Chapter Four

After Hermione returned to Hogwarts, Harry and Ron filled her in on everything that happened while she was away. She was disappointed when they told her they still hadn't been able to find anything on Nicholas Flamel.

Harry had been spending a lot of his free time at Quidditch practice. If they won their next match against Hufflepuff, Gryffindor would surpass Slytherin for the house championship. Something that Wood reminded them hadn't happened in seven years.

While Harry was at practice, Hermione went to the library to check out a few more books in search for Nicholas Flamel. She stopped to chat with Draco a bit before she left to meet Ron in the common room.

It wasn't long after that, Harry met up with them and told them the news.

"Snape is refereeing our next match."

"Snape? You've got to be joking." Ron said incredulously.

"If you're so worried don't play." Suggested Hermione.

"Or you can say you're ill."

"Pretend to break your leg."

"Really break your leg." Ron suggested, not the least bit joking.

Harry just shook his head at them. "I can't do that. We don't have anyone else to play seeker. If I don't play, we lose. And if we lose, Gryffindor doesn't have a shot at the house championship. I have to play."

The discussion stopped when they noticed a commotion near the entrance. It was Neville. His legs were stuck together, and he was hopping into the room when he fell over. Everyone began to laugh. Everyone, except Hermione.

"What happened? Who put a leg-locker curse on you?"

"Malfoy."

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah, he was outside the library. He said he was waiting for someone to try out the spell on."

Hermione paused for a moment. Did Draco really do this? How could he? It didn't make sense. Friend or not she decided, "You have to tell a teacher Neville. Go to Professor McGonagall. Report him."

But Neville just shook his head. "I can't do that. I don't want to cause any more trouble."

It was Ron who spoke next, "What you have to do is stand up to him, Neville."

"You don't have to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. I'm reminded all the time. Especially by Malfoy." Neville said looking dejected and on the verge of tears.

Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a chocolate frog, then passed it to Neville. He watched as Neville's lips twitched into a small smile as he opened the wrapper.

"It's Dumbledore. Do you want it?" Neville asked showing the card to Harry.

"No, I've already got . . . wait a minute, Dumbledore! That's it, I knew I had heard the name Nicholas Flamel before and here it is look." He took the card from Neville and turned it over, and there at the bottom it said Dumbledore was famous for his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.

That made Hermione stutter. Alchemy. She had read something about that. "Stay there!" she said before she dashed away from all of them, up to her dormitory where she kept a few books she had taken out of the library for recreational reading.

She shuffled through her belongings, grabbed the book, and returned to the common room. The boys were looking at her.

"What in the bloody hell was that about?" Ron questioned.

"I checked this book out of the library weeks ago! I never thought to look in here. Here it is! Nicolas Flamel, who recently celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday, is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone."

"The what?" Harry and Ron said together.

Hermione rolled her eyes. It was like they never read a book before. "The Philosopher's Stone, it can turn any metal into gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life. An elixir that will make the drinker immortal."

"That has to be what Fluffy is guarding. He probably knew someone was trying to steal it so, he took it out of Gringotts and he asked Dumbledore to protect it. It makes sense, they're friends."

The relief of finally knowing who Nicolas Flamel was, and an almost guarantee of what the dog was guarding allowed a small reprieve for Hermione, Ron and Harry. Now, they just had to get through the Quidditch match with Snape. The match against Hufflepuff however, went better than any of them could have hoped for. Harry had caught the snitch in record breaking time and Gryffindor took the win.

It was only a few days after the match when Hermione was checking the third-floor corridor, placing her ear at the door and listening for Fluffy. She figured if Fluffy was still in there then the stone was still safe. On her way from the corridor to the library she ran in to Draco. Recently, any time she had seen him he was always flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. But this time, he was alone. She couldn't stop the irritation from rising and flushing her cheeks red.

"Hermione. I was looking for you."

"What do you want, Draco?"

He looked a bit taken aback. "I've been busy lately and thought maybe we could catch up."

"Been busy picking on Neville and starting fights at Quidditch matches?" she replied stubbornly.

"Hermione, I told you I'm expected to behave a certain way."

"Explain."

He hesitated. It was a few moments before he sighed and said "I'll explain, but not here. Not right now. Can we meet later? I will tell you all I can if you promise you can meet me later."

"Alright. When?"

"Tomorrow night. In the library."

Tomorrow came, and for Hermione the day dragged on. She tried to focus on her lessons, and she knew she should, but she couldn't help thinking about what Draco could possibly say. She knew bullies in her old school and in her mind, there was no excuse for it.

After her lessons were over, she went right to the library to wait for him. She found a corner that was usually deserted, pulled out a book and waited. A few hours later, dejected, she was about to pack up her things when Draco strode over.

"Granger."

"Malfoy."

She waited. She waited even though everything in her was screaming for him to speak. She forced herself to wait.

"I'm sure you've read all about The Dark Lord and the first wizarding war."

"Of course, I have."

"So, you're familiar with his most loyal followers. The ones they call The Death Eaters?

"I've heard of them."

"My father was one." He whispered. Hermione barely heard him.

"I thought his followers were either killed or arrested. They're supposed to be in Azkaban."

"Use your head, Hermione. Not all of his followers ended up in prison. There are plenty still out there, free to do as they please."

Hermione forced herself not to shudder. She had read about He Who Must Not Be Named and his followers. Some were just as bad as he was. They have this ridiculous idea that because they have, what some refer to as, pureblood, they are better than those who don't.

"So, what does this have to do with you?"

"Like I said before, I'm a Malfoy. One of the oldest pureblood lines left. When my father was younger he believed in all that stuff, about being practically royalty. He couldn't wait to join up with him. He was a follower of You Know Who and I'm his son. I'm expected to think the same way." He paused for a moment. She could see he was struggling to tell her all of this.

He continued, "A lot of Slytherins, even if their families weren't in his inner circle, believe that way. I must think of my family Hermione. I can't just . . ." He stopped again. This time the frustration on his face was as plain as day.

"My whole life I have been told how special I am. How just because of my name I am better. I don't believe it. I mean, you beat me in everything except riding a broom. You're pretty rubbish at that." She smirked at him as if saying ha-ha.

"There's not a spell you've come across that you can't do. You're the cleverest witch I've ever met. And you're a muggleborn! It just goes to show you, doesn't it? That all that purebloods being superior idealism, it's nonsense."

"But if you feel that way, why do you have to pretend you don't?"

"Because. Everyone says that The Dark Lord is dead. That the famous Harry Potter stopped him. There are those who don't believe that though. They believe He will return someday. They come to the manor sometimes. To talk with my father. I've heard them."

"That's why I have to act as if I believe the way they do. I have to act as if I am better. That people like Weasley and Longbottom disgust me. I don't exactly respect them, but I don't hate them. If it ever got out that you and I were friends . . . I don't even want to think about it."

"But we are friends, Draco."

"We are. You're a good friend to me Hermione, and I hope it stays that way. Even if I can't always show it."

And with that he got up and left. Hermione didn't even have the chance to consider what he said, or to stop him. She didn't have a second to respond. He just left. And Hermione was left to sit there and contemplate every word he said. It was too much. Too much to take in at once. They were friends, but couldn't be friends? He was a good person, but had to pretend to be awful? What did this mean for them?

Hermione sat in the library. Not reading her book. Just sitting there. Once again Madam Pince had to tell her she needed to leave. She didn't remember getting her things together. She couldn't remember walking back to the common room, but when she entered both Harry and Ron asked her where she had been.

"You were in the library this whole time?" Ron asked skeptically.

Hermione didn't want to tell him what she was really doing there. "I was studying for our exams. They're not that far away." It was only a little lie. She had already started studying for exams.

"They're weeks away Hermione. There's plenty of time to study later." Ron exclaimed.

"Ten weeks. To Nicolas Flamel, that's like a second."

The Easter holidays were spent doing so much homework, they couldn't even enjoy the break. Even the weeks after were spent in the library just trying to keep up with the workload. Hermione, Harry and Ron spent yet another day shut in the library, and unfortunately it was one of the nicest days they were experiencing in a long time. Looking out the window made it hard to concentrate.

That evening they went down to Hagrid's hut to talk to him about the Philosopher's Stone. They had been wondering if there were other things guarding the stone besides Fluffy and who had been the ones to help Dumbledore.

They had found out that along with Hagrid, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape had all played a part in protecting the stone. They were still discussing the possibility of Snape trying to steal it when Harry had asked Hagrid what was in his fire.

But instead of Hagrid answering, it was Ron. "A dragon's egg. How did you get that? It must have cost a fortune."

"I won it playing a game of cards in Hogsmead."

Hermione was beyond astonished. A dragon. A real dragon. Impossible. But, as fascinated as she was, she still told him, "You can't keep it."

But Hagrid was stubborn. He had always wanted a dragon. As much as they tried to convince him it wasn't a good idea. He lived in a wooden house! On school grounds, surrounded by children! They're illegal!

They had to do something. But with no real solution, they spent the next few days worrying. As if they didn't already have enough to deal with. Hedwig brought the note one morning, "It's hatching." Was all that was written, but it wasn't hard to figure out what it was referring to. The dragon was hatching.

Hermione forced the others to wait until after their lessons before going down to witness the hatching. Even with going to their classes, they made it in time to see the baby dragon emerge from the egg.

Over the next couple of weeks, they visited Hagrid and the baby dragon. Taking note of how fast he was growing. It took a lot of convincing, but Hagrid finally agreed that Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback, had to live somewhere else.

As luck would have it, Ron's brother Charlie worked with dragons in Romania. If anyone could help them, it would be him. They wrote to him explaining their situation. And it was Charlie who came up with the idea to pass Norbert on to a few friends who were coming to visit him. Tricky thing was, it had to be done up at the tallest tower at midnight.

Under the invisibility cloak, Harry, Hermione and Norbert made their way to the tallest tower. On their route they witnessed Professor McGonagall catching Draco out of bed. Malfoy tried to tell her that Harry was going to be there with a dragon, but she wouldn't listen to him. She just gave him detention and took twenty points from Slytherin.

Cautiously they made their way up to the tower. Once they took off the cloak Hermione chuckled. "I can't believe Malfoy got detention. He must have heard us making the plans, but he doesn't know about the invisibility cloak." She didn't know why she found it amusing, but she did.

Charlie's friends showed up and took Norbert away and Harry and Hermione could finally breathe easy. Everything seemed to be working out in their favor.

They made their way down the stair case and as they stepped into the corridor they came face to face with Filch. Their good mood had caused them to forget the invisibility cloak at the top of the tower.

Filch brought them straight to Professor McGonagall, who had come across Neville. Hermione couldn't think of a time she had ever seen the professor look so mad. It seemed Neville was looking for Harry and Hermione to tell them about Malfoy. Professor McGonagall docked fifty points each from the three of them and gave them detention.

Hermione couldn't believe it. Her own house? How could she take that many points? They went from first place to last and the school year was almost over.

She was devastated. Everything was going right for them; how could it have ended so wrong? Worse than getting detention, and losing all those points, was Neville. She could tell he was hurt by their actions and she hated to hurt a friend.