The night the baby dragon was to be taken away was finally here. Harry and his friends were able to get the dragon in a somewhat unwieldy crate. When they felt the dragon was secure, they did their best to console Hagrid as much as possible.

"I'm sure you'll be able to see him again," Hermione said assuringly. "Charlie will be able to raise him in a much safer place."

"I know that," Hagrid said, teary eyed. "It's just I've always wanted a dragon and just when I got one he's going away."

A few minutes, and tears, later, the group was on their way up the stairs to the astronomy tower. Harry and Hermione were thoroughly confused at the route Fred and George led them on. Just when they thought they knew where they were going the twins would change course or have them hide in the most obscure places.

Eventually, the group made it to the tower and waited for Charlie and his team to arrive.

"I knew it would be cold but I didn't think it would be this bad," Ron said, shivering. "Why didn't you tell us to bring jackets as well?"

Hermione smirked at him and pulled her thick coat tighter and sighed in contentment.

"I'm not your mother, Ron. You can take care of yourself."

Harry chuckled and rubbed his arms. While it was cold, it wasn't as bad as Ron was making it out to be. He was about to chime in when he noticed movement right below the cloud line.

"Look," he said and pointed. "I think that might be them."

The others scanned the sky but it was a full minute later before Fred spoke.

"I see them now. Damn, Harry. How can you see that well when you wear glasses?"

Harry shrugged. "I think it's more about seeing movement than actual details."

Finally, after shivering on the tower for almost an hour, Charlie and his friends landed on the tower.

Charlie landed lightly and immediately checked on the dragon.

Ron and the twins chuckled.

"That's just like Charlie," Ron said. "He checks on the dragon before even saying 'hello' to his own family."

Once Charlie was sure the dragon was fine he turned to his brothers with a huge grin.

"You guys are amazing," he said, wrapping Ron in a massive hug.

Charlie was a head shorter than the other Weasleys but what he lacked in height he made up in muscle. Harry hadn't seen any wizards that looked as in shape as Charlie. He was reminded of gymnasts he'd seen at the olympics. It wasn't that he was super ripped but that there wasn't an ounce of fat on his body and it looked like he could have climbed the tower with only his bare hands.

Once Charlie had greeted his brothers, he turned to Harry and Hermione. He bowed to them both with a flourish.

"It is absolutely wonderful to meet you. I am Charlie Weasley. Dragon Handler, Quidditch Star, Reigning gnome throwing champion, and," he wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione, "international ladies man."

"Ha! You shouldn't lie to the children, Charlie."

The lone woman of the group stepped forward and swatted Charlie on the back of the head.

"This guy hasn't been able to get to a second date since Hogwarts," she said before offering her hand to Hermione. "All he talks about is dragons!"

All the Weasley brothers laughed.

"I'm Jessica. Don't listen to anything a Weasley brother tells you. It's almost always embellished."

"Oi! What did we do?" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're catching strays over here!" said Fred.

Hermione laughed and shook Jessica's hand.

"I'm Hermione Granger. And don't worry, I take everything they say with a grain of salt."

Harry smiled and shook Jessica's hand.

"I'm Harry Potter. Hopefully I can get out of this little interaction unscathed, eh?"

Jessica froze for just a moment, her eyes flicking to Harry's forehead before dramatically giving him a once over.

"Hmmm, we'll have to see how this turns out."

She turned to inspect the crate.

"Well I hope this thing doesn't shatter while we're flying."

"Don't worry, we've reinforced it with one of our own spells," George said. "We altered an unbreakable charm so that it can only be opened by a Weasley."

Charlie smiled. "You guys are always coming up with the best stuff. Still working on the joke shop idea?"

"Absolutely," the twins said in unison.

"Oh please don't start," Jessica said, menacingly pointing at the twins. "If he pranks me even once, it's your heads I'm going to come after."

The twins gulped loudly before whispering to Charlie.

"Maybe we'll wait till we see you over the summer, yeah?"

The whole group laughed before the dragon team rigged together a harness for the crate. Once they felt it was secure, Charlie gave his brothers another hug.

"I'm going to be disappointed in all your letters going forward. None of them could ever live up to a dragon heist!"

"Don't be so sure," Fred said, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "He's only been here half a year and he's already gotten up to more adventures than we ever had as first years."

Harry shrugged. He'd begun to feel like his time in the magical world was going to be unique to say the least.

"Right then," Charlie said before pointing at Hermione and Harry. "Keep these three out of trouble if you can. And at some point Percy is going to have to participate in a little Weasley Family Shenanigans."

"Fat chance of that happening," said Ron with a snort. He hugged Charlie one more time. "Be safe and send us a letter as soon as you get to the reserve."

"Don't worry, we're headed straight there."

The dragon team mounted their brooms and with a final farewell, launched from the tower.

The five students watched as they disappeared into the clouds before sneaking their way back to the common room. The twins said goodnight before heading back to the Gryffindor dorms.

"Well, I think I'll have a bit of a lie in today," Ron said, falling onto a couch.

"And how is that different from any other Sunday?" Hermione asked.

"Well…. I guess this time it's deserved?"

She rolled her eyes before walking toward the girls stairs.

"Well that's me done. You boys have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait a sec," Harry said, stopping her just before she took the stairs. She turned with a big yawn.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for the help tonight. I know Hagrid can be a bit much and suddenly having to deal with a baby dragon is asking a lot so I just wanted to express how grateful I am that you helped."

Hermione was thankful it was so dark so Harry couldn't see her blush.

"It's no problem, Harry. I like Hagrid, too, and wanted to help." She yawned again. "Next time, though, try to get into an adventure that isn't past midnight? I need to sleep, too."

Harry laughed and nodded.

"I'll see what I can do, but, no promises."

He winked at her which drew another blush before he wished her goodnight and made his way back toward Ron who was already snoring on the couch.

"Oi, Weasley. Let's go to bed."

Ron just kept snoring so Harry went to bed.

Monday morning dawned and the students went to breakfast. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all breathed a sigh of relief when Charlie's letter arrived saying they'd made it safely back to Romania.

Harry quickly finished his homework that evening before all but running down to Hagrid's hut to deliver the news. When he arrived, he found a somber Hagrid who seemed to be drinking some sort of beer out of a five gallon bucket.

"No need to worry, Hagrid," Harry said as he closed the door behind him. "Norbert is safe in Romania now." He offered Charlie's letter to the big man.

Hagrid gave a weak smile before taking the letter. He didn't even bother to open it. He just looked at it and took another swig of beer.

"I know he's in a better place now, but I still miss him, you know?"

Harry nodded and watched the miserable man for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Why don't we go for a walk, eh, Hagrid? Get some air."

Hagrid hesitated before giving him a slow nod.

"Yeah, I should probably get out a little."

Harry smiled and tried to help Hagrid put on his coat. He wasn't able to help much as he was pretty sure the coat weighed more than twice his weight.

A few minutes later Hagrid was leading them into the Forbidden Forest. Harry was about to say something about not being allowed in but figured if anything could keep him safe, Hagrid would.

For several minutes Hagrid didn't say anything and Harry followed alongside, allowing the big man to get his thoughts in order.

Right when it seemed Hagrid was going to say something, he paused suddenly, his demeanor changing from sad to concerned in a flash.

"See that shiny stuff on the ground there?"

Harry looked and noticed a trail of silver dots-

No, those are droplets. Mercury?

"I see them. They look metallic."

Hagrid shook his head as he followed the line of droplets.

"Not quite. That there's unicorn blood."

Harry paused for a second. Even surrounded by magic every day, he would still get surprised that something from fairy tales was actually a real thing.

"I've found two dead unicorns since the term started. Something's killing them and drinking their blood."

"What?!" Harry said, taken aback by the thought. "Why would someone want to drink blood?"

"Unicorn blood will keep you alive even on the brink of death," Hagrid said as they continued to follow the trail of blood. "It's a terrible thing to kill a unicorn. They are beautiful and pure. To kill one and drink its blood is one of the worst things someone can do. But those who do will soon learn that extending their life by this method is only a half measure. From then on they will live a cursed life. From the moment it touches their lips, they will suffer."

Harry didn't know how to respond to the serious tone of the big man. He'd never heard him talk like this and wasn't sure how to react.

While he was thinking of what to say, they finally came upon the injured unicorn. It took his breath away. Even barely breathing, the creature was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. The sheen of its hide was only out done by the pure light that softly radiated from its horn.

The unicorn tried to flee but didn't have the strength to stand.

"There, there, shhhh," said Hagrid in a calm, comforting tone. "We're not going to hurt you."

Harry stood and watched as Hagrid calmed the creature. Eventually it calmed enough for Hagrid to look over its wounds. The giant's hands were gentle as it found the torn flesh on the horse's shoulder and probed in and around the wound, looking for whatever could have caused this.

After a few minutes, Hagrid stood and produced a small vial. He opened it and poured it into the wound but nothing happened. Hagrid swore as he put the vial away.

"That was a healing potion. It works on the thestrals but I guess it doesn't work on unicorns. Just one more thing we don't know about these creatures."

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked, finding it difficult not to cry as he watched the magnificent creature struggle to breathe.

Hagrid sagged for a moment before producing a crossbow. He loaded it and looked at Harry.

"You shouldn't watch this. It's not going to be very pleasant."

Harry nodded before taking a deep breath.

"I'm not going to let you do this alone, Hagrid."

Hagrid gave Harry a grateful nod before turning back to the dying creature. He lifted the crossbow and aimed.

"I'm so sorry."

He pulled the trigger and Harry almost burst into tears as the unicorn jumped in pain only to immediately still. They watched in silence as the light of life faded from the horn, cloaking them in a darkness Harry could feel in his core.

After a long moment, Hagrid reloaded his crossbow and stalked into the forest. His voice was full of sadness and anger when he finally broke the silence.

"Now, we track down the monster who did this and make sure they can never do it again."