Thoughts: 'Blah. Blah. Blah.'

Flashback: Blah. Blah. Blah. ( [END]FLASHBACK before/after them)

Hedwig: "Blah. Blah. Blah."

Parseltongue: {Blah. Blah. Blah.}

Letters/Articles/Writing: Blah. Blah. Blah.

Chapter 20

As Harry enters his dorm room, he feels a sense and warmth, a feeling of home and comfort. He thinks of all the good memories he has made in this room. This room has given him the opportunity to forge relationships and cultivate them into something powerful and imperishable, something that he can no longer live without.

He sighs, closing eyes for a moment before walking over to his four poster bed, setting his trunk and satchel on top of the blanket. He hears Draco come in behind him and he turns, noticing the absence of Blaise and Theo. He raises an eyebrow.

"They got sucked into a quidditch debate; Whether or not Slytherin will beat Gryffindor this year." Draco says, his tone laced with amusement.

"Ah, I wish them luck."

Harry turns back to his bed, his eyes honing in on a medium-sized parcel that is wrapped in a nondescript, parchment colored paper. He walks around to the side of his bed, sitting down heavily and picking up the parcel.

"What's that?" Draco inquires from across the room, making his way to his own bed and setting down his things.

"I don't know Draco, a bunny?" Harry pointedly looks at Draco, his face deadpan and entirely serious.

"Oi, I am so not in the mood for your sarcasm, Potter."

Harry grumbles from his spot on his bed as Draco walks over to sit next to him. Draco nudges Harry with his shoulder. "Come on then, don't leave me in suspense."

Harry chuckles, moving to untie the string that holds the paper together. The paper falls away, revealing a bundle of shimmering fabric. He discards the paper, taking the bundle in his hands. It unfolds into the shape of a cloak and Harry holds it at arm's length, away from the bed.

"What is it?" Draco says, a bewildered expression adorning his features.

"I'm not entirely sure…" Harry trails off, inspecting the cloak, turning it this way and that.

"Put it on."

Harry does as he's told, wrapping the cloak around his body. Unknown to him, his body instantly disappears from view, causing Draco to gasp and jump back slightly on the bed.

"What!? What is it!?" Harry looks down and immediately begins a frantic search for his body. "AH! My body, bloody hell! Where is it? Did it run away!? I know I'm annoying, but I can't be that bad!"

"Okay, okay, just calm down! Your body did not run away. What the hell goes through your disturbed mind sometimes." Draco takes hold of Harry's shoulders, stilling his jerky movements. "It's an invisibility cloak. I've read about them, but I've never actually seen one before. This is fantastic!" Draco takes a part of the cloak in his hand, the fabric sliding through his fingers like liquid. "Who sent it? Is there a note?"

"I'm not sure." Harry shrugs the cloak from his shoulders and places it on the bed, shuffling over to where the wrapping paper is piled on top of the covers. When he picks it up, a small slip of paper falls to the quilt.

Dropping the wrappings, Harry picks up the note, turning it over to reveal words written in an elegant scrawl.

"Your father left this in

my possession before he

died.

It is time it was returned

to you.

Use it well"

Harry finishes reading the note, handing it over to Draco when prompted. Draco reads it, turning to Harry when he's done.

"Who do you think wrote this?"

"I know who wrote it." Harry says darkly, grabbing the note from Draco and crushing it in his hand. "Dumbledore"

"What? How could you possibly know that?"

Harry throws the crushed note across the room, flopping back on the bed. "The handwriting; I recognize it from the sign up sheet for the christmas holidays."

Draco lays back on the bed too, glancing over at Harry who has his arm over his eyes. "Well, why would he give this to you? You aren't exactly on the best of terms."

"Wow, really? I hadn't noticed." Harry mutters sarcastically, huffing out a tired breath. Harry feels Draco smack him on the stomach. He decides to ignore it, thoroughly surprising his friend. "It's obviously part of something nefarious. He wouldn't just give me something like this, especially given the fact that I haven't exactly followed his plan so far." Harry interrupts Draco's inevitable questioning as to his strangely passive behavior.

There is a brief, contemplative silence that spreads between the two for a few moments. "You know, one thing's for sure, I'm going to take full advantage of this. If Dumbledore means to manipulate me, then he's about to be sorely disappointed. I am not going to let myself become his pawn!" Harry slams his hand against his mattress as he growls out the end of his speech.

"Just remember that I'm with you, okay? Don't make the mistake of thinking that you're alone." Draco reassures.

Harry lifts his arms slightly, casting a side-glance at his friend, his gaze appreciative. "Thanks, Draco."

~~~Time Skip~~~

Harry wakes up in a cold sweat around 1:00 am. He sits up in bed and feels out for his familiar. They had spoken yesterday about how to go about gathering more information on Nicholas Flammel, and had eventually come up with one answer: To search in the restricted section.

He feels the familiar warmth of Hedwig's presence brush against his mind, reassuring him.

"Everything will be fine, Hatchling."

"Will it? What if something happens. A teacher could find me, which would bring down the reputation of my house. It would take ages for them to forgive me."

"Of course, that's always a possibility, but it will be worth it. Just go, I will alert you if anything goes wrong."

"Thank you, Hedwig."

Harry takes a moment to think about his bond with his familiar. Up until last night, they were only able to speak when they were face to face. However, since they have been spending more time together, their bond has strengthened enough so they can communicate from long distances. It's definitely come in handy, especially during History of Magic when it's all he can do to keep himself from drooling on his notes.

Getting out of bed, Harry quietly slips the invisibility cloak out from inside his trunk's secret compartment, shrugging it over his shoulders and shivering as his body disappears from view.

Harry pads slowly from the room, making his way up the stone steps and into the Slytherin common room. He takes in the empty space, not used to the lack of people. He walks silently to the dungeon door, opening it just enough for him to slip through. Closing the door, he surveys the dungeon corridor, looking left and right to find only empty space.

Harry walks down the darkened corridor, his footsteps, despite his effort to keep them quiet, echo off the stone walls. As he gets closer to the library, his nerves settle slightly, dulling to a quiet throb at the back of his head.

Entering the library, Harry works his way through the numerous shelves of books until he reaches the very back of the library, stopping at the gothic metal gate that separates the normal library from the restricted section.

"Well, here goes nothing." Harry pushes the gate open, wincing at the creak that resounds through the library at the movement. After pausing to make sure that no one has heard the sound, Harry continues to push open the gate, slipping inside and letting it close behind him with a soft clatter.

As Harry navigates the shelves of books he gets a strange feeling, but he shakes it off and ignores it. Still underneath the invisibility cloak, he scans the titles in front of him for a book on Nicholas Flammel. When he finds it, he nearly jumps for joy, feeling as if he's one step closer to solving the mystery. He takes the book off the shelf and slowly opens it, hoping to find all the answers he's looking for. However, as soon as the book is open, a loud shrieking fills the room, coming from the book in Harry's hands.

Harry quickly snaps the book shut, the sound reverberating through the room, just as the scream had.

"Who's there?"

Harry freezes as he hears Filch's voice, the book halfway back on the shelf. 'Oh no…'

Harry douses his lumos and makes a run for it, taking care to be as silent as possible as he exits the restricted section at top speed.

He continues running down the hall, stopping as he comes face to face with none other than his head of house, Severus Snape.

Harry stops and backs away slowly, watching as Snape turns away from him and toward another person in the darkened hallway. Harry quickly recognizes the mysterious person as Professor Quirrell.

Suddenly, Snape grabs hold of Quirrell and slams his back to the wall. Harry furrows his brows, wondering what could have provoked this reaction from his Head of House.

"Severus… I-I thought-" Quirrell's stuttering is cut off by Professor Snape.

"You do not want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Snape growls out, sneering at the other professor.

"What do you mean?" Quirrell trips over his words, the stutter more out of fear than anything else.

Snape's eyes darken. "You know perfectly well what I mean."

Snape whips his head around, looking directly at Harry, and though Harry knows that Snape can't see him, he can't help but tremble with anxiety. Finally, Snape looks away, turning back to Quirrell.

"We'll have another chat soon… When you decide where your loyalties lie." Snapes statement confuses Harry.

'What could he mean by that? Did Professor Quirrell do something?'

Before Harry can think anymore on the confrontation, Filch comes sweeping by him urgently, gaining the attention of the two professors.

"Professors." Filch addresses.

"Mister Filch." Snape responds, nodding his head curtly.

"I heard a commotion in the restricted section. That means there's a student out of bed."

Snape raises an eyebrow. "I see." He drawls, glancing one more time at Quirrell before stalking down the hall, no doubt to search for the student. At least now Harry knows that he won't be caught by Snape; He's going in the opposite direction of the dungeons, which is where Harry is going.

The others scurry off after him, leaving Harry alone in the dark corridor. Once the two professors are completely out of sight, Harry books it to the dungeons, throwing all attempts at being quiet out the window.

He reaches the door to the common room and quickly mutters the password. A sense of relief floods through him as he sees the door open for him. When the door shuts behind him, he falls back onto it, taking a deep, shuddering breath and resisting the urge to slide to the floor dramatically.

"That… was way too close." Harry says to the empty common room. He takes another moment to calm his racing heart, bringing his hand to his chest. "'I'll alert you if anything goes wrong'." Harry mocks his familiar. "You could've warned me, you know."

"Calm down, you're fine. Besides, a little scare is good for the soul, don't you think?" Hedwig replies with a snarky tone, and Harry can practically feel the snowy owl's eye roll.

Harry groans internally, shaking his head before pushing his body away from the door and walking quickly across the silent common room. Taking the stairs two at a time, Harry arrives at the door to his dormitory. Quietly opening the door, he slips inside, making his way to his four-poster. He toes off his shoes and crawls into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Goodnight, Hatchling."

~~~Time Skip~~~

"You did what?!"

"Draco, listen, it really wasn't that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal… Not that big of a deal?! You could have been expelled, Harry! Did you even think at all?!" Draco is pacing around their dormitory, gesturing wildly, flailing his arms above his head.

"Wow, Draco, looking real graceful over there." Harry drawls.

"Don't you dare make light of this, Harry Potter." Draco ceases his pacing, turning to face Harry, his steely grey eyes capturing the attention of Harry's emerald green ones. Draco reaches out and pokes a finger to Harry's chest threateningly. "Next time you want to do something stupid, at least tell me about it first so I can be ready to bail you out."

"I- Okay; I'm sorry, Draco. It won't happen again." Harry hangs his head, shame heating up his cheeks, turning them bright red.

Draco sighs heavily. "Just, at least tell me that you found something."

"Well, you see, what had happened was-"

"Bloody hell! You mean to tell me that you went through all of that trouble and you didn't even learn anything?!" And, just like that, Draco is yelling again.

"THE BLOODY BOOKS WOULDN'T STOP YELLING AT ME!" Harry exclaims loudly, flailing his arms.

"I… I'm sorry, what?"

"The books, Draco. They yell at you. It's quite disconcerting, really."

Draco gapes at the raven haired boy. "You know what, I really don't want to know." Draco rubs a hand down his face and sighs again, rolling his eyes up into his head, as if he is praying to the gods for help in dealing with his eccentric friend.

Harry grumbles and crosses his arms moodily.

"We need to figure out why the philosopher's stone is at the school, and we need to do it quickly." Draco takes a seat on Harry's bed, putting his head in his hands.

Harry takes a moment to think, wracking his brain for any possible solution. Suddenly, Harry has a revelation.

"That's it!" Harry yells, a smile lighting up his face. Draco tilts his head questioningly, a habit he has picked up from Harry. "We can go to Hagrid! If we surprise him with our knowledge of the philosopher's stone then we may be able to get some information out of him."

"That might just work. When should we go?"

"Tomorrow, a few hours after dinner; We'll go back to the restricted section too. Maybe you'll have more luck with the screaming books. I think they just don't like me." Draco chuckles.

"We'll miss curfew." Draco points out.

"I know; It'll be fine." Harry comes to sit next to Draco. The blond nods, bumping shoulders with his friend.

"I'm glad you weren't caught. Things would be frightfully boring without you, Potter." Draco blushes, Harry mimicking the action quickly.

"Thanks, Malfoy; You too."

~~~Time Skip~~~

Three hours after dinner, Harry and Draco find themselves walking through the deserted Hogwarts corridors underneath Harry's invisibility cloak. The two of them concealed under the cloak makes the journey a bit more tedious, their walk more of an awkward shuffle than anything else.

Harry had filled Draco in on the confrontation he had witnessed between Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell in a hushed conversation at dinner. They both agreed that it could have something to do with the stone, but neither boy knows what that "something" could be.

Once they reach the restricted section, they discard the cloak and begin perusing the shelves. As Draco plucks a book off the shelf Harry turns to him.

"Be careful."

Draco scoffs, opening the book swiftly, and to Harry's surprise, nothing happens. Draco smirks and looks up at Harry.

"I told you! They just like you better. Honestly, last night they were acting as if I had just set their house on fire or something." Harry crosses his arms moodily, huffing and looking down at his shoes.

Draco just rolls his eyes and goes back to the book, quickly reading through the worn pages of the tomb.

An hour later they leave the library, thoroughly unsatisfied.

Harry groans. "Well that… Was an utter waste of our time."

"You can say that again."

Once again under the cloak, they continue to walk in silence, sneaking out of the castle and down to Hagrid's hut.

"Are you sure he'll be awake." Draco inquires.

"Well, the fire's going, so I'd say so."

Once again lapsing into a comfortable silence, they continue down the hill, stopping when they reach Hagrid's door. Harry reaches out a hand and knocks.

When Hagrid opens the door he has a confused expression on his face. This confusion abruptly turns to shock when Harry and Draco reveal themselves. Hagrid startles.

"Oh! Ya nearly scared me half t' death, Harry."

"Sorry, Hagrid. We just really need to speak with you." Harry pulls the rest of the cloak off of him and Draco, bundling it in his hands and stowing it in the satchel he has brought with him.

"It's past curfew! An' besides, I'm in no mood fur company today." Hagrid goes to shut the door with a nod of his head before Harry and Draco slam their hands against the gnarled wood.

"We know about the philosopher's stone!" Harry and Draco chorus in unison. Startling Hagrid once more.

"Oh. Ya know about tha, do ya?" Hagrid sighs in resignation. "Well, I guess you outta come in then."

Hagrid pulls the door open completely and steps aside to allow them entrance into his hut. There is a small fire burning in the fireplace with a cauldron simmering above it. Harry looks to his right, noticing Hagrid's large dog, Fang, laying in the corner.

"Hey, Fang! I missed you!" Harry rushes over to greet the massive canine, kneeling to his level and scratching at his neck and ears. Fang immediately begins wagging his tail, licking at Harry's face, causing the young wizard to giggle wildly. Unknown to Harry, the other two occupants of the small hut are staring at him fondly, a hint of amusement playing in their eyes.

"Well, how exac'ly did ya find out 'bout the stone? Nobody's s'posed ta know 'bout it." Hagrid goes to sit at the small wooden table in the middle of the room. Draco follows and Harry stands to go take his seat as well, rubbing Fang on the belly one last time before doing so.

"We just figured it out. But the specifics don't really matter." Draco says smoothly.

"He's right." Harry begins as he sits down. "What does matter is that we think someone's trying to steal it." Hagrid's eyes widen in shock.

"Steal it!? Who would wan' ta do that!? 'Sides, the stone's well protected; All the teachers pitched in on it. Settin' up traps and such to keep people out. And there's no way anyones even gettin' into where it's being hidden. They wouldn't be able ta get past Fluffy." Hagrid's voice raises slightly, trying to get his point across.

"Wait, Fluffy? As in the three headed dog?" Harry asks, shocked.

"That thing has a name!?" Draco exclaims.

"Well o' course he's got a name! Wait…" Hagrid pauses, narrowing his eyes at the two first years. "How do ya know about Fluffy?"

"Um…" Harry rubs the back of his neck nervously. "That's not really important right now."

Hagrid seems to consider this response for a tense moment before accepting Harry's answer and continuing the conversation. "But like I said, ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy. Not a soul knows how. Except me and Dumbledore, that is." Hagrid stops speaking, sighing. I shouldn't 'ave told ya that." Hagrid opens his mouth to speak again, but his attention is soon drawn by a rattling sound. "Oh!"

Hagrid hurries over to the cauldron that has been sitting over the fire on the far side of Hagrid's hut, grabbing two large oven mitts along the way. He grabs something from inside the cauldron, shifting it quickly between his hands and hissing in discomfort at the heat radiating from it.

Hagrid sets the object on the table, removing the mitts from his hands before sitting down again.

"Uh, Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry inquires curiously, tilting his head as he inspects the mysterious, ovular object that has been placed on the table.

"That… It's a… Well, it's…"

"Is that a dragon egg!? How did you manage to get one. And why? Hagrid, what could you possibly want with a dragon?" Draco jumps in, cutting Hagrid off.

"I won it off a stranger I met down at a pub. Seemed quite glad ta be rid of it, as a matter a fact." Hagrid seems proud of this fact, straightening in his chair and jutting out his chin slightly.

"You won it… Is that even legal?" Harry leans closer to the egg as he speaks, trying to look at it from all angles. For all he knows, this is the only chance he'll get to see a dragon egg in person. He wants to get as much information as he can while he has the chance.

"Well, not exac'ly but-"

The egg begins to shudder and the shell starts to crack, tiny fractures spider webbing across the egg's surface. Suddenly, the egg seems to explode outward, sending little bits of shell flying. A piece ends up in Draco's hair, and Harry is sure as hell not going to tell him about it. 'He'll figure it out eventually.' Harry reasons. Besides, Draco's reaction to finding it later is sure to be priceless.

Harry looks back to the table to see a baby dragon, about as big as Hagrid's hand, stretching out its wings. The dragon lets out a squeaky roar. Harry's heart melts.

"He's so adorable!" Harry coos gently, staring in awe at the baby dragon.

"You do realize that when he grows up he could eat you in one bite, right?" Draco says flatly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat.

"You think that will change my mind? You obviously don't know me as well as you say you do." Harry teases, earning a glare from the blond seated next to him.

Draco turns back to the dragon, fixing it with an evaluating gaze. His eyes widen slightly and he gasps. "That's a Norwegian Ridgeback!"

"I know; I'nt he beautiful!" The dragon walks on shaky legs over to Hagrid. "Oh! Bless him, look, he knows his mummy! Hello, Norbert." The dragon, now officially named Norbert, looks at Hagrid and squeaks.

"Norbert?" Harry questions.

"Yeah, well, he's got ta have a name, doen't he? Don't ya Norbert?" Hagrids runs his fingers back and forth under Norbert's chin lovingly and coos softly at him.

Norbert sneezes, and just like that, Hagrid's beard is on fire. Yeah, Harry is definitely questioning the safety of owning a dragon. Hagrid quickly pats at his smouldering beard, successfully putting out the tiny flames.

"Oh, well, he'll have to be trained up a bit first, of course." Norbert sneezes again, turning away from Hagrid to look at Draco and Harry. Hagrid squints, looking at the window behind the two boys. "Who's that?"

Harry and Draco whip around to look at the window and see none other than Ron Weasley peering into the room. Once the redhead knows he's been spotted, he scampers off into the night, no doubt going to find a teacher.

"Weasley." Draco spits out the name like it's acid on his tongue.

"Oh, dear." Hagrid mutters. "You boys best be going now." Hagrid stands and begins to hurriedly shoo them from the hut.

"You're right; Thank you, Hagrid." Harry looks at Norbert one last time before rushing out the door with Draco in tow, the two getting under the invisibility cloak and setting off at a run for the castle.