This is for HeWhoIsJohn who sent me a PM with some encouraging blackmail to continue writing. This chapter is regrettably shorter than I'd like but it is a bit of a filler chapter and starting after this chapter the plot thickens, and also deviates much more than it has been. Tonight I'll be attempting to smash out a couple more chapters of this one so hopefully there will be some more updates in the next couple weeks.

Thanks to all reading this fic and those who left a review. Let me assure you that even though the updates are slow I will keep working on it, I don't abandon fics. Anyway you've all been waiting patiently for the next update; I won't keep you any longer...

CHAPTER SIX

A Logistical Nightmare

"Quirrel knows how to get past fluffy then," Ron said as the two boys made their way to the infirmary.

"I still don't think its Quirrel, but you think Snape gave Hagrid the dragon egg?" Harry asked.

"Quirrel gave Hagrid the Dragon egg." Ron corrected with a frown. "What I don't understand is why they think a bunch of obstacles is going to stop anyone."

"Are dragons poisonous?" Harry asked, Ron looked at his best mate's hand, it had swollen to twice its normal size and was turning a rather disturbing shade of green.

"That one is," Ron said, again "And 'e's only a baby," Ron added in a very good impression of Hagrid. "I think I might have to write a letter to my Charlie." Ron admitted, then noticed his slip. "I mean my brother Charlie." Ron corrected quietly, he could feel his ears going red.

"What is it now Mr. Potter?" Madame Pomfrey asked when she saw them both walk through the door.

"Er..." Harry paused holding up his hand.

"He tripped and fell... On a plant... Outside." Ron made up, all three people there knew that it was a lie but Madame Pomfrey never seemed to ask too many questions, bless her. She waved Harry into the room and fussed over him while he sat on the bed.

Ron could hear her muttering angrily to herself about 'that man and his pets' but decided to leave it at that.

"Well, Harry will be needing his rest then," Ron said, not at all feeling bad at the pleading look Harry gave him. Especially when the matron opened a jar of brown goo that instantly made the whole room smell of, almost exactly of Fred and George's room when they'd been in there for a while with the door closed.

"Yes I think he will, Mr. Weasley," Madame Pomfrey said approvingly. "Most of you kids always insist on hanging around!" She exclaimed apparently excited at the prospect of a patient being abandoned by his friends.

"Well I'll be off then," Ron said with his best disarming grin - for use on his mother in the most dire situations - "Thanks for looking after him Madame Pomfrey."

"You're quite welcome young man," Pomfrey said, turning to Ron with a kind smile, behind her back Harry was pretending to gag. Ron left the foul-smelling hospital with a huge smile, his good mood noticed by his dorm mates.

"What are you so happy about?" Malfoy demanded, no-doubt still sour about Gryffindor's quidditch win.

"None of your business Malfoy." Ron said, flopping onto his bed and wondering where Blaise got to, Crabbe and Goyle were both looking between Ron and Malfoy as though they weren't sure what to do when the two boys were in a room together.

"My father says all Weasleys are an embarrassment to the wizarding world," Malfoy said rather loudly, Ron's ears turned red and he clenched his hand into a tight fist. Snape had already threatened them with various unpleasantness for fighting.

"Sod off will you Malfoy," Ron pleaded, "You really want to spend the next seven years fighting with someone you share a bedroom with?"

"Suppose you're right Weasley, I've never had to share a bedroom before, don't all of your family sleep in one room?"

"No, I have my own room at home, you prick." Ron insisted, sick of the boy's crap. "Now sod off you git, or I'll make you sod off."

"Oooh, Weasley! Was that a threat?" Malfoy asked, grinning behind his shoulder at thing one and thing two, Ron frowned, thinking of what spells he could possibly use to shut Malfoy up.

"But really, how did a blood traitor like yourself even get into Slyth-oopmh!"

Forgoing the usual wizarding tactics, Ron crossed the small room in a couple strides and punched Malfoy firmly in the mouth. He squealed, flailing for his wand while trying to hold his painful jaw, Ron snatched it, and turned both wands on Crabbe and Goyle.

"You two better watch yourselves," He said, and the bodyguards backed down, Ron was rather glad the two idiots took him seriously because honestly he wasn't good enough at his spell work to do much more than threaten them.

"Pomfrey doesn't ask questions," Ron told Malfoy, who was still clutching at his broken nose and glaring at the taller boy, "tell her you fell or something, and maybe now, Malfoy you'll learn to keep your bloody trap shut about me and my family!" Ron threw the wand back and the three boys scurried from the room, Blaise came in a moment later.

"Hey mate," Blaise said, looking amused. "Punch Malfoy in the mouth again, did you?"

"Prat had it coming," Ron said, flopping down onto his bed and pulling a piece of parchment, quill and ink towards him, "I figure if I keep punching him in the trap he might learn to keep it shut."

"Who you writing?" Blaise asked, changing the subject from the tactless Draco Malfoy.

"My brother Charlie," Ron said, "He moved to Romania right before school started."

Blaise whistled. "That's a pricey portkey visit."

"Yeah, I know. But he wanted to work on the dragon reserve up there, it's one of the best in the world, and probably get away from my mum for a bit, Bill moved to Egypt for work too when he finished school."

"I've been to Egypt with mum and… my first step dad. He was a curse breaker it was a really cool trip."

"We go camping sometimes," Ron shrugged, jotting down a quick note to Charlie about transporting a dragon from Hogwarts to Romania … hypothetically of course. But he was Only now wondering how Blaise dealt with having had seven stepfathers.

"I heard, I mean, some of the others being dicks about your dads." Ron said awkwardly, "just ignore them, mate, they don't know what they're talking about."

"They kind of do," Blaise muttered, running a hand through his hair and sitting down, "I mean, I don't know what to think about it, but mum meets someone, we're a happy family for a year or so, then they disappear suddenly and leave her everything. The hardest one was the first, he wasn't my actual father but he was the first one I really knew and he was in it for the long run, right, I used to call him dad and everything. He was around from when I was three to seven, the curse breaker. They even started talking about having another kid so I thought he would be around but he went missing a week later and was found dead a week after that."

"Shit, sorry mate." Ron muttered, not really knowing what to think about that.

"I dunno, I don't know if my mum actually does it, like people say, if she's really unlucky or it's something else, it's really shit." The boy admitted, looking quite upset. "Not like I can ask her about it right?" Blaise asked him, "Hi mum are you actually murdering all of your husbands to get their money?"

Ron couldn't help it, he snorted, but Blaise gave a chuckle too.

"Well want to hear something funny?" Ron asked, figuring a subject change was in order. Blaise smiled. "Harry got bitten by a Norwegien Ridgeback." Ron announced.

Whatever Blaise had been expecting that wasn't it.

"A dragon?" He asked, "What, where, how?"

"Well that's why I'm writing my brother Charlie. Er… the bloke who has it needs to get rid of it, because you know, they're illegal to keep as pets."

"Its Hagrid isn't it?" Blaise deadpanned, Ron shrugged.

"Yep, you wont report him will you… he means well… I think." Ron asked, he did trust Blaise… he thought, the other boy was certainly opening up to him.

Blaise frowned, seemed to come to a descicion then nodded. "'Course."

"Thanks mate."

From that point Blaise and Ron were pretty inseparable actually. Harry fully recovered, and Charlie had agreed to take little Norbert from Hogwarts and fudge some paperwork so Hagrid wouldn't get into trouble. Hagrid had been upset with Ron for a few weeks before finally agreeing that perhaps the dragon didn't make the best pet, especially for a man who lived in a wooden house.

"Bad news Ron?" Blaise asked, Ron glanced up over the top of the letter he was reading and nodded. It was from Charlie.

"A bit, tell you later though."

Later didn't happen until lunchtime, after history and potions, where the boys, Harry included could be found walking slowly down an abandoned corridor.

"So he can pick up the dragon, but we have to get Norbert to the top of the astronomy tower on Saturday midnight, there's no other way to do it, Charlie said he sort of screwed himself over with the lies he told to keep Hagrid out of trouble." Ron was explaining.

Blaise shrugged. "Then sneak up to the top of the astronomy tower at midnight."

"There's a reason I'm telling you, Blaise, I need a favour. Norbert is about as big as fluffy, we'll need all three of us to carry him, I'm going to get the twins to help too because really, it's an 'effing dragon."

Blaise had a hand over his eyes while Harry looked a little bit green.

"How, in the name of sweet Circe are we going to carry a dragon from that decrepit little hut up seven floors and up the astronomy tower after curfew without someone catching us?" Blaise asked. Harry nodded.

"Mate, it is a logistical nightmare." Harry agreed.

"Look, just practice your levitation charm and leave the rest to me," Ron told them both with more confidence than he felt.