Chapter Summary: And now on to the dragon.
--- Begin Fic Here ---
"So how are we going to get Hagrid to tell us more about the stone?" Hermione asked once again as she, Ron, and Harry found themselves trekking to Hagrid's cabin.
"We'll just ask him," Ron said matter-of-factly.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, brilliant idea." This conversation was beginning to sound familiar.
It was late afternoon and they were right in the middle of their Easter holidays. Only an hour prior, they had seen Hagrid in the library and finally remember that they wanted to ask him more about the Sorcerer's Stone. He seemed a bit put off that they had actually discovered what Fluffy was guarding but also preoccupied by something else. Hagrid had come to the library to do some clandestine research on dragons, but they couldn't figure out why. Hermione could only guess that Hagrid was planning a trip to go visit some real life dragons. Perhaps it was his idea of a holiday.
Hermione noticed that all the curtains were closed and she wondered vaguely if Hagrid had already gone off somewhere. He knew they were coming. When Harry told him earlier that they wanted to ask him some questions, Hagrid asked them to come to the cabin later.
Harry knocked on the door and they heard Hagrid call to them from inside.
"It's us, Hagrid," Harry answered. The door flew open and Hagrid ushered them all in horridly before slamming it shut behind them. He seemed a bit on edge, as if he didn't want anyone to know that they were talking to him.
It was insanely warm inside the cabin, mostly because of the blazing fire in his fireplace. Hermione had no idea why Hagrid had a fire going but she supposed even though it was warm outside, Hagrid might be cold natured.
As Hagrid served them tea, Harry got right down to the point. "We were wondering and if you could tell us, what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from fluffy."
Hermione shook her head. "Yes, no use making small talk. We'll just outright ask him. Why are boys so remarkably dense?"
As expected, Hagrid played dumb. "Of course I can't. Number one, I don't know m'self. Number two, you know too much already so I wouldn't tell ya if I could."
Hermione thought about this as Hagrid continued on his tirade. She knew he was lying, she could tell it in his eyes. Now she just had to figure out the right button to push.
"Oh come on Hagrid," she started sweetly. "You might not want to tell us but you do know. You know everything that goes on 'round here. We only wondered who had done the guarding really. We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him… apart from you."
This last part seemed to be the clincher and Hermione could tell by the smile on Hagrid's face that her flattery had not gone in vain. She saw Harry smiling at her and knew he had been impressed by her quick thinking. "I'm so good," she thought to herself.
After that it was easy to get the information they needed from Hagrid, but what they found out turned out to be even worse news than they could have ever expected. It seemed that five professors besides Dumbledore had done enchantments to help guard the stone, Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape. This was the last thing they wanted to hear.
"If Snape was in on protecting the stone, then he must know a way around all of the teacher's enchantments. He probably knows everything except how to get past Fluffy and whatever Quirrell did." Hermione glanced at Harry again and she could tell he was thinking the same thing.
"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy aren't you Hagrid?" Harry was asking Hagrid now. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you; not even one of the teachers?"
Hagrid confirmed that only he and Dumbledore knew this secret and that set them at ease. It would definitely take Snape a while to get past a creature like Fluffy. Not only was he ferocious but Hermione suspected that he was powerfully magical.
"Hagrid, can we have a window open?" Harry asked finally. "I'm boiling."
"Can't Harry, sorry" Hagrid said glancing at the fire.
Hermione looked too, and what she saw shocked her. Sitting in the fire was a large egg and she instantly knew what it was, a dragon's egg. Hermione had never seen a dragon's egg before; in fact of all the things she had read about in her summer studies, dragons hadn't been one of them. She'd never dreamed that they would be something she was encounter at school but then again she never counted on meeting a dragon loving half-giant.
Hermione sat in stunned silence as Harry, Ron and Hagrid went to examine the egg. Hagrid explained to them how he had won it from a stranger in Hogsmeade. Who in their right mind would be walking around with a dragon egg in an all wizard's town if dragon breading was illegal?
"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched," she finally asked.
It seemed obvious that Hagrid wasn't planning on keeping it. After all he would get in serious trouble. But she realized how wrong she was when Hagrid began to explain how he'd been reading up on dragon rearing from a book in the library. He was serious about keeping the egg which turned out to be a Norwegian Ridgeback. But dragons grew to be huge beasts. It would definitely be harder to keep confined than even a three-headed dog. Hagrid obviously wasn't thinking clearly, but nothing any of them said could convince him to give up the egg. They left in dismay
"Okay, did that just happen?" Ron said as they stepped out of Hagrid's hut.
"No," Harry shook his head. "This is all a terrible dream. What are we going to do?" He seemed to turn instinctively to Hermione as if he expected her to have the answer already.
Hermione felt a headache coming on. She didn't think she had the energy to worry about anything else. Snape was trying to kill Harry and steal the Sorcerer's Stone. Hagrid was stupidly trying to raise a dangerous, fire-breathing dragon in a wooden cabin, but to top it off, Hermione's latest letter from her father had a subtle threat that if she didn't prove how much a Hogwarts education was worth, he might not let her return the next year.
She had written her mother to tell her about the party they had for Ron, minus the part about how many rules they broke to have it. Apparently her father had read it as well and was livid at the fact that Hermione was wasting her time partying when she was supposed to be studying. Now she had to prove that Harry and Ron weren't a "bad influence" on her. She just didn't need any more stress, not now, not when she was so close to exams.
"Hermione; are you listening?" Harry asked finally.
"I've got to go study," Hermione said suddenly and she ran off.
"That girl has a one track mind," Ron said.
-----
No matter how many times they talked to Hagrid, he wasn't changing his mind about the dragon and Harry refused outright to go to McGonagall or Dumbledore about it. Seeing no other options, Hermione studied like there was no tomorrow. She rarely let her focus on schoolwork slip unless they were at Hagrid's hut working on new ways to get rid of the dragon egg. She wished Ron and Harry would at least act a little concerned about their impending exams but she realized that they didn't have the threat of never returning to Hogwarts looming over them.
She hadn't told them about her father's letter of course. She knew it would seem trivial to them what with dragons and evil schemes to occupy there minds but to her this was the most important thing. Hermione knew she was probably on the verge of alienating Harry and Ron but she also knew what she was doing was for the greater good. What would it matter if they managed to foil Snape's plot if she wasn't around the following year to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Several times she had to retreat to her hiding place on the castle ramparts to avoid Ron's wrath when he got tired of her nagging him about exams. All and all she was feeling very stressed and just wanted the year to end as quickly and uneventfully as possible.
Unfortunately that just didn't seem possible. A little over a week after they discovered Hagrid having the egg, he sent word via Hedwig one morning during breakfast that it was finally hatching.
"Excellent!" Ron said excitedly.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "What's excellent about it? I was half hoping it would never hatch. Now that it is, there's no way he'll be able to keep it a secret. He's going to get in trouble with the ministry for this, you know."
Ron was ignoring her. "We've got to go see Hagrid before it finishes hatching, Harry."
"We should tell Dumbledore. He likes Hagrid; he can keep him out of trouble and get rid of the dragon," Hermione continued.
"You want us to tell on Hagrid. What kind of friend are you?" Ron asked.
"I'm trying to keep Hagrid from being arrested. You're encouraging him. What kind of friend are you?" Hermione counted.
"Harry, let's skip Herbology," Ron said ignoring her again.
"Ron! You're going to skip class? Are you trying to get in trouble along with Hagrid now?"
"No one said you had to come, little miss perfect," Ron told her.
"Oh and what am I supposed to say when Professor Sprout asks where you two are?"
"You do know how to lie don't you?" Ron's temper was rising.
Hermione's rose to match it. "Oh so now you want me to lie for you? Why don't we all just march off to McGonagall and ask her to expel us right now?"
"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Ron reasoned.
"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble and that nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing."
"Shut up," Harry said suddenly.
Hermione was shocked for a moment until she saw Harry jerk his head to the side. Malfoy had been listening in on their conversation only a few feet away. When he realized that they weren't going to say anymore, he continued down the hall.
"How much do you think he heard," Harry said finally as they continued to the greenhouses.
"Probably everything considering Hermione was practically shouting about it," Ron said matter-of-factly.
"Me!" Hermione squealed. "I don't believe I'm the one who said 'how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching.'"
"What's gotten into you lately?" Ron asked. "You know I thought you'd finally loosened up but now you're more unbearable than ever."
"Ron…" Harry started. He must have known that Ron had gone too far.
"Oh so now I'm unbearable? Well excuse me for ruining your fun Ron but one of us has to be the practical one and sense you've obviously flushed your brains; I guess it has to be me. And if it makes me unreasonable not to want to get expelled before our first year is even over then I'm ever so sorry!"
"Harry, let's just make a slight detour," Ron said, choosing to ignore Hermione once again. "If we go now, we could probably just be a little late to Herbology. Professor Sprout won't care."
"We'll go during morning break," Harry said stoically. "Hermione's right. No use calling attention to ourselves. If we scave off Herbology, we might end up getting Hagrid in trouble."
"Oh alright," Ron sighed.
Hermione sighed as well. She was glad Harry had stuck up for her but she was growing weary of constantly feeling like she had to prove herself. The stress of school and her personal life were starting to overwhelm her. She wished that she could talk to Harry about it but he had his hands full mediating between her and Ron. She didn't want to add to his pile of stressors.
She started to walk into the greenhouse behind Ron but then suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder which made her jump. "Calm down," Harry said almost soothingly, he must have noticed how frustrated she looked. "Ron's right you know…"
"What; you think I'm being unbearable too?" she hissed.
"No, a little high strung perhaps but… that's not the point." He gave her a half grin. "I meant Ron's right about this being the only time we'll get to see a dragon at all, let alone see it hatch. You have to be at least a bit curious."
Hermione returned the grin, despite herself. Why did he always have to be right?
-----
They arrived at Hagrid's just in time. The egg hadn't finished hatching yet. The trio grabbed chairs and sat around the table to watch with baited breath as the baby dragon made its final efforts to escape. Finally the egg split open with a loud crack and the small black scaly dragon flopped out onto the table. It all seemed very anticlimactic to Hermione. She didn't know exactly what she was expecting but she didn't think this overgrown lizard was worth all the fuss Hagrid was making.
It seemed very large already, and as it nipped at Hagrid's hand she noticed it already had fangs. If it was this big already, "Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow exactly?"
Hagrid looked like he was about to answer but then he noticed something just behind Hermione. He leapt to his feet. "Someone was looking through the gap in the curtains. It's a kid; he's running back up to the school."
Harry ran to the door and flung it open. Hermione didn't even need to hear him mutter the word, "Malfoy," to know exactly who it was.
"We're dead," Ron said with a shudder. "Malfoy has been waiting for a chance to get back at us."
"Oh now you're worried about getting in trouble. Why is it you're always worried after the fact, huh?" Hermione snapped. "We could have avoided all this if you'd have just listened to me."
"Listened to you? I feel like that's all I do is listen to you 'cause you're always talking!" Ron shouted. "You act like you know everything."
"We'll it's better than acting like an idiot," Hermione countered.
"This isn't helping," Harry said shortly. "Hagrid maybe it's time to consider what you're going to do now that it's hatched. You're not going to keep it are you?"
Hagrid had barely heard a word of their conversation. He had the baby dragon in his arms and he was rocking it back and forth saying "Now what are we going to call you little fella'."
"He's cracked," Ron said quietly.
Harry shrugged. "Let's go, we'll try talking to him later."
"We should go to Dumbledore," Hermione chimed again as they let themselves out of the cabin.
"We're not going to risk getting Hagrid into trouble," Harry said.
"Hello! Wake up Harry, Hagrid's already in trouble. We can only minimize the damage. If we go to Dumbledore now…"
Harry spun on his heels to face her. He had a strained and almost angry look in his eyes. "We're not going to tell on Hagrid," he said very slowly so as to make himself clear.
Hermione gulped. She had never seen Harry so upset. "Alright… so now what?"
"I'll think of something."
-----
It had been almost a week and Harry still hadn't thought of anything. Hermione had stopped offering suggestions because she knew that anything she had to offer would involve telling an adult the truth and Harry had made it very clear he didn't want that. She had separated herself from the boys more, choosing the study alone rather than be involved in more pointless arguments. The only times she spent with them were during meals and when they went down to visit Hagrid and the baby dragon.
She spent many late nights on the ramparts just staring up at the night sky and trying to unwind. Harry hadn't come to visit her up there in several weeks so she was very surprised to see him one evening just before midnight.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding us," Harry said as he stepped off of his Nimbus 2000 onto the castle wall. "You're not still studying are you? Because you know, we have a common room for that."
"Do you always have to make jokes?" Hermione said with a bite of impatience.
"No but it beats being in a sour mood all the time like some people I've seen lately," Harry said, still grinning.
"I'm not in a sour mood," Hermione said defensively. "I just have a lot on my mind."
"We all do, Hermione," Harry reminded her. "I know it's a lot to deal with but…"
"No Harry, you don't understand. It's more than just Snape and Hagrid."
"Oh," Harry sat down beside her. "Then what is it?"
"I…" Hermione started. "I don't really want to talk about it."
"Okay, well I guess you don't have to then," Harry conceded. "Well Ron and I are going down to Hagrid's to talk to him again. You want to come. We could use a level head."
Hermione stood and stretched. "Oh, alright but I don't know how much help I'm going to be. My brain feels like mush."
Harry hopped back on his broomstick and Hermione started down the trap door. In a few minutes they had collected Ron and made their way to the gamekeeper's cabin. Hermione pretty much sat in silence as Harry and Ron talked with Hagrid. She barely heard any of the conversation that took place. Her mind was still mulling over her present predicament. The past few weeks she'd done almost nothing but study. She was ready, she knew it. Perhaps Harry and Ron were right; she needed to just relax for a while.
"What do you think Hermione?" she heard Harry ask her. She hadn't been listening to anything.
"Think about what?" she asked.
"Haven't you been listening to us at all?" Ron said annoyed.
"Yes, I just sort of zoned out. What did I miss?"
"We were saying we could send an owl to Charlie, you know Ron's brother. He deals with dragons. He could keep Norbert and then set him free in the wild when he's old enough," Harry summarized.
Hermione had to think about who they were talking about but then she realized that 'Norbert' must be what Hagrid was calling the baby dragon. "Right, it sounds like a good idea,"
"I could just as easily raise Norbert here," Hagrid said stubbornly.
Hermione realized this must have been why Harry asked her opinion. He needed her to think of a way to convince Hagrid to give up the dragon.
"Oh Hagrid," Hermione started sweetly. "Nobody's arguing with you there. If anyone can raise… uh… Norbert, it's you. It's just that… you have so many other responsibilities here. Dumbledore depends on you in so many ways and would be so disappointed if he knew that you were unable to tend to your gamekeeping duties because of this. The castle would fall apart without you."
"She's right," Ron agreed readily, "things are already starting to go down hill."
Hagrid's brow furrowed. "Well, I don't want to let Dumbledore down, not after all he's done for me. I guess you're right. Go ahead and send that letter to yer brother, Ron. I guess it's for the best."
A few minutes later, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were walking across the courtyard back to the castle. "That was good Hermione," Harry said.
"What's up with you lately?" Ron asked. "You always seem so preoccupied."
"I've got a lot on my mind," Hermione answered vaguely.
"You think about schoolwork too much," Ron concluded aloud.
"Thank you, Ron," Hermione snapped. "If you hadn't told me that for the millionth time, I'd have never known."
"Can you two have one conversation without arguing?" Harry sighed.
"No!" Hermione and Ron said in unison.
-----
"Hermione," Harry put down his quill. He and Hermione were sitting at a table in the common room, a pile of books between them.
"Huh," Hermione said without looking up.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Hermione said automatically.
"That's not going to work anymore," Harry said. "The closer we get to the end of term, the worse you get. I can't honestly believe that you're this stressed about exams. There's something else. Why won't you tell me?"
"I don't want to…"
"Worry me; I know." Harry nodded. "But you're already worrying me. So you might as well just tell me now."
Hermione dropped her quill. "I just… I'm afraid of not being able to come back next year."
Harry gave her a puzzled look. "What? You can't possibly be worried about not passing exams to get into second year."
"I'm not… I'm worried that my parents won't let me come back."
"Why?" Harry asked shocked.
"My father, he doesn't think Hogwarts is good for me. He doesn't understand how happy I've been. He thinks I've just been slacking off, not taking things seriously because I'm away from home. He thinks it'd be better if I went to the local school." Hermione was beginning to tear up.
Harry was speechless for a moment.
"See, this is why I didn't tell you," Hermione said through a sob. "There's nothing you can say or do to help me. There's really nothing I can do except pass my exams and hope that convinces my father to let me stay."
"Well, you're right," Harry started slowly. "There really isn't anything I can do, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't tell me these things. You can't stress alone. You need other people to stress with you," he gave her a half grin.
"Don't you think you have enough to worry about, Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "It gives me something to think about besides exams." Harry leaned back in his chair. "Didn't you tell me that your family has some sort of motto: 'Grangers can do anything'?"
Hermione blushed, "Yeah it's our credo. I know, it's a little conceited but I grew up on that."
"Well, I've known you for a while now and I'm beginning to think it's true. You're the cleverest witch in our year Hermione and I've seen you pull off things Ron and I wouldn't even dream of. If anyone can convince your father to let you come back next year, it's you. I can't believe you'd just give up like this. It doesn't sound very 'Granger' at all."
"Well maybe I'm not a very good Granger," Hermione sighed.
Harry was about to rebut that when the clock on the wall chimed signaling that it was midnight. At that same moment, the portrait door swung open. Ron appeared as he threw off Harry's invisibility cloak.
"It bit me," were the first words out of his mouth. The baby dragon that Hagrid loved so much was already almost as big as the hut and showing its true nature. Ron's hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief now and from the looks of it, the bite would take several days to heal without proper medical treatment.
Hermione was about to suggest that he go to the hospital wing when there was a tap on the window. It was Hedwig with the much awaited response from Ron's older brother, Charlie. "Owls are so clever. Hedwig even knew that this letter was too secret to be delivered at morning mail," she thought as they rushed to let her in.
Charlie seemed more than willing to take the dragon so long as they could successfully transport the creature to him in a clandestine manner. He instructed them to bring the baby dragon to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday. They all decided that though it would be difficult, it was their best and only option. Ron folded the letter with his good hand and shoved it in his pocket.
"You should really get that looked at by Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said returning to their previous conversation.
"I can't, what will I do if she asks how I got this thing?" Ron said nervously.
"It could get infected," Hermione warned.
"I'll take my chances," Ron said as he headed for the stairs leading to his dormitory.
"He's so stubborn," Hermione muttered louder than she intended.
"Well look on the bright side, this will be one less thing to worry about. Come Saturday, Norbert will be gone. Snape hasn't shown any sign of getting closer to getting past Fluffy. Exams will be here soon and you'll be able to show your father just how good a witch you really are."
Hermione did feel like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. "Maybe you're right. I think I'll head to bed too."
"What? But I thought you still had a few hours of studying left in you." Harry grinned as she started towards her own dormitory. "You know maybe you could re-read the Standard Book of Spells Grades 1, 2, and 3, tonight."
"Shut it, Potter," Hermione called with a laugh as she started up the stairs.
-----
Hermione's brief moment of relaxation was shattered the next day as she walked out of the hospital wing. They had just been to visit Ron who had finally broken down and gone to see Madam Pomfrey and not a moment too soon. It seemed that Norbert had somehow poisoned him and if he hadn't been a wizard, he'd probably have died from the bite. But that wasn't the worst of it. Malfoy had come to taunt Ron about the dragon and in doing so had inadvertently left with a book that contained Charlie's reply to Ron. Now Malfoy knew everything. There was no telling what he would do.
'It's too late to change the plan now," Harry sighed. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it and we have got the invisibility cloak. Malfoy doesn't know about that."
"We're dead," Hermione muttered.
"You're being negative," Harry told her.
"Of course I'm being negative!" Hermione almost shouted in exasperation. "We're going to get caught. We're going to get expelled. I'm never going to be able to come back to Hogwarts. I might as well be dead."
"Now you're overreacting," Harry informed her.
"I'm not overeating. I'm right about this and you know it. Even with the invisibility cloak we don't stand a chance if Malfoy has the whole castle looking for us while we're trying to sneak a dragon around at midnight."
"We'll get through this. We've been in worse fixes and haven't gotten caught."
"No we haven't!" Hermione disagreed. "This is by far the worst thing we've tried to pull all year."
"And we'll get through it like all the others," he assured her.
"Don't you think you're pushing your luck?"
Harry shrugged. "Probably."
"Harry can I ask you something seriously?"
"What is it?"
"Why won't you even consider going to Dumbledore about this. I mean, you were really adamant about it. I've never seen you that way."
Harry sighed. "We both know Hagrid's breaking the law by harboring an illegal dragon. Even if Dumbledore goes easy on him there's no telling what the Ministry of Magic will do if they find out. I don't want Hagrid to get in that kind of trouble."
"I know Hagrid's your friend, but he can take care of himself. You shouldn't feel obligated to protect him. Not like this."
Harry shook his head. "Hagrid's more than just a friend. He was the first person in the wizarding world to befriend me. He made me feel accepted when I was afraid I wasn't going to fit in. I don't really have any family Hermione but Hagrid…" he trailed off.
Hermione nodded. "Okay, I understand." She let out another sight. "Let's just get this over with."
"If you don't want to go through with this whole thing, I'll understand."
"No. You're going to need my help now that Ron's in the hospital for a while and besides… I know you'd do it for me if I was harboring an illegal dragon." She smiled.
"Uh… yeah," Harry said not knowing for sure if she was joking or not.
"Saturday at midnight we have our last late night adventure." She made sure to emphasize the word last. "It'll be our greatest scheme."
"Yes and when we're old and grey; we can tell our grandchildren all about it."
Hermione tried to hide her blushing face as she wondered to herself what exactly Harry meant by "our grandchildren." Most likely he didn't mean that they'd have mutual grandchildren but it was a nice fleeting thought.
-----
Saturday evening didn't seem to come fast enough for Hermione, but the closer it came the more nervous she became. She just wanted the whole ordeal to be over with so she could have one crisis behind her for a change. She felt excited and nervous all at the same time. That evening, she waited until she was sure her two roommates were fast asleep before sneaking down to the common room to meet Harry. It was slightly past 11 when she arrived. Harry was already waiting for her.
"I didn't think everyone would be in bed so early," Harry said as he pulled out the invisibility cloak. "Guess we're just lucky tonight. Have you seen Neville?"
"Neville? He's not in your dorm?" Hermione asked as she stepped up beside Harry.
"Nope, I don't know where he is. I hope he didn't get locked out the tower again." He threw the cloak over their heads.
Hermione watched her body disappeared. "We can't worry about Neville now. Let's go."
They made their way slowly out of the portrait hole and down the corridor.
"We're cutting it kind of close aren't we?" Hermione whispered as they started down one flight of stairs. "Do you think we'll make it in time?"
"So far so good," Harry said.
They continued quickly to the main entrance. As they descended the last flight of stairs they heard a loud thud. The noise came so suddenly that Hermione instinctively grabbed Harry's hand. "What was that," she said.
"I think it's Peeves." Harry said as they heard a cackle.
She was glad Harry couldn't see her face. She was blushing as she let go of his hand.
They stood in the entrance hall and watched Peeves smack around a muggle tennis ball. Where he had gotten it from was anyone's guess. There was no way they could get around him so they just waited.
"Where did he come from anyway?" Harry whispered to Hermione as they stood by the stairs.
Hermione shrugged but realized Harry couldn't see her. "I don't know. Nothing in 'Hogwarts: A History' says anything about him."
"He's so annoying. Why doesn't Dumbledore get rid of him?"
"I suppose he thinks it's good for us to have a poltergeist around. We need to learn how to handle any situation. You have to admit, Peeves does present certain challenges we couldn't get anywhere else."
"True."
They stood and watched him for ten minutes. She was so close to Harry under the invisibility cloak she could hear him breathe. "I wonder what he's thinking about right now. He's probably trying to figure out how we're going to get Norbert up to the astronomy tower in less than 30 minutes. He's probably thinking about how we're going to avoid Filch and possibly Snape and Malfoy. And I'm standing here thinking: I wonder what Harry Potter is thinking. I'm wondering what I'm going to do if I can't come back to Hogwarts next year. I know I'd miss Harry so much. This year has been really great despite all the insanity. I've made some really good friends, I've learned a lot and I've gotten my priorities straight. I actually thought about making good friends before studies. That's got to count for something. Still it'd be nice if I didn't ramble as much. I mean I'm rambling right now and I'm not even talking."
Harry squeezed her arm. "Come on." Peeves was on his way to the dungeons and they could finally make it to the main entrance.
As they came closer to Hagrid's hut, they shed the invisibility cloak. Hagrid was already outside. He had Norbert in a large crate. It would definitely be cumbersome to carry. Hermione tried to perform a levitation charm, but something about the dragon prevented it from working. Even though it was just a baby, Norbert was still a powerfully magical creature and very few spells would work on the crate while he was in it. They'd have to carry him the old fashioned way.
As Hagrid said his final goodbyes, Harry started to cover the crate with the invisibility cloak. "You were right Hermione. The cloak can cover just about anything of reasonable size," He said as he watched the crate, Norbert and all, vanish. He stepped underneath it himself at the front of the crate and Hermione went to the rear. When they were sure that they were completely covered, they started off back towards the castle.
Hermione was already struggling under the weight of the crate. "How are we going to get this thing all the way up to the astronomy tower, Harry? I can barely hold him as it is. I wish he'd quit lashing about."
"I know a shortcut. It should help," Harry called as they neared the main entrance again. "Just follow my lead."
Unfortunately the shortcut didn't help much. It eliminated about three flights of stairs but it was still a good twenty minute walk through the castle. Fortunately they didn't run into Peeves, Filch, or any professors on their way. Hermione was beginning to wonder if Malfoy had actually bothered to look inside the book he had taken from Ron. Maybe they had lucked out again and he didn't even know about their plans.
Then just as they started down the corridor to the tower, they heard a noise up ahead. Hermione followed Harry as he led them against a wall and they watched two silhouetted people in the distance. It was Malfoy and Professor McGonagall. From what she could hear, McGonagall had caught Malfoy trying to sneak up to the astronomy tower. Malfoy was trying to tell her about Harry, Hermione, and the dragon but the story sounded so ridiculous that she wouldn't even listen to him.
Hermione almost snickered. It really did look like their luck would hold out. Now that Malfoy was caught they'd have no problems getting up to the tower and back again. They were home free. They almost bounded up the last flight of stairs to the top of the astronomy tower.
When Harry threw off the invisibility cloak, Hermione finally let out the snicker she had been holding in. "Ha! Malfoy's got detention, I could sing." She skipped around the top of the tower, glad to be able to breathe again. Being stuck under the invisibility cloak with a struggling dragon was not her idea of fun.
Harry gave her a quizzical look. "Don't."
"Oh come on Harry," Hermione said leaning on the ramparts. "We've won. We made it. I'd have thought you'd be a bit more excited."
"I'll just be glad when this is all over."
"So will I but right now I feel great," she spun around again. "I feel like all my worries have just disappeared. I mean, we're getting rid of Norbert. Snape hasn't tried anything since the quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Exams will be here soon and I plan to be top of our class." Hermione walked up to him and started poking him playfully in the shoulder. "Harry Potter you have a charmed life, you know that? Everything goes right for you. Ever since I've met you, my life has just been one amazing event after another."
Harry stayed her hand. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just try to live one day to the next. It's not my fault that weird and bizarre circumstances seem attracted to me."
"But you can't tell me you don't enjoy all this," Hermione pressed.
"I love being a wizard and I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than Hogwarts but trust me, my life isn't perfect. You know that."
Hermione nodded. "Being famous isn't all that it's cracked up to be."
"Not when you've got idiots like Malfoy watching you every move trying to make a fool of you."
"Don't worry about that stupid git; he's just jealous."
"Maybe if he could see things from my point of view, he'd realize there's nothing to be jealous of."
Hermione shook him playfully. "Of course he's got something to be jealous of, not everyone is lucky enough to have me for a friend."
Harry gave her a half grin. "Oh yes, whatever what I do without your constant nagging for me to study."
"Hey it's either that or marry me to get good grades," Hermione teased.
Harry laughed. "Ron would never stand for it."
"I'm sure he's just mad he didn't think of it first."
"Could be," Harry said vaguely.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" Hermione almost shrieked.
"Say look, I think I see them," Harry said pointing up.
"Wait a minute, you didn't answer my question," Hermione pressed, but Harry pretended he didn't know what she was talking about and soon four broomsticks were descending upon them and they had other things to worry about.
"Oy you Ron Weasley?" One of men asked Harry.
"Of course he's not, dragon-warts," another answered for Harry, "He ain't got red hair."
"Blimey, look at this," a third said, pointing at Harry's head. "You're… you're…."
"Harry Potter," the fourth finished for him.
"Cheery lot, aren't they," Harry grinned at Hermione.
"Not too terribly bright though," Hermione thought as Harry shook hands all around.
The tallest of them did the introductions. "I'm Sean; this is Peter, Stephan, and Lawrence."
"Who's the little missy," Peter asked.
"Hermione Granger," Hermione said shaking their hands as well. Then she noticed the harness that they were strapping to their brooms. She began to examine it, intrigued. "Oh this is interesting, I was wondering how you were going to transport the dragon. This is actually quite clever. Oh and you have a binding charm on this too. That'll definitely keep him from moving." She poked their brooms with her wand, "How did you do this, you made yourselves temporarily unplotable. That's amazing."
"Clever little missy, isn't she." Peter said as the four friends began to strap Norbert in. "Not too many first years can recognize embedded charms."
"Not too many first years are Hermione Granger," Harry told them.
Hermione beamed.
They had finished strapping the crate in and were now remounting their brooms. "Hate to run, but we've got a lot of sky to cover before daylight," Lawrence told them.
"Don't let Filch catch you on your way back to your dorms," Stephan warned.
"Keep an eye on this little missy," Peter said to Harry as they began to rise in the air. "She's got real spirit. You know what they say: behind ever good wizard, there's an even better witch."
"Who says that?" Sean scoffed. "Nobody says that."
"People say that!" Peter insisted.
"What people?" Lawrence asked.
"People!" Peter practically shouted.
"I think you've been hanging around those stupid American gits too much," Sean said.
They continued to argue like this as they started off through the night sky. Hermione and Harry laughed.
"Everywhere you go, you make new friends," Hermione said as they headed towards the trap door.
"Me?" Harry poked her, "What about you, 'little missy'? At least I have an excuse, I'm famous. You stand out without having a scar on your forehead."
They started down the spiral staircase feeling light and free for the first time in weeks. It was really finally over. "You know what Harry?" Hermione started. "About what Peter said…"
He wasn't listening. "Hermione do you get the feeling we forgot something?"
They hit the bottom of the stairwell and as they did, Hermione realized what he was talking about. "Harry we forgot the…"
But it was too late, before they knew it, Filch was upon them. "Well, well, well… we are in trouble," he said with a wide sadistic grin.
-----
Hermione couldn't move; she could barely breathe. The room she was sitting in seemed hazy to her. She was only vaguely aware of the other people. There was Harry of course. He too looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. There was Professor McGonagall; she was ranting and raving about how they were a disgrace to Gryffindor. And then there was Neville. They had found out why he had gone missing. He had been roaming the castle all night, trying to find Harry to warn him about Malfoy. Now he too was caught and facing the wrath of the deputy headmistress.
McGonagall had no idea what was going on and there was no way that Harry and Hermione could explain the true nature of the situation to her, so she drew her own conclusion. Obviously Harry had tried to con Malfoy into believing he had a dragon so Malfoy would end up out of bed looking for them. She was livid that so many Gryffindor students were breaking rules that night that she docked 150 points from the house and gave them all detention.
Hermione looked up, and saw Harry. He looked as if he was begging her to come up with some story that would satisfy McGonagall and ease their punishment but one look in the angry professor's eyes told Hermione that nothing she could come up with would be enough to get them out of this mess.
After assigning their punishment and promising that letters would be going to all of their parents, she left with orders for them to return to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione was still sitting numb.
"Hermione…" Harry shook her a little. "We should go."
"I don't believe this. It's true isn't it?" Neville was almost shouting in the corner. "You were just trying to trick Malfoy and you got me in trouble too. I don't believe this. I trusted you!"
"Neville, that's not true. It's just very complicated." Harry told him. He was shaking Hermione harder now, trying to get her to help him.
"Do I look stupid to you? Oh that's right, I forgot. To you I am stupid aren't I? Just stupid little Longbottom who can't stand a caldron the right way up!"
"Neville, we had no idea you were going to go out looking for Malfoy or us. We didn't want you to get involved."
"Well I am involved. Now we've lost 150 points from Gryffindor and it's all your fault! I'm going to be in so much trouble with my gram." He stormed out of the room.
Harry sighed. "He'll come around." He knelt down in front of Hermione's chair. "Hermione… are you in there," she still looked catatonic. "Hermione, snap out of it."
"Do you know what this means," she whispered.
"We'll be okay," Harry assured her. "We just…"
"It will not be okay!" She shouted. "I'm dead. When my parents find out…" She dissolved into tears. "They'll never let me come back. I'm finished here." She bolted out of her chair and ran out the room. She didn't want him to see her this way. She didn't stop running until she had bounded up the four flights of stairs to Gryffindor Tower. She gave the password, ran up to her dormitory, and threw herself in bed.