Chapter 15: Return to Hogwarts

It unsettled Draco that Dagmar seemed more upset after meeting her uncle than when she'd learned her dad died. As the story slowly came out through the day, Draco started to understand. He hated that while he and Dagmar talked, he had to multitask with packing for his trip to Hogwarts the next morning. Draco really didn't want to leave Dagmar alone like this.

Whatever progress Dagmar made was undone by watching Draco fill his rucksack with clothes. "When's the last time we spent more than a night apart?"

"When we had to stay in our dorms at school," Draco said.

"I don't know if that counts." Dagmar narrowed her eyes in thought. "The last time, really, was when I went to Nice with my parents. Herregud, that was a year ago."

Within the last couple months, Draco couldn't point to more than a few hours they'd been separated. Even as they rode out June at Hogwarts, they spent more nights than not in the Room of Requirement.

Draco moved around the bed to Dagmar's side, and sat down between her hip and the edge. "I wish I didn't have to go."

"Don't say that." Dagmar shook her head. "Whether you have to or not, I don't want you to enjoy your job less because of me. Tomorrow should be exciting for you."

"It is," Draco said. "I'll miss you, is all."

"You'll have time to?"

She managed a tight smile, which drew one in kind from Draco. He ran his hand over her forearm, which laid across her stomach. "It's a long flight. I'm sure I'll find a chance to spare you a thought when I get bored of looking at the sea."

For a second, Draco worried Dagmar might not appreciate a joke when her morning had left her sensitive. He relaxed when Dagmar laughed. She rested her free hand on his knee.

"I'll be okay," she assured him. "It's not like you being gone is coming as a surprise. I'll be doing my own thing too."

"I was thinking maybe it's time to break out our messengers again," Draco said. "I could take mine. No guarantee I'll have much time to write in it, but I'd like to be able to check in with you."

"I'll take mine to the hospital tomorrow too, then, just in case."

Dagmar pushed herself upright. Draco melted a little with relief when she kissed him, his lower abdomen glowing warm when she touched his neck. He'd worried about her all day, and was glad to see her bouncing back. She definitely felt more like herself when Draco nestled up between her legs. Dagmar wrapped up around him as best she could, still not too keen on putting much space between them today. It was an easy form of comfort for Draco to oblige.

One of Dagmar's knees hooked in Draco's waist as they laid together afterward. Dagmar ran her fingers through Draco's hair, nails scratching lightly at his scalp.

"Thank you for being so good to me today," Dagmar said.

"You're a labour of love."

Dagmar snorted. "I want you to know I appreciate it, though. It means a lot." Her smile flickered slightly. "You've had to do it a lot for me lately. I don't want to start getting on your nerves because I'm so needy."

"Why would you be on my nerves? It's not like you chose any of this."

"I guess."

"It's also not like you don't return the favour if I've got something going on."

"It doesn't happen as frequently."

"So? Let's not keep score. I always see it more as us versus the problem anyway. If you're dealing with something, it's mine too. It's ours."

"I guess I do the same thing, when you put it like that." Dagmar settled into scratching Draco's back. "It's just sort of hard to feel worth it after everything Uncle Håkon told me earlier. I feel like I cocked up their entire family, and like the only one that really cared about me is gone. My only actual blood relative won't give me a straight answer on anything. When I have nothing tying me to the Ramstads except for my last name, it's hard not to feel crushingly lonely. It's like the only family I have is whatever one I make for myself."

"Is that really so bad?" Draco asked.

"Nei, but it leaves room for me to worry that just as easily as somebody can come into my life, so they can go. I mean. . ." Dagmar's eyes glistened again. "If not even my mum can care that much, how could anyone else?"

"I get why you'd think like that, but it's so wrong." Draco ran his hand over her thigh. "You know that, right?"

Dagmar nodded. "I shouldn't say that. You've always made it clear that's how you and I stand, but I won't lie that maybe my self-esteem took a knock today."

"Yeah." That was easy enough for Draco to agree with. "I can't say if I was in your position I'd feel any different. I just hope you don't take it all to heart. Really, nothing's changed except for the way you look at things. You don't have to have anything to do with your dad's family if you don't want to. You have me. We have our own family basically with our friends, even if we're all our own little islands at the moment."

"It'll be nice to see them all again."

Draco had busied himself that morning sending owls to everyone about coming up for Dagmar's birthday. Theo and Daphne were already going to be here, Luca was just pissing away his summer while he waited to return to Hogwarts, and since Dagmar's birthday fell on a Saturday, it shouldn't be a problem for Blaise. The only one Draco wasn't sure about was Milly, given she was busy with Quidditch training. It would be nice even if she could just pop in for dinner.

"It will be," Draco agreed. "I'm pretty used to not seeing anyone over summer, but it's going to be different now. I wonder if Luca is staying in Britain when he's done school."

"Not if he goes chasing dragons, like you."

"Maybe he'll come here, in that case."

The thought drew a fresh smile out of Dagmar. "I wonder if Blaise would come with him, if they're still together."

"I don't see why he wouldn't."

Draco had mentioned in Luca's letter that he could show him around the reserve when he came up. He had an ulterior motive, to put a face to Luca's application for if he submitted one in December. It made more sense for Luca to try and get on in Romania. Still, Draco could at least give him a glimpse of the profession. Visiting Jotunheimen last summer made Draco hungry for it when he went back to Hogwarts.

Although Dagmar cycled through moods throughout the day, she seemed to land on a good one when she and Draco went to bed at the end of it. Because Draco had something big happening in the morning, he woke up a few times in the night. Draco was happy to see that, in contrast to his unrest, Dagmar was fast asleep.

One time when Draco roused, he was alone in the bed. The bedroom was faintly humid, with the mingled scents of Dagmar's hair products. Combatting that from downstairs was the mouth-watering smell of breakfast. Draco had to swallow frequently as he dressed. Rucksack on one shoulder and his new travel cloaks folded over his other arm, he brought all his things downstairs.

Dagmar was still in a robe, with her hair up in a towel. She brightened when she saw him. "Morning."

"Morning." Draco put an arm around Dagmar's middle and kissed her cheek. "What can I do?"

"Nothing."

Draco took a cursory glance anyway over everything Dagmar had on the go. He couldn't see anything other than Dagmar lacking coffee.

"You have a big trip ahead of you, so I thought I'd send you off with a full stomach," Dagmar said. "There's no real telling how long it might take you all to reach Hogwarts."

"I appreciate the thought."

With excitement mounting and relief to see Dagmar in a similar state of eagerness, Draco's appetite ramped up to suit the full English breakfast he plated for himself. Dagmar ate with him, although not as much, before nipping upstairs to get ready for her day. She'd picked up her Healer uniform early on Friday, when Draco had to go to the hospital for immunization updates. She didn't wear it yet since she wouldn't be on the floor until the afternoon, but Draco's gaze wandered over her regardless when she came back downstairs. Dagmar snorted and smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand. Her cheeks glowed.

Draco held her tightly in front of the fireplace. Dagmar's lips of course felt too soft to leave alone, and Draco drew lungfuls of her scent at the crook of her neck for as long as he could get away with.

Dagmar sighed as the clock ticked past quarter to eight. "I have to go."

"Me too."

She kissed him again. "Have fun. I hope you'll be able to write, but I'll understand if you don't have time."

Draco nodded against her shoulder as he squeezed her one more time. "Love you."

"I love you too."

She stepped into the fireplace. Draco loaded himself up again with a sigh, and tossed some more floo powder into the fire. When he arrived at the main building at Jotunheimen, there was a little over a handful of their group ready to go. Alex, Hanna, and Big Swede were there, along with some of the other mentors plus one more dragonologist that had signed on to come along.

Big Swede worked on a massive mug of coffee. "We got all the enclosures ready to go yesterday. Looks like we'll be able to take off right around eight."

"Cheers," Draco replied.

Since everyone else was excited, Draco caught on fast. He looked forward to taking the first true long distance flight he ever had by broom. His eagerness only grew as he headed into the lockers in order to put on his armour. Draco was pleased to find that his new cloaks fit well enough overtop. He would need them today for the cold air.

Leo, Hanna, and Masha arrived, and then a queue formed at the toilets. Big Swede had volunteered to saddle his Firebolt for the trip there, carrying all the magically shrunken equipment they would need for the return flight. Take-off was delayed as they made sure they had absolutely everything they would need.

All emotion spare weightless freedom flooded out of Draco as he ascended with everyone else. Alex's mentor, Kustaa, took the lead as navigator. Once they were far enough up, he gestured them all to turn west. The mountains shrunk below, and no longer shielded them from the wind's full force. Draco took a double glance downward when he spotted something against the grey and white landscape. Seemingly lazy and at a fraction of the speed they all moved at, a dragon leisurely flew along.

Lakes pockmarked the land when they left the western boundary of the reserve. It all started to slowly turn green again, and the view of some fjords was probably one Draco would never get from the ground. Spare the odd Muggle road below, there wasn't much else to interrupt Norway's unfettered wilderness. The soaring feeling Draco experienced from it on top of moving at the Firebolt's top speed of two-hundred miles per hour made him wonder if Dagmar would ever come up here like this with him. She wasn't the most comfortable or experienced flier, but she could always just ride with Draco on his Nimbus.

Waterways carved up the land. About forty-five minutes into their trip, the North Sea opened up like a black blanket ahead of them. As quickly as the sea arrived, land disappeared behind them. Draco pulled his cloak up over the bottom half of his face as the atmosphere cooled. Erratic winds made it harder to breathe as well.

An island appeared ahead. Kustaa directed them all downward toward a bit of forest at its southern tip. Draco had lost perspective on how fast they were moving. The sudden change in speed left him a little wobbly when he dismounted his broom.

"Take fifteen minutes," Masha's mentor named Thisbe told them all. "Then we'll carry on."

Leo stretched his legs beside Draco. "This is it? Scotland?"

"Shetland, I think."

Draco turned out to be right. They were also past the half-point in their trip, which disappointed Draco. He was enjoying himself. However, excitement mounted again as they all got back into the air. It would only be a little over another hour before they'd be landing at Hogwarts.

They crossed more of the sea before reaching land again. The bumpy parts of northern Scotland turned mountainous. Kustaa directed them closer to the ground as Muggle civilization grew spotty before disappearing altogether. A tingle in the air gave Draco the impression they were getting close. His stomach flipped when they came over a mountain peak and a wash of thick, tangled forest led up to where Hogwarts sat on the edge of the lake. Draco couldn't help but grin at the sight of the squid lapping around in the eastern shallows.

They flew low over the Quidditch pitch and the Whomping Willow on their way to land in front of the castle's main entrance. Now that Draco was here, he felt slightly strange. This wasn't his school anymore. It had been his home for seven years, and now he had outgrown it. Draco didn't even feel it his place anymore to go inside uninvited.

Draco looked over when the front doors opened. Dumbledore strolled out toward them with his hands folded behind his back, and with a serene smile on his face. Even though Draco had only just seen him on Friday, the context was different here. His coworkers' excitement tickled him, since all the ones Draco's age looked at Dumbledore like a celebrity.

"Velkommen," Dumbledore greeted them all, and carried on in Norwegian. "Glad you could make it. Good flight?"

He went around to shake all their hands. Dumbledore winked as he took Draco's. "Long time, no see."

"Sure was," Draco replied.

Even though it wasn't yet noon, Gunvor had arranged with Dumbledore that they would all stay until the next morning. That would give them a maximum number of hours with sunlight to make the comparatively slow journey back to Jotunheimen.

"You have your choice of where in the castle you'd like to spend the night," Dumbledore told them all. "Draco, if you'd prefer to stay in your old dorm, you could show whoever else cares to accompany you down to the Slytherin common room. If anyone else prefers a tower or somewhere more earthy, I can have either Minerva, Filius, or Pomona show you to the other house quarters."

A thought occurred to Draco. "Does that mean I could go into the other common rooms? Even just to check them out?"

"Do as you wish." Dumbledore winked at him again. "You're a guest here, and no longer a student."

Although tempted to lay his head elsewhere, Draco ended up leading Alex, Leo, Hanna, and Masha down into the dungeons. Hogwarts had warmed up under the noon sun, and the deeper parts of the castle were pleasantly cool in comparison. As they neared the wall that normally hid the Slytherin common room, it opened on its own without waiting for a password. That was good, since Dumbledore hadn't given Draco one, nor did Draco have any idea if Professor Snape was around.

"That's cool," Hanna said about the subterranean view into the lake. "Our dorms at Kapsferd are sort of underground like this, but we have skylights instead."

"Helps keep warm in the winter, being underground," Draco replied. "The rest of the castle can get pretty chilly in January and February."

"Da, I know all about that," Masha spoke up. "Durmstrang is closed up pretty tightly, but you still feel it once in a while."

"You play Quidditch through winter, don't you?" Draco remembered Luca mentioning that.

"The pitch is heated, so it's not all bad," she said. "I felt bad for the Seekers, though, having to be more up in the air than the rest of us."

Draco pointed Hanna and Masha toward the girl dormitories, and led Alex and Leo to the one he used to share with Blaise, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle. It felt strangely empty. Draco's old bed was naked without his trunk and personal effects strewn around. It would be where one of the new first-year Slytherin boys laid his head next month.

After dropping his rucksack at the bed's end, Draco removed the layers of clothes and armour that had kept him warm during their journey. While Alex and Leo explored the bathroom and relaxed for a minute on the beds they'd chosen (Alex on Crabbe's, and Leo on Blaise's), Draco dug out his messenger.

Dagmar had written him: Just got out for lunch. Lessons went good but I already have homework to keep me busy tonight. Hope you had a good flight

Draco unstopped some ink to reply: Got here a little while ago. We're spending the night before heading out at daybreak tomorrow morning. Currently sitting in my old dorm with Alex and Leo. It's sure weird to be here with them and not all our old friends.

"Anything exciting happening back home?" Alex asked. He laid like Theo used to, with his fingers folded behind his head.

"They already got homework," Draco answered. "I'll tell you, that's something about this place I won't miss."

Alex laughed. "Got a lot, did you?"

"Essays out the arse."

"Same at Ilvermorny," Leo said. "Shocked I didn't lose my hand from writing so much last year."

Hanna and Masha were waiting for them in the common room. Mention of lunch put them on track back to the Great Hall, where they were the first among the dragonologists to have arrived. Some of Hogwarts' staff was here. Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout sat together up at the staff table, and so did Professor Sinistra and Vector further down the line. Professor Flitwick was there too. Draco wondered if Dumbledore had found a new Defence professor yet.

A tour naturally followed after they'd all eaten. Draco barely knew where to start other than heading up the Entrance Hall staircase and then seeing where his feet led him. Since he knew the general area of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms, they started up at the top of the castle. Draco was about to give up on the Gryffindor one when a portrait with a fat woman opened, and all their mentors spilled out. They touched base about going out to the grounds mid-afternoon to see about the firedrakes, and then their mentors headed off to find lunch.

The Gryffindor common room was cozy in its own way, warm and bright both in lighting and colour. Alex, Leo, Hanna, and Masha didn't seem quite as intrigued by it, since they didn't appreciate its forbidden nature. Their level of interest changed when Draco, inwardly sighing, informed them that this was where Harry Potter would've spent a lot of his time at Hogwarts.

"So you didn't really know him when you were here?" Hanna asked as they carried on elsewhere.

"Well." Draco shrugged. "Yeah, I did. We didn't really get along, is the thing."

"Why not?"

Draco ran his teeth over his bottom lip, stuck between uncomfortable and amused. "I guess I was a bit of a prat. Jealous. We ended up more rivals the last few years here rather than enemies, but things are still a bit stiff."

"You kept in contact?" Alex asked.

"I'm helping him and Dumbledore with this You-Know-Who business." Draco paused. "Well, I'm trying. There isn't a whole lot I can offer. Er. . .I guess I never mentioned that my father is a convicted Death Eater?"

"Nyet." A line appeared in Masha's forehead. "Actually?"

Warmth bloomed in Draco's cheeks as his discomfort grew. "A high-ranking one. He's in Azkaban. I've been trying to help by getting him to open up about what You-Know-Who was up to, weaknesses we might not know about—things like that."

"Damn, dude," Leo said.

"Yeah, so now I make up for it however I can," Draco told them all. "It doesn't amount to much, but we try. Dagmar's in the same boat with her parents. She's a Ramstad."

"Oh," Hanna said quietly.

"It's good to be away from it all." Draco felt awkward from the looks he was getting. "Dagmar and I are starting a new life. If it wasn't for trying to help out Potter and all them, we would've broken away clean."

"It's not something you chose," Alex said. "From the things I've heard, you're lucky you got out."

Draco nodded. He didn't think it was possible to feel so uncomfortable talking about all of this, but these weren't people familiar with his life prior to three weeks ago. Even Potter was easier to relate to, because they had grown up together.

In order to step away from this topic, Draco carried on with his tour. They'd arrived at the trophy room. Between showing them the Quidditch and House Cups that Draco had helped Slytherin win, he told the story about challenging Potter to a duel here in their first year, and then tattling to try and get him and Weasley caught. Then there was the incident with the dragon, when Draco got into just as much trouble for being out of bed after curfew. Draco trimmed the details on the detention he'd suffered with Potter.

Leo's laughter trailed off first. "You were a little shit, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Draco easily admitted.

Things like that, Draco could look back on now through a lens of fondness. He'd been so offended that Potter rejected his extended hand that he found any other way possible to insert himself into Potter's life. Considering how silly some of the first-years at Hogwarts behaved, like first-year Slytherins hissing at each other, Draco figured he was pretty par for the course as an eleven year old.

Mid-afternoon crept up on them, so Draco led everyone out of the castle and across the grounds. He took them past Hagrid's cabin just in case that was where everyone wound up to be, but all was quiet until they came up on the part of forest that obscured the firedrake enclosure. Voices came from ahead, and Draco would recognize Big Swede's laugh anywhere.

Draco stilted to a stop when, as he rounded the edge of trees, he spotted a couple of the firedrakes sprinting along with their heads in a lock. One finally tripped, breaking the stalemate in their little game of aggression, and rolled to a stop. The other one carried on in a pompous canter with his head high and chest out, bronze scales glinting in the sunlight.

"Jormundr!" Draco called to him.

Jormundr came to a slow stop, head turning in Draco's direction. Draco could see Jormundr's gears churning, and he half-wondered for a second if Jormundr would even care that Draco was back.

Draco grinned when Jormundr ramped up to a dead-gallop in their direction. As he neared, it became clear he did not intend on stopping. The others moved out of the way before Draco did. Jormundr passed through where he'd been standing at top speed, slowing only when he rounded back. Tufts of lawn flew up as Jormundr's claws dug in, and now Draco wished he'd left his armour on. Whether Jormundr was excited or just acting a fool, Draco didn't much care to see the hospital wing during his visit.

"Easy," Draco sternly told Jormundr as he jumped up at his chest. Draco tried to set his hand on Jormundr's head, an action that tended to short-circuit firedrakes. Jormundr playfully whipped his head back and forth to avoid it. Since he didn't snap at Draco's fingers, Draco figured Jormundr was just happy to see him.

"Watch the claws," Leo said.

"Oh I am," Draco replied. "He's got me with them before, the little twat."

They all laughed. Draco finally managed to lay a hand between Jormundr's ears, which compelled him to stand still as his eyes slid out of focus. He snorted, ran his tongue out of his mouth a couple times, and then settled into a heavy lean against Draco's side.

"Bloody hell, he got big," Draco said as he ran his thumb over Jormundr's eyebrow ridge. "Must've hit full size since the last time I saw him."

"This is the one you raised, then?" Masha asked. "Could I try to pet him? We learned about firedrakes, but never got to see any."

"Just dodge if he tries to jump up. He loves with his claws."

Jormundr had been well-enough socialized to handle a couple unfamiliar hands on him, but still squirmed a bit if he felt surrounded. He'd duck his head and back up with a low groan in the back of his throat. When all the feverishness had been bled out of him (Hagrid called it the zoomies), Jormundr fell in beside Draco as they all headed to the enclosure. Draco had to side-step once in a while, as Jormundr made to nip at his ankle.

The enclosure had changed since Draco last saw it. Its gate had been removed. The firedrakes played around in the clearing as Hagrid and their mentors watched them. Hagrid and Big Swede stood next to each other, arms folded and grins wide as they chatted.

"He found yeh, did he?" Hagrid greeted Draco with, beaming. "How've yeh been?"

The breath was forced out of Draco's lungs as Hagrid clapped him on the back. "I'm good. You?"

"Well, other than dreadin' today. . ." Sure enough, there was a little wetness to Hagrid's eyes.

"That's a wily one," Big Swede said to Draco with a point of his chin at Jormundr. "Good thing you seem to have a bit of a handle on him."

"Sort of." Jormundr pushed his head up against Draco's hand. "He's definitely a free spirit."