A heavy drag sent her down, whilst another set of arms restrained her body from fighting back. The water swiftly moved against her at a speed so fast, she felt like she might've skipped a second of life. And before she could scream, or shout a cry for help- Cordelia felt a hand clamp over her mouth, muffling all calls of pleading rescue. Claws began to dig into her sides, her eyes squeezed so tightly- just hoping the pain would go away
She was still in a state of confusion. After a minute or two of swimming at an alarmingly fast rate, she felt herself being sent up to the surface, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the two sirens she had knocked out staring right back at her. Internally, she panicked. When she turned her head, she saw that she was on the other side of the lake, right in front of a bustling crowd of trees. She flinched when they clamped down a very heavy stone to her fins and wrapped her arms with tight ropes.
The feeling that her hand might get cut off due to how tight the ropes were had been familiar. But not the heavyweight that was smashing against her fins. It felt like a million needles that had been heated by the fires of hell were being thrown at the bottom half of her body. She bit her lip to ban the trespassing whimpers that were leaving her mouth.
"You thought you could get away so easily huh?" The siren hissed. Cordelia stayed quiet not knowing how- or what to answer.
Expectedly, when no words left her mouth, a knife-cutting sting was felt on her left cheek. Blood rushed quickly giving attention to the sharp slap on her face
With all the confidence that she had mustered, she held her head high and answered, trying her best to avoid quivering
"I don't-" she had already managed to fail herself, mumbling between small whimpers
"I don't understand what you're referring to" Cordelia answered a bit clearer. Her head, which was once held high in the beginning, began to slowly sink with the weight of her words and their consequences, pulverizing her.
Both Sirens simultaneously had an ugly smirk form on their faces- And Cordelia just knew from that menacing look that this would end with permanent bruises to remind her of the mistakes she's made.
The mermaids slowly pushed the heavy stone so that it would add immense pressure to her entire fin, rather than the sides.
Vibrant Screams left her throat, whilst silent ones left her eyes as they were bleeding streams of salt water
"Now, be a good little girl and tell us the truth, will you?" One cackled at the sorrow in front of her. The siren lifted Cordelia's chin with her scaley hands, her sharp fingers digging at her aching figure. "And if you don't, we'll make sure that your loverboy gets the punishment he deser-"
Cordelia made the "What did he ever do to you? Or just human-"
"Don't" slap "Interrupt" slap "Me!"
Both sirens took turns slapping either side of her face. She felt her crimson cheeks bruise from the harsh slams of their palms
"If you don't tell us the truth right now we'll make sure you or anyone else will never get to see the living face of that ferret-looking human!" She shivered at the thought and decided to confess.
"Fine. I did knock you two out but- only because you were going to kill him- and.." Cordelia's words seemed to get lost in her throat as she hesitated to continue
The siren gave her a menacing glare as they saw this"Go on" she instructed
Slowly shutting her eyes, she swallowed her breath and continued "And it just didn't seem very... fair"
Both sirens looked at each other, smirking "See, Being honest wouldn't have killed you" Oh but it might have
"Oh dear, so naive. How many times do we need to tell you?" One tutted, lifted Cordelias delicate and very stung physique to face their eyes, full of throwing stars
"Never interact with humans. And no. It is not because we care about you, only because if that old headmaster knew that there was a wa-"
One siren slapped the other, hushing her up. Cordelia's brow furrowed in confusion. She always knew that something was off about a mermaid like her, living with evil bit-stabbing sirens- but she never seemed to bat an eye. Although what just happened seemed to make her question a bit- her thoughts were interrupted by the dominating voice
"As punishment"
Cordelia shook her head quickly, trying to deny whatever was to be thrown at her
"You'll stay here for.. until we think you've learned your lesson-"
Helps and pleas began to burst from her mouth as she could not contain herself "N-No! Please! I swe-"
"And as for your handsome prince", One cackled with an evil undertone
"If you dare to flinch an eye towards him, we'll make sure neither of you sees the light of day" And without warning at all, they jumped back into the freezing pool of water, and swam back to wherever they came from. probably the pit of evil
Cordelia let out her sobs and cries that she had been holding in for oh, so long. She was right outside the forbidden forest- not even caring if anyone were to see her in this place. Anything would be better than surviving her circumstances
It might have been a minute, or it might have been hours, either way, the sun was now dipping into the water, as the illuminating moon made an appearance. The heavyweight on her lower half became worse over time, raspy screams left her throat. She hadn't been in the water for a while, and she felt an odd sensation- almost familiar- course through her veins. Her tail felt like it was tightening- squeezing her- and the fragile veins on her skin and tail felt like they were about to just completely burst. when- out of nowhere- a droplet of water from the sky came in contact with her sore self.
The second it began raining, the unusual pain managed to leave her body- the pain she was feeling 2 seconds ago.
Her tail was now bleeding from the edges of the sharp rock,
'If you never bleed, you'll never learn to grow- But maybe that's alright with me'
-
A ringing was heard in Draco's ears- as he paced back and forth in the Slytherin common room, still pondering about the girl in the lake. The fact that he had been so mesmerized and attracted to. The thought of a person staring right back at him from an ocean of water without having any trouble breathing seemed to skip his boat of steamy thoughts
And his deep concentration had been interrupted by a stern voice
"What are you thinking so hard about Dray'?"
His best friend, Pansy Parkinson sat cross-legged with a half-finished book in her hand. The green lights of the room were illuminating her features, making her round dark eyes stand out
Draco shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. He didn't know what to answer
'Oh nothin' Pans', Yeah. Just saw a girl in the black lake staring right back at me'
He had a small crush on Pansy in 2nd year, although, once he confronted her about it- well- let's just say she's into people like Ginny Weasley- or Daphne Greengrass.
When Pansy made sure this friendship was strictly platonic, they'd been tied together ever since. Of course, Draco had Blaise Zabini, an old mate of his- and Xeno- Well, he was more of a mutual friend. But Pansy had a different view on things. She was also very similar to him. They both had the dark mark so they would spend nights in the room of requirement. Most of the time they were both extremely frustrated or aggravated, to say the least
The glass would constantly break, and the cabinets had dents from Pansy's infuriation. And of course, Draco would get mad or scold Pansy about practically digging holes and marking memories in the cabinet but being the stubborn Slytherin she is, she would never listen.
"Nothin' Pans. Just tired" He replied, taking his time while rubbing his temples with his fingers
"Really?" She asked in a sort of intimidating tone. As she slowly made her way toward him, standing just in front
"Because yesterday-" She paused as she circled him, whilst crossing her arms. Like she was a predator, and he was her prey
"-We were supposed to meet in the room- For the cabinet that could literally get us murdered if we don't fix it by the end of the school year!" Her last statement sounded angry- actually, angry would be an understatement
" You need to get a hold of yourself! Your life, your family's life, and My life- because screw my family- are all on the line here! So unless you want to watch your sweet mumsy get tort-"
With that, he snapped towards her, his eyes raging in fire and fury as he pointed his finger toward her
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Parkinson" He spat. Pansy froze from her spot, whilst still having a monotone expression on her face. "-It was once! One time! Just get over it" Draco shook his hand, and as he was about to leave for the boy's dorm, a hand caught his.
Slowly, he turned around, and Pansy cupped her hands around his face
"Why's your face all scratchy?" She eyed him up and down, seeing his disheveled clothes that were ripped to shreds. "Draco, What did you do to yourself? You look like that one Weasley" This time she seemed to be a bit more worried. She traced the deep cuts, making Draco jump from his place when he felt a slight ting
It took a second for Draco to just spill everything. He didn't mention the face he'd seen in the lake, of course. He thought if he did, Pansy would just think that he was going mental. But, would she be so wrong?
"I don't know Draco', I mean- So you're saying that you went to the black lake to study, and woke up there with no memory at all of what happened that night?" He simply shook his head as a 'yes'
"Did anything else happen?"
'Yeah, I saw a bloody face in the water. And what about that?'
"No" he mumbled ever so clearly
Pansy seemed to want to say something- as she was interrupted by the voice of thunder. His heart skipped a beat, synchronizing with the sound-
Merlin did this boy hate thunderstorms. He needed a distraction
"You should go- get some rest. I'll work on the cabinet tonight Pans'" It was more of a demand than a suggestion
"Drac-"
"No Parkinson, I owe you one. Go to sleep. Now" He insisted
Pansy left with a warm hug, wishing him luck in the cabinet. He was left in the common room- feeling empty. Needless to say, he put on his black suit, grabbed himself some nightwear, and a green apple just in case he needed a snack.
While packing for his things, he looked at his face and saw how terrible the scars were. They were deep, he looked at his white shriveled shirt to see the claw marks. They hadn't looked like anything he'd ever since before, but then again, he's never really been attacked by anything.
On his way out of his dorm, he unconsciously swiped the book from his front desk and took it with him. The book was one he had found in the restricted section of the library. All about dark objects/magic, with the title "Dark artifacts; How to use them Vol.13". Something he thought would assist him.
...
The Room of Requirement's walls were as thick as a tree trunk. Meaning it muffled out the sound of pouring rain and lightning wails.
As he was rummaging through his leather satchel, he pulled out what he thought was the textbook about dark artifacts, when he realized he had picked up the wrong notebook. the notebook was the same one he had taken with him on that trip to the black lake- he expected to find all his notes neatly tucked inside the book- only to be left with half of them- ripped into pieces
'Would now be the wrong time to go outside and find the small notebook with all my notes?' he thought 'I mean- they're pretty important- and they wouldn't be damp seeing as I used waterproof paper'
Without really thinking much about it, Draco made his way outside the castle, slowly- making sure no one would see him lurking past hours. And put his hood over his head to prevent his platinum silver locks from getting wet in the pouring rain
Was this a smart idea? To go find notes for an elective in the pouring rain? No. But something urged him to do so, it felt like a faint whisper- begging him to go outside.
As he was making his way towards the black lake, he could've sworn he heard a shout of desperate help. His ears began to ring along with a pounding headache. His legs were walking on their own.
He held his wand in one hand, casting a spell
'Lumos' He whispered faintly through cold breaths. Draco was walking between the edge of the forbidden forest, and the black lake, the evidence of Autumn crushing as he slowly crouched beneath the tall trees. The whimpers and whispers were getting slightly louder, as he walked closer. Rain was still heavily pouring and his clothes were anything but dry.
As he hid behind the bushes and squinted his eyes, he saw the face of a girl, who seemed to be in a somnolent haze of sleep. His head shook a little as he had never seen her attending Hogwarts, but he had seen her face before. Draco had been too distracted to even notice the heavyweight that seemed to be crushing her petite figure- or the fact that her hands had been tied above her head.
It only took a minute for him to register that what he was looking at was not human- no- it was a Mermaid
AN: I really hate this chapter... tell me what you guys think of Pansy! I always see her as kinda bitchy and annoying in all the fanfics I've read and I felt like it was just too.. repetitive. Anyway, lmk what you guys think
ALSO, this is kinda what the Hogwarts map looks like in my fanfic
Draco is currently on the 'other side of the lake'