Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.
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Chapter 6: Nomie
"Who the Hell, are you?" Draco demanded.
The beautiful young woman simply smiled seductively. She tossed her long black hair back and studied Draco's profile for a while. Draco wondered how the woman had found her way into his bedchambers but after a little thinking, he realized the oh-so simple answer. It was a known fact that Draco's father Lucius Malfoy had kept a personal harem before he had married Draco's mother, Narcissa, and there were many rumors floating around that Draco kept one as well. Although these rumors were unconfirmed, it was a fact that Draco had a LOT of women "visitors". The guards must've thought that this strange woman was simply another one of his "visitors" with an invitation.
"Greetings young Malfoy," the woman said. "I am Cassandra Frost, High Priestess of the Children of Tempest."
If Draco flinched at the name "Tempest", he hid it well. "And what may a beautiful woman such as your doing here without an invitation? Not that I am complaining," he said with a smirk.
Cassandra grinned and made her way seductively over to Draco. "I am here to offer you an invitation, to the Children of Tempest."
Draco laughed out loud. "And why would I even consider," he said, still with a smirk. "I for one am more interested in you, my dear."
"I am flattered," Cassandra said. She paused to think for a moment and said, "Tell me, what do you think about Harry Potter?"
Draco was clearly thrown off guard by the abrupt change of topic. "And what does Potter have to do with anything?" he hissed.
"He has something to do with everything the last I heard," Cassandra mused. "That's always the way it is isn't it. Harry Potter this and Harry Potter that. Harry Potter the greatest of the four rulers of the Alliance. Harry Potter, the most heroic and powerful of the Mage Knights. Harry Potter the vanquisher of the Dark Lord. Harry Potter the victor, the conqueror, the champion, everyone's wonder boy, beloved husband, father, and friend. Harry Potter with his beautiful wife, mudblood as she is. Harry Potter, loved by all." Cassandra paused for a moment before continuing. "And what about Draco Malfoy? War hero, so and so ruler, and eligible bachelor."
By this time Draco was seething with anger, years of buried jealousy resurfacing. "Your point," he hissed.
"Don't you want to best Harry Potter once and for all?" Cassandra asked as she looped her arms around Draco's neck "Join us Draco. Take a part in the glory that comes with our Lord, just like your father did."
When Draco remained quiet, Cassandra pulled away and made her way over to the door. "I will be back in five days," she said. "I will have your answer then." She then left Draco alone with his thoughts.
* * * * * * * * * *
In the north, the troop of Gryffindor Mage Knights and children were walking through the snow toward Deis Rowena. Harry had managed to send an owl to Percy and Penelope, telling them that James, Lin, and Virginia were with them. Since the three kids had taken a one way portkey, they couldn't go back to Deis Uno.
Hermione was a little subdued as she trudged through the snow. Virginia timidly went up next to her and asked, "Mommy? Are you angry with me?" She looked considerably nervous.
Hermione sighed and smiled at her younger daughter. "No Virginia. I'm not angry with you or Lin and James. I'm just...frustrated. You should've stayed behind."
Virginia looked close to tears and Hermione instantly felt bad. She knelt down and gently scooped Virginia into her arms. Feeling better, Virginia cuddled into her mother's arms and started to drift off.
Noticing how tired Virginia was, Hermione looked up at Harry and sent him a silent message. Harry immediately understood and said, "OK, lets take a break here."
"What?" James said. "But we can go on all day!"
"Speak for yourself," muttered Lin.
Within an hour, the troupe had fallen into a simple routine. Harry and Ron were teaching James had to sword fight and Hermione was telling Lin and Virginia stories in a separate corner, Virginia curled up in Hermione's lap. James was a very fast learner and even managed to disarm Ron a few times and Harry once.
"That's excellent James," Harry said, beaming with pride. "Keep that up and you'll be unbeatable in a few years." He parried a little and thrust his sword out a few times. James successfully blocked each blow.
"Am I really that good?" James asked modestly as he deflected another one of Harry's swipes.
"Good?" exclaimed Ron. "You're a bloody natural! I sure wouldn't want to be some cultist facing this six year old with a sword."
Meanwhile, Hermione was telling her daughters tales about some of the adventures the trio had when they were younger.
"Did you really offer yourself to a dragon?" asked Lin, clearly interested in what Hermione had to say.
"Yes," Hermione smiled at the memory. "We were traveling away from Hogwarts when we found out that Hogsmeade was under siege from a Horntail. I volunteered myself as a sacrificial decoy and convinced your father and your Uncle Ron to fill in as Dragon Slayers. It was pretty chaotic."
"But weren't you scared?" asked Lin. She was bouncing around excitedly. "I mean, weren't afraid that the dragon could've killed you or Dad or Uncle Ron?"
"Yes I was," Hermione said. "At the time, I thought I couldn't ever be more frightened of anything like I was that night. I was soon proven wrong when I was taken to Azkaban..."
"Azkaban?!" Lin and Virginia both exclaimed. They had both grown up listening to horror stories about the great Slytherin Fortress Prison.
"Well, Yes," said Hermione. She didn't want to relive the horrors of the time she spent in the prison but she had brought it up. "But your father eventually came for me."
"Mommy, there's a dragon," said Virginia.
At first Hermione thought her younger daughter was referring to her story about her adventures years before. However, a sudden whoosh of wind and a bellowing roar alerted her of what Virginia had really seen. Hermione grabbed Lin and Virginia and leapt out of the way as large black dragon swooped down.
"Harry!" she yelled. Harry and Ron immediately looked up and spotted the large Ridgeback that had come crashing down into their camp. James looked excited.
"Wow! Dad! It's a dragon! Are you going to fight it?"
"Yes we are going to fight it and no you may not join us," Harry said as he brandished his sword. "Go hide your sisters behind those rocks."
"OK," said James. He bound forward to his mother whom was currently in the process of hiding his frightened sisters behind a medium sized boulder.
"James, take care of them," Hermione said. James seemed to be taking his job seriously and set about keeping a hyper Lina dn subdued Virginia in place. Hermione ran off to toward Harry and Ron whom were currently parrying around, dodging the flames issued from the Ridgeback's mouth.
"Harry?"
"It's a Ridgeback. Not as dangerous as the Horntail we had to fight off before but we still need caution."
"Oh bloody Hell with caution" shouted Ron. He let out a yell and charged at the dragon only to be blasted away but a burst of flame. He was clearly unharmed but a little dazed.
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle as Harry groaned and buried his face in his hand. "Why does he always charge in like that," he muttered.
Whatever mirth they were able to share was broken however, when the dragon charged at them, claws slashing. Harry and Hermione leapt out of the way and Hermione successfully managed to swipe her sword into the dragon's paw. The dragon let out a yelp of pain before Harry stabbed his sword into its throat, killing it instantly.
As soon as the large creature lay dead, Ron came up to the other too and said, "Whew, lucky that thing wasn't much of a tough one." Ron was completely covered with soot and some smoke was rising from around his body, making him look ridiculous. Harry and Hermione glanced at Ron and burst out laughing, much to his annoyance.
* * * * * * * * * *
That night, Lin shook James awake. "What is it?" he asked groggily.
"I was thinking. James, I've read all about dragons," Lin ignored her brother's snort and continued, "and I was able to tell that that dragon that was attacking us was a nesting mother."
"Yeah, so what?"
"I was wondering, if we killed a mother dragon, then what would happen to the baby dragons? Won't they die without their mother?"
"Better them than us becoming their next meal."
"James, I want to go find that nest, make sure the baby dragon's are all right."
"You what?!" James couldn't believe what Lin was proposing.
"Oh come on James. It'll be an adventure."
"You're not serious!" Never in his life would've expected James expected that he would be the levelheaded one of the two. It was always James planning some escapade while Lin fretted and discouraged him; never the other way around, like this situation. But Lin's proposal of searching for a dragon's nest was outright dangerous. And if there was one thing that James learned from his experiences with the cultists in Godric's Hollow, it was that there was a fine line between mischief and danger that must never be crossed. James may have caused mischief but he certainly didn't go looking for danger.
"James, please."
"Oh all right, Lin!" James started grumbling as he and Lin left their beds and went higher up the mountain they were on. After searching for about twenty minutes, they finally found a small crater in the side of the mountain lined with rocks and wood. In the center of the crater was a single black, dragon egg.
"There it is," said Lin. She slowly crept up to the large egg, which was about the size of a human head. James's adventurous nature soon took over and he also went up to the egg.
"Hey, it's shaking," he said.
"Well I suppose that means it's almost ready to ha..." Lin didn't get to finish her sentence when the egg suddenly burst open causing pieces of egg shell to fly around.
A tiny version of the dragon that had attacked them early popped out. It squeaked and coughed up a little flame. After that, it opened its eyes and stared into Lin's green ones.
"Oh my, he's cute," Lin said, a large grin adorning her face.
"That's...cute?" said James.
The baby dragon started rubbing its head on Lin's legs. Surprised, Lin started to walk around and was a little startled to see the dragon follow her around, step by step. She looked up at James with a questioning look.
"It looks like the dragon's imprinted on you," said a familiar female voice. Startled, James and Lin whipped around to see their parents standing at the edge of the nest, Harry looking bemused and Hermione looking annoyed. "It thinks you're its mother," Hermione finished.
At first, James and Lin were too shocked to say anything. However, as soon as Hermione's words sank in, Lin gleefully picked up the baby dragon and sprang toward them saying, "Oh Mum! Mum! Please? Can I keep him? Please? I promise, I'll be the best mother to this dragon there ever was. Can I keep him?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "I don't know," said Harry. "Dragon's are very dangerous. I mean, its imprinted on you so I doubt it'll attack humans on purpose but they're still a handful."
"Oh Dad! Please let me keep him! I promise to be good. Mum? Dad?"
Hermione sighed. The baby dragon was already imprinted on Lin so they probably wouldn't be able to get rid of it. "All right," she said. "At least till its grown up."
Lin let out a cheer and James couldn't help but join her, though he was still a little apprehensive about the dragon, while Harry and Hermione sighed. As they made their way back to the camp, Lin hugged the baby dragon close to her and said, "I think I'll call you Nomie."
Baby Nomie happily purred his approval.
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A/N I kind of got this chapter out later than I wanted to but at least it's out now. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review! Reviews are highly appreciated and everybody who makes one gets a gold star in my book. Well, OK, maybe not exactly a gold star but they will really make me happy. BTW, is anybody else as excited about the World Cup as I am? Next: The troupe finally arrives at the Holy City. What happens there?