Thanks for all your sweet comments! Sorry this has been delayed once again..I've been trying to get on but this computer seems to be anti-SS or something. So I'm lucky that I'm able to go on now and post this. Enjoy.

Hermione

I spotted Draco right away after I submerged. “Wait up!” I cried, but only bubbles came out of my mouth. Draco laughed merrily, swimming towards me. He handed another herb to me.

“Eat it,” he said clearly. “Then you’ll be able to speak normally underwater.”

I didn’t recognize this plant. Giving him a questioning look, I gulped it down and felt the sides of my throat open. “Testing, testing,” I said, and, in fact, it worked.

Draco tried to hold my hand, but was unsuccessful as our fingers were webbed. He resorted to grabbing a hold of my wrist. We swam with our flipper-like feet for what seemed forever, eyes scanning the murky floor. Draco was in the lead and I followed him willingly.

He led us to what looked like ancient ruins. I identified them as the mer village, the one Harry had to visit last year. We sat on a bench, floating up a bit. I could feel Draco’s eyes on me, exploring every part of my body with his lustful eyes.

This time, though, I didn’t mind. Leaning closer to him, I pulled his head closer to mine and kissed him. My hand drew down his neck and I felt his gills, which made me pull away. Draco opened his eyes and looked at me, confused.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Your gills just scared me for a moment there.”

He merely chuckled and cupped my face in his hands, pressing his lips softer, then harder and more passionately, on my mouth. It was at that moment that I felt in pure bliss; his body was pressed against mine, pushing me down to lay on the bench. His hands roamed my body almost hungrily.

At that point, I gently pushed him off me. “We should head back,” I suggested giddily.

He nodded vaguely, wrapping an arm loosely around my waist. We ascended to the surface just as our gills and webbed feet were dissolving. “That was nice, wasn’t it?” Draco said, grinning and licking his lips slowly. I nodded and closed my eyes as he gave me a lingering kiss.

Draco

The magic followed me that whole day, from that moment till I fell asleep. I couldn’t stop thinking of Hermione, how she felt under my fingertips, how that smile played across her lips, as if daring me to come closer.

We had walked closely together, as if our bodies were glued, until the stretch with the boulders. After changing, I gathered Hermione into my arms, burying my face in her wet tendrils. She pulled away from me, but I could see the reluctance in her eyes.

“We can’t do this, you know, when the others are around,” she whispered to me, eyes downcast. “It would raise too much…speculation.”

Her statement crashed me back to reality. I only nodded solemnly, wincing on the inside. Of course we couldn’t display obvious acts of attraction in front of the whole school. What would people think if they saw Granger and Malfoy kissing? I didn’t even want to think about it.