So far so good. The creatures from the Forbidden Forest were curious of the Dragon (quite obviously a Protector) suddenly roaming around the grounds, but few were willing to talk too much. The shadows had reached almost every tree in the forest and seemed to be growing. It was like a mold, slowly spreading and enveloping the air in stale dark coldness, interwoven with the giant spiders' silk among the foliage. Yuck.
His Ear of the Dragon could often hear the rustling of leaves from their skittering even from the castle grounds.
"Oi, you there!" He jumped in surprise, caught off guard, then lowered his head towards the demanding tone. A girl with a snooty frown on her pretty face stood in front of him. She was wearing a uniform with silver and green, so she obviously was part of the sssnake-team. Her body language slightly shy and hesitant, eyes wary but looking at him dead on.
"No offense, but the way you talk sounds far from normal." Well. Clueless as he could be sometimes, Jake was very much aware that he didn't sound local. Also, wow, rude much? (no offence, his red scaly ass) So he did one of the things he could do best.
"Say whaaaaaa?" He exclaimed in mock surprise, vowels elongated exaggeratedly in a way he had to admit was entirely deliberate. The way the girl's face fell in blank surprise, like she just didn't know how to respond, was beyond amusing. She neither seemed to expect a dragon being able to grin like that. "Nah, jay-kay, I'm just messing with ya. " He let out a chuckle then shrugged his scaly shoulders. "I know this ain't the Big Apple, so yeah, Brits be staring."
"I… What?"
"Oh man, really? This is too good." The dragon cackled, but the girl seemed too confused at what he said to get mad at him. "Geography, do you have that? Where you learn about where everything is, states and capitals and different countries? You know not everyone talks the same in others areas, right?"
"Wha… - shut it, of course I do!" she finally responded, indignant, her hands balled into fists, cheeks reddening.
"Well then, you'll be happy to know that the way I talk isn't such a novelty where I come from."
"And where's that?"
"Why don'cha try and guess? It can't be too hard, know what I mean?" he taunted her further, exaggerating his accent even more, just to make sure the girl knew he was messing with her.
"Can't be-? Oi, don't get cheeky with me!" the teen exclaimed, indignant and close to shouting at the creature. She was most likely too angry to remember she was talking to a fire-breathing dragon, let alone to keep being afraid.
"Amy? You there?" another voice piped in from a few feet away. Both dragon and girl turned towards the sound just in time to see a girl come from behind a corner. "Oi, Lauren! What are you-" a tall lanky boy came running after her, but they both stopped in their tracks at the sight of the dragon. They looked like very realistic looking statues for a few seconds. Then the boy tried to pull the girl –Laura? - by the sleeve of her robe to head back, but she didn't even dignify him with a look behind the shoulder. She pulled her arm back and marched towards them. Her steps became less and less certain as she came closer, but moved forward nonetheless. Her hair was a coppery blonde shining in the sunlight. Once she came close enough, Jake could see the red and gold accents on her uniform, complimenting her hair. Ah, Team Lion Braveheart, wasn't it? That explained it. (okay, Jake knew those weren't the proper house names, but he liked coming up with creative nicknames for them, food for thought on a rainy day and all that – and this place did have plenty of rain…).
"Um. Hello." The girl shyly addressed him, peering at him through the bangs of her hair. The boy had trailed after her like a resigned puppy and was now looking at the dragon like he was thinking of a plan in case he tried to attack them, his posture defensive and ready.
Damn, they were adorable.
He grinned with all his teeth, basking in the warm autumn sun and the ridiculousness of having kids his own age look at dorky Jake Long like he's the big bad wolf. They all blanched at the sight of his dangerous-looking maw.
"Uh, Amy, what were you…?" the girl turned towards the green-robed girl, taking in her red face, embarrassment still painted over her features. Before she could respond, the dragon piped in instead.
"El-oh-el! You should see the look on your face!" The good-natured laughter obvious in his voice caught the two newer arrivals off guard. Jake turned towards them to explain. "Your friend here wanted to know about my accent. Apparently I don't sound like I'm from around here." He then chuckled, too amused for words at seeing the looks the two sent at Amy.
"What? What are you looking at me like that for?"
"So I take it you two know where I'm from?"Jake interrupted the stare-down, his tail a slow ripple of red, curling like a cat's at his back in delight. They reminded him a bit of Trixie and Spud, but more British. Silly little wizard kids.
The lanky boy was looking at the dragon with a frown, confusion on his face. "Well, I'm not sure of the actual region" Jake's tail drooped a bit at that "but you definitely sound like you're American."
"Bingo, my man!" the dragon exclaimed, tail whipping excitedly. "Land of the free, indeed! I'm not called the American Dragon for nothing!" That earned him a bunch of widened eyes, high eyebrows and confused faces. The dragon waved a hand dismissively at that. "Oh, that's my title. I'm sort of a guardian to my local community of magical creatures, keeping watch and protecting them; it's especially around my area, since I'm still in training, but if I'm anywhere else in the US, it applies to the place I'm in as well. I keep forgetting you guys have no clue about that. Man, talk about being out of the loop."
He then proceeded to explain about the magical community in the states. The blonde girl easily became interested in the topic and proceeded to ask him lots of questions. At one point Amy mumbled about how he had previously said something about an apple, and the girl – who Jake learned was actually called Lauren- immediately got what she had meant and exclaimed "You're from New York City?" She practically had stars in her eyes at this point, absorbing all the information he gave away like a sponge. It was a bit scary. She should've been in the Blue Raven-Nerds. (Ravenerds?… nah, gotta work on that one a little more.)
"So how do you go around the city without being seen by Muggles?" The boy asked, too intrigued to be afraid anymore at this point.
"Seen by what?"
"I mean – sorry, I mean, non-magical people." He explained, slight embarrassment in his voice.
"Oh, uh… Sorry but, that's… classified." The dragon finished lamely, head turned to avoid their eyes. Jake knew he was an awful liar, so he didn't even try to make it look like he'll give them an answer. He saw from the corner of his eye Lauren's disappointed face and it was really hard to keep his mouth shut at the sight. "At least, for now. It's a thing that has a lot to do with our race, it's pretty personal. Like, it can be used against us in the wrong hands. I'm not saying you won't ever find out, like, ever. Just. The Council's still thinking on it, so I can't say certain things until they say I can do it. So. Yeah."
(Damn it Jake, girls are truly your weakness. Especially blondes.)
"Interesting." Another voice crept into their discussion, making the trio jump and the dragon suddenly freeze. If Jake had felt nervous before, now his pulse had just spiked and flat lined in one go at the sound.
(This one totally is.)
A lithe figure dressed in reddish brown from head to toe jumped next to them – probably from one of the nearby windows. Long gold braid trailing down her back, staff in hand, stance deceptively relaxed, his girlfriend looked like she was going to wrestle thirty giants to the death – and he'd never doubt she'd win.
"So, the secret of the Dragon Council is close to finally getting out. That sounds like the perfect opportunity for the Huntsclan to finally be able to capture every single Dragon and get rid of them once and for all." An appalled gasp came from the three at that. Oh. They probably were among the ones who weren't aware of the fact that the two guests were supposed to hate each other. No time like the present, then.
Huntsgirl approached, graceful and lethal and Jake could only focus on keeping his face in a quiet snarl and ignore the loud beating of his heart, the rhythm buried deep and rattling inside his bones.
He had rarely seen her, even while still at home.
Now though, this was utter hell. Now his pulse spiked up anytime he thought he could hear her footsteps around the corner, when he felt the faintest trace of the smell of her skin. His patrols around the forest were agonizing, a mere walk on the castle grounds stressful, the conflicting emotions and the lack of opportunity to even talk to her, to let his true emotions seep out downright maddening.
So he frowned in her presence- looking as if he were angry at her- because he could not do what he truly yearned to do. Because he had seen what the entire place had in store. Stairs moving as they pleased, doorways with words used as keys to unlock them. Ghosts, melting into walls and popping up ready to spread the latest gossip. Paintings – not just talking, but talkative. No place was safe here to keep a secret and it was beyond unnerving, not to mention frustrating.
Rose was stronger than him. He did not know how she felt exactly about the whole thing herself, but she definitely was flawless in her performance as Huntsgirl. Even as she gained many of the Hogwarts' population's scorn at her open hostility towards the dragon (and he, on the other hand, more sympathy), she was ruthless, unruffled and efficient. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that she truly hated him.
And sometimes, in his most lonely hours, he ashamedly did question her loyalty. But then he'd find a little rosebud stolen from the Herbology classroom somewhere, hidden where only his Eye of the Dragon could find it and his heart would melt in a sappy puddle because he loved her so much, excited and relieved all at once because of course she wouldn't do that, of course not, you idiot. But he'd also feel stupid and sad, because I'm the one who's supposed to send her flowers and yet she was the one to bring him comfort.
But he couldn't think of a single thing he could do in turn.