Ciara had never wanted to punch her cousin more than this moment.

The smile that remained on her cousin's face for the remainder of the week sent chills down her spine. It reminded her of the look he would get when he would write to Bellatrix, telling her all the things Ciara had been doing.

She shivered again.

'You okay?'

'For now.'

The darkness in Hagrid's hut hid how pale her face was, but she couldn't hide her fear from Harry.

Oddly enough, she didn't want to.

The dragon, which Hagrid decided to name Norbert, had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"Just let him go," Harry urged, even though he knew it was a losing battle. "Set him free."

"I can't," Hagrid shook his head. "He's too little. He'd die."

Ciara glanced at the dragon, which was nearly as long as she was tall.

Yeah. Too little.

"He really knows me now," Hagrid said enthusiastically, "Watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron mumbled.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, as if to drown out Ron's voice. "Give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

"You'll be fired," Ciara said softly.

Hagrid bit his lip. "I — I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Ciara's heart sunk. This was it. They were never gonna convince Hagrid to get rid of Norbert. He was gonna keep him then Norbert was gonna burn his house down then Norbert would be sent off to some dragon reserve and Dumbledore would fire Hagrid and-

"Charlie."

She looked at Harry in confusion, who was staring at Ron. She frowned at Harry and so was Ron.

"You're losing it, too," he said, "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No — Charlie — your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, much to Ciara's relief, Hagrid agreed.

✨?¬レᄀ

The week dragged on, and by Wednesday, Ciara was ready to pull her hair out.

Either the letter had not gotten through to Charlie, or he was refusing to respond until the last minute, because they had yet to receive word from Ron's older brother. The clock chimed midnight and Ciara forced her heavy eyes open.

Ron had still not returned, he was helping Hagrid feed Norbert for the night. She glanced at the clock on the wall, reading eleven o'clock. Her eyes closed again and she slumped, her body falling against Harry's one she fell asleep.

Harry, surprised with the sudden movement, tensed as he felt the weight of his best friend being pressed against him. He glanced over at her, and his expression softened. Her hair gently fell around her face and she looked more peaceful than Harry has ever seen her.

He gently maneuvered a blank over Ciara's body before gently brushing the hair away from her face. Her face seemed to lose some of it's line at his touch and he smiled slighty before Hermione coughed. His head snapped up, and he saw her smiling.

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"Ciara was there for me when I had no one," Harry said without hesitation. Hermione watched him with careful eyes. "Ciara has been there with me when I began showing my first signs of magic, everytime I wondered what my parents were like, and I was there for her.

"I would die for her," Harry said, and there was something in his voice that made Hermione believe that he would. "I know she would do the same for me."

Hermione smiled and opened her mouth, probably to ask more questions, but before she could, Ciara groaned and opened her eyes again, taking stock of everything around her.

From what she could tell in her sleep hazed mind, Harry and Hermione sat around her, looking wide awake. With another groan, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She had no idea how Harry and Hermione stayed up late like they did. Ciara squinted and peered around the common room, oblivious to the looks Harry and Hermione were sending each other.

"Where the hell is Ron," she questioned after a moment, "He should have been back by now."

At that very moment, the portrait hole burst open and Ron stumbled through, throwing off Harry's invisibility cloak.

"It bit me!" the ginger cried, to which the friends jumped off the couch and ran towards him. Ron unwrapped the blood stained handkerchief, showing them the bite mark that was covered in blood.

"I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week." He moaned, "I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

Ciara grabbed the handkerchief and did her best to wipe away the blood from the bite. They weren't extremely deep, but they were clean, the bites decorating the side of his palm. Ciara bit her lip in consideration before she began to retie the handkerchief around his hand.

Ron winced.

"Sorry. I'll check it in the morning. If it's not better by then, you'll need to see Madam Pomfrey. Norbert's bite could be poisonous and-"

There was a tap on the dark window.

"It's Hedwig!" Harry cried, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

Four heads were suddenly pressed together as they read the note.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter — I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback up 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.

Love,

Charlie.

They looked at one another.

"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

"But will the cloak hide four people?" Ciara asked tilting her head, "Four people and Norbert?"

"Uh-"

"You and Ron can stay behind then," Hermione said, "You have to finish your Potions essay and Ron needs to finish his for Transfiguration."

Ron scowled, but even he knew better than to argue with Hermione.

✨?¬レᄀ

Instead of looking any better, Ron's hand had gotten worse overnight. It was extremely swollen, nearly twice its usual size, and inflamed.

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Ciara hissed.

"I can't," Ron hissed back, "She might realize it's a dragon bite."

But by the late afternoon, Ron's cut had turned a nasty shade of green and he had to go to Madam Pomfrey. It turned out that Ciara was right, Norbert's fangs were poisonous.

By the end of the day, the trio ran to the hospital wing to check on their friend, who was looking even worse than earlier.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered after glancing around the room, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me."

"Wait, what did you tell her bit you?"

"A dog," he said to Ciara, glancing around the room again. It turns out one of the side effects of Norbert's poison was paranoia. "But I don't think she believes me," he suddenly groaned, "I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

"It's okay," Hermione tried to soothe him, "It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday."

But rather than calming him, Ron bolted upright in the bed and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he cried, his voice hoarse. "Oh no — oh no — I've just remembered — Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Ciara paled.

Could their luck get any worse?

✨?¬レᄀ

Evidently, it could.

There was no way they could owl Charlie and reschedule the dragon pick-up, and even if they could, the risk of Malfoy hanging over their heads was too great to ignore.

We'll have to risk it." Harry told Ciara and Hermione, "And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

"You're still not going," Hermione said before Ciara could ask, "That transfiguration essay isn't going to finish itself."

Ciara scowled, but said nothing.

They ran down to Hagrid's, finding Fang sitting out in the yard, a bandage wrapped around his tail. They knocked on the door, going to tell Hagrid their predicament when a window opened. Hagrid stuck his head out, his cheeks rosy and his beard smoldering.

"I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage — nothin' I can't handle."

"Hagrid," Harry huffed, "We've got a problem."

They quickly told him about Charlie's letter and his eyes filled with tears, although Ciara suspected that it might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg. "Aargh!" He cried, "It's all right, he only got my boot — jus' playin'— he's only a baby, after all."

The baby(?) dragon banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle and the walls shake.

Saturday couldn't come soon enough.

✨?¬レᄀ

"Are you sure you guys don't want me to come along?"

The three friends stood near the exit of the Gryffindor common room, though Harry and Hermione were the only ones leaving. Ciara wasn't exactly sure how they planned on moving Norbert without him biting them, but the two in front of her seemed confident in their abilities, so she trusted them and didn't ask.

"We're sure," Hermione said, "You still need to finish your transfiguration essay."

But Ciara still couldn't shake the unease she felt about the situation.

"Don't worry," Harry said as he threw his cloak over his shoulders with a grin, "We'll be fine. What could go wrong?"

✨?¬レᄀ

"How could it have gone so wrong?!"

Ciara winced at the anguish in Harry's voice before he fell over, his head landing into her lap. The black lake was still and calm today, contrary to how Ciara and Harry's lives were at the moment.

Instead of the mission going smoothly like they had hoped, Ciara's friends had gotten caught at the very end. Draco had been caught first, trying to catch them and report them to Professor McGonagall. Neville was caught next, trying to warn Harry and Hermione that Draco was trying to expose them.

And finally, Harry and Hermione were caught on their way down the stairs. In the wake of getting rid of Norbert, they had forgotten Harry's invisibility cloak at the top of the stairs and they ran right into Filch and Mrs. Norris at the bottom.

They were taken to Professor McGonagall immediately, in which she proceeded to scold them before giving them detention and taking away fifty house points.

Each.

And, at first, all of the Gryffindors thought there'd been a mistake. No one understood how they had suddenly lost a hundred and fifty points from yesterday? But then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first years.

From then on, almost everyone in the school seemed to hate him (even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs!) The entire school seemed to have no problem insulting him straight to his face. Harry, who was the most popular and admired person at Hogwarts, was suddenly the most hated.

Well, everyone hated him except the Slytherins, every time they saw him, they clapped his back as he walked past, shouting loudly, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"

Bunch of gits.

Harry groaned again, the sound muffled by her legs. Ciara ran her fingers through his hair, wincing in sympathy. 'I'm a terrible person...' he groaned mentally.

'No you're not,' Ciara lightly scolded with a frown, running her fingers through his hair, 'You saved Hagrid's job and you gave Norbert over to the people who could take care of him. Just because no one else sees that or knows you did that, doesn't mean you're a bad person.'

'We were in the lead! I made Gryffindor lose a hundred and fifty points!'

'Harry, you can literally make that up in one Quidditch game. Hell, you yourself could just catch the snitch and make up those points.'

He groaned again, 'God, why did I have to meddle? I should have just left it all alone. God, what have I done?'

Ciara bit her lip, continuing to run her fingers through Harry's hair. After the incident of losing Gryffindor, Harry had sworn off meddling in other people's business, including the Sorcerer's Stone. Despite the fact that he's caught Quirrell crying, where he presumably gave into Snape's threats and Snape was clearly heading for the stone.

"We've got no proof!" Harry had told her and she had to withhold her scoff.

No proof, my arse.

'I wonder what Snape plans on doing with the stone,' Ciara mused, absentmindedly massaging Harry's scalp. His eyes fluttered closed at her touch. 'Maybe his teacher's salary wasn't enough for him so he's making some gold.'

Harry's lips twitched at the joke, 'Maybe he wants to make himself immortal so he can torture all future generations of students.'

Ciara snorted, 'Yeah, that's better than my gold theory.'

'But maybe he's not using it for himself,' Harry thought with a frown, finally reopening his eyes and rolling over to look up at Ciara. 'Maybe he's not using it for himself. Maybe he's gonna give it to your uncle so he can use it.'

'But that doesn't make sense,' Ciara objected with a frown, 'The Malfoy's have all of the gold they could ever want, only to be succeeded by the Blacks. And there's no one in the house who would use the stone for immortality. So what could he use it for?'

Harry suddenly shot upwards, spinning in his spot so that he could look at Ciara. The girl in question stared at him patiently, waiting for him to get his thoughts in order before he tried to speak about what was on his mind.

'Maybe... maybe Voldemort?'

'Harry,' Ciara frowned, 'Voldemort's dead. He's been dead for years.'

'I know! But what if he survived somehow, like I did? And what if he's getting your uncle to get him the stone so he can become immortal and no one can kill him and-!'

'Harry,' Ciara cupped his cheeks, pulling his attention back to her, 'What you're saying is almost impossible. And if my father did survive, chances are he would have come back to Malfoy Manor for refuge and probably try to make me like him.'

Seeing her friend's stubbornness on the topic, Ciara sighed. 'Look, if you can get me some solid proof that Voldemort is back, then I'll consider the Snape's-trying-to-make-my-father-immortal theory. But for now, the best theory that we have is that Snape just wants to torture the future students of Hogwarts.'

She stood, brushing off the dirt on her skirt. Harry stared at her until she held a hand out to him. 'C'mon,' she smiled, 'You've still got detention.'

Harry groaned, but took her hand.

Their hands remained entwined as they made their way up towards the castle, where they would split; Harry going to join Hermione, Neville, and Draco while Ciara went to the common room and waited with Ron.

'Remember Harry,' she said before they departed, sending him a pointed look, 'Solid proof.'

✨?¬レᄀ

Ciara was startled out of her sleep by the common room door (portrait?) slamming against the wall.

"I have proof!"

"Oh mY GOD-!"

In her haste to figure out what the hell was going on, she fell off the couch, nearly smacking her head against the floor. She groaned and peered up at her friends, Hermione looking like she was concerned, Ron and Harry looking like they were about to dissolve into laughter.

"Wha' the hell are you doin' ?"

The humor seemed to drain out of the group and Harry retold the story of their detention. From how they went into the forbidden forest for detention (It's forbidden for a reason!)to how they were looking for the thing that was killing all of the unicorns (what are unicorns?) to how her cousin was a git and scared Neville (not surprising), to how they found the cloaked figure hunched over a dead unicorn and drinking its blood, to riding the centaurus back to safety.

And, finally, who that cloaked figure was.

Lord Voldemort.

Her father.

"Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort," Harry mumbled, pacing in front of her, "And Voldemort's waiting in the forest . . . and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich. . . ."

"Stop saying the name!" Ron hissed, but was ignored.

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so. . . . Bane was furious . . . he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen. . . . They must show that Voldemort's coming back. . . . Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me. . . . I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"Will you stop saying the name!"

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, clearly panicking. "Then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off. . . . Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."

Ron was pale, hell, his freckles were pale and Hermione looked scared out of her wits.

They were nothing compared to Ciara though.

Ciara's breathing seemed to stop, her thoughts running a million miles a minute. Her father was alive. How was he alive? How did he survive? Did he know she was here at Hogwarts? Did he know she was in Gryffindor? Was he here to kill Harry? Kill her?

The situation just got a whole lot bigger.

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"But Dumbledore isn't going to be here all of the time Hermione!" As if a switch was flicked, Ciara was out of her chair and pacing the common room. "Fudge is always pestering Dumbledore with letters, constantly asking for help and what-not with the ministry. And Dumbledores a nice guy, he's probably gonna do all he can to help Fudge, even if that involves leaving the school for the ministry! Its-he-we-"

She suddenly flopped back onto the couch, looking as pale as Ron, "We're so screwed."

The other Gryffindors glanced at each other before Harry sighed, flopping down next to her. They were all quiet for a moment, the news they all heard basking over them in the dying firelight.

'I won't let him touch you,' Harry suddenly told her. Ciara was far too used to Harry suddenly speaking through the link to be startled. Harry's hand rested dangerously close to hers. 'If it scares you that much... I'll make sure you won't have to face him alone.'

Ciara sat there for a moment, but she placed her hand on top of his, squeezing it slightly. For another moment, there were no words between them, just the silence that was only broken by the crackling of the fire.

'Same to you,' she said simply.

No more words were needed.