Chapter 35) Beneath the Lake

Selected Listening: A Full Heart- James Newton Howard

It was only a day later that Anastasia received an owl from Narcissa.

Dearest Anastasia,

Please reconsider.

Sincerely,

Your Godmother

Anastasia, who was for once quite happy with her relationship status, wrote back quickly.

Dear Godmother,

I'm sorry things couldn't work out. As much as I cared for Draco, he kept acting in ways that I could no longer excuse. Please try to understand.

Sincerely,

Anastasia

"She what?" Hermione asked in tickled shock after Anastasia mentioned it at their charms table. They were practicing banishing charms across the classroom. Ron snickered.

"Does Malfoy need mumsy to fight his love battles for him?" he asked. Anastasia glared.

"It's not that. He must have told her. Narcissa really likes me. I think she's disappointed."

"Yeah, disappointed at the thought of not getting her ideal bloodline of grandchildren," Harry said seriously. Anastasia remembered Dobby's words and the truth potion Blaise gave her, still at the bottom of her trunk. She wondered if she would ever get the chance to use it at this point. Would Narcissa ever want to spend time with her again?

"Maybe," Anastasia admitted.

With the mood thoroughly dampened, Harry finally admitted to procrastinating—he had been lying to them for weeks about having solved the egg clue—and, as usual, found himself in way over his head. He launched into an overview of his adventure to the prefects' bathroom, his unfortunate meeting with Filch, Snape, and Moody afterward, and what he discovered about the next task.

"Wait, Moody borrowed the Maurader's Map?" Anastasia asked. "He wanted to use it?"

Harry shrugged.

"Why not? It's kind of a unique sort of magic. Lupin did too."

"Professor Lupin made the map," Anastasia reminded. "And he confiscated it from you. It wasn't like he was using it to sneak liquor in for his personal supply."

They all knew what she meant. Moody was now known for drinking from his flask even during lessons.

"Come off it. You'd probably drink too if you had that many dark-arts injuries," Ron commented. "I think Mad-Eye is one of the best dark arts teacher's we've had. At least second to Lupin for sure."

Anastasia rolled her eyes. Although Moody's glares towards her had recently moved from anger to cold indifference, she still wasn't pleased with his behavior during the imperio unit.

"Anyway," Harry continued, "Next task I'm going to have to jump in the lake and fight the mermaids for my stuff back."

"Mermaids?" they gaped. Anastasia had a horrible sinking feeling. Was this why Albus wanted her to learn the language all of the sudden?

"They expect you to swim down there?" Ron asked. "In the dark? Without breathing?"

"There must be a spell for breathing underwater!" Hermione chimed. "We just need to find it. Let's go to the library this afternoon and start looking."

Anastasia became solemn, shaking her head.

"Whatever you're doing to prep, wait until I'm out of the room. I don't want to accidentally curse you," she shot another pillow to the corner. Hermione's suddenly sunny outlook dimmed. Anastasia had barely been able to join her friends in the library all year.

"But you speak mermish, right?" Harry started.

"I'm really bad," she admitted.

"Still more than me. Maybe you could talk to them for me? Ask them what's down there? You don't have to say that it's for the tournament."

Anastasia sighed, placing her wand down on the table.

"Harry, have you not heard me? I'm most likely the reason you had the Horntail in the last task. Do you really want me intervening on your behalf now?"

Harry nodded exaggeratedly.

"If it means I don't totally fall on my face or drown in front of everyone, yes, absolutely."

"Stop worrying, Stasia. Bagman was probably trying to scare you from interfering," Ron tried, banishing his own pillow. "That's why he doesn't have any more information about the saboteur business. It's made up."

"Would you like to test that theory?" she asked, looking meaningfully at Harry.

"Please, Anastasia?" Harry asked. "My life's already on the line. It's not going to get worse if you ask a mermaid about what's in outer space instead of the Black Lake."

"Fine," she sighed.

Anastasia traipsed across the grounds that afternoon towards the shore of the Black Lake. The campus had transformed mid-February from winter wonderland to frigid fields, which Anastasia found all the more depressing without snow. She was nervous about having to speak with the merpeople on her own again and wasn't sure about how to call one up without looking ridiculous. Luckily, it was her only free period, and most other students had class at that time, so no one was around to see her.

Although Anastasia would usually have been glad to help, the shadow of the "saboteur" did linger. She still couldn't tell if the previous task had been anything she was involved with at all, or an unfortunate mishap with her cursed music player and a trick of the light when she handed Mr. Crouch's bag back to him, but either way, she was dead set against sabotaging Harry any further, so she was happy to stay far away from the library and common room as long as they needed to finish their research.

Anastasia reached the shore, a segment where the water dropped off quickly, and knelt amongst the rocks of the bank. The water lapped up against the mossy rocks hypnotically. The weight of the motion drew her nearer. She couldn't see any merpeople by peering into the lake. The dark green shadows of the algae below and the trees above made it impossible to delineate any creatures.

Hello! Anyone? she tried. She shrieked once, twice, in that strangled tone a merperson might make to a human above the water. She was certain she at least got "Hello" part right.

But unlike the day in September when the merpeople brought the collapsed Crenshaw to her, no merpeople appeared to greet her. Anastasia tried again once or twice. She was about to give up and go back to the castle when she heard a familiar tune that seemed to be emanating from the water itself.

Except it didn't sound like a mermaid.

Quiet and muffled, the tone vibrated in her ears until she couldn't ignore it, and a daze fell over her. She stumbled forward on her knees, splashing into the shallow end right before the drop-off. Although the icy water should have cut through her skin like knives, she felt nothing. The temperature meant nothing to her. It was the same feeling she had in November when the music of her CD player led her into the forbidden forest, and although her body kept moving towards the sound, a horrible anxiety began stirring in her gut.

But it couldn't be. She thought as she found herself crawling closer to the lake's abyss. Draco had taken the CD player back after their dance lesson, and unless he was blasting music through the common room window below the lake, there was no reason the sound would be coming through the water.

And yet it was. She heard the consistent strumming, a song she had heard many times before and the hints of soulful vocals reaching up to her. When she reached the drop off, she peered down into the darkness to examine the still-freezing waters.

A trail of circular sound waves cut across the surface of the water. Waves that followed a path towards the middle of the lake, and then descended into the dark-green depths.

Anastasia dipped her hand in where the path ended and felt the water flutter against her hand. Although freezing, the temperature meant nothing to her. She couldn't feel it. She only felt the urge to follow the path to wherever it may lead.

And so, she dove in headfirst.

Fully submerged, Anastasia opened her eyes to examine the world below the surface. The lake seemed endless, ledges and caves everywhere. Seaweed, kelp, and freshwater corals covered every surface not consumed by sand or rocky outcrops. She didn't know how she was holding her breath. She wasn't trying to breathe. She could even call herself comfortable.

Why am I doing this? She asked herself. This is insane. Why do I even care? I barely know how to swim!

Yet she found herself swimming with ease, much how she imagined a frog might. She wondered if the wave trail would lead to the windows of the Slytherin common room, but in all directions, she could only see the murky green darkness of the water and the sunrays peeking through to guide her way. No magic-created light in sight.

Anastasia briefly noted the questioning creatures watching her, merpeople, kelpies, and other squirmy things, holding their hands over their ears to keep the sound from reaching them. She pushed coils of seaweed and kelp out of her way to urge herself forward as the music grew louder. The closer she swam, the louder the music played—overpowering her, pounding against her eardrums.

At the roots of the seaweed, she found what she was searching for. It was her old CD player, headphones still plugged in, half-covered by the silt, somehow still playing the album she left on it. It seemed to have been sitting there for quite some time, even weeks.

She imagined Draco had wanted to be rid of it. But if so, how was it only turned on when Anastasia shouted down into the water?

Anastasia reached forward to grab the base of a kelp plant and pull herself to the electronic device, but the kelp under her hand sparked. It was the same sort of spark that happened the day she picked up Barty Crouch's bag for him. The same kind of spark that cursed Harry to get the dragon.

Anastasia grabbed the CD player with her left hand. Instantly, she became aware of the frigid water and the capacity of her lungs as the music ceased.

No! She thought. She snatched the device with the intention of destroying it thoroughly this time and jolted herself towards the surface, kicking as hard as she could towards the spot where she went under.

Her heart thrashed against her chest, lungs threatening to burst open her windpipe and let the water funnel into her cold body. Her eyes bulged as she pushed herself further and further towards the bright surface. She could make it. She could make it.

A shadow stepped onto the shore above her. A rather large shadow that she couldn't make out. A person.

Please see me, she begged, reaching out to the shadow as she made the last strokes towards sweet air. Pull me up.

But the shadow made no move to help her. As she swam up to breach the surface, a pane of glass hit her instead. Her forearms pushed desperately on the force, but she could not break it.

Help! she screamed in her head. Help please! She saw not only the sunlight above her, not only the shadow, but the light of a spell from the shadow's wand, being cast down on her.

Whoever stood above was trying to murder her.

Anastasia's resolve broke. Her lips burst open, gasping. Water flooded her lungs. She choked desperately as the darkness began to collect around her vision.

A horrible laugh touched her ears.

Before the darkness overtook her for the second time in a single week, she apologized in her head. To her friends, for not getting the information they needed. To Fred for departing so soon. To Draco for killing them both. To her father and Minerva, for leaving them alone once more.

A scaly hand gripped her ankle and dragged her downward.

Anastasia woke up on a hard wooden surface. She coughed, sputtering out water and reached her elbows. She was in the boathouse. Light shined down through the aqua tinted glass. On her soaked form. A merperson, with bulging eyes, tangled hair, and webbed hands ogled her from the edge of the dock.

"Thank you," Anastasia said weakly. Her stomach and chest ached, she supposed from being pressed down upon. She was surprised the creature knew how to extract water out of a human.

The mermaid's voice screeched at her, but in a bubbling sort of way. Man held you down with magic, he said.

"What man?" she asked the mermaid hoarsely, "what did he look like?"

"Big," said the mermaid in the screech tone. "Coat."

But lots of people were big. Even she could be big in comparison to a mermaid. And everyone wore coats during the winter. It could have been Filch or Barty Crouch or Lucius Malfoy for all she knew.

"Please, can you tell me anything more?" she asked. Although, she might have asked if he could give her some porridge, and the loud creaking of the boats around them didn't help the poor acoustics. But the creature seemed to understand what she meant. His answer clear as crystal.

"Half-merperson."

Half mermaid?

Anastasia sat, wracking her brain. They had many people who were half. Half-bloods, two half-giants, a half-vela…but who was half mermaid? No one she could think of had fish scales or webbed hands.

Anastasia struggled to her feet. She checked her pockets. She had the wand, thank Merlin, but where was the blasted CD player?

"Did you see a—" Anastasia started realizing she didn't know how to explain it in mermish. She attempted to mime the size of the player and the sound it made. It had been in her hand when she reached the surface.

"Man took the infernal device," it crackled. "Boy threw it down month ago."

So, it was possible the man knew about the device before he tried to kill her, and she was right about Draco trying to dispose of it. Thanking the creature again, she ran inside. Not bothering with a drying spell. She had to find Draco.

When she reached the hospital wing, Anastasia found him on a cot, Pansy sitting next to him, holding his hand.

Anastasia hung back, but Pomfrey had already seen her.

"Miss Dumbledore!" she rushed to her, and continued in a whisper Pansy couldn't hear. "There you are! What happened? I already sent Albus and Minerva looking."

Anastasia shook her head.

"Not sure," she whispered, "Someone tried to drown me."

Madame Pomfrey's eyes flickered to the other two and back to her.

"What is she doing here?" Pansy shot. "Go away. He doesn't need you. Why are you…all wet?"

Draco's eyes went wide as he looked over Anastasia and realized what happened. Compared to her, he looked perfectly unharmed. His breathing must have stopped quite suddenly.

"Fell in the lake…" she said carefully without much emotion. "Need a warming potion so I don't catch a cold. Sorry to bother you."

Madame Pomfrey forced her wand point towards Anastasia's gut with a yellow flash of light. She immediately coughed up another quarter liter of water, some algae, and a rather dead minnow. On the other side of the room, Draco vomited onto the floor, and Pansy shouted for attention from Pomfrey, to which, the nurse rolled her eyes in exhaustion and returned to the unhappy pair.

Within the next few minutes, Albus and Minerva arrived, Minerva fretting over her mercilessly, nearly crushing her in an embrace.

"I looked everywhere. We couldn't find you—"

"Minnie, Minnie I'm fine. Please." Although she didn't enjoy being smothered with worry, she had to agree that two close calls in a week was quite enough.

"When Malfoy showed up passed out, we knew something was wrong. What in Merlin's name happened?"

"Minerva shh, let's go to my office to discuss," Albus said, peeking over his shoulder at Parkinson. Anastasia looked past her two parental figures and caught Draco's eyes. Concerned and curious, he stared back. Completely oblivious, Pansy still hadn't picked up on the mutual ailments.

"Is that okay?" Anastasia asked Albus. "Mr. Crouch says I wasn't allowed into the suite this year."

"Mr. Crouch is ill, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Albus asserted. "It's not like we're keeping secrets there outside of conversation."

In the headmaster's suite, Winky brought them all tea around the den fireplace while Anastasia explained. She told them all about everything from the CD player to the merperson's description of the man, and when she was done, the two adults shared horrified looks.

"Half mer-person?" Minerva asked. "That's preposterous."

"It is possible, Minerva. I've met one. Kind fellow. Unfortunately, no one on Hogwarts grounds falls under that definition," Albus said. "I can talk to—" he said a mermish name unpronounceable in English, "—and see if he knows any more about any half-beings from their clan. We're lucky they have great respect for Hogwarts…"

"They have great respect for you," Minerva argued. "Why else would they have bothered to learn resuscitation?"

Albus smirked humbly. "I don't think anyone wants dead bodies of poor-swimming students falling into their homes, Minerva."

A shiver went down Anastasia's spine. Minerva gave Albus a warning look for the mental image and they both turned back to Anastasia, gazing at her solemnly. Tears twinkled in Minerva's eyes.

"Well, I'm alive, aren't I? At least you know I'm resilient," she tried to joke. Internally, she wanted to throw up again.

"Be very careful, my dear" Albus warned, "whoever this half-mer person is, they have your device now, and they've noticed how it affects you. Once they discover their plan has been spoiled…well who knows what they'll do with it."

That evening in the dormitory, she explained everything to her friends, and the twins, who listened, aghast. They all took turns guessing who it could be.

"Snape," Harry said automatically. Anastasia snorted. "What? You insulted him last semester in class."

"Snape knows about the lifeline. He's not about to kill his favorite student over me giving him a dose of his own medicine. And that was only once or twice."

"What about Karkaroff?" Hermione asked. "He just had a whole slew of students sent home for targeting you for a dark magic ritual. Maybe him or one of his students did it."

"They do wear rather large coats," she agreed. "And that wouldn't be entirely out of the question.

"Petter Pettigrew," Ron brought up, his eyes flickering darkly. "He threatened you last year. What if he came back to finish the job early?"

Anastasia was sent back to that night of the full moon, now nearly a full year ago. It wasn't impossible.

"I really hope not," she muttered.

"I should have been there!" Fred insisted, punching his hand beside her. "I could have skipped class to go with you."

Anastasia rolled her eyes.

"No, you shouldn't have. It would have been perfectly safe for me to be on the castle grounds if I didn't have a murderous stalker."

"Yeah, now what you really should do is skip class to catch her murderous stalker," George suggested with a smile.

"It's not funny, George," said Fred.

"Nothing much has been with you, lately," George dug.

"Maybe you'd be a little more serious if you had a girlfriend in mortal danger on a semi-daily basis," Hermione prodded. Fred smiled gratefully at her.

Anastasia ignored their bickering and turned to Harry.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to get any information for the task," she admitted. Harry held his hands up in a noncommittal way, but she could tell he was nervous.

"It's okay, Anastasia, don't worry about it—"

But then she remembered.

"Wait, Harry, give me a piece of parchment."

Anastasia spent the rest of the night drawing a very detailed diagram of what she saw under the lake.

"I touched the kelp here," she pointed to the rock outcrop on the southwest side. "Don't go near it."

Harry nodded and thanked her. She had just finished up the last few details when a tapping echoed at the window. It was Draco's owl. She ran to it, let the bird in, and borrowed a treat from Lavender so it wouldn't bite her fingers off.

Anastasia opened the small roll to find one question, unsigned.

Who did it?

Anastasia knew it was pointless to try and explain everything by owl, but it wouldn't be easy to find alone time together without drawing suspicion from her friends, from Fred, and from Pansy. She turned the parchment to write her response.

Meet me in the library on Sunday at 10pm.