Chapter Sixteen
"Busted"
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All characters are creations of Joanne K. Rowling, © 2007, to whom I am deeply indebted. I make no money from any of this. I'm just taking her world and tweaking it a bit. ALSO, I used some of the text from the Philosopher's Stone and that most definitely belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Note One: A big thanks to the_scribbler for being my awesomesauce beta/editor!
Note Two: For the sake of this chapter, I implemented curfew times. Here it is. For first to fourth years, curfew is 8pm weeknights and 10pm weekends. For fifth to seventh years, curfew is 9:30pm weeknights and 11pm weekends. Of course the one exception is students heading to Astronomy.
Note Three: This is one big mother of a chapter, and hopefully the rest of the chapters will be like this. I hope this makes up for the lack of chapters that'll be coming your way when I'm in school.
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26 July, 2016
Lindsay collapsed on the sofa with a groan, throwing her arm over her eyes. She could hear Karen opening the locker that was assigned to her when she first started the job (although she never used it) and slamming it shut. The two girls had successfully transferred all of the journals into their lockers during the morning, finishing just before Mrs. P came in. The rest of the day was hectic - the shop was unusually busy for a weekday and the people who came in to do inventory made things a huge mess. It took half an hour longer to close up the shop because of how messy it was, and then they had to convince Mrs. P that they were fine closing up themselves. Needless to say, Lindsay was exhausted by the time they were ready to begin reading.
"Your turn to read," Lindsay mumbled, feeling her friend plop down beside her. "My eyes hurt from all those barcodes."
"I don't have a problem with that," Karen said cheerfully. She was the lucky one who got to help customers instead of working on inventory. "It's been a while since I was this hooked on something."
"No doubt. It's a lot more interesting than what we're reading in school! I actually couldn't sleep last night for the longest time. I was thinking about what's already happened in the story. It's not predictable like most of the stuff in school that we're forced to read." Lindsay said.
Karen looked at her and thought about what her friend had said. "I think that it'll be neat to see if Fay ends up getting detention instead of Neville," she replied, flipping to where they had left off. "Or if she goes down to get the Philosopher's Stone with Harry, Ron, and Hermione."
"If she does, it's predictable. I mean…can't you see it already? Harry seemed to have a nose for getting into trouble and it's pretty obvious that Hermione wasn't always +thrilled with what Ron and Harry got up to - but she wanted their friendship so, off she goes…" Lindsay commented, pulling her arm down to look at Karen. "You know, the way they found out about Nicholas Flamel was much better than the whole chocolate frog thing. I mean….. seriously - Hermione is supposed to be this super genius girl and she forgot someone as important in wizarding history as Nicolas Flamel? I don't think so."
"J.K. Rowling is but a mere human," Karen sighed dramatically.
Who leaves questionable plot holes. I'm glad this H. J. kept Sally-Anne in - I always wondered what happened to her." Lindsay said, stretching. "Although I'm not sure how her character is going to grow. What do you think? Think she'll play nice?"
+ "Hell, no" Karen scoffed. "Hermione's not keeping her promise to include Sally-Anne at all. She may be a Hufflepuff but I'm pretty sure that girl will have some catty nastiness in her in years to come."
"Yeah… I wonder what she'll do."
"I have a feeling it'll be pretty bad. She already used guilt during the Christmas holidays to make Hermione see her way and she's eleven." Karen sighed. "Next topic. Snape… I love him."
Lindsay laughed and shook her head. "You've always had a crush on Snape though."
"True," she grinned. "Alan Rickman..."
Lindsay laughed harder and punched her friend in the arm. "Nasty, he's old enough to be your grandpa!"
"That wouldn't stop me," Karen grinned wickedly.
"Ew," Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Just read, you gold digger."
<><><><><>
23 April, 1992
"This book is property of Fay Dunbar."
"You've got to be kidding me," Ron groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation.
"How'd this happen?" Harry asked.
"We must have gotten our books mixed up after Fay blew them off the table," Hermione moaned.
"It shouldn't matter too much, should it?" Ron asked, glancing anxiously towards Hagrid's hut. "The note wasn't descriptive enough for anyone to figure out."
"Fay's observant," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "I know she's already noticed something's up."
"And if she finds that note it'll just confirm her suspicions," Hermione nodded. She shuddered, thinking of how much Fay had bothered her when Hermione was set on stopping Harry and Ron from getting into trouble back at the beginning of the year. "She can be a bit of a nag when she knows you're up to no good."
"Gee, I wonder how that feels," Ron said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione flushed, glaring at Ron.
"We need to find Fay and switch books," Harry interrupted, glaring at both of them and stopping the argument before it began.
"But - the dragon…" Ron protested weakly.
"I'll go get the book and you two go see Hagrid," Hermione sighed, putting the textbook back into her bag. "If this was any normal day, you two wouldn't have come with me anyway."
"That's kind of harsh," Harry winced.
"But it's true," she pointed out. "Besides, Fay always goes back to the dorm during lunch to put away her books and grab the ones we need for the afternoon. I'll go find her and get the book back."
"What if she's already read the note?" Ron asked.
"I… don't know," Hermione shook her head, readjusting the strap of her bag. "I'll think of something if it happens. Now go, and don't tell Hagrid that Fay has the note. I'll either meet you at Hagrid's or in the Great Hall. Oh - and don't think you can skip Defence against the Dark Arts, either."
"Yes, mum," Ron rolled his eyes.
"Come on," Harry said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards Hagrid's hut.
Hermione sighed and turned back towards the castle, speed walking past the Great Hall and up the stairs. Fay emerged from behind the portrait of the Fat Lady just as Hermione arrived on the seventh floor. "Hey, Hermione," she greeted, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"I think we got our textbooks mixed up in Charms." Hermione squeaked out. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to remain calm. "I ended up with yours."
"Are you alright?" Fay asked, glancing curiously at Hermione.
"Fine," Hermione nodded, extremely grateful that her voice didn't crack again.
Fay cast one more curious look at Hermione before turning to the Fat Lady, giving the password. Hermione mentally scolded herself. She had to stay calm and act normal, especially around Fay. The brunette was already suspicious of Hermione as it was and with how she had just acted, she was sure that it didn't help her cause.
Once up in their dorm, Fay went to her trunk and opened it. Hermione grabbed Fay's textbook from her bag and handed it to her, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. She had to wonder if Fay was able to hear her heart; she wouldn't be surprised if she could.
Fay put her textbook back into her trunk and picked up Hermione's. Just as she was handing it to Hermione, a dazed expression went across her face. She paused, blinked, and then snapped the book back into her chest. "I'll give you the book back," she said, her expression now one of determination, "on one condition."
Hermione inwardly groaned, dread seeping through her. She had a feeling she knew what the condition would be. "Yes?" she asked anyway.
"You tell me what you, Harry, and Ron have been up to lately."
Hermione stared at Fay, feeling caught off guard. She was positive that Fay had seen the note Hagrid had written and wanted to know what it meant. Relief swept through her as she realized that her friend hadn't opened up the book or read the note. However, dread overpowered the relief when what Fay had demanded set in.
"I'm waiting," she snipped.
"What makes you think we're up to something?" Hermione asked, trying to stall for time. Her mind was racing with possible excuses she could use. Unfortunately, she knew Fay would see through all of them.
"I'm not an idiot, Hermione," Fay retorted. "The others may not have realized that you lot have been up to something, but I have."
Hermione huffed and glared at Fay; she couldn't think of a single excuse that her friend would accept. "I can't tell you," she finally muttered.
"Can't tell me?" she echoed. "Why not? I'm your friend, aren't I?"
"Of course you are."
"Then why can't you tell me?" Fay demanded. "Friends trust each other!"
"But I do trust you!" Hermione protested. "Please, Fay. Just trust me on this. If it was something simple, I would tell you. But it's not. It's dangerous and -"
"It's something illegal, isn't it?" Fay asked quietly.
Hermione snapped her mouth shut, realizing the little bit she had spilled was enough for Fay. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea what they were arguing over. Was Fay demanding to know about the dragon egg hatching or about Fluffy, the Philosopher's Stone, and what they knew about Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell? Hermione knew Fay had begun to wonder what they were up to long before they saw Hagrid in the library. She sighed, this argument just got a lot more complicated.
Fay decided what way the conversation was going to go as she exhaled loudly, her nostrils flaring a tiny bit. She pulled Hermione's textbook away from her chest and grasped the cover, opening it. Hermione watched with bated breath as Fay reached for the note and picked it up, reading it.
"What's hatching?" she asked, drawing her eyes away from the note to stare at Hermione.
"I can't tell you," Hermione said again.
"Hermione," Fay warned, her voice low, "what's hatching?"
"Fay," Hermione pleaded. She could feel her defences start to weaken and knew if she wasn't careful, she'd tell Fay about the dragon, "I can't tell you! Please, understand this could get someone into serious trouble if they were found out!"
"So I should go to a teacher then?" Fay threatened.
"What?" she cried. "No!"
"Then tell me!" Fay shouted. She tossed the book onto her bed and grabbed Hermione, pulling her into the bathroom. Grasping her by her shoulders, Fay spun her around so that she was looking at herself in the mirror. "Look at what this secret is doing to you!"
Hermione looked at her reflection in the mirror, really looked at it. Her brown hair was as bushy and frizzy as it always was, curling just below her shoulders and sticking out in random places from her run up to Gryffindor Tower. As she looked closer, Hermione saw the huge bags that were underneath her eyes. They were so dark they almost looked like bruises. She looked paler than usual as well, which in turn made her two front teeth (which were quite a bit larger than they should be) stand out even more. Hermione winced.
"Oh dearie," the mirror tutted, "you need to go out and have some fun. Relieve some stress!"
Hermione started, surprised at the mirror. She had heard from Lavender and Shae that the mirror commented on their appearances but, since Hermione had no need to really use a mirror, she never had the experience.
"Let me help you," Fay said, dropping her arms and staring at Hermione in the mirror. "I promise not to tell a soul about what it is you three are hiding. I'll even owl my brother to see if he can tell me how to do an Unbreakable Vow if it helps."
"Fay, you can't tell anyone," Hermione stressed. "Not Shae. Not Lavender. Not Seamus. Nobody."
"I promise," Fay vowed.
Hermione quickly went back to the bed and grabbed the note, stuffing it into her pocket. She rushed back into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it. She couldn't believe she what she was about to do, and hoped that Harry, Ron, and especially Hagrid wouldn't be too angry with her for it.
"The note is from Hagrid," she whispered. She decided that Fay was only going to know about the dragon egg. It was much too dangerous for her to know about the Philosopher's Stone and she'd have to talk to Harry and Ron about letting Fay in on the secret before doing anything.
"The groundskeeper?" Fay asked.
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "About a month ago we noticed him sneaking around the library in the dragon section and he told us to come visit him later on. So we did and we found out that he had won a dragon egg at a pub the previous night."
"A dragon egg?" Fay gasped. "So the note means…"
"That the egg is hatching," Hermione finished. "Harry received the note at breakfast this morning."
"So that's why they were in such a hurry," Fay muttered. "When Harry got his letter he shoved it at Ron and they both had a little fit and ran out of the Great Hall."
"Boys," Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes. "They were dead set on skiving off Charms to go see Hagrid - well Ron was. He wasn't too happy when Harry saw things the way I did."
"This is dangerous, Hermione. Dragons grow fast - really fast. And Hagrid's hut is small and made of wood. It'll only be a matter of time before it's burnt to the ground."
"I know," Hermione nodded. "I haven't talked about this to Harry and Ron yet, but I'm positive we'll be trying to convince Hagrid to let the dragon go."
"It shouldn't be that hard, should it?"
"Are you kidding?" Hermione gave an unladylike snort. "Hagrid is already attached to it. It'll be very difficult."
"Are Harry and Ron at Hagrid's now?" Fay asked.
"Yes," Hermione said, checking her watch. They still had some time before they had to be at Defence against the Dark Arts. "How about we go bring them some lunch? That way they can know that you know."
"Is it alright for me to know?" Fay asked. She unlocked the bathroom door and went out, grabbing her bag. Hermione put her Charms textbook into her own trunk, grabbing her books she'd need for the afternoon.
"Let's find out, shall we?" Hermione said.
The two girls left their dorm and made their way down to the Great Hall. Hermione felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, and some of the stress she felt earlier vanished. She just hoped that Harry and Ron weren't too angry at her for telling Fay. She had no other option and knew that Fay could be trusted.
"Who walks around with a dragon egg in their pocket?" Fay burst out suddenly as they neared the Entrance Hall.
"I don't know," Hermione shrugged. "Hagrid said he got it in a pub and Daddy told me once that most of the people who go to one are shady."
"Well it's strange, that's for sure."
"We're going to have our work cut out for us," Hermione groaned. "It'll take a lot to convince Hagrid to give the dragon up."
"How are we going to do that?" Fay asked.
"I haven't the slightest idea," Hermione shook her head. "I think that if anyone will be able to get through to Hagrid it'll be Harry. They're close and I know Harry's word means a lot to Hagrid - ow!"
Hermione flinched as Fay suddenly slapped her arm, hard. She glared at the brunette, but she was too busy staring wide eyed in front of her. Rubbing her arm, Hermione looked and froze. Malfoy was halfway up the staircase they were on, staring at both of them with wide eyes. A small grin started to form on his pale face.
"What are you staring at, Malfoy?" Fay snapped.
Malfoy's grin grew into a full-blown smirk as he brushed past the two girls, continuing up onto the second floor.
"Oh Lord," Hermione breathed, her stomach tensing. How much had Malfoy heard? "This is bad."
"Very bad," Fay agreed. "I think he heard about the dragon."
Both Hermione and Fay agreed that it wasn't the smartest idea to go visit Hagrid afterwards. They both went into the Great Hall instead, sitting as close to the doors as they possibly could and began to eat. Hermione didn't really have an appetite; she kept seeing that awful smirk Malfoy had on his face over and over again in her mind.
Hermione ended up replaying what had happened in her mind multiple times and by the end of lunch was positive that Malfoy had heard what they had said about the dragon. Even if he hadn't heard the entire conversation, she knew that if it involved Harry even a little bit, Malfoy would be chomping at the bit to get him into trouble. By the time she and Fay had to leave for Defence against the Dark Arts, Hermione was nearly having a panic attack.
"Just calm down," Fay whispered to her, making sure no one around them was listening. She led Hermione to the back of the classroom (something that Hermione would've protested if she hadn't been panicking) and sat her down. "Maybe Malfoy didn't hear anything."
"Why would he act like that, then?" Hermione asked.
"To get a rise out of us?" Fay suggested. "Either way, we can't do anything about it now. We'll just have to trust that Malfoy didn't hear anything and be extremely careful from now on."
"You're right," Hermione breathed. "There's nothing we can do about it now."
"Now we just have to work even harder to convince Hagrid to let it go," Fay stated.
Harry and Ron ran through the doors just as the bell rang, looking flushed. Hermione could see their eyes sweep over the classroom, looking for her. Harry gave her a curious look when he saw her with Fay at the back of the classroom. He couldn't do anything about it though; the only open seats were in the middle of the classroom.
"T-t-take your s-seats," Professor Quirrell stuttered. Harry and Ron sat down and pulled out their things. Hermione focused on the stuttering man as he began the lesson, noticing that he was beginning to look very haggard and worn out. She frowned, wondering if Professor Snape did anything more to the poor professor.
As soon as the lesson was over, Hermione and Fay packed their things up in record time. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Hermione raced towards Harry and Ron. "We have to talk," she said, grabbing Harry's arm. Fay was right behind her, ushering Ron out of the classroom.
"Hermione!" Harry gently tugged his arm from her grip. "What's going on?"
"I'll tell you later," she replied. The hall was filled with students and she knew that they wouldn't be able to talk there. She led them to the only place she knew would be safe - the library.
"Will you tell us what's going on?" Harry asked once Hermione stopped. She had led them to a table in the back of the library that was hardly ever used.
"I know," Fay said immediately, looking between Harry and Ron.
"You know…" Ron trailed off, looking horrified. "Hermione!"
"Shh!" Hermione hissed. The last thing they needed was Madam Pince interrupting them. "I had to tell her, there was no other choice."
"You could've just said it was nothing," he suggested.
"Do you really think I'd just accept that?" Fay asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Has the dragon hatched?" Hermione asked Harry.
"It hatched just before Defence against the Dark Arts," Harry replied. "Hagrid's calling it Norbert."
"Oh you weren't kidding Hermione," Fay groaned. "This will be difficult."
"We have bigger problems now," Hermione said, waving her hand dismissively. "I think Malfoy may have overheard us talking about the dragon."
"What?" Harry and Ron cried. Hermione and Fay shushed them.
"Either way we have to get Hagrid to let the dragon go as soon as possible," Hermione said.
"You better not tell anyone," Ron warned Fay, giving her a look.
"I won't," Fay replied haughtily.
The four Gryffindors hurried out of the library soon after, all of them wanting to get started on convincing Hagrid to let go of the dragon. Every so often Fay would pause and look around, much to the annoyance of Ron.
"What are you doing?" he asked when she stopped just outside of the courtyard. "You're wasting time!"
"I'm making sure Malfoy isn't around," she hissed back. "Even if he didn't hear about the you- know-what, do you really think he'd just leave it alone?"
"No," he agreed reluctantly. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued walking to the hut with Harry. It seemed Ron liked to argue with everyone.
Hagrid opened his window when they approached instead of letting them in, much to Hermione's surprise. "Don' want ter overwhelm the little guy," he explained cheerfully. His eyes widened once they hit Fay.
"Don't worry, Hagrid," Hermione reassured quickly. "It's okay that she knows, she won't tell anyone."
Hagrid bristled for a moment. "Fine," he said shortly, "no more of yer friends findin' out."
"I'm sorry, Hagrid," Hermione whispered.
"`S'ok," he sighed. "Come back tomorrow. I'm jus' a little overwhelmed meself. Been a big day."
"It's true," Ron whispered once Hagrid had shut and locked the window. "He started crying and blubbering when it hatched."
The only lesson they had the next day was Double Potions. Hermione entered the dungeon with mixed emotions. On one hand, it was a short day and that gave her, Harry, Ron, and Fay some extra time to convince Hagrid that Norbert should be let go. But on the other hand, they had to deal with Malfoy. She was still convinced that Malfoy had heard about the dragon.
Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Fay sat down at their table together, all of them quite aware of Malfoy's gaze on them. Much to Hermione's dismay, Malfoy and his goons picked the table right next to hers, making it impossible for them to talk at all. She tried to focus on what Professor Snape was teaching them but the smirks and soft chuckles she could hear coming from Malfoy's table was proving to be too much of a distraction.
As soon as the bell rang Shae came up to their table, insisting that Hermione and Fay go with her to the library to help her with homework. "Sorry, Shae," Hermione said, smiling apologetically, "there's something we have to do."
"But I need help with Herbology!" Shae whined. She latched onto Fay's arm. "You'll help me, right?"
Fay looked helplessly at her friends, about to protest. Hermione noticed that Malfoy had stopped moving from his table and went still, obviously trying to listen in on their conversation. She kicked Fay from under the table. "I'll help," Fay agreed, glancing at the Slytherin warily.
Fay was dragged out of the dungeon by Shae, leaving the trio alone. Hermione sighed, shoving her things into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. They hurried out of the dungeon as fast as they could, Hermione looking over her shoulder to make sure that Malfoy wasn't following them.
"Should we go straight to Hagrid's?" Harry asked.
"I think so," Ron said immediately. He and Harry hurried out of the Entrance Hall, Hermione having to run to keep up with them.
Hagrid was at the door before Harry could even knock. He ushered them in, closing and latching the door behind them. "Where's yer friend?" he asked.
"Fay had to help Shae with homework," Hermione explained, her eyes immediately going to the kitchen table. Scorch marks littered the surface as an ugly, black… thing sat in the middle of the table. The pictures of dragons Hermione had seen in books looked nothing like what was sprawled out in front of her and she had to admit she was a tad disappointed.
"Isn' he beautiful?" Hagrid asked her.
"He's… something," Hermione said slowly, eyeing the dragon. Ron snorted.
"He's already grown, Hagrid," Harry stated, looking worried.
"Where do you plan to keep him?" Hermione asked, inching closer to Norbert. He sneezed, sparks flying out of his nostrils and making her leap back immediately.
"With me, `f course," Hagrid replied, sounding insulted that Hermione would even suggest Norbert be anywhere else.
A knock on the door made the four of them jump. Hagrid paled instantly as he ushered Harry and Ron to stand over where Hermione was. He quickly looked around the hut, kicking the empty bottles of brandy out of the way and opened the door a sliver of the way. A second later he opened it fully and Fay burst in.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked as Hagrid shut and locked the door behind her. "I thought you were helping Shae."
"Neville showed up and he's quite good at Herbology, you know. I snuck off while he was helping her," she replied, her eyes instantly going to the scorched table. "That's, er, Norbert?"
Hagrid beamed at Fay as reached out to stroke Norbert's head. The dragon ducked and snapped at his fingers, his tiny fangs slicing his index finger. Fay turned a sickly green as droplets of blood appeared and put her head into her hands, groaning, and turning away. "I can't watch this."
"He's jus' playin'," Hagrid reassured her, grabbing a dish towel and wrapping it around his finger.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron exchanged sceptical looks as Hagrid busied himself with grabbing a bowl of water. Hermione could see other little scars and cuts that were obviously new on his hands, and he even had a little gash on his forehead. She felt a little awkward; Hagrid seemed oblivious to the four of them in the hut as he cleaned his cut merrily, cooing at Norbert that he didn't know his own strength.
"He's gone mental," Ron whispered.
Harry nodded. He suddenly inhaled deeply and hit both Hermione and Ron. "Who's that?" he hissed.
They all turned to the window, Hermione's heart stopping when she saw beady little eyes peering through the gap of the curtains. They disappeared seconds later and Harry rushed to the door, yanking it open and looking outside. "It's Malfoy," he growled. "He saw the dragon."
<><><><><>
There was something about the smirk Malfoy had on his face the entire next week that made Hermione extremely nervous. She had expected Hagrid to be exposed as soon as they returned to the castle but, to her surprise, no news came that the groundskeeper had been sacked for harbouring an illegal dragon. Still, they all knew that with Malfoy knowing about the dragon, it was only a matter of time before he started telling people of what he saw. With that thought in mind, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Fay spent as much time as they possibly could down at Hagrid's, trying different ways to convince him to let Norbert go.
"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."
"I can't!" Hagrid protested. "He's too little, he'd die."
Hermione and Fay glanced at each other, both of their eyebrows raised. The `little' dragon had grown about four times its length since he hatched the previous week and now had smoke furling out of his nostrils constantly. He had been taking up so much of Hagrid's time that he hadn't been able to tend to all of his grounds keeping duties and was falling behind. So the four Gryffindors had begun to help out with Norbert, taking turns in shifts of twos to help feed him and keep him occupied. Norbert had already set fire to the hem of Hermione's robes, which were now stuffed at the bottom of her trunk, ready to be thrown out.
"Norbert knows his name now," Hagrid announced, leaning toward where the dragon was hunched on the floor. "Watch! Norbert! Come to mummy, Norbert!"
"He's lost his marbles," Ron whispered, watching as the dragon slowly crept an inch closer to Hagrid.
"This is ridiculous," Hermione scoffed. "Hagrid you have to get rid of Norbert. You can't keep him here. He'll outgrow the hut in a month, tops."
"And Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any time," Harry pointed out.
Hagrid's lower lip trembled and he bit it. "I know," he conceded. "I know I can' keep him forever, but I jus' can' dump him…"
Harry sat up straight, looking at Ron with wide eyes, "Charlie."
"No," Ron said slowly, staring at Harry, "I'm Ron. You've lost it, too."
"Didn't you say you had a brother named Charlie?" Fay asked, sitting up in her chair.
"That's what I meant," Harry insisted. "Charlie's in Romania studying dragons isn't he? We could send Norbert to Charlie! Charlie can take care of him until he's able to go back into the wild!"
"That's brilliant!" Fay grinned. "How about it, Hagrid?"
It took a little under an hour for Hagrid to agree to let them send an owl to Charlie. The four left the hut at the end of the night with a bounce in their step - one of their major problems was about to be solved and they were one step closer back to normality.
The rest of the week dragged on. Ron had sent the letter to Charlie as soon as they left Hagrid's and now they were all anxiously waiting for a reply. On Wednesday night, Hermione and Fay were sitting up in the common room, revising for the upcoming exams and waiting until they had to leave for Astronomy. Harry and Ron were at Hagrid's hut helping with Norbert and their curfew had just passed.
"What's taking them so long?" Hermione fretted, biting her lip and glancing towards the portrait hole.
"They didn't take the Invisibility cloak either, did they?" Fay whispered. Hermione shook her head.
After a few days of helping Hagrid out, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Fay realized they weren't able to do what they had to do while their curfew was still in place. Harry took charge and pulled Fay off to the side, showing her the Invisibility cloak after he made her swear not to mention it to anyone. They usually took the cloak with them when they went to Hagrid's, but since they had Astronomy that night, the two boys left early and told Hermione and Fay they would be back before curfew.
"They'll be caught and given detention if they don't hurry up," Hermione muttered.
The portrait hole burst open and Harry and Ron scrambled into the common room, Ron looking extremely pale and clammy. They ignored Fred and George's jabs about being out after curfew and hurried to the sofa where Hermione and Fay were.
"It bit me!" Ron said shrilly, pulling his hand out from his pocket and showing it wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week! That animal is the most horrid thing I've ever met!"
"It what?" Hermione gasped. Fay turned green focused on Ron's face.
"It bit Ron while he was trying to feed it," Harry said, ushering Ron to sit on the sofa. Fay hurriedly moved her textbooks out of the way so he could fit. "Then Hagrid told him off for startling it."
"Hey, Harry!" Seamus called from across the common room. They all looked up to see Seamus pointing at the window. "Isn't that your owl?"
"Hedwig!" Harry hurried over to the window and let the owl in. He quickly untied the letter from her leg and she nipped his finger affectionately before taking off out the window.
Harry unrolled the letter for Ron as he made his way back to the group and handed it to him. Hermione, Harry, and Fay watched anxiously as Ron read, a huge grin forming on his face. "Charlie's sending his friends this Saturday!" he said, keeping his voice low. "We're to bring Norbert to the Astronomy tower at midnight so they can take him!"
"We've got the Invisibility cloak," Harry said, a smile on his face as well. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloak can fit two of us underneath plus Norbert."
Hermione agreed, smiling at the thought of having a Norbert-free life.
With a few hours to go until Astronomy, the Gryffindors pulled their books out and began to work on homework and revising. Every once and a while Hermione would glance up at Ron, who was just sitting there, and frown. He was getting noticeably paler as the evening went on and she could see the sweat begin to form on his brow. "Are you alright?" she asked, starting to get worried.
"I'm not feeling too great," Ron admitted. "I think I might just turn in."
"What about Astronomy?" Fay asked.
"It's not like I can write with my hand all bloodied up like this," Ron said, rolling his eyes. He placed his letter from Charlie into one of his textbooks and got up, bidding them a good night as he went to his dorm.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Harry reassured. He sounded confident but Hermione could tell that he was slightly worried as well. "I think Ron just needs to sleep it off."
Ron didn't look much better the next morning. In fact, it looked like he was doing worse. His hand had swollen to twice the size of a normal hand. Hermione immediately told him to go to the Hospital Wing but he shot that down, saying that he didn't know if it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey. What would happen if she was able to recognize the dragon bite?
No matter how much Hermione and Fay pressed him to go to the Hospital Wing, Ron stubbornly refused, determined to hold out. By lunch time, however, Ron's hand had turned a nasty shade of green.
"You're going to the Hospital Wing," Hermione commanded. Ron put up no protest and, in the end, Fay helped him get to Madam Pomfrey. After lessons were done for the day, Hermione, Harry, and Fay rushed up to the Hospital Wing to see how he was doing. When they arrived, Ron was in a state of panic.
"It's not just my hand," he whispered frantically, "although it feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me." Hermione bit her lip to keep herself from saying of course she wouldn't believe Ron's excuse, there were no dogs at Hogwarts except for Fang. "I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."
"It's all right," Harry said quickly, trying to calm the ginger down.
"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," Hermione said soothingly. Instead of calming Ron down like she had intended, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat, his eyes widening.
"Oh no!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no - oh no… I've just remembered. Charlie's letter was in the book that Malfoy took - he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."
"What is with you lot and keeping things in books?" Fay asked. "You should've learned when -"
Fay was cut off when Madam Pomfrey came bustling over to where they were, demanding that they leave so Ron could get some sleep. She handed Ron a potion and then ushered Hermione, Harry, and Fay out of the Hospital Wing, snapping the door shut behind them.
"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry said as he, Hermione, and Fay walked back to the common room. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert."
"Plus we have the cloak, and Malfoy doesn't know about that," Fay pointed out.
The next two days couldn't go by fast enough for any of them. Ron was kept in the Hospital Wing and they were only allowed to visit with him to drop off his homework before Madam Pomfrey would kick them out.
Finally it was time for them to go pick up Norbert. It was decided that Hermione and Harry would be the ones to deliver the dragon, a decision that Fay didn't mind at all. She told them she felt bad for neglecting Shae while they were helping Norbert and would be spending the evening with her. It worked out for Hermione and Harry, who were hiding underneath the cloak in the common room, waiting for Fay to return. Once the portrait hole opened up, they snuck past Fay and were on their way.
The halls were empty as they walked down to Hagrid's, only being held up in the Entrance Hall by Peeves playing tennis with the wall right by the doors. He eventually got bored with the game and left, finally allowing Hermione and Harry to continue on their way. Hagrid was waiting for them outside, teary eyed. At his feet was a large crate that held Norbert.
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy ready for the trip," he sniffed, wiping his nose on his moleskin coat. "And a teddy bear in case he gets lonely."
They only had less than an hour to get to the Astronomy tower. Harry quickly covered Hagrid with the Invisibility cloak and he and Hermione stepped under it. As they disappeared, Hagrid gave a loud sob that he tried to muffle. "Bye-bye, Norbert!" he sobbed. "Mummy will never forget you!"
Hermione would've felt bad for Hagrid if she hadn't hated Norbert as much as she did.
The crate was a lot heavier than Hermione had expected and she found herself huffing and perspiring as they made their way up to the tallest tower. Just as they hit the corridor a sudden movement made both of them almost drop the crate. They froze, Hermione praying that Norbert would stay quiet as two figures struggling with each other came into view.
A lamp flared and Professor McGonagall, in a dressing-gown and hairnet, had Malfoy by the air.
"Detention!" she shrieked. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you!"
"You don't understand, Professor! Harry Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!"
"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies," Professor McGonagall tugged on Malfoy's ear, dragging him down the corridor. Her shrill voice could be heard echoing off the walls as they disappeared, "Professor Snape will be hearing of this!"
Hermione and Harry snapped out of their stupor and hurried up the tower. They threw off the cloak and put Norbert down. Hermione felt so giddy at the sight of Malfoy getting in trouble that she started to spin and jump around.
"Malfoy got detention!" she giggled, spinning. "Malfoy got detention! Teach him to stick his nose into other people's business! I could sing!"
"Don't," Harry advised, laughing.
Hermione laughed and plopped down on the ground, loving the cool air on her face. About ten minutes later four broomsticks swooped down from out of the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a friendly group, smiling and joking with Hermione and Harry as they set up an apparatus between the four broomsticks. Soon Norbert was secured between the four brooms and they lifted up off the tower.
Hermione and Harry watched until Charlie's friends were swallowed by the darkness, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she realized that Norbert was gone.
"Let's go," Harry said, grinning. "I'm sure Fay's waiting for us to return."
Hermione agreed and they slipped down the stairs of the tower, grins on both of their faces.
"Well, well, well," a cold voice from whispered from the shadows. Hermione jumped and spun around as Filch slinked into the moonlight. "We are in trouble."
Hermione's heart dropped her eyes wide as she realized that they had left the Invisibility cloak up on the top of the tower.
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End Note: I hope this chapter was worth it! I don't know when the next chapter will be written, but it'll be up sometime… soonish?
Please read and review, it keeps me motivated in my oh-so-busy schedule.
Kelci
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