Adriana

"Oh, sod off, Ron. Go get Professor Dumbledore or somebody. Go!" Hermione gently lowered Harry onto the cloak and tried looking for a pulse. She felt a tiny pulsing in his neck, and checked his wrist for reassurance.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said softly, watching as Ron emerged from the castle with Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall in tow. "Please don't be dead...."

***

Harry cracked his eyes open, unaware of his surroundings. One glance at Madam Pomfrey bustling around the large room informed him he was in the increasingly familiar place, the hospital wing.

"Oh, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said, noticing Harry as he tried sitting up in bed. "No, don't try to move just yet. I'm sending for the headmaster." With slight force she pushed him back into a lying position.

As soon as Madam Pomfrey exited the doors, Hermione and Ron rushed in, looking anxious. "You're awake!" Hermione exclaimed. "How are you feeling?" She bent over the bed and threw her arms around Harry's neck.

"Hermione, he almost drowned, don't deprive him from any more oxygen," Ron said cheerfully. Hermione straightened up and she and Ron took a seat next to Harry.

"What happened after I fell in?" Harry asked solemnly. "I don't remember any of it."

Hermione and Ron's smiles faltered. "Don't talk about it, Harry," Hermione said. "It's not a pleasant subject."

"Hermione tried to get in your pants!" Ron said gleefully. Hermione glared at him and blushed embarrassedly.

"I did no such thing," she replied indignantly.

Harry arched an eyebrow. "And I was unconscious for that?" Ron laughed loudly. Hermione blushed an even deeper shade of magenta.

She made a desperate attempt at changing the subject. "We have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," she stated. "Professor DaGloria resigned. Nobody knows why."

Ron grimaced at the thought of the old Professor. "No one will miss her, that's for sure."

"Now Ron, Professor DaGloria was not a bad teacher," Hermione said. Harry and Ron both rolled their eyes.

"Who's the new one?" Harry asked.

"Another woman," Ron replied. "Her name's Professor Murray." He shrugged. "We haven't had a lesson with her yet, but Dumbledore introduced her at dinner yesterday."

As if speaking his name made him appear out of thin air, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey entered the room. Dumbledore smiled down at Harry, then glanced at Ron and Hermione. "If you two don't mind, I'd like to have a word with Mr. Potter," he said. Both of them nodded, and rose from their seats, waving farewell to Harry.

"I suppose we should keep you away from any large bodies of water for a time," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

Harry felt slightly embarrassed. "Sorry about that, sir," he said sheepishly.

Dumbledore waved a hand. "There's nothing to apologize for, Mr. Potter. Good thing your friends remembered their first year Charms. Professor Flitwick is pleased, no doubt."

Harry managed a small smile. Madam Pomfrey came bustling back in, shooing Dumbledore from the hospital wing. "Out, out, this boy needs rest!" she said firmly, snapping the door shut behind the headmaster. She handed Harry a small goblet full of a sleeping draught. "Drink it," she demanded. "It will help you sleep."

She left, and Harry drank the vile tasting potion. Within seconds, he was drifting off to sleep.

***

Harry could see the sky from beneath the water's surface. The stars were oddly bright, he thought to himself. He was in the lake again, but this time it was different. He could breathe. The water was no longer freezing cold, either. Harry was merely floating, suspended by some unseen force.

A whimper from below caught his attention, and he looked down. The eyes of a girl stared back at him. She was about Harry's age, perhaps a bit older, with long blonde hair that drifted out in the water behind her. She had fair skin, and was wearing black Hogwarts robes. She was probably pretty at one time, but the cold, haunted look in her green eyes took away from that.

Harry's own green eyes widened in shock. This girl--whoever she was--had eyes just like his. Was she perhaps some distant relative? He motioned to the girl with a strong sense of urgency, and mouthed two words: 'Save yourself'.

The girl smiled sadly and shook her head. Harry watched in confusion as she drifted back down into the darkness below.

***

Harry bolted upright in bed, sweating and short of breath. Who was she? And why did he survive while she didn't?