Okay, I'm back. The only excuse I can offer is that my teachers have realized it is the bottom of the ninth of the semester and are trying to cram as much as possible into the last few weeks as possible. Urgh, overload.
Some have accused me of sticking too close to the book. That is because things were already in motion before the year started: The stone was coming to Hogwarts; Quirrell tried to rob Gringott's and because of his failure has Voldie sticking out the back of his head; and, of course, Hagrid got the dragon egg before he met Chris.
Speaking of the book, should you see any bits that shouldn't be there, please let me know. That's the price of copying bits from the book itself; some things slip through the cracks. I am not perfect, so I guarantee this has and will happen. And no, I don't want a Beta.
So, anyway, this chapter is kind of long-ish, but there is a reason for that at the bottom. Please enjoy and when you're done, drop a review here or at the Yahoo Group, if you're a member of that. Again, more info at the bottom.
Chapter X: Midnight Excursions
The twins were as good as their word. Through ways that were probably illegal, the two had procured a small non-school Scope owl and sent it to their brother Charlie in Romania. It had taken the small owl three days to get there and three to get back. Charlie was only too happy to come and take the egg.
But, as always, there was a catch.
Two days before Charlie was due to arrive, Hedwig arrived at the Ravenclaw table at breakfast, bearing a note from Hagrid with two words: It's hatching.
Chris handed Draco the note. The boy swore under his breath as he read it.
"Great. That's just great. And there's not enough time to send the guy another owl."
"We'll have to work something out," said Chris, taking care not to be overheard. "C'mon. We have double Herbology with the 'Puffs."
As they gathered their stuff, Chris heard Draco mutter, "And Hermione."
In Herbology, Hermione ignored the two boys, working with one of the Hufflepuff girls instead. As the lesson ended, Chris fought the wave of exiting students to get to her. Before she could get away, Chris got her by the upper arm, murmuring into her ear, "It's hatching." That made Hermione freeze and the blood drain out of her face. She nodded and willingly went with him, pausing only when she saw Draco nervously waiting outside.
"C'mon, you two can kiss and make up later. Right now, we've got to get to Hagrid."
Swallowing in resignation, Hermione nodded and the three made for Hagrid's hut.
None of them noticed they were being tailed.
Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.
"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.
The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.
They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.
All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped down onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Chris thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.
It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.
"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.
"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian ridgebacks grow, exactly?"
Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face – he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
"What's the matter?"
"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains – it's a kid – he's runnin' back up ter the school."
Chris bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.
Ronald Weasley had seen the dragon.
The next day was very tense as every time they saw Weasley, the red-head was smirking as though he knew something that they did not. To make things worse, Hagrid was starting to get attached to the dragon, naming it Norbert.
"Hagrid, please, you can't get attached to it," pleaded Chris. "Charlie will be here tomorrow night and will take him to Romania."
"But wha' if he don' like Romania?" sniffed Hagrid. "Wha' if the other dragons are mean to 'im?"
Chris pinched his nose in exasperation. Logic was clearly beyond Hagrid's comprehension at this point.
"Hagrid, if you keep Norbert, he will just keep getting bigger and bigger and pretty soon, he'll escape, someone will see him, and possibly kill him, thinking he's a threat. You'll come up, wanting to get him back, someone will put two and two again and you'll be arrested and charged and sent to Azkaban. This way, Norbert gets to go to a nice place, you stay out of trouble, and nothing bad happens to either of you."
He took a deep breath.
"Draco and I are in contact with a dragon handler. Maybe you remember Charlie Weasley?"
"Yeah, grea' kid, loves magical creatures."
"He'll be here tomorrow night at midnight to pick up Norbert. I can only hope he knows some kind of tranquillizer spell."
The dragon took no notice of Chris, choosing to preen its wings instead.
After Chris left Hagrid's, he went in search of his friends. He found them eating lunch in the Great Hall, sitting about four feet apart, Hermione pointedly ignoring Draco, who was pushing his lunch around on his plate while looking askance at Hermione every few seconds.
"Look you two, you're gonna have to get along if we're going to pull this off tomorrow night," he said, sitting between them. "I can't have you two arguing. Someone will hear and discover us and Norbert."
"I tried to apologize, Chris," said Draco, "but she won't listen to me."
Chris sighed. "Hermione–"
The girl turned to him.
"Draco's trying to talk to you."
She cleared her throat and looked expectantly at the boys.
"Draco?" prodded Chris.
"Hermione, I'm sorry, I really am," Draco started. "It's just really hard to understand that just because you don't think the same way I do that you're wrong."
She said nothing.
"Hermione? I'm really trying here. I promise, I am. It's just the way I was raised, you know, and it's really hard getting over that but–"
"Apology accepted."
That shut Draco up. For about three seconds. "Really?"
She smiled. "Really really."
For the first time since the incident, Draco's face broke into a wide grin.
Chris sighed deeply. "Now that that's over, let's get back to business."
As sunset approached on the eve of Charlie's arrival, the threesome nervously watched people file out of the common room to their beds. Finally, about ten o'clock, the last of the Ravenclaws, a fifth-year, left for bed, muttering revisions under his breath for the upcoming O.W.L.s.
Silently, they left the room and, by way of some of the shortcuts on their Ravenclaw maps, were down to the ground floor in about half the normal time. Hermione kept checking her watch as Chris and Draco alternated looking around the next corner. They almost ran into Filch once, but a cleverly placed dungbomb planted in the opposite direction they were going pulled the caretaker off their tracks. Even Mrs. Norris couldn't smell them through the stench.
Quickly, but silently, they exited the castle, taking care to make sure they weren't followed. Thankfully, it was a very dark, cloudy night, which ensured no one could see them from the castle itself.
Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a crate, large enough for the two foot long dragon not to be cramped but not so big that they couldn't carry it at a decent speed. Draco still groaned at the idea of work.
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely. Jus' got it the other day."
From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Chris as though the teddy was having his head torn off.
"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Hermione stood guard outside while the boys took each end to carry it out. "Mommy will never forget you!"
How they managed to get the crate up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up one staircase, then another – it didn't help that they were clearly visible to anyone who chanced to appear out of nowhere.
"Nearly there!" Draco panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.
"15 minutes," moaned Hermione at almost the same time.
A sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. They shrank into the shadows, staring at the outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hairnet, had Weasley by the ear.
"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you–"
"You don't understand, Professor, Chris Evans is coming – he's got a dragon!"
"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Weasley!"
"I swear!" the red-head howled as he was towed farther away. "I heard him talking about it yesterday at lunch!"
The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. As they set down the crate, the boys collapsed against it, wheezing. Hermione did a sort of jig.
"Weasley's got detention! I could sing!"
"Don't," Chris advised her, his face beet red. "Just – don't."
Chuckling about Weasley, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot, though quite surprised they were now towing a baby dragon instead of an egg. They showed the children the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend the crate between them. It was easily extended for the larger crate. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it, and then they each shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.
At last, Norbert was going...going...gone.
They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. But something was off…
"Wait," whispered Chris at the base. Feeling his heart pound, he reached out with one of the Occlumency/Legilimency exercises his mom had taught him, which was sensing his surroundings. They had joked about it when he was little, dubbing it the Force. With enough time and practice, Chris might eventually be able to connect with another person's mind in a very basic form of telepathy. But then, wasn't that just another name for Legilimency in the first place?
"Back up," he hissed fiercely. Draco and Hermione scrambled backward up the steps, Chris on their heels.
They burst back onto the top of the Astronomy Tower, locking the door to get a few extra minutes.
"Isn't there a stone around here that can be triggered for a hidden compartment of some sort?" asked Draco.
"Yes," said Hermione, whipping her wand out. Quickly, she tapped the stone cabinet where the extra telescopes were stored. Someone, probably Professor Sinastra, had taken out most of the telescopes for repair. There was just enough room for the three of them. Had they been any older, they would have been very lucky if even one of them would have fit.
As it was, after much squirming and pushing and a bit of accidental poking into random body parts, they were squashed into the closet. They shut it just as the door flew open and Filch stormed onto the Tower, his face livid.
"I know you're 'ere," they heard him growl. A yowl told them that Mrs. Norris was with her master. "Come ou', come ou', wher'ever yeh are."
Chris prayed that the caretaker couldn't hear their heavy breathing, nor smell the sweat from carrying the heavy crate. After what seemed like an eternity, they heard his footsteps walk away and the door slam shut again. Hermione reached up to open the door.
"Wait," whispered Chris. He listened closely. After another couple of minutes, they heard Filch curse and the door open and close again. This time, they were able to hear his footsteps going down the Tower steps and fading away.
"How'd you know he would do that?" asked Draco.
"I didn't," replied Chris honestly. "It was just a feeling I had."
"Well, either way, it looks like we're in the clear," said Hermione. She looked at them sideways, returning to her prim self now that the danger was over. "I only hope you two realize how many house points we would've lost if Filch had caught us."
The boys looked at each, then shook their heads. "Girls and rules."
At breakfast the next day, Weasley glared at the trio from his table.
"I heard he got detention and lost fifty points last night," said Draco, smirking. "The Slytherins aren't very happy with him, of course."
"I would imagine not," snickered Chris. "Last night, they were pretty far ahead. Now they're gonna have to fight to keep the Cup."
"And Ravenclaw's in second place," added Draco. "We could actually have a shot at it this year."
"It won't matter if we get the Cup if we don't start studying for those exams," said Hermione, her nose stuck in her Charms text. Most of the Ravenclaw students had at least one book out, exams their first priority as well.
Chris scowled. "Yeah, you're right. Library, then?"
"Library," they agreed in unison.
Two hours later, Chris felt like his head was about to burst with information. He himself was kneading his eyes with the palms of his hands while Hermione was sorting through the mounds of books for History of Magic information.
"Where is that book on Elfric the Eager?"
"Try that thick book over there," said Chris, blindly pointing in the general direction he knew the book to be. Sure enough, it was there.
"Thanks," she muttered.
Draco was asleep on the table, his cheek stuck to the text describing one of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, a thin string of saliva hanging from his mouth. He halfway considered waking the blonde Ravenclaw, then remembered the last time he had tried to wake him. How was he supposed to know Draco could string someone up by their ankles while still sound asleep? No, he would let sleeping dragons lie.
"I'll see you later, okay?" he said.
"Yeah, later," she absentmindedly said, turning another page of the dusty book.
He gathered his books and left. He had only walked a hundred feet or so before he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.
"No – no – not again, please–"
It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Chris moved even closer.
"All right – all right–" he heard Quirrell sob.
Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom, straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Chris didn't think Quirrell even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Quickly, he moved across the room and through the door. The corridor on the other side was abandoned, but motion-activated torches flared to life as he looked down one end, then another. Nothing.
His brain wildly inventing theories, Chris ran back to the library, ignoring Madam Pince's call of "No running in the library!" Draco had just woken up and Hermione was working on drying the page he had been drooling on.
Quickly, he recounted what had just happened to them.
"And it sounds to me like Snape's won!" finished Chris.
"And like I told you before: he wouldn't go after Quirrell, that's just not like him," said Draco, irritated.
"There's still Fluffy, though" said Hermione optimistically.
"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Chris looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here, telling you how to get past a three-headed dog."
He started pulling more books off shelves, but Hermione stopped him.
"Look, we'll go down and ask Hagrid when we get the chance, okay? The library will be closing in just a little bit anyway."
As if to prove her point, Madam Pince chose to walk by at that very instance.
"The library will be closing in – what did you do to that book?!" she screeched.
Draco looked dumbly at her, then at the still slightly moist book that had served as his pillow for half an hour. "Er–"
"Out! Out!" she screeched even more, waving her wand and causing their bags to hit them over the heads as they scrambled out.
As the doors slammed shut behind them, Draco glared banefully back.
"And I thought you were over obsessive with books, Hermione."
Two days later, Chris, Hermione, and Draco found out some shocking information.
"Get this," said Draco as they pulled out their Transfiguration texts. "Weasley's detention was in the Forbidden Forest last night, serving it with Hagrid, right? They went out there to find a unicorn that's been bleeding all over the place. They found it all right: There was some kind of creature drinking its blood."
"Ew!" exclaimed Hermione. "Why – or who – would do such a thing?"
"A unicorn's blood can save someone even if they're an inch from death," murmured Chris. "But killing a pure, innocent creature like a unicorn demands a price: the being who does the crime lives, but it's not a full life." He looked the other two in the eyes, grasping the desk so tightly his knuckles turned white. "There's only one person who would stoop that low: Voldemort."
Draco shuddered. "If He's back, we're in deep trouble."
The arrival of McGonagall cut off further musings as they started learning how to Transfigure quills into paper and vice versa.
Finally, the end of the chapter! I regret to say that the next chapter won't be posted until after my exams are over. I will be spending my time studying; if I can, I'll write and possibility get the last two chapters of Year 1 both written so I can have them up within a week at most of each other once my exams are over. I will be getting a job this summer, so I can only hope I get an hour or so each night to write.
Till then, my Yahoo group is open to all members. Please enjoy all the features there, including messages to each other and a poll open indefinitely both there and in my profile. If you have not received your invitation, either I haven't gotten down the list to you due to class work or your e-mail kicked it back because of images imbedded in it. AOL is really bad about this.
Ooh, what else?
Right! The reward for this chapter is…bottles of butterbeer! There is a recipe for butterbeer at Mugglenet(dot)com, should you wish to check it out and make some yourself!
I think that's it. If you've noticed, there isn't a reviewer box. That's because there is a special links section in the group with all the reviewers listed and links to their profiles so that other reviewers can check them out.
New reviewers, if you wish to join, send me an e-mail! Only requirement is that you have a fanfiction account. I'm considering disabling anonymous reviews, since I rarely get any of those. Of the 200+ so far for this story, about five have been anonymous.
Until next time or at the Group,
–Moony's Metamorphmagus