A chapter longer than usual! I didn't want it to make it two parts so enjoy. Please let me know in the comments what you think!

Year One - Chapter 23

—Draco, promise me you won't tell anyone about what you saw the other day.

—And let you get away with it as always?

—Please, Draco, I know you don't like Harry, but this will also affect Hagrid.

Draco arched a brow and kept organizing the jars of ingredients in the shelves; apparently, Uncle Lucius and my dad got to an agreement and he would have to take his detention with me for changing the labels of the ingredients. So now here we were, cleaning my dad's office in the worst way imaginable: without magic, like muggles.

—I don't remember that you cared so much for whatever happened to that man, didn't you lied in the face to Uncle Severus saying he was lying, and Weasel had attacked me?

—Yes, I did, but that doesn't mean it was okay to do it, and I already apologized to Hagrid. Please, Dray, just be on my side just this once.

— I've already told you that I don't like it when you call me like that.

—Stop talking and keep cleaning.

I heard my dad's voice from the door, but at any moment I heard it open, how long has he been there? Did he hear what I said about the dragon? I turned to see him, but he didn't look angry or anything, just more tired than usual, he had a pile of papers in his hand, he sat down in his desk and started reading them. I suppose that's a good sign that he didn't hear a thing.

When detention was over, I made a beeline to the library; Harry, Ron and Hermione were supposed to wait for me so that the four of us would walk together to Hagrid's. Things between us looked like they were improving but I wasn't sure if we were friends again or if we were together only because of the dragon thing.

—Hey, guys. Ready to go with Hagrid?

—Did you get Malfoy to say nothing about it? —Ron said while holding the door of the library and waiting for us to get out.

—I don't know, Ron. I mean, I asked him not to say anything, but he couldn't say anything else because my dad was close, listening. I guess that means something, right? He could've told my dad at that moment.

—That idiot… Why can't he just keep his nose out of other people business?

—Well, maybe you should've been more careful instead of saying out loud what Hagrid is doing.

To my surprise, Harry and Ron turned to see Hermione, was she the one talking about it? That's weird, I had imagined it was Ron who messed up…

Harry knocked at the door and after Hagrid opened the door, we all sat around the table, the dragon was sleeping in the bed and it was almost as big as the bed.

—Have you decided what are you going to do with him, Hagrid?

—What do you mean, Eileen? Well, I'll feed him and take care of him.

—You should let him go, Hagrid. —Harry said.— Let him free.

—I can't! He's so little, he wouldn't survive.

I turned to see the dragon, in a week it was probably going to be as big as me, besides, at any moment someone else will notice that something is going on, if not maybe because Hagrid isn't doing his job, then maybe because the floor is covered in feathers and bottles of brandy. Merlin's pants, there's already smoke coming out of his nostrils and it won't take long before it starts spitting fire. I just hope that any of us is not here to see it.

—I decided to call him Norbert —Hagrid said while looking at the dragon as if it were a human baby. Yup. Definitely not weird.— He knows me now, Norbert! Norbert! Where's mommy?

—He's already lost his marbles. —Ron whispered to Harry.

—But, Hagrid, in two weeks Norbert will be as big as your house and Malfoy could tell it to Dumbledore at any moment.

—I know, Harry. I-I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him.

—Charlie. —Harry said while looking at Ron, I got closer to Hermione, who was sitting to my left and whispered.

—Hagrid's craziness already affected Harry; we should leave before it's too late.

—You're also losing your mind! I'm Ron.

—No, Charlie, your brother… We could send Norbert to him and he will take care of him!

—Uh, Harry, how do you think to do that? I don't think there are enough owls here to carry a dragon.

—Of course not, Eileen, but we could send him a letter and ask him how, they must be moving dragons all the time, right, Ron?

—Yeah, I supposed, what do you think, Hagrid?

Hagrid kept looking at Norbert for a couple of seconds and sighed.

—I guess so… I always liked yer brother and I know he'll take care of him.

—You should go to Madam Pomfrey, Ron. That bite looks awful; besides, I've already told you the fangs of a Norwegian Ridgeback are venomous.

—And say, what, Eileen? That I got bitten by a dog? I haven't even seen a dog around here besides Fang.

—I don't know, but that won't disappear so easily. Hide your hand or else the Fat Lady will start asking questions. —Rod hid his bloodied hand in one of his pockets before the Fat Lady could see it.

—Password?

—Audacissimus! —The portrait opened, and I helped Ron climbed the hole.

—Why the password is never something easy? Like Gryffindor or I don't know.

—Sure thing, Ron, and let anyone enter so easily? Now I know why you're not a Ravenclaw.

Ron looked at me and pushed me slightly with his shoulder, which made me chuckle. When we entered the common room, we saw Harry and Hermione sitting by the fire. It was late, so there was no one else in here.

—It bit me! —Ron pulled his hand out of his pocket and showed it to them.— I won't be able to write in a week. I don't understand why Hagrid thinks that dragons are like teddy bears when they're the worst creatures I've met in my whole life!

—And he also made us leave when Norbert bit Ron, because he thought we had scared him. The worst of all is that he was singing him a lullaby when we left. We've lost him.

We heard a little tap in one of the windows, it was Hedwig and she had a letter in her beak. Harry hurried to open the window and grab the letter; it should be Ron's brother answer. We all got closer together around the letter and started to read.

Dear Ron,

I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy to bring it here. I think the best way to do it will be to send him over with some friends who are coming to visit me next week. Problem is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you take the Norwegian Ridgeback to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Charlie W.

Take Norbert to the tallest tower? Without being seen? How are we supposed to do that?

—Well, we have my invisibility cape. It won't be so difficult, it's big enough to cover two people and Norbert.

I was still sitting with Neville during classes and meals, so I was surprised when the next day we both arrived at Charms classroom and saw Ron's hand all swollen and twice its usual size. I knew he should've gone to the infirmary. He kept going to classes as if nothing had happened, but before Defense Against the Dark Arts started, his hand had turned into an ugly green thing that almost made me want to return my breakfast as soon as I saw it.

When our last class ended, Harry, Hermione and I made a beeline to the infirmary; when we saw Ron, I could tell he had an awful time.

—It's not just my hand, even if it looks like it's going to fall off.

—Looks like? —I whispered.— Ron, I'll be amazed if you still have it tomorrow.

—Shut up, Eileen; Malfoy came with the excuse that he wanted me to lend him a book, he kept laughing at me and then threatened to tell Madam Pomfrey what had bitten me. In the end, I did tell her it was a stray dog.

—Doesn't matter. It'll all end this Saturday at midnight. —Hermione said in an attempt to make him calm down, but it looks like it had the contrary effect, he was so pale you could see his freckles so clearly.

—Oh no! The book that Malfoy took had Charlie's letter inside! Now he'll know when and how we're getting rid of Norbert!

Tomorrow everything will be over, tomorrow Charlie's friends will come and take Norbert and my life will finally go back to normal, I just need to get to the end of my detention without my dad finding about anything and everything will be okay.

I was walking down the stairs of the Entrance Hall when I saw Roger, he was sitting at the end of the stairs talking with his friends; we still hadn't talked since that day, what am I supposed to do? Should I talk to him? Or just ignore him? What did that kiss mean, for starters? Do his friends know about it? Would he be embarrassed if everyone found out that he not only talks with the daughter of the bat of the dungeons but also that he kissed her? Ugh! Boys are so complicated!

I decided that the best would be to act as if I hadn't seen him, so I walked down the stairs and make my way to the door that leads to the dungeons. I don't know what would be best: if Roger came and talk to me or not. What does it mean, if he doesn't come? Just that he didn't see me, or he regrets doing that?

—Eileen!

I smiled but quickly changed my face before I turned to see Roger; when I turned, I saw him walking towards me and all his friends were looking at me curiously.

—Hi, Roger. —Unconsciously I put a strand of hair behind my ear, what the Nargles am I doing? I've never cared how my hair looks like. It has always been straight, horrible and greasy and will always be like that.

—Hey… —He smiled and started to mess up his hair with his right hand. He looks so cute when he does that.— Where are you going? Want me to accompany you?

—I don't really think you want to come, I'm headed to my dad's office for detention.

—No problem, I'll go with you.

He opened the door for me and waited until I walked in, we started to walk down the stairs and could feel his hand touching mine sometimes, but he never tried to grab it.

—How are your detentions going?

—Awful, really… One time he made me squish insects and he knows how much I hate them.

—I'm sorry to hear that. But hey, at least the year is almost over, so it'll be over soon.

We got to my dad's office, but I just stood still, in front of the door, I didn't want to get inside and didn't want to stop talking with Roger.

—Hey, about the other day... —He couldn't finish what he was about to say, because the door opened suddenly, and my dad was standing there. Seriously! It looks like he's a spy and is always listening to everything!— Oh, ah… Good day, Professor Snape.

—Good day, Mr Davies. Eileen, inside.

I sighed and quickly smiled at Roger; really, my dad couldn't have opened the door at the worst moment.

—See you, Roger.

—Good luck, Eileen.

I entered his office and stood still in front of my dad's desk, I felt a little bit more relaxed because the day when I had to handle the insects, the jars were on top of the desk and today there was nothing.

—I did not know Davies was your friend.

I heard the door closed and then his steps getting closer to me; as I've been doing these days, I just kept quiet, looking at the papers on his desk.

He sat in his usual chair and could feel his gaze on me, I didn't think he would try to enter my mind at this moment, but I still started to empty my mind of any thought I could have.

—I hope that, unlike the twins, Mr Davies will finally make you see reason and stop fooling around. —Come on, Eileen, just ignore him.— I don't appreciate that you keep ignoring me like that, when are you going to understand that this is for your own good?

When he realized that I wasn't going to answer, he just sighed and with a movement of his wand, I heard a door unlock.

—Go the classroom, clean everything.

I walked to the potions classroom and saw the thousands of cauldrons around me, I pulled two hair ties our of my pockets, the weather these days has been a little warm, so now I carried a couple of them in the case I started to feel hot and wanted to fix my hair.

After putting my hair in two ponytails, I walked up to the cauldrons and started to clean them. Some of them were easy to clean but others looked like they were used to create the stickiest potion in the world, it didn't matter how much I scrubbed, what was in there wouldn't come out.

I heard the door opening and I saw my dad enter but I didn't pay him any attention, I didn't have anything to say to him and also this wouldn't come out, what the Nargles is this? Is this gum?

Ew! I think it is gum! I don't understand why they do this.

—I have noticed that you have spent more time with your… Friends, Potter, Granger and Weasley, I assume that something good happened between you to get back together?

—Where's Draco? I thought he was supposed to have his detention with me. —Well done, Eileen, that will make him forget about the other thing and have fewer probabilities of finding out about the dragon.

—That is right, he had his detention last Friday with you.

—Wait… Are you saying that…? He could've killed me and only gets one detention while I go to a village that's completely safe and I get weekly detention for the rest of the year?

—You went twice.

—That doesn't matter! I never put anyone's life at risk! It's not fair! You've always been so unfair with me! —I had my fist clenched with so much force that I could feel my nails digging into the palm of my hand.— I hate you! I wish you were gone far away, and mum were here!

He didn't say anything, I could feel the tears in my eyes, with my right arm I cleaned them before they fell; I dropped the cauldron I was holding into the floor and left running from his office, I could hear his voice calling me but it was fading with every step. I don't care now in the big problem I just got myself into but I couldn't stand being with him right now.

I entered the nearest bathroom I could find and started to clean my hands, they were still covered with soap and Merlin knows what else; I didn't want to, but I started to cry.

—Eileen?

I got scared when I heard someone saying my name that I even splashed some water over my clothes, I thought that my dad had somehow managed to get into the girls' bathroom, but when I looked in the mirror, I saw Hermione standing behind me. I splashed some water over my face to try and cover the fact that I was crying but it didn't work, my eyes were still a little bit red.

—I know, I'll talk with Draco about tomorrow, you don't have to worry.

I closed the sink handle and walked to the door, but Hermione was closer to it, so she closed it and leaned against the door to avoid me getting out.

—We need to talk, Eileen.

—There's nothing to talk about, now, could you please let me leave?

—No. I want to know why you were crying.

—It's not enough for you to be an insufferable know-it-all in classes? Now you also want to be an insufferable know-it-all in my life? —I could see in her eyes that she was hurt, but still stood still leaning against the door.— I'm sorry, I just… I'm having a pretty awful year that gets worse with each day.

I sat, leaning my back against the wall and she did the same, we were in silence for a couple of seconds when I finally decided to tell her about everything; the detentions with my dad, the reason why I was having detention (without mentioning Occlumency, of course), why I wasn't allowed to talk to the twins anymore, what Draco did and the simple detention he got, and I also decided to tell her about the kiss with Roger because I had no one else to talk to and I was going crazy.

—I think… Maybe detention every week is a little too much, but I think that Professor Snape did it because he worries about you and well, of course he does, you're his daughter, his only daughter. That's just how parents are, Eileen.

—But my Aunt and Uncle have never been like that. Never, since I have memory have they punished Draco for doing something wrong, my dad was the only one that would punish us when we were at my place and he was always harsher with me than him. Sometimes I feel like he hates me…

Someone started knocking at the door, but we both ignored it.

—Just because the Malfoys never punish him doesn't mean that that was okay, Eileen. And Professor Snape doesn't hate you, on the contrary.

—Open the door! I need to go to the bathroom! —Someone kept knocking at the door and when we finally got up from the floor and let her in, the poor Hufflepuff girl ran to one of the bathrooms.

—So… Do you like Roger Davies?

—I don't know, I've never liked someone in that way.

—Me neither.

I didn't know what else to say, I suddenly felt a little bit uncomfortable talking about him, so I just shut my mouth and we walked in silence up to Gryffindor Tower, she went to sit with Harry and I decided to take a nap, I always feel sleepy after crying.

—All right, this is the plan. —Harry said as soon as the last person in the common room left.— Eileen, you are going to look for Malfoy and distract him long enough while we take Norbert up to the Astronomy Tower.

—Great. Try to do it as fast as you can, I don't think I can distract him for a long time.

The three of us left the common room under Harry's invisibility cape; when we got to the corridor that led to the Astronomy Tower I got out of the cape and started to look for Draco.

After a while, I heard him talking with someone.

—But it's true, professor! Potter will come here with a dragon!

Just at that moment, I heard something making noise and after spending so many days feeding Norbert, I knew it was him making that noise, and that meant that Harry and Hermione were already here.

—Who's there? —McGonagall asked, pointing with her wand to somewhere close to where I was, illuminating the floor in front of me (I suppose she was using Lumos) and then I heard some steps, and if she gets closer, she will definitely find out about Norbet. There's no other option.

—It's me. —I said, coming out of the statue from where I was hiding and standing in front of the light, it was so bright I had to cover my eyes with one arm.

—Miss Snape! What are you doing here? It's midnight!

—I was… Uhm…

—She also knows about the dragon! Isn't that right, Leen?

—Yes! I was… Uhm… I heard Harry saying that they would take the dragon to the dungeons instead of the Astronomy Tower and let it free close to the Slytherin common room, that's why I came, to warn Draco.

—I'm extremely disappointed, Miss Snape, you should know that there's not a chance of a dragon being here in Hogwarts. Miss Snape, you will wait for me in my office while I take Mister Malfoy to talk with Professor Snape. Follow me.

Draco and I started to walk behind her; I just hope that Harry and Hermione don't have another trouble while giving Norbert to Charlie.