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Draco swam aimlessly around what was left of his hall of human artifacts. He couldn’t believe that his father had found his hidden treasure trove. He still hadn’t figured out who told on him, but once he found them…well Draco was hoping to make them pay. He had such a terrible life already, constantly being controlled by his father and only ever allowed to be out when others were with him. Draco hated it all. He had been slowly adding special items to his collection for years, only when he could sneak out of course.
His own salty tears mixed with the ocean around them, and he felt the water start to stir. Worried that his magical powers would get the better of him, Draco tried to calm himself. Starting a small hurricane in what was left of his treasure trove wouldn’t help him feel better. After a few calming breaths, Draco forced himself to search the rubble, piece by piece, cursing as a shard cut his palm. But after a while he found what he was looking for. A locket that he had thankfully hidden inside a locked box, Draco smiled happily as he opened it, seeing the picture of his crush inside of it.
The human was named Harry he thought, and he was apparently a prince, much like Draco. But Harry seemed so much happier than Draco, and he seemed to really enjoy his life. Outside of his magical powers, Draco had never felt at home in the sea. He hated his father and never really knew his mother. All he ever wanted was to escape this world and live in a new one. One where he no longer had to worry about his father and the way the man seemed to despise him. Besides, as the youngest of his siblings, it wasn’t like Draco really mattered to the crown. He could leave, if only he could find a way to. As he clasped the locket behind his neck, Draco vowed to himself that he would find a way to leave the ocean behind forever, one way or another. Draco swam back out into the open ocean, going in search of a kelp wrap for his bleeding hand.
As if they could smell the desperation, two conniving electric eels followed the scent of Draco’s blood, waiting for the perfect moment to approach him. Draco swam home to pack up his stuff, oblivious to the creatures following him. He didn’t say a word to any of his siblings before he left, and took great care to avoid them actually. Hand cared for, bag packed, Draco swam into the distant ocean, away from his home, and into the unknown. As he drifted into the deepest parts of the ocean, he heard hissing voices behind him.
Draco turned toward the sound, curious and a little frightened. He did his best to focus on his magic, just in case, knowing that a small hurricane could protect him from anyone meaning to do him harm. Two eels appeared, one on each side of Draco, hissing slightly as they spoke, finishing each other’s sentences as they did so.
“Hey! Whatcha got there? Is that a bag? Are you going somewhere, Prince Draco?” They asked in a sing-song voice.
“Yes. I am leaving to fulfill my dream. I don’t know how yet, but I will figure it out.” Draco said, holding himself up proudly.
“Well…you know. The wizard Voldemort…he is great at granting wishes. He will gladly help you…and we can lead you to him.” The eels said with gusto.
Draco had always heard that Voldemort was evil, but he also knew that his father wasn’t that good of a person either. So for all Draco knew, his dad was lying about how bad Voldemort was. And besides, no one else, except for his father, had that kind of power. And Draco knew without a doubt that Lucius would never allow him a life on land. Tired of hating life in the ocean and feeling out of sorts in his own body, Draco made the decision to follow these creepy animals, ready to take a chance.
Draco and the eels swam for quite a while, through the darkest parts of the ocean until finally, they arrived at the mouth of a massive cave. Draco stopped at the arched entrance, taking in the details carved into them. He could have sworn he had seen that face before…somewhere. But before he could ask the eels about the person carved into the stone, a pair of eerie red eyes appeared in the darkness. Draco was about to turn and flee, when the owner of the eyes spoke in a voice that sent chills down his spine, and kept him frozen in place.
“Ah, welcome, young Prince. It has been far too long since I have set my sights on you. Come in, come in, make yourself at home while we chat. Bellatrix and Dolohov tell me that you require my help.”
“When did they tell you?” Draco asked curiously as he felt his fins start to move.
“Oh, we communicate with our minds, my boy. Let us show you around.” Voldemort said with a smirk.
Draco didn’t think he could speak, so he just nodded and swam along behind the supposedly evil warlock. Bellatrix and Dolohov stayed next to Draco, one on each side as if they were afraid he would bolt if left alone. Draco kept reminding himself that he didn’t fit in here, and how much happier he could be if he could only get on land. Even if the Prince of his dreams didn’t want him, Draco somehow knew he belonged out of the sea. As they swam deeper into the cave, Voldemort started to question Draco, wanting to know what brought him here, though Draco felt as if he already knew the answer and was just trying to keep the merman talking.
“I honestly just don’t want to be a merman anymore,” Draco practically sobbed the last sentence after explaining all the hell his father had recently put him through. “I feel like a fish out of water, so why not actually be out of the water, you know?” Draco admitted defeated.
Voldemort stared down at the merman, his tentacles twitching excitedly as he sensed Draco’s desperation. Draco swore there was an odd red gleam to the octopus’s eyes but he assumed that was what magic looked like. Regardless, Voldemort seemed interested in helping him, which was above and beyond Lucius’s annoyed overlooking of his pleas.
“Well, young Prince, you have come to the right man. I have ingredients here that will make you human, and I will gladly help you with your transformation. However, I will admit, there is a slight catch. In order for the magic to seal beyond three days, you must acquire the kiss of true love. Surely you have someone you are interested in up there on the surface, don’t you? A handsome man like yourself would definitely be a catch!” Voldemort smiled conspiratorially, making it seem as if he believed this task would be easy for Draco.
Sheepishly, Draco nodded his head, uncertain of how much he should say on the matter. His father didn’t approve of his choice, and Draco wasn’t sure which aspect of the man bothered Lucius more, his species or his gender.
“Um yeah, there is someone. And I think he knows me, or at least he seems to know my voice. I would love to spend time with him and see how he feels about me. I can’t sleep some nights knowing he is just above me on the surface, sleeping alone just like me. I want us to grow old together, if only I could go up there….” Draco imagined wistfully.
Voldemort’s smile grew and his eyes shone brighter, the red turning crimson as his tentacles went to work. He muttered different words as he tossed in some potions and seemingly random plants and animals. Dolohov and Bellatrix helped him by retrieving items and donating a few shocks from their bodies into the spell as well. Draco flinched every time the potion had a slight explosion, and yet he couldn’t move outside of that. His eyes were entranced by the colorful magic occurring before his eyes. He had never seen magic like this before. As the potion turned a blinding gold, Voldemort turned his full attention to Draco, a wicked smirk on his face.
“Now then, sir, there is only one ingredient left, and this one, I can’t add, you have to give it freely.” Voldemort admitted with a curious tilt of his head.
“Something I have to give? Umm, what is it?” Draco asked, uncertainty in his voice even as he knew he would give whatever it took to try and be with his Prince.
“Well you see, it has to be something powerful, and something unique to you. I believe it’s only fair that you add in your gorgeous siren song voice. You will of course get it back as soon as you acquire that true love’s kiss.” Voldemort added the last part as if it were a perfectly reasonable trade-off.
“Well but how will he know it’s me? I have only ever sang to him before, outside of that time I rescued him. But I don’t think he saw what I looked like.” Draco asked, clearly torn.
“I am sure a smart, gorgeous man like yourself can find a way to this Prince’s heart. You are one hell of a catch after all.” Voldemort replied in a matter of fact tone.
“Hmmm, I guess that is true…” Draco muttered to himself as he turned slowly on the spot, thinking it over. “Is this the only way?” Draco asked, partly hoping that there would be something else he could trade.
“I’m afraid so my Prince, only your siren song’s magic is powerful enough to fuel the transformation. Unless of course, you have some other hidden magical talents that I don’t know about?”
Not wanting to talk about his other magic, Draco shook his head. No one but Lucius knew about that power and everything in his being told him to keep it that way. “Well then how do I add my voice?” Draco’s voice shook as he asked.
“Oh that’s easy, my darling boy, I just need you to sing,” Voldemort told him as he held a shell above the potion. Draco nodded and started to sing, his strong tenor voice with its haunting melody echoing back at him from the cave. Soon his voice became weaker and more faint with every syllable he sang until his voice was gone completely. His throat felt weird when it was gone, but it didn’t hurt him at least. The shell was glowing a vibrant emerald green, and Voldemort threw it up in the air above the cauldron before grabbing a hold of his eels’ tails. Together the three of them hit the shell with a massive burst of electricity before it fell with a rather massive explosion into the cauldron.
Smiling evilly at Draco, who was already having second thoughts, Voldemort gently pulled the shell out of the cauldron. It seemed to have some liquid inside it. “Well Draco, are you going to just stare at it, or will you be drinking this potion? Even if you don’t drink it, your voice is gone for the next three days.” Voldemort added.
Draco swam eagerly towards the wizard, his desire driving him, no ability to second guess left. He drank the potion, every last drop, and felt a weird pain in his fin as he swallowed. Dolohov and Bellatrix were at his side immediately, ready to swim him quickly to the surface. Draco grabbed onto their tails, unable to keep his lower half from contorting. He heard a creepy cackle coming from Voldemort’s lips as he was escorted out of the cave and an almost eel like whisper echoing in his ears, “Remember you have three days.”
Draco had almost breached the surface with the help of Voldemort’s lackeys when suddenly his fin stopped working completely. He looked down to try and understand why, and realized he was human! No fin, only legs! Which while exciting, was a bit of an issue because Draco didn’t know how to swim with these damn things yet! The eels cackled as they gave him a final push towards the surface, ensuring that he would at least get a breath of air in time. The rest, though, he would have to figure out on his own. Draco’s head breached the surface in the nick of time, his chest felt as if it were on fire.
Draco kicked his new legs as fast as he could, yet he was still struggling to get to shore. Desperate, he called up his magical power, the one he hadn’t told Voldemort about. Focusing on the water surrounding him, Draco concentrated until the calm ocean was swirling around him, carrying him in a mini hurricane to the shore, where he collapsed onto the sand. He didn’t understand these damn legs, and trying to use them had broken his focus on the hurricane, so there he sat, naked, splayed out on the sand for all to see. Forcing himself to remain calm, Draco managed to crawl towards a rock that he could hopefully hide behind. He didn’t want to be found in this state.
Luckily for him, on the other side of the rock he found some swim trunks drying in the sun. Draco snatched them up, hoping no one would realize he took them. After putting them on…which was a feat in and of itself, Draco tried to learn how to use his new legs. A tail was nothing like these things, Draco felt like he needed an instruction manual, but after many falls into the hot sand, he finally got to a point where he could walk, albeit slowly, without falling over. Draco had been slowly exploring the surrounding area when he heard the sounds of laughter and music, which caught his attention. As he moved slowly towards the noise, Draco saw him.
Standing out from amongst the other humans, even from this far away, was their prince. Draco thought he had heard him called Harry at some point but he wasn’t sure. The man was wearing a half open white shirt, revealing a sun-kissed chiseled chest and his black hair was escaping the ponytail he had tried to restrain it with. Draco’s breath caught in his throat and he stopped in his tracks, unable to focus on walking.
Before he could gain control of his faculties, a giant black dog collided with him, and Draco fell to his knees, immediately annoyed at his inability to vocalize his pain. His annoyance was soon mitigated as he heard a deep, soft and melodic voice, clearly filled with worry, in his ear. Draco turned to find himself face to face with the Prince. The one that Draco had rescued a few times over the years, the one he had sung to, but not in the usual siren way, in the way that a siren sings to their partner. He didn’t understand what the man was saying at first but eventually the words sank in and Draco realized he should respond in some way.
“I am so sorry Sirius got too excited to see me and ran through you! Are you okay?” Harry was asking him.
Draco looked down at his legs and his palms, noticing a bit of blood, but nothing too bad. He nodded that he was okay and gestured vaguely at his small scratches. He tried to vocalize but only a small catching sound came out. Harry seemed to understand that he couldn’t speak for some reason, but looked at Draco’s wounds and clearly had an idea. He reached out his hand for the other man to take, and Draco gratefully accepted. Harry pulled him to his feet and helped him walk slowly to a rather comfy chair before saying he would be back and running into a house. Harry returned quickly with some bandages and other first aid things and got to work on tending to Draco’s scrapes. They really weren’t bad, but Draco had never had legs before so the sensation was intense to him.
As he worked, Harry made small talk, introduced himself and tried to get to know Draco. But as Draco couldn’t talk, Harry mostly just chatted nervously to the blond. Draco nodded intently as he listened and wanted nothing more than to find a way to communicate with the man before him. The one person his inner siren had always been drawn to. As Harry finished patching him up, Draco smiled excitedly and accepted the Prince’s invite to stay at his castle, as Draco had managed to communicate that he was new to the island, and stranded here, alone.
They stayed at the beach party for a while longer, and Draco found a way to draw in the sand to try and illustrate that his voice would return sometime. He wasn’t sure that Harry understood, however, the man seemed keen to get to know him and that felt like progress, so Draco was happy with that. As night fell, and they were about to turn in, Draco remembered that he was named after a constellation. Harry had been trying to guess his name all night, and finally Draco could help him along. He pointed to the sky, then traced his way to his constellation, the dragon, ensuring that Harry was following his fingers, then he pointed to himself.
“Your name is Draco?” Harry asked curiously, hoping he understood.
Draco nodded happily, his eyes turning silver in his excitement.
“Those eyes…I remember them…from somewhere…” Harry muttered as he offered Draco his hand, to lead him up to the castle.
Draco took the offered hand and squeezed it gently as he followed Harry up the cliff side to the giant castle that made the one in Atlantica look like a normal house. Harry squeezed his hand in return, and helped Draco get settled in his room for the duration of his stay. Draco had eaten a bit at the party and so once Harry bid him good night, he sank into the bed, loving how soft it was, and fell asleep immediately.
***
The next three days were a blur of trying to get to know Prince Harry, while also desperately wishing for a kiss. That thing that Voldemort had implied would be so easy. As the days passed on, Draco got close to kissing the man a few times. But each time their moment was ruined: once by Sirius being far too excited to see Draco, and the other times by splashes that Draco felt weren’t natural. He had this sinking suspicion that Voldemort wasn’t playing fair. Which made him glad that he had kept one of his powers secret. If Voldemort tried something blatantly obvious, Draco felt sure he could defend both himself and Harry.
Draco got his chance on the final day of his human trial. The entire island seemed bursting with excitement, making him curious. Draco ran downstairs as soon as he was dressed, hoping to find Harry so he could explain what was going on. He found Harry in the entrance hall, but stopped short of running to the other man, because he was holding hands with someone else. Harry and the stranger were in serious talks with someone at the castle, it seemed like they were planning an event. Draco heard the words love and marriage from Harry, though his voice lacked all of his usual warmth and timbre. Something was off, Draco was sure of it, and as he started to turn away, wishing to cry in his room, he noticed a trinket around the other man’s neck. A shell, identical to the one that Voldemort had used to capture his voice.
Draco saw the other man smirk in his direction briefly, before he turned on his heel and ran back to his room. That evil smirk confirmed his fears, Voldemort was trying to trap him forever! Draco didn’t understand why, but he had a feeling it had to do with ocean politics and power. Tears streamed down his face as he opened his door. oth heartbroken and furious, Draco flung himself onto his bed. He gave himself a bit of time to cry it out, not wanting to seem weak outside of his room, his current safe haven. Once he had shed all the tears he could, Draco got up, and headed resolutely to this human contraption of a tub. He soaked in the tub for a while, contemplating his options, knowing full well that time and the odds were against him. But Draco had never felt more at home than he did here on this island, even if he didn’t end up with Harry.
He needed to come up with a plan to ruin the wedding and save Harry from a fate worse than death, at least being legally bound to a monster seemed worse than death to him. So he got out of the tub, picked out some nice clothes that highlighted his eyes, and got dressed for a fight. Draco walked about town, gathering information about this supposed wedding and wasn’t surprised that it was happening today. What did surprise him, was that the wedding was to take place on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Man Voldemort is a bit dense, that is for sure, Draco thought to himself as he hatched his plan.
Draco had managed to make a few friends on the island during his short stay, and he could tell that they were also worried about Harry. So he got them to help him ruin the wedding: a few of them were planning to mess with the food, while others planned to ensure that wildlife found their way onto the ship. The butler, a very odd yet caring older gentleman, promised to sneak Draco onto the ship before anyone else arrived. Draco spent some time thinking of how best to defeat the evil wizard at his own game, all while pacing in his room. The final ideas of his plan were falling into place when a rap at his door made him jump nearly ten feet in the air, but thankfully he fell onto his soft bed. He grabbed his bag, in which he had gathered a few items and a change of clothes, and opened the door slowly.
The butler stood there, looking a tad uncomfortable but determined. “It’s time, my dear boy, follow me.”
Draco nodded and shut his door quietly as he followed the older man. They walked down the long stairs until they reached the entrance hall where an array of boxes and carts were standing ready to be loaded into carriages to be brought to the ship. Wordlessly, the butler removed a tablecloth from atop the nearest cart and motioned with his head for Draco to get in. He did so without hesitation and stifled a chortle as more tablecloths were piled on top of him. So this was how he would be able to join the wedding ship. It wasn’t his first idea but it was simple and honestly far more relaxing than whatever Draco had expected.
As the wizard was currently scouring the island to try and banish the man his “betrothed” had been interested in mere hours before, Draco had been worried he would be caught before getting near the ship. Harry was apparently already on board the ship, which tracked, as Draco was certain Voldemort planned to keep them as far apart as possible. Little did Voldemort know that Draco was actually good at being a human, voice or no voice. He fit in here and felt at home already, so he wasn’t about to let his new life disappear. Plus he really did care for Harry, with the clear emotions for love already well in motion, so he couldn’t let Harry marry that terrible fraud.
After what felt like the longest carriage ride of his life, Draco felt his crate being unloaded and was grateful to hear the whistling of the old man above him. The plan was well underway by now, and all Draco had to do was get into his hiding spot and wait for his cue. No one was around quite yet, besides some of the staff, so Draco had no trouble jumping out of the crate, and quickly hiding inside the large podium. Apparently this one had been swapped for a smaller one that didn’t have a storage compartment. It was a tight squeeze, but Draco didn’t mind, he knew it would all be worth it, even if he ended up alone.
Sitting in a cramped box wasn’t great for his body or his mind as he sat there thinking of all the things that could go wrong, but he made do. It was for a better world for all the people he had met on this island, and for himself. He heard people start to gather on the deck of the ship and smiled to himself, it shouldn’t be long now. He heard cries of annoyance as the seagulls started trying to peck at people’s hair and chairs, as they had birdseed surrounding them. It was supposed to be thrown after the ceremony but a young member of the staff had “tripped” and spilled it everywhere. Then he heard the ooo's and aaaa’s as the cake was rolled out, which was immediately set upon by all sorts of birds and a few other animals as well, including Sirius by the sound of it.
Soon after the cake chaos, Draco heard the officiant start the wedding proceedings, which made him sit up straighter, his cue would be delivered soon. Draco readied himself to jump out of the door, which was now facing the “happy” couple, and stop the nuptials in their tracks.
“If anyone has any reason as to why these two men shouldn’t be married, please speak now or forever hold your peace.” Came the voice of the officiant.
Draco smirked at the line, and pushed open the door forcefully, nearly smacking into Voldemort himself. Then he stood up, as proud as he could, slamming the door behind him to ensure he had everyone’s attention. When all eyes turned to him, he pointed to himself, clearly challenging this union. His silver eyes blazed with a fire that he hadn’t felt before, showing just how serious he was. All the guests gasped at this revelation, while the man Voldemort had transformed into sneered angrily at him. Harry though…Harry stared at Draco, clearly confused but happy to see him. That was enough to cement Draco’s guess, Voldemort had spelled Harry too, not just randomly shown up in a cute guy’s body.
As Voldemort’s facade started to fade and his octopus self was revealed, Draco ran towards the edge of the ship and focused on calling the water to him. If he focused hard enough, he could use his secret power to save Harry from the spell, and himself in turn. Within seconds Draco had formed a waterspout, and as his focus grew so did the water. He sped it up and let it grow before turning to throw the hurricane in Voldemort’s direction, gently grabbing Harry’s arm to pull him safely out of harm’s way.
Voldemort cursed as the water knocked him off of his feet and his trinket flew from his neck. Draco expanded the hurricane more so that it would completely engulf only Voldemort and keep him away from well, everyone, until he was able to undo the evil magic. Letting the hurricane do its thing, Draco turned to the trinket and picked it up gently, not wanting to break it. He called more water to him, and slowly cleansed the dark magic from the shell, feeling his voice become restored as he did so. Draco focused on cleansing out only the evil intentioned magic, doing his best to keep the human spell intact. He then turned to Harry and gently ran the water down the man’s body. His eyes cleared up almost immediately, and he returned to his normal happy self.
Voldemort, whose magic had been undone already, screamed angrily from inside the hurricane. He clawed at the water, but was unable to get out. Deciding that the best thing to do would be to return the evil wizard to the depths from whence he came, Draco used the hurricane to throw Voldemort overboard. He spent the next few minutes concentrating on moving the hurricane as deep into the ocean as he could. When he was satisfied that Voldemort would be someplace even his many tentacles couldn’t swim out of, Draco let out a deep breath, muttered a siren’s curse, locking Voldemort down there forever, and let go of his concentration.
When he was finished with his spell work he turned back around, finding all eyes on him. Harry’s eyes were glowing with love and adoration, which filled Draco with relief – he had been worried that Harry would be scared of him. Harry moved closer to Draco, holding out his hand and pulling Draco in for a long awaited kiss. When their lips met, Draco felt as if he had finally found the last missing piece of his life. He heard Harry murmur happily as their kiss deepened and the crowd around them erupted into applause. They both were blushing as they remembered they had an audience, but they recovered quickly and took it in stride.
“Sorry about the chaotic wedding plans, but they are changing once more. Draco and I plan to go on an adventure together now, as soon as we can. Get to know each other and then eventually, we will be back for a less chaotic wedding.” Harry said with a happy smile.
Draco squeezed his hand happily, and said, “It was wonderful to meet you all and I look forward to returning to the island at some point. I would love to get to know you better and see how I can be of service to you all in the future. But as Harry said, we have a lot of getting to know each other to do and I am ecstatic to be starting a new adventure with him.”
The two men kissed again before heading down to a cabin in the ship to chat and snuggle in the bed, while they planned their adventure. There were islands Harry had always wanted to visit, and ones that Draco had swam to but never been able to set foot on. They made a list of where to go and then started to brainstorm things to bring with them. Draco also told Harry about his siren side and his life before land. Harry listened intently and comforted Draco when he felt the man needed it.
When the ship docked, they got off and started packing for their adventure. They would set off in their own smaller ship the next day, with a small crew as well. Rations and other items were being loaded onto the ship as they brought their luggage to Harry’s room. Draco didn’t have much currently, but he knew that would change the longer he lived in the human world.
Harry and Draco slept in the same bed for the first time that night, and Draco knew in his heart that no matter where they went, as long as he had Harry, he was home.