Charlie opened the door to Harry and Ron's room, went inside and shut it again. Fred and George went off to the attic to test out some of their new products.
The dragon, who Alexis had already nicknamed Cat, crawled onto her shoulder; indeed, she was the size a cat.
"Wow," said Alexis. "You're so light for your size…And you're so much like Fury…"
Charlie had told her that Cat would mature fast; by the end of the term (and the end of the school year) the dragon would have reached adulthood already.
Alexis walked down the stairs; Cat was making soft cooing sounds.
"You sound like a bird." she told the dragon. Cat ignored her, peering curiously at the others seated around the fire, elegant muzzle sniffing the scent coming from the fireplace. "Like it, don't you? Fire-breather." she chuckled sadly at a memory of her dad.
"Hey everyone." Alexis took a seat next to Draco. She seemed to like leaning on his shoulder a lot these days.
"H – What in the name of Merlin is that!" exclaimed Harry. Catalyst growled like a tiger. Alexis scratched the dragon's chin again.
"Shh… you make a lot of sound for a youngster…your relatives aren't as noisy as this, just remember not to wake Charlie up." she warned.
"Aly…" said Harry, slightly impatiently. "What is that?"
"What does it look like? It's a dragon. You should know, Harry, you've seen one."
"It's tiny!"
"No it isn't."
"I don't know what possessed Charlie to give it to you." Mrs. Weasley bustled in from the kitchen. "But I hope he had a good reason."
"It's hers?" echoed Sandra from the corner. "Why did she get it?"
Because the whole world doesn't revolve around you, thought Alexis irritably.
"Sandra," said Ginny patiently, "Aly has a huge obsession with dragons, probably since she ever knew about them."
"Yeah," agreed Hermione, "I'm surprised she didn't get one before now. She even has that necklace thing with a dragon on it."
"Mione," said Alexis teasingly, "It's a family crest. So you don't know everything!"
Hermione laughed. Alexis looked to see Catalyst sniffing Draco's outstretched fingers.
"You can smell him all you like," she warned. "Just don't go biting his fingers off." Cat bared her teeth in a dragon grin, rows of needle-sharp teeth revealing themselves.
"Those look nasty." commented Draco.
"Must be." answered Alexis absently, transfixed by the black dragon now on her lap. "And don't you dare exercise those teeth more than you need to!"
Her answer was a whine.
"It's sooo cute!" squealed Sandra, eyeing Cat with envy. "How much did it cost?"
Alexis stared.
"How much did she cost?" said Hermione. "Sandra, you can't buy them from a shop! Charlie probably transported it here from Romania!"
"Right you are, Miss. Know-it-all!" announced Fred, marching down the stairs with a box in his hands.
"Finished so fast?" asked Alexis suspiciously, eyeing the box.
"Yep!" answered George, trailing after his twin. "Who's up for some testing?"
Cat glanced at the two boys curiously, jumping up and launching into flight awkwardly.
"Back here. Now." ordered Alexis sharply, "You're not allowed to trial their products. Besides, they're not dragon tested."
"Yeah," agreed Draco, "And you never know, you might turn purple. That would not be pretty."
Cat made a whuffling sound and proceeded to sniff Draco's hair.
"You shouldn't do that either." said Alexis. "He uses so many hair products; I'll be surprised if his hair doesn't fall out one day."
Cat chortled and went to sleep promptly in Alexis's lap.
"Good thing she's not heavy." commented Draco, unexpectedly leaning over and kissing her cheek. "This really made your day, huh?"
"Hell yeah." she replied nervously. What's wrong with me? she thought, feeling hotter by the second. This never happened before…well, except for when I had a crush on him, she laughed to herself. I would blush whenever he even looked at me. She managed to keep her blushing under control and sit quietly. Then a thought occurred to her.
"Harry," she said, tapping him on the nose. "We're going back to school in two days."
Alexis had settled well at the Burrow. Everyone treated her as a part of their family, which she was grateful for, since she had lapsed a couple of times into depression. She wondered if this was how the great Harry Potter felt, the Harry Potter that had survived Voldemort with only a scar and was currently missing from the wizarding world, said to be living with his Muggle relatives. Alexis had no contempt whatsoever for Muggles, but she wondered if Harry even knew that a wizarding world existed.
"Heya Aly, dinner time!" called Fred. Wait that was Fred, right..? Oh well.
"So, are you excited about tomorrow? Your first day at school?" asked Mrs. Weasley as Alexis took a seat at the table.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, of course I am!"
"Me too." said Ron through all the food in his mouth. Alexis glanced disapprovingly at him.
"So what house you d'you want to get into?" she asked him.
"Gryffindor." he replied. "I don't know if I will, though. Hope I do."
"You'll do fine, dear." Mrs. Weasley assured her son. "So will you, Alexis."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." said Alexis through a piece of chicken.
Hermione leapt up.
"Merlin! I forgot! C'mon Aly, let's get upstairs and pack!"
"Wait right there." Draco put a hand on her shoulder (at which she felt uncomfortable). "You have two days to pack and you're deciding to do it now?"
"You're forgetting, o blonde one; I'm not in Ravenclaw for nothing."
He let go of her shoulder, muttering something inaudible. Alexis tsked jokingly.
"Draco, don't talk to yourself, it's the first sign of madness! Don't let your insane side take over!" she called as Hermione dragged her up the stairs.
