(A/N) A return to my humorous oneshots! And no, that title does not elude to any sexual stuff, the room is actually quite warm. Plus, my mom has all of my account information and she'd kill me if any of that was on here, and I'm rather fond of my life right now.
Happy reading!
Hot Rooms And Latin Dragons
The room was hot. The cooling charms placed on the wall were not terribly effective, as the sudden bursts of flame shot from the mouths of countless dragons rendered them almost useless. Still, Charlie thought that they were at least something. Today was a big day, and he'd put up extra cooling charms with Marcus to keep the wall-rooms a comfortable temperature, but even the powerful wards were still penetrated by the tongues of fire that the dragons within the colony shot forth.
Charlie was sitting in the 'office', waiting for Marcus to return and so he could give him the word to release the Ridgeback. Norberta was her name, and she'd been hatched by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, the grounds keeper at Hogwarts school. She was a fiesty dragonet, and caused quite a ruckus with the other young dragons, so she was brought into the big, almost stadium-like area with the adults. Only their big silver could keep her in check.
Speaking of that silver, they still had no clue what he was. He was clearly the leader, or king, of their colony, even though he'd only been introduced three years ago. It had been a few months after the Second Wizarding War when they'd found him. A huge platinum beast with the biggest wingspan of any dragon they'd caught. He didn't particularly like Marcus, who was Charlie's apprentice, but he seemed to trust Charlie. The silver was the largest of the dragons in their colony, so the colony had adopted him into their hierarchy and he'd been appointed leader. He was intelligent as well. Never in all Charlie's years as a dragon-tamer had he seen a sentient dragon, but their silver was. Brilliant, to say the least, he could use magic, and often helped them with their cooling charms and protective wards, but the most amazing thing was that he spoke. Of course, he spoke only in Latin, but he still spoke. Only Charlie so far had been able to get close to him, but even then he never made it far enough to touch the dragon. That was something the silver didn't let anyone do.
Now, as Charlie sat in his chair behind his desk, waiting for Marcus to come in, he wondered if the dragon was a dragon at all. It was possible for him to be a wizard under a curse, but was he? He'd shown no signs of wanting to communicate and thus be changed back, he only spoke when Charlie was there, and when he did he didn't seem in any hurry to do anything. In fact, the big silver wasn't a very active dragon at all. He didn't laze about, but he never flew. In the three years he'd been here, Charlie had never once seen him fly.
Sudden footsteps caused Charlie to jerk out of his thoughts and back to the present. The door to the 'office' was opened and Marcus stepped inside. He wasn't tall, only about five six, and he had dark hair that was cropped so close to his head it almost looked like he was bald if not for the coloring. He had a few burns, though not as many as Charlie, and looked excited as he threw the door open.
"Hey, Charlie." he greeted with a grin.
"Marcus," Charlie smiled back, standing up. "What's up? Any news on the Ridgeback?"
"Oh, right," Marcus nodded. "We've got her out in the arena with that big silver, he's calming her down. I should've asked before switching her to the arena, but she was getting quite out of hand, and we figured only the silver would be able to get her calmed."
"No, don't apologize, I was actually going to ask you to release her into the arena." Charlie replied, sitting back on the desk. "Any other news?"
"Yes," Marcus pulled out a piece of parchment and studied it for a moment. "The Golden Trio are here, your brother's brought Potter and Granger along with him."
"Well, that's great!" Charlie grinned. "Maybe Hermione'll be able to figure out what the silver says in Latin."
"Maybe so," Marcus looked hopeful. "Oh, and another thing. When d'you think the silver will mate? It's odd, he's never shown any interest in the females, except when he's with Norberta trying to calm her down."
"I don't know," Charlie said honestly. "Maybe he only mates with his own kind? And it's also strange, he's the biggest dragon we've got here, yet the females are usually larger than the males. Maybe he can't mate with our females?"
"Hm, maybe so." Marcus' brow furrowed. "It's a theory, we'll have to keep looking for females of his kind, I suppose. The dragon's gotta mate sometime."
"Yeah, you're right." Charlie nodded. "Come on, let's go meet the new arrivals."
Harry, Hermione and Ron all stepped away from the portkey and onto the ground of the dragon complex in Romania. The mountains surrounding the huge sandstone walls were majestic, but the real deal was the complex itself. It was a gigantic oval set partially into the ground inside the valley, with towering walls that stretched up to around half the height of the mountains, giving the dragons inside the building plenty of room to move about. There were other, smaller areas built against the main enclosure, but they were nowhere near the grand size of the main oval.
"Wow," Hermione gasped, pulling out her field guide. "This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen!"
"Hermione," Harry and Ron both groaned at the same time.
"Oh, shush." Hermione snapped, looking up. "Oh, Ron, there's your brother! And…is that Marcus Flint? The old Slytherin Quidditch Captain?"
"Well, I never!" Ron snorted. "What's he doing here?"
The three friends began approaching the two dragon-tamers and moving closer to the sandstone walls which were so high it was hard to see where they ended.
"Ron!" Charlie exclaimed, embracing his younger brother in a tight hug. "It's been forever, little brother! And Harry, and Hermione! How are you?"
He shook both of their hands vigorously.
"We're doing great," Harry smiled.
Flint walked up and nodded to them.
"Potter, Weasley, Granger." he said in turn. "Nice to see you all."
He was certainly different than when Harry saw him last. He'd gotten his teeth fixed and was, while not particularly good-looking, wasn't ugly either.
"Flint," Harry nodded back.
"Alright, now down to business!" Charlie's grin was wide and excited. "Hermione, do you speak Latin?"
"Er, yes?" Hermione blinked. "Why?"
"Perfect!" Charlie spun on his heel and motioned for them to follow. "I'll tell you on the way, let's go!"
"He seems…in good spirits." Harry commented.
"Ah yes," Flint laughed. "He's excited because he'll finally figure out our big silver today. Only dragon we have who speaks. Unfortunately for us, he only speaks Latin, that's why he asked Granger about Latin."
"Oh, interesting." Harry replied.
"I didn't know dragons were sentient," mused Hermione.
"We didn't either," Flint agreed. "Three years ago, after the War, we found this guy and he's the only dragon we've ever encountered that's been able to speak. He can also command magic, which isn't something normal dragons can do."
"That's impressive," Harry said.
"It is, and we've been trying to get him to breed with the females, but he's a whole new species and we've not been able to find a female of his kind for him." Flint added.
Once they got inside, Charlie fitted them up with a few flame-proof vests and other equipment, all the while explaining their predicament. Once suited up, they proceeded to walk onto a balcony about fifty feet off the ground and surrounded by wards to observe the dragons.
"There," Charlie pointed to a scuffle to their left. "That's our silver. He's the only one who can keep Norberta in check."
Harry looked and saw the two dragons facing off. One was dark umber with a very thin, whip-like build and a flattish snout. Her eyes were dark gold and flashed around as she was backed up into a corner by the older, much larger dragon. Her wings were larger in comparison to her body, but pinned against her sides as she carefully lowered her head in submission to the elder lizard. Her tail swept around and curled around her hind leg, her nose brushing the dirt.
The older dragon was huge. It was clear he was the largest dragon in the complex, as his body dwarfed that of Norberta. His snout was more aquiline, but not extremely birdlike. His wings were fanned out in a gesture of power to make him seem bigger, not that he needed it, and he was halfway raised on his hind legs. He was a muscular dragon, though not overly so, and his limbs were more human-esque than the other lizards. He had a horned ridge that lined his spine and down the length of his whiplash tail. At the end of his tail he had what looked like a scorpion barb, though the tip was much longer and more menacing. This barb was currently lowered, as he relaxed back onto all fours and nudged Norberta up with his snout. Two long, perfectly straight horns grew from the back of his skull, crowned with tiny white gemstones. His scales were a gorgeous shade of reflective platinum, bordering on the edge of gold. In the sunlight, the scales caught the beams and around the edge of the scales they would turn an almost white-gold color.
Norberta nuzzled him underneath his chin and dashed away to a group of other dragons who seemed around the same age as her. The silver shook himself and growled, before spotting Charlie and walking over. He was taller than the balcony, though not by much, as his head only came about twenty feet over it. He narrowed his molten silver eyes at the group, causing Flint to back away slowly.
"Hello, silver." Charlie greeted.
"Salve, hominum." the dragon intoned in a deep baritone.
"Hermione?" Charlie turned to Hermione. "Translation?"
"He says, 'Hello, human.'" she translated, turning back to the dragon, who was eyeing her with interest.
"Video autem aliam adduxistis enim homines, Charlie." the dragon looked at Charlie warily.
"'I see you have brought other humans, Charlie.'" Hermione translated.
"Yes, these are Harry Potter" Charlie touched Harry's arm. "My brother Ron" he touched Ron's shoulder. "And Hermione Granger, she's our translator. You already know Marcus, I presume?"
"Infeliciter, Perditio spatio in opinionem." the dragon snorted, sparks flickering around his nostrils.
"'Unfortunately. Waste of space in my opinion.' That's not nice!" Hermione glowered at the dragon.
"Parva humani, insultantem non sum vobis. Non est coluber defendere." the dragon turned its head to fix Hermione with its eye. "Nisi mate…est hoc tuum?"
"What?" Hermione was startled. "No, no not at all."
"Certe?" the dragon tilted its head, looking intrigued. "Verecundiam, tu multo melius quam alios homines isti."
"Are…are you…" Hermione was flustered. "Er, um, tu es amatorie blandri mecum?"
The dragon gave a snort and a burst of flame shot out from his nose. Was he laughing?
"Young pythonissam, ego sum draco. Tu pythonissum." the dragon replied. "Etiamsi me…amatorie blandri, ut scriblis, ut quod tibi fieri poterat a necessitudine opus?"
"Well, no." Hermione flushed. What was she talking about? "I suppose not."
"How can you use magic?" Charlie interrupted.
The dragon swung his head over to face the tamer.
"Coniectans: Non tibi?" the dragon responded.
"'Have you not guessed?'" Hermione translated.
"We were thinking you could be a wizard under a curse," Charlie shrugged.
"Amen amen dico tibi homo, non sum sub maledicto sunt." the dragon fanned his wings absently. "Sed bene dicitis: sum veneficus."
"'I assure you, human, I am under no curse.'" Hermione said. "'But you are right, I am a wizard.'"
"You are?" Charlie gasped.
"Ita humanum ego Draco dicitur." the dragon replied, amusement sparkling in his liquid silver eyes.
"Yes, we know you're a dragon." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"No. Vos operor non intellgo." the dragon growled, almost in exasperation.
"How do I not understand?" Hermione cried indignantly.
"Ego Draco!" the dragon snarled.
"That's not grammar!" Hermione pouted. "It's supposed to be 'ego sum draco', not 'ego draco'."
The dragon roared in frustrastion.
"I know," Harry nodded to him. "She's a bit annoying sometimes."
"Dicite mihi de illo," the dragon moved its mouth in such a way that Harry was sure it was smirking. "Et non est iustus questus est."
"How am I not getting it!?" Hermione shrieked, outraged.
"Im non dicens quod draco sum, ego dixit meum nomen est!" the dragon looked at Hermione expentantly.
"You're saying that you're name is 'Dragon'?" Hermione blinked in confusion.
"Cur hoc tam est difficile?" the dragon seemed to be asking himself. "Cultissima eu aetatis vocant, et hoc non ponit?"
"I don't get it!" Hermione snapped.
"Draco nomen meum!" the dragon growled.
"You already said that!" Hermione shouted back.
"Ita, sed hoc non videtur convenienter dici." the dragon retorted, annoyed.
"Because it doesn't make sense!" Hermione threw her hands in there air.
"Mulier dampnas!" the dragon snarled. "Latina nonem mihi est quia draco! Ego Draco!"
Hermione's eyes went wide.
"Oh," was all she said.
"What?" Charlie's eyes flashed between her and the dragon.
"Consurge, nuntio." the dragon said quietly, nudging Hermione, who had sat down, with his nose. "Insensus Animagus in me. Et ab Anglia exul erat a Ministerio."
"Exiled?" Hermione touched the scales on the dragon's snout. It nodded its head, careful not to throw Hermione off.
"Spiritus animalis erat draco quod hic surrexit est quam forma, quae qoud sit verum vertit." the dragon murmured.
"Changed to what?" Hermione asked.
"An luter." the dragon replied.
"What…?" Hermione gasped. "Mihi? Nonne id mutare, quod de me?"
"Quod quidem fecit." the dragon nodded slowly.
"Non autem vult quod amas me?" Hermione whispered.
"Non sit durum videtur credere, sed quod sic." the dragon replied.
"That's a twist," she snorted.
"It is, isn't it?" the dragon made that 'smirk' expression again.
"You can speak English?!" Charlie gasped.
"Yes," the dragon rolled his eyes. "Obviously."
That voice was familiar somehow…
"Who are you?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded agreeably.
"None of your business, Potter." the dragon snorted.
Then his head swung round to Hermione and he reared back, his head and neck coiling like a cobra ready to strike. And before they could cast more wards, the dragon lunged for Hermione.
"NO!" cried Ron and Harry at the same time.
But the dragon was gone. As soon as its head had come close to Hermione, its form had shifted. Now, a tall man stood before them, clad in silvery armor, though not heavy armor. They couldn't see his face, as it was obscured by Hermione's hair, and from the startled peep she made, they figured he had kissed her.
Hermione was going to dive out of the way as the dragon who had revealed himself to be her enemy coiled back to strike, but before she got the chance, he shot forward and suddenly hands were cupping her face and soft, warm lips were on her own.
"Did you think I would actually hurt you, little human?" his voice came, a whisper against her lips. "I'm hurt that you have so little trust in me, Hermione."
Hermione didn't answer, she simply leaned forward a little to recapture his lips with hers. She felt him smile into the kiss and his hands wound themselves into her curls.
Someone cleared their throat to her right. She jerked back, blushing furiously. She'd completely forgotten that Charlie, Harry, Ron and Marcus Flint were still there. She looked over at Charlie apologetically.
"Interesting," Charlie grinned at them both. "And you are…? You look familiar, where have I seen you before?"
"I was exiled from England by the Ministry for two years," Draco responded, not turning to reveal himself to Harry and the other two. "You probably saw me in the Daily Prophet."
"Ah, yes." Charlie nodded. "Two years though? Was this after the War?"
"Yes, I chose to stay here for another year since I doubted anyone would care if I came back." Draco nodded. "Plus, if I go, who will keep Norberta in check?"
"True," Charlie smiled.
"Who are you and why did you just kiss Hermione?" Ron interrupted.
Draco rolled his silver eyes and turned around, smirking.
"I'm Draco Malfoy and I kissed Hermione because I'm in love with her." he stated simply, enjoying the looks of shock on the faces of his peers. All except Hermione. She already knew.
"What?" Ron blinked. "Being a dragon must've addled your brain, Malfoy, 'cause there's no way you are in love with her."
Harry stared at the sight before him. Draco Malfoy, probably an unregistered Animagus, who could turn into a freaking dragon at will, had just kissed Hermione, his lifelong enemy, Hermione, square on the lips and declared his love for her.
Hell had definitely frozen over.
When Ron made his comment, Malfoy simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow and pulled his wand out.
"Expecto Patronum," he said in a clear voice. A burst of silver light erupted from his wand's tip, taking the shape of a silvery otter and swimming through the air to rest on Hermione's shoulder. "Ahem. You were saying?"
(A/N) And done! Hope you liked it! If you feel so inclined, do leave a review! :3
(POST-A/N) The latin stuff I just translated with Google, so it might not be correct. Sorry.
(POST-POST-A/N) Also, if anyone has any Dramione requests or prompts, please tell me and I'll see what I can whip up!
(TRANSLATIONS)
"Parva humani, insultantem non sum vobis. Non est coluber defendere. Nisi mate…est hoc tuum?" "Little human, I am not insulting you. You have no reason to defend this snake. Unless...he is your mate?"
"Certe? Verecundiam, tu multo melius quam alios homines isti." "Certainly? Shame, you're much better than these other humans."
"Are you flirting with me?"
"Young pythonissam, ego sum draco. Tu pythonissum. Etiamsi me…amatorie blandri, ut scriblis, ut quod tibi fieri poterat a necessitudine opus?" "Young witch, I am a dragon. You are a witch. Even if I was...'flirting', theoretically, can you see that relationship working out?"
"Ita humanum ego Draco dicitur." "I am a human, I am called Draco."
"No. Vos operor non intellgo." "No, you don't understand."
"Ego Draco!" "I am Draco!"
"Dicite mihi de illo, Et non est iustus questus est." "Tell me about it, she's just not getting it."
"Im non dicens quod draco sum, ego dixit meum nomen est!" "I'm not saying I am a dragon, I'm saying it's my name!"
Cur hoc tam est difficile? Cultissima eu aetatis vocant, et hoc non ponit?" "Why is this so difficult? Smartest witch of her age, and can't figure this out?"
"Draco nomen meum!" "My name is Draco!"
"Ita, sed hoc non videtur convenienter dici." "Yes, but didn't get it!"
"Mulier dampnas! Latina nonem mihi est quia draco! Ego Draco!" "Damn, woman! My name is dragon in latin! I'm Draco!"
"Consurge, nuntio. Insensus Animagus in me. Et ab Anglia exul erat a Ministerio." "Stand up, messenger. I'm an illegal Animagus. I was exiled from England by the Ministry."
"Spiritus animalis erat draco quod hic surrexit est quam forma, quae qoud sit verum vertit." "My patronus changed from a dragon, which was interesting."
"An luter." An otter."
"Mihi? Nonne id mutare, quod de me?" "Me? Did it change because of me?"
"Quod quidem fecit." "That it did."
"Non autem vult quod amas me?" "Does that mean you love me?"
"Non sit durum videtur credere, sed quod sic." "It's hard to believe, I know, but it's true."