Disclaimer: I dun own Harry Potter nor any of the relating characters.

~*~*~Chapter Twenty-One: Dragons and Skrewts~*~*~

Larisa stared fixedly at Harry, who was facing off against a rather large Hungarian Horntail. She saw the golden egg glimmering at the bottom of the enclosure and the dragon snapping angrily.

"You alright, Lari?" Draco asked. "The dragon's not going to get you."

"I know that. I'm worried because Potter doesn't seem to have a pl-" She began to say.

"Accio Firebolt!" Harry shouted. Larisa held her breath.

"See, Potter does have a plan." Draco said to calm Larisa. "But I really don't see why you care..."

"I can't help myself. Everyone IS human, you know..." Larisa explained. Draco dropped the subject as Harry's Firebolt flew over their heads. Larisa watched as he mounted the broomstick and took off. Larisa watched as he zipped around the dragon with wide eyes, especially when a jet of fire shot out of the dragon's snout.

"Good Lord, he can fly!" Larisa breathed, her eyes following his every move. The dragon was also following his every move, its head moving in circles. It seemed that it didn't want to take off. A jet of fire shot out of its mouth, and Harry just barely missed it, but he got hit on the shoulder with the tail. Larisa gasped and seemed to freeze to her seat, when suddenly, the dragon took off. Instantly, Harry dove down and seized the golden egg, then shot off. Everyone started to cheer, and Larisa joined in. She saw Hermione and Ron walking quickly down towards where Harry was, and Larisa followed behind. They walked down to where the first aid tents were, and Larisa stayed out of sight so Harry, Hermione, and Ron could talk for a minute.

"You two are so stupid!" Hermione shrieked, stamping her foot and giving them both a hug before rushing off, crying.

"Barking mad." Ron said with a shake of his head. Harry and Ron began to walk off to get Harry's scores, and it was time for Larisa to act. She stepped out.

"Oi! Potter!" She called. Harry and Ron stopped dead in their tracks as Larisa came marching up to them.

"What do you want, Rei?" Harry snapped. Larisa froze.

Now. Tell him NOW. A small voice in her head whispered. Larisa opened her mouth, when Ron cut across her.

"Well? What do you want?"

"I wanted..." Larisa began. She took a deep breath. "I wanted to tell you that you did a wonderful job, Harry. I probably wouldn't have been able to face a dragon like that." Harry and Ron looked taken aback.

"What did you say?!" Ron said nervously. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I said that you did a good job, Harry." Larisa repeated. Her heart was pounding violently.

"That's odd, coming from you...Did something happen when you left that blew a different personality into you?" Harry asked.

"You could say that emotional upheavels can do so." Larisa said with a shrug. Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"What would Malfoy say if he found out about this?" Ron asked, thinking he had Larisa cornered. Larisa rolled her eyes.

"If he has any problem with my friends and keeps trying to force his opinions on me, I'll kick him to the curb, if I must." She explained.

"Did you just call us your-" Harry began.

"Friends, yes. Now go get your score!" Larisa encouraged before turning and rushing off. She had done it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Larisa, Draco, and Pansy kept trying to shove their skrewt, which was now over six feet long, into a box for hibernation.

"This is madness..." Draco muttered, jumping out of the way as sparks flew out of the skrewt.

"Yes it is..." Pansy agreed. Larisa gave a final shove, then picked up the lid and slammed it on the box with lightning speed. "How do you do stuff like this without panicking, Larisa?" Pansy asked in shock as Larisa wiped sweat off of her forehead.

"All it takes is intense concentration." She replied as the box began to shudder. Larisa gave it a sharp kick.

"Larisa, NOBODY can even have that level of concentration." Pansy said in a shocked voice. "But how did you get like that?"

"When you're trying to stay a step ahead of homicidal Death Eaters, you need to concentrate and push all thoughts out of you head."

"Lari, which Death Eaters are we speaking of?" Draco asked. Larisa shot him a warning glare, and he shut up. The box started to shudder, and Larisa scrambled away from it as the skrewt busted out. Draco started to run for Hagrid's hut, but Larisa caught him by the collar.

"You are going to help me out, Draco..." She snarled. Larisa let go of Draco, then ran to help tie up the skrewts, Draco shuffling along reluctantly.

"Well, this does look like fun..." A voice said. Larisa looked up from tying up a skrewt to see a woman leaning on the fence with a thick magenta cloak.

"Who're you?" Hagrid asked as he hurried over to help Larisa contain the skrewt.

"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter." She said with a smile. Larisa remembered the name in a flash from an article she read about the Triwizard Tournament in the Daily Prophet.

"So YOU'RE the person who wrote that pretty hurtful article on Potter..." Larisa snarled as the skrewt fire off sparks, burning her ankle. It was a good thing, too, because just as the skrewt fired off, a pain shot up Larisa's Dark Mark. "YOW!" She shrieked as Draco came rushing over.

"You alright, Lari?" He asked in a concerned tone. Larisa nodded, but clutched the Dark Mark, because again it burned savagely. Skeeter looked at her.

"What's wrong with your arm?" She asked, getting out her quill.

"Don't...You...Dare..." Larisa snarled, a mad glint in her eyes. Skeeter quickly put her quill away. Larisa rubbed her arm, trying to make the pain stop.

"Well, what IS wrong with your arm?" Skeeter asked again. Larisa opened her mouth, when Hermione spoke.

"She fell down the stairs on the way down here." Hermione explained. Draco stared at her, when Larisa elbowed him in the chest.

"Keep your mouth shut." She muttered under her breath. Skeeter nodded and turned her attention back to Hagrid.

"So what are these creatures?" Skeeter asked, looking around at the class.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts." Hagrid grunted, dragging the skrewt Larisa had been fighting off. Larisa had a feeling that Skeeter was planning something.

"Been teaching long?" Skeeter asked. Larisa had a strange urge to spit venom in Skeeter's eyes.

"O'ny me second year." Hagrid replied.

"The Prophet does a zoological column every Wednesday. We could feature your Bang-Ended Scoots."

"Blast...Ended...Skrewts..." Larisa said savagely. Skeeter looked at her.

"Mental problems?" She asked. Draco gripped firmly on Larisa's arm and Larisa got ready to attack.

"Back to the Skrewts..." Hagrid said hastily. Skeeter looked back at Hagrid, and Larisa knew she was up to no good, but before she could do anything, the bell rang, and Draco dragged her away.

Read&Review, please.