Hello People

Another chapter for this madness. Big thanks to Astro Hawthorne and Honorversefan for their help beta-ing this chapter. Hope you'll all enjoy it going forward.

Love
Waske
XxX

P.S. I very much enjoy your comments/reviews. Most of them bring me a sense of a smile.

Chapter 4: Smoked Meat, Flying and Black Onyx

Since the Yule Ball announcement, confusing things had started happening.. Firstly, girls around school began moving in formation, giggling whenever he walked past him on the way to class, regardless of with whom he was walking.

Secondly, Katarina had become hard to find, and there was hardly a chance to hang out with her. He would spot her, walking to class or hanging out with the Quidditch girls, but there was never a good opportunity to interject.

Thirdly, his dance lessons for the ball were with Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, not Fleur. They insisted that she was also learning separately, but that Katarina wanted their first dance to be at the Ball, to make it a surprise .

And finally, he woke up this morning to find most of his trophies from the last three years of school covering his bed.

"Uhm, Harry? What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron asked.

"Honestly? I've got no clue, think this is Fred or George's doing?"

"Seems a bit weird even for them," Ron said unsurely. "We best try and get it back before…"

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a gravelly voice sounded out in the room. "So this is where all of the trophies went. Think you're funny?"

"No, sir!" Harry replied instantly to Filch, who somehow knew that the trophies were there.

"Detentions for the rest of the week," Filch said. "Looks like some of the trophies have gotten smudged. You'll be polishing them until I could eat off of them, I say. Now, carry them all back into the trophy room."

Filch didn't even stay around to watch him gather the trophies. The sound of the caretaker's dragging footsteps filled the room as the old squib made his way back downstairs, muttering about corporal punishments.

"How does he always know?" Harry asked into the silent room.

"It's freaky," Neville muttered.

"Could I get a little help?" Harry sighed.

"Wouldn't be fair to help you with your punishment," Ron said.

"Just grab a few," Neville said to Ron. "It's not like you aren't going down to the Great Hall anyways. If we all work together, we'll only need the one trip."

Filch led the march through the corridors with a mixture of a scowl and a satisfied smirk on his face, making his usual grimace even worse to look at than it usually was. The other students on their way to breakfast looked on with interest, obviously finding humour in the situation.

"'Arry, what 'appened?" Fleur asked, trying to hide a giggle as they made their way to the Trophy Room.

"I honestly don't know," Harry shrugged, making the trophies clang against each other. "If I didn't know better, I would suspect this is some sort of dragon romance thing. I woke up to all of these in my bed."

"If there is so much as a scratch on those, you'll be in detentions for a month," Filch snarled. "Put them back into their places!"

"Yes, sir!" Harry said, sending an apologetic glance towards Fleur. "Right away."

The sounds of giggling from Fleur's group of girls followed the boys until the door closed behind them. Aside from the detentions, it wasn't the worst prank he'd seen since he began attending Hogwarts. The lack of pink hair or overgrown ears made it practically tame in comparison. Still, a week of polishing the trophies would suck.

He didn't even make it to his usual seat at the Gryffindor table before he was pulled off to the side by Angelina, Alicia and Katie, dragging him back out of the doors and into a nearby empty classroom.

"What's this about?" Harry asked.

"Why haven't you asked Katarina yet?" Angelina growled.

"What?" he replied.

"Why. Haven't. You. Asked. Your. Wife. To. Be. Your. Date. To. The. Ball. Yet?" she snarled.

"I thought it was obvious we would go together," Harry said unsurely.

"Of course it is," Katie said. "Don't you dare think of asking anyone else besides Katarina!"

"I wouldn't," Harry squeaked.

"Good," Alicia said. "Now, answer the question."

"I didn't know I had to?" Harry said weakly.

"Well, now you know," Angelina said with finality. "So, go ask her."

"And since she needed to ask us to talk with you, you need to do better than Fred did when he asked Angelina," Alicia said.

"Or George with Alicia," Katie said.

"What we're saying is: Make it special," Angelina said, finishing the conversation. "Don't make us step in again."

"You will not like it." Katie said.

"This was us being nice." Alicia finished.

Harry slumped down on the desk nearest him, his palms rubbing his eye sockets.

"How am I supposed to ask a dragon out and make it feel special? Who am I even supposed to ask about such a thing?" he groaned to himself. "Why didn't I just ask her right when the Ball was announced?"

He walked back to the Great Hall in a stupor, finding a seat next to Neville and Hermoine. He saw Katarina trying to sneak glances at him as subtly as she could.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked.

The snickers from everyone around him made him raise a questioning eyebrow towards Hermione.

"He… uhm… kind of tried to ask Fleur to the Ball," she muttered quietly.

"Tried being the key word in that sentence," Fred said, sliding down next to him.

"He just blurted it out and ran off," George tried to keep himself from laughing.

"Going to be a pain in the arse, isn't he?" Harry groaned quietly, resting his head on the table. "I've got my own problem. I haven't asked Katarina to go to the Ball yet."

"Woo, bad move, Potter," Fred whistled.

"Didn't think you would need to?" George asked.

"We're married," Harry mumbled. "How am I supposed to woo a dragon? Who do you even ask about that?"

"Charlie," Fred said. "He would know about dragon 'wooing' as you put it."

"Oh good I'll just walk up to him and ask," Harry said sarcastically, after a couple of seconds he blurted out. "That's it!"

"What?" George asked, looking highly amused.

"Who knows the most about dragons around here?"

"Uhm, Hagrid?" Neville ventured. "He really wanted one badly in our first year. Remember the detention we got?"

"When Malfoy tried to snitch on us and got punished too," Harry said. "Yeah, what a way to get introduced to the Forbidden Forest."

"You're not seriously going to Hagrid for love advice, are you?" Hermione asked.

"No, I'm going to ask him about dragons and their mating rituals," Harry said, then winced at the thought. "This is a bad idea."

"We think it's brilliant," Fred said. "Hagrid knows a lot about dragons. It's not like Katarina sees the world like humans do."

"Doesn't mean you should treat her like a beast," Hermione huffed.

"I can't believe I'm going to ask Hagrid for advice," Harry sighed.

It was with heavy steps that Harry walked down to Hagrid's hut at lunchtime, he hadn't seen the friendly half-giant in the Great Hall as he walked past the doors. He still remembered the first time he had introduced Katarina. They had gotten on like a house on fire. Hagrid was incredibly interested and Katarina had even transformed into her dragon form behind the back of his hut. She had preened under all of the attention Hagrid lavished on her. He had been a little put out by the fact that Katarina had fought Norberta, though he was happy to find out his former pet was doing well in the reserve.

Knocking on the door, Harry found himself almost losing his nerve as knuckles hit wood. The smell from the chimney was thick with the aroma of meat and firewood. He watched as the door opened, breathing in deeply to calm his nerves.

"Hey there 'Arry!" Hagrid boomed happily. "What brings you 'ere?"

"Smoking something?" Harry asked.

"Yup, caught a deer in the forest, Your missus said she enjoyed venison," Hagrid said. "Was thinking of giving it to her as a present, I was. What d'ya think?"

"Uhm, that's great." Harry scratched the back of his neck. "Hagrid, I need you to teach me more about dragons and how they behave, especially when it comes to… ehm… courting."

"Planning somethin' special?" Hagrid asked.

"I didn't ask her to the Ball," Harry said sheepishly. "I didn't realise I had to."

"'Arry, 'Arry, 'Arry," Hagrid shook his head. "You've got to understand that Dragons want to feel important, just like humans. If ya don't treat her right, she'll begin to look for another Dragon who does."

"What do I do?" Harry asked.

"Well… Male dragons usually bring food they've killed themselves, shows off their skills as a hunter. You have anything like that?"

"I've got the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said. "I was planning on selling it to the goblins."

"I could help ya with that," Hagrid said. "Never rendered a basilisk before, but it shouldn't be hard. I'll even smoke some of the meat for you."

"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said. "What else?"

"Dragons usually do most of their flirting while flying," Hagrid said, scratching his beard. "Maybe, you should take her flying with you. Also read that male dragons will bring a heated stone to their mate, showing that they can keep the eggs warm if the mother isn't aroundOh and shiny things, gold mostly, precious stones and such. Those are always a safe bet with dragons. Build up the hoard and all that

"Uhm, would the female dragons try and gift their mates with shiny stuff?" Harry asked.

"Why do ya ask?"

"It's just, I woke up with half the Trophy Room in my bed," Harry explained.

"Ya think the missus was sending you a signal?" Hagrid asked.

"Probably," Harry chuckled. "She also sent Angelina, Alicia and Katie after me."

"Ya'll be fine." Hagrid clapped him on the back almost knocking him to his knees. "Katarina is a special girl."

"You've got no idea," Harry muttered. "Thanks for the tips, Hagrid. I'll talk to Dobby as soon as I find him. He'll let you know."

"Give me a week," Hagrid said. "I'll have the hide tanned for you as well. What would you like for me to do about the venom?"

"Keep as much of it as possible?" Harry suggested.

"Got ya," Harry said.

Seeing Katarina sitting next to the other fourth year girls, Harry quickly found a seat next to the chasers.

"Okay, before you kill me, I've got a plan," Harry said, before anything happened. "It involves smoking some basilisk meat, a necklace and flying."

"What?" Angelina asked. "Explain."

Harry quickly outlined his thoughts to the girls.

"It's a solid start," Katie said. "You're going to need some help pulling it off. We've been trying to help Katarina fly on a broom. Hypothetically, we could arrange for some more training next Saturday."

"You would have to have your gifts ready," Alicia said. "We're only helping you, Potter, because Katarina deserves your absolute best."

"You owe us one," Angelina said.

"Not another shopping trip," Harry groaned.

"No, no." Angelina waved her hand. "Don't worry, we'll think of something."

Harry spent the next week preparing for what he hoped would be the best way to woo his dragon wife. He'd gotten the smoked meat from Hagrid, a sizeable chunk even for a dragon girl, he'd snuck out into Hogsmeade and bought a golden necklace with a black onyx fitting along with a pair of black onyx earrings that were in the same shade of black as her horns. He was walking with both of them in his book bag, his broom slung over his shoulder.

"This is a bad idea," he kept muttering to himself over and over again. "The irony is that I'm going up against a dragon again."

The four girls were there as promised, flying around the pitch. Katarina looked a little wobbly on her broom.

"Hey girls, mind if I join?" Harry shouted out loudly.

"Husband," Katarina said icily, descending down next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could go for a fly together?" Harry asked nervously.

"I suppose," Katarina said. "I see you brought your broom."

"Kind of difficult for me to fly without it," Harry chuckled nervously.

"Well, hop on it then, I've gotten a lot better."

"I can see that," Harry praised her.

Angelina, Alicia and Katie landed next to them, giving Harry an appraising look and a quick nod.

"We'll let you two have some time alone," Angelina said. "Good session, Katarina. You're getting really good."

"Thanks, Angelina." Katarina smiled.

Harry dropped his bag on the ground and mounted his broom. He began flying in circles around Katarina, while she hovered. A small smile slowly forming on her face. Harry did a somersault around her, before she gave chase after him, a ferocious smirk on her face. Harry led her into a wild chase with corkscrews, dives and barrel rolls. The sound of her laughter filled the skies, as they came to a stop.

"This was fun, husband. You are certainly the better flyer out of the two of us," Katarina blew a few loose strands of her hair out of her face.

Harry came to a stop, hovering in front of her, facing her. He slowly drifted forward until their thighs touched. He noticed the slight sheen of sweat on her flushed skin; she was almost steaming in the cold december air. Her breathing was heavy and deep. Something was sparkling in her eyes, he felt himself leaning towards her, slightly tilting his head to the side. How could she still smell so good after flying around for hours? Her lips looked so full and tempting in the last rays of the sun.

A gust of wind blew Katarina's broom directly into his, knocking their heads together with a loud bonk. Wincing they both pulled back, rubbing their foreheads vigorously. Whatever had been between them a moment before was completely gone.

"So, uhm, I know that I should have asked you before now?" Harry hesitated.

"Asked me about what?" Katarina asked, arching an eyebrow.

"About the Ball," Harry scratched the back of his head. "What I'm asking you, Katarina, is will you go to the Ball with me?"

"You'll have to do better than a bit of flying flirting," Katarina said.

"Right, I've got something for you," Harry said. "I asked Hagrid to help me. It's in my bag on the ground. A peace offering, of sorts."

"You have my interest," Katarina said.

Harry quickly flew down, grabbing his bag before flying back up, hovering next to Katarina. He rummaged around with his hand until it hit the brown paper that Hagrid was known to wrap around his packages. Pulling it out, he realized that it might not have been the most interesting looking block of something.

"Uhm, sorry for the -"

"Is that meat?" Katarina asked excitedly.

"From the basilisk I killed," Harry said. "To show you that I could provide for you. That I'll always provide for you."

"That is very attractive," Katarina whispered. "Okay, apology accepted, but I'm still not convinced about the Ball."

"I've gotten something else for that," Harry said nervously, handing over another present wrapped in blood red paper.

"What's this?" Katarina asked.

"Consider it something to help you say yes?"

Katarina ripped open the wrapping, finding a black wooden box under it. Looking up at Harry, she got a small encouraging nod from him. She gently opened the box, almost dropping it when she saw what was inside of it.

"These are beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yes, I'll go to the Ball with you."

"Thank god," Harry sighed in relief. "If this wasn't going to be enough, I was going to find the biggest stone I could find and make it glow red."

Harry was surprised to find Katarina turning completely red in her face. She kept sending him shy glances, trying to say something if the constant opening and closing of her mouth was anything to go by.

"Was it something I said?" Harry asked.

"Husband, you only give a flaming rock to a female if you want to have a clutch with her," Katarina blurted out at the speed of a Firebolt.

"Oh… Oh." Harry began turning red as well. "No, no, I'm not suggesting that." The disappointed pout on Katarina's face made him continue without thinking it through. "Yet."

The smile on her face as she clutched the box of jewellery to her chest was almost blinding in its radiance. He was glad that he had finally gotten around to asking her.

"I've missed you," Harry whispered. "You've kept your distance."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking genuinely sorry. "The girls told me that I shouldn't give you attention as long as you didn't ask me to the Ball. They told me, you wouldn't notice me wanting to be asked if I didn't do something drastic."

"Did you put the trophies in my bed?"

"Maybe?"

"Katarina…"

"Okay, I did… You didn't do anything, I was getting desperate. The Ball is less than a month away." Katarina pouted. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble. I don't have a lot of gold lying around."

It was all so funny to him, her floundering, her thought process leading to her filling his bed with trophies. He couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud at it all. He quickly descended down onto the ground, dropping down into the snow.

"Stop laughing," Katarina hissed, as she landed next to him. "I don't know how to court like a naked monkey. It's not like I could just bring you out for a fly or dump some prey in your bed. Those little elf things take care of all of the food."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I didn't think about it from your point of view. Usually, you'd just tell me."

"Well, you don't listen when I tell you I want to copulate," Katarina argued.

"I'm only fourteen," Harry stuttered. "We- we- I'm not ready for that."

"The girls told me you probably wouldn't be for at least a year more," Katarina sighed. "You do realize I'm only eight right?"

"You're an adult when you're ten," Harry pointed out. "I'm not an adult until I'm seventeen."

"But that's like three more years! They'll call me Clutchless!"

"No you won't be," Harry said. "You're as much human as you're a dragon. Humans don't usually have children until they're in their twenties."

"Really?" Katarina asked, sounding surprised. "How are you not all extinct?"

"We usually don't go around killing each other," Harry said. "At least not as much as dragons seem to do."

"What do you do about territory?" Katarina asked. "How would you know who's allowed to hunt where?"

"We usually pay with our hoard," Harry said. "The dragon handlers get paid in gold then they use that gold to pay for stuff, like food and clothes. There are many things people do for gold, not just as dragon handlers, but as Professors or Quidditch Players or other stuff."

"Weird," Katarina murmured. "How about finding out who is the strongest?"

"It doesn't really matter all that much in human society." Harry shrugged. "But if you ask most people it would probably be Professor Dumbledore around here. Some people make a living out of duelling, that would be one way to measure who is the strongest."

"I see. It's much simpler being a dragon." Katarina frowned. "Not that I'm unhappy about where I am or something. It makes me happy being with you."

"You make me happy too," Harry said. "We should probably head back inside. It's getting a little cold out here."

"That's probably a good idea." Katarina nodded. "I'll need a dress."

"Do I have to be there?" Harry asked.

"No, I want it to be a surprise," Katarina said. "But I'll need a bit of your hoard to pay for it."

"It's your hoard too."

"You're the best, Husband."

Having Katarina back in his life, Harry finally got a chance to work on the clue for the second task. He had begun looking up creatures, who were known to have a shrill scream. He was beginning to think that Seamus might be right and he would have to face a Banshee for the Second Task. He was loath to ask for help from Hermione or any of the others. They had already done so much for him, helping Katarina feel welcome and settle in properly at Hogwarts.

He found himself pulled to the side by Angelina and Katie at the last dance practice before the Yule Ball. He had gotten better at reading the signs, and this one was a similar intervention to the one, he'd gotten when he hadn't asked Katarina to the Ball.

"Okay, Harry, your dancing is good for the time, we've spent on it," Angelina said. "You won't ruin Katarina's night doing that. What do your dress robes look like?"

"I haven't actually checked them," Harry said sheepishly. "I guess that is one of those other things that really matter."

"See he is learning," Katie said.

"I knew I should have started with Fred when he was in his fourth year," Angelina sighed. "You're right. It does matter. You'd want to match with Katarina's dress."

"But I don't know how that looks, you guys just took my money pouch and left without me," Harry said.

"Luckily for you, we do," Katie said. "Come on, let's go see what travesty it is that you would likely be wearing."

Harry found himself almost lifted and carried from the Transfiguration Classroom and all the way up to the Gryffindor male dorms. They finally put him down next to his bed.

"Go on, show us," Angelina said. "Put on your dress robes."

"Do I have to?" Harry whined.

"Yes!" Three voices said in unison.

"Fine!" Harry sighed.

"You know we like you, Harry," Angelina sang. "Now, put on the damn dress robes."

Grabbing the still wrapped package in his trunk, Harry made a beeline towards the bathrooms, unwrapping it as he went. Inside he found a bottle green set of robes. It wasn't until he put them on that he found them short by at least an inch around the wrist and ankles. This wasn't good at all. Had Mrs Weasley somehow gotten his measurements wrong?

Walking back into the dorm room, he was expecting peals of laughter, not the frowns on the girls' faces.

"You didn't buy those yourself, did you?" Angelina asked.

"No, Mrs Weasley did, during the summer. It feels a bit short. Do you think she bought the wrong size?"

"No, Harry, I think you've just grown an inch since the start of the school year," Katie said. "I guess we just didn't notice it until now. The colour brings out your eyes."

"Would not look good with Katarina's dress though," Angelina frowned. "Well, we'll need to sort that out as soon as possible."

"You're right, they would look like a botched up Welsh flag." Katie nodded.

"Can you at least tell me what the colour of Katarina's dress is?"

"No, of course not," Angelina said. "Don't worry about it though. We've got an idea on how your dress robes should look. Thank Morgana, that Professor McGonagall allowed special consideration for last minute wardrobe adjustment. We'll bring you to Hogsmeade tomorrow."

Sighing, Harry resigned himself to being a dress up doll once more for the two girls, He was pretty sure that Alicia would be joining them again, maybe even Fleur if he was unlucky. He had a feeling it was going to be a long Sunday.

The next day, he found himself squished between Katarina and Fleur at the Gryffindor Table. Katarina was switching between pouting at him and frowning at Fleur on the other side of him.

"Why does she get to go?" Katarina asked. "I want to go as well."

"I thought it went both ways," Harry said. "I don't see your dress before the Ball and you don't get to see my robes before the Ball."

"But that's not fair!" she pouted.

"How is that not fair?" Harry asked bemusedly.

"It's just not, aren't I supposed to get special privileges? Don't I need to go so I can make sure we match?"

"That's what the girls will be helping me with," Harry explained for the fifth time.

"But why is Nasirnara going?"

"She's our friend," Harry said. "She hasn't tried to breed with me."

The snort coming from Fleur, almost ruined her image as a pristine and uptight girl. Harry sent her an apologetic glance, but seeing her trying to keep herself from spilling Orange Juice out of her nose, almost made him bend over laughing at her expression.

"It iz not funny." Fleur pouted.

"It's a little funny," Harry said. "It's good seeing you so… human."

"Uh-huh, maybe I should choose some ghastly robes."

"Good thing, you aren't the only one giving me suggestions," Harry said.

"I still want to go," Katarina said.

"How about you and me go flying when I get back?"

"Promise?" Katarina asked.

"Promise."

"Fine, the quicker you get going, the quicker you get back," Katarina said, pushing him up from his seat.

"I haven't even finished breakfast yet."

"You can eat when you get back. I want to go flying with you already."

"Alright, alright," Harry laughed. "Well, ladies?"

"Can't let our favourite dragon girl wait too long." Angelina smiled. "Fleur, are you done eating?"

"Oui!" Fleur smiled.

"You never told us who you were going with," Katie said.

"Zis guy from Ravenclaw, Davies something," Fleur said, as Harry helped them into the carriage. "'E is about as interesting as a wet fish on land. 'E¨s pretty, but I do not expect for 'im to be entertaining."

"Why go with him then?" Alicia asked.

"I need a date for ze ball, and the only one who 'as shown to be resistant to me is ze other Champions. I asked Krum but 'e already 'ad a date and so did Diggory. I'm not so crazy to fight a dragon."

"Good call," Harry nodded serenely. "I do not want to be in the middle of a fight between you and Katarina."

"Save me a dance, non?" Fleur asked sweetly.

"Ehm, sure," Harry said.

"Us too," Alicia said. "We didn't spend so much time teaching you how to dance for you not to dance with us."

"Anyone else I need to put on my dance list?"

"Hermione, probably," Katie said. "Hmm, I guess if you have time some of the other girls you've talked to, but mostly you're expected to make sure that Katarina has the best night of her life."

"Yes, ma'am!" Harry mock-saluted.

"Good recruit," Angelina barked. "Now help us out of this carriage and get us to Gladrags stat!"

Shaking his head ruefully, Harry still took his time helping the girls down from the carriage. He gave the thestral closest to him a pet on the neck. He'd become increasingly fascinated with the skeletal horses. There was something final about their appearance, they were a reminder of Death.

A flurry of dress robes later, Harry had gotten the girls to limit it down to three different sets of dress robes. He had categorically dismissed anything Fleur had found for him. It seemed like she had decided to take great joy in finding the most outrageous colours, some of them even rivalling what Dumbledore was sometimes seen wearing.

In front of him laid a classic black set of robes, the girls had all agreed that he couldn't go wrong with black even if it was the most boring choice, according to the girls. The second option was a grey set of dress robes. It was a couple of shades darker than the Slytherin Silver. The girls said it would give him something slightly different from the usual black robes while still being neutral in colour, but Fleur had told him the colour made his skin seem even paler, making him look almost dead. The last set of robes were almost black but had a slight blue tint. He already knew that he would be choosing those. It was the one the others were most excited about. He liked it mostly because it didn't look as ostentatious as the other two sets of dress robes. It consisted of a coat, pants and a silver grey shirt.

"I'll take this one," Harry said. "Tie or bowtie?"

"Bowtie would make you look younger," Fleur mused. "I say tie."

"It's a little formal, don't you think?" Angelina asked. "I know most of the others will be wearing some form of bow tie or cravat. I don't get why wizards wear those. They haven't been fashionable since the last century."

"I vote bow tie," Katie said. "I think it would look better."

"Bow tie," Alicia voted.

"I think Fleur is right," Angelina sighed. "So we're down to two against two. Harry you get to pick."

Instead of picking either, Harry just picked up the third set of dress robes, a tie and a bow tie and went to the cashier.

"Coward," Fleur teased.

"I couldn't decide," Harry said sheepishly. "Also Katarina is waiting for me. I'm not in the business of keeping a dragon lady waiting."

"You could have fooled us," Angelina teased. "Kept Katarina waiting for well over a month."

"Learned my lesson, didn't I?"

"Only took the three of us to teach it to you," Katie said. "Though you should be proud of what you did for her. She hasn't stopped gushing about the way you asked since that day."

"Very impressive giving her smoked basilisk meat," Alicia said. "Tasted a bit like chicken."

"We all thought it was just a rumour until Fleur told us how you showed her as well."

"It was a most impressive snake," Fleur said. "What did you do with it?"

"I've gotten it all rendered up in a trunk," Harry said. "I don't know what to do with it though. Where do you sell basilisk parts?"

"The goblins or if you know someone who deals in that stuff then them. The goblins will try and rip you off though." Katie suggested.

"So bring Katarina, so she can burn them if they try to cheat us?" Harry asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Angelina shrugged.

"I guess I'll have to visit Gringotts during the holidays then," Harry said finally.

"After the Ball," Alicia said.

The other three girls nodded alongside her. All of them glaring at him until he nodded in agreement as well.

"I can go wiz you if you want. I 'ave 'elped my dad with contracts before," Fleur offered.

"I'll talk to Katarina," Harry said diplomatically as the carriage stopped back at Hogwarts. "Neither of us know how to increase our hoard."

"Uhm… Harry? Since when did you start referring to money as your hoard?" Angelina asked.

"Katarina must have rubbed off on me." Harry frowned. "Never thought about it."

"Are you sure you aren't turning into a dragon?" Alicia teased.

"I haven't grown scales or wings the last time I checked," Harry said cheekily.

"Probably for the best," Katie laughed. "I'm not sure Hogwarts would survive having two dragons in the castle."

Saying goodbye to everyone, Harry quickly found his way up to his dormitory where he put his new set of dress robes in his trunk before grabbing his broom. He found Katarina, sitting in the corner of the common room working diligently on her homework under the watchful eye of Hermione.

"Hey Kat," Harry said leaning over the back of the armchair she was sitting in. "Up for a quick fly?"

"Can I?" Katarina half-asked half-begged Hermione.

"Are you finished with your potions essay?" Hermione asked.

"I'm more than half done!" Katarina said proudly.

"The one that isn't due until after the break?" Harry asked.

"Fine," Hermione sighed. "Go on then."

"Yay!" Katarina exclaimed. "I'll go borrow Angelina's broom."

"You're going to have her be more studious than Ron," Harry mused.

"And you," Hermione said. "How's it going with the egg?"

"Nowhere," Harry sighed. "It just keeps screaming at me. I feel like I've read about every creature that's known for its voice."

"Maybe, something needs to be done to the egg," Hermione thought out loud. "Like maybe it needs to be hot or put into fire like a real dragon egg?"

"I never thought about that," Harry admitted. "It would make sense. What would I do without you?"

"Probably have died a few times already," Hermione said easily.

"I really appreciate you helping Katarina with her studying," Harry said. "You're really helping her adjust to human life."

"It's certainly interesting, when she tries to argue that it would be better to just burn Professor Snape than do his essays or brew the potions," Hermione said.

"I've got the broom," Katarina interrupted. "What were you two talking about?"

"Is it true that you want to burn Snape?" Harry asked.

"Professor Snape!" Hermione chided.

"So?" Katarina asked. "He's a tzarafar to Harry. He deserves a bit of dragon fire sent his way."

"He's a what?" Harry asked.

"Arsehole," Katarina said without blinking her eyes.

"Language!" Hermione gasped.

Instead of apologizing, Katarina just scoffed and blew a small lick of flame out of her nose. She turned her body towards Harry, slinging the broom over her shoulder, nodding towards the door.

"Are you just going to ignore me?" Hermione asked.

"When it comes to you defending that monkey? Yes," Katarina said simply. "I do not like him at all. Why does he keep shouting when we're brewing?"

The lack of an answer from Hermione said more than a thousand words from her. Harry gave her an apologetic smile as Katarina tried to pull him and his broom out of the portrait hole. He would have let her if it wasn't for Angelina calling out to them.

"Hey, Kat," Angelina said. "Could you give us a second?"

"Go on ahead of me," Harry said, gently gesturing with his head towards the corridor. "I'll be right there."

"Don't keep me waiting, Husband," Katarina said, closing the portrait hole behind her.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked, turning his attention back to Angelina.

"The rest of us are pitching in on a broom for Katarina's Christmas present, do you want to be part of that?" Angelina said.

"Which broom did you think of getting her?" Harry asked.

"A Cleansweep 10," Angelina said. "It's a solid broom for Keepers."

"I didn't know she played Keeper," Harry said.

"She doesn't really," Angelina shrugged. "But me and the girls needed some help practicing, so Katarina kind of got forced into the rings. Also, we need a new keeper for next year. She doesn't seem to mind."

"As long as she is having fun doing it," Harry said. "How much are you missing?"

"Fifty Galleons," Angelina said.

"I've got that in my trunk," Harry told her. "I'll just go grab it now. Thanks for doing this for her."

"No problem, she clearly enjoys flying and the school brooms are not great," Angelina said. "She's going to love it."

"I'm sure you're right," Harry smiled. "It'll be her first human Christmas. I want it to be special."

"It doesn't get more special than a Yule Ball and a new broom," Angelina said with surety.

"No, it really doesn't, does it?" Harry smiled.

Thinking about his own first real Christmas here at Hogwarts, he renewed his promise to himself that he would do everything he could to make this Christmas something special.