Sunlight pierced the water in vivid shafts of glittering gold, spotlighting the loudly colored coral spires surrounding him and making the sand flitter like the dust from crushed pearls. Turtle grass and kelp fronds swayed lazily to and fro in the gentle current rushing by outside, tugging softly on the short strands of his black hair as he rested his head on his arms which were folded atop the sill of the window. Watching numerous brightly colored fish and the occasional bat ray drift passed going about their daily business. Relishing the glorious sensation of the sun-warmed water brushing against his cheeks.

His gills flared gently as he took a deep breath of morning water and smiled to himself. It would be a good day, he could feel it. He and Ron were going to meet up with Draco on the Abyssal Rim and finally make the otter-faced Git put his pearls where his mouth was. There was no way that the pufferfish would actually swim out passed the drop off. He was too scared to even put a fin over the edge and neither of them were ever going to let him live it down.

Smirking to himself, the young Mer left his place beside the window of his room and swam down the hallway of the home he shared with his two parents to the kitchen. His father had already left to join his two Godfathers, Remus and Sirius, on their patrol rounds-the Siren had been becoming more aggressive lately, so a near constant guard was needed to prevent the predators from swarming the reefs-but his mother was still there preparing breakfast.

"Are you still going out today with Ron and Draco?" she asked him in that overly sweet motherly tone which made it painfully obvious he was about to receive a precautionary scolding.

"Yeah, Mum." He replied, wincing slightly as he took the carved shell plate of sea greens she passed to him. "Thanks."

"That Draco Malfoy is a trouble maker. I want both of you boys to stay away from the drop off; open water is Siren territory and with how aggressive the beasts have become lately your father and I both want you well away from where you could potentially be at risk.

"Yeah, ok Mum." Harry half-grumbled half-sighed around a mouthful of greens and with absolutely no intention of heeding the warning. It'd be him and Ron as well as Draco and-knowing the blonde-Crab and Goyle too; Sirens were loners and, even if they were much bigger and extremely territorial by nature, the likelihood that a group of five Mers-even if they were only adolescent barely of courting age-would be attacked were slim to none.

Still, mothers always worried he supposed. It was sort of their secondary occupation.

"We're probably going to go mess around at the Blue Holes. Mid-reef. Heart territory; no Siren for miles."

"Alright. I'll expect you back in time for dinner Harry. Try not to get stuck like the last time you and your friends went out there."

"That wasn't my fault!" Harry protested, turning red up to the fins of his ears. "That was all because of Fred and George and one of their pranks! It's why we aren't taking them with us this time!"

Yes, two years ago he'd been tricked into attempting to squeeze through a hole which was much too small for him and, after subsequently getting stuck, had had to be rescued. Neither of his parents let him forget about that particular embarrassing moment.

"Mum!"

His mother snickered at him from behind her flowing curtain of ruby hair. "I'm sorry darling, sometimes I can't help myself. Your fathers rubbed off on me I suppose."

Grumbling to himself and still rather red in the face the raven haired Mer swiftly vacated his home before his dear mother could poke fun at him for anything else. Like the incident with the octopus back when he'd still been a small pup that liked to stick his nose where it didn't belong. Literally.

"Hello Harry." The instantly recognizable dreamy tone made him pause and turn with a smile. Another Mer had also paused along her way to speak with him, her eyewateringly yellow tail reflecting the sunlight and a happily waving sea anemone secured just above one ear amidst her silvery hair.

"Hello Luna. Busy?"

"Oh, yes. Father and I are worried about the water sprites in the Shimmering Gardens; all of the recent Siren activity may frighten them away." She informed him seriously. Or, at least, as seriously as a Mer like Luna was able. "I was just headed out to reassure them that the Guard will be able to keep them at bay. You?"

"Not busy, exactly, but Ron and I have plans for the day. You know how Otter-face is always going on about how he's not afraid of the Siren or the drop off? Well, we're going to make the Git prove it."

"Good luck, though do be careful near the drop off. There's a Siren in your near future." With that rather ominous remark the vibrantly hued Mer drifted rather dazedly away.

Siren in my future? Luna always had been strange, what with her belief in none existent creatures like water sprites-likely something she learned from her father-yet her occasional premonitions were remarkably accurate. Hopefully it's friendly. Or, at least, not hungry.

Or maybe, even, he'd get incredibly lucky and it would turn out that for once Luna was wrong. He could hope.

Harry continued on his way towards the somewhat lopsided coral spire on the southern side of the reef where his best friend and the rest of the Weasley family lived. He barely got halfway to the door before Ron's younger sister, Ginny, cut him off.

"He told me to tell you that he's sorry; he won't be able to help you torment the Otter today." She told him. "He's going to be stuck in bed for a while."

"Stuck in bed?" he repeated. "Why? What happened?"

Ginny sighed, her red hair-a few shades lighter than his mother's was-lifting around her in a ruby halo. "The idget somehow find his way into a patch of Fire Coral last night."

Harry couldn't fully contain a snort. "Only Ron would swim through a patch of Fire Coral on accident." He said, grinning. "Does Hermione know?"

"Not yet," she told him, "but in the next few hours she'll probably find out, once she comes looking for the two of you. I'd suggest finishing with Otter-face quickly so that you'll be here in time to see her reaction."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He chortled. "That said I shouldn't keep Malfoy waiting for too much longer or he'll just go home in an effort to avoid the dare."

"You have to tell me how that goes."

"Oh, I will. Don't worry. See you later Ginny."

A gentle twitch pf his tail carried him off on his way towards the drop off where they'd arranged to meet with Draco, careful to take a roundabout path so that no one would notice where he was headed and he'd be sure to avoid running into any of the patrolling guards. Maybe five minutes of swimming at a leisurely pace he arrived at the open stretch of sand which marked the drop off away from the safety of the reef and into the dark open ocean beyond.

Malfoy, true to the raven's expectations, was not alone; the pinch faced silver tailed Mer was flanked on either side by the massive forms of Crab and Goyle. He looked up at his approach and folded his arms over his chest with the usual sneer unfurling across his features.

"Where's Weasle-fish?"

"Ron's not coming, Malfoy." He debated telling him the reason for a moment before admitting "swam through Fire Coral last night," with a sigh.

The platinum blonde's sneer grew more amused. Crab and Goyle snickered stupidly.

"Not that it makes a difference regarding what we're here for. You still have to prove your bluster about not being afraid of Siren and open water."

"I'm aware, Potter." The other drawled. "But since this was your idea to begin with why don't you go first?"

"Pufferfish!"

"I am not a pufferfish!" The silver Mer snapped back at him. "I just thought that you'd like to do the honors, 'lion fish' that you are."

"At least I have the action to back it up."

"Then get swimming, Potter. A hundred fin strokes out. You do it first and I'll do it too."

Harry huffed, his finned ears flaring out in annoyance as he flicked his tail and swam up to the edge of the drop off. Peering cautiously out passed the lip of stone and sand, down into the darkening abyss below. How deep was it here again? Fifty feet? A hundred?

"A hundred fin strokes out? And you'll do the same?" With how low the visibility was and the memory of Luna's parting remark still fresh in his mind Harry couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous. Even if there were no Siren in the area there were any number of other predators that could kill and eat him just as easily.

"I'll do it if you do it, Potter. Just like I said." Malfoy said. "Are you going to do it or not?"

Instead of answering Harry squared his shoulders and swam out passed the plunging rim. Feeling the water steadily chill against his skin. The nervousness fading slowly with every inch of dead water which passed and nothing happened. Finally, reaching the agreed distance, he turned around to look.

The shelf was deserted.

"Damn it, Malfoy!"

He should have known that the otter-faced bastard wouldn't miss a chance to pull a fast one on him, especially if it meant he didn't have to be the one to swim out into potential danger. He was probably waiting behind the first bend of coral for him to come charging after him in an angry huff. In retrospect he probably should have enlisted Neville or one of the others to take Ron's place in coming out here, just to make sure that precisely this situation didn't occur.

Annoyed as he was, Harry had to admit that it was liberating to be floating there surrounded by blue and with nothing in sight but open water. No sand only a few yards below him. No natural architecture of stone and coral to restrict his movement. In this moment he couldn't help but envy the Siren.

What must it be like to be an inarguable Apex Predator? All rippling muscle and teeth.

Teeth was precisely what filled his vision the moment he turned towards the flicker of motion in his peripheral vision. Large, sharp, jagged, triangular teeth set into a gaping maw rushing towards him atop which sat a pair of hematite orbs gleaming with predatory intent.

Shark!

He barely had the chance to process the identity of his hunter before those wicked daggers sank into his tail. Punching through flesh and scale without resistance. Filling the water around him with a murky ruby cloud. Pain lanced through him as the beast which still gripped him in its mouth shook him violently like a wild squall. Smashing his head against its hard skull at one point, causing his vision to momentarily go black, but allowing him the needed chance to sink his fingers into one of its eyes.

The attack was over as quickly as it had begun; the predator releasing him and swimming away no doubt content to return once he'd bled out or lost the strength to fight. His body felt heavy. His firs were probably shredded. He was sinking. Slowly sinking down into deepening blue. Red blood coiling and spiraling into odd shapes amidst the golden spears of light plunging down from the surface now far above.

Swim. His clouded mind at last managed to supply. Must…swim…find…help…Dying.

His tail was difficult to properly operate. His eye sight was blurry. For all that he knew he was swimming straight down towards the bottom of the sea rather than back towards the reef. Towards his pod. Towards help.

The current was pushing him along. The current which, he managed to remember, flowed away from his home. From the reef which was all that he had ever known. Weak. Too weak to make it back. Too weak to fight the will of the sea.

To the left of him, through his fading vision, he could see another gaping maw of darkness. Not a mouth, this time, but the opening of an underwater cave.

Shelter. Maybe someone would see it and be able to find it. If not, at least it would make a pleasant enough place to die. A gravesite protected enough from the elements that his body at least stood some chance of going undisturbed by scavengers.

Provided that nothing lived there.

Even the smallest movements took all his energy and effort yet, somehow, he managed to drag himself through the water and into the cave before his body gave out. Drifting limply down through the water to rest on his back in the soft cold sand. His gills heaving as he struggled to breathe, dimming vision scanning what was almost certain to soon become his tomb. From the entrance mid-day sunlight streamed, bright and strong if a bit dimmer than it was up on the reef due to the depth. From the back a pair of odd red pinpoint lights which flickered gently every now and then.

No, not flickered. Blinked.

As consciousness fell away completely and Harry plummeted into inky dark he was left with the soul-chilling knowledge that the pinpoints of light weren't lights at all but the glowing eyes of a Siren.