Heart & Soul (The Untold Harry Potter story)

Chapter 47

Harry spotted Castor with her wand pointed in their direction, eyes set in a fierce glare as she finally unlocked the chain that held Eliza. She paddled and kicked her way through the water, swimming as fast as she could towards Harry. She pushed Eliza above her, pushing her through the water towards the surface until she couldn't see her anymore, praying that she would make it to the top. Harry felt the sharp sting of the grindylow's teeth sink into his leg. Castor finally caught up to him, pulling out her wand again just as he did, and together they stunned the slimy creatures.

The grindylows disappeared, swimming away into the depths of the water and into the dark corners of the reef below. Harry felt his gills shrink, and his lungs called for air, though he felt weightless to swim to the surface. Castor's hands on his cheeks made him open his eyes again. She was shaking him, and he blinked at her. She began to paddle up to the surface, holding onto him tightly, when her next inhale came with the rushing stream of water into her lungs.

The sharp sting of teeth biting into her ankles brought her attention below to the bottom of the lake. The grindylows had returned, and this time, they decided they were going to drag her down instead of Harry. Castor mustered whatever strength she had left and pushed Harry to the water's surface, hoping it was enough to save him. The grindylows dragged her down deeper, and she felt her lungs constrict. She tried to gasp for air. The salty lake water entered her mouth, and she coughed trying to breathe in the air that wasn't there.

Castor kicked and shoved at the grindylows, but it was no use, between the biological need for oxygen and the force of the teeth biting into her skin, she wasn't going to make it. She felt the dark shadows along the edge of her vision, and she reached up to the beams of light the bled through the water as if it was a life preserver thrown out to a man overboard at sea.

Finally, she felt her eyes close, and her body floated weightlessly through the water.

~

Harry broke through the surface, coughing and spitting out water from the Black Lake as the spectators cheered for his return. He paddled and swam as best as he could with his weakened state towards the platform, finally feeling relieved as Remus and Pollux pulled him out of the water.

"Are you okay? Where's Castor?" Pollux asked as he wrapped him in a towel.

"She was right behind me. The grindylows-" He coughed again as he spit up more water.

"She's still down there?" Eliza's worried voice sounded from behind Pollux. The brunette was standing beside Remus, wrapped in several warm towels and being looked over by Madame Pomfrey. Pollux looked at Remus, and the ex-professor could see he was beginning to panic.

"Pollux." Harry coughed again. The Slytherin boy looked back at him, barely able to see his green eyes through the water on his glasses. "Her potion wore off. She can't breathe!" Harry pulled out the vial from his pocket, pressing it into his hand.

Pollux stood to his feet, pulling off his scarf and his overcoat. He was about to kick off his shoes when Remus grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Remus's eyes shared the same worry that drowned his own. "You can't go down there!"

"I have to! She's my sister!" Pollux shook him off. "Where she goes, I go!"

"Pollux! Look!" Eliza pointed back to the water with eyes wide and worried. Professor Dumbledore was kneeling beside the platform's edge, and he too was waiting eagerly with his hand outstretched to the water's surface.

The murky water rippled and bubbled, and the crowd gasped as they watched the Chief mermaid emerge from the water, and in his arms was Castor's limp form, weightless and pale. Pollux pushed forward to kneel next to Dumbledore, reaching down and pulling his sister from the water. Harry had crawled forwards as well, kneeling beside Pollux as they laid Castor down on the docks between them.