Chapter Ten

I hurried over the rise, crashing through the brambles, and reached the edge of the nest. I watched as the cracks spread through the egg as soft knocking sounds emitted from within the egg, and then one of the bits of shell was knocked out to the ground. More followed, chips flying off. I racked my brain for anything on dragons, and remembered too late.

The small white dragon crawled out of the remains of its egg and looked up at me.

Dragons, like many creatures, imprint on the first living being they see upon hatching.

The dragon growled softly, and I couldn't help but smile. "Hey, little guy," I said, petting the dragon. It turned around and began to follow its instincts, eating the egg shell. Seeing a good moment to get the others, I stood and backed up a couple steps. The dragon whirled around; it was the size of a small dog. It growled and followed.

"No, sweetheart, stay here," I protested, and the dragon looked up at me with hurt in its eyes. I sighed. "Okay, I'll stay here with you a moment."

The dragon contentedly went back to eating its egg as I crouched down. After a moment, a twig cracking alerted me to Remus's presence lurking at the edge of the dip. He looked down and I met his eyes. As he spotted the dragon, he gasped and backed up.

"It's okay," I called to him quietly. "It's friendly so far."

But as if to completely counteract my words, the dragon leapt around and saw Remus, and roared in its broken, raspy voice, starting up the slope. As it met the brambles, it let out loud cries; I caught it quickly and pulled it back to me.

"Hush, hush," I whispered. "He's a friend."

The dragon still cried as I plucked out the brambles.

"He's imprinted on me," I explained to Remus, who nodded with wide eyes.

"What are we going to do?"

"We can't keep him," I said, "But he won't let me leave without him."

Remus gestured to the others and then started down the slope. The dragon's spikes rose as Remus neared and he arched his back, growling at Remus. I petted down the dragon's side.

"Hush now, that's a friend."

Remus stepped forward slowly, kneeling down.

"Offer a hand palm-down, fingers curled in," I advised. "Let him smell you and then try to pet him, but be very careful."

Remus nodded and did as I said; the dragon still didn't like him. We were lucky it was a little thing. Remus sighed. "How will we feed him? Where will we keep him?"

"I'm thinking we can tie him up out here," I said. "If we ask the Room of Requirement for food, do you think that will work?"

Remus shrugged. "It's worth a try. We'd have to come out here every night, though."

I sighed. "We wouldn't be able to keep that up for long without getting caught."

"Maybe while he's little we can keep him in the castle, in the room, I mean. We'll figure it out from there."

I nodded. "Best plan so far."

Lily and Severus stayed at the top of the dip as Remus and I gathered up the dragon, wrapping him in my robes to carry him. I glanced back at the mother; poor dragon- she was only trying to save her young. That the egg had gone this long without being stolen and eaten was a miracle. She must have died recently.

We started out of the forest, and were almost to the edge when it showed up.

The mountain troll returned, and this time, we couldn't hide from it on time. It began barreling through the woods toward us, and we began to run out. The broomstick plan wouldn't work now; I had intended to accio the brooms to us originally, so at least we didn't have them here. I caught Remus as we neared the edge.

"Remus! We can't go running out of the forest with a loud troll and a baby dragon!"

Remus paused, realizing I was right. He whirled around to the other side of me, facing the troll. "Wands at the ready, all of you!"

Severus and Lily came to flank him, keeping me and the baby behind them. But the troll simply swiped them all to the side in one hit, realizing through its thick skull that if I were being protected, I must be something worth protecting. I tossed the dragon to Lily, who caught it just as the troll watched.

"Down here!" I shouted, distracting it from her. "Face me!"

The troll turned to me and roared, grabbing me around the midsection. I shrieked as its grip tightened around my stomach and ribs. I pointed my wand at it, thinking of what Kettleburn had done.

"Redu-" but before I could get the word out, I was thrown to the ground. My head struck a tree and I was out.

"Think she'll be alright?"

"She's waking up! Remus, get the water! James- bandages, quickly!"

My eyes opened to a blurry image of Sirius and Lily kneeling next to a couch that I was, apparently, laying on.

"Give her this." That was… Severus, I realized, through the mud of my mind. The dark Slytherin boy approached the couch and handed something to Sirius. "It'll help her regain strength."

Sirius took it quickly and opened my mouth, setting something foul-tasting on my tongue. I made it to spit it back out, and he clamped a hand over my mouth. "Eat it."

I forced it down, grimacing against the taste. "There, I ate it. Happy?"

Sirius grinned. "Yep, she's okay."

James Potter showed up over Sirius's shoulder as Severus retreated, and I sat up.

"Lay back down," Lily said, but I shook my head.

"I feel fine, I promise. Just, dizzy. Tired. My head is throbbing and- oh, God, my stomach is bruised. But nothing is broken."

"You might have had a concussion," Sirius said. "Often when your head flies into a tree, it causes some damage."

Come to think of it, hitting a tree didn't sound familiar. "What happened?"

"Do you not remember the troll?" Lily asked as James began wrapping a bandage around my arm. I looked down- they had pulled back my sleep where something had cut a deep gash into the back of my forearm.

"I- no. There was a troll?"

"We went into the woods," she said. "To find the creature- do you not remember?"

"The troll," I said, my eyes going wide. "Remus grabbed me, kept me safe."

"That was before," Lily continued. "Then we went to the clearing, and you found..?"

"I found…" I thought about it. "I found something. Big, and white. Snowy."

"Yes, very big."

I thought about it. What was big and white? Oh. "A dragon?"

"Yes, you found a dragon."

"And it attacked me?"

"No. The dragon was dead."

I felt my eyebrows crease. "Then how did… Oh! That's right, it had an egg. Wait, where's the baby dragon?"

That much I remembered now, the imprint and the start of the walk back.

"We had to sedate him," Remus explained. "Severus cooked up a potion to put him to sleep. He kept fretting about you, wouldn't let anyone go near."

"But if it wasn't the dragon, and the troll was already gone, then what happened?"

"The troll came back," Remus said. "It was faster than we thought. It swept me, Lily, and Severus out of the way, and then grabbed you."

"I remember now," I said, images flashing through my mind to match his description. "It lifted me up- I was about to cast a spell and then it threw me. What happened after I was knocked out?"

Severus handed me a bottle of some elixir, muttering that it would help me feel better and heal faster, as Remus explained, "You went down like a fly. Lily escaped with the baby dragon, who was squealing like a pig. Severus had heard what you were casting and reduced the size of the troll, and I petrified it, and then we put the brute to sleep. We carried you back here." He smirked. "Sirius was worried sick about you.'

"I was not," Sirius muttered.

"He didn't leave your side from the moment we got back," Lily added. "Got bloody annoying, actually- we couldn't get near enough to check on you."

I grinned at Sirius, who looked away, saying quietly, "It wasn't like that."

I turned back to the others. "So where is the dragon now? And what are we going to do with him?"

"He's chained up in the corner," Remus said. "We soundproofed the room. We'll keep him here for the time being. I don't know where he could go."

"He's a Ukrainian Ironbelly," I said. "Maybe he could go back to Ukraine."

"And how would we get him there?" Lily asked, glancing at the sleeping beast in the corner. I looked at him and shrugged.

"We would have to fly, or find someone who can apparate. Anyone friends with any seventh-years?"

"Aren't you friends with Xeno?" Remus asked. "You two sit together quite often."

I shrugged, noticing the jealousy in Sirius's eye at that and trying not to smirk. "He's alright, sure, but he wouldn't be very helpful for that."

"He might be our only choice," James noted. "Get this little guy up to strength, and then we'll apparate him to Ukraine."

"It's a plan, then. For now, can someone walk me back to the Ravenclaw tower? I don't feel like it's a distance I'll be very good at traversing alone."

"I'll do it," Sirius said immediately.

"Are you sure you should go back tonight?" Remus asked, and I nodded.

"I need to rest, and Cassi will ask too many questions if I don't return."

"Well, goodnight, Hazel," Remus said, giving me a smile.

"Get some rest, Ravenclaw- wouldn't have you at low health during the Gryffindor game."

"Thanks, James. Your concern is baffling."

As I reached the door with Sirius, Lily laughed and added, "From James, that's the most concern you can expect. Oh, and by the way, thanks for coming with us."

"You're welcome, Lily."

I stepped into the hall. Once Sirius had closed the door, I braced myself against the wall for a moment, holding my side and exhaling slowly. I rested my head on the cold wall as Sirius timidly put a hand on my arm.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded, jaw tight against the pain that had stabbed through my abdomen upon standing. I pulled my wand out of my sleeve and pointed it at my rib. "Episkey."

"Was it broken?" Sirius asked, looking surprised. I nodded and fixed another on that side, and then one on the left. He gaped at me. "You had three broken ribs and didn't say anything?"

"I didn't want to worry anyone." I lifted my shirt, somewhat self-conscious under Sirius's eyes, and my exposed midsection, normally a sandy tan, was dark purple and green with bruises. "Ah, that's why that hurts how it does."

"You need to get to Madam Pomfrey," Sirius said earnestly. I chuckled, and then grimaced at the pain flared in my abdomen.

"And expose the whole mission? We would have done all that for nothing. It's only a few bruises, Sirius- I've been a beater for four years, I can take a hit. It's really nothing to worry about."

Sirius sighed. "If you say so, but I'm still doing this."

Before I could protest, he had swept me into his arms, lifting me from the ground. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Are you serious?"

"I am," he replied, grinning as he started toward the stairs. "Very nice use of that homonym."

I rolled my eyes, looking over as we started down the steps. A couple of times, we had to duck low due to a teacher, which put me very close to Sirius's face. It gave me a new look at him.

His hairline was actually marked with a widow's peak. His hair, I saw now, was truly a dark ebony color, marked by natural waves not quite tamed. He had specks of facial hair coming in along his jaw, and a scar marked a small indention along his cheekbone. His eyebrows, perfect from a distance, were actually thinner than they first appeared- almost feminine- and had a few stray hairs. He did have a very fine jawline, though- broad cheeks bottomed by sharp angles, and a chin that was perfectly rounded but not jutting out or too large. His eyes, too, were enchanting: slanted inward just slightly, framed by long dark lashes, but the color was the best part. They were gray, outlined by a dark charcoal and then filled with soft silver, and veined with white.

But during that journey to the Ravenclaw tower, the feature that most held my fascination was his lips. They were perfectly defined, rounded, thick bottom lip and on the top two perfect Cupid's bows from either side. They were a little wide, but with his jaw, it made sense. And oh, they would be so lovely to kiss.

I shook the thought away at a flutter in my chest. We reached the door to the common room and Sirius set me down gently, and then looked at me for a moment and pulled me into a hug. Afterward, he leaned back with a gasp. "Hazel, we forgot your robe!"

I smiled and shrugged. "It's fine, I suppose. I'll just come get it tomorrow. I have plenty extra."

He smiled back. "And you're sure you don't want to just, I don't know, head back to get it?"

"I think you just want to spend extra time with me."

He stepped closer. "Would that be so bad?"

I shook my head, heart pounding again. My eyes were drawn to his lips once more and I forced myself not to look at them. "I suppose not." I cleared my throat and stepped back. "But you have me at Hogsmeade this weekend, remember?"

"That's right, I did have plans for Hogsmeade."

"Yeah."

He glanced at me sharply, and then smirked. "Were you eavesdropping on that conversation?"

I looked away, reddening. "No- I- what conversation?"

He grinned and stepped forward again; in stepping back, I ended up with my back to the wall by the door. Sirius stepped forward, planting a hand on either side of me against the wall. I kept a brave face, trying not to let the fluttering in my stomach and chest show. He met my eyes, mouth curved in a coy smile. "You definitely did listen to that conversation with Vanica that night. I thought I saw you when I came around the corner, but I wasn't sure." He leaned closer. "Is that why you were so mad? Because I forgot?"

"That's part of it," I breathed, barely able to keep from looking at his lips. "Sirius, what are you-"

The door flew open and Cassi stepped out. Sirius jumped away and I straightened up. She glared at him, and then at me. "I'm not even going to ask where you've been all night, Hazel. As for you," she looked at Sirius, "I don't know what you were just doing, but you really need to keep away from my best friend."

Sirius crossed his arms. "Or what?"

"Or I'll make her stay away from you."

He scoffed. "You can't tell her what to do. She's her own person. If she wants to spend time with me, she can."

Cassi continued to glare at him. I sighed. "Cass, he's alright. I can make my own decisions. You haven't even spoken to me since yesterday anyhow, and that was to yell at me."

"And this is why," she said.

"Sirius?"

"Yes."

I sighed. "Look, Cassi, we'll talk about it, but don't talk to him like that, okay?"

She stared at me, open-mouthed, and then glared again. "Now you're defending him, against me. Who are you?"

"Students out of bed!"

I whipped my head around, looking down. "Oh, God, it's Filch! Sirius, get out of here."

Sirius took off at a run and I ducked into the common room just as Filch came down the hall, closing the door behind me. Cassi and I raced up to our dorm and I changed quickly and laid down. That was when Cassi noticed.

"Hazel! What happened to your arm?" She whispered, trying not to wake Yumi or Pandora. I glanced at the bandage and shrugged.

"None of your business."

"Yes, it is."

I glared at her. "How are you going to simultaneously despise everything that I do and yell at me all the time and still expect me to roll over and do as you say? If I want to spend time with Sirius, I will, and you really don't get a say in that anymore. If you want to know what's going on with my arm, if you want to know my secrets, then you have to act like someone I trust."

"We're best friends, Hazel!"

"Not five minutes ago, you said you don't know me. So I guess we're not."

She stared at me from her bunk and I crawled into mine, laying down. I could feel every bruise no matter how I lay.

"Fine," Cassi whispered.

"Fine."