What the Lake Gave Us

High up in the Gryffindor tower, Lily had cracked open the window and sat in the windowsill. The view stretched out for miles on end, far beyond the Forest and the Lake. Severus had been but a mere speck down below, but she still watched him going around the Lake in circles, clearing his mind.

She knew she was hurting him. She could always tell by the number of circles he was running how bad it was. And yet, a darker part inside of her knew that it was as necessary in order to break through the wall he had built between them. A wall she had helped him built, she reminded herself. She whispered quiet apologies at him, her words carried away by the wind.

Very little else was shared between them over the course of the week. They brewed their potions. Shared their soil during Herbology. Practised defensive spells during Defence Against the Dark Arts on each other. Lily had loved Herbology the most, mostly because she enjoyed watching Severus digging his slender fingers into the soil, engrossed in his work. He knew how to make things grow. Most of her plants would only wither under her touch.

…o0o…

The day had come for their fieldtrip in the waters of the Great Lake. Early in the morning, a sudden cloudburst had turned the Grounds to mud. The harsh downpour hadn't stopped by the time the students of Slughorn's class had arrived by the edge of the Lake.

Everyone was soaked and chilled to the core by the time they had reached the tent Professor Slughorn and Professor Sprout had set up. 'Girls, you may change into your bathing suits over here,' said Professor Sprout while pointing at a curtain. 'Boys, you go over there. 'You'll be out in the water in ten!'

'You haven't changed,' said Lily, who joined Severus at the edge of the Lake after changing into her bathing suit. Severus carefully avoided her gaze, knowing that her presence in this state would stir feelings in him he held very little control over.

'Got your wand strapped to your arm?' he asked. He was picking at the loose threads on his father's old military sweater.

Lily held up her arm. 'Strapped and ready.'

'Please, cup your hands in front of you,' said Slughorn. 'In a moment, Professor Sprout will be handing you a few sprigs of the Gillyweed. Remember – and this is important! Gillyweed will allow you to breathe under water for roughly an hour. Professor Sprout and I will be up here, making sure that everyone returns safely to the surface.'

A bundle of slimy grey-green sprigs was dropped into their hands. 'You have to swallow it whole,' Sprout warned. 'The taste is as unpleasant as it looks. Please refrain from the urge to gag.'

'Once swallowed,' Slughorn continued, 'you will start to grow gills on the side of your neck. Webbing will appear between your fingers and toes and your body will adapt to the temperatures of the cold water. Given the rainy circumstances, it'll be more pleasant down there than here up above.'

'Try to collect as many different water plants as you can,' said Sprout. 'Also, be alert of the creatures that live there. Headmaster Dumbledore has notified the Merpeople of your arrival, but that doesn't mean that they'll be pleased with your company. You're better off leaving them alone. Mister Hagrid has guaranteed us that the Giant Squid won't cause any harm.'

'It's going to be dark down below,' said Slughorn. 'Make sure you have your wands securely strapped against your arm so you can use it to light your way. Good luck!'

Lily looked down at the slimy bundle in her hands. Bottom's up, she thought. She brought the Gillyweed to her mouth; the taste of salt dominated her taste buds as she felt the sprigs wiggling their way down her throat. 'Severus, will you stay with me?'

'Need me to prevent you from doing anything foolish?'

'Sev, please.'

The sound of his old nickname sent a shiver down his spine. 'I'll stay with you.'

'Thank you.'

Lily felt her fingers stretching out by the webs that were growing in between. It became harder to breathe with each breath she drew and figured it was time to jump into the water. With a graceful jump, she dove in head-first. The splash behind her insured her that Severus had followed.

She saw how Severus turned around on his back, looking up at the surface. The rain was clattering hard on the Lake, obscuring their vision in an eerily, but also beautiful manner. 'I love magic,' she said. Her voice sounded foreign and restrained under water.

'If I had a Sickle…'

'…you would've bought me a horse.'

An old memory resurfaced. Her mother had insisted on teaching her and her sister to ride horses. Her mother had been taught by her mother, and her mother before that. It had been the proper thing to do. And she had loved it, and her sister had too. Even after the rift that had been caused by magic between her and Petunia, they still shared their love for horses. The struggle, the fights, the differences...all lay forgotten when they galloped their way to the woods. Severus had accompanied her, from time to time. He never cared much for horses, but he cared for being in the woods, and so he had learnt how ride along with her.

Tearing herself away from the image of the rain-scattered surface, she spun around. 'Lumos.'

'Follow me,' said Severus. He led her to the trench, his wand held up high above his head. Down there, there was nothing but a place the sunlight couldn't touch.

'Will we find the plants we need down there?' she asked.

Severus shook his head. 'The Slytherin common room is down there. I figured you may like to see it.'

'I would like to,' said Lily.

They came across a large school of Plimpies feasting on water snails. They reminded her of the times they had used Plimpy eyes in the creation of several potions, and felt a little spark of guilt rise in her heart, knowing that the Plimpies they had used had been fished out of the Lake for it.

After a minute or two, they had reached the moss-covered rooftops of the Slytherin dungeons. Even from above, the dungeons appeared as a maze. The moss danced around in the current, tickling at the bottom of their webbed feet.

'Over here,' said Severus with a wave. They swam their way towards a glass dome. 'That's the common room.'

Lily pressed her nose against the glass, looking down at the Slytherin common room from above. Organic, she thought to herself. Floating candles and fireflies lit up the room. She could see a pool in the middle, steam rising from the heat, the dark stones around it covered by ivy. Spiralling dark-wooded staircases on each side led to a small library, and a large open hearth surrounded by large leather chairs. 'I can see why you enjoy spending your time in here,' she said.

'Down here is my dormitory,' he said while pointing at the nothingness below. Lily followed him further down and looked through a small circular window. It was clear which bed belonged to him. The other boys had their belongings scattered everywhere, but not Severus. The sheets on his bed were neatly folded. The few possessions he owned were perfectly lined up in his shelf. Most of it were books. Most of them had been gifts from her.

'Disciplined as ever,' she said.

'You know it puts my mind at ease.'

He had done it to her belongings as well. Whenever he came over to visit her at her home, she would find him realigning the posters of her favourite rock stars on the walls in her room. Her vinyl records in alphabetical order, as well as her books. On a particularly bad day, he would even toss her clothes from the closet onto the floor, only to fold it up back again. She would let him, and his hands would tremble by the shame of it all.

'We better start collecting the things we need.' She didn't want to be reminded of his impossible attempts at finding order in the chaos. It shattered her heart watching him trying to, unable to give him answers. Unable to make him stop.

She followed him again, trailing after a school of Lobalugs he had found amongst the seaweed. 'If we can provoke them enough, maybe we could extract some of their venom sacks. Their venom is highly valuable and useful for potions.'

'And strictly controlled by the Wizengamot,' Lily answered, unable to hide her grin. 'But not that that's ever stopped you before.'

Riling up the Lobalugs proved to be a rather difficult task. The little melon-shaped creatures preferred to seek shelter in the Merpeople's settlement, rather than defend themselves. Remembering Professor Sprout's warning, they figured it they were better off leaving them alone.

Severus had started collecting sprigs from several different water plants along the way. He knew what he was looking for. Lily didn't. She dived deeper and deeper until the light from the tip her wand bounced back, hitting the very bottom of the Lake. She turned around on her back, her shoulders touching the coarse sand as she looked up. She watched as Severus swam around between the rocks, his long black hair dancing around him like a waterfall, frantically pulling out plants from the crevasses.

'Sev, show me what you found.' He couldn't avoid looking at her now.

The hesitation was prominent in his eyes, but he couldn't ignore her. She knew he couldn't. Slowly, he swam his way over to her. He didn't stop until he hovered several inches above her face.

Unconventionally handsome. Any romantic thoughts regarding Severus had always been pushed far inside the back of her mind. The last thing she needed was to ruin the perfect friendship they had built over the years, had it been nothing but a mere crush. A mere crush, she wasn't so certain about that anymore. He had been a part of her daily life for nearly a decade. A life without him would be as dark as the Lake they were drifting under. She needed him, but beside her or inside of her, she wasn't sure of that yet.

'Lily, your mind is wandering.'

So is yours, Sev. I can tell because your dark-brown eyes turn to black. 'How much time have we got left?' Eyes as dark as soil.

'I'd say about fifteen minutes.'

'Join me.'

'We've played around enough already,' he said sternly. 'I'm not your servant. Go get your own plants.'

Bubbles rose up from the sides of her neck as she laughed. 'Yes, sir,' she said, saluting him. 'Light the way.'

She rolled around again, ready to follow him, but something had caught his eye, leaving him transfixed. 'Have you seen this?'

From the place Lily had been lying, something silvery white, as bright as a star, was shimmering. With his fingers, Severus carefully dug around in the sand until a ring became visible. 'Looks like elm leaves,' he said as looked at the band, which appeared to be made entirely out of tiny leaves.

'Could be an old wedding ring,' said Lily, more impressed by the stone set in it. It was a remarkably yellow gem; as if light was trapped inside of it.

Severus reached out for it, but Lily stopped him by placing her hand on top of his, remembering Molly Weasley's words of warning about touching magical things without knowing its source.

Too late.

He had closed his fist around it. Her hand glued to his as a sudden current swept them away. Everything around them started spinning out of control. 'Let it go!' she screamed.

'I can't!' he screamed back.

The sensation was sickening. It wasn't anything like a Portkey, this was worse. The pressure of the Lake was knocking the air out of their gills. Lily could feel that her hand had started to slip.

'Don't let go!' Severus pleaded. 'Lily…please…'

One by one, her fingers started to detach themselves from his hand. She tried to reach for him with her other hand, but she couldn't, the current was too strong. She saw the look of fear etched into his eyes as she slipped away.

'SEV!' she screamed at the top of her lungs.

'LILY! NO! COME BACK…'

The last thing she saw was Severus being swept away by a different current. 'Lily, find me!' After that, everything went black.

A/N The Ring: I picked elm leaves because Treebeard/Fangorn is (speculated) to be an Elm tree. The yellow diamond is a reference to Hufflepuff. On April 25th, 2014 someone on Twitter asked Rowling what the gems in Hufflepuff's hourglass were. She answered with: "Diamonds, of course. Because that's what Hufflepuff's are (some a little rougher than others)."
A/N There's a website called "lotrproject" It shows an interactive map of Middle-Earth. Since we'll be roaming around a lot in the story, it may come in handy.
A/N I based the idea of the Slytherin common room on a drawing made by Eliott Chacoco on DeviantArt. An amazing artist who interpreted all the common rooms in a unique way.