A/N: hey guys! Wow, I never imagined that this story would gather this much support, or votes, or even reads! I was ecstatic when this story got to fifty reads, and now we're at 1K?! When I read that a few days ago, I actually cried. Thanks so much guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Harry awoke, blinking sleepily in the darkness of his coffin. Letting out a yawn, he lay there for a few seconds before throwing open the lid.

His whole world came crashing down as he saw his clock. 8:55. The task started at 9:10, and he hadn't even fully woken up yet.

With a yelp he haphazardly tried to get out of his coffin, falling dramatically to the floor. Ignoring his now aching wrists from breaking his fall, he leapt to his feet and began throwing clothes randomly out of his dresser. He pulled on his swim trunks and singlet, grabbing a red jumper and putting that on too.

"Draco!" He yelled, running down the stairs and towards the werewolf's room. He threw open the door to find the room empty. "The bastard left without me!" Harry growled, turning and running out of the dorm.

Despite winter being nearly over, the grounds were still covered in frost as Harry dashed across the grass, not noticing that his feet were bare after he'd forgotten to put on some shoes.

He reached the stands only a minute before the task was due to start, so with his chest heaving he pulled off his jumper. He could see the other champions looking at him out of the corner of their eyes. They were all wearing swimwear that would help to keep them warm under the water, but for Harry that wasn't so much of a problem.

He knew his body didn't really have a temperature anymore, as no blood ran through his veins. He'd discovered that when his leg was torn open by the dragon, the supposed 'blood' that flowed out wasn't actually blood. It seemed to be a defence mechanism, but only appeared as blood to the eyes. If you did a blood test on a vampire, you could definitely tell something was wrong.

Harry shifted anxiously as Dumbledore read out the various rules, the old wizard's voice nothing but noise to him.

He played the mermaid's song over and over in his head.

Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground.
An hour long you'll have to look,
To discover what we took.

Discover what they took. What had they taken? Harry frowned, shaking his head subconsciously. He was drawn from his thoughts as a cannon blasted. All of the champions except for Harry drew in a deep breath, before all diving into the black, murky water.

******

Well, the water was definitely cold. It felt like molten ice against Harry's skin, yet it was bearable.

It was pitch black under the water, but luckily Harry found his night vision slowly returning. All sorts of water plants hung ominously around him, the odd fish or two swimming past. He couldn't see the bottom so far, only inky blackness below.

The other champions were out of sight, probably all off on their way by now. Realising that it wouldn't take long for him to be behind, Harry set off through the water.

He couldn't help but grin as he realised his vampiric speed still had effect underwater, speeding through the darkness was easy. One kick could propel him forward by about ten metres, so he knew that he definitely wouldn't be the one to lose this challenge.

Soon he began to lose sight of the surface, but many more things came into view. This had to be the nicer part of the lake, coral and seaweed growing on the bottom, small fish swimming around.

Harry found himself liking it under the water. It was silent, it was calm, only the coolness of the water surrounded him. Yet despite the strange safety he felt, he kept his wand in his hand.

Due to the silence, swimming through mostly darkness or seaweed forests gave him a little time to think.

He and Draco were now most definitely... Involved, in one way or another. It was probably the most dysfunctional and weird excuse of a relationship Harry had ever seen or heard of, but it was what it was.

All of yesterday they'd been sneaking glances at each other, kissing in empty corridors or classrooms. Yet it was obvious that no one could know, as both their lives were already complicated enough without throwing a relationship that no one would accept into the mix.

But that didn't matter much to Harry. He and Draco rarely left the safety of their dorm when it wasn't required, so they didn't have much of a problem about being together in public.

Harry's train of thought was cut off abruptly as he felt something grab onto his ankle.

Immediately panic flared through him and he kicked out, turning to see what had grabbed onto him.

He'd been hoping it was just a piece of seaweed and that he was being paranoid and stupid, but no. Clinging to his legs was one of the most odd and freaky looking creatures Harry had ever seen.

It was a murky green colour, two beady black eyes peering evilly at him from its axolotl like head. It had one of its many slimy tentacles wrapped around Harry's leg. He jogged his mind as fast as he could before recalling the beast's name. It was a grindylow, an octopus like creature that lived in the seaweed forests. They weren't particularly dangerous on their own, but in packs they could drag people down to the bottom of the sea and drown them.

Harry waved his wand, a jet of magic shooting out the end and blasting the creature off of his leg.

He swam out of the seaweed forest as fast as he could, not afraid of 'drowning' but more of the freaky looking creatures themselves. Finally he burst out into open water.

He found himself floating at a cliff, only darkness over the edge. In front Harry could make out nothing but the dark blue of the waters. The mermaids were supposed to be on the bottom, right?

With this thought in mind, Harry dove down into the darkness, hoping that he'd made the right choice in where to go.

******

"Are you really this afraid of heights?" Newt's voice was slightly amused as he looked down at Credence.

They were sitting in the huge stands, on the very top floor where all the teachers were. Due to there not being as many teachers as there was students, there was a fair few seats that were empty. Newt and Credence were sitting at the back, Credence's head buried in Newt's shoulder.

"Yes," came the boy's muffled reply. "And I don't care much for water either."

Newt merely grinned, lifting a hand to run his fingers through Credence's hair. He looked towards the sky, seeing the ominous storm clouds brewing overhead.

******

Harry had been swimming through darkness for what seemed like forever. Finally, he arrived at where he supposed he was meant to be.

It was like a city, almost in an Atlantis sort of style. Strange looking buildings were around, fish like figures fleeting across the water in front of him. The mermaids lived here, that was obvious. Now, just to find what they had supposedly 'taken'.

Of course, Harry had known that mermaids were nothing like people supposed they were. The stories of men seeing beautiful women with majestic fish tails all had to be false, or the men had to have been completely insane. Harry knew what they looked like, but seeing one up close as he swam through the area really shocked him.

Their tails more resembled that of a swordfish's tale, the greyish yellow scales melting into a mostly humanoid body. Their faces were slightly warped, their eyes a miraculous golden colour. Their hair wasn't long and wavy like in the stories, now mostly consisting of nightmarish tendrils.

He ignored their freaky appearance and mostly kept his gaze and thoughts focused on the weapons they held, most of them holding tridents or swords.

Yet his gaze was diverted as he felt like he'd been punched in the face. In front of him were three people, all tied to a large rock by their ankles.

Hermione was there, her long, wavy brown hair flowing around her face. She looked like she was sleeping, still in a pair of the school Gryffindor robes. One of the others Harry recognised to be Fleur's little sister, a girl who looked to be around thirteen. She was in the same sleeping state as Hermione.

Yet the final figure was one that, if Harry's heart had been beating, would've made it stop.

Draco. His Draco. The werewolf was tied down like the others, in a completely unconscious state. His snowy white hair flowed around his face peacefully, and Harry could only stare in awe at how utterly beautiful and serene the figure was.

Slowly he began to piece it together. This was why Draco wasn't there this morning, and why he'd woken up late. Sleeping charms.

Before Harry could act, a figure came flying past. It was Krum, strangely mutated. His head had been morphed into that of a shark, a badly failed transfiguration charm. He bit down on the rope tying Hermione down, the sharp shark teeth biting through it easily. He swam away, leaving Harry to realise that he and Fleur were the only ones who hadn't gotten back yet. But where was she? He'd clearly taken the long way, given an advantage by his speed. But Fleur was nowhere in sight.

He swam up to Draco, cupping the boy's face in his hands, unable to hold back a smile. He simply felt... Happy.

Harry sensed some of the mermaids watching him, and turned to them. "Where's Fleur?" His voice came out blurred by the water, but they seemed to understand.

"She has forfeited," the closest one replied, it's voice a hiss, almost snake like.

"What happens to her then?" Harry asked, frowning as he looked towards the young girl.

"She stays," was all the mermaid replied, it's amber eyes narrowing.

Harry glared. He looked towards Draco, and then to the girl. He most certainly couldn't leave Draco behind, he'd rather stay down here himself. But he couldn't leave the girl either. He was still a Gryffindor, he wasn't going to leave this young girl down here either.

He shot a bolt of magic from his wand towards the ropes binding the two figures to the lake's floor, the mermaids immediately objecting and hissing angrily, surrounding him, their weapons at the ready.

"You're only supposed to take one," the closest mermaid hissed, fury in its eyes. "Only take the one you came for."

"I'm not leaving her here," Harry's voice was defiant as he narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth in a hiss, revealing a set of fangs. He was angry now.

The mermaid merely let out an inhuman screech as Harry dove for the two figures, rushing at him with its trident at the ready.

Pain exploded in Harry's side, the trident cutting through his flesh immediately. He let out a scream of pain that quickly turned into a demonic roar, as a huge shockwave of black magic erupted through the water, the mermaid quickly realising its mistake as it was killed instantly, along with many of the others.

******

Credence finally managed to lift his head, looking up at the black clouds above. Newt had long put his coat around Credence's shoulders in fear that it would rain.

Suddenly, a shockwave ripped through the air. Credence could tell everyone had felt it, yells and chatter filling the stands, but no one had felt it nearly as much as he had.

The pure magic flowing through the air like a tidal wave sent every sense he owned into overdrive, making him clutch at his head, fighting back a scream of pain. He barely managed to register Newt's desperate voice as his vision faded to black and white, his mind screaming that something was badly wrong as a metallic taste filled his mouth, inky black blood dripping from his lips.

Newt however, was bordering on a panic attack himself as he saw Credence's usual brown eyes completely be filled with blackness, nothing but the demonic look remaining.

******

Draco opened his eyes, gasping for air, his mind having to do a double take. Why the hell was he in the black lake?! All he knew was that it was horrifically cold, and that there was a young girl appearing from the water near him.

Frowning, he quickly took hold of her arm as she struggled to stay above the surface. She grabbed onto him like he was her lifeline, Draco swam towards the stand that was set up. Shaking like a leaf, he wrapped a towel that was handed to him around his shoulders before recalling last night's events.

Dumbledore and Snape had come to see him, informing him that he'd be required to take part in the next task. Of course, he's refused, and had to be forcefully sedated.

The task. Harry. Where was Harry?!

Draco's mind clouded with panic as he looked across the now raging waters, a storm brewing. Harry was nowhere in sight.

Despite the yells and protests of the teachers, Draco threw off the towel and without another thought, dove back into the freezing depths.

His panic worsened as he only saw darkness, yet he swam down further. He had to find Harry. He had to.

His lungs began to ache, his mind becoming fuzzy. Yet everything became clear again as he caught a glimpse of gold. Gold, why was there gold?

As he swam closer, he realised it was a trident, and his heart sank as he realised it was embedded into the side of Harry Potter. He appeared to be unconscious, red darkness staining the water around him. Draco quickly grabbed Harry's hand, swimming as best as he could towards the surface.

Light headed and dazed, Draco finally broke the surface of the water, gasping desperately for air. He fought the urge to cough up the water he knew was in his lungs, and turned to the vampire who was sobbing weakly in pain, having now woken.

"It's alright, I've got you," Draco tried to calm Harry down, the boy breathing heavily.

Harry merely clung to him desperately, too exhausted to stay afloat himself. He was magically drained, having caused a huge explosion underwater, and unbearable pain ripped through him from the trident impaled in his side.

Harry felt himself be pulled up onto the deck, blood now pouring from his mouth. People were yelling and screaming, and Harry barely managed to register Snape and Dumbledore hurrying towards him before he blacked out, succumbing to unconsciousness.

******

Newt had managed to calm Credence down, who was now crying quietly into his chest, clearly shaken and terrified. Newt wrapped his arms around the figure, holding him close.

Whatever had just happened was a clear sign that the obscurus was manifesting, taking grip even more. Newt internally raged at himself, telling himself that he hadn't worked hard enough. He hadn't found a cure yet, and if Credence died it'd be his fault. All his fault.

******

Harry awoke, only opening his eyes a tiny fraction. He was in the infirmary, that was for sure. He sensed a familiar heartbeat, and looked to his side, where Draco sat. The werewolf had a relieved look on his face.

"Thank god," the white haired boy mumbled, taking Harry's hand in his own. "Don't you ever do that to me again, I was worried sick."

Harry cracked a small smile. "W-What happened?"

"You got stabbed by one of the mermaids, apparently. And you killed a lot of them too, the remaining ones are starting a riot," Draco looked over to a golden trident leaning on the wall beside him.

"Oh, God, I didn't want to kill any of them-"

"Dumbledore said that it was fair, since they attacked you first," Draco murmured, lifting Harry's hand to kiss his knuckles gently. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Harry smiled. "You dove back in to save me, didn't you?"

Draco nodded. "And I'd do it again. A hundred times, if necessary."