Entry for the "Halloween Event: Costume Party Competition" - character: Rolanda Hooch; costume: Merperson

Entry for the "Crystal, Gemstones and Astrology (Challenge/Competition)" - March Birthstone; Intermediate:Write a story set near, on or within the sea. (600-2,500 words).

Entry for the „Halloween Collection Competition" - prompt: 11. Blood Red

Creature!AU

Severus had always liked to be near the ocean, since his first visit to a beach as a toddler.

The steady rush of the waves hitting the sand was soothing to him and he had used the memory of its sound to help him block out the screams when his parents fought again. When his father started to hit his mother, he would cover his ears with his hands, press his eyes shut and think of the blue, moving mass spreading further than the horizon.

Now, as he had grown up and left the memory of his abusive childhood behind, as good as he could, at least, he still tended to come back to the sea as often as he could. In the confusion and terror of the war, it had kept him from loosing his mind.

When Voldemort had returned and Severus had to excell in his role as a double-agent, the ocean did the same to him.

It was as if he had a special connection with the waves, as if he was drawn back towards it no matter how far his path took him. He just could not place it, but when he stood here, at the same beach, it was as if he had come home.

One day, he found himself there again, his bare feet buried in the slightly damp sand, rythmically kissed by the cold waves.

The sun was going down, sinking into the ocean as a blood red ball of light and he inhaled the salty air deeply into his lungs as it suddenly was as if someone was whispering into his ear. Only that there was nobody who the voice could come from. Also, there were no actual words spoken – it was a foreign sound, but somehow he could still understand it.

Severus...

His first reflex would have been to draw his wand and check his surroundings for possible attackers, but something told him that there was no need to be afraid.

Severus... come to me...

He felt how his feet carried him slowly into the waves, the water sloshing around his knees as he could finally locate where the voice was coming from.

She was lying in the tide, the water playing around the curves of her body, kissing her slightly greenish skin. Her beautiful face was framed by a curtain of long, platin blonde hair, her smile giving a odd feeling of comfort as his gaze continued to survey her and stopped as he saw the long, green, fishlike tail where her legs should be.

„You're a merperson...," he whispered, nearly sounding a little bit dumb as he said it. The woman giggled, her long, slender fingers caressing the surface of the water.

„You are smarter than I remembered, Severus."

He looked at her, puzzled by her words.

„What do you mean... I... I don't know why, but... I somehow feel as if you are familiar..."

„Of course I seem familiar to you, Severus. It is because you already know me. We grew up together."

Severus furrowed his brows and crossed his arms in front of his chest, doubting the sanity of this merwoman.

„How can we have grown up together? I mean, it is obvious that you are not able to leave the ocean while I am not able to live under the sea."

„Don't you remember how you first came here? We were both only small children back then, but I still knew that you were magic and so I found it safe to play with you. And I soothed you, don't you recall? How you were cowering in your wardrobe and I told you that everything is going to be okay? And you, you always came back to visit."

„You are the ocean...," Severus whispered, more to himself than to her and as he looked into her golden eyes, he knew that every word of hers was true. It must be one of the many mysteries that magic harboured, because nothing could explain the special connection he felt to this merwoman.