The waves crashed against the rocky shore of the Malfoy Villa, nestled near the remote Northern Isles of Scotland. The villa, perched on the edge of rugged cliffs and surrounded by untamed wilderness, was a haven of solitude for Draco. When the pressures of school or life grew unbearable, he often retreated here. Whether he needed time to think, to study, or simply to escape the weight of his name and expectations, the villa offered him the peace he craved.

The locals spoke of Selkies in hushed tones, weaving tales of creatures who lived as seals in the water but shed their skins to reveal breathtakingly beautiful women. Draco, ever the skeptic, dismissed the stories as fanciful nonsense. He wasn’t one to entertain fairytales, and besides, he had never seen anything remotely magical in the churning waves during his countless visits to the shore.

One evening, as the sun dipped low on the horizon and painted the sea in hues of gold and crimson, Draco sat on the sand, lost in thought. He barely noticed the movement at first—a dark shape cutting through the water, gliding toward a secluded cove nearby.

A seal.

Draco’s brows furrowed as curiosity stirred within him. He stood, brushing the sand from his trousers, and walked toward the cove. The air was cool, carrying the salty tang of the sea, and his polished shoes crunched lightly against the gravelly sand. What he saw when he reached the cove made him freeze in his tracks.

There, illuminated by the fading sunlight, stood a woman unlike anyone he had ever seen. Her beauty was otherworldly. She had just shed a glossy sealskin, which now lay in a heap on the rocks beside her.

Before he fully realized what he was doing, he stepped forward, his heart pounding in his chest. Silently, Draco reached down and snatched the sealskin from the rocks. In a split-second decision, he apparated back to the villa, stowing away the sealskin before returning to the cove to confront the beautiful selkie.