Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter Twenty-Three.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading/reviewing guys! I appreciate all of you! *throws cookies* Most of the info about Dragons that I used in this chapter came from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (Haha, good one JK; guess the copyright goes to him, eh? ~_^ )

Chapter Twenty-Three: Dragons, Disney and Inequality

Severus followed Lily into the back garden, his hand wrapped loosely around the strap of his satchel. He could not help but admire her hair as it bobbed in front of him, brushing against her shoulders. Lily had fallen asleep the previous night, her hair wet and braided, resulting in a cascade of crimson waves. Her hair was always so full of life, instilling jealousy in him again and again. There was nothing he would not give, in order to live the life she led, to be as happy as her...as healthy as her...as innocent as her.

Stop it, he scolded himself harshly, his eyebrows knitting into a scowl behind Lily's back. Be grateful for what you have. Lily led him to the middle of the garden and sprawled out on the grass, Severus quickly following suit. He pulled his satchel towards him, rummaging through it for the book Lily had lent him. Producing it, he held it out to her, the cover faded in the sunlight. "That...was disturbing," he said, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Lily turned towards him, emerald eyes sparkling as her face was bathed in a warm glow. Severus' breath caught for the briefest moment, before he pushed onwards. "I liked it."

The Adventures of Pinocchio had disturbed and enthralled him endlessly. In the end, he had read the book three times before bringing it back to Lily. Severus hoped he could read more tales like that in the future. Lily smiled at him; there was a brief flash of white as her lips parted in her happiness. "I had hoped you would," she said, sounding surprised and pleased simultaneously. Her smile turned impish. "You should try the Grimm's Fairy Tales! They're so disturbing it's not even funny."

The irony of that remark did not escape Severus when Lily followed it with a bubble of laughter. "Maybe I will one day," Severus replied softly, his dark eyes glittering as Lily stuffed the book into her satchel before rolling over onto her back. The girl squinted as she gazed up at the blue sky, her head resting upon her arms, a serene smile dancing across her mouth. Severus rested his chin in his hand, his elbow digging into the grass as he gazed across at her. You really are too good for me, he thought.

It was not the first time the thought had crossed his mind, nor would it be the last, but it had never caused him to ache so much as it did then. Severus knew that, one day, Lily would realise she was better off being as far away from him as possible, that his presence would taint her. Once they reached Hogwarts and she encountered other people as bright and as brilliant as she was, it would be inevitable that she would find his presence in her life unbearable. He only hoped that, when the time came, their separation would be a gentle one.

Knowing his own flare for courting disaster, however, his hope would, more than likely, fail to come to fruition. Severus' lip curled derisively at the thought; the injustice of it all was not lost on him. Arching into the warm sunlight, Lily made a noise of contentment, distracting him from his thoughts instantly. A soft smile graced his face as he gazed at his friend, unsure why her happiness gave him a jolt of his own, though obviously muted in comparison. The fact of the matter was that Lily was pure sunshine, much like her father.

Sunshine caused people to react strangely. It caused them to smile, to almost glow with some inner fire that they had not known existed. It caused them to stand up straighter, reach for its warmth with everything they had. Severus loved sunshine – possibly more than he had ever loved anything. Uncomfortable with the realisation that she was so precious to him, he tore his gaze away from Lily, looking down at the green grass instead; unfortunately the colour was all too similar to that of her eyes.

Severus scowled, his lip curling in a moue of distaste. He had no idea when, precisely, the girl had wormed her way under his skin and into his heart, nor could he recall whether it had been instantaneous or a gradual process. Either way, it was unsettling. Severus blamed Mr Evans; it was entirely his fault for leaving him susceptible to such sentimental attachments. In the end, he was sure it would be the death of him. Severus let out a breath he never knew he had been holding, the gust of it disturbing the grass in front of him.

"Something's bothering you," Lily said quietly, voicing her concerns as gently as possible, knowing very well that Severus did not react well when forced to face problems. He tensed, his heart stopping for a fraction of a moment, before beginning to pound harshly against his ribs. Severus stared at the ground, refusing to lift his head, refusing to admit that she was right. "You can talk to me about it...if you like. I'm a good listener." He detected movement in his peripheral vision; it was Lily, turning over onto her side, looking at him carefully.

Briefly, Severus imagined talking to her, telling the truth about everything, letting the words flow out of him like water, crushing in its onslaught. Following that thought came the visual of the agonising look of pity that would mar Lily's face upon the revelation. He was not expecting it when Lily rested her hand upon his arm, her touch light and warm and affectionate. Severus flinched away from her hand, jerking his arm away. He told himself that he never saw the pained look that crossed Lily's face.

"Severus," she began tentatively, a trace of hurt lacing the word.

"Don't," Severus snapped, the word harsh and violent as it pushed its way up his throat and out of his mouth. Lily's face twitched, as though she was torn between crying and grimacing. Severus tore his gaze away, scowling fiercely at the ground as his system was flooded with guilt and anger and so much yearning to speak of things that were best left undisturbed. "Just...just don't, Lily, okay? I'm not...I can't...I don't...this isn't a good subject to be discussing with your best friend!"

Severus' throat was tight, constricting, trying to render him unable to breathe. The thought of Lily continuing to try to uncover the truth filled him with a terror that was almost palpable. He wondered if she could sense it, in her own way. Trying to quell the surging panic, Severus closed his eyes and focused his mind on calming himself down – or tried to, at any rate. It was not an easy feat, considering he could practically feel Lily's sympathetic, if confused eyes on him. "Whatever it is, it's really bad, isn't it?"

"Lily," he warned, his voice tight, controlled. "I'm asking you nicely; let it go."

"But –"

"Lily!"

"Alright, alright! No need to get snippy." The girls words were petulant, but even Severus could hear a vast amount of caring beneath the tone. It made him feel uncomfortable and pleased at the same time, if that were even possible. He glanced in her direction, only to note that she was frowning at him, clearly troubled. After a long stretch of silence, during which neither of them spoke to each other, Lily finally said, "well...whenever you do want to talk about it, I'm here for you. I always will be."

Severus let out a morose sigh and turned over onto his back, resting one arm beneath his head and the other across his eyes. He knew very well, deep down inside, that he would never speak to Lily about such things. She could pester him for the rest of his life, but Severus would never open the door to those dark, murky secrets. It was quite horrible enough that Mr Evans was aware of the truth, but the man did not pity him – at least, not as far as Severus could tell. That was alright; Severus did not care, as long as he never saw it.

Lily, however, was virtually an open book. Everything she ever felt or thought was written in bold print upon her facial expressions and her body language, waiting for someone to pick up on it. He swallowed thickly. Severus could not even stomach the idea of having to face such pity every time he looked at his friend. Grumbling under his breath, Severus pushed such thoughts out of his mind; he did not want to get overwhelmed by them, as he usually did with troubling thoughts.

The silence stretched between them, neither of them opting to speak for a short while; both of them were far too busy sorting out their muddled minds. Eventually, one of them had to break the silence and, just like the previous occasion, the task was left to Lily. "Tell me about Dragons, Severus."

A burst of laughter bubbled up from Severus' torso, deep and healthy. He should have known that Lily would eventually ask him about something of Magical origin. Severus lowered his arm and turned his head, squinting through the sunlight at his friend. "Why'd you want to know about them? You're not likely to meet one any time soon, you know."

Lily looked at him as though he were stupid. "Because, silly, I'm Muggle-born and I don't know anything about our world, except for what you've told me. I want to, at least, have some basic knowledge about things before I get to Hogwarts. I'd be a laughing stock, otherwise!"

"No, you won't," Severus answered firmly. "Most people only know that Dragons are classified by the Ministry of Magic as being a quintuple X creature; this means that they're known Wizard killers and are impossible to train or domesticate. As such, they are a creature that you can't have as a pet – no matter how good of a Magizoologist you think you are. Only the Dragon Reserves have them in large numbers, because Muggles aren't allowed to see them. I think Gringotts Wizard Bank has one or two, but they're being used as a form of high security –"

"I thought you said they couldn't be trained," Lily interjected sharply, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I said the Ministry classed them as being un-trainable," Severus ground out through clenched teeth. "It isn't strictly true; they can be...conditioned, just like any other being." When Lily gave him a look of confusion, Severus closed his eyes and took a moment to calm himself down. "They can be conditioned to...to expect pain, whenever they hear certain sounds." Like father's boots stomping up the stairs, a voice whispered in his head. Shut up, he barked in response, almost growling at himself. Pulling away from his thoughts, he opened his eyes, only to note that Lily was about to go into a mighty rant.

"That's absolutely barbaric! I hope those bastards get what's coming to them!"

"It's no more barbaric than a Muggle zoo."

"Yes it is! It's worse – a hundred times worse!"

"Is it, really? Every creature, Magical or Muggle, wants nothing more than its freedom. They want to be out in the open, free to hunt and mate and run and drink and eat on its own terms; that's nature's way. When you rip all of that away from them, what else do they have left? People pay money to see them trapped, isolated, depressed – and all of it for their own amusement. It's just as sick and cruel as teaching them to flinch away whenever they hear a familiar sound, to fill them with sheer terror and helplessness. There's more than one kind of freedom and the deprivation of any kind is immoral."

Lily gave him a shrewd look and for one terrifying moment Severus thought she might have figured everything out. "I don't like your way of thinking."

Severus released a breath he had not known had been held, his mouth curling into the faintest of smiles. "No surprise, there." The response was rather cheeky, but he felt no shame for it, though he quickly continued their previous topic of discussion. "As I was saying, most people don't know anything about Dragons. Care of Magical Creatures is an elective that you can select at the end of your second year at Hogwarts and you can stop taking it after completing your Ordinary Wizarding Levels at the end of fifth year. Dragons are covered, but only barely really. The more advanced knowledge is saved for those who go on to do Dragon Taming at the reserves – they basically look after the animals and make sure they don't go on a rampage through the countryside."

Lily hummed contemplatively, looking down at the grass for a moment, frowning. "Keep going," she said, gesturing lazily with her hand.

"The female is generally larger and more aggressive than the male," Severus continued, "though neither should be approached by any but highly skilled and trained Wizards. Dragon hide, blood, heart, liver and horn all have highly Magical properties, but Dragon eggs are defined as Class A Non-Tradable Goods. There are ten breeds of Dragon, though these have been known to interbreed on occasion, producing rare hybrids. Pure-bred Dragons are as follows: Antipodean Opaleye, Chinese Fireball, Common Welsh Green, Hebridean Black, Hungarian Horntail, Norwegian Ridgeback, Peruvian Vipertooth, Romanian Longhorn, Swedish Short-Snout and Ukrainian Ironbelly."

"Are you saying Witches can't be Dragon Tamers...?"

Severus laughed. "No, silly. When speaking about a group of wand-carriers – like us – you say Wizards."

"Why not use Wizardkind?"

"Because we just don't."

"But –"

"Do you want to hear about Dragons or not?" he demanded, giving his friend a sharp look.

"I – oh, alright, yes, you may proceed." Lily repeated the lazy gesture from earlier.

"How generous of you," Severus said mockingly, though it lacked the bite that anyone else would have heard from him. Almost eagerly, Severus continued to impart knowledge about Dragons upon his friend, to the best of his ability. Lily, to her credit, tried very hard to refrain from asking too many questions, but she failed spectacularly in that regard. Severus did not mind too much; in fact, he found it embarrassingly endearing, if he was to be completely honest – though only to himself, of course.

Perish the thought if Lily ever learned what he truly thought. He could not imagine allowing her to be privy to such personal feelings and thoughts, especially in regards to Lily and what she meant to him. Frankly, it would be horrendously embarrassing. Severus was inherently glad that the subject had reverted back to their discussion of Dragons. He told her everything that he knew about Dragons, which was pretty basic knowledge compared to what a Dragon Tamer could tell her.

"And lastly," Severus said, "the largest breed of Dragon, the Ukrainian Ironbelly, has been known to achieve a weight of six tonnes. Rotund and slower in flight than the Vipertooth or the Longhorn, the Ironbelly is nevertheless extremely dangerous, capable of crushing dwellings on which it lands. The scales are metallic grey, the eyes deep red and the talons particularly long and vicious. Ironbellies have been subject to constant observation by the Ukrainian Wizarding authorities ever since an Ironbelly carried off a sailing boat from the Black Sea in 1799."

Lily sucked in a breath, before exclaiming, "Those poor people!"

"It was empty."

"Are you sure?" Lily nibbled her bottom lip and her eyes quivered. It was a sure sign that the girl was sincerely worried about the people that might have been onboard the boat during the incident. Severus nodded, affirming that he was certain. "Well...that's good, then. I can't imagine how terrifying it would have been; giant talons slicing through the boat, the thing shaking and jostling, sending people tumbling this way and that. All the screaming... It would have been horrible!"

Severus hummed in agreement, though he had only half-listened to Lily's ramblings. He knew it would have been horrible if someone had been aboard the boat, but he did not ponder it for too long; what was the point? It had happened almost two hundred years previously. Severus was not going to waste his energies trying to imagine something that could have happened more than a hundred years before he was born – and on another side of the world, no less. Lily, however, could waste her energies in whatever way she liked for all he cared.

Lily was about to ask him another question, but was distracted when Petunia opened the backdoor rather more vigorously than necessary. The blonde girl sneered briefly at Severus before focusing on her sister. Severus tried not to take affront; he knew very well why she resented him and he could not blame her. The way Mr Evans treated her in comparison to Lily was not really fair, though Severus knew that few things in life were. But the treatment of siblings should be equal; he knew that much.

"Mum said to tell you the credits for Peter Pan are rolling...if you want to watch it."

Lily jumped up from the ground, cheering enthusiastically. "Come on, Sev! You'll enjoy it!" Ignoring the angry and slightly offended expression on Petunia's face, Lily hauled Severus up from the ground, despite the token protestation he made. Severus flashed an almost apologetic look at the elder girl as Lily dragged him inside. He did not see Petunia's reaction, but he could imagine that it was less than savoury. At least he could say that he had tried to fix the rift between them; that was more than Petunia could claim – not that she cared in the slightest.

Lily led him into the living room, the pair of them curling up on the floor together, watching as the credits came to an end. Severus stared, transfixed, as the credits gave way to an image of London...

To Be Continued

Feel free to let me know what you think! ^_^