Sorry to take a long time again – I've just been really busy. Here's the next chap!

Chapter 12: Dragon Tales

February was rolling into March, and along with it the weather began to cool. Today Ellie pulled on a sweatshirt and a baseball cap, hair in a ponytail, feeling a surge of energy and empowerment. Over the past few weeks Snape had gotten quieter and quieter, a sign that was suspicious, but he had also not confronted Ellie once. She sensed his fear that she knew something, and didn't really mind it.

Ellie crossed her arms to prevent the chilly breeze from affecting her and began to jog down the Hogwarts grounds to find Hagrid's hut. If anyone could do explaining like this, it would be him.

When she finally reached the hut, however, Hagrid was in no mood to talk. He didn't greet her with much enthusiasm, and while she had to admit he'd never shown much favoritism to her, she hadn't expected what she got: sheer uninterested shortness.

"Hi, Ellie," he said, "now's not a good time."

"Oh, sorry," she said. "What would be?"

"Don't know. Coupla weeks? Ta." And he closed his door on her face.

She huffed a little and turned around, discouraged. She yanked off her hat and fixed her hair, noticing that her once-permanent silver streaks were fading. She was sure there was a spell that could fix it.

She ran back up the vast area of grounds and back into the castle late for History of Magic, where she slid in next to Dean. "Miss anything?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Binns was just droning about tardies. A bit ironic that he didn't see you."

She grinned. "Ironic and lucky."

He laughed, and they both tuned back into the lesson. But a few minutes later, he scribbled something down and passed the note to her.

Did you find out why you had that shield?

You mean at the concert thing?

Yeah. Against Malfoy.

I think it's a Perelli charm my dad put on me.

Whoa. What's a Perelli charm?

It's where you're protected when you do what you love the most.

So you love dances the most?

I love making music the most.

Or you love the twins the most…

She tossed the paper back at him playfully, unfortunately being seen and scolded by Binns. The truth was, that thought had crossed her mind: what if she loved being around certain people the most, and the only times she could be shielded were when they were with her?

"You want to practice that with me later?" she asked hopefully. "My shield. I could try singing, and you can see if you can get a spit ball at me."

He laughed. "Sure," he said. "Seamus has a slingshot, so we're set."

The class was dismissed, and everyone went back to the dorms. Ellie said good-bye to Dean and caught up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were walking surprisingly quickly.

"Hey," she shouted. Hermione slowed, and Harry and Ron grunted a bit but did the same. "Look, I talked to Hagrid earlier, but he was in a really foul mood."

Harry and Ron shouted at the same time. "What?"

"Well," she said in surprise, "I mean, he said now wasn't a good time and I should come back in a few weeks, and he slammed the door in my face."

"But why would you go without us?" Hermione asked in a more gentle way.

Ellie shrugged. "Didn't want him to feel bombarded by people, I guess. I don't know—didn't really even occur to me."

"It's just something we want to do together," said Harry. "Maybe we can go ask him together, tonight."

"Sure," Ellie said. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Harry and Hermione assured him, but Ron seemed more annoyed.

"Okay," she said. "Well… I'll catch up with you in the dorms tonight, then?"

"Why?" Ron snapped. "Want to hang out with your real friends? My bloody brothers?"

Ellie raised her eyebrows, but Hermione shoved him and muttered, "Shut up, Ron." She pulled Ellie aside, waving the boys off, and explained, "He's been really jealous of the twins lately. Apparently they're making money on some joke items, and they keep buying themselves things but not him. I don't really know."

Ellie nodded. "I figured it was something like that. Anyway, I'm meeting Dean, not Fred and George. I'm going to try to figure out this Perelli thing for real." They said the password to the Fat Lady, who swung open with a nod.

"Still haven't?" asked Hermione. "I suppose it'd be worthwhile—well, if you need me, I'll be in the library. See you tonight."

Ellie smiled and waved, and then put her things down and searched the room. She found Dean in one corner, conveniently in conversation with Fred and George.

"Oi," she greeted. "You ready now?"

"Ready?" Fred asked. "Him? What about me?"

"Shield stuff," explained Dean. "It should probably be me instead of you two."

"Why?" demanded George. "We can make music, too."

Ellie glanced at Dean and sighed. "It's not really about music," she explained uncomfortably. "It's more about a lack of—erm—look, I'll see you later, okay?" She grabbed Dean's arm and yanked him away. She didn't want to explain to them that her favourite thing might be spending time with them.

"I guess you're embarrassed?" Dean asked in slight confusion.

"Something like that," she admitted. "I mean, you know, sometimes people have friends, and they're not sure who values whom more. You know?"

"I know. But you know they completely adore you, right?"

She sighed and blushed a bit. "Thanks," she said, and hoped he was right; she completely adored them. "Anyway, uh, I guess I'll just sing something—fast. Do you have that slingshot?"

He grinned and held it up.

"Okay," she said, "er, I'll do… The Tide Is High. It's, you know, easy." Blushing madly, and feeling incredibly awkward, she began to sing. He grinned and tormented her by waiting a few seconds too long, but lifted the slingshot and shot her with a spitball. Sure enough, a weak shield ricocheted it back off.

"Wow," she said, "music, not twins."

He laughed. "I actually assumed it was twins."

She heaved a sigh. "I did, too. Anyway, I'm glad it's not. Thanks so much. Sorry to torture your ears and all. Are you going back?"

"Nah, I've got to go to the library. Got to reread Charms You Ought to Know but Unfortunately Aren't Taught. It's supposed to be extra help."

She laughed. "That's a real book?"

"Hey, not all of us are as good as you!" he said defensively, but he finished it off with a laugh. "All right, see you later." He walked away with a wave.


Ellie was planning on visiting Hagrid before hours were out, but Harry and Ron had promised to help Seamus with homework, and Lavender and Parvati had decided to give Hermione a make over. Half laughing, Ellie found her seat in the common room with Fred and George.

"So, what were you doing earlier?" asked George. "With Dean?"

"I told you, trying to make my shield work. See how it does."

"And?" asked Fred.

"And, it was just making music." She shrugged. "It was good to do, anyway. For practice."

"I still don't see why you were confused, though," said George. "Didn't we already know it was music? Or was Dean just looking for a chance to hang out with you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I thought it could be other things. I don't know. Anyway, change of subject. That, or I can help with Hermione's makeover…" She glanced up at Hermione, who was wincing so much that the girls' pathetic attempts with eyeliner and mascara were getting everywhere.

"Oh, it'll be much better if you stand still!" Lavender insisted.

"You don't even wear makeup!" Hermione said shrilly. "I'm not your Barbie doll!"

Fred and George both started cracking up, and Ellie had to try very hard not to do the same. "So, anything interesting happen lately?" she asked, lying back on the couch and almost subconsciously leaning on Fred's shoulder.

He flinched for a second, but relaxed. "Nothing, really. We've been selling some of our gadgets, which is always good—but still. I feel like there's a world of possibilities."

"That we aren't taking," added George, who didn't seem left out; he rested an elbow on Ellie's free shoulder.

"Well, there's always time. Four years for you, anyway. Six for me."

"That's right," Fred said, frowning. "I always forget the age difference."

"I don't. I mean, I like most of the people in our year—Gryffindors anyway—but I just feel so out of place with them."

"Out of place?" asked George. "Like how?"

"Like…" She tried to think of a proper answer but couldn't, so she stood up and said, "Parvati, Lavender, can I help you?"

"Sure, El!" Lavender gushed. "You never do girly things with us."

Ellie grinned back at Fred and George before accepting the makeup from Lavender. She wiped all of it off Hermione's face and then started over. In five minutes, Hermione was a knockout.

"Hang on, don't make fun of me, but I found a spell for bad hair days, if you're interested. Have to cut off a hunk, though, so don't use it every day."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Don't cut off a hunk of my hair!"

But Ellie pulled out a pair of scissors from a desk drawer and snipped off a tiny layer underneath. Then she dropped the hairs into a bowl, tapped the bowl with her wand, and said, "Staraglio!"

The room immediately went quiet. Hermione was no longer the young, frizzy-haired girl she usually was, but was a girl who looked at least fourteen and had straight, shining, slightly darker hair.

"Nice, El," George whispered. Fred nodded.

Hermione, turning a very bright shade of red, mumbled, "Well, Ellie, we ought to be going—Ron, Harry, are you coming?" She grabbed her jacket and ran out of the common room as quickly as possible. Ellie followed.

"Didn't know that was possible," Ron muttered when he caught up to Ellie. Harry was next to him, cloak in hand. "I mean—de-frizzing hair. Not Hermione's in particular."

Ellie laughed. "Guess it is. But not on a daily basis—she'd lose all her hair if she did it that way."

They caught up with Hermione in the hallway. She was staring at her reflection in a suit of armor.

"I don't see how you stand it, Ellie," Hermione said quietly.

"Stand what? Being awesome? I know, it's hard to handle," Ellie said with a grin, but Hermione cut her off.

"No, I mean, being so pretty, all the time. Look at me. I hate it. It's like succumbing to society's ideas, and having guys stare at you…"

"Why do you refer to me?" Ellie asked in surprise. "I mean, I'm decent-looking, but I'm twelve."

"Ellie. You have no idea how gorgeous you are. Oliver Wood can't take his eyes off you. Cedric Diggory was talking about you at lunch the other day."

Ellie started to ask about that, but refrained. "Um, this is really awkward," she said, "so… let's stop talking quietly and start paying attention to them." Harry and Ron, who had clearly been eavesdropping, laughed and walked back over to them just as they reached the doors to the grounds outside. It wasn't after hours yet, but they didn't have permission to go to Hagrid's at this time, so they slipped under the cloak.

"Wow," Hermione said. "We don't really fit…"

"I have an idea," said Ellie cheerfully, and she ducked back out, then focused on the faces of Snape, her mother, and her father. She focused on familiarity and family—and dreaded Potions teachers—and sure enough, she transformed into a dog.

"Wh—wh—whoa!" Ron gasped. Harry and Hermione's expressions were quite as shocked.

Ellie barked cheerfully and ran alongside them to Hagrid's hut. When they got there, Ron lifted a hand to knock. When Hagrid opened the door to see a dog, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, hi, yeh're a cute one, aren't yeh?" he asked, kneeling down and offering a hand. Ellie, trying not to laugh, let him pet her. She wasn't sure what laughing sounded like in dog.

The other three slipped off the robe, and Hagrid jumped. "What're yeh doing? Scared the daylights outta me, yeh did, can' go around—"

"Can we come in?" Harry interrupted.

Hagrid sighed and stood back. Ellie barked and followed them, not bothering to change back. She wanted to keep her identity a secret, at least for now; it could come in handy.

"What's that?" asked Ron, pointing to something that was hanging above the fireplace.

"That's, uh, well…" He looked eager to change the subject. "What're yeh here for, then?"

"To talk to you," said Hermione, calmly and collectedly, "about the Philosopher's Stone. Yes, we know there's a stone, yes, we know it was made by Nicholas Flamel, and yes, we know it's being guarded by Fluffy."

Hagrid stared at them for several seconds, until the kettle started to rattle. He picked up an oval-shaped object from it and set it on the table.

"How," he asked, "do yeh know all tha'?"

"Lots of ways," Harry said. "We just want to know how to get it. And we want to know who else knows how to get it. Because someone's going to try."

"Who?" Hagrid demanded, and shook his head. "No one, that's who. No one's stupid enough ter try!"

"Snape is!" Harry blurted out. Knowing what would happen, dog-Ellie burrowed her head under her paws. She again stifled laughter when Hagrid gave her a confused look.

"Professor Snape," Hagrid sighed, "is not tryin' to steal the stone. He's protectin' it!"

"What?" Hermione and Ron demanded. But they were interrupted by a strange cracking sound, and their heads turned back to the oval. Ron was the first to realize what it was.

"Hagrid! That's—a dragon's egg?"

Hagrid stared down at it for a second, then said, "And anyway, no one knows how ter get past Fluffy. Well, almost no one. 'Cept the guy who gave me this." He nodded to the egg. When Harry started to talk, Hagrid shushed him; a tiny beak was pointing out.

"Tha's my boy!" Hagrid said in a baby voice. "C'mon, yeh can do it, jus' a little more…"

Ellie watched in amusement as Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared a look of annoyance.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Hagrid asked when the process was finished. "Jus' gorgeous, aren't you, Norbert?" He smiled and began to pet the tiny, admittedly cute, creature, which then spit out a chalk of flame.

Ellie stared at it in fascination. She shouldn't be surprised, because she'd learned about dragons in History of Magic, but she was. She couldn't believe they were real, let alone this small as babies.

"Who gave you the dragon's egg, Hagrid?" asked Harry.

"Dunno his name, an' he kept his hood on," Hagrid admitted. "But he was righ' friendly. Told me the trick with any beast was to calm him. Like Fluffy—play him a tune, he falls right to sleep."

Ellie immediately sat up. Hermione, Ron, and Harry immediately stood up.

"Shouldn't'a said that," Hagrid muttered.

"Thanks, Hagrid," Hermione said. "Good luck with, um, Norbert." She gave a girlish grunt (Ellie wasn't sure what it signified) before darting out of the house, followed shortly by Ron and Harry. Ellie barked a farewell to Hagrid before chasing after them. She stayed a dog through the castle, just in case.


They were bombarded by students the second they entered, Ellie back in human form. Apparently Fred and George weren't the only ones who worried.

"Where were you?" Seamus and Dean demanded when they saw Ellie. "The Fat Lady wouldn't tell us, just said you'd be in trouble when you got back."

Ellie shook her head. "I told her Dumbledore wouldn't care, and she said it didn't matter, she cared, so I offered to go and ask him and she said it was fine, never mind."

Seamus laughed. "I ought to do that sometime."

She grinned.

"Well?" asked another voice from behind her. "Where were you?"

She turned to see who had spoken, and her smile widened when she saw Oliver. It was rare that she saw him outside of Quidditch now, and since it was already March, he was stressed about studying for his OWLs.

She excused herself from Dean and Seamus, and ignored Fred and George's teasing looks, to find some privacy in the corner with Oliver.

"It wasn't a big deal," she explained. "We just wanted to talk to Hagrid. Didn't have time during the day."

"Really?" he asked, looking a little tired.

"Yeah," she said. "Oliver, what's wrong?"

His mouth twisted slightly, and he looked like he was having a hard time saying whatever he wanted to say. "Look, there's a lot of…" He cut off and looked around. "Can we go up to my room? No one'll be there."

She shrugged and nodded. She trusted him enough not to suspect anything, so she followed him up the stairs to the boys' dorms, hoping no one would notice.

He took a seat on his bed, and after a moment of hesitation, so did she. She waited for him to speak.

"Okay," he said, and sighed. "You know how I feel about you. I really like you. I think you're funny and great to be around, and really pretty, and… just… great."

She didn't fully grasp the 'really pretty;' despite Hermione's insistence, she didn't believe it. She had good hair and good eyes, but she was too thin, too flat, and had as much acne as any preteen. Still, she let him continue.

"Anyway, I've heard people saying some things, and they've gotten me thinking."

"People?" she repeated.

"Yeah. You know, Slytherins, Ravenclaws. Saying I'm too old for you and everything. Nothing serious. But am I? I can't judge it. In so many ways you seem older, but in so many ways you're much younger."

She bit her lip and said nothing.

"And what about…" He shrugged. "The list is pretty long. Fred? George? Dean, Seamus, Ron, Harry—you're around them as much as you are me."

"But they're just my friends," she insisted. "Really."

He nodded. "Okay. But we still have our other problem."

"I don't think it's a problem," she said calmly. "I think it's a situation." She sensed amusement in his eyes, but she ignored it and continued. "I think we should play it out and see what happens. If things are too weird, we can back out, no hard feelings. Maybe you'll change your mind in a few years."

He raised an eyebrow. "I graduate in two."

"Two and a half," she said in her defense. "But… yeah."

He laughed. "You know what I really want to do?"

She shook her head.

"Kiss you." And he did.


so like, review and I'll finish that cliffhanger. (: