In Shadow and Signal (Book 2)

Harriet Potter's POV

The whistle blew.

I dove.

The lake swallowed me whole - cold, crushing, immediate.

The Bubble-Head Charm held, but barely. Pressure wrapped around my skull like an enchantment gone wrong. My limbs moved slower than they should've, the murk pressing in from every side.

Nothing looked like it had from the surface.

It was darker.

Deeper.

Hungrier.

I kicked hard, cutting through kelp and shadows, wand gripped tight in one hand. Lumos did little. Just a faint silver glow against the endless green.

Something moved past me - fast.

Not a fish.

A merperson.

Their eyes tracked me, unreadable. Silent.

I kept moving.

Because I knew what they'd done.

They'd taken him.

⸻

Minutes passed. Maybe more.

I found the platform by instinct.

Four figures floated, suspended just above the stone - bound in place, hair flowing like seaweed in the water's slow drift.

Fleur's sister. Hermione. Cho.

And Oliver.

His eyes were closed.

A faint shimmer of magic rippled around him like a sleeping spell.

He looked peaceful.

But I wasn't.

I reached for him - and the contract ignited.

Golden light burst from my wrist like it had been waiting for this moment, flaring through the water in ribbons, wrapping around his form like an anchor reeling him home.

The merpeople hissed. One moved to stop me.

I didn't flinch.

I aimed my wand and cast without thinking.

"Protego Maxima."

The shield burst outward, pushing them back.

I didn't care about points. I didn't care about rules.

I cared about him.

I untied him fast - hands shaking - and as soon as the bond recognized physical contact, the water around us began to glow.

Not magic.

Ours.

⸻

We broke the surface together, gasping.

The crowd roared.

I didn't look at them.

I looked at him.

And Oliver - soaked, stunned, and fully awake now - looked back at me like I'd just rewritten gravity.

"You came for me," he whispered.

I held onto him.

"I told you I would."