Welcome back my lovely Potterheads!

Holy crap, I'm sorry this took so long. Life is hectic, my brain won't shut up and stop coming up with new fics, but I've finally finished the next chapter. I'm slowly but surely wrapping up Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, which means we'll be facing the Chamber of Secrets soon enough!

Enjoy, and as always only my OC is mine.


To Susanna's great surprise, it would seem Professor Quirrell was not as spineless as he presented himself to be. He did appear to be getting both paler and thinner, though to the best of her, her cousin's, and their friends' knowledge he'd yet to crack under Snape's pressure.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, the four Gryffindors would stop to press their ears to the door. Fluffy continued to growl, so they could only assume the Philosopher's Stone was still safe. Professor Snape's mood reassured them all the more, what with the sour man storming around the castle with his usual foul temper.

Harry had taken to sending Quirrell encouraging smiles whenever he passed the man, and Ron began telling off anyone who laughed at the professor's stutter. Susanna toned down her pranks, though that was mostly Hermione's doing. The bushy-haired girl was much more focused on their final exams than Snape, Quirrell, and the Stone. Her study schedules and color coded notes distracted Susanna enough that her usual targets could breathe slightly easier - though there were still the Weasley twins and Lee to worry about.

As much as the redheaded girl complained, she actually enjoyed studying with Hermione. The same could not be said for Harry and Ron.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away." Harry had said as soon as his friend demanded he and Ron join the two girls for a study session.

"Ten weeks." She snapped back. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

Ron scoffed in response. "But we're not six hundred years old. Anyway, what are you two studying for, you already know it all."

"Not Astronomy." Susanna glared at her chart.

Hermione looked as though she'd been conked in the head with a cartoon anvil. "What are we studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me…"

Their professors seemed to be thinking the same as Hermione, as they'd piled on so much homework that the Easter holidays were only a blink of an eye. Susanna hadn't pulled a prank the entire break, Hermione having dragged her, Harry, and Ron into the library.

They remained there well after the holidays, and the earlier charm Susanna found in studying faded the more she had to listen to her best friend recite the twelve uses of Dragon's blood - which the redhead already knew, God Hermione, just shh.

"I'll never remember this!" Ron moaned, throwing his quill down as he glowered out the library window. It was a beautiful day, the sky a clear blue and the sun shining, a sign that summer was fast approaching.

"Join the club." Susanna huffed, taking in all the corrections Ron and Hermione had made to her star chart.

"Hagrid!" She jumped as looked up, Ron waving the gamekeeper over. "What are you doing in the library?"

"Jus' lookin'." The giant said, suspiciously hiding something behind his back. "An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Not anymore -" Susanna started, but Ron cut her off, earning him a kick to the shins.

"Oh, we - ouch, Susie - found out who he was ages ago. And we know what the dog's guarding, it's the Philosopher's -"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid checked to see if anyone was looking in while Susanna glowered at the other ginger, shaking her head at his loud boasting. This was why she didn't invite him on any of her pranking adventures. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with you?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry ignored his cousin as she slammed her head down on her stack of books, muttering angrily to herself, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid very nearly roared. "Listen - come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh -"

"See you later, then." Harry interrupted, Susanna lifting her head. Hagrid nodded, relieved, before shuffling away.

"What's he hiding behind his back?" Hermione asked.

"Do you think it has something to do with the Stone? Ow!" Harry yelped as his cousin kicked him in the shins this time, earning him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Ron.

The redheaded boy then sighed, standing up. "I'm going to see what section he was in."

"You just don't want to study anymore." Susanna accused him with a smile.

Ron only disappeared into the stacks, returning with a pile of books in his arms and wearing an incredulous expression. "Dragons!" He exclaimed in a loud whisper, slamming the books onto the table. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland... From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

Susanna and Harry stared at each other, remembering the first time they met Hagrid, back when they thought they were only a couple of freaks, before they knew about magic -

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told us so the first time we ever met him." Harry shared.

Ron frowned. "But it's against our laws. Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that." Hermione made a little noise - one only Susanna heard - and the redheaded girl watched as her best friend's cheeks flushed. "It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"Wicked." Susanna grinned. "Do you think I could work with dragons?"

"No." Harry was quick to say. "Absolutely not." As his cousin pouted, he turned back to Ron. "There aren't any wild dragons in Britain, are there?"

"Of course there are." Ron cleared his throat. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Hermione asked, cheeks no longer flushed.

Susanna stared in the direction Hagrid had shuffled off to, a sly grin on her lips. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."


An hour later, the quartet found themselves outside of Hagrid's hut. All of the curtains were closed, its normally welcoming atmosphere now clouded. Susanna glanced around at her wary cousin and her friends before sighing. "I guess I'll knock."

"Who is it?" Hagrid gruffed out as Susanna shook out her hand, knuckles sore.

"Us. Harry, Susanna, Ron, Her-" The door swung open, revealing an incredibly anxious Hagrid. He gestured for the four Gryffindors to hurry inside. He was quick to shut and lock his door. The first thing Susanna noticed was how unbearably hot the hut was, the fireplace roaring despite how warm it was outside. She watched Hagrid nervously fumble around his home, making his guests tea and offering stoat sandwiches - which the four first years politely declined.

"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes." Harry nodded as Hagrid settled into his large armchair, staring down the Boy Who Lived. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

"Nice, way to be direct, Harry." Susanna whispered loudly to her cousin, earning an eyeroll and an elbow to her ribs. She rubbed the sore spot with a pout that could rival her twin's, when Dudley didn't get what he wanted.

Hagrid frowned at Harry, caterpillar eyebrows furrowed. "O' course I can't. Number one, I don't know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. The Stone's here for a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy."

Susanna started to open her mouth to explain, but promptly closed it when Hermione scowled at her. The bushy-haired girl then turned to Hagrid, wearing a placating smile. "Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know. You know everything that goes on around here." Hermione's warm tone had Hagrid's beard twitching, betraying the large man's hidden smile. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's posture became more confident, his chest swelled, and he sat up with a straight back. Harry, Ron, and Susanna all grinned at Hermione, though the latter was unsurprised, given how much of an arse-kisser her best friend could be when it came to the Hogwarts staff.

Hagrid cleared his throat, and Susanna set down her now empty cup of tea with interest. "Well, I don' s'ppose it could hurt to tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o'the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall," he ticked off the names with his fingers, "Professor Quirrell, an' Dumbledore himself did somethin' o'course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone." Hagrid snapped. "Oh, yeah. Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Harry asked, and the four Gryffindors glanced at each other in horror.

"Yeah." Hagrid frowned at his guests, disappointment pouring out of his eyes. "Yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Susanna chewed on her bottom lip. If Snape had helped protect the Stone, then he could have learned how the other professors helped. Except perhaps Quirrell, which was why he'd cornered him in the Forbidden Forest.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. Aren't you, Hagrid?" Susanna eyed Hagrid as Harry asked his question, tone thick with anxiety. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore." Hagrid confirmed with a proud smile.

"Well, that's something." Harry muttered, Susanna nodding. Her cousin then began fanning himself. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Yeah, why've you got a fire on anyway, Hagrid? It's warm enough without one." Susanna grumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

Hagrid only shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, yeh two, can't." He glanced towards the fireplace, and the cousins followed his gaze.

"Hagrid - what's that?" Harry asked, staring at the black egg resting in the heart of the roaring fire. So that's why he was looking at dragon books, Susanna thought to herself as she watched Hagrid twitch nervously.

"Ah. That's - er…"

Ron hurried over to the fireplace, crouching in front of the egg. "Where did you get it, Hagrid? It must've cost you a fortune!"

"Won it." Hagrid cleared his throat, hands shaking as he poured the others and himself more tea. "Las' night. I was done in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

Oh, that's reassuring, Susanna thought to herself, eyeing the dragon egg nervously. There was only two reasons the stranger wanted to get rid of it, and it wasn't because he was feeling generous. Either he got the egg illegally, or it was close to hatching. Which might not matter much to Hagrid.

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asked, ever a voice of reason.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'." Hagrid stood and walked over to his bed, pulling a large book out from under his pillow. He returned to the first years, holding it up to them. "Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour." Susanna wrinkled her nose in disgust. "An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs." He flicked to the page in question. "What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house." Susanna couldn't help her amused little snort, though it thankfully went unheard by their host as he happily stoked the roaring fire.


Susanna and her friends spent the following days with yet another thing to worry about; what could happen to Hagrid were anyone to discover he was a hiding a definitely illegal dragon in his wooden hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life." Ron had grumbled one particularly stressful evening, their homework having piled up exponentially the closer they got to their final exams. Hermione had taken it upon herself to create study schedules for the boys, driving them nuts. Susanna was amused for only a second until Hermione handed over her own schedule.

"But what about my pranks! I had so many planned. I wanted to see Draco as a ginger." The red-haired girl pouted, Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione would not be swayed, though she did promise Susanna one day off - though only one, to be chosen wisely. That and Hades presence was enough to keep the redhead from joining the Weasley twins and Lee in whatever mischief they'd planned. She and her cat could be found curled up together in the armchair beside the fireplace, Hades nudging at her judgmentally with his paws whenever Susanna began to get distracted.

A few breakfasts later, Hedwig delivered Harry another note from Hagrid. He'd only written two words: It's hatching.

While Ron wanted to skip Herbology, but Hermione blatantly refused. "How many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" He asked her, Susanna nodding in agreement.

"Yeah! Think of all that you could observe about -"

"You just don't want to go to class, Anna." Hermione interrupted.

Susanna huffed. "I hate Devil's Snare. It's creepy."

"No." Hermione then turned to Ron. "We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered loudly, nodding to Draco. The blonde was only a few feet away, and had stopped to listen in. None of the Gryffindors were pleased with the look on his face, though Susanna's instinct was to pretend to pounce him once more. It worked like a charm, Draco scurrying away to avoid losing to a Muggle-born yet again.

Ron and Susanna were unable to convince Hermione to let them skip herbology, but with Harry's interference got her to agree to visit Hagrid during their morning break. As soon as the bell sounded, the four Gryffindors dropped their trowels in their bags of dirt and hurried to Hagrid's hut - Susanna had to sidestep a particularly ambitious Devil's Snare as it reached out a slimy vine to wrap around her.

"I hate that bloody class!" She shouted to her cousin as they ran, Harry laughing over the roaring wind.

Hagrid greeted his guests with a wide, flushed smile. "It's nearly out!" He ushered the first years inside. They found the egg lying on the round kitchen table, deep cracks in it. The egg rattled with internal movement, a clicking noise escaping. Everyone grabbed a chair and sat as close to it as possible, watching the hatching with bated breath.

Then, in one moment, the egg split open with a final scraping noise. The baby dragon flopped out onto the table. It was a crumpled little thing, with black spiny wings and a long snout, nostrils wide. Its horns were stubby and its orange eyes bulging. "Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid asked, attempting to stroke the dragon's head, only for it to snap at his fingers with sharp fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy."

"Hey, uh, Hagrid," Susanna stammered out, "how quickly do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow?" She jumped when the dragon sneezed out a couple of sparks. That wouldn't end well. She eyed the hut worriedly, Hermione gulping beside her.

Hagrid was about to respond when he suddenly grew pale. The four Gryffindors jolted as he ran to his window, peering out.

"What's the matter?" Harry stood.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up to the school."

Both Harry and Susanna bolted to the door, his cousin leaping off the steps. Even with the growing distance between the boy and the hut, there was no mistaking who it was.

Draco. Draco Malfoy had seen the dragon.


If Nicholas Flamel's immortality stone, Professor Snape's interest in it, and Hagrid's dragon wasn't enough to stress the four Gryffindors out, they had to spend the next week with Malfoy smiling dangerously over at them whenever he could. Not even Susanna's sneer was enough to scare him off. A sailor would be terrified of the curses the redheaded girl had to keep at bay, else earn herself detention every day for the rest of term - and perhaps until her last year at Hogwarts.

They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's dark hut, attempting to reason with the stubborn groundskeeper. "Just let him go." Harry urged for what felt like the thousandth time. "Set it free."

Susanna nodded tiredly, stressed enough to eat one of Hagrid's infamous rock cakes - she dunked it in her tea to soften it.

"I can't. He's too little. He'd die." Hagrid argued, Susanna sending him an incredulous look before staring at the dragon with her cousin and their two friends. It had grown three times it's original length in only a week. Perhaps there was something to be said for a healthy diet of brandy-and-chicken blood. "I've decided to call him Norbert." Hagrid declared with misty eyes as smoke billowed out of the dragon's large nostrils. "He really knows me, watch - Norbert! Norbert! Where's mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles." Ron muttered in Harry's ear, just loud enough for Susanna to catch.

"Hagrid." Susanna cleared her throat, and the groundskeeper finally looked down at her. "In two weeks, Norbert's going to be bigger than your house. Draco's not going to keep quiet for long, I guarantee you the slimy git's waiting for the perfect moment to strike." She mimed a snake pouncing at its prey, Hermione jumping when her fingers got a little too close. "Sorry." Susanna winced apologetically while the other girl rolled her eyes at the dramatics.

Hagrid bit his lip. "I-I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him. I can't."

"I know." Susanna stared at him sadly. "But you might have to -"

"Charlie." Harry cut his cousin off, though he missed her glare as he turned to Ron.

The redheaded boy tilted his head in confusion. "You're losing it, too. I'm Ron, remember?"

Harry blinked. "No - Charlie - your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons." He reminded his friend while his cousin laughed into her cup of tea. "We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him, then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" Ron cheered, smiling over at Hagrid. "How about it, Hagrid?"

The large man reluctantly nodded, and wrote a letter for them to send to Charlie, though his hand shook the whole time.

With that, the next week dragged on. Wednesday night found Harry, Hermione, and Susanna sitting in the empty common room, their housemates having all gone to bed. When the clock on the wall chimed midnight, the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared steps in front of them, haphzaradly tossing the invisibility cloak at Harry.

"It bit me!" He nearly shouted, showing his friend his hand. It was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for 'frightening it'. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby! Hades's nicer!" Ron threw himself on the couch as he nodded at Susanna's black cat. Hades opened one blue eye, staring up at the red-haired boy judgementally before curling closer to his human.

A tap on the dark window prevented Susanna from scolding Ron for his comment, Harry hurrying over. "It's Hedwig!" He let the snowy owl in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

He gently removed the letter from her beak and opened it, the other three walking over to read with him.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you and take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love,

Charlie

The four looked at one another, a terrifying smile growing on Susanna's face at the prospect of an adventurous escape from studying - and it didn't even interfere with Hermione's schedule, so she wouldn't have to waste her pass!

"We've got the invisibility cloak - stop smiling like that, Suze - so it shouldn't be too difficult." Harry said. "I think the cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."

"I volunteer!" Susanna's hand shot up, earning an eyeroll from Harry and Hermione, and an amused snort from Ron. "What? Anything to get rid of itty-bitty Norbert and Draco."

"How altruistic of you." Hermione commented with a slight smirk. Susanna nodded innocently, Hades - who'd refused to let his human join her cousin and friends without carrying him - meowing cutely in agreement.


There were two hitches the next morning. The first; Ron's bitten hand had swelled to the size of small melon. He had no choice but to go to the hospital wing, the cut having turned a nasty shade of green by the afternoon. The second: Susanna got detention.

Now, it wasn't her fault. Entirely. Pansy kept bothering her during their Defense class, sending notes to Susanna insulting both Harry's cousin and her best friend. She wasn't just going to take it lying down, and her wand was right there. If Parkinson had only left her alone, perhaps Susanna wouldn't have felt motivated to use Flipendo to send the Slytherin bint flying backwards into a suit of armor. It was quite funny, really, until Professor Snape turned the corner and put two-and-two together.

"You're lucky he only took twenty points!" Hermione lectured later that evening when the Gryffindors visited Ron in the hospital wing.

"I've got detention the rest of May, including weekends!" Susanna grumbled. "I'm going to miss getting rid of Hagrid's dangerous little friend."

"At least you don't have an infection." Rob grumbled, waving her off with his good hand. "It's not just my hand," he then whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I've told her it was Hades, but I don't think she believes me - oi!" Ron rubbed his shoulder, Susanna shaking out her fist with a glower. "I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

"No, he's doing this because he's a cu-"

"Susanna!" Hermione shouted before attempting to calm Ron. "It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday."

Ron bolted upright, breaking into a sweat. "Midnight on Saturday!" He groaned hoarsely. "Oh no, oh no - I've just remembered… Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Before the other three could respond, Madam Pomfrey appeared and kicked them out so Ron could rest.

"It's too late to change the plan now." Harry told the two girls as they walked to Hagrid's. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we've got the invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

They found Fang - Hagrid's boarhound - sitting outside the hut with a bandaged tail. He whined as Susanna pet him, hoping Hades wouldn't hate her for returning to Gryffindor Tower smelling of dog. Hagrid only opened a window to talk to them, refusing to let them in. "Norbert's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle." He explained. His eyes proceeded to fill with tears as they told him about Charlie's letter, though that might have also been caused by Norbert biting him on the leg. "Aargh! It's alright, he only got my boot - jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all."

Norbert the baby banged his tail on the wall, the windows rattling and doing nothing to help Hagrid's attempts at reassurance. The three Gryffindors scurried back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.

Perhaps it could, Susanna thought that Saturday evening, when she'd returned from her detention to find Harry and Hermione sitting in the common room, completely silent. "And here I thought scrubbing moldy cauldrons was bad. What happened?"

Moments later, Susanna wished she hadn't asked.