Disclaimer: All that is not JKR's is mine-and that mainly consists in the human character of Nagini and the influence she exerts on the magical world.

Chapter 24: The Dragon

"Nagini, what are you doing?" demanded Theo, exasperatedly.

Nagini looked up at him in surprise from the book she was reading. "What do you mean?"

"I've tried getting your attention for the past five minutes. What in Merlin's name are you doing?"

Nagini gestured down at the books and notes on the table in front of her. "I'm organizing my notes."

"What for?"

"For exams," she replied, a tad defensively.

Theo threw up his hands. "Those are ages away!"

"Ten weeks, actually," interjected Blaise, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Don't shout in the library," Nagini told Theo calmly. "And if I organize now, it will be easier when I actually do study. I'll know exactly where everything is."

"Let me guess; you're going to start studying next week then."

Nagini smiled at his foolishness and shook her head. "Of course not. I'm practical, not obsessive or crazy like some people in our year."

She stood up suddenly and gathered a few books. "I'll be back," she told them as she left to return the books to their proper shelves. After placing the last book back on its shelf, Nagini was about to return to her table when she heard a thump followed by a loud whisper coming from the other side of the bookshelf. Nagini paused to listen, pressing her ear up to the shelf.

"Dragons!" whispered a voice. "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 another voice—Harry Potter.

Nagini closed her eyes and held her breath to hear better. "But it's against our laws," said the first voice, which Nagini now recognized as belonging to Ron Weasley. ""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."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asked Potter.

"Of course there are," said Weasley. "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?" asked a girl quietly—Hermione Granger.

Nagini drew back from the bookshelf, wondering the same thing. What was Hagrid up to? Was he just interested in the subject matter, or was he planning on obtaining an egg? But even he wouldn't be that stupid if it's illegal. It was intriguing to be sure, thought Nagini as she slowly returned to the table where Theo and Blaise were still working on their latest History of Magic essay.

"What took you so long?" asked Theo, looking up from his essay as she sat down.

Nagini shrugged, deciding to keep the conversation she overheard to herself. She wanted to wait and see what would happen before she did anything with the knowledge she had.

"Didn't you know, Theo," asked Blaise, smirking, "that Nagini can''t return a book in the library without stopping to look at a dozen more?"

Nagini colored slightly, and the two boys laughed.

Nagini was heading out of the Great Hall towards Transfiguration when she collided with someone who was standing frozen in the middle of the Hall. Nagini looked up—it was Draco. He didn't move or say anything when she ran into him; he was staring intently at something in the distance. Nagini followed his gaze. A few feet away Potter, Weasley, and Granger were having an argument.

"—when someone finds out what he's doing—"

"Shut up!" Potter whispered. He was looking at Nagini and Draco, who were both staring at them.

The three Gryffindors headed out of the Great Hall, Weasley and Granger still arguing and Potter shooting glances behind him at the two Slytherins still watching them.

When they had gone, Nagini turned to Draco, who was now wearing a triumphant smirk. "What was that all about?" Nagini asked quietly as they continued out of the Hall and up the marble staircase.

"Hagrid's got a dragon egg," said Draco, "and it''s hatching today."

Nagini's eyes widened slightly. So, he did have an egg. How did he get it? she wondered. "Are you sure?" she asked Draco, neglecting to mention the conversation she had overheard in the library about that very topic.

"Of course I'm sure!" he exclaimed indignantly. "You heard what they were saying."

"I actually didn't hear much of anything," admitted Nagini as they began walking down the corridor to the Transfiguration classroom. ""And you realize that he lives in a wooden house, right? Raising a dragon there would be idiotic. Someone would find out, and in the meantime the creature would have burned his house down."

"Yeah well, Hagrid's a moron, isn't he?" said Draco, ""and he loves monsters. He has a dragon, and I'm going to prove it."

Nagini didn't reply. She already knew it must be true, but she wasn't going to tell him that. They entered the classroom in silence and left for their respective seats. Nagini listened to McGonagall attentively as she lectured them about Conversion spells. Out of the corner of her eye, however, Nagini saw Draco glance up at the clock every few minutes. Five minutes before the bell rang, he already had all his things packed up and ready to go. As soon as the hour ended, he shot out of the classroom before the other students had even stood up, leaving Crabbe and Goyle staring after him in confusion. Nagini pursed her lips slightly. She knew exactly what he was up to. He was going down to the grounds to see if he could spy a dragon.

Nagini walked to History of Magic alone, waiting for the inevitable. Behind her, she heard the sound of running footsteps, and she turned. Draco Malfoy was running down the corridor toward her, grinning. Sighing, Nagini adjusted the strap of her book bag and waited for him.

He skidded to a stop beside her, and Nagini raised her eyebrows questioningly. "I was right!" he gasped. "He has a dragon. I just saw it with my own eyes.""

Nodding, Nagini turned and continued down the corridor. How long would it take for someone else to discover what Hagrid was up to? she wondered. "Who else knows?" she asked.

"Us, Hagrid, Potter, Granger, and Weasley," replied Draco.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Nagini, walking backwards to see his reaction.

He smirked. "I'm going to make them squirm for a bit," he said.

Nagini rolled her eyes but smiled, nonetheless. Draco was already having too much fun with this.

Nagini carefully stuck her head out the library door and looked around. No one was there. She shrank back into the shadows and placed the invisibility spell upon herself. It would be better if she kept the spell on the entire time she was out of bed after hours, but Nagini found it very difficult to read books if she couldn''t see her own hands. She kept her senses alert, though, and if she heard the slightest sound, she became invisible.

Nagini slowly walked down the corridor, trying not to make any noise. The last week had passed rather peacefully. Teachers were piling on more homework in preparation for the upcoming exams, and Nagini was spending more time in the library with Theo and Blaise in order to finish it all. Often, Tracey would sneak away to join them for help. Meanwhile, Nagini tried to forget about Hagrid and the dragon. It didn't affect her, so why should she care? Draco, however, was on a mission to make the three Gryffindors as nervous as possible with the ultimate goal of revealing the dragon. So far it appeared as if he wasn't having much luck. Just that morning, Potter and Granger were looking very happy about something, anxious but not overly so.

Lost in thought, Nagini didn't see the shadowy figure come around the corner and run right into her. They both fell down, groaning. "Who's there?"" whispered a voice, peering into the darkness. Nagini closed her eyes: it was Draco. Sighing, she removed the spell of invisibility.

"What are you doing, Draco?" she asked, standing up.

"Nagini, is that you?" he asked.

Crossing her arms, Nagini looked pointedly at him. "What are you doing?" she repeated.

"Me? I might ask you the same question."

"I'm going back to the common room," said Nagini. "You''re obviously not, so what are you doing?"

"Potter has the dragon," Draco whispered excitedly. "They're getting rid of it tonight. Weasley had a letter hidden in one of his books. Midnight on Saturday—today at the top of the tallest tower. They're heading for the Astronomy tower. Come with me."

Nagini looked at him incredulously. "You're going to get caught," she whispered furiously. "I'm not coming with you."

"Please, Nagini," he begged. "Come on. It will be exciting."

"No, I'm not coming. I—"

They both fell silent as they heard approaching footsteps. Staring at each other with wide eyes, they stood still, praying the person would turn away. The footsteps came closer, and Nagini wished she were alone so that she could turn invisible. Unfortunately, with Draco there she couldn't. The footsteps rounded the corner, and the corridor lit up. Draco and Nagini turned, squinting in the brightness. McGonagall stood there, holding a lantern high above her head.

"What on earth are you two doing?" she demanded, looking down on them severely. Nagini gulped, and Draco opened his mouth to speak, but McGonagall cut him off. "Detention! For both of you," she shouted. "And twenty points each from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you—""

Nagini winced but said nothing. She knew she deserved the punishment. She shouldn't have allowed herself to get caught! If she was paying attention to where she was going, Draco wouldn't have run into her, and she wouldn't be in this situation. Draco, however, did not appear to see the wisdom in staying quiet.

"You don't understand, Professor," he said. "Harry Potter''s coming—he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on—I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

"Now," she continued, coming forward and dragging them by the arm. She brought them to the top of the staircase and looked down at them. "Go straight to your common room. I''ll know if you go anywhere or do anything else," she warned them. "Now get!"

Nagini and Draco slowly began walking down the staircase while McGonagall watched them go. Neither of them said anything. Nagini was fuming. It was Draco's fault, she decided. If he wasn't obsessed about the dragon, they wouldn''t be in this situation. She would have still been invisible and by this point would have returned to the common room, undetected. By the time they reached the dungeons, Nagini was glaring at the darkness around them. They reached the wall that led to the common room, and Draco murmured the password. The two stepped through the archway into the common room, which was thankfully empty.

In the center of the room, Nagini rounded on Draco and proceeded to unleash her fury on him. "What in Merlin's name was that for? What did that accomplish? Now both of us are in trouble." She clenched her fist and glared at him, eyes flashing. Draco raised his arms as if to defend himself and took a step back. Nagini was furious; she didn't want to be in trouble because she wasn't supposed to stick out. Getting detention and losing points was sure to draw attention from professors. "Well?" Nagini demanded. "Do you have anything to say?"

"Look, I'm sorry you're in trouble," he began, ""but if they catch Potter as well, it will be worth it, won't it?"

Nagini raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. Draco continued. "I mean Potter gets away with everything. He didn't do anything to deserve this preferential treatment. All he did was survive a curse as a baby, but no one knows how or why. The only explanation is dark magic, but he's still everyone's golden boy. He's not any good in lessons, and he shouldn't be on the house team."

Draco was babbling, venting all his feelings about Potter, and Nagini found herself softening, her anger slipping away. "Father always says—" he began but then broke off, looking uncomfortable. Nagini understood immediately and felt sorry for Draco. His father obviously put a lot of pressure on him and unfairly compared Draco to Harry Potter. Her father also expected a lot of her, but she generally met his expectations. Her father, however, didn't compare her to the other students, for which she was glad, because he knew Nagini was intelligent and he had told her to not draw too much attention to herself, anyways.

Nagini sat down on one of the emerald green couches, and Draco sat down beside her. "I'm sorry," Nagini began. "You're right. It isn't fair the way everyone treats Potter. He doesn't deserve half of it, and I do hope they get caught as well. It might show everyone that he''s not as perfect as they all seem to think"

Draco smiled grimly staring at the ground. "And I understand how you must feel," Nagini continued. "My father expects a lot of me as well."

Draco looked up at her sharply. "I thought your father disappeared when you were one?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Nagini internally cursed herself for the slip. She was just trying to make him feel better, and instead, she was making it worse for herself. "He did," she said quickly, "but because I grew up an orphan, I feel I have to work harder to prove myself, to show that I'm worthy to be in Slytherin and whatnot."

Something gleamed in his eyes, and he nodded in understanding. "What was his name?" he asked. "And what about your mother? Do you know anything about her?""

Nagini shook her head. "I don't know his name, and I know nothing about my mother. I was brought to the orphanage on Halloween when I was one. All I had was my name and this locket." Her hand automatically went to the locket around her neck and showed him. "I was found in a park, and everyone thought my parents abandoned me there on purpose, but they could never find any trace of them, though I insisted that my father was coming back for me."

Nagini didn't know why she was telling him any of this, but he seemed curious. "That was the final year of the Dark Lord's reign," Draco said thoughtfully, and Nagini looked over at him. "It could be that your father, at least, was captured."

"Maybe," said Nagini softly, knowing that wasn't true but not able to say so.

"Or maybe he really is coming back one day," he said, and Nagini smiled.

"I hope so."

~Kasyntra