But now you can't tell the false from the real.

Who can you trust?

When everything you touch turns to gold?

Gold by Imagine Dragons

XX

The rain made the night look even darker. The men on the boat had all the difficulties to stand still and not to slip and fall overboard, in the turbulent waters, where they would certainly vanish. The waves were shaking the tiny boat as if it was nothing but a board of wood, crashing on the board and menacing the lives of every one of them. They were a crew of 8 tonight, 3 less than the other nights. Two of his companions had died drowned; the other one had abandoned their mission. But he had to hold on to it, for he wanted to become the richest man on the coast. She had promised him a ton of money.

''STEADY!'' Yelled the other fisherman on his left. All the fishermen where standing on the edge of the vessel.

He held onto his harpoon. He was ready to nab, the thing would never see it coming.

''Where are you, where are you?'' He murmured to himself on a quiet beat. Under the thunder, nobody could hear his words, even if they were particularly close.

An enormous wave shadowed the rays of the moonlight, it was incredibly high, if not higher than the sail of the boat.

Suddenly, he saw it: a strike of silver in the black waters. It was like a flash, so quick he could have thought he was hallucinating. It was not the first time he was to see its tail, but this time he was not going to let it slip away.

''STARBOARD!'' He yelled in research for help.

The boat was stuck between two enormous waves. There it was, standing still in the water, looking straight at him. The wave was so tall it didn't even need to get out of the water. Its hair was floating around, her silver and purple tail was waving softly, peacefully. It was not attacking, it was observing him: it was curious.

''ATTACK!'' He ordered.

He speared without thinking, the wave finally crashing on the boat.

XX

''Father, we've talked about this all day, I've suffered your advisor's tip all day as well, may I be dismissed now?'' He asked impatiently stroking his finger on his forehead in a failed attempt to brush off his headache.

''Very well, son. Don't miss tomorrow's meeting.''

Draco Malfoy nodded to his father, Lucius Malfoy, the king of Hogwarts land. That made him the heir to the throne, and actual prince of Hogwarts land. According to his title, he had to learn how to rule over the kingdom. His duties involved being present to his father's meeting, in order to learn as much as he could.

He walked to his room, his steps echoing in the empty golden corridors of the palace. He pushed the heavy door open and walked to his balcony. Again, he pushed the doors, this time they were made of glass, letting the moonlight light up his room. Standing still, he breathed the salty air. The Malfoy Castle overlooked the sea. At this hour, the low tides were revealing a small land of wet sand.

He was mentally exhausted, but he could still take a walk. The waters were calm, he didn't need any royal guard to accompany him.

He got rid of his shoes, the thud echoing in his room, and climbing down the rocks on which the palace was built. He was used to it, he knew every crevice and every unstable grip.

His feet finally landed on the wet sand, and he sighed, feeling delighted by the familiar sensation. Running a hand through his hair, he started to walk north, his usual path. He could walk it eyes closed and he would never hit his toe against pebble.

He started to walk, humming a slow song. He was not the best singer, but he like the raspy notes in it. He looked up the cloudless sky, the moon was shinning incredibly lightly – as if it wanted to be the sun, and the stars were like white dots on a dark blue paint. Including the sea, it was a beautiful sight.

''Why is there nobody to share it with?'' He thought to himself.

He continued to walk, hand in his pockets, and his pants rolled up to his knee. He took great care into walking exactly where the tides would brush off the sand, as he would have caressed a lover. His feet were always wet, and he liked it like that.

All of sudden, something caught his attention.

A cry.

It was desperate, a cry coming from the soul, a cry begging for help. He could feel his heart tearing apart at every cry he heard.

He started to walk faster, as the cries became louder he started to jog in direction of the sound. Afar, the only thing he could see was an old tree trunk. A strike of silver blinded him temporally, but he continued to move.

Even from where he was standing, he could see an unknown silver substance painting the sand. Close from it was a tail, an unusually long tail. It was moving fast, even if it was on earth. He captured two beautiful eyes before the tail started to move even faster, and before he could take in what he was seeing, the thing vanished into the water.

There was a body, attached to the tail. Whereas the legs would have been was the tail, but the rest of the body was human. Furthermore: it was a feminine body, with long brownish hair.

It had turned to him before it had vanished, it had gasped at his sight and it swam faster than he could ever dream of, even with years of training.

He had seen it, the creature of the legends his mother had rocked him to bed when he was younger. He had seen the mermaid. It was beautiful.

He fell on his knees, right where he could still see the silver liquid coloring the sand. Was this... the blood of the mermaid? Close to the trunk, he could see the thing she had been hurt with. He walked up to it, and grabbed it. It was a harpoon.

It was hurt, bad enough to leave a trace from the tree trunk to the sea.

XX

Four days later, again around midnight, he ran back to the shore where the mermaid had laid before. The sand was no more silver, proof of her presence. He grabbed a whole hand of sand, and watched it slowly fall down back to the earth. The mermaid had not come back. Not tonight, not the last 3 other night either.

The days were long, thinking about her. He was not attentive during his meetings, he was more impatient then he ever was, which had not escaped his father's attention. He was always thinking about her. He had even stopped calling it ''a thing'', he had given her a name: Hermione. He liked how the H was silent, absent, but still there. It represented her. Absent, but always on his mind. He loved how he had to roll the R and manipulate the M, in order to have the finally of her name.

His walks where result less and his nights sleepless. He kept turning around in his bed, visualizing again and again the glimpse of her face he had caught. She had long hair, that's the first thing that had caught his attention. Her eyes, even under the moonlight, were a light shade of gold. And her lips, oh her lips, they were full but a deep shade of cherry red.

Draco knew he only had one thing left to do: he had to find Hermione.

Hey! So that's it, another start for another short story. I am terrible at writing long and endless psychological stuff, so I prefer short stories :) The chapters will be shorter than ''Mischief Managed'', but over all the story is almost the same lenght.

If you're a fan of Dramione edits, follow my instagram! (drays_). 400 & + dramione edits, and 1.3k &+ followers yet!

Hope you enjoy In Between Waves - comment, vote and share!