The next few months seemed to fly once they were back at Hogwarts. D&D sessions got more and more elaborate as the party delved deeper and deeper into the lore of the world that Rosalina had put together for them.

It had gotten to the point a few times where she'd wound up going to Mr Filch for advice on where to take them or the lore, since she'd discovered that he had a passion for that sort of thing ("Really give them a sense of gravitas, make them feel like they're part of a bigger whole, and don't be afraid to lean into your NPCs if they like them. It's their story too, not just yours").

It wasn't really until February that things took a real turn for the odd.

"Hagrid's got himself a dragon egg," said Draco to Rosalina one day after they'd left potions class. "I overheard Hermione, Harry, and Ron talking about how it's going to hatch today." He didn't seem smug about it, either; he seemed worried.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Rosalina, petting Finley as he wrapped himself around her neck.

What happen? Big snek? asked Finley as he nuzzled into her.

Very big snake, said Rosalina. Draco had already figured out that she was a parselmouth, so she'd long since lost fear of talking to Finley in front of him.

"What's wrong is that," and Draco looked around to be sure that nobody could hear them before he went on, "you're not allowed to breed dragons in Britain. It's been forbidden for centuries."

"Well I'm not going to tell on him just because he has a dragon egg. You can't breed creatures from just one animal, that's not how it works," said Rosalina, who had, despite what Hermione thought, paid attention to Mr Potts' lessons. "And you're not going to tell on him, are you?"

Draco seemed to waiver at this. On the one hand, it was a delightful bit of gossip. On the other hand, Rosalina was giving him her best glare.

"No, of course not," he said after a moment, not quite looking her in the eyes.

"So what's the problem?" asked Rosalina.

"It's a dragon! That's the problem!" said Draco, whispering quite harshly.

"You're just being scared. Come on, let's go see if we catch a glimpse of it later!" said Rosalina, rolling her eyes at him.

Which is how, that afternoon, Rosalina and Draco found themselves knocking very softly at Hagrid's door.

"Hagrid? Are you there? It's Rosalina and Draco, we were wondering if we could speak with you," said Rosalina. His home was only a cottage, true, but it was massive nevertheless, as Hagrid was not built to the same scale that lesser, smaller folks were built to.

"Gimme a moment," they heard Hagrid say, amid the sounds of clattering and shrieks.

Rosalina was practically bouncing in her shoes while Draco's face was paler than it usually was.

"What'd'ya need?" asked Hagird, his beard far more burnt than it normally was.

"Well, we were wondering," began Draco.

"We wanted to see your dragon!" said Rosalina, unable to contain her glee.

"Yes. That," said Draco, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat.

"How'd you hear about … oh, never mind, come in before you draw a crowd," said Hagrid. He glanced around the empty field before opening his door for them.

His hut was hot and humid, and he'd lit a roaring fire. In the middle of it all was a little black dragon, covered with little bumps and gnawing at a log.

"It's gorgeous! What's its name?" asked Rosalina as soon as her eyes set upon the little dragon.

"Named 'em Norbert," said Hagird, puffing up with pride at her praise.

"It's a wonderful name for a dragon, isn't it Draco?" said Rosalina, smiling as she glanced back at him.

"Yes. Marvelous," he said. He'd not moved very far from the door, seeming content to stay as far out of the way as he could.

"How did you get him? He's got such beautiful scales. Can I pet him?" asked Rosalina, moving near to the pin that Hagrid was keeping Norbert in.

"I'd not touch 'em just yet, if I were you. He's, ah, still a bit bitey. Got nipped meself not too long ago. Nothing to worry about, I'd say, but I'd rather not you risk it," said Hagrid, and Rosalina noticed a purplish welt on his arm.

"What kind of dragon is he?" asked Rosalina, looking back at it. It seemed to be trying very hard to breathe fire. At the moment, though, all it seemed to be managing was little puffs once in a while.

"Norwegian Ridgeback. Got a load of books about it from the library, so I've been reading up all about it," said Hagird, grinning fiercely.

"Well, if you need any help at all with little Norbert, we'll be happy to help! Right Draco?" said Rosalina, glancing over at him, her grin broadening when he gave a curt nod, his own teeth barred in what she assumed was meant to be a smile.

"You Granger girls are just the sweetest first years, I hope you know that," said Hagrid, beaming at her.

And so the next couple of months went, as Rosalina divided her time between helping Hagrid with Norbert, alongside Hermione, Harry, and Ron, running D&D games, studying with Mr Potts, and helping Mr Filch in his lair. She'd have fallen behind in classes had Draco not taken it upon himself to keep her up to speed, as Hermione was consumed with her own studies. It wasn't until Mr Filch brought it up that she realized how tired she'd gotten.

"How goes Hagrid's dragon?" he'd asked one day while working on restoring a painting that was in need of a spot of cleaning. Nothing Peeves had done, it was just time.

"Bigger by the day and it doesn't seem to show any sign of stopping," said Rosalina, thinking back on potions. She was sure that she'd gotten the last ingredient wrong.

Then it occurred to her what he'd said.

"Wait, um, I mean, what dragon?" she stammered, trying to seem nonchalant about it.

"Hagrid's dragon. I've seen his cabin, and Madam Pince was wondering what he was on about with those dragon tending books a few weeks back. And you've smelt of sulfur and whiskey lately, so unless you've taken up drinking and setting explosions, that generally means one thing. I'm not an idiot, you know," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Am I in trouble?" asked Rosalina, feeling very small.

"Are you going to help him breed more dragons, or is it just the one?" said Mr Filch, his face steady.

"Just the one. It's a Norwegian Ridgeback," she said, gulping.

He took a deep breath at that, but when he let it out, his shoulders slumped, then he shrugged.

"If anyone can properly tend a dragon, it's Rubeus Hagrid. Has it bit you?" said Mr Filch, switching as if he'd decided to start talking about the weather instead.

"No. It's got Hagrid a couple times, but nothing nasty. And Norbert, that's the dragon, seems to know who I am, which is really wicked! At least, it knows that I'm there to give it food when I come. I don't know how smart they can get, but it seems clever enough," said Rosalina, cheering up now that she knew she wasn't in trouble.

"Dragons can get quite clever. There's a reason they're famed for riddles and valued treasures. They also get large fast, so I hope he's ready for that. They're lucky to have you about for more reasons than one," said Mr Filch as he got back to restoring the painting.

And larger it got, seeming to double in size each week. Hagrid had moved it to a shed near his home one night, but even that was getting to be too small for it.

"Hagrid, you've got to let it go. We might have been able to hide it for a while, but what are you going to do once it's fully grown?" asked Hermione one day while they were out feeding it.

"Just let it out into the forest, it's not like there's anything there that'll hurt it now," said Ron, tossing Norbert a piece of meat, which it snatched out of the air as soon as it was close to it. It really did seem like it knew them, though it only was close to Hagrid.

"He's still a baby, though, he can't fend for himself yet," said Hagrid, and Norgert put his head down next to Hagrid's so that he would scratch it.

"It's not that you should just abandon it to the woods. Just … relocate it there. Let it get used to living that way, so that it can do it's own thing when it's old enough," said Rosalina, who'd begun to come around to their way of thinking.

"What would you say to that, Norbert?" asked Hagrid after a moment of silence.

Norbert put its head near Hagrid's, almost touching it, then it glanced at the woods again.

Home. Mummy. Safe, murmured Norbert in parseltongue, looking from Hagrid to the woods and back again. Rosalina and Hermione had spoken a bit of it in front of the dragon, but they'd not known that it would learn it.

Which almost settled the matter.

Almost.

"You wouldn't believe what I saw down in Hagrid's shed a few days ago," Rosalina overheard Pansy saying in Potions class a few days later.

"What was it? More muck for that oaf's house?" said Goyle, snickering to himself as if he'd just told a very smart joke. His potion was a foul smelling gray color.

"Like you're one to be calling people oafs," said Crabbe, and they nearly came to blows, a thing that had been happening more and more often after the Christmas holidays. It seemed that what little friendship they'd had was coming to an end. The only thing that held him back was Neville, who was his potions partner yet again, their friendship having grown over the last few months.

"No! It was a dragon! An ugly, horrible little black dragon. And aren't dragons forbidden, Draco?" she asked him, batting her eyes all the while.

"I, um, I don't know. I know you're not allowed to breed them, but you need more than one for that. If there is a dragon, I mean," said Draco, not looking up at anyone and focusing very hard on his potion.

Hermione, for her part, puffed up like a pufferfish but said nothing, as did Harry and Ron.

"Well, I'm certain that they are, no matter how many of the wretched things there are," said Pansy.

"That is a very serious accusation, Ms Parkinson," said Professor Snape, manifesting almost from say from the High Table, and she paled. "I shall be sure to take it to the headmaster."

Crabbe and Neville were by her side before she could even think, each one having grabbed an arm and forced her back into her seat before she could do anything.

"Nothing you can do," said Neville.

"Even if it is true," finished Crabbe.

"I'm aware. It just seems so wrong that such lawbreaking would happen, that I simply had to tell you," said Pansy, sneering over at Rosalina, Hermione, Harry and Ron.

After class the four of them had tried to find time to warn Hagrid, but they just didn't have the chance. Other classes and a general sense of over-watchfulness from the staff kept them inside.

Which was how that afternoon it seemed that half of the Hogwarts student body (or at least, the half that could get out of or didn't have classes) was on the green, watching Hagrid and Dumbledore march towards the shed near Hagrid's home.

"I don't know what yer lookin' for, but there's no dragon in here, I can promise you that," they heard Hagrid say, and then, after a muffled silence, Dumbledore and Hagrid emerged, Hagrid sweating and grinning like they'd never seen before and Dumbledore tut tutting.

"I'm sure that it was just over-excitement on the part of Ms Parkinson. I shall have to have a word with her," said Dumbledore.

Rosalina, Hermione, Ron and Harry all ran out to the shed, but there was no sign of the dragon. Indeed, it looked as it had looked before Hagrid had even moved it there.

Maybe it moved itself, said Rosalina to Hermione in parseltongue as there were too many ears that might talk were around.

Maybe, said Ron, also in parseltongue, and Rosalina stared at him. He went scarlet. "I learned. It's useful. Sorry for being a prat about it on the train," he stammered out to her as she stared. Hermione had the decency to look bashful as well, at least.

"Well. All right then. At least this is over," said Harry, clearing his throat.

"Almost," said Rosalina. She took Finley, who'd been around her shoulders, down and set him on the ground.

Find Norbert. Keep him company. We don't want him to be lonely, said Rosalina. Finley gave her a last little squeeze, then vanished into the forest.

"Will he be ok out there?" asked Ron as Finley disappeared from view.

"He'll be fine," said Rosalina. "He's got a dragon."