The rest of the time before Christmas break we went to the Room of Requirement as often as we could. My father did check in with Adrian and Graham about whether or not I was taking my potions again. I made a point of spending at least one night a week brewing potions with him outside of my classes. Hogsmeade weekends were spent in the apothecary and the book store for research, with a stop in the Three Broomsticks for fun and a break. Everyone in our house noticed, but none of them seemed concerned. They'd actually help if we asked, and they always got some kind of thank you that appeared in their bags or their dorms within the week.
Adrian and Graham went home for the holidays, but my father and I stayed at Hogwarts. Harry stayed too, but I had a sneaking suspicion that would be a regular occurrence. Harry and I opened gifts together in the common room, and I forced myself to stay silent at the handwriting on the note that was wrapped with his invisibility cloak. At my request, my father allowed me to bring Harry with me to his chambers, where we had our own private Christmas dinner. I grinned at my father's reluctant admittance to Harry not being a complete idiot in Potions, Harry seemed confused, but went with it.
Once the term started again Adrian and Graham started hitting harder than ever in our occlumency training. None of us were skilled enough with legilimency to try and aim for a specific memory yet, but the more we practiced with occlumency the closer we got to being able to sift through our own. The books my father found for us helped me learn how to control the changing of my physical body. I still lost control occasionally, and if they really tried, Adrian and Graham could push enough buttons to raise my temper. They only ever did it to test my control. Eventually we pulled out the spell book I'd found again, copying pages for each of us to translate on our own so we could practice them later. Everything came down to the occlumency in the end. If we couldn't get it right, we couldn't plan properly.
It wasn't until the end of April when Harry and his little friends came to find me in the courtyard. It was also one of the first times I encountered Granger since the troll incident. I didn't look at her for long though, Harry apparently meant business. He spoke quietly, but his voice was strong "I hear you trade favors."
I smirked as Graham's book almost fell out of his hand. His back leaned against mine, so it was no surprise he didn't expect Harry's voice. First-years rarely worked with me "I do, what do you need?"
Granger grabbed his arm, and even Nott looked a little shifty behind him. It seemed he was the only one who though it was a good idea to come to me "Harry, think about this. You could get Hagrid in real trouble by telling her."
My eyebrows raised, and I felt Graham turn his head to look over my shoulder. My own book snapped shut in an instant, and I gave him my full attention "Now I'm very interested. Tell me, Harry, what exactly could get Hagrid in trouble?"
Nott winced and glared over at Granger, who had the decency to look guilty for saying that in front of me. Harry simply barreled on through "Hagrid got hold of a dragon's egg. He's hatched it, and now we need to get it off school grounds before it gets too big and hurts someone."
I almost choked, and by the sound of it Graham was in the same boat. We stood at the same time, both in agreement that we'd tell Adrian later "Show us."
The three first years' eyes widened "What?"
I made a quick motion with my hands "Come on. I want to see this. It's not every day you get the chance to see a dragon." Of course, we also had a different goal in mind. I could control the transformation so far, but who knew how far mine could get? One of the books my father had found mentioned that Dragonians could understand the dragon species they transformed into. I wouldn't be able to have a conversation with it even if I could understand it, but it would be cool to see regardless.
Unfortunately, I couldn't understand it. The stench of the place gave me a headache too. After spending five minutes in the cabin, Graham and I left, telling Harry to give me a week to figure something out. It was a discussion with Adrian about it where we found a solution "What about Charlie Weasley?"
My head perked up "That's right! He works with dragons in Romania, doesn't he? Professor McGonagall was so happy for him last year."
Graham shook his head "The question is, how do we contact him? He won't just help out a couple of Slytherins who write to him."
I shrugged "The twins owe me a big favor, it's time to cash in on it."
The Weasley twins really didn't like having me cash in on it that way. They were probably hoping I'd forget about it, or that it would be for some reason that didn't involve their family. But they did it. I had the exchange set up, all it needed was Harry and his friends getting the dragon up the astronomy tower. They managed, but Filch almost caught them.
I expected the rest of the year to be uneventful. The closer exams came the less we worked on our occlumency, but we weren't giving up. We prepared a schedule to work on over the summer without being caught by our parents, and divided five spells each for us to translate. It was ridiculously time consuming to run through the translations, especially when we got to the more complex spells, but it was worth it if they worked. It still hurt to use any of them for me, but there was nothing we could do about it at the moment.
The weekend before exams started we set up in the library to begin cramming for them. We each focused on our weakest classes, asking each other questions and answering those asked of us. It was the best method we had for studying, and we could really only hope it saved us from any Ts in our classes. When Harry and Nott both ended up in the hospital wing Adrian, Graham, and I all took turns visiting them. I got the full story one night when I was with my father in his chambers. Dumbledore made it sound like my brother had won by raw talent, but really, he was just lucky. Lucky that Lily Potter died for him. That was what saved him.
It was hard to avoid eye contact with the headmaster, but I didn't trust that I was a good enough occlumens to fight him off. Adrian and Graham both almost panicked when I told them he'd been there, but quickly calmed down after my reassuring them. We made plenty of promises to write, but not to speak of what we were working on in our letters. We couldn't trust anyone not to read our mail. I also promised to write Harry if he wanted me to, as long as it wouldn't cause him trouble. He agreed, and I knew then that my father was going to be bothered by how much I talked about my little brother and his family. It didn't help that I knew his history with Lily – it was the only way he got me to shut up as a little girl.
The day the Hogwarts Express took us back was bittersweet. I was happy to go home to Spinner's End, where I knew my father and I would spend the break smiling and enjoying time together. He really did have the softest heart behind closed doors. But I also knew it meant I wouldn't see my friends for a while, and for that I almost didn't want the term to end. I accepted it for what it was though. My friends would still be there when the summer was over. My father walked with me to Hogsmeade station, giving me a brief farewell despite the fact that I'd see him in only a few hours. It was tradition for students to take the train, and I wasn't going to miss out on the time to spend with my friends.
Adrian and Graham spent the ride with me. Alexandra and Myra popped in on our compartment to give us all a farewell before leaving us alone. We decided not to talk about everything we'd done over the year. Sometimes it was best to just have fun. When the ride was over my friends' parents met them on the platform, allowing them one last goodbye before taking them to the floo network. I tracked down Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding over to the barrier.
He followed me easily once he said his goodbyes, slowing his steps when Vernon Dursley came into sight. I looked down at him "You'll still have Hogwarts once the summer ends."
He glanced up at me briefly when we reached his uncle, who gave me a stern glare "Come on, boy."
My eyes narrowed at him, and Harry appeared to cringe. My father's signature sneer made its way onto my face as I spoke "Harry, if you need anything don't hesitate to let me know. I'm sure my father and I can handle a few muggles." I didn't bother giving his uncle another look, but I did make sure that Harry understood before going on my way. My father met me happily outside of the station, and I followed him quickly to the apparition point. He took my arm before a loud 'pop' sounded and the feeling of being compressed overtook me. When I opened my eyes again we were finally home.
