A week after finding out that they were now merpeople and that they weren't the only ones in town; Hermione had finished warding the house and carving the runes into it and the shack for the Potion's lab which was finished and warded too.

During their spare time, Hermione would take upon herself and call Dentist and Orthodontist offices and ask if their parents worked there after being unable to find any under Wilkins. So far, she had no success. To help with the stress, Harry would suggest they go for a swim to both help her relax and discover what else they are able to do.

So far, they discovered they did have powers. Harry could control and freeze water and any items he focuses on, as well as create snow. Hermione could also control water, but also boil it to the point of evaporating it and create fire. They've yet to try and change with their wands, fearing what would happen if they were exposed to such a drastic change. They had gone swimming at night and were astonished to find Harry's tail could glow in the deeper darker parts of the ocean. Hermione's power to boiling water was a Merlin sent. Now they didn't have to wait to dry out or use towels all the time.

Today, they could be found in their library, searching tome after tome for anything regarding merpeople, astral bodies and magical locations. Two piles surrounded them, one for books they have discarded and one with books they've yet to read.

A groan of frustration left Hermione's lips as she slammed yet another book shut.

"This is useless!" She shouts as she basically throws the book into the discarded pile. "There is nothing here to help explain how and why this happened! I have checked and read this books more than once, ordered new books and done the same and all have come up with nothing on magical pools changing a human into a mermaid!"

"Or merman, don't forget merman," adds Harry and uses a book as a shield when she throws one at him. "Oi! Don't take it out on me!"

"I'm sorry Harry. It's just...we've looked through all of these books and found nothing, not even a clue as to where to look for." She says in defeat, making Harry scoot close to her and put a hand around her shoulders before pulling her to him. "How can there be nothing?"

Harry held her in silence. He knew it was important for Hermione to know this, seeing as it affected them directly. He looked at the small pile of books they had left to read and compared it to the much bigger pile of books they have read already. Harry also wanted to know how it was possible, even though he simply accepted it as magic and no more was needed. He had even looked over books from the Peverell and Slytherin vaults and came up empty.

He had asked Winky and Kreacher only to find even they didn't know how something like this was possible. Harry looked out the window into the afternoon sky before a crazy thought made its way to his mind.

"What if we asked them?"

Confused, Hermione sat straight and looks at him. "Ask who? Do you know someone that could have information?"

"I meant, why don't we ask those girls? The other mermaids?"

"Harry are you mad?! We can't do that!" Hermione says. horrified.

"Why not? They're mermaids and they know about the Moon Pool! They have to know something!"

"But that would entail us revealing what we are! It's against the law Harry!"

For his part, Harry gave her a hurtful look. "I only meant to ask them and either say we know what they are or tell them we are like them. Not that we should tell them you're a witch and I a wizard Mione..." he says and stands before walking away.

Hermione could only stare as he left, realizing the error of her words. 'How could I be so stupid!' She thinks as she holds her face in her hands in shame and guilt. 'Now he's going to believe I think he's not smart enough to come up with a decent idea...'

She remained in the library for some time. It wasn't until her stomach growled that she decided to get up and go eat, hoping she could catch Harry before he vanished again. Before she could get to the kitchen, she bumped into Andromeda. "Sorry Andy, I was..."

"Lost in thought no doubt, and by the way Harry has been and headed into the water with Teddy about thirty minutes ago, I say you said something without actually thinking again."

Hermione looks down, flushing in shame. "Yes, I basically accused him of revealing our existence to the three girls from the cafe."

"And I'm going to take a guess and say that is not what he meant?"

"It wasn't...he only meant to reveal we are merpeople like them...I feel like an idiot." Hermione admits as she walks to the kitchen and Winky gives her a meal before she sits to eat with some reluctance. "Andy...why do I sometimes say things without thinking?"

"You are still only human...well mostly human now aren't you?" She chuckles and smiles when Hermione smiles at her. "You will make mistakes that's a given. It's up to you to learn from them Hermione." With that she walked away, leaving Hermione to her thoughts.

After a few minutes, she finished her meal and thanked Winky before hurrying outside. She hurried through the sand and dove into the water before she could remember she still had her wand on her person. When her tail appeared, something else did with it.

Looking down she saw a holster on her tail and within it, her wand.

Her wand looked different somehow. It still felt the same, but it's appearance looked more sleek and the color and shine were the same as her tail. She took it in hand and would swear she felt even more connected to it.

"Amazing, yet odd..." deciding to think about it later, she swam over towards were Harry and Teddy were floating. She broke the surface and waited for them to notice her. Teddy did so first and squealed.

"Mione!" He shouts and starts to swim towards her with a smile. Hermione smiles in return and holds out her arms for him. She holds him up so he can rest from his little swim, seeing as he's been doing so for some time now. Hermione chanced a look at Harry and found him looking at her in silence with an expressionless look.

Taking a deep breath, she approached a little more. "Harry, I'm really sorry. What I said was impulsive and I didn't think about what I was saying. I know you're smart and I made you feel like you weren't. Made you feel like I couldn't trust you with knowledge and that wasn't my intention. I know you're still mad at me, but I just wanted you to know I'm sorry."

Once Hermione finished, she made a motion to swim back with a tired Teddy in her arms, only to be hugged by Harry. She stops and is surprised but uses an arm to hug him in return.

"I am sorry as well Mione. I shouldn't have gotten so upset, rather understood why you thought that. I didn't mean to make you feel incompetent as well." Harry says and they both hug each other strongly, being mindful of Teddy. After a few moments, he ends the hug but keeps his arms around her, "let's go inside, Teddy needs a bath be and a snack before bed. Tomorrow, we should find those girls."

"Yeah. You're right, but how do we ask them for help?"

"Show them we are like them."

Nodding, they swim closer to the shore and let Teddy walk out. "Oh! Harry, I dove with my wand still on me and when I looked at my tail, a holster appeared with my wand in it, but it's different now see?" She takes her wand out and lets Harry inspect it.

"It's color is like your tail," he points out and hands it back to her.

"I know, it's odd. But now we know we keep them when we change. Which means...Wingardium Leviosa!" She says and casts it to Harry, making him float out of the water and towards the dry sand. "Now we don't have to drag ourselves out!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Andromeda dropped them near the JuiceNet cafe before heading towards the police office to offer the phone numbers to reach Hermione for any news on her parents.

They walked in and found the girls with a boy in a booth, talking in a corner booth. The moment they noticed the duo had entered, they got a little tense. The one called Rikki gave them a glare.

Harry and Hermione walked up to them.

"Hi Emma, Cleo, Rikki..." Hermione faltered when looking at the boy.

"Lewis. Lewis McCartney." The boy, Lewis says.

"Lewis. I'm Hermione, and this is Harry," she introduces them but before she can say more, Rikki speaks.

"Now that we all know each other; what do you want?"

"Rikki! Be nice!" Emma scolds Rikki, only to be ignored and Rikki stand and face them.

"No, I want to know what you two want. Since you've been here I've not liked you and I have a feeling that you listened in to our chat last time we were here. So out with it!"

Harry could feel himself bristle and looked at the people giving them weird looks. Taking in a breath, he replied. "Do you really want to have this kind of conversation where anyone can listen and also get you kicked out for public disturbance?"

Rikki could only stare at the boy in shock and slight fear. His green eyes were no longer inviting, but cold and almost deadly. Rikki actually took a step back, surprising the other girls and Lewis. She could have sworn his eyes were glowing.

"You want to talk? Alright, let's talk." With that he looked at Hermione and walked out, with her close behind. They didn't have to look back to know they were being followed by the girls. They reach an isolated area near the water and wait for them, noticing how they were reluctant to get near them. "What's wrong?"

"We're terrified of water...this is as close as we dare to be."

'Nice excuse.' Hermione and Harry think as they shrug. "Alright. Rikki right? What's your deal with me?"

That got her going again and actually stalked towards him. "My deal is that I do not appreciate it when someone eavesdrops on a private conversation!"

"Then you should have chosen a private location to have said conversation. It's not our fault you decided to have it in a public area where anyone could hear you."

Harry knew he was egging her on, knew she was a hot head. He was trying to get her to make a mistake, and she did.

He notices her hand clench into a fist and they were surrounded by a fire circle.

"RIKKI!"

To late did she realize her mistake and Harry "accidentally" moved her closer to the water to get away from the fire. As a result she slipped and fell in. She emerges and ten seconds later, her legs disappear and a tail takes its place. Shocked and angered, she looks at Harry like she wants to murder him. She lifts her hand and start to turn it into a fist only for her fist to have ice crawling up her hand and arm.

"Ahh! Emma! What the hell!?"

Harry turned, acting surprised.

"You were about to hurt him!" Emma shouts as they move closer and Lewis tries to get Rikki out. She turns to the duo in anger. "What do you want from us?"

Harry remained silent and looked at Hermione who nodded and both jumped into the water. They remained under until their tails formed and swam beside Rikki. Looking at them in silent, they lifted their tails and watched as Lewis lets go of Rikki in shock and the others look at the now merpeople in shock as well.

"Like I said, all we wanted was to talk." Harry says and crosses his arms. "So are we going to talk or are you going to stare at us in eternal shock?"

Breaking from their shock, they slowly walked to the water before jumping in. Rikki seeing this, moves away and swims to deeper water following them as their head resurface. Cleo looks at Lewis. "We'll catch up later Lewis!" And dove under, Harry and Hermione following.

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