A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Well, I'm glad to see that so many people read my last chapter! If you read, please drop me a little note so that I can be encouraged to write quicker:) Also, I get my books from the UK, so please don't write an spoilers if you read the book first:) It takes about a week for me to get mine.
Hehehehehe – I just watched the Goblet of Fire movie preview again.
Starinthenight – lol, I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter! I really like humour and will try to keep it up!
MIDNIGHT-PIXIE – Yep! We're going back to the estate! I'm still working on my notes surrounding the estate. Yeah! I can't wait for the new book! But no one tell me what happens – I'm having mine shipped from the UK and will get it in about a week:(
Steelo – I'm glad you like it! The charm will hopefully tie stuff together.
And a BIG thanks to lightning8star, amy, a reader, and Tiarwen (I'm glad you thought it was funny!)! I really appreciate all of your reviews and would always love any suggestions you may have! I have made an outline for the last two chapters, but please let me know what suggestions you have and if you think I need to go on longer.
Hermione appeared at the front steps to the Carney estate and immediately ran upstairs. Without knocking the doors flew open for her and she rushed in. Portraits in the hall announced her arrival with "She's here, she's here!" Hermione ignored them and ran up the main staircase to the second floor.
A house elf slowly walked into the great hall as the portraits settled down. "Hello?" he squeaked. With no answer, he sneaked back into the kitchen.
"Knock, knock, knock." Ginny looked up from her medical set. Going to the door, she opened it to find a smiling Blaise there with a covered cage.
"Blaise!" Ginny threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss. "You're back early! I thought you were going to be gone for a few days, not one! But I'm so glad to see you! Come on in!"
With a big smile, Blaise entered her house. "I'm glad to see you. We were able to quickly finish our business and, of course, I couldn't wait to get back to you. I have a gift," he added, holding the cage to her. Ginny squealed.
"For me?" Excitedly she sets the cage on the table and removes the cover. Inside was a bird that was so beautiful, the feathers must have been infused with the lights of paradise. As Ginny stared at it with wonder and delight, the bird called to her, making a perfect melody. "Oh Blaise, it's perfect!"
"I thought you would like a Feng-huang. They are really hard to find, you know." He teased her. Ginny replied by giving him enough kisses to make it worth it.
As they separated, Ginny asked, "Where's Draco?"
At that moment, Ginny and Blaise heard a huge roar coming from outside, followed by shouting. Startled, they ran to the window in time to see a Hungarian dragon with Draco on top of it go flying past. Draco was shouting at the dragon to stop, but he seemed to be trying to buck Draco from his back. Horrified, they watched as the dragon crashed to the ground and then knocked into a few trees. Draco stumbled out of the tree he was thrown into and shot several stunning spells to the dragon. The dragon froze for a few seconds before continuing to twill in confusion and fright.
"Blaise!" Draco yelled. "Get your ass out here NOW and help me control this monster of yours!"
Blaise immediately looked at Ginny guiltily and ran outside. Ginny ran to her medical kit and grabbed a large jug before running outside after him. Blaise and Draco had managed to stop the dragon from doing anything, but we confused what to do next. Thankfully, Ginny walked straight up to the dragon, opened his mouth and poured the contents of the jug into him. Immediately, the dragon stopped acting frantic. He put down his head and calmly let Ginny stroke his head. Draco and Blaise watched, stunned.
"What did you give him?" Draco asked, astonished.
"Goat's milk." Ginny replied, matter-of-factly. "George taught me that it calms down any dragon right away. Plus, the dragon will then consider you their family." Ginny smiled sweetly at the two men who were exhausted from their fight. Finally, Draco pulled out his wand to fix his bruises and cuts.
"Well, I'm sure glad that you were here." Draco stated.
"Why do you have a dragon?" Ginny asked, looking suspiciously at Blaise. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Well, I wanted to get you a unique gift…" Ginny raised her eyebrows, "and I saw these baby dragons in a catalogue and they looked so cute and thought it would be perfect for you and then it grew really large by the time it got to Dover and apparently it's not really legal in England so Draco agreed to take him for his estate." Blaise finished quickly.
"Do you even know how to take care of a dragon?" Ginny turned to Draco.
"No, but I was going to ask if you would be interested in taking a permanent position to help me with him." Draco smoothly replied. Ginny looked surprised and then considered him for a minute.
"We can discuss the details later." The dragon was beginning to stir. "I would suggest that we make our way to your estate before the milk wears off. And we will need to get about 50 litres of goats milk a day until he is training properly." The group began to lead the dragon toward the Carney estate with Ginny listing what she needed. "And I'll need a protective coat of leather made for me – just in case. And…"
"So, why doesn't anyone know about this?" Hermione asked. There was no reply heard. "You want me to put this on? Why?" Pause. Hermione lifted the charm and put it around her head. She was instantly inside the portrait of Rauma Carney outside her room. Looking around, Hermione saw that looking out she could see the Carney estate hall in front of her. To her right and left was darkness. Looking around, Hermione could see Rauma, her chair, the estate behind them and various objects on a table next to Rauma. Rauma smiled at you.
"I know that you are surprised that I invited you into my portrait, but I feel that you are worthy of my attentions." Rauma spoke to Hermione. Her voice was quiet, but strong with the conviction of a powerful witch. "I have seen my family fight over the years and never found someone who was strong enough and good enough to deserve what I have to offer you. But first, I need you to prove your worthiness." Hermione nodded, even though her head was full of questions. Rauma handed her an old parchment. Hermione looked down and opened the paper to find a map of the estate.
"This is the original map to my estate. While the current security portkeys and other measures do protect my family, the alignments of the rooms were changed before my death to limit the power in the house." Rauma paused. She looked sad. "My descendents have not been very true to the Carney name and my action has probably helped to prevent wars that members of the family would have begun to gain more power."
"The stone in the charm around you neck was mine. My husband gave it to me when we were betrothed. I added the inscription, audaces fortuna iuvat, after our first child was born." Rauma paused again. "My husband was a very good man. I know that you have a bit of a history with the Malfoy family" Hermione began to talk, but was hushed, "I do still have connections outside these walls. I am glad to find that the current generation to carry my husband's name is beginning to come back to their senses."
She pointed to the map open in Hermione's hands. "This map will help you re-align the estate to it's original positions. I am sure you will figure out how to do this. If you succeed, you will get my reward. If you fail, the map will be gone from you until someone worthy comes before me again." She paused. "Let me answer your questions now."
Draco, Blaise, the dragon and Ginny arrived at the Carney estate with no knowledge of what was going on inside. Draco quickly led the group around to a path surrounding the estate and gardens.
"Moativus Apparendiate." The ground dropped by about 3 meters to reveal a moat that went around the estate. The dragon perked up and immediately went into the moat and into a cave under the group. Soon they heard him snoring and Draco and Blaise set about putting spells around the moat, estate and grounds to hold the dragon inside the area. Ginny filled up a large basin by the dragon with some more goats milk Dragon was able to procure from the house-elves.
"Right." Draco said, wiping his hands and looking to Blaise and Ginny. "So, Ginny, what's been going on while we've been gone?"
"Well, Draco, I've hexed Josephine and she won't be bothering us now." Ginny replied.
"What? How did you do that?"
"It was her idea really. If you look at today's Daily's Prophet you will see a short article with all the details." Ginny grinned widely, "See if she thinks she's prettier than me now!"
"What did you do?" Draco was now a bit alarmed.
"Nothing. She's just going to smell like manure for awhile now." Ginny giggled evilly. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Women." He mumbled. He looked again to Ginny. "Speaking of, is Hermione at home today?"
Ginny shrugged. "Not sure. I haven't seen her in about two days. I stopped by last night and didn't find her, but she may have been at the library or something."
"Ok." Draco began to walk to the estate. "Well, I would like to change and visit her. You two are more then welcome to stay her and refresh yourselves."
"Great!" Blaise perked up. "Do you still have those treats from Dubai? Ginny, I couldn't believe that food could ever taste that good until Draco got this gift from an associate in Dubai to thank him for starting a new project there. You will have to try them. They are sooooo good!"
Blaise and Ginny continued behind Draco talking about food and their favourites until they reached the house. Draco suddenly stopped, causing Blaise to smack into him.
"What?" Balise asked, looking at Draco. Draco just stared in front of him. Ginny and Blaise looked up and their faces reflected Draco's shock. The estate not only looked different from the way they had left it, but it was bigger, a lighter shade of stone and glowing slightly.
"What is going on?" Draco asked to no one in particular as he took out his wand and rushed up the steps. When he came to the main door, he tried to open it, but it wouldn't open. Draco began pounding on the door. "Open up, house! This is mine!"
When the house wouldn't budge, Draco ran around to the garden entrance with Blaise and Ginny in tow. As they came to the courtyard, they were cut short to find Hermione standing in the middle of the garden. A glowing Hermione, floating above the path with a map in her hand. She looked at the map and then focused her wand on the house. As the three watched, the library on the ground floor made its way, as if turned into rubber, to the first floor. As the house settled into its new format, it slowly stopped glowing and returned to it's former colour. Hermione seemed exhausted as she slowly lowered to the ground and returned to her normal shade. After sitting for a moment, Hermione stood up and turned around to find Draco, Blaise and Ginny staring at her.
"I can explain…" she said, walking toward them.
A/N: I hope you like this chapter! I will try to update again early next week! Please, please, please review and let me know what you think about the whole story and if you want it to come together and end or if it should go on a bit longer. If you vote for longer, please give me suggestions:)