Cielie

Students stream out of the great hall, rushing towards the stairs for last minute packing or simply to celebrate the end of the first term. I hang back, I packed ages ago and don't feel like celebrating the end of term as it means that I will have to deal with the empty house. A few students stay back, the ones that are staying for the break, or the ones like me, who were smart enough to pack earlier. Luna and Ginny stand behind me. They chatter about plans for the break, something that we have discussed so many times that I am not even sure what else they could possibly have left to work out.

I turn to them, rolling my eyes, and say, "Guys, what else is there to plan? We all take the train to London and then Mrs. Weasley will meet us and take us to the house," I can't bring myself to say my house and my voice stumbles a little.

"Then we clean out the things and head back to the Burrow for the rest of break. There's nothing more to it." They both nod and move on to Christmas gifts and what the signature Weasley sweater will be like this year. In my robes a small ball of heat rests, the dragon from my mother, I'm still not sure what to do about it.

I can't bring myself to give her away, not like Norberta. I saw firsthand how devastated Hagrid was. She is the last thing I have left to remind me of my mother. There is a house full of her belongings, but it isn't the same. She left me the dragon, it was meant for me, I know that much. Why she waited this long, I don't know. Fact is, now I'm stuck with it, more or less. Luna is thrilled, Ginny was a little nervous at first, but is now totally on board with the idea, and Madam Pomfrey thinks that whatever I choose to do will be the right thing. It feels wrong to just send the thing away, but Hogwarts is no place for a dragon. Maybe Charlie, Ginny's brother, can help me figure this out.

"The hall is clear, we should be able to go up without being trampled," Ginny says, bringing me back to the moment. Luna and I follow her up the stairs and to the Gryffindor tower. Luna departs, wishing us a good night. I half-heartedly give her a nod goodnight, ready to crawl into my bed and sleep, but Ginny drags on her goodnight. After 5 minutes of saying goodnight and sweet dreams I get fed up and opt to interrupt Ginny and pull her up the stairs.

XxX

I look around the dormitory, making sure I have everything. On my desk is the letter from the ministry, the one telling me that my father had died. The letter that had changed everything and nothing. My father had never cared about me, but he had at least kept the household in some sort of shape, until he was carted off to St. Mungo's, of course. The dragon from my mother lay curled up next to it, so there was that. And then there was the house, the big, empty house, I had never really had to worry about it, and now it was my biggest problem. I would need a place to live, but the house was too big, and though the land was ours, mine now, there were still debts and such to pay to Gringotts. If they weren't payed in time, the house would be taken, not that I really cared. That house held mostly bad memories anyway, it had been the people, my mother and Cedric, who had really made the place special. Now it was just like any other house and I don't have anything against selling it off, however, I'm not the only one who gets a say in the matter.

I have a very distant cousin, a man by the name of Argus Delaney. I've only met him twice, and both times were very unpleasant. He's my mother's nephew, and came to her funeral, although he doesn't like our family one bit. I reckon it's because he wanted to nick some of mum's jewelry. Mum did warn Cedric and myself that he was a bit of a thief.

What it comes down to, is that he is, by his relation to my mother, a potential heir to the home, regardless of what the will says. And when it comes to this sort of legal matter, I don't know much, my grandmother was the person to go to for. She hasn't been seen since my mother died, so most likely, she is also dead. If she was alive, she would have at least sent a letter, right? No matter, I'll just sell the house before Delaney can do anything about it. Despite how convenient it would be, to just let someone else take care of things, I can't. My mother wouldn't want a thief living in her house. And yet I am totally fine with selling it to complete strangers, funny how these things work. I wish things were easier, but unfortunately that isn't my case, and so I'll just have to deal with it, the way I always have.

XxX

Morning comes far too soon. I groan as the light filters through the dormitory windows and shines in my eyes. I go to pull the blinds shut, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep. That's before I see the time. I jolt upright as I realize that the train is leaving in a little under ten minutes.

"Ginny!" I shout, waking the sleeping girl from her slumber.

"What? I just want a few more minutes of sleep," grumbles Ginny as she tries to block out the light with her pillow.

"We have to go! The train, Ginny, we won't make the train if we don't go now!" I pull on my robes as fast as I can, tucking the letter into the trunk and locking it quickly. Next, I lift the dragon from my desk and gently settle her in the pocket of my robes, checking the clock as I do so. 6 minutes and counting. Ginny is taking forever to pull on her own robes and I begin to hop up and down in my impatience.

"Ok, Cielie lets go," Ginny is finally finished and pulls her trunk behind as we head out the door.

XxX

We race down the halls and across the grounds, reaching the train just as the final whistle starts to blow. We scramble onto the train as it starts to slowly pull out of the station, both of us thoroughly out of breath. Luna is already sitting in a compartment near the back and we slide in, relieved to sit down. She looks up from her copy of the Quibbler and smiles.

"Glad you made it. For a while there I thought I was going to have to finish of an entire box of chocolate frogs alone, pity, now I'll have to share," Luna grins as she tosses a few chocolate frogs our way and goes back to her article. Ginny starts giggling and soon we're all laughing. The rest of the train ride goes by smoothly and by the end we've all gorged ourselves on Luna's chocolate frogs and the left over pumpkin pasties from the feast last night.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll!

Sorry that I haven't been updating regularly. I have the plot planned out a little more and should be updating more frequently.

Also, I made some major changes in the direction this fic is going. This was originally a DracoxOc, however as I was planning the plot I realized that it wasn't really working the way I wanted it to and have now changed everything to fit the new plot better. This will now be a CharliexOc fic because that just worked better with where the story was going.

Thanks for reading! I will hopefully update every two weeks.