A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in sooo long. . .but I had semester exams. . .

Chapter 7: The Dragon Fair

"The what?" Harry and Ron said together.

Draco could not believe it. A Dragon Fair? He had been looking forward to a fair like that for a long time. Draco loved dragons. They were magnificent creatures, in his opinion.

"A Dragon Fair," Mr. Weasley said happily. "You'll all enjoy it."

"Aren't the tickets expensive, though?" Draco asked. " I mean, you're not exactly full of Galleons, are you?" I'll bet it's worth more than your entire house.

Ron glared at Draco.

"Your father gave us tickets to see the Fair," Mr. Weasley explained. "I thought it was very generous of him."

Generous? Draco scoffed. His father wouldn't spend a cent on the Weasleys. No, the only reason his father had gone out of his way to do this was because he knew how much Draco loved dragons.

"A Dragon Fair," Hermione mused. "I suppose it's rather. . .interesting."

"I don't really know what goes on there though," Mr. Weasley said. "Draco, you've been to one, before, haven't you? What sort of things do they have there?"

"Oh, lots of things," Draco said eagerly. He had last been to a Dragon Fair when he was ten. He had loved it. "They've so many species of dragon, not just native British ones. For the little kids they have games and things. If you're up to it you can try to handle a dragon. My father did that. He did pretty well," Draco said proudly. "Oh, and if you're lucky you can see how the dragons kill their prey."

"You're very enthusiastic," Harry remarked. "The dragon loves dragons," he started laughing. "Get it? Draco's Latin for dragon, and he loves dragons!" Ron rolled his eyes.

"That," Draco said. "Is lame."

Mr. Weasley laughed. "Well, we're going to be leaving as early as possible, so I suggest you all get a good night's sleep. Goodnight!"

The next morning dawned bright and early. Draco awoke with a feeling of great anticipation. He brushed his teeth quickly and changed before going to the kitchen for breakfast. Mrs. Weasley had whipped up a delicious breakfast of bacon, tomato and eggs.

Breakfast was a rather enjoyable affair. Draco was in such a good mood he was nice to everyone, including Hermione. It was a nice change.

After breakfast everyone got ready to leave. Mrs. Weasley and Percy had decided not to go. Percy maintained that he had too much work and simply could not take the time off to go to 'some Dragon Fair'. Fred and George seemed rather excited about it.

The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Draco took the train to Hogsmeade. They arrived there at around ten. Mr. Weasley gave their tickets to the ticket man, who inspected them closely before allowing the eight of them to enter.

The air was filled with the excited shouts of children and the snorts of the dragons. Many spires of smoke drifted up lazily into the air. There were a few vendors. Most of them were selling dragon souvenirs or snacks. Someone had set up an ice cream stall.

Draco started to set off, but someone held on to his elbow.

"Don't go wandering off by yourself, now!" Mr. Weasley said with forced cheerfulness. "Wouldn't want to lose you in this crowd, would we? Ron, make sure you four stick together, alright?" Ron nodded resignedly.

Draco eyes narrowed. There he goes again, all worried about my safety. Why is he so concerned? It's not like anyone is going to kidnap me for ransom. . .well, alright, they could. . .but who knows I'm here anyway?

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

"Where is he?" Lord Voldemort slammed his fist down on the map. "How did Dumbledore make him Unplottable?"

"Well," a Death-Eater said, quavering, "It is possible to do so, my lord, it has been achieved before."

"Where could he be? Arthur Weasley would not have let him out of the house."

A Death-Eater stepped out. "It is well-known he loves dragons. He could be at the Dragon Fair, my lord."

The Dark Lord considered it. "It is open. . .unprotected. . .you." He spoke to the Death-Eater that had just spoken. "Go there, bring him to me. I must kill him before he becomes stronger."

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

"That's a Hungarian Horntail." Draco pointed to the large, black, scaly dragon. It snorted sparks and stamped its feet, looking as if it wanted to fly. "I wonder if they will let any of the dragons fly. . .Harry, you were up against the Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. Draco had kept up a running commentary throughout the whole time they had been there. He clearly had a great liking for dragons and his knowledge was also vast. Draco seemed to be in an extremely good mood; Harry, Ron and Hermione were rather enjoying his company, as he showed them all the best parts of the Fair.

"The Horntail is rather unique, but I don't really like them," Draco went on. "Too lizard-like, don't you think? Now, the Chinese dragons, they're the best. There should be one here. . .over there."

Draco dragged them over to the Chinese dragon. It was red with orange spikes along its tail. It was, Ron had to admit, rather magnificent.

"Chinese Shin Yu," Draco announced. "Very rare, found only in Eastern China, in the Jiangxi Province. Magnificent creature, don't you think?"

"I suppose," Hermione said thinking, whatever. They're all the same to me. Different colours, maybe different spikes but, other than that, all alike.

The Chinese Shin Yu suddenly looked straight at Draco. There seemed to be something, a glazed look, in its eyes.

Draco cocked his head to one side. He didn't think dragons usually had that look in their eyes. He was right. They didn't.

The dragon suddenly launched itself upon Draco, beating its wings frantically, pulling against the chains. Draco jumped back in alarm.

"What's going on?" one of the dragon-keepers yelled, pulling out his wand.

The dragon lunged again, but with twenty feet between it and Draco it was easy to miss the seventeen-year-old. The dragon shot fire at Draco. Draco yelled. The dragon was aiming for him.

The line of flame stopped just short of Draco, singeing a bit of his hair. The heat, for that one instance, had been intense.

"Stupefy!" a voice yelled, but it did not work.

Fire was blasted at Draco again. Again, it stopped just short of him.

"Stupefy!" Five voices this time. The Chinese Shin Yu tottered for a while, then fell heavily to the ground.

Draco felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder before he was turned around roughly. He paled when he saw the tall, thin, evil man standing before him. It was Robert Lars, the Death-Eater.

Draco rarely met any of the Death-Eaters. The few he had met were cruel, hard men who would not hesitate to torture or kill anyone. This was also the image his father portrayed when amongst them and in public.

"Why, it's young Master Malfoy!" Lars said, feigning surprise. "What a surprise!"

"It's a surprise to see you, too," Draco agreed.

Lars put an arm around Draco's shoulder and steered him firmly away. "When I saw that blond boy, standing his ground against the dragon like that, I thought to myself, that would be just like Lucius' son, as undaunted by danger as his father, and I was right. Now," he lowered his voice into a confidential whisper as he pulled Draco away. "When are you planning to receive the Mark? As a direct descendant of Lucius you have the privilege of getting it without proving yourself. . .and I can confidently tell you the Dark Lord himself has been asking for you." Lars winked at Draco.

Draco managed a weak smile. Crap. "Really? I plan to take it after I graduate." What about never?

"Why not sooner?" Lars increased his pace. They were quite far away from the dragons now. It only occurred to Draco then that something must be wrong.  If Lars had just wanted to talk to him they could have done it in the crowd. Draco slowed down. Lars pushed Draco forward more forcefully. "Well? Why don't you take it sooner?"

"I'll think about it, talk it over with Father first," Draco lied, resisting even more. "You know what, I think I need to use the bathroom---"

"You're not going anywhere." Lars pointed his wand at Draco. "Master is waiting for you."

There was the sound of running feet, and an instant later---

"Petrificus totalus!"

The man beside Draco lost his grip on the teenage boy. The Death-Eater's arms sprung to his sides and his legs snapped together before he fell face-first to the floor.

"Ron!" Draco heard Hermione's reproachful voice. "You're not supposed to use magic out of school!"

Draco turned. Ron looked a bit sheepish. "You looked like you were in trouble."

"I was, actually," Draco admitted. He looked down at Lars. But I have no idea what he wants. . .or rather, what the Dark Lord wants from me.

A/N: I am over the moon! I have eleven reviews for my last chapter! Thank you to all those wonderful people who reviewed! Now, can anyone help me get 35 reviews? :P Next chapter will be up after I type it.

Sakura

lilly iceT: what's OOC? Ohh. . .out of character. . .I'm so blur :P

ejay: thanks for telling me! Although. . .I don't really get what you mean (so I'm really blur! Don't sue me!)

She-who-shall-not-be-named: Oh, right! I totally forgot about Ginny! Sorry, this has no romance. . .although, I did write one about Draco and Hermione (little bit of advertising here! It's called Reversal)

Demented-lollipop

Spunkypig6004: Wormtail? Oh, right, I wrote Wormtongue. Wormtongue's in LOTR. . .silly me.

Different Perception: You reviewed again! Thanks!

Noname

Dragon: The first person that reviewed this! Thanks for reviewing again!

Loyrfanatic

Diana Malfoy: You reviewed again! Thanks!

Exwhyzed

Culdil-part-Elven: Wow, you put my story on favourite stories! You've just become my favourite person :P, because you're the first person I know who's done this! For this fic, I mean. . .