I apologize for the very long delay, luckily I have a very long chapter to make up for it. I hope you like it, please let me know if you do or do not. As always, I own nothing, you'll recognize parts, etc. Thanks for your patients guys.
The Christmas holidays were long and awkward. I felt like a stranger in my home, a ghost walking through the halls that no one really acknowledged, or if they did it was to quickly move out of the way. At dinner Draco told stories of living in the Slytherin dorm, no one wanted to know what it was like being Gryffindor. It seemed as if they'd rather forget. Mostly Draco complained about Harry Potter.
"The teachers worship him! He gets away with murder, I tell you!" While I didn't fully disagree, I wouldn't have put it in those words.
It was worse when all his friends came over. Because they used to be our friends. Even Theo was a part of inside jokes that didn't include me. I didn't say more than a few words all Christmas break and took to spending most of my time out on my broom or wandering through the gardens. The grounds of Malfoy Manor were stunning at Christmas time, with a soft layer of snow coating any available surface, it transformed into a whole other world.
I thought of my mother a lot, if for no other reason than because I'd been feeling melancholy. I imagined what the holidays would be like with her. And I struggled to imagine what my mother saw in my father. From what I knew of the two of them, they seemed like polar opposites. She was kind and loyal and honest while Sirius was a coward and a traitor who turned on his friends when they needed him most, ruining so many lives in the wake of his treason. I started to resent him more and more, especially after getting to know Harry and watching him stand up for his friends, even over the stupidest of things, bravely oppose those he disagreed with and even run into the midst of danger to save girls he barely even knew.
Christmas day was what had finally managed to break me out of my funk. It started with Draco throwing himself onto my bed, trying to wrestle me out of the covers. "Let's go, Elizabeth! It's Christmas, you lazy bag of bones! Go do your hair so we can open presents!" Draco dragged me out of bed and I did as he instructed. It made me smile that he kept with our tradition, dragging all his gifts into my room in the early hours of dawn so that we could open everything before his parents woke up. It was like a small act of rebellion, not waiting until they were awake and presentable to open our gifts.
Sitting down on the rug together, my cousin and I dug through our gift piles. His was significantly bigger than mine but that didn't bother me, I was more of a quality over quantity kind of person. I received gifts from Hermione, Neville, Theo, Draco, Aunt Narcissa and Severus.
"Did you get a secret gift this year?" Draco asked, peering around my pile. I frowned and sifted through my things before I finally found a small package that, like every year, was unsigned. Draco watched as I peeled back the wrapping. Inside was a beautiful antique hair comb encrusted with diamonds and emeralds. I was able to recognize it as a Black heirloom without the note attached. In neat handwriting it said, 'this belonged to your grandmother, Walburga Black. She gave it to me on my 13th birthday.'
I figured the gifts were from one of my female relatives. I suspected they were from Aunt Narcissa though I didn't understand why she would keep them secret. I'd been receiving them for as long as I could remember. Sometimes they were heirlooms, though nothing nearly as precious as this one, and other times they were just simple things like toys or books. I took the comb and thread it into my hair.
"That looks good with your hair." Draco said, admiring the diamonds. The thing had to be worth a fortune.
"Thank you." I beamed under his praise. All my gifts were precious and thoughtful. Theo had gifted me a camera and an album, including a note that read 'fill this with the many adventures I know you will go on'. Hermione gave me a muggle novel, by Jane Austen who she said was iconic in muggle literature. Severus had gifted me an old photo of my mother, sitting in the grass and laughing. She looked to be only a few years older than me. The sunshine caught her brown hair as she turned to the picture-taker, Severus presumably, making her look ethereal. I stared at the picture a long time and Draco gave me my space, pretending not to notice my tears.
Eventually he said, "Let's take the new broom mum got you out for a spin, yeah?" I agreed, hastily wiping my face and stowing the picture under my pillow. I grabbed my new Nimbus 2000 and Draco ran to get the one Aunt Narcissa had gotten him the summer before and we raced downstairs. "First one around the perimeter and back to the fountain wins!" Draco called and shot off.
"Hey!" I protested and mounted my broom, making up ground.
After that the holidays started turning around. We hosted a Christmas party, as we did every year, and I enjoyed the act of dressing up and making myself presentable. I wore my new hair comb with a matching dress and Aunt Narcissa joined me at the mirror to admire our reflections. She frowned when she saw the comb.
Gently fingering it, she said softly, "I haven't seen this in years. Not since…" She trailed off and sighed regretfully.
"Do you know who's been sending me these?" I asked hopefully.
"I do." She wore a forlorn expression.
"Won't you tell me who it is?" I pleaded.
"If they didn't sign the note then I believe they wish to remain anonymous. We should respect their wishes."
I fidgeted with the sleeves of my dress. "So it's not you then?"
"No, it's not me. Though how I had coveted this hair comb when I was younger. I didn't talk to its owner for months out of jealousy. I'm happy it has found its way to you."
Narcissa smoothed a piece of hair back from my face and then left the room. I stood there for a moment, looking at it and wondering at the history behind such a small yet priceless item, before moving to join her.
Most of the guests had already arrived and I made rounds, smiling politely and greeting everyone personably. I complimented dresses and hairstyles that belonged in the 70s and praised men on their physique and watched their chests swell. Occasionally people made offhand remarks about my 'unfortunate sorting' but I laughed easily and called the old hat a loon.
When I reached Severus I quickly hugged him before anyone would notice. "Thank you so much for the photo. It means so much to me."
"You've no idea how difficult it was to part from it. That's the only photo I have of your mother. But I thought it was more important that you have it than I." We walked over to where everyone had begun sitting for dinner and Severus pulled out my seat for me. I sat and smoothed my skirts.
"Thank you, genuinely, Severus." My godfather smiled indulgently and inquired after my revisions. I told him I'd finished all my homework. What I didn't say was that I finished it all in the first day or so, as I'd had nothing better to do and it made me feel a little less melancholy. I asked about the beast and its ties to Nicholas Flammel, who he thought was trying to steal whatever it was guarding.
"I don't know that this is appropriate dinner discussion, Elizabeth." Severus chastised.
"But Professor Snape," I argued, trying to remain respectful.
"That's enough of this, Elizabeth. I don't want to hear about it again. And I don't want you doing your own investigation. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." I muttered contritely. "You know, Harry Potter and his gang of misfits thinks it's you that's trying to steal whatever it is."
Someone on the other side of Severus had heard the name Harry Potter and this started a rant throughout the entire table about the boy who lived. It resolutely ended that discussion, much to my displeasure. After the meal, once the dancing started, I was yanked off to the side suddenly.
"What on Earth- Theo?" I looked at my friend in confusion. His blue eyes shone in excitement and anticipation.
"I have another gift for you." He stated, pulling me out of the room and down the hall into the sitting room. "Go grab the camera, quickly, and meet me back here." I did as he asked without question, running up the steps to my room, excitement and trepidation warring in my mind.
I found Theo where I left him and he held out a pouch. I examined it and was surprised to find floo powder inside. The Malfoys kept the floo powder locked up because they didn't want us sneaking out.
"We're going on our first adventure," he said with a wicked smile. He took a handful of the powder, handing the bag to me and then stepped into the fireplace. "Central Park, New York, USA!" He announced then tossed the floo powder and disappeared in a flash. I stared at the fireplace in wonder. The boy was nuts. But I suppose so was I because I did the next logical thing and copied him.
I landed somewhere dark and immediately panicked. Had I said it wrong? Was Central Park not part of the floo system? I searched around blindly, stirring up dust, before finally finding a door handle. Throwing it open, I was blinded by pure white. Stepping outside, I looked around and found that I'd landed in an old abandoned tiny castle situated in the middle of a winter wonderland.
"For a second I was worried you had chickened out, leaving me with no floo powder to return home." Theo said from behind me. I took my time turning around, admiring the snowy scenery around me. We were surrounded by trees encased in pristine snow but beyond that were tall buildings, as tall as Hogwarts, but thin and geometric.
"Why would you leave me with all the floo powder then?" I inquired after I'd taken my fill of our surroundings.
"To give you no choice but to come." He smirked knowingly, bundling in his dress robe. I shivered in sympathy. We hadn't thought to grab heavy clothes before leaving, though I blamed that one on Theo.
"Come on." He tucked my arm into his and started down the path we were standing on. I marveled at the park, it seemed like it went on and on. Eventually we reached a street that had horse drawn carriages lining it. How fantastic!
"Would you like to ride in one?" He flourished his arm in a grand gesture.
"Theodore, I don't think they accept wizard currency." I told him hesitantly.
"I did come slightly prepared, much as you may disagree." He shivered violently and pulled American notes out of his coat pocket. "The only time I'd ever been to New York was in the summer and it was miserably hot so I thought it was always like that. Pretty ignorant of me, huh?"
"Are you saying you can't predict weather patterns on the opposite side of the pond?" I teased with a smirk. "This is magical, Theo." He held out his hand and I gingerly climbed into a carriage then we took off at a slow leisurely place. We wrapped up in heavy blankets we'd found on the bench and admired the scenery. It was magical in the sense that it was utterly unmagical but that only made it more so to me.
"Muggles really have a way of making the mundane quite extraordinary." I marveled at the towering structures lining the park, extending as far and as tall as the eye could see. It was almost a park in itself, only one made of steel and muggle ingenuity.
We asked the driver of our carriage to drop us off at the small castle after our ride. We needed to get back before anyone noticed. Before we dismounted, I asked the driver to take a photo of us.
"You know, it's the darndest thing, I could have sworn I saw that picture move." The man said when he handed the photograph and the camera back.
"Funny." I thanked the man and we waited until he disappeared before entering the building.
The rest of the holidays flew by in a flash. I felt less like a ghost and more like a kid, flying with Draco, running around the manor playing hide and go seek or tag out in the gardens. No one knew about my overseas adventure with Theo and it was exhilarating to have such a big secret between just the two of us. Tucked into my album was the photo evidence. The two of us were bundled and shivering with rosy cheeks but we wore massive smiles. Joining that photo was the one of my mother, equally content to sit back and smile.
On the train ride back to the castle I sat with Neville and Hermione. We chatted about our holidays and Hermione told me a little bit about her futile search for Nicholas Flammel. I told her I couldn't help them look for him anymore.
"But why?! We need your help! You're the only one who knows anything about him!"
"And I told you everything I know, which is not much. I promised Se-Snape I wouldn't look into it any further."
Hermione's features twisted.
I sighed. "What's that face for?"
"Well… I just think it makes sense. Snape knows you'd be able to figure out who he is so he's trying to throw you off his tail."
"Hermione, Snape is not the person trying to steal whatever Fluffy is guarding. I would know if he was."
Hermione stared at me for a minute. "Okay." She finally relented and didn't mention it again. We fell into a normal rhythm of studying for exams and walking the grounds. For the first few weeks we didn't see much of Hermione because she was caught up with tweedled dee and tweedled dumb on their goose chase but then she seemed to realize exams were looming and joined us, throwing herself into her studies. Hermione revised with a fervor I could never hope to replicate but I did my best to make sure Neville and I would at least pass with decent marks. The two of us grew restless however, and needed to take breaks more frequently so we'd meander down to the lake and sit in the grass, soaking up the sun.
Draco laid off his attacks on me a little since we had started getting along over the holidays. I didn't think it would last, however. Especially with how viciously and persistently he attacked Neville, whom I spent a great deal of time with.
On one occasion I did get caught in the crossfire. Neville and I were leaving the library when Draco and his cronies came upon us. "What are you doing in the library Neville? We all know you can't read." Draco picked up the book off the top of Neville's pile. Both of us had our arms loaded with books so we were unable to do much to defend ourselves.
"S-S-Stop it." Neville stammered.
"Honestly Longbottom, how did you manage to land yourself in Gryffindor? You have all the courage of a rat." The Slytherins snickered.
"Leave him alone, Draco." I said around my stack.
"Oh, I didn't even see you there cousin. Having you been doing a lot of charity? Reading to the dumb?" He sneered at Neville.
"Neville is my friend." It was the first time I had actually said the words out loud.
Draco and his friends laughed. He turned back to Neville. "Transfiguration for beginners." Draco held up the book he took from Neville's pile. "Shall I show you a little bit of transfiguration I learned myself? I've been looking for someone to practice on." He drew his wand.
"Draco-" I protested but Draco turned his wand on me before I could drop my books and react.
"Silencio!" He called and no matter how many foul names I called him, they fell on deaf ears. I cursed and rioted, throwing my books down to the floor.
Draco shot a leg locking jinx at Neville and ran away while I quickly moved to catch my friend before he hit his head on the ground. I left our books sprawled about the hallway and helped Neville hop to the common room.
When we reached the portrait, Neville couldn't remember the password and I couldn't speak so I mimed him the words and he tried to guess what I was saying. Eventually he got it, calling out and all but falling into the common room.
Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione, who leapt up and performed the countercurse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling. She did the same to me and I took a deep breath and screamed. Everyone covered their ears and I was pleased. I stomped to the couch and fell in a dramatic heap.
"What happened?" Hermione asked Neville, leading him over to sit with Harry and Ron, all the while giving me a curious look.
"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."
"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"
Neville shook his head. "I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.
"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."
"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.
I watched as Harry reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a chocolate frog then gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."
Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog. "Thanks, Harry... I think I'll go to bed... D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"
I watched Neville take the stairs glumly. I wish I had done more to protect him.
"Dumbledore again," Harry said, pulling my attention away from Neville. "He was the first one I ever-" He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron and Hermione. "I've found him!" he whispered.
"I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"
Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework. "Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories then within seconds she dashed back down, an enormous old book in her arms.
"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."
"Light?" said Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself. At last she found what she was looking for.
"I knew it! I knew it!"
"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily.
Hermione ignored him. "Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!" This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.
"The what?" said Harry and Ron.
"Oh, honestly, don't you two read? Look - read that, there."
She pushed the book toward them, and I read over their shoulders, my curiosity getting the best of me.
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).
"See?" said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"
"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."
"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"
I made my way up to the dorms while they talked. I knew I shouldn't care, I was supposed to be staying out of it. But it ruffled my feathers that they kept pointing fingers at Severus despite all the logic pointing away from him.
The next few weeks passed in a blur of homework, studying and Quidditch. There was a brilliant match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, during which Hermione and her gang of miscreants accused Severus of messing with Harry once again. I began to give up on arguing with them and learned to tune them out altogether. As winter wore on, the only real time I spent with the three amigos was classes and studying, as that was all I really did anyways, until one sunny day after being cramped in the library for hours.
"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out and I resisted the urge to transfigure him into a fish, it wasn't his first outburst of the day. "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"
I looked up from my beginners spellcasting book. Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.
"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"
"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron arrogantly. Really he had nothing to do with it. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St -"
"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?" I couldn't help but agree, giving another look over my shoulder.
"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"
"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "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," said Harry.
Hagrid shuffled off.
"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"
"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd apparently had enough of working. I went back to my work but found I could no longer concentrate. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.
"Dragons!" he whispered. "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."
"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him, " said Harry.
"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. 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." I really wanted to meet this brother of Ron's. He sounded like someone who could tell a good story, certainly had to be better company than his ickle brother.
"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Harry.
"Of course there are," said Ron. "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?" said Hermione.
Despite my better judgement, I found myself on Hagrid's doorstep and hour later with the knights of Camelot, knocking on the massive door. I mean, come on, it's got something to do with dragons. Severus would understand.
Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let us in, and then shut the door quickly behind us. I raised my eyebrows at his strange behavior.
It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made tea and offered stoat sandwiches, which we refused, of course.
"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"
"Yes," said Harry. I was surprised to see him volunteering to be the spokesperson rather than big mouth Ron or bossy Hermione. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."
Hagrid frowned at him.
"0' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer 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 abou' Fluffy."
"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and we could tell he was smiling. I felt a little guilty for taking advantage of the friendly giant that way but not enough to stop her from continuing. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."
Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione, I rolled my eyes.
"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter 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 them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."
"Snape?"
"Yeah - yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."
I felt righteous indignation flare when they all shared a disbelieving look.
"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"
"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.
"Well, that's something," Harry muttered. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."
"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid.
"Hagrid - what's that?" Harry asked, looking at the fire. I followed his line of sight. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg. I bounced up to take a closer look, Ron following.
"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's er..."
"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get an even closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."
"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."
"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.
"Well, I've bin doin' some readin' , said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "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 I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."
He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said. I almost laughed out loud, and I would have if I hadn't seen the goofy look on Hagrid's face. It was clear he wasn't listening to her as he hummed merrily and stoked the fire.
I followed the three stooges out of the hut with one last concerned look back. I didn't have a good feeling about this.
I went on to carry on with my studies, though my skull throbbed and I relived famous battles in my sleep. The days were starting to ware on me and I walked from class to class in a zombie state.
Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching. I didn't even hesitate to follow the merry band of misfits down to the hut to see the dragon. What a once in a lifetime experience! I had the quick foresight to run up and grab my camera before joining them down at the cabin.
"It's nearly out." Hagrid said as he ushered us inside.
The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. Then all at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.
It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout. I thought it was adorable.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.
"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.
"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"
Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
"What's the matter?"
"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid -he's runnin' back up ter the school."
We all bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.
Draco had seen the dragon.
Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to convince Hagrid to let the dragon go. I'd of course grown fond of the little monster so I kept my voice shut. Eventually they agreed to ask Ron's not-lame brother Charlie to come and take him where he could be protected and cared for by professionals in a wild setting. I thought this was probably the most mature idea but that didn't make saying goodbye any easier.
When the day finally came around I didn't go because I couldn't stop crying. I gave Norbert one last kiss on the nose then went back to my dorm and sobbed into my pillow before falling asleep.
After that I didn't speak much to the super squad. I felt guilty that they got detention and lost house points for delivering Norbert. I don't think they forgave me for missing out of that punishment because none of them went out of their way to speak to me. I spent the rest of the semester with Neville as we tried to round up our studying. We sat in the common room late one evening going over history of magic. I dozed in and out and hadn't noticed the common room emptying until Neville popped up from next to me, making my side of the couch sink.
"What are you doing?" he asked. I looked up to see who he was talking to. The freedom riders stood there looking guilty yet determined. Somehow, I knew exactly what they were up to.
"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting something behind his back.
Neville stared at their guilty faces.
"You're going out again," he said.
"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"
Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door.
"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."
"You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."
But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate.
"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll - I'll fight you!" I admired his bravery. Though I'd come to respect Neville, it was the first truly Gryffindor thing I'd seen him do in the time I'd known him.
"Neville, "Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot -"
"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"
"Yes, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."
He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight.
"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"
Harry turned to Hermione.
"Do something," he said desperately.
Hermione stepped forward. I watched the entire exchange with morbid fascination, wanting to help Neville but also wanting to let him take charge for himself. I saw it as a good thing that he was standing up to them.
"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."
She raised her wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing it at Neville.
Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.
Hermione ran to turn him over. Neville's jaws were jammed together so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror.
"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.
"It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."
"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.
"You'll understand later, Neville," said Ron as they stepped over him and pulled on an invisibility cloak. I was stunned speechless. I'd only ever heard of them, I'd never actually seen one in real life.
After Hermione left with dumb and dumber I ran to Neville and performed a quick counter curse.
"Elizabeth! They're-" He began.
"I know, Neville. I know where they're going. I'm going to go get Professor Snape, you find Professor McGonagall." I told him quickly as I helped him to his feet.
"But they'll get more points taken." He said.
"Forget about the stupid cup, Neville. They're about to do something very stupid and/ or dangerous. Come on. Tell her Harry, Ron and Hermione are going after someone they think is trying to steal the stone. She'll know what that means." We both left the common room, Neville running to get our head of house while I ran down to the dungeons to retrieve my Godfather.
I had difficulty navigating to Severus' quarters but eventually found it and pounded on the door.
"Severus!" I called. "Come quickly! It's an emergency." In the delay that followed I had a slight panic that maybe I was wrong, maybe Severus really had been the one trying to steal the stone. But then the door swung open to reveal a disheveled and indignant professor and I let out the breath I'd been holding.
"What in Merlin's name-"
"You've got to come quickly!" I interrupted him. "Harry and Ron and Hermione know about the sorcerer's stone and they think you're trying to steal it so they're going down there themselves! All they know about is fluffy and that it has other wards on it! I'm worried they'll get hurt over something stupid."
As I spoke, Severus threw on a robe and grabbed a bag then shuffled ahead of me back down the hallway.
"I need to you to go get Professor McGonagall." He instructed.
"I already sent Neville to go get her." I told him.
"Very well then, you did the right thing by coming to get me, now go back to your dormitory."
"No way sir! I'm going with you to help them."
"Elizabeth, now is not the time to act like a petulant child." He scolded. I frowned.
"You wouldn't even know what they were doing if it weren't for me. They're my friends and I'm coming to help them, you can call me whatever you want to." I kept pace with him.
"It's times like these where you really remind me of your father." He said with a frown. I stopped dead in my tracks.
"How could you say that to me?"
Severus stopped and looked back at me with a sigh. "This time I don't mean that as an insult. Your father would have walked into fire for his friends. He was far braver than anyone I knew."
"Until he threw his friends into the fire." I grumbled miserably.
"Elizabeth," Severus placed his hand on my shoulder. "There is a lot more to your father than you will ever know. No man is entirely evil, just as no man is entirely good. Come on, let's go rescue your friends from the fire."