"It spoke," she said finally, in a voice so quiet that Charlie wasn't sure he'd actually heard it. "It spoke to me, Charlie. In our words, in English. But…"

"Wait. Real words? Like…they made sense and everything?"

"He said, "I hear you." And I know it wasn't me, wasn't my voice. This voice was ancient, Charlie. And powerful. Something I knew I'd never be able to make up. "

"Well…" Charlie ran a hand through his hair and seemed unwilling to continue. "They're smart creatures, dragons. Maybe he picked it up…?"

"No," Shay interrupted, absently spinning her half-empty teacup in front of her. "No, because the first time that I spoke to him…you can tell when they know something. Even if it's just a tiny glimpse. You know. And there was no trace of any kind of human knowledge the first time that I spoke to him. He's smart and always has been, that's sure – I could tell that, immediately. But he didn't have language, then."

"And he does now."

"Precisely."

"And that's all he said? I hear you?"

Shay nodded, raising a shoulder in a half-shrug.

"I didn't give him much time to say anything else," she murmured. "It scared me. All of a sudden this huge, huge voice just comes rumbling out of nowhere. For a moment, I…" Shay flushed slightly. "Nevermind."

"For a moment you…what?" Charlie pressed.

"It's nothing," Shay said. "It's not important."

Charlie's eyes narrowed.

"Shay, you realize that I outrank you, here? If this has anything to do with that dragon, you need to tell me."

Shay was not looking at Charlie's face, but his voice was not unkind – stern, perhaps, but only businesslike.

"It felt like my seventh year at Hogwarts," Shay said. "You remember. When your sister…" she trailed off, catching the brief flare of alarm at the old memory in Charlie's eyes. "Anyway. I felt it then, too. The basilisk. I could hear it." Shay barely suppressed a shudder. "Only rarely. It had known enough cunning evil that it could hide from even the oldest magic. But there were times it…it forgot to guard itself. And it said terrible, terrible things."

"Like what?"

Charlie's voice was suddenly sharp, and it brought Shay's head up. His gaze was intent, and she couldn't read into the meaning.

"It was mostly…mostly this litany of "ripping, shredding, killing,"" Shay whispered. ""Kill, kill." It said that a lot. But then, sometimes…sometimes it would murmur other things. And sometimes those things were nonsense. But when it was really…emotional, I guess is the best term…it would be more eloquent. "Master has come home, the heir of my first and only friend," I remember that clearly. And "Such pretty eyes, pretty, pretty eyes. Dark as tunnels. Tainted by mirrors, wish I could…"" Shay gulped, the trembling returning to her hands as the old memory pulled up old emotion. ""Wish I could have tasted them," " she spat out.

Charlie sat, grave and silent.

"When Ginny…" He began, his voice level.

"I didn't hear who it was," Shay said, gaze back in her mug. "If that's what you're wondering. But I heard its…jubilation." She couldn't withhold her shudder, this time.

"You spent that whole year listening to that?"

Shay nodded.

"I became a bit of a recluse, eventually," she said with a small smile. "It didn't seem to like Ravenclaw Tower. Too airy, I suppose. It liked earth and stone."

"Was it evil, then?"

"Not in nature," Shay said, quietly. "Nothing is really evil by nature, it may surprise you to know. Though there are…instances of it." The words 'Lord Voldemort' hung over both of them, unsaid. "And humans are a bit trickier. But animals, they…they don't tend to start off with bad intentions. What they want is simple – food, shelter, water, protection, the ability to protect. Above all, they desire to live. The basilisk was raised by evil. It knew nothing else."

Shay laughed, and the sound was surprisingly dark. "I sound like I'm defending the thing," she said.

"No. I understand."

The silence that followed was long, though not uncomfortable.

"So," Charlie said, "what comes next? I mean, do you think that'll happen again?"

"It would certainly make this little mission impossibly easy," Shay mused. "So I'm inclined to think it won't quite work out that way. It may just be that dragon. His age is a considerable factor."

"Because he was able to figure things out faster," Charlie concluded. "If wisdom comes with age."

Shay nodded.

"And he was surprisingly flexible," she added. "He didn't mind the idea of communicating with me. Younger dragons might be more set in their ways."

"So the total opposite of humans, hmm?"

Charlie was grinning. Shay laughed.

"So it would seem."

"And I ask again: What comes next?"

"We experiment, I suppose," Shay said. "Work our way through the breeds and see if that has anything to do with it. The horses, I guess, could act as the control group. They're fairly normal creatures. And then we have Dracul."

Charlie nodded, then stood and disappeared down a short corridor. He reappeared moments later with a roll of parchment, a quill, and some ink.

"Alright," he said, scribbling in a hand that Shay could hardly read, "We'll start by age. Since that seems a good possibility for deciding factor. I'll set you up with a whole range of dragons, from hatchling to near-dead."

"Near…" Shay wrinkled her nose, curved her shoulders inward and shook her head.

"They won't die on you, promise. Just meant the most ancient we can muster. Anyway, once we're through with age, we move on to…"

"I'd move on to sex," Shay said. "The difference could have an impact on what they accept and how they process what's happening."

Charlie continued scrawling.

"Alright, and following that, we can move on to breed," he said. "Anything else?"

"Exposure to human handling," Shay said immediately, "and location. If they were found in more densely populated areas, they might have a broader understanding of humans. And if they were born and raised here, those concepts might be totally different."

"Right. So. Age, sex, breed, exposure to handlers, location. I'd say that's a decent little list."

Charlie capped the ink and set his quill down. "I have to take care of other business during the day, but we could meet in the evenings, if you'd like. "

"I could always have Claire help me," Shay said. "Or Clifford. It's really no trouble…"

But Charlie was shaking his head.

"Look," he said, "I'm invested in this now. And I'm going to see it unfold."

"Just don't go hurtling me through the dens again, okay?"

Charlie grinned.

"Your fault," he said, almost cheerfully. And then yawned.

"Alright," he said. "Sleep. To your cabin, Miss. Morse. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, Charlie," she replied as she stood to leave. "And, um…thank you. For the tea."

"Not a problem."

Shay was halfway through the door, preparing to close it behind her, when Charlie called out,

"Oh, and Shay?" When she glanced back, he was grinning. "Sorry for being such an ass, before," he said. "Maybe someday I'll explain myself."

For a moment, Shay felt as if she would laugh; there was a light, fluttery sensation somewhere behind her collarbone.

"You'd better."

((Alright, I'm mixing things up and putting this at the end.

Honestly? I'm not really happy with this chapter. But I think it was necessary, info-wise, and at least lets Shay and Charlie talk without interruption. Unfortunately (for all involved...myself included) it looks like they might be pretty clueless about each other. At least for a while. It might take some shenanigans to actually get these two together. But they will get there. And shenanigans are fun, don't worry. ; )

Once again, thanks for the reviews and the adds to various lists! It makes writing so much more fun.))