Make Me Fall

28. Back to Reality

I lie on my back, floating in the water. The trees keep most of the lagoon in the shade - another bonus. Draco is sitting in the shallower water, rubbing handfuls on sand on his legs. I wonder how deep the lagoon is in the middle. It's so clear, I bet I could swim down and touch the bottom, then push off from the bottom and get back to the top. I'm floating in about the middle now. It's our last day, I might as well see.

I take a deep breath and dive under the water. I open my eyes as I kick down. I can see the bottom, it doesn't look too far away. I let out some of my breath, the bubbles running past my face. I keep going down, doing my half-breaststroke-half-kicking thing. I let out the rest of my breath, thinking I must be close. I reach out my hand, but I still can't feel the bottom. My lungs are starting to hurt. I need to breathe in. I need to kick off from the bottom so I can get to the top quicker, but I don't know how much further it is. Panicked, I turn around and start swimming towards the stop. My head is pounding, my throat aching. I need air.

I feel arms grab my shoulders and a few seconds later my head breaks the surface. I gulp in air, breathing hard. Draco brushes the hair off my face.

"Are you alright?" he asks anxiously. I nod, panting. He drags me to the shore and sits me between his legs, his arms around my middle.

"You were under for ages," he says, holding me tightly, "you scared me."

"I was trying to reach the bottom," I tell him, my breathing starting to slow, "it's deeper than it looks."

Draco kisses me on the back of the neck.

"Next time, let me know so I can keep an eye on you," he mumbles.

"I will," I promise. I run my fingers against his legs. Other than the hair, they're really smooth.

"Why are your legs so smooth?" I ask.

"The sand," he says, "gets rid of all the dead skin."

I giggle and he gently tugs a bit of my hair.

"It works, doesn't it?" he chuckles. I lean my head back against his shoulder and close my eyes. My stomach rumbles and Draco laughs.

"Hungry?" he asks. I nod.

"Come on, then," he says, "let's head back."

We climb up the rope ladder and I take one last look at the lagoon, before following Draco through the bush. We reach the little cliff and he goes down first.

I hate this bit.

I climb down with a bit of difficulty, but don't die, which is a big plus. Draco holds out his hand and I take it. We walk through the rock pools and back along the beach. The sun dries us off as we walk, so by the time we get back, we're relatively dry. There are sandwiches and cold pumpkin juice waiting for us.

Once we've demolished our lunch, we decide to go and make a sandcastle. We make a mini-Hogwarts in our first week.

We get about half-way into our castle and get bored.

"Race you to the water," I say, taking off. Draco follows and we hit the waves at the same time. The water is lovely and cool. We wade in about chest depth and stop, letting the waves lift and drop us as they move in and out.

"I wish we weren't leaving today," Draco says, "two weeks is far too short."

"Me too," I sigh, "I wish we could live here forever."

We kick back, floating around each other, occasionlly bumping into each other. Draco is staring off at the shore and I'm looking out to sea. I see a wave coming. It's bigger than the others.