Chapter 13: The Underwater City

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Harry Potter

Atemu woke up bright and early on Saturday morning and quickly scampered out of bed. Kaiba, who apparently was awake reading scowled at him.

"Apparently you can rise with the sun." Kaiba growled.

Atemu rolled his eyes before he tugged open his trunk and began to rummage around before he pulled out the black tank top and a pair of swim trunks and quickly got dressed. Last night before he'd gone to bed Atemu had made a point to work on revising his bubble head charm to make absolutely sure he was going to be able to cast it. Transfiguration would be useless if he and Hermione were going to be talking to the merfolk that lived in the Black Lake and Gilliweed, although helpful would only give them a finite time limit to locate the merpeople and to ask all the questions Hermione had no doubt spent the last week compiling.

Once Atemu was dressed he made sure to cast an impervious curse on Apophis. With the snake transformed Atemu was pretty certain he'd be safe regardless but he didn't want to take the chance that Apophis got too cold with him spending an extended period of time underwater.

"I didn't think Egyptians even knew how to swim. Do me a favor and drown." Kaiba growled.

Atemu chuckled quietly to himself as he slowly made his way to the door, his hand resting on the door frame, his body already tensing to sprint out of here. "You know Kaiba, with the way you keep sniping at me soon people are going to be thinking that the pureblood dick you are wanting to suck is mine." Atemu said before he whipped himself around the door frame and sprinted across the common room.

"COME BACK HERE SENNEN! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" Kaiba shouted.

Atemu was still laughing as he made his way out the front door and onto the Hogwarts grounds. Him and Kaiba dueling when he got back may very well be unavoidable but at this point, the jab was way too worth it. The only thing Atemu regretted was he didn't get to pause long enough to see the look on Kaiba's face when he'd made that comment.

Atemu slowly made his way across the grounds, heading over to the Black Lake. Hogwarts students were fortunate that they lived in a place that was surrounded by so many different magical creatures. Because, other than Apophis really, Atemu didn't get to see a lot of magical creatures on a regular basis back home. He'd seen a couple of sphinx's in his life but other than that there weren't really that many. Not like the huge number of them that the Hogwarts students could potentially encounter.

Atemu sat down on the edge of the bank, looking out over the impressive lake. It was certainly one of the larger bodies of water he'd seen. It looked like it was wider than the Nile river was, or at least wider than most points of the Nile river, since he couldn't see the other side of the Black Lake. Then again, the more Atemu thought about it the early morning mist might be part of the reason he couldn't see the opposite bank.

Atemu was drawn from his musings by the arrival of Hermione Granger. Atemu slowly climbed to his feet just as Hermione shrugged off her robe, revealing her simple one piece swimsuit and a pair of black shorts providing further coverage.

"I'm glad to see you were able to make it Hermione. I wasn't sure that Potter was going to let you." Atemu commented lightly.

Hermione scowled, "Harry does not get to dictate what I do or don't do. Nor whom I get to do or not do things with." Hermione muttered darkly.

Atemu shrugged, "Perhaps he's just trying to look out for you." Atemu suggested although to be perfectly honest he didn't particularly care other than the fact that if Harry and Hermione weren't on speaking terms then that meant that Harry wouldn't be able to share any vital information about Voldemort with her.

Hermione snorted, "I'm sure that's what his macho man teenage mind tells him he's doing. But all he's really doing is starting to get on my nerves because damn it! I am 17 years old, and just as capable as he is if not more so to defend myself. I don't need him trying to babysit me." Hermione growled before continuing, "You don't see him telling Ron who he can or cannot talk to. You don't see Harry scolding RON for talking to that Russian transfer student who keeps making doe eyes at him. No, but Harry practically has a conniption if I exchange more than a simple greeting with you WITH WITNESSES, and lets not get started on if I was unsupervised with you for more than a couple of seconds." Hermione hissed.

Atemu shrugged once more, "I honestly don't know why your friend does that. Truly I don't. Then again, guys relationships with girls can get complicated and just plain messy even if they are just friends and you don't try to bring love and sex into the equation." Atemu said.

Hermione turned and gave Atemu a funny look, "Are you telling me that you have a girlfriend?" Hermione asked.

Atemu snorted, "Fiance actually. We're supposed to be getting married this coming summer after I return home." Atemu replied before he smirked at Hermione, "Why are you acting like that is such an unbelievable fact?" Atemu asked.

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. You just, well you've never mentioned her before now. Not that you and I have had a lot of opportunity to talk before this." Hermione said.

Atemu just shook his head, "It's complicated, like I said. A complicated mess of my own creation, true, but still complicated all the same." Atemu said before deciding to just plow ahead, "Now, the real question is why does Harry's behavior seem to bother you as much as it does?" Atemu asked slowly.

Hermione was quiet for a moment as she gazed out at the black lake. "I honestly don't know why. It just, Harry just gets on my nerves." Hermione said.

Atemu snorted, "You know, I don't really think that I believe you." Atemu said.

Hermione turned to face Atemu, frowning. "Oh? And why not?" Hermione asked, her tone tinged with accusation.

Atemu shrugged, "Lets be realistic. As smart as you are Hermione you have to have at least some idea of why Harry gets on your nerves so much. I never said you have to tell me why he does. You could say that you don't feel comfortable sharing that with me and we'll leave it at that. But, I don't believe for one second that you don't know the answer." Atemu said.

Hermione blushed, "Okay. So, I might have some idea of why. But that doesn't matter. Now, I thought the whole reason we were meeting up was to go and meet the merpeople." Hermione said.

Atemu nodded, "I'm ready to go whenever you are. You do know the bubble head charm, right?" Atemu asked.

Hermione nodded, "I do. I also reviewed it over the last few days." Hermione confirmed.

"Excellent, then let's go do this." Atemu said before he slipped off his shoes and slowly stepped into the water. The water was chilly, Atemu noted as he continued to slowly step deeper into the water, goosebumps already appearing on his skin. Hermione followed a short ways behind him.

"You do know how to swim, right?" Hermione asked.

Atemu nodded, "Yes, I did learn how to swim as a child. I practiced in the pool at the palace." Atemu said, smiling slightly when he briefly thought back to the found memories.

Hermione snorted, "I forgot that you are supposed to be some sort of prince or something like that." Hermione said.

Atemu nodded, "I am. And my father is the Pharaoh in Egypt and my family is directly descended from a long line of Pharaoh's. A fact that we are quite proud of." Atemu said.

"And you are going to become Pharaoh after him?" Hermione inquired.

Atemu nodded once more, "I will yes, although that will no doubt be several years away from now. I will finish my magical education as well as some of my non-magical studies that I have been focusing on. I also intend to earn at least one mastery and at least a bachelors degree in international relations." Atemu said.

"You certainly sound like you'll be busy." Hermione said.

"It might be a good idea to cast a warming charm too. We'll be underwater for quite awhile and the charm will help take some of the edge off." Hermione suggested.

Atemu nodded, "That sounds like a good idea." Atemu replied before he cast the warming charm on himself. The charm itself would do little more than keep off the worst of the cold and would slowly wear off but, as Hermione said it would definitely help.

Atemu nodded as he came to a stop, the water was now waist deep, which meant it would probably be a good idea to cast their charms now before they had to begin swimming. Atemu pulled out his wand and cast the Bubblehead charm, a quick glance behind him revealed that Hermione had cast the charm as well. Atemu stowed his wand before he dove down into the water.

Despite the warming charm the water was still cold, but thankfully his body was adjusting to the temperature better while he was completely submerged than it had been while he was wading into the water. Hermione swam up beside him so she was now level with him.

"So, in all of your planning Atemu, did you ever happen to find out where precisely in the Black Lake the merepeople's village was locate?" Hermione asked.

Atemu shook his head, "No, I did not. But judging by the smirk on your face you at least have some idea of where to find the merefolk." Atemu said.

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, follow me. Harry said the merefolk live in the middle of the lake. He also said its about a 30 minute swim to get there." Hermione said, she glanced back over at Atemu before adding, "Technically I've been there before, when I was a hostage in the Tri-wizard tournament. But, I was in an enchanted sleep so I didn't actually get to see anything." Hermione said.

"Then we had better get a move on then." Atemu replied before he started swimming out towards what appeared to be much deeper water. Hermione continued to swim beside him, her wand in her hand.

"Just be careful. Harry also said that this lake is home to a lot of Grindylows. Nasty things." Hermione cautioned.

Atemu nodded, his wand slipping back into his own hand. "Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to keep a lookout for any. We don't have anything like those back home." Atemu said.

Hermione snorted, "No, I don't see why you would be encountering an abundance of water demons when you live in a desert." Hermione replied.

The two continued to swim on, keeping their eyes and ears peeled both for signs of the merefolk they were seeking as well as any other potential dangers they might encounter while on their quest.

XXXXXXX

Harry was laying on his four poster bed starring moodily up at the ceiling. He had been awake for almost an hour now and still had not bothered to get up quite yet and had instead decided to take advantage of the relative silence to try and think about some of the problems he was currently trying to address.

Problem number one: What the hell is Draco Malfoy up to? And while we are at it, why the hell does he keep vanishing off the Marauders Map?

Harry sighed, his gut was telling him that was a big problem and if he was a betting man he would guess that Draco Malfoy was mixed up with Voldemort and more than likely had gotten himself marked as a Death Eater over the summer. Which meant that if he was up to ANYTHING then Harry really needed to be on top of it.

Problem Number two: The Transfer Students

Harry frowned once more before he abruptly sat up in bed. Hermione and Ron may not agree with him but as certain as Harry was the Draco was up to something he was even MORE certain that the transfer students were up to no good. Especially that punk Sennen. Not only was he a freaking Parselmouth but he also walked around carrying a venomous snake with him. The only other person that Harry knew of that traveled around with a venomous snake was Voldemort. The fact that another dark wizard was here at Hogwarts and had close contact with his friends really had Harry on edge.

Problem Number three: Hermione

Harry sighed, now if his relationship with Hermione wasn't the biggest most aggravating mess he had no idea what could possibly top it. For starters she hadn't spoken to him for the majority of the week all because Ron made the Quidditch team. That was completely idiotic. Ron was a good keeper and Harry was more than happy to have him back on the team this year and hopefully his confidence will be boosted so that he won't choke when they have their first match against Slytherin this year. And worse still she had made some mysterious plans with the evil dark wizard Sennen to do something today. Something that she outright refused to tell him. She wouldn't tell him when she was meeting Sennen or even WHERE they were going to be meeting. How the bloody hell was he supposed to keep an eye on her and keep her safe if she wasn't willing to meet him at least half way on it?

Harry moodily threw the covers off and ripped open the curtains before he started rummaging through his trunk and dug out the Marauders Map. If he kept an eye on the map today he'd be able to see where Hermione was, so if she did go off with Sennen he'd at least be able to make sure he was in the general area.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry whispered to activate the map before he began to scan the map, looking for Hermione. He frowned when he noticed that Hermione was not up in her dorm still and a quick glance over both the library and the Great Hall were devoid of Hermione as well.

Harry's heart sank. Where the hell are you Hermione? Harry wondered as his eyes began to frantically scan over the map looking for Hermione. After several minutes of searching Harry finally found her. He frowned. She was literally right next to Sennen and unless he was misreading this map she was in the middle of the Black Lake.

Harry grabbed his Firebolt out of his trunk before he quickly tugged on his robe over his pajamas and a beat up pair of trainers before he sprinted out of the common room. There was no good reason that would ever be able to justify why Hermione would be in the middle of the Black Lake, a place Harry knew from first hand experience was not a safe place to be.

"Everything alright Harry?" Neville asked as he passed Harry who came sprinting out of the Fat Ladies portrait hole.

"No time to talk Neville. Hermione's in trouble." Harry called out over his shoulder as he he continued to sprint down the corridor and down the stairs. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew the professors would kill him for attempting it he'd almost be tempted to just mount his broom and fly through the castle since it would be faster than he could run.

"Harry! Harry wait up!" Neville called out as he jogged after Harry.

"No time Neville!" Harry replied as he continued to run down the stairs. Please be alright Hermione. Harry mentally pleaded.

He probably ended up setting a personal speed record for the quickest trip from the Gryffindor common room to the grounds but Harry didn't really care. He had barely made it out the doors before he mounted his Firebolt at a run and took to the sky heading straight towards the Black Lake.

Harry reached the Black Lake and his eyes were frantically scanning the water looking for a small boat or something that hopefully Hermione was in but he was coming up short. He carefully pulled the Marauders Map out of his robe pocket and against scanned the map for Hermione. According to the map Harry was right on top of Hermione despite the fact that Hermione was literally no where to be seen.

Which meant that Hermione was underwater...with Sennen.

For several moments Harry just sat there frozen in an almost panicked shock. He knew about where Hermione was but he couldn't get to her. And worse still if Sennen did something while she was underwater then Harry would literally be powerless to protect her.

"Argh!" Harry shouted in sheer frustration. Of all the girls he had to go and fall in love with why did he have to chose the one that would do something as dangerous and as stupid as this?

Harry froze...wait, what? Love...Hermione? Where the hell did that thought come from?

Harry continued to hover above the Black Lake, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the dot labeled with Hermione's name. If and when she moved he would continue to follow and as soon as Hermione and Sennen surfaced there would be literal hell to pay.

He'd worry about figuring out what to do about his apparent crush or whatever on Hermione once she was safely out of the Black Lake and more importantly safely away from Sennen.

XXXXXX

Mai glanced around the common room where Yami, Yugi, Joey and Marik were all gathered. Kaiba had stormed off no doubt to do something that got him away from the rest of his lowly compatriots which Mai was smart enough to understand meant he was hiding somewhere sulking and probably plotting his revenge.

"So, are we using this as our first Quidditch meeting?" Joey asked.

Mai quirked a brow, "Did you ever get the go ahead for us to play?" Mai asked.

Joey nodded, "Yes, Madam Hooch told me last night that we are clear to play and that Hogwarts is going to rearrange the Quidditch schedule to give us a change to play in the tournament." Joey replied.

Mai nodded, "Well, that's good news. However, that isn't why I called this meeting." Mai said.

"Oh, and why did you call this meeting Mai dear?" Marik asked.

Mai sighed, "I for one think that we need to deal with Atemu and Kaiba." Mai said.

Marik sat forward his eyes shining with anticipation, "Are you finally going to let those to knuckleheads duel so they can officially establish their pecking order." Marik asked.

Mai rolled her eyes, "I honestly don't think that will accomplish anything. Both are far too stubborn that no matter who won the duel they would demand rematch after rematch and I for one don't feel like having to moderate a duel every single day." Mai said.

Marik chuckled, "I would have no problem moderating the duels. In fact I would enjoy it." Marik replied.

Mai and Yam both rolled their eyes, "We both know you would LOVE nothing more than to watch those two duel Marik. What Mai is saying and I agree with is that them dueling won't really actually accomplish anything."

"Then what is your plan?" Marik asked, Yugi giggled at the fact that Marik was clearly pouting.

Mai sighed, "I think that we should lock the two of them up in a room until they work things out." Mai said.

Marik's eyes shined with mirth, "Oh, so a death match then?" Marik said.

Yami rolled his eyes, "No, I don't think that Mai means them having a death match. Although, if we want them to talk then we'll have to take their wands away from them. Otherwise, that's exactly what it'll turn into. Those two trying to kill each other." Yami said.

Mai chuckled, "Yeah, I had in mind something slightly different than just talking." Mai said.

"Like what?" Yugi asked.

Mai chuckled, "Honestly, those two have a lot of, shall we say, sexual tension. I think it would be good for all of our sanity if they managed to get that out of their systems." Mai said.

Yugi blushed a bright red whereas Yami frowned. "I hate to put a damper on your plans Mai, but Atemu is straight. And engaged. Or did you forget about his engagement with Mana." Yami said.

Mai chuckled, "Oh, Atemu isn't straight. At the very least he's Bi." Mai replied.

"But what about Y..." Yugi began however whatever he wanted to say was cut off by Yami clapping his hand over Yugi's mouth.

"Do ya tink dat dat'll even work Mai?" Joey asked.

Mai nodded, "I'm sure of it, now this is what we're going to do." Mai said.

XXXXXX

Atemu was relieved that he and Hermione had had the foresight to cast warming charms on themselves because even with the warming charms he could feel goosebumps erupting on his skin the deeper he and Hermione swam.

Hermione nodded her head to the left and Atemu followed Hermione as she swam in that direction, which made sense since it looked like that was the direction that the lake got much deeper. The pair passed through a large bunch of what looked like kelp when Atemu felt something firmly grab a hold of his ankle.

He glanced down to see a small creature of some sort with sharp teeth and clawed fingers had grabbed him, with his claws digging into Atemu's ankle.

"Grindylow" Hermione called out, although through the water and bubble head charm her voice sounded muffled, almost like they were a huge distance apart with wool stuffed in their ears. Her left hand it appeared was trying to pry a Grindylow off her own arm with limited success.

"Lovely. So glad I got to finally encounter one. I can officially check it off my list." Atemu called back as he attempted to shake the creature off his ankle. The damn thing wouldn't let go and worse still apparently it had more than a few friends who appeared to want a piece of Atemu for themselves. "Any thoughts on how to deal with the damn things? As I said, they don't cover them where I come from because they aren't native." Atemu called back.

Hermione's grindylow released her arm abruptly before diving back into the kelp, cradling its arm. "You either have to break their grip. The grip is strong but the hands are brittle. Or underwater the Revulsion Jinx apparently works well." Hermione said.

Atemu nodded before he turned his wand onto the attacking Grindylow and its three compatriots, "Relashio!" Atemu called out, his wand sending out a stream of large bubbles through the water which when it collided with the Grindylows sent them quickly scurrying back into the kelp.

Atemu kicked harshly away from the kelp before drawing level with Hermione. Hermione just shrugged before they turned their attention back onto locating the underwater city. The pair crested what appeared to be some sort of underwater hill and then in the distance they were able to finally see it. The merepeople's settlement.

"Isn't it amazing?" Hermione asked as they pair continued to make their way towards the underwater city.

Atemu nodded, "Its something, that's for certain." Atemu replied. And it was, unique. Yes, that's the word Atemu would use to describe the underwater city.

As the pair approached Atemu was able to get a much better look at the underwater city. There were several primitive looking homes that appeared to have been carved right out of the rocky cavern like walls within which the city was apparently constructed. The outsides of some of the structures it appeared were decorated with shells of some sort and...what looked like either polished stones or precious gems. Atemu could even make out the odd starfish decoration which puzzled him since he had no idea how starfish ended up in a land locked lake in Scotland.

"So, do you have any idea how you plan to get all of your questions answered?" Atemu inquired as they slowly swam into the village.

Hermione came to a brief stop as she slowly glanced around the village, it was almost like she was trying to drink everything in she even smiled at what looked like a young merman walking a Grindylow not unlike someone would a pet dog.

"Honestly, I didn't even think about that. Do you think I could just go up to someone and ask my questions? I don't want to insult them." Hermione said.

Atemu snorted, "How about I try and get an idea who you should direct your questions to. Does that sound like a plan?" Atemu asked.

Hermione nodded. "It does. Thank you Atemu." Hermione replied.

Atemu shrugged, "No problem." Atemu replied before he swam deeper into the city before coming to a stop infront of an adult Merman who it looked like was repairing his tridant. "Excuse me, sir?" Atemu said slowly. He hoped he had gotten the gender right. He certainly didn't see anything that resembles breasts on the merperson so figured sir was a safe guess.

The merman paused in what he was doing and glanced briefly up at Atemu, "What are you doing here human?" The merman asked. Atemu kept a careful watch on the tridant the Merman seemed to tighten his grip on. Getting himself impaled was not on his list of things to do today.

"My friend and I wish to come to a greater understanding about some of the sentient beings that we share this world with. We do understand that we could read books on the subject but when we considered the fact that we could ask our questions directly that would be best. Would there be someone that would be okay with us asking some questions we have about your people?" Atemu asked.

"what sort of questions do you intend to ask?" The merman inquired.

"Just some general questions about your way of life. I promise they won't be anything too personal." Atemu said and he really hoped Hermione had enough sense to not turn him into a liar by trying to ask them questions about their mating practices. THOSE, he would advise her to just stick to reading about.

The merman sighed before he set the tridant he'd been working on aside. "I suppose I could make some time to answer a few of your questions. Its not often we get wizards descending to Baileuisge. Normally the wizards demand our people come to them. My name is Tsriwl." The merman, Tsirwl, replied.

Atemu inclined his head, hoping that the merman would understand the gesture as being respectful, "It is a pleasure to meet you Tsirwl, my name is Atemu. However, before we get started would it be alright with you if I went to retrieve my friend?" Atemu asked.

Tsriwl nodded, "Of course. I will wait for you here." Tsriwl replied.

Atemu nodded his head once more before he turned to swim back to where he'd left Hermione. She apparently had contented herself by watching a couple of young merchildren playing.

"I can't help but think how hard they have to throw that disc in order to for to move through the water as smoothly as it does." Hermione said nodding towards the children who were playing a version of frisbee.

Atemu chuckled, "No doubt they are throwing that disc much harder than either you or I could. This is probably good practice before they start chucking tridants at things." Atemu said.

Hermione shrugged, "I suppose that would make sense." Hermione replied.

"Anyway, I did meet a merman whose named Tsirwl. He has agreed to answer our questions although I did promise him that you would not asking him anything too personal." Atemu said.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, I'm not some hormonal teenage boy who thinks only about sex. I honestly don't care how they have sex or how often. I'm interested in them as a people not in trying to breed them." Hermione replied.

Atemu rolled his eyes, "Well, that's certainly good to hear although your view on human males leaves a lot to be desired. Then again, the boys you typically hang around with aren't exactly shining examples of teenage boys." Atemu replied.

Hermione chuckled as she swam closer to Atemu, lightly bumping her shoulder against his, "How fortunate for me that you are here to help balance out Harry and Ron." Hermione replied.

"Yeah, fortunate. I'm sure that's precisely the word Potter would use to describe it." Atemu teased back.

Hermione rolled her eyes once more, "Can we just not talk about Harry? We came down here to interview the merpeople." Hermione gently chided.

Atemu nodded, "I remember. Now, if your ready follow me and I'll introduce you to Tsirwl." Atemu said.

XXXXXXX

Harry was really beginning to get worried. It had been more than two hours that he'd sat up here hovering above the dots labeled with Hermione and that bastard Sennen's names in the Black Lake. What if Hermione was hurt? What if the Grindylows had gotten her and she was drowning right now while all he did was sit up here on his ass with his eyes glued to the damn map. Would the map change to reflect if something bad had happened to Hermione?

Harry honestly didn't know, but he did know that once Hermione was safely out of this lake he was going to ask Remus exactly that question.

Worse still the dots weren't even moving. They were just sitting in the exact same spot and it was driving Harry mad.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the dots began to move. Harry carefully shadowed their movements and he was relieved to see that they at least appeared to be making their way back towards the shore.

Harry flew a little ways ahead and landed on the shore before stowing the map in his pocket and waited.

This time he wasn't left waiting for long before he was rewarded with the sight of Hermione's head breaking the surface of the lake, like an angel walking out of the water. Her bushy brown locks were stuck to her face and as she stepped out of the water a light breeze blew, causing her to shiver. Harry immediately tugged off his robe and jogged over to Hermione through the shallow water before grabbing a hold of her and bundling her up in his robe.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered, clearly puzzled by his actions.

"Later." Harry hissed before he turned his attention onto the other swimmer who was slowly making his way out of the water.

"What the hell are you playing at Sennen?" Harry growled.

Atemu rolled his eyes as he walked past Harry and over to the shore where his dry clothes were still waiting. He idly cast a drying charm on himself before tugging his shirt over his head. "I don't know what you mean Potter. You'll have to enlighten me." Atemu replied lazily. A tiny part of him was amusing by Potters unreasonable anger, not that Atemu allowed any of that amusement to show on his face.

"You know damn well what I mean! I told you to stay away from Hermione." Harry growled, his wand clenched tightly in his hand.

Atemu smirked, lazily crossing his own arms in front of his chest, his wand loosely clutched in his own hand. "Did you now? And here I was under the impression Hermione did not answer to you Potter. I thought she was free to make her own decisions?" Atemu tauntingly inquired.

"Of course Hermione is free to make her own decisions! But, when those decisions put her in danger then as her friend it is my job to stand by her side and make sure that she's okay." Harry growled.

Atemu snorted, "Could have fooled me Potter. From where I'm standing you look like an overprotective boyfriend." Atemu taunted once more.

Harry finally loosened his grip on Hermione although it appeared that he had completely forgotten about his wand in his hand because instead he lunged at Atemu.

"Inpedimenta!" Hermione shouted, her jinx catching the unsuspecting Harry in the back bringing him to a practical standstill. Hermione then turned her attention onto Atemu, "Maybe it would be for the best if you just went inside Atemu. Thank you again for everything. Don't worry, I'll deal with Harry." Hermione replied.

Atemu nodded, "Okay, then I wish you luck with that Hermione." Atemu replied before he turned and began to make his way up to the castle.

Hermione watched as Atemu walked away before she turned her attention back onto Harry and applied the counter jinx. The sudden release of the spell and thus returning Harry's momentum ended up with Harry landed flat on his face.

Harry quickly got up, dusting off his pajamas pants before he turned back to face Hermione who was applying a drying charm to herself. "What the hell Hermione! Why did you stop me?" Harry growled.

"Why did I stop you from acting like an idiot? Oh, I don't know. Because it was the right thing to do. Atemu did nothing wrong." Hermione said.

Harry groaned in frustration, "I told you Hermione Sennen is dangerous. You can't just be going off by yourself. He could have really hurt you or worse! What if something terrible had happened to you in the Black Lake? There would have been no one around to even help you! I was left just hovering above the above the Black Lake watching as your dot on the mauraders map stayed in one spot FOR HOURS! HOURS Hermione! I actually was wondering if you had drowned! You have no idea how worried I was about you." Harry said.

Hermione snorted, "You were worried about me spending some time with Atemu, but you could care less if Ron were to spend time with the Russian Blonde." Hermione replied tensely.

Harry sighed, "Ron can take care of himself." Harry said.

Hermione's eyes flashed, "Oh, and you don't think that I can Harry? Name one time other than the damn chess set where Ron was apparently equally or more competent than I was." Hermione growled.

Harry groaned once more, "Hermione, that isn't the the point!" Harry replied.

Hermione shook her head, "No, that's precisely the point Harry!" Hermione snapped.

"For starters that girl is way out of Ron's league. And secondly I'm not..." Harry began before he abruptly shut his mouth, his ears turning pink.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, "You're not what Harry?"

Harry just shook his head, "Nothing Hermione. Let's just drop the whole damn thing." Harry replied.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Of course, that's Harry Potter's answer to everything. If there is a problem that he doesn't know how to deal with his solution is to just ignore the problem and hope that it just goes away on its own. Very mature Harry." Hermione replied.

Harry shouted in frustration before he turned and kicked back off the ground and back onto his Firebolt leaving Hermione standing alone on the bank of the Black Lake.

XXXXX

Atemu made his way back into the common room. The only minor annoyance from his and Hermione's swim in the Black Lake was that his ankle certainly stung from where the Grindylow had grabbed a hold of it.

The common room was empty which although odd was not completely inexpiable since it WAS a Saturday.

Atemu had almost reached the door to his own room when he heard a voice from behind him call out "Stupefy!"

Then everything went black.