Nobody's POV:

Hermione Granger and Charles Ace are both on their way to the Black Lake, the place they had promised to meet each other at. Charles had prepared a lovely date, first, they would wine and dine, then, they would share a long, lovely swim. Hermione was excited for the date, though since she hadn't the slightest clue that they were swimming, she did not take her potion. She did not feel the need to, for it would be a date. Charles had said they would wine and dine, though he did not share his vision of the pleasureful night he had planned for after that.

Hermione fiddles with the charms on her bracelet that rested on her arm as she heads down to the entrance to the grand school. She was excited to go see her love, but nervous at the same time.

Charles held the bottle of wine in his hands. Wine was something with a strong scent, so whatever she smelled in Amortentia could easily be explained by the scent of the wine.

They both nearly collide into each other as they reach the front door, both apologizing almost immediately.

"Sorry!" Hermione squeaks, straightening out the wrinkles in her tight-fitting dark blue dress. Draco had stared at her sadly when she walked out in it, though she hadn't the slightest idea why.

Charles just laughs and kisses Hermione lightly on the cheek. Hermione shudders at the blissful feeling, it was like hell-heaven. Hermione bit her lip in confusion, but shook the thought away as Charles spoke.

"I do believe it's my fault, though I don't mind bumping into a beautiful lady every so often." Charles says, pulling his lips away from Hermione's cheek.

Hermione blushes but doesn't say anything. She tries to, of course, but the words bubble up in her throat. She opens and closes her mouth like a fish gasping desperately for water, but the words never end up leaving her mouth.

Charles was too busy looking up and down Hermione's body to notice this. He simply held out his arm instead, preparing to lead her to the wonderful feast he had spread. Hermione gladly takes his arm and allows him to lead her to the wonderfully spread feast, smiling up at her 'true love'.
________________________________________________________________________________

In their own dorms, Stacy and Draco both lay alone on their beds, thinking thoughtful thoughts of their spouses. Their spouses who were supposed to be with them, but were instead with each other. How unfair must the world be?

They had both made mistakes, yes. They had both made terrible mistakes, but they really had little to no choice. Mistakes could oftentimes be forgiven and learned from, but others were unforgivable. Yet, did either of them truly deserve what was happening to them?

Stacy thinks about Charles, but is frightened at the mere thought of him. Her husband had threatened to beat her, and she did not feel like being beaten. Stacy had never done anything wrong, but at this point, it truly felt like she had. She loved Charles, once upon a time, but he slowly became a twisted, vile monster. A part of her still hoped that the real Charles was there, the sweet caring Ravenclaw he once used to be. But no matter how long and hard she had dreamed, she knew it was only a wish, and a useless one at that.

Draco Malfoy lay there, all alone, wishing that Charles Ace had not given his loved one those horrid potions. The one person whom he had ever felt emotions for was out of his grasp. He could do absolutely nothing, and he hates it. He hates how in love with Charles she looked. He hates how much Hermione talks about him, and how she talks about him as if he were her everything. He hates how Hermione Granger no longer felt anything for him, because she was the only one who had been able to bring him back from his darkest of times. He hates everything about this situation, but he could not do anything. The fact that he could not do anything only made him hate the situation even more.
________________________________________________________________________________

Down by the Black Lake, Charles and Hermione had finished their entrees and appetizers, so they were now onto dessert. Hermione was loving every single bite of food Charles had brought down from the kitchens, and Charles was loving every single second of Hermione's company. Both were having a great time, and they could not wait for the night to end.

Hermione bit into a piece of chocolate cake and moans lightly in delight. The cake was moist, it wasn't crumbly, and it had a rich, deep flavour. The frosting was vanilla buttercream, and there were chopped walnuts on top. It was the best thing she had ever tasted!

"Mmmm..." Hermione closes her eyes as she takes another bite of the delicious cake, silently thanking whoever had invented the fine delicacy, the house elves who made it, and Charles who had requested for it to be brought to their lovely evening outing.

Charles took a large chomp out of his slice, no longer enjoying simply talking with Hermione. She was lovely to talk to, but he wanted something more. Yes, when she was passionate about something she could speak for hours, and yes, he could listen for hours, but that was not the point of tonight. The point of tonight was for them to have a good night, not stay out late and talk.

When Hermione puts down her piece of cake, Charles slowly scoots over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. Hermione smiles at him, not knowing where he was going, but knowing she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

Charles placed a chaste kiss on Hermione's jawline, and she let out a loud, surprised gasp. As Charles continued kissing down her jaw, she felt herself melting at his touch, not being able to, nor wanting to deny the handsome young man next to her.

Charles rolls over her, pinning her underneath him. Hermione grabs his face and presses a tender, innocent kiss to his lips, now understanding what he wanted to do. Hermione thought she knew, but even though she was the Brightest Witch of Her Age, under the love potion, she could not detect the evils Charles was planning to do.

Hermione rolls over him so he's pinned under her, but Charles rolls back over her once again. It's a vicious cycle of both wanting control, but Hermione, potionless, rolls ever so slightly closer to the border from the land and the water with every switch they make.

Only one role away, Charles roughly forces them into the water, nearly drowning himself and Hermione in the process. Hermione transforms once again, but doesn't notice it. She only notices the feeling of Charles's lips against hers, and the way his body fit so perfectly imperfect on her body.

When Charles finally removes his lips, he screeches and jumps back, sopping wet. Horror fills him as he realized that he had just kissed not only a filthy mudblood, but a half breed. He instantly forgets what was so amazing about her, and screams, "YOU FREAK!" He motions up and down at Hermione's transformed body, no longer with legs, but a long, powerful, beautiful tail.

Hermione is confused, wondering why her love had stopped kissing her, just to jump out of the water and call her a freak. She looks down at her body and blushes, ashamed that she didn't tell him. "Family curse," She whispers, still looking directly at him.

Charles wipes vigorously at his mouth, trying to get her horrible mudblood and half breed germs off his precious pureblooded lips. "Family curse?" He scoffs, absolutely disgusted. "More like a family freak show!" With that last cruel sentence, he whips out his wand.

Hermione tries to roll back into the water, but he places the bodybuilding curse on her. "CRUCIO!" Charles screams, watching in pleasure as Hermione's body shakes with pain. He cackles, cursing her once again just to hear the screams coming from her mouth. After doing so enough to fill his sadist heart, he fled the scene, still cursing at the beautiful and broken brunette he left in his wake.

Hermione lay there, helpless. She had loved and loved and loved Charles, but once he found out about the curse, he went running. Though before he 'went running', he had crucioed her. Seventeen times to be exact. What had she done to deserve this kind of torture?

Hermione, not wanting to live in the presence of memories with Charles, drags herself from the watts edge. She dries herself off, sighing once she sees her body has once again, grown legs. She knew she had to tell everybody what happened, that prick belonged in a prison even worse than Azkaban.
________________________________________________________________________________

Back in the common room, everybody anxiously waits for the return of their best friend, Hermione Granger, from her date with Charles Ace, the man who she 'loved'. When Hermione got back about an hour earlier than they were told, everybody was shocked to say the least.

Ginny was the first one to take note of the many bruises forming all over her best friend's body. When she pointed it out, everybody gasped loudly. "'Mione! You're hurt!" Ginny cries, running to hug her best friend. Hermione graciously hugged her back, savouring the feeling of Ginny's warm embrace.

"What happened!" Harry demands of her, seething with rage. The rage was not for his friend, but for the prick named Charles Ace who had most likely done it to her. What the hell was that idiot thinking? What the hell was he doing? Harry thinks, just to himself, though he knows all the others are thinking the same thing.

On Hermione's porcelain cheek, several tears started running down. Draco cringed with every tear that fell, but he did not move. He couldn't, actually. It felt like his body was stuck to the couch, like his limbs did not answer to him anymore, for reasons he did not know. He wants to tell her that he loves her and that everything would be okay, but he was scared she would reject him even further, so he did not risk it. He respects the fact that she did not want him, and he stays where he is.

Hermione took a deep breath in, knowing that her friends had many questions. She did not feel like telling them everything, so she simply gave them a brief rundown of what had happened. "When he saw me with my tail he just..." Hermione let more tears escape from her eyes before wiping them away. "He crucioed me and r-ran!" Hermione collapsed onto the floor and her female friends rushed to comfort her.

The boys, however, were extremely confused. She had said something about a tail? What sort of tail? A mermaid tail? They had never known of anything like this, so naturally, they were knowledgeless.

Draco was the only guy who wasn't confused, he was fuming. Hermione had kept a huge secret from him, and he cursed himself. He cursed himself for not noticing, for not asking any questions, and for falling in love...with a liar.