potter," Stella started hurriedly. "They've been looking for me, and they found me on my way to see you. There was a chase, and threats and Melic caught me, as you know."

"But, won't he recognize us?"

"Al, come one, please," Rose pleaded.

"No, most merpeople can't see well above water. I can because I am a closer descendant to human and am a 'bright-eyed.'"

Albus nodded thoughtfully.

"Albus! Leave!" Stella was finally done. She hugged Al tightly, then pushed him through the waterfall.

He was about to climb back in, he had more questions, but his friends swept out right after and took him under the arms and aggressively drug him from the creek.

Albus tried to walk on his own, but there were too many arms supporting him to allow that.

"Yoman!" Al called suddenly, pulling away from his friends where he fell to the ground and shouted slightly.

"No, Al!" Olivia barked. "Not now! We need to get you to the-"

"Yoman!" Al called again, getting to his feet and hurrying toward the tall elf with a red string around his pillowcase of a gown and a long nose. Yoman turned and frowned.

"What happened?" he called in a squeaky voice.

"Nothing," Al lied. "Look, I need your help."

"Master, you is losing a lot of blood!" the elf squeaked.

"You know that waterfall in Spring?"

"Yes sir, but, your side!"

"There is a girl behind it."

"A girl?"

"I need you to take care of her. Get her food and a few books, only for a little while. I will be back shortly to tend to her."

"But sir, why is there a girl behind the waterfall?"

"I'll explain it all later, but I need you to listen carefully. You must tell no one about her. Okay?"

"Sir, if a Professor comes to Yoman asking, I is to be answering truthfully!"

"Tell them only what they need to know. Dance around the truth."

"House elves can't dance."

"Yoman! Please?"

Yoman stared into Al's eyes then down to his cut.

"I is to be tending to her until you return," he replied.

"Thank you!" Al cried, dropping to his knees and letting his head fall on the elf's tiny shoulder. He felt too weak to go anywhere else at the moment.

Something lifted him, and he felt his feet sliding across the grass. Al tried to open his eyes, but they felt heavy, and he just wanted to pass out, and maybe he had because he suddenly found that his friends were lifting him onto a freshly laundered hospital cot. Albus opened his eyes ever so slightly. Rose was sobbing beside him, her small hands in his. He tried to pat her hands comfortingly. Scorpius was pacing the room with his hands in his hair frantically. Olivia was gone and Max touching his wound, and Al had no idea at first, why. Their faces became blurry as his pain became more intense. He remembered the Matron come sweeping into view, her face go in and out of focus.

"You're okay."

"Are you still with us?"

"You'll be fine."

"Just breathe."

"Abbey! Get me my wand!"

"An arrow head, you say?"

"STOP HURTING HIM!"

"Rose! Stop!"

"Out! I need everyone out!"

Were the phrases Al heard distantly. He blinked a bright light from his eyes. Something excruciating and hot felt as though it was repeatedly stabbing into his wound. He screamed, and Rose hollered; she didn't seem to have left. The pain didn't stop, something slimy was being forced down his throat while he listened to Pomfrey bellow out instructions to her Apprentice, Abbey.

The last thing he remembered was Madam Pomfrey saying, "Potter, this'll hurt. I need you to take a deep breath in."

He unconsciously did so.

BAM!