Chapter Twenty-Four

The trio of vampires had now been staying at the Dragon Sanctuary for just over six weeks, with only a week and a half left to go, until they had to return back to Volterra and prepare themselves for the upcoming battle.

During that time, they had been out spying on the Romanian vampires, finding out what they were doing and how they were able to build such a large army quickly. It turned out they were turning normal humans who were destitute and living on the streets into newborn vampires. They were getting away with it because these were people who would not be missed and whose disappearance did not draw any attention to local authorities.

There was no pattern to who was turned, except for the fact that the people were homeless. The Romanian coven didn't care about the age or sex of the people they turned, and unlike the Volturi didn't seem to mind whether they had vampire powers or not. It appeared that their main focus was on the sheer number of vampires they had. A newborn army was powerful, as they were stronger than a vampire who had been turned for years. Even Hermione now, was no longer as physically strong as the newborn she first was, which was why her fighting skills now lacked and she was hurt in the last fight. Her punches and hits didn't do the same amount of damage as they once did as a newborn, which meant she had to fight harder and practice more.

They also found out that they were keeping these newborn vampires away from civilisation and training them in a thick Romanian forest called the Hoia-Baciu forest. This seemed the perfect location to keep an army of vampires, as Charlie quickly explained to the trio that this forest was supposed to be the most haunted forest in the world. People had been reporting for years now, how it felt like they were being watched, but no-one was there, how strange forms and lights had appeared then suddenly disappeared, and then there was the fact that thousands of people had been reported missing from this area over the years. It seemed that the Romanian coven had been using this forest to feed for years, after the Volturi had taken power and control from them.

The Romanian coven never cared whether the humans knew about them or not in the past, but after the Volturi came to power and set up laws, the Romanian coven hid away. They still to this day didn't care whether the humans knew of them or not, which was why they didn't seem to mind the attention their actions in the Hoia-Baciu forest was attracting.

They were careful in the fact that although they were teetering on law breaking and could suffer the wrath of the Volturi, they were also still within the law. Their actions had drawn attention, but they hadn't exposed themselves, so the humans didn't know that it was vampires who were lurking in the woods, and as long as it stayed that way no actual law was broken, therefore the Volturi could do nothing.

The trio had left to go to the Hoia-Baciu forest to see everything for themselves, and they were glad to have Hermione's magic protecting them. Hundreds of newborn vampires stayed in the forest, they were practicing fighting, they looked angry and aggressive and ready for drawing blood at any moment.

The vampires who seemed to control the camps and individual groups of newborns were merciless and barbaric. Unlike Caius and Felix who had helped train Hermione in fighting, who were supportive, patient and encouraging to her. These vampires were brutal. They shouted at the newborn vampires, they whipped them and attacked them when they didn't do well, and those who were deemed as being weak and pathetic, were told to run before their former group set on them, which only ended in their death.

It was disgusting, these newborns were trained killers and simply a means to an end. And those who were training them took enjoyment from the pain and torture they were inflicting.

The trio investigated every part of the forest and it wasn't until they reached a large clearing, right in the deepest part of the forest where no humans would dare go, that Hermione recognised it from her vision. This was where the battle would take place. Right here in the Hoia-Baciu forest. Away from humans, away from sight, and away from where the two enemy covens lived.

She had seen two very different images of this place however. The first was the Volturi marching through the thick trees to reach the middle where the Romanians stood waiting before the battle commenced. And the second image was of her surrounded by death and a circle of fire dying.

She didn't tell the two vampires or Charlie about the second vision she had, for they didn't need to know that, but she did tell them that this was the place she had seen the fight take place. It made sense in a way that it would be here. Perfect camouflage away from human eyes and also the fact that the Romanians were luring their enemy here for the slaughter.

During the trio's time out investigating they never once heard any information about the Romanian coven's secret weapon, which could mean two possible things, either that it truly was a secret or it wasn't real. The trio hoped it was the latter.

They also never heard much information on the new male vampire. The only thing that they did hear about him was that he had joined Vladimir and Stefan as the three leaders of the Romanian coven, just like the three leaders of the Volturi.

According to Felix and Demetri, Vladimir and Stefan had no special vampire powers but their thirst to end the Volturi once and for all rivalled everyone else's, since they were the sole survivors of the last War they had with the Volturi. It was this fierce drive that made them leaders of the new coven, so it made the trio wonder what this new vampire had; to make him a leader. It seemed to the trio that the more information that they gathered, the more unanswered questions there were, leaving them feeling annoyed and frustrated.

When the trio were not out gathering information they spent all their time either hunting or in the Dragon Sanctuary with Charlie. Hermione had now fully healed meaning she was no longer babysat like she was. Charlie found it fascinating that she was a sort of vegetarian vampire, who refused to drink the blood of a human, and instead chose animal blood. He had never heard of any vampires like that before and was even more stunned when Hermione told him that she wasn't the only one out there to do that. He was more curious about the trio than before, and Hermione even let him watch as she hunted in the woods nearby. The two male vampires even offered to let him watch them, but that was just something Charlie couldn't stomach to see. So instead they just described the hunt to him in detail.

He wondered why some vampires choose to drink human blood while others opted to drink animal blood instead, and wondered if it was due to the fact that some kept a little more humanity than others. Or perhaps it was down to the length a person had been changed for. It was both curious and fascinating and he enjoyed learning all of this from the trio.

Felix and Demetri were just as curious to learn all about the magical world, as Charlie was to learn about them. Since arriving at the Dragon Sanctuary, Felix especially was eager to learn and see the dragons.

The morning after they had first arrived, Charlie and Phil met the trio at exactly 6am, the time that they had said the previous evening. They told the trio all about the Dragon Sanctuary and what they did there and all about the rest of the team who worked there as well.

"So Charlie what exactly is it that you're called. I mean I always just assumed you were like a dragon tamer." Hermione had asked her friend.

Charlie laughed and sat back against the soft chair looking relaxed despite the fact he was in the presence of three blood thirsty vampires, well two if you didn't include Hermione since technically she was vegetarian.

"Close Mione but not quite. In our world we are magizoologists, which is someone who studies magical creatures. Most of us here try to study all magical creatures but we are all specially trained in dragons, making us dragonologists." He smiled smugly and said, "We study dragons, we heal them and look after those who are injured, young or old. We cannot train a fully grown adult dragon, as they are independent and set in their ways, but we can train dragons after they are hatched. It takes time and a lot of patience as like most animals out there, dragons can be unpredictable and dangerous."

Hermione nodded her head in understanding then smiled thoughtfully as she said,

"Like Norberta."

Immediately understanding her hidden question Charlie smiled and nodded his head.

"Yup just like Norberta. I told you that we had three dragons here living in the sanctuary, well that isn't exactly true." Charlie said looking sheepish. "We actually have three wild untamed dragons here, but we also have five tamed dragons that we use to fly on and study up close."

Felix looked incredibly excited at Charlie's words, while Demetri looked panic stricken and as if he was about to vomit at any moment.

"Could we ride a dragon?" Felix asked excitedly.

"What!" Demetri exclaimed looking at his mate in shock. "Absolutely not, I will not ride a dragon and I will not allow my mate to either." He said folding his arms in dismay.

Felix looked at him and frowned.

"I think I can decide for myself if I want to ride a dragon or not." Felix replied rather huffily.

"Fine but if you are hurt or worse, don't come bubbling to me?" Demetri turned his head away from Felix, not wanting to look at him for the moment.

Hermione listened to the lover's tiff going on and tried so hard not to giggle at them, but failed. How she loved those two boys she mused.

Charlie also failed to hide his amusement, as he looked curiously to his own partner. They had heard Demetri's words and wondered what exactly he meant when he used the term 'mate'.

"Actually I'm afraid you won't get to ride them. We don't know how they will react to you, since you know you're a vampire and all that. Also we have spent years training them, and they only allow their trainer to fly them. It's a respect and trust thing, so don't take it personally." He looked between Felix's disappointed expression to Demetri's smug yet relieved look then said, "We can let you see them however, since they are in their own magical enclosures and won't pose a danger to you." At that news Felix immediately perked up. He was like a little boy who had just learned about Santa and Christmas. Charlie once again spoke, not knowing if he was about to cross a line or not, but he had to know. "Pardon me for being so forward but when you said that you two are mates, did you mean mates as in friends or mates as in bonded lovers?" He pointed to Demetri then to Felix and raised his eyebrow at them questioningly.

The two vampires' stiffened, as they realised Demetri's slip of the tongue. The only person who knew about them being mates was Hermione, Aro did as well unknown to Felix however, and here they were telling a complete stranger.

Luckily for them it was Hermione who spoke up first.

"Charlie please you cannot tell anyone. I am the only one who knows about this."

Charlie put up his hands and smiled.

"I promise I won't tell anyone; hell I don't have anyone to tell. But this is fascinating and wonderful." He looked at the two male vampires and smiled in awe and excitement. "Throughout the years everyone has just believed that mates can only be a male and female, and you two have just proved them all wrong." He looked up at his own life partner and smiled, before squeezing his hand affectionately. "It's wonderful to know that."

What Charlie said was the truth, he knew all about the mating bonds for werewolves and vampires, and knew how powerful it was. Every story documented about bonded mates however, always referred to male and female mates. Never once had same sex mates ever been heard off. So it made him wonder how many bonded mates of the same sex were out there, as this couldn't have been the only case.

By the words he used and the tone he spoke to them in, the two male vampires visibly relaxed, at the wizard who was so accepting of their relationship.

"Yes well it came to us as a complete surprise as well when we first felt the mating pull. We both tried to resist it at the beginning, since like you said we were both males, and it was unusual. But soon the pull became too much. But here we are now." Felix said, with a small smile to his mate.

Felix and Demetri were not an affectionate couple in public, because they had spent so much time keeping their relationship a secret from the other coven members. They only ever showed affection to each other in the safety of their own quarters or in front of Hermione, who didn't seem to mind. But seeing the two wizards openly show their relationship with each other off, made them crave that openness more.

Hearing Charlie's words now made them feel more at ease, as Charlie and Phil knew a little of how Felix and Demetri felt, as they were two men in love as well.

This seemed to be a place that was more accepting and tolerant towards a same sex relationship, than perhaps the Volturi coven would be. Although if they were honest neither of them had ever tried to broach the subject with the other coven members before. They just simply assumed that's how it would be.

"It truly is extraordinary that two males can have the mating bond. It's simply wonderful." Phil said with a genuine smile on his face.

"Perhaps we can document the mating pull from your perspective if that's alright. We won't mention you names but we will have to say that you're a vampire." Charlie said sounding hopeful.

Felix and Demetri looked at each other for a moment then nodded their heads in unison, as if they were each answering an unspoken question. They turned to the excited wizard, before giving him a small smile in return.

"I think we could do that. After all you did agree to take us in." Felix replied. "And you've said we could see the dragons." He added with a huge grin, causing Hermione to roll her eyes playfully. Dragons seemed to be the big burly vampire's new obsession.

Charlie's face turned almost as red as his hair as he beamed warmly at the two vampires. This was much better than he could have possibly hoped for. He got to study a vampire witch and a mated pair of males, both subjects that had never been heard of before. He was indeed a very happy wizard.

"Excellent." He replied.

After that the trio of vampires got to meet the rest of the team, who were all excited and a little afraid of meeting them. They had all heard the usual horror stories involving vampires, but the three that greeted them now, were completely different to anything that they had heard of before.

The three vampires were controlled in human company, were polite and good conversationalists, and just seemed like normal people. It was truly amazing.

In return the trio got to know all about the other people who lived and worked at the sanctuary. Alongside Charlie and Phil, there was Clara, a small blonde thin woman, who was bubbly and accident prone, and who reminded Hermione a lot of Dora. She dealt with the day to day running of the sanctuary, as they all did, and helped settle in new dragons. She was also a dragon trainer and looked after Firefly, a Common Welsh Green. Clara had been studying, training and looking after Firefly since she had hatched.

Then there was Damon. He was tall, lanky with thick glasses and shoulder length brown hair that he had tied back. He was wary of the three vampires and seemed like a nervous guy at the best of times. But there was a power about him, which was probably a good thing since he worked with dragons. Like Clara he done everyday tasks but had also been looking after Godric, who was a Chinese Fireball. He had obviously been in Gryffindor house at Hogwarts because this dragon was also known as the 'Lion Dragon'. That and his name was Godric.

Then there was Zac, who was incredibly good looking with cropped black hair, big bulging biceps covered in tattoos. He had a cheeky 'woman love me' kind of smile and two adorable dimples. Clara kept looking at him while batting her eyelashes, but he didn't seem to notice. Along with helping out at the sanctuary, he also looked after Sven, a Sweedish Short-Snout dragon.

Along with Charlie who looked after Norberta, a Norwegian Ridgeback and Phil, the more experienced leader of the team, who looked after Albatross, a Peruvian Vipertooth, the only poisonous dragon in existence. They were the five dragon trainers of the team. Adalyn, Riley, Raine, Caleb and Finn, also worked in the sanctuary dealing with the day to day running of it, although none of them had a dragon to look after.

The whole team were friendly and curious, except for Raine who seemed to instantly distrust the trio of vampires. Hermione thought it could be out of fear more than anything else, and hoped to change the female witches mind.

Once they had all met the trio, the team of dragonologists left them to go and see to the sanctuary and to see to their dragons. Charlie was free for the moment, as he didn't go to Norberta until later and wasn't needed to help with anything at the moment, so was able to show the trio around the facility.

"How big is this place?" Hermione asked while he led them through the office building into what looked like a large open space surrounded by mountains and forests.

Charlie closed the doors behind them and bolted them shut, before turning to look at the trio, an excited smile on his pale face.

"Put it this way, you could easily fit about fifty Quidditch fields in here."

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise at that, before she said,

"Really. How is that even possible?"

Charlie shook his head and grinned at her, before bravely wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Mione, Mione, Mione I can't believe you've forgotten already." He spread his free arm out indicating the whole area and grinned before exclaiming, "It's magic of course."

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, but giggled nonetheless.

"Silly me." She said still chuckling.

Felix and Demetri stood still, while taking in the landscape around them in awe and wonderment. The two had wondered how it could look like this from the inside but totally different from the outside. Magic was truly a wonderful thing.

Felix stepped up to the wizard and said,

"If this place is so open how are we protected from the dragons?" Although he was trying not to show it, the worry could clearly be heard in his voice. Demetri grinned and shook his head, knowing that his mate was all talk. He wanted to be up close and personal with a dragon just as much as he, Demetri, did.

Charlie laughed at the vampire, before letting Hermione go so that he could look at a curious Felix directly.

"Good question my friend." He said with that typical Weasley charm. "The answer is we have very powerful magical wards and spells protecting us. They are like invisible walls that keep them in and us out. The only way for us to cross them, is for the wards to recognise us and a series of complex spells."

"So basically we can see them, and they can see us. But they can't get to us." Felix asked again, the worry still evident in his voice.

"Yup." Charlie grinned pleased with the setup they had going on here. "It's the same with the sky, you can't see it but there's wards up there too, so that the dragons can fly about freely, but not escape. Wouldn't want that now would we." He said with a half-hearted chuckle.

As they continued walking Demetri asked the question Hermione hoped no-one would pick up on and that was,

"What exactly is Quidditch?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Hermione groaned as Charlie went into an excited trance as he explained all about Quidditch to the two male vampires. She still hated the game and that would never change it seemed.

Now that the vampires were put at ease, Charlie took them through the thick forests and over lands, obviously knowing his way about like the back of his hand. Every time they passed an enclosure, he would stop and tell them which dragon lived there and all about that particular species.

They had walked for hours and although they had passed every enclosure, they actually only saw two dragons, as the enclosures were that big and gave them so much space.

"How many dragons could live here?" Hermione asked curiously as they continued walking across the land.

Charlie who was sweating profusely despite using cooling charms, had rolled his sleeves up, smiled before saying,

"Probably about twenty or so. We need to keep the different species all separate in case the larger more dominant ones attack the smaller weaker ones. The same species can live together but it doesn't always work out well. The females tend to be more aggressive than the males, especially when it comes to their eggs. As you well know Mione."

She nodded in understanding as she thought back to her fourth year at Hogwarts when Harry had to get the egg from the female dragon in the Triwizard Tournament. She had never been more pleased to see her friend ride his broom as she was at that time. It had been terrifying to watch. Even now just thinking about it made her shudder.

"This bit of the Sanctuary is where we keep the wild untrained dragons. They are dangerous, so this area has extra wards around it for protection. Wouldn't want them to get loose out here, as they would kill any living thing."

The trio of vampires looked worried as they cautiously stepped over the threshold of the heavy set wards. Only Hermione and Charlie felt the tingling sensation of magic brush across their skin.

"This one here is the Ukrainian Ironbelly, the biggest dragon in existence at 60ft long. He is big and slow but deadly." Charlie turned to Hermione and said, "Apparently one of these is trapped down in the bowels of Gringotts protecting the wealthier vaults." He wore a frown as he said that, obviously not liking the fact a dragon was used in this way. In his eyes dragons shouldn't be chained up and left to rot in the dark, they should be free doing the things that dragons should be doing.

Hermione knew all about that dragon, she had seen it in the first vision she ever had. If things had gone the way they should have and she had never been turned, her, Ron and Harry would have broken into Gringotts Bank looking for the Horcrux in Bellatrix Lestranges vault, then broken out by flying on the back of that dragon. Now that dragon would never be free, and she couldn't help feel slightly responsible for that.

"That's awful." She whispered, unable to look at Charlie in case he saw the guilt in her eyes.

"Isn't it."

After that awkward conversation, they continued on their way until they had reached the second enclosure. In there was an injured Romanian Longhorn. The two long glittering gold horns were used as very expensive potion ingredients. Just like other parts of their bodies. Magical poachers didn't care if dragons died or not as long as they got what they wanted. Although this dragon had almost been killed, thanks to the expert dragonologist team here, he was saved, minus his two horns. Unlike with witches or wizards, there was no potion or spell that could grow these horns back. This dragon would now have to stay here for the remainder of his life, alone, for it was maimed and weak. If any other dragon of the same species was to enter this enclosure it would kill the injured dragon, with no hesitation. That was the way wild dragons worked. It wasn't a vicious thing they did, it was simply their way of looking after and respecting those who couldn't themselves. It was better a quick death than being a target to other species who would hurt them purely for a vicious sport.

Once they had passed the second enclosure, Charlie stopped the trio of vampires abruptly, a more serious expression on his face.

"Now before we go any further I must warn you, in this enclosure is the most dangerous dragon of them all."

Hermione gasped at once remembering the dragon from the Triwizard Tournament.

"The Hungarian Horntail." She whispered, almost as if to herself.

"Yes, the exact same one." Charlie said causing Hermione to shudder again. "She is big, she is bad and she does not like people watching her. But she is magnificent and beautiful." He looked at the trio and said, "I don't know how she will react to the three of you, but every time one of us goes anywhere near her enclosure she starts ramming at the wards and breathing fire. So when, not if, she does that do not panic. She cannot break through our wards."

Felix no longer looked so excited at the prospect of seeing a dragon, whereas Demetri simply looked ill at ease and terrified. Hermione looked nervous, for she had already seen this dragon before and knew exactly what to expect. Or so she thought anyway.

The three vampires followed the wizard cautiously through the thinnest part of the forested enclosure. This particular dragon preferred rocky mountain tops to large dense woods.

Even though they couldn't feel it, the temperature rose almost to an insufferable level and Charlie had to cast several cooling charms on himself in case he passed out. The further they walked, the thinner the trees became until finally they had stepped right into a clearing.

Before them stood a large rocky hill, for it wasn't large enough to be classed as a mountain, and nothing else could be seen. The enclosure appeared to be empty causing both Demetri and Felix to sigh with relief.

Charlie however, never once removed his gaze from a large cave in the middle of the rocky surface of the hill. He had seen this dragon too many times not to know what to expect.

"It appears this dragon does not want to come and play today." Demetri said with a relaxed smile.

"Just wait." Charlie said, more in warning.

All four stood watching the same spot, and thanks to their enhanced sight and hearing, all three vampires stiffened immediately when they heard the sound of stone being crushed. A shadow flickered across the cave at the side of the hill, before suddenly the shadow took a form of a lizard like dragon.

Her scales were as black as the night sky, and even from this distance they could see the vibrant yellow of her eyes, with small black snake like slits. Her head moved from one side of her enclosure to the next, as if she was checking her surroundings. She must have sensed the four people watching her, because she sniffed the air loudly before her head moved quickly towards them.

All at once she let out a loud yowling roar, at the same time as she spread her wings, before flying towards them. Flames were spat out from her mouth, flicking close to where they were as steam poured from her nostrils.

Felix and Demetri instantly took a step back in fear, not sure how they were supposed to be kept safe from such a monster. While Charlie simply marvelled at her. She was beautiful after all. Deadly but very beautiful nonetheless.

Hermione stood rooted to the spot, not feeling the fear she was sure would have coursed through her. Instead she couldn't help but admire the majestic animal as she flew towards them, a great giant black shadow with piercing yellow eyes. For some reason she couldn't look away from her, feeling utterly compelled to watch as she drew closer.

She landed with an elegant thump, stopping not far in front of them as she screeched and yowled at them angrily, all the while flapping her wings at them in warning. The minute she was on all four legs, her body moved quickly and agilely towards them as she spat fire and roared.

Both Demetri and Felix took more terrified steps backwards, despite the fact that an invisible wall seemed to be blocking the fire from them.

The dragon rammed into the wards several times, even though whatever invisible shield there was kept bouncing her back off. The flames continued being spat out at them and the steam poured from her nostrils.

Her build was slim yet powerful with strong muscles. Now that she was closer, Hermione could see the bronze horns surrounding her head like some crown, they seemed to go all the way down her back to the end of her tail, which she used to thump against the wards, trying to hit and kill the four people watching her.

Every single part of the female dragon screamed, angry vicious monster, but to Hermione she was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, minus Dante of course. Not knowing why, she took a step towards the wards, not wanting to get too close in case it repelled her back as well, before slowly bringing her hand up towards it. If she could have put her hand through the wards she would have, only to get a touch of those glorious dark scales.

"Beautiful isn't she." Charlie said from beside her, but she never heard him.

The moment he spoke the dragon whipped her head around to look at him, but she got Hermione instead. All at once the female stopped moving and stood still as she looked first at Hermione's outstretched hand, then moved her yellow eyes to gaze into Hermione's.

The minute she did, Hermione could feel a tingling sensation run across her body as she again stepped closer and closer, her hand still outstretched.

"Hermione." Charlie roared as he tried to grab her backwards but was instantly flung back by the wards. The tingling sensation Hermione had felt was the wards slipping over her body as she was brought into the enclosure with the fierce dragon.

"What's happening why can't you get her?" Demetri asked, helping the wizard to his feet, completely panic stricken by what was going on.

Charlie quickly pulled out his wand and sent a frantic patronus to the rest of his team. The distance between here and the other enclosures was miles and it would normally have taken them hours to get here. There were anti-apparition wards up so that the noise from apparating wouldn't startle the dragons, who had incredibly sensitive hearing. In emergencies like this however, Phil could cancel those wards but it would take him at least twenty minutes, twenty minutes that they didn't have.

Hermione, unaware of the danger she was in, kept walking closer to the dragon, her hand no longer outstretched, but by her side. The dragon had reared up, standing on her hind legs, her yellow eyes never once leaving Hermione's.

"You are stunning" Hermione whispered in awe, stopping mere meters in front of the black dragon. At her words the dragon tilted her head to the side, watching her as if she could understand every word Hermione was saying. "We've met before and I remember you vividly, but you won't know me. I was there when you came to a big castle and chased a young boy on a broom who tried to steal your egg." Again at her words the dragon turned her head to the side and yowled in anger, the fire spitting from her mouth in obvious fury. Hermione knew she should be scared but for some reason she wasn't. She smiled at the dragon then said, "Yes I can understand your anger, I would have been angry too having to do that. Treating you like a beast when you're not."

The dragon turned her yellow eyes onto Hermione once more and made a humph noise, as if she agreed with her statement.

"You truly are beautiful." She said letting her eyes trail over the black body before her.

The dragon fell down to all four legs and took a step towards Hermione, her yellow eyes never once leaving the interesting non-human female. She could understand every word the non-human said and admired her bravery and respectful behaviour.

When she felt she was close enough, the female dragon stopped inches away from the non-human and sniffed her. She could feel the non-humans' magic surrounding her, she was incredibly powerful but had not quite reached her full potential yet. She had a beating heart, but it was not like the red headed wizards heart. The other two male companions had no beating hearts, and she didn't like that at all. The non-human female could be dangerous, and yet she did not appear to be threatening towards her. There was something about the non-human, something that pleased her immensely. She felt like they were kindred spirits of sorts. And so with that, she made up her mind. She bowed her head to the non-human out of mutual respect before looking back up to her.

Hermione watched in awe and fascination as the dragon drank in the sight of her. She had read books saying that dragons were not intelligent creatures, and that they were simply vicious monsters who only wanted to kill and attack. And yet here she was now, standing in front of the most dangerous dragon species there was, as it bowed to her in respect.

This action reminded her so much of that time in Hagrid's class when they first met Buckbeak the hippogriff. They were incredibly proud creatures and the only way to get near one was to bow down to it and gain its respect and trust. If it felt insulted or threatened, it would lash out.

That's what happened with Harry and Draco anyway. Harry had shown Buckbeak respect and was able to pet and even fly him. Whereas Draco insulted him and tried to touch him without first gaining his respect, therefore earning Draco a scratched arm. It seemed that some dragons were no different. This one certainly wasn't.

So to gain the Hungarian Horntails respect, she bent down slowly at the waist and bowed low, only standing up when she heard the appreciative humph and hot air rifling past her hair.

Standing up she smiled at the dragon again then said,

"May I touch you?"

The dragon looked at Hermione through piercing yellow eyes before humphing. Taking that as a yes Hermione stretched out her hand once more, which terrified Charlie in the process.

Feeling impatient the dragon moved the rest of the way until her head was grazing the non-human's hand. Hermione was tentative at first, realising for the first time at just what exactly she was doing. But still she felt no fear, in fact she felt at peace.

She got more confident in her movements as her hands slid over the dragon's head, face, and side. It was far too big for her to reach anymore of her black scaly body and she didn't want to chance her luck either.

"Beautiful." Hermione said in awe.

The dragon seemed to be enjoying the moment, just as much as Hermione was as she began keening into her touch, causing Hermione to smile in delight.

All at once however, the moment was over, as several loud cracks could be heard.

Startled the dragon reared back in fright, standing tall and imposing on her hind legs, as she spat angry fire towards the ones who dared interrupt her and her non-human. She barely missed Hermione as she used her vampire speed to move quickly out of the path of the flames. Her long tail whipped out from behind her, trying to smack the wards but instead she almost hit Hermione. Having dodged the dragon's' tail, she ducked and rolled back in front of the dragon and took a step forward.

"Easy, easy beautiful." Hermione said, her voice soothing as she held out her hands to the dragon.

Yellow eyes turned to her the minute she spoke and all at once she relaxed. Nuzzling her head into the female non-human, who luckily for her, was strong and powerful enough not to fall backwards at the simple gesture.

Hermione laughed and ran both her hands across the smooth black scales.

"You know we really should pick a name for you. Despite how beautiful I think you are, we can't keep calling you that."

The dragon made a puffing sound in agreement causing Hermione to chuckle.

"Ok stop me when you hear the one you like. Ida." The dragon huffed in indignation at that name. "Hmm no, ok how about Rowena." Again she made the same noise. She rhymed off some more and every name she came up with had so far been rejected by the dragon. "You are incredibly hard to please beautiful." Hermione whispered with a soft sigh. She paused for a moment then said "Alright how about Nafeesa then, it means valuable or precious one."

The dragon paused briefly, as if she was thinking it over, then let out a happy yowling noise, causing Hermione to laugh happily. "You like that then Nafeesa." She said trying the name out properly for the first time. "Good I'm glad. I get the feeling that you are going to be very precious to me."

A forked tongue suddenly flicked out from between Nafeesa's mouth, as she licked Hermione's face in delight.

"Good to see you agree." She chuckled again.

Suddenly remembering where she was, Hermione turned to look out of the enclosure at Felix and Demetri who stood with obvious tension, and Charlie and his team who stood in stunned silence, simply watching.

"Those group of people are my friends." Hermione said turning back to Nafeesa. "I think since I came in here, they have been pretty worried for me. So if you don't mind I will leave and return to them." Nafeesa shook her head, as if she was saying no then let out a small yowl of protest. "I will come back Nafeesa I promise." She said soothingly. Relenting Nafeesa gave Hermione one last lick with her forked tongue, before she backed away and watched as her non-human returned back through the wards to the silent group.

She stood to her full height and spread her wings, before letting out a loud happy yowl, before flying back to her cave. She now had a friend in her non-human, a friend who she knew would be special to her.

"What the hell just happened?" Phil asked, his voice sounding a mixture between angry, terrified and giddy delight.

"I second that?" Charlie said, looking over his friend with even more respect than before.

"I have no idea; it was like my magic wanted to be with her. It was weird but wonderful. Oh and by the way her name is Nafeesa. She was incredibly picky there when it came to choosing a name." Hermione said with a small chuckle.

"She choose a name?" Charlie said with a frown.

"Yes, I went through about twenty before she liked that one. It means valuable or precious one." Hermione said with a smile.

"I can't believe you actually went into an enclosure with a Hungarian Horntail and lived to tell the story. Unbelievable." Phil said in amazement.

"I promised I would come back and see her again. I don't think she wanted me to leave."

"Absolutely not." Demetri suddenly piped up. "Hermione, I promised Aro that I would protect you and I plan on keeping that promise. But so far you have been injured in a fight and have stood next to a very dangerous dragon. How am I supposed to keep my promise when you keep doing things like that?" He asked, sounding somewhat exasperated.

At his words Hermione didn't know whether to be angry or happy that Aro had gotten Demetri to promise him that. It felt almost as if he didn't think she could cope but at the same time showed that he cared.

"Demetri I am capable of protecting myself thank you." She replied, sounding somewhat tense.

"Oh I can see that my little witchling." Demetri replied sarcastically.

Felix put a gentle hand on Demetri's arm, as he tried to calm his mate down.

"Demetri we all saw how the dragon reacted to her, somehow I don't think she will be hurt."

"Still." Demetri said with a resigned sigh. "I promised Aro. Can you imagine what he's going to do to me when he finds out about this?"

Hermione walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him affectionately.

"He won't need to know because nothing's going to happen to me; I swear." She promised, knowing that what she was saying was the truth. Nafeesa wouldn't hurt her, she didn't know how she knew that, she just knew that she did.

The group had left seeing that there was no imminent danger or threat happening, leaving the trio with Charlie and Phil, who had been listening to the vampires' conversation.

"Erm who's Aro?" Charlie asked curiously.

"The Volturi leader."

"Hermione's mate." Hermione and Demetri said at the same time.

Charlie looked at Hermione, grinning from ear to ear as he said,

"Oh right keeping secrets from me now are we Mione, why don't you tell old Charlie boy who Aro is exactly." He said, slinging his arm around her shoulder and causing her to groan, as they made their way back to the offices and quarters of the dragonologist team.

Hermione did keep her promise to Nafeesa, every day, when she wasn't hunting, spying or talking to Charlie, she spent all of her free time with Nafeesa getting to know her better.

The more time she spent with her, the more she realised they were familiars in a way, to each other. And soon a bond of trust and respect quickly formed between them. As her confidence grew in Nafeesa's presence the more things they done together. They hunted with one another, since they fed from the same animals, of course Nafeesa would also finish off the carcass Hermione left behind. Hermione even flew beside Nafeesa, who had been incredibly excited by this. She had never seen a human or a non-human fly before like her non-human could.

After spending so much time with one another, they began to understand each other better, as they explored new things together. Hermione had even persuaded Nafeesa that her friends were safe and loyal, and she explained to them how to gain Nafeesa's trust and respect.

Only Charlie agreed to meet Nafeesa, as the others were still wary about being near a Hungarian Horntail. He had never been more excited to touch a dragon than he was when he first clapped Nafeesa. It was like a dream come true for him. He even got time to study the vampire and the dragons' behaviour towards each other, and wrote down all the new information Hermione found out about the dragon for him as well. It seemed that they were all going through quite a learning journey together, and it was amazing to behold.

Despite their close bond, there was still one thing Hermione and Nafeesa had yet to do together, and after being at the Sanctuary for over six weeks, she finally felt able to tackle this one thing. She just wondered if Nafeesa would agree to it, she did have her pride after all.

Every night Charlie wrote everything he had learned about Hermione in a letter to Albus Dumbledore, keeping him informed about where the battle was going to take place, and more recently about her bond with Nafeesa and also the news about her being the mate of the Volturi leader. He did feel guilty about breaking his friends trust, but at the same time knew it must be important if Dumbledore needed to know about it.

He just hoped that when Hermione found out about his betrayal, she would forgive him for it and know that he was only doing it for her own good.