Note: I'm giving up on the disclaimer, because I've said twice that I don't own either story used here and it just reminds me that I'm not a literary genius :( Oh, and this chapter and the last were supposed to be four separate chapters, but my beta mentioned that they're quite short, so I followed her advice and put them together into two chapters rather than four. This chapter is still a bit short though, sorry about that.
Why did he do that? Was he insane? He was going to be in so much trouble when he finally got back home. Dawn was tinging the sky with several different colours, and he was lying on a beach that was nothing like his dream of the morning before. The sand was more grit and mud than soft sand, and it was uncomfortable to lie on. The air was cold, and he had gotten past the dry, tight, uncomfortable feeling hours ago. Most of Draco's mind was giving out, cursing his own foolishness, wishing the squid would swallow him whole where he lay, so that he wouldn't have to face the wrath of his father.
The left-over part of his brain was filled with so much happiness he thought he might burst. He had pulled the angel from among the wreckage of the ship, and had swam towards the shore that he could see illuminated by the fires that razed the ship. She was heavier than she appeared, and her clothes soaked up a lot of water, making her even heavier. He had had a lot of trouble pushing her up the bank, losing a few more scales on the grit as he did so. He had collapsed with her in his arms, too exhausted to move, save to check if she was breathing. She was, much to his relief. He held her close, wiping blood off a wound on her temple, and savoring the sight and feel of her so close to him. He had never seen anything so beautiful, and even when she was soaked to the skin, even with several bruises and that awful cut marring her flawless skin.
He decided right there and then that he would never leave her, even if the Wizards tried to blast him to smithereens with spells. This sentiment died as soon as he heard the voices. There were Landfolk coming close. They were yelling, and they carried their wands. Light poured from the tips. Terror gripped him, making him freeze. These Landfolk were older than ones he had seen, and therefore were more dangerous. He couldn't stay here. The older Landfolk would hunt the rest of his family down and eradicate them because just one of them was seen with a Human.
He sat up, gently taking his arm from underneath her, and pushed himself towards the water, scrambling in his haste to get away from the girl and the Surface. She would never know that he saved her, and maybe it was better that way.
"Ginny. . . Ginny!" The voices sounded like they were coming from very far away, or like her ears were stuffed with cotton wool. Everything was blurry when she finally opened her eyes, and the first thing that came into focus was a pair of green eyes, framed by round glasses. A vague part of her mind told her that Harry Potter was leaning over her, cradling her in his arms, and he looked worried. This was smothered by other things that came into focus as she woke. Like the aches and pains that she seemed to have everywhere,and the throbbing on her temple. She felt sick, and like her lungs were full of water. Her memories of the night before were hazy, but she guessed that she had been flung into the Lake.
"Wha. . . What happened?" Ginny mumbled, trying not to heave. She peered around her, trying to work out where she was and what had happened. There was mud and grit underneath her, the sky above her was lightening, and the lake lapped at the grit close to her feet. The shore was crawling with people, many of which were professors and Durmstrang students in various states of shock and distress. Some were searching through the wreckage, clearly looking for valuables that might have survived the explosion. Others were just sitting on the bank, staring at the bits of broken wood floating on the water, as if they couldn't believe that the ship was gone. She was surrounded by a few of her brothers, all pale behind their freckles. Madam Pomfrey hovered nearby, unable to get to her through the group of red-heads.
"You remember the explosion? Do you know how it happened? Do you remember?" Ginny shook her head, realizing that her hair and clothes were semi-dry. How long had she been lying there? She didn't even know how she had gotten there. All she could remember was the centre of the deck bursting outwards, sending everyone flying in different directions. She had been no different, as soon as she hit the water, something else hit her head and she blacked out. Remember the impact made her remember the cut on her temple, and the pain came back, making her head throb. Her stomach heaved, and she leaned to one side, away from Harry's lap, dry heaving onto the grit. Madam Pomfrey saw this as her chance to shove her brothers out of the way, and nudge Ginny onto a stretcher, which she lifted with a wave of her wand and whisked Ginny off to the Hospital Wing.
It took Madam Pomfrey about ten minutes to fix Ginny's bumps and bruises, commenting on how lucky she was compared to others, who had suffered burns or had nearly drowned, but she insisted on keeping Ginny overnight "for the shock" and left her to sleep with a mug of hot chocolate. That night, she dreamed of the sea, of men with flickering, silvery tails and faces she couldn't see...