AN: Hey guys, I know I've taken FOREVER to update, stupid school with 10 page essays…. Hahaha anyway thanks to leafstone for reviewing the last chapter! Onto chapter 9.

*Disclaimer I am not J.K. Rowling

Chapter 9

The Baby Dragon

The next time I saw Hermione I couldn't help but think of what Malfoy had told me before. I decided that Malfoy must be getting the wrong information on how regular people were able to acquire magical powers. There were more than one muggleborn witch or wizard in our year, and I thought it unlikely that they all store, or killed someone, for their powers.

I was walking down a corridor by myself when I saw Peeves. Peeves usually throws eggs, water balloons, or something gross at me, but this time he was too distracted doing something to someone that he didn't notice me standing next to him. Part of me felt relieved until I remembered that as soon as he was done torturing this kid, it would be my turn.

"You can either go a different way, or I can set your pants on fire." Peeves sneered at the chunky boy standing in front of him.

"But I don't know any other way!" Cried the boy. He noticed me standing there, and I smiled mischievously. He was wearing Gryffindor robes, and I recognized him from somewhere. Oh yeah, he's the one who broke his arm learning to fly a broom. I remembered. His name was Neville Longbottom.

"Hey Peeves, maybe instead of setting his pants on fire, you can take something of his, and hide it." I suggested to Peeves. I was hoping that if I helped Peeves out that he would leave me alone.

"What? When did you get here Pottyhead?" Peeves snarled back at me.

"I've been standing here for a while. Trust me, if you take something he will never find it." I said glancing at Longbottom.

"Please don't. I'm a forgetful person, and I just want to go to my common room." He pleaded.

"Peeves, if I help you will you let me pass?" I asked turning away.

"Might as well, your plan is sounding a lot more fun than mine." He shrugged.

Smiling I reached my hand towards Longbottom. I opened his robe looking for something to take. He took a step back trying to get away from me, but I had a good grip on his robes. There it was. In one of the inside pockets was the remembrall Malfoy and I had played with during our first flying lesson.

"Not that, please, not that." Longbottom cried desperately trying to get the ball back. I gave Longbottom a small shove, just to keep him from grabbing the ball from my hand.

"Here Peeves," I said handing him the ball. I felt a little bad, but I needed away to get past Peeves without having to set my pants on fire. I was putting myself first, besides I was such that Longbottom would eventually get his remembrall back. I smiled at Longbottom again and started walking away, feeling glad that my pants were not on fire.

As soon as I took few steps away from the scene, I saw Malfoy walking towards me. "Chloe what are you doing?" he asked when he reached my side.

"Just walking around." I said smiling. Pansy wasn't with him, and I wondered what she was up to.

"What's Peeves up to?" Malfoy asked turning to walk with me.

"Not much, just stealing a few things from whomever he can or setting their pants on fire."

"Did he take anything from you?"

"Nah, I help him steal something from Longbottom, so he let me pass without setting my pants on fire."

"You help him steal something?" Malfoy asked with a look of surprise on his face.

"Yeah, so?" I said defensively.

"I didn't know you had that in you."

"Well, I didn't want to get terrorized by Peeves, so I helped him." I shrugged.

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"Good." We walked in silence for a few minutes. We didn't really have a destination; classes were over, and most students were already back in their dormitories.

"I haven't talked to you in while." Malfoy said unexpectedly.

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied looking away. I was still spending time with Harry and Hermione, and occasionally Ron, and wasn't nearly as present with my Slytherin friends as I had been earlier in the school year.

"I think we're going to have to change that." He said looking at me.

"Sure." I wasn't sure why Malfoy wanted to spend more time with me. He did have other friends after all. Maybe he was getting tired of Pansy hanging on to every word he said.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." I said. Then I felt his hand grabbing mine. I blushed lightly and tried to pull away. The image of Malfoy in the Mirror of Erised flashed thorugh my mind. He gripped harder not wanting to let me go. I wasn't used to holding hands with anyone but Harry, so I felt a little awkward, but let him hold my hand.

"You don't seem okay. Is anything bothering you?"

"No." I said not looking at him.

"I feel like you haven't been spending much time with us." He said stopping. 'Us' meaning Pansy, Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle. "You're always disappearing after dinner, and not coming back to the common room until late. I thought we were friends."

"She really likes you." I blurted out.

"Who really likes me?" he said surprised.

"Pansy," I said. I didn't think my brother would like it if I told Malfoy what we were up to. So, I needed to change the subject.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked, giving me a sideways look.

"I just don't want Pansy to think I'm trying to 'steal' you from her." I used my free hand to make air quotes around the word 'steal'.

"If she thinks that you're trying to 'steal' me from her then she's dumb. I don't see why we can't all be friends." Malfoy shrugged. He finally let go of my hand. Thankfully, I put my hands in my pockets in case he decided to try and grab one again.

"Don't be rude." I stated while giving him a small glare. "You haven't even given me a real apology for when you teased me in the common room the night after I..."

"The night after you kissed my cheek?" His voice sounded like he was going to tease me about it again.

"Exactly. You can't expect me to want to hang out with you when you don't even have the decency to give me a proper apology." Malfoy walked along side me in silence.

"We're always going to be friends." He said plainly. I rolled my eyes, what kind of apology was that? "So, if we are always going to be friends, I guess I can give you a real apology." He finished. I waited to hear what else he had to say. We kept walking while he was thinking.

"So?" I asked getting impatient.

"Chloe Potter," he said while looking in my eyes. "I am sorry that I teased you about the kiss you gave me. It was a thoughtful thing to do, especially since I save yours and your brother's life, and I shouldn't have made light of it. I am also sorry that my previous apology didn't come off as genuine."

I nodded my head, deciding that this apology would do. "Thanks, you are forgiven."

Somehow, we ended up by the front doors of the castle. I was so into our conversation that I hadn't realized how far we walked. This was definitely the longest conversation we had without Pansy coming in and interrupting it. I glanced outside and noticed it was getting late. I turned to say that we should head back to the common room to Malfoy, but he was busy staring out the window.

"What are you looking at?" I asked turning my head to see if I could see what he was looking at.

"Do you see them?" he asked.

"See who?"

"I could have sworn I saw three figures walking down to that oaf of a person Hagrid."

"I didn't see anything. We should go back…" I started to say.

"Come on." He said grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.

We were greeted by cold air, and I shivered slightly. Malfoy glanced at me and pulled me closer to his body for heat. I felt myself blush, but I didn't want to pull away because it was very warm when he held me. We reached Hagrid's hut in a few minutes, and I glanced inside the window. There he was my brother sitting at the table talking to Hagrid. I looked around some more and saw that Ron and Hermione were with him. How did they get here without being caught? I thought to myself. Then I realized that I had given the invisibility cloak to Harry to use for a while. Malfoy and I were lucky we weren't seen walking down to Hagrid's.

Malfoy and I stood watching them for several minutes. I was about to say that we should just go back to the castle, when Malfoy pointed at an object Hagrid set on the table and whispered, "I hope that's not what I think it is."

"What do you think it is?" I whispered back.

"I'll tell you if it is what I think it is." Just then I heard Hermione exclaim,

"Hagrid what is that?!"

"That's a dragon egg, where did you get one of those Hagrid?" I heard Ron say in awe.

"A dragon egg?" I asked quietly.

"Look its hatching." Malfoy pointed at it again. And sure, enough cracks in the egg and appeared, and something was coming out. When it finally broke through the shell, I could see the baby dragon. It was black, and still covered in slim. Its eyes trained themselves on Hagrid as if he was its mother. It made some cute little squeaking sounds as it moved forward towards Hagrid.

"Look it thinks I'm its mommy." Hagrid sighed happily.

"Let's get out of here." Malfoy said as he pulled me back slightly. Unluckily for us we tripped over some glass bottles that were right behind us.

"What was that?" I heard my brother ask, standing up. He looked out the window and saw Malfoy and me standing there, his mouth opened in surprise.

"Crap, let's get out of here!" Malfoy said turning to run. I looked on last time at Harry, and then I turned to run with Malfoy.

When we reached the Entrance Hall, I was panting so hard that I almost fell on the floor. I felt Malfoy supporting me in his arms saying, "We're almost there, I'll help you walk the rest of the way." He helped me hobble to the common room where he then set me on the couch nearest the fire. I felt the heat of the flame start to warm up my legs, and I was finally starting to catch my breath.

"We're going to have to tell someone. It's illegal to have a dragon here." Malfoy said as he sat down next to me, also starting to catch his breath.

"Who can we tell?" I asked slowly.

"I don't know, maybe Snape."

"Let's wait for a while, maybe Hagrid will send it away." I suggested. I didn't really want to get Hagrid in trouble, but if Malfoy was right about it being illegal to have a dragon, then Hagrid would need to get rid of it, soon.

"Fine, but if it isn't gone in two weeks we're telling Snape, or someone." He said with a pointed look.

We sat for a few minutes, and I decided that I had to go to bed. I stood up and started walking towards the girl's dorm. I turned and said, "Thanks Malfoy, night."

"Night." I heard him say as I walked up the stairs.

How was it? Did you like it? Please review, and I'll solemnly swear that I'll update again shortly.