The trio made their way down the sloping castle lawn towards Hagrid's hut, but instead of Hagrid, they saw a pretty young woman with red hair and hazel eyes. She looked at them and grinned to see their shock.

"Welcome," she said with a Scottish accent. "And dinna think 'Agrid's not 'ere. 'E's just inside. I'm on'y 'ear t'help."

Harry, Ron and Hermione grinned with relief and Ron winked at the woman as they sat down. Sure enough, Hagrid came out soon carrying a large, smoldering crate. He smiled at the three.

"'Ello, there," he said. "Good ter see yeh."

"Hello," they all said, and they sat in silence for a bit as the other Gryffindors and Slytherins made their way down. Sarah spotted them and dragged Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle over with her.

"Hello again, Harry, Ron," she said.

"Hello," Ron said.

"Hello," Harry said. He looked at Hermione. "Sarah, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, Sarah Riddle."

"It's a pleasure," they said together. They giggled and Harry could see Malfoy using tremendous effort to keep from rolling his eyes.

Sarah, meanwhile, had noticed Hagrid.

"Is he the teacher?" she asked. They nodded. "He looks rather severe, but he has kind eyes. I like his eyes. But not as much as yours, Harry. Yours are gorgeous."

Ron laughed and quickly coughed to cover it as the heat rose in Harry's face. Malfoy's lips twitched, like they would like nothing more than to sneer but refused to do so.

Luckily, Hagrid began class, so Harry was saved from replying.

"Alrigh', now, today weh'll be learnin' 'bout dragons-" Harry, Ron and Hermione groaned- "and ter help with th' lesson is profess'nal Dragon Keeper, Kate McClemmen," Hagrid said, gesturing to the Scottish woman. She waved and smiled at Ron, who smiled back.

"Firs' we're gonna tell yeh a bit o' the history o' the dragons, an' then Kate'll be showin' yeh a hatchling tha' she brought with 'er," Hagrid continued.

"Actually, Hagrid, it might be better t' show 'em the ol' fire lizard now," Kate said. "He'll be getting' agitated soon, with all the smells o' the students and such, an' then t'would take a bit o' magic t' prevent the Forest burnin' t' a cinder." She grinned. "This one's a bit nasty."

"Aren't dragons illegal?" Malfoy said, trying to keep the spite out of his voice with a glance at Sarah. Kate fixed a firm hazel gaze on him.

"In another situation, Mr. Malfoy, ye'd be quite right," she said. "But, like Hagrid told yeh, I'm a Dragon Keeper. 'S perfectly legal fer me t' have one."

Harry saw a few people nodding, such as Ron. His brother Charlie was a Dragon Keeper.

"Now, this one 'ere we like t' call Charlie," Kate said, grinning madly. "After the good friend o' mine who found 'im, Charlie Weasley."

Ron and Harry laughed, as did some of the students who had met Charlie at the first task of the Triwizard Tournament in fourth year.

"Charlie is a nestling who was- not abandoned, but more lost than anythin', for yeh see, dragonesses are highly protective o' their young, it's nigh impossible t' get near 'em. Charlie- Weasley, that is- found the little bugger bein' attacked by a bunch o' vampires. Vampires don't like dragons so much- any chance they get they try t' do away with 'em.

"Now, I'm gonna bring 'im out," she said, getting her gloves on and pulled a large dragon-skin smock over her robes. "I'd advise all o' yeh t' be nice an' quiet an' still, and if yeh must move do it very slowly. Understood?"

The students nodded as one, everyone but Harry, Ron and Hermione eagerly awaiting their first glimpse of a dragon. The three remembered Norbert, Hagrid's pet dragon from second year. Ron grimaced. He had gotten a nasty bite from Norbert and he didn't want to repeat the experience.

But when Kate pulled Charlie out of his crate he was quite cuddly with her. He had shimmering, iridescent scales and clear, pearly opal eyes. Many of the girls oooed. Kate giggled as Charlie nuzzled her neck.

"Charlie here is an Opal-eye dragon, from New Zealand. They're the most gentle sort o' dragon an' by far the prettiest, aye, lassies?" she said. Many of the girls nodded vigorously.

"I though you said he was nasty," Neville said. Kate looked at him.

"Aye, I did, laddie, and aye, he is, when yeh get 'im upset. He don't like bein' confined fer a long time, so I figured it'd be best to get 'im out early." She began to tell them about dragon growth patterns and the relative size for the age of most dragons, and about how to take care of a young dragon. Charlie seemed very interested in the students, stretching out his long neck and sniffing at the students in the first row, who shrieked as he snaked out his tongue to lick them. When she'd finished, she winked at Hagrid. Hagrid nodded to her and began to tell them about dragon history.

After class had been dismissed, Kate waved at Ron and told him Charlie sent his love. Ron grinned.

"Do you know her well?" Hermione asked as they parted with the Slytherins and went toward Herbology.

"'Course," Ron said. "She's Charlie's fiancée. They're getting married Easter holiday. Mum said we're all to be there."

"Ooo, how precious!" Hermione squealed. "Harry, you should ask Sarah to come!"

"Come where?"

The three turned around to see Sarah standing there.

"The Slytherin Herbology class was full," she explained. "So I'm to take that and Transfiguration with the Gryffindors."

"That's wonderful!" Ron said. Hermione glared at him, but Sarah smiled.

"I thought so as well...Draco didn't seem to like it so much, but...Anyway, come where?"

"My brother's wedding," Ron said. "Easter holiday."

"Oh, I love weddings!" Sarah exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I'd love to! I'll have to ask Draco though. I'm not allowed to go anywhere without his permission."

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks and led her into the greenhouse.

After Herbology, the Gryffindors had no classes with the Slytherins and Transfiguration was tomorrow, so Harry, Ron and Hermione bid Sarah farewell and went up to the castle for dinner.

"Hermione," Harry said as he helped himself to his mashed potatoes.

"Yes Harry?" she asked.

"Why did you say I should ask if Sarah wanted to come to Charlie's wedding?" Harry asked.

"Well, you know, just about everyone from the Order is sure to be there. I figured the more we acquaint her with good people, the more likely she'll be to choose our side when she learns about everything," she said.

"If she learns about everything," Ron corrected. Hermione clucked her tongue.

"She will, Ron, sooner or later," she said. "She's Voldemort's- oh honestly- daughter."

"But he must not know about her," Harry said. "Otherwise, he'd've come for her, don't you reckon?"

"Maybe he's waiting for the right time," Hermione said. "That seems more like something his vile self would do."

That night, Harry was shaken awake roughly by Professor McGonagall.

"Come on, Potter," she said, handing him his glasses, which he shoved onto his face groggily.

"Wha- wha's goin' on?" he mumbled, putting on his dressing gown and following her out of the portrait hole.

"Just hush for now."

And he couldn't get another word out of her until they reached the gargoyle that guarded the door to Dumbledore's office.

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," she said with the trace of a smile. The gargoyle leapt aside and they followed the familiar path to the office.

When they entered the door, Harry found Dumbledore in his chair as usual, but to his surprise, Malfoy was sitting in another chair, cradling a sobbing Sarah. Dumbledore smiled at Harry.

"Thank you for coming, Harry," he said Sarah picked her head up from Malfoy's shoulder. "Miss Riddle asked for you."

Harry barely heard these last words, because Sarah had thrown herself into him, sobbing anew.

"Harry! Harry, I saw- I saw- the most- awful man- I've ever- seen!" she said, hiccoughing between words. "It was terrible- he said- he said- he said that I ought to be- be- killing people for him!"

At that point, she collapsed into a new fit of tears and anything else she tried to say was incomprehensible. Harry gently helped her back into Malfoy's anxious arms and looked at Dumbledore, his face grim.

"She's seen Voldemort, then?" he said. Dumbledore nodded.

"Rather than explain it himself, Mr. Malfoy found it in himself to bring her to someone who could give her a learned and objective explanation," he said. "However, she would not hear a word of it until you came," he added with a twinkle in his eye. He stood up and placed a kind hand on Sarah's shoulder. She looked at him.

"Are you ready?" he asked gently. Sarah sniffed and nodded, then got up and (much to Malfoy's indignation and Harry's surprise) settled herself in Harry's arms. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled happily.

"The first thing you must know, Sarah, is that not everyone in the world is kind. There are some people who would reap extreme pleasure form watching someone suffer and cry. Some of these people would kill you without a second thought, simply because they can. The man in your dream is one of these people. His name is Lord Voldemort.

"Lord Voldemort is a very evil man who has delved into the Dark Arts seeking to rule the magical world. He and his servants, the Death Eaters, have killed many good people needlessly, simply for the pleasure of doing it. Harry's own parents were killed by Voldemort, and he received his scar from a failed attempt by Voldemort to kill him as well."

Sarah turned to look at Harry. She brushed away his bangs and ran a finger over his scar. Harry winced as it twinged painfully and Sarah pulled her finger away. She seemed very subdued by this information. Clearly, she, though very intelligent, had been under the sheltered impression that everyone was as kind as those she had known thus far. She turned back to Dumbledore.

"But why would this awful man be in my dreams?" she asked, her voice determinedly devoid of emotion. Dumbledore sighed.

"Because he is your father," he said, his voice a bit strained.

A disgusting silence followed these words, and Harry could feel Sarah vibrating with shock and distress. He couldn't see her face, which was fixed on Dumbledore, but Harry could guess that the blood was draining from it, and that her beautiful blue eyes were wide and something like terrified. Harry reached around her and took her hands awkwardly in his, trying to comfort her. As he did so, he thought he saw Malfoy clench his fists, as though he were itching to punch something.

Sarah was looking back and forth between Dumbledore and Malfoy, seemingly dumbstruck and fish-mouthed.

"Mother wanted to tell you," Malfoy said, looking at her. "But Father said no.

"Your mum was a Death Eater the Dark Lord got too friendly with. She was a close friend of Mother's, so after you were born she gave you to us. She told the Dark Lord you'd died. He didn't believe her. Knew she was lying, so he killed her. Never found out where you were, though. Didn't care to look."

"Didn't...care...to look," Sarah repeated softly. She fell limply back onto Harry, who awkwardly glanced at Dumbledore. The headmaster showed no sign of seeing his rather uncomfortable position. Harry was feeling quite red in the face. He'd never had a girl so close for so long. All he knew was that he was not going to be telling Ron about it, that was for certain.

Dumbledore nodded at the pallid Sarah.

"Voldemort does not care. For anyone or anything," he said.

"Why did I have to come here?" Sarah asked. "Why couldn't I have stayed at the Malfoy's?"

Dumbledore sighed.

"You are sixteen years old, correct?" he asked. Sarah nodded. "You should have learned about everything many, many years ago, and I thought it was time for you to be told. For you see, Voldemort was stripped of his power when he failed to kill Harry. However, two years ago he returned and has since been gathering power. He sent you this dream because you have power unheard of for a witch your age, and Voldemort will want you on his side. Therefore you must now make a choice between good and evil. You do not have to make it tonight, but the sooner you do, the better."

"I know what I'm going to choose," Sarah said immediately. "I'm on Harry's side."

Malfoy scowled, but Harry's spirits flew. Dumbledore nodded, looking pleased.

"Very well. Mr. Malfoy, escort her back to the Slytherin common room. Miss Riddle, if you wish, tomorrow we will move you from Slytherin House to Gryffindor. Mr. Potter, stay for a bit more, if you will. I'd like to speak to you privately. Minerva, thank you so much for bringing Harry here." Dumbledore said. McGonagall nodded and left, ushering Malfoy and Sarah out. Harry watched them leave, then turned back to Dumbledore.

"You wanted to tell me something, sir?" he said. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, Harry," he said. "And this is it- Sarah will need friends who stick by her for a good amount of time after this, and I tend to think that you, Ron and Hermione would be preferred by her. Also, as I said, Sarah is extremely powerful and it would do us all good to keep her from getting upset, understand? Her power is like yours, in a way. Most dangerous when put under pressure. Watch her for this, and calm her if necessary. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Harry said, nodding. Dumbledore nodded.

"Then you may go."