Chapter Five - Clams

Hermione had been sulking for well over a week now. Her heart was broken, but in a way she hadn't felt before, especially in this form. Her stomach ached and there was a pain in her chest that she couldn't quite soothe.

"Hermione, dear, what has happened to you? First, you disappear for large amounts of time, and then you've been sullen for too many days," Lass asked, her tone soft and caring.

Shaking her head, she said, "I don't know how to explain it. I think I messed up. I know I messed it all up."

Lass approached her, and reached out a hand to stroke her curls. "Talk to me. Surely, it can't all be bad."

Hermione explained. She told Thalassa the guilt and remorse she had been feeling about her decision on the cliff. At Thalassa's frown, she went on to relay her shame for regretting it - she didn't want to disappoint the siren who had become like a mother to her. She told her about Draco. The man that had somehow tracked her down through her magic, who seemed so different than the boy she knew in her youth. Finally, she admitted that she had sent him away because she couldn't change the past and he needed to move on with his life.

Although her heart pounded in her chest the entire time she relayed her story, the lifted weight of not holding tight to it was an immense relief. Thalassa listened closely and quietly to the whole story. When Hermione had finished, she expected the siren to give her words of encouragement or perhaps scold her, but she wasn't expecting the question she asked.

"Do you love him?"

"Surely not," she exclaimed in surprise. "How could I fall in love with someone in only a couple of days?" Dropping her eyes, she continued, "Besides, what does it matter. I wouldn't ever be able to be with him anyway."

"Perhaps," was Thalassa's only response.

Over the next few days, Hermione had taken to going to the cove. She wasn't naive enough to deny that she yearned for her face to break the surface of the water and for her to see a man with white-blond hair standing on the cliff, his smile lighting up just for her. It was impossible to imagine, yet she did. And every day, her heart would sink when no one was there.

She almost convinced herself to stop going, it wasn't making it easier to move on, but still today, she swam to the surface of the bay. Knowing he wouldn't be there, she busied herself on the opposite side looking for ingredients for Lass.

"Hermione! Hermione, hey!" a voice carried over the lapping of the waves.

Startled, she whipped around. Her brain moving just as fast as her heart, she was let down to not see Draco standing there. As her eyes adjusted to who was calling her name, she got excited to recognize Harry. He was waving like an idiot, the wind ruffling his hair making it more of a wild mess than normal. The scene and feeling inside her was almost like before - before the war, before all the death, before her own peaceful suicide. There he stood, her best friend, and she realized all the emptiness she had once wallowed in was in vain. Here was a man who never stopped looking for her. She found herself smiling for the first time in over a week.

She swam to meet him as he did his best to climb down the rocks to the water's edge. When he successfully made it, he crouched down close to the water. His eyes travelled into the depths, seeking his own answers.

"It's true, then?"

She moved her fin in the water, coming closer to the ramp and pulling herself up. "Did Draco tell you?"

Harry's eyes widened at the sight of her large lower half transfigured from once human legs to a mermaid's tail. His gaze met hers again after a moment. "Well," Harry started, a sheepish look crawling up his face.

"Harry Potter," Hermione warned in a voice that felt foreign yet familiar at the same time.

Harry ran a hand through his fringe, a nervous habit she knew all too well. "He tried to tell me, but he's so cryptic." Harry rolled his eyes. "He ended up giving me the memories."

She nodded, knowing that Draco would have. "I told him to share them so that you'd know I was okay."

"He didn't share them, Hermione," he forced out, his tone hard and pained. "He gave them to me. All of them."

She shifted, her mind racing to keep up with Harry. There were ways to let someone see your memories in a Pensieve, but why wouldn't he have taken them back afterwards?

"As in he didn't keep them for himself. Why would he do that?"

"That's why I'm here. Well, not the only reason, but I may have blundered it all up, and now I need your help." His green eyes searched hers, but what he was seeking, he didn't say.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Her words were soft and she reached out to touch his arm.

He put his palm over hers and rushed out, "He attempted to break his bracelet which has triggered extreme repercussions - the Wizengamot decided to give him his final sentence, but when I . . ."

She was so confused; anger and frustration were beginning to boil inside her body and mind. Her tone came out harsh, "Wait, what do you mean final sentence? And what about the bracelet?"

"He didn't tell you?" Harry shook his head, his hair falling over his glasses. "Malfoy has been in Azkaban since pretty much the end of the war. I told him that I would testify on his behalf if he brought you home. When he didn't bring you home, I . . . didn't."

"Well, do it now, Harry. You see I'm alive and well."

"It's not that simple. He was given a lot of grace to be sent on this rescue mission. When he failed and he attempted escape, it looked pretty bad to the Wizengamot. It didn't help that he refused to tell anyone he did indeed find you or what happened to you. So, they think he just tried to run for it. Hermione, they've sentenced him to the Kiss."

Fear and shock radiated through her body like an electric current. "What?!" You can't let this happen." She made to stand, her lack of legs momentarily forgotten. Instead of standing she slid down the ramp and splashed into the water. Her fumble immediately forgotten, she frantically gestured with her arms and shrilly let out, "Harry! Go save him. Tell them I'm alive and I don't care if they know what I've become, just save him, please."

A tear slid down her cheek, and Harry reached out, unable to comfort her from his spot on the rocks. "What he showed me, Hermione . . . Is it real?"

She looked up to him, his face void of a readable emotion. "Is what real?"

"The way he looked at you when you talked was obvious enough. And you may be oblivious yourself, but you looked happy in a way I've never seen you with someone - you looked peaceful."

"I can't explain it, Harry. And it doesn't matter, anyway." Her frustration was back, still laced with panic. "I'm a fucking mermaid now if you haven't already noticed."

"I need your help, Hermione," he whined, ignoring her profanity.

"And how in the bloody hell do you expect me to do that?" Her arms raised in the air again and came splashing back down.

In their argument, neither of them noticed a different being rising from the sea to join their conversation. "Hermione, dear, what has you so worked up?"

Hermione's eyes grew large as she turned to see Thalassa gracefully swimming towards them. She watched as the siren's eyes flashed dangerously to the man on the rocks. Suddenly, she was a bit frightened of Lass, her dark hair glistening a sinful way.

"Lass," she stuttered out. Harry's eyes were locked on the siren and she could tell defiance was warring with the threat. "This is Harry. He is . . . from my past."

Without breaking eye contact with Harry, she queried, "Is he the one that hurt you?" Her voice was menacing in a way Hermione had never heard it before.

"No, well yes, but no, not in the way I remembered at least."

A hurt look crossed over Harry's features, and his attention drifted from the approaching siren to Hermione.

"What do you want, human?"

Breaking his gaze from Hermione's, she watched as Harry stood tall and proud, his warrior within easily donned. "I am not here to hurt Hermione or you. I come seeking help." Thalassa was quiet, her attention never wavering from Harry. He continued, "It's about our friend, he's in trouble, and Hermione is the only one who can save him."

"And how is she to save him?"

With this question, Harry's face fell. He looked like he had just now realized what a futile pursuit this had been. Meeting Hermione's gaze again, his shoulders sagged. "I don't know."

Silence pressed heavily on them; the only noises littering the air were the splashing of water and calls of the seagulls. Hermione watched Harry as he accepted defeat, a look she wasn't used to witnessing. Turning her attention to Thalassa, she was surprised to see an edge of pain in the siren's face. Immediately, she swam the short distance to her, grasping her upper arm.

"Lass, what is it?"

The siren turned her face to meet Hermione's eyes for the first time since coming to the surface. Her blue eyes were darker, somber, and her mouth tilted down in a frown.

"Hermione, love, do you want to go back?"

Tears sprang to Hermione's eyes, the question not only stunning her, but the emotion flooding from her sea-mother was overwhelming. "Oh, Lass, I don't know. I can't leave you."

Thalassa placed a gentle hand on Hermione's face. She leaned into the embrace, relishing in the feel of a mother's hold. "There is magic I can do. There is a way for you to become human again. Do you love him?"

Breathing deep, Hermione ran through the images in her mind. Each one had her reminiscing in ways she yearned to feel again. He had brought her back, made her realize things about herself. Most of all, he accepted her, and given her the gift of loving herself. Resolution hit her hard, she was in love with Draco Malfoy. How, she couldn't explain, but it didn't matter if she could explain it or not. What mattered was, he was going to die without her, and she couldn't live as a mermaid or a human knowing that she could have saved him, but didn't.

Nodding, she said, "I do."

"My sweet maid. You have given me so much life. I was not lucky enough to find love like you before, but you have been a love that has filled my heart and soul. I don't want to let you go, but that is selfish of me. It's time for you to live the life you were supposed to. This life, here with me, was just in passing while you realized your life on land is exactly where you are meant to be."

The tears were flowing fast down Hermione's cheeks, dropping into the salty water. Pain licked her soul for she knew that this was a goodbye that would last forever. "Thank you for saving me. Thank you so much." Reaching out, she wrapped her arms around Thalassa relishing in the siren's every-present scent of ocean herbs.

Running her hands down Hermione's back, she squeezed and pressed a kiss to her head. Pulling back, she quietly said, "When the sun lowers in the sky and meets with the water's edge, you will find your legs awaiting you. Your earth and soul magic will return, and you will be a human once more." The siren pushed Hermione towards Harry and the rocky ramp. Her eyes left Hermione's briefly and bored into the man's on the ledge. The look she gave him meant something that Hermione couldn't process, but Lass lifted Hermione's hand to meet Harry's outstretched one.

"Take care of her, human."

Moving away, Hermione reached out with her free hand. "Wait, Lass. Please, not yet."

She turned, a smile on her face and pride in her eyes. "It's time, my love. This is our fate."

Long black locks swam away from the cove. Before she dipped under the surface she turned around for one last glance. Thalassa opened her mouth and while she couldn't hear the words from this distance, they echoed through the waves that crashed over the rocks.

"I, Thalassa, last Siren to the Clan of Maids, give my life so that she may walk again on the land where she belongs. So that she may seek her happiness and so that she may be full." Slowly, she sunk elegantly into the waters.

It was then that Hermione knew why Lass had put her palm in Harry's and the intense look she gave him. Harry's grip hardened over her fingers crushing them together, but she still pulled hard, attempting to rip herself from his hold and go after the siren.

Harry held her on the ramp. The tears flowed heavily, drying for a bit only to resume their way down her face again. The sun was beginning to sink in the sky when he finally spoke.

"It's almost time, Hermione. Let me take you home."

The numbing feeling was only a plaster to the deep ache in her gut, but she also knew there was a life that could still be saved. It was really her only resolve in the moment. As the orange orb dipped behind the ocean's edge, she felt the first effects in her tail.

A tingling began to ripple up the edges, making it feel like each of her scales was vibrating. A warmth crept down from her belly and slowly began to dissolve away the top of her tail. Her scales shimmered and shook, melting away into her body. Her legs began to appear, fed by the magic that once was her tail fin.

Curling her toes, she felt the cold of the water that moments before had felt like a warm bath. She turned to Harry with an awed expression blatant on her face.

The Portkey journey across the world had her stomach spinning and threatening to hurl the contents of it on the ground. She gripped her head with her hand in an attempt to steady herself. They had landed in an office with a large mahogany desk in the center and tall bookshelves along the walls.

"Where are we?" she asked, taking in her surroundings while still trying not to vomit.

"The Ministry."

Harry was unusually quiet, but he was rifling through drawers of the desk in a furious manner. He first pulled a glass vial from the top drawer and then pulled three more from another. Last, he went to the bookshelf and grabbed a long box that sat next to a framed picture of himself, Ron, and Hermione. Rushing back to her, he handed her one of the vials. "These are his memories. I don't need them, but hopefully, if we succeed, he'd take them back as my apology. Give them to him as soon as you can, but don't let anyone see you doing it." Shoving the box into her other hand, he explained, "I think you'll be missing this."

She opened the wooden lid to peer inside. Her wand laid perfectly centered on silk. Her eyes opened wide in surprise and her mouth dropped open. "Harry, how?"

"Narcissa Malfoy." Her eyes opened in surprise, and she looked up to him, his face pinched with emotion.

"What is it, Harry?"

"I guess I just I don't understand why it was so hard for me to find you, when it was so easy for Malfoy."

She smiled sadly at him, knowing he was still attempting to work through his thoughts and feelings regarding this whole ordeal that had lasted too long. "I don't know either, but what I do know is that because Draco found me, he was able to lead you to me. You two broke through the magical wards in an effort to find me. Thank you for never giving up on me, Harry."

He gave her his best smile and gestured to her vine wood wand. As she ran her fingers gently over it, she felt the magic course through her body, raising the hairs on her arms. The sensation was parallel with what she felt when she first held it, that the same feeling of excitement flooded through her. She pulled it from the box and wrapped her fingers around it. A whole new belonging solidified inside her.

"Let's go save Draco. It's been far too long since we've had an adventure together."

Harry's lips curled up on the edges, and he breathed a sigh before making towards the door, his own wand drawn and three glass vials gripped firmly in his left hand. "Let's go."

They made quick work of getting down to the court rooms. Harry explained that Draco had been removed from Azkaban for his hearing, and had not been taken back after the sentencing. The Kiss was to be administered here in the Ministry so that due diligence was taken in keeping control over the Dementors. When the lift door opened, a chill rushed towards them. Immediately, Harry's stag appeared and guided them down the hallway even though they could not see the Dark Creature anywhere.

As they approached the courtroom, Hermione shook with nerves. "Harry, what if we're too late."

"We're not, but we are cutting it rather close."

He reached for the knob and opened the door. As they moved inside, still guided by the enormous stag, Hermione's breath was swiftly pulled from her lungs. Draco's body was stiff on the table. She couldn't tell if he was alive or dead.

"It's just a body-bind, Hermione. He's not dead," Harry whispered to her.

Her breathlessness continued as she looked up to see the whole of the Wizengamot. They were staring down on them, confusion and alarm marring the atmosphere. It was Kingsley's voice she recognized as he spoke loudly. "Harry, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Minister, but I believe I have evidence to prove that Malfoy . . . Draco, is innocent of the crimes for which he has been sentenced for."

The crowd burst out; some gasping in outrage while others tittered with confusion. Kingley once again spoke over everyone. "Explain yourself."

"Minister, I have procured three memories in which I have held onto that may be beneficial to understanding Draco's character and his wrong-doings during the war." He held his palm open, and the vials were summoned by Kingsley. "And finally, I have brought Hermione home."

Hermione shrunk next to Harry as the small assembly began to gasp and talk loudly, all eyes focused on her. "Go on, Hermione. Tell them what you can. Tell them what they need to know, and give him back his memories." Harry's words were soft, meant only for her ears, which soothed her anxious nerves.

Clearing her throat, she took a step forward closer to the frozen body lying on the table. She noticed his eyes, a dark molten colour, were dancing from side to side. He was attempting to find her, but the curse was too strong - he couldn't move. Shifting next to him, she placed her hand, wand gripped tightly, on his arm. Looking around the room, she held the memories in her left hand by his head. From this angle, the members of the court could not see as she tipped the vial, letting the contents swirl over the table top. Using her wand, she guided them back to him. To others it would look as if she was simply rubbing his arm. At first, he was shocked, but then his eyes softened, and she couldn't read them anymore.

"Miss Granger, first, please move away from the prisoner." She sought his eyes once more before taking a deep breath and stepping away from Draco. The Minister continued, "You have been declared dead. No one could find you for three years. How does your story have anything to do with this man?"

"Draco found me, but I asked him not to tell anyone. I didn't want to be found."

"That does not explain why he broke the very important condition of not removing his monitoring bracelet," someone in the crowd jeered.

Harry stepped up next to Hermione, his arm pressed against hers in support before he addressed the court. "Minister, please take a look at these memories. You'll find that Draco lowered his wand the night Dumbledore fell. He was not going to kill him. You'll also see memories of him as he refused to identify myself during the hunt in which he helped to procure our way out. You'll see the hard work he has put in to the efforts of finding Hermione. This man might be a lot of things, but he does not deserve to lose his soul."

"Very well, we will take an hour to review the evidence and will reconvene."

Harry and Hermione were ushered from the room, the buzz of talk ranging from eager fascination to tones of disbelief. They sat in the hallway together, the sixty minutes taking longer than anything she'd ever felt before. She sat on the bench, her leg bouncing anxiously, before she finally stood up to pace the spot in front of the courtroom. Finally, when the door was opened, they were asked to reenter.

"We have a question," Kingsley demanded the moment they were inside.

Harry stepped forward, but stopped when the Minister held up his hand. "Not of you, Harry, but of Hermione."

Legs still trembling from the newness of them, she took a step forward. While her nerves urged her to hang her head as if she had done something wrong, her spirit raised her chin, her eyes seeking out the wizards and witches in front of her.

"How is it that Harry and the Ministry couldn't find you, but Mr Malfoy could?"

"Do you believe in fate, Minister?" She watched as a few heads inclined slightly, while others narrowed their eyes suspiciously in her direction. "I always have, but I never understood the path that it takes. The road can be bumpy and full of twists and turns. Sometimes, we make mistakes, and those decisions take us places where we learn lessons - lessons that aren't simple. I promise you no promises, but the waters are deep and you can't always see the bottom." She took a deep breath, tears stinging her eyes as she thought of Lass. "Draco doesn't deserve to be punished anymore than he already has for his past. To simply answer your question, Minister, Draco found me because he is exceptional at tracking magic, but he was only able to render the wards of the . . . of where I was because he cares for me. It's the only way Harry was able to get through them too."

Her magic couldn't die, because it was fated to be brought back to save Draco. He traced her and broke the wards, and from the tiny hints that Harry had given her, Draco had feelings for her before he even broached the mermaid's cove. Hermione may have been rescued by the mermaids, but it was Thalassa who truly saved her. And just as she said, her time as a mermaid was a waiting period between what was fated for her. She waited, the eyes of the room shifting from her as they whispered to each other.

Finally, Kingsley spoke, "The Ministry has decided to lift the sentence of the Kiss. Mr Malfoy has paid for his earlier indiscretions during the war and is now a free man. We thank him for his aid in locating you, Miss Granger. Welcome home."

Hermione smiled brightly up at the Minister who was looking down on her fondly. She turned from him and turned to the man on the table, the body-bind curse lifted and his eyes desperately searching for her. So many thoughts were running wild in her mind - everything had moved so swiftly since this morning.

Her constantly questioning mind was struck dumb as Draco's eyes found her. They darkened with emotions plainly screaming from the look on his face. The whole world dropped away as he made his way to her. His long strides took him in front of her in only five steps, and he reached out placing both of his palms on her cheeks. He searched her face, then ran his eyes down her body and back up. His assessment of her being whole solidified, he leaned down to rest his forehead against her own.

"You're here," his voice strained. "How is this possible?"

She reached up to place her hands over his, and closed her eyes. His breathing came in shallow puffs matching her own as she fought to hold back her emotions, relishing in the feel of his breath on her face.

When he pulled back, she answered his question. "Magic."

He huffed a laugh and leaned down to capture her lips with his own.

She had yearned for his touch from the second she left after that first kiss. It burned against her lips, and his touch did things to her body she wasn't accustomed to.

Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably next to them and they broke apart to meet the noise. His cheeks were tinged pink, and Hermione smiled shyly. "So, now what?" Harry asked lamely.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm starving," Hermione said.

"What sounds good?" Harry asked, his voice lighting up at the mention of food.

Draco's gaze never wavered from her face, and his hands slowly ran down her arms to grasp her hands in his own. Hermione smiled brightly, meeting Draco's face. "Clams!"

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