I do not own nor possess any right over Harry Potter, all rights belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 15

The sound of a beating heart was the first thing Shimmer felt.

Very slowly, over the course of thirty minutes, his heart started beating faster as his stiff muscles were being reinvigorated. Everything was numb for quite a time before his consciousness woke up too, the little dragon opening his eyes slowly. Every move was stiff, being nearly paralysed after spending so long in the same position, but it was coming back to normal quickly.

For Shimmer, since it was his eleventh great sleep, it was perfectly fine and he gave himself the time to properly wake up, first moving his head and neck as he yawned, then this arms and legs as his body warmed up. Stretching his slightly sore body, he moved around for a few seconds, finishing to wake up completely, before going back to his hoard to count if all of it was still there. It wouldn't do to have anyone thinking that him being asleep would make for a good excuse to take his hoard.

Remembering perfectly the location of every coin and jewel, it didn't took him long before being satisfied to count the same numbers than before he went to sleep.

And now that the important things were done, he turned toward the still blocked window with a single objective: filling his screaming stomach.

Because after all this time sleeping, his body consuming his strengths to keep him alive, he had to go eat now.

Using his fire, he burned down the seal of wood and grass, not caring in the least if it fell on anything below. As soon as the path was clear, he hopped on the windowsill and looked down at the castle, the lake and the surrounding forests, thankfully all empty of snow.

Stretching his wings one more time, he jumped in the air and made his way toward the forests, now a little bit green again in the early spring, ready to start his hunt. His absence made the animals who normally hid from him overconfident, and he had no trouble finding two unsuspecting squirrels and a small rabbit. Both of these were usually a normal meal each, but he was quite hungry, and only felt satiated once the last bit of the rabbit eaten.

Only then, as he took to the air again, did he started to recall what happened before his long sleep. Hermione being stubborn and refusing to listen to him, even if he was aware that he couldn't be clearer than saying 'Human bad'.

It didn't matter to him. He may have found the girl annoying for not listening to him, he didn't really had any notion of grudge. For him, she refused to listen, called him a bad dragon when she was wrong, and he left her to do whatever she wanted. He cared for her, that much he already had difficulties admitting it, because he was a dragon and she was human, but she could do whatever she wanted. He was angry with her on the moment for not listening, but he went to sleep without ever thinking of Hermione as anything different than a good human.

Now sated and his mind clear, he flew down toward the Great Hall, despite the hour being later than usual when he went to find Hermione for breakfast. His entrance in one of the corridors spooked a couple of students who were walking there, but he didn't gave them any attention, going straight for the room with lots of food.

Thankfully the large doors were still opened and he flew in, only to notice that a really low number of students were chatting around, waiting for lunch time, and Hermione was not among them. Most, if not all the students, looked up at him in slight surprise, not having seen him since before the holidays. And one who recognised the little dragon instantly was the headmaster, sitting at the teacher's table along with the oily human, still dressed in black.

"Oh! Shimmer! Please, come here." Called him the headmaster, happy to finally see the golden dragon again.

Responding to the call, Shimmer flew toward them and landed on the empty table.

"Hello. Dumb." Greeted Shimmer.

"Ah yes, you probably haven't got the time to work on that." Chuckled the old teacher.

"If that is how he calls you, then I'm worried how he calls everyone else." Said professor Snape, looking at the curious little dragon.

"Hermione. Here?" Shimmer asked, wanting to see her.

"Yes, Hermione is here. In... Charm class, I believe." Answered Dumbledore, recalling the first year's planning.

"Here?" He asked, wanting to know where it was. He may have know the name of the class, he couldn't recall where it was.

"I believe it might be better for you to wait Hermione here. It wouldn't do to disturb the class after all."

"Shimmer not understand."

"I can't believe that this little Gryffindor actually managed to teach anything to a dragon. Being capable to learn a lot is one thing, teaching, is another." Commented Snape, impressed with the little dragon's growing capabilities.

"Yes, I believe this is the first time anyone has tried to teach a dragon how to talk. But, back to you." Replied Dumbledore as he tried to come up with a way to make Shimmer understand that he had to wait. But then, he got another idea, rising from his chair. "Would you mind coming with me, Shimmer? There are a few things that I'd like to show you."

Shimmer tilted his head, not understanding what the old human said.

"What about this: Do you want a coin?"

"Shimmer. Coin. Galleon!" Exclaimed Shimmer, jumping in front of the wizard.

"I didn't think it was possible to see greedier than the goblins." Said Snape as he stood up, a very faint smile at the corner of his lips.

"Perhaps not greed per say, but you may be correct. Come on Shimmer, I have coins to show you." Offered Dumbledore as he offered his arm to Shimmer.

Not sure why he did that, especially since Hermione kept telling him not to climb on her shoulders, he sniffed his arm looking for anything. Very gently, Dumbledore moved his hand beneath Shimmer's claws, slowly placing him on his arm, not without a warning growl from the little dragon.

"Now, now, I am an old man Shimmer. Would you mind going on my shoulder instead?" Asked Dumbledore, patting his shoulder and pushing Shimmer with a hand.

Another long growl followed, but the Headmaster gently kept pushing Shimmer until he was on his shoulder, where his weight was the most bearable for the old wizard.

"Much better. Thank you, Shimmer."

With that said, Dumbledore started walking around the Great Hall, much to the surprise of the few students not in class, who couldn't believe the sight of their old professor with a dragon on his shoulder. Shimmer, at first annoyed by the touches of the old human, quickly grew calmer as the old man walked, enjoying the sensation of being moved around by someone else. This definitely was less exhausting that flying!

"How are you, Shimmer?" Asked Dumbledore.

"Okay. Dumb okay?" Replied Shimmer, recalling that he should ask back if someone asked him first.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." Said Dumbledore satisfied. "You may not know this, but your absence has been weighting quite heavily on Hermione's shoulders. She hasn't been quite as happy since you left."

"Hermione okay?" Wondered Shimmer, understanding from Dumbledore's tone that something wasn't okay with Hermione.

"Its my hope that she will be, once she saw you. Yes, Hermione will be okay." He simplified.

Dumbledore took them through a long part of the castle, before moving up a lot of stairs to finally reach a ugly statue that took Shimmer by surprise, snarling and growling at it.

"Nothing to worry about, young Shimmer. This old gargoyle won't hurt you." Chuckled the Headmaster. "Ahem, Tender Gum."

The statue started to turn on itself, revealing a staircase that the headmaster climbed up, entering his office.

This gave quite the shock to Shimmer, to finally find himself on the other side of the window from which he spent so much time staring at all the golden and precious objects scattered in the office. So shocked he was, that he barely felt Dumbledore move forward as he turned his head left and right to find all the valuables in the room.

"I know, I know. It must be quite the pretty sight to you, but please refrain from taking my instruments, I still need them." Said Dumbledore as he came to his desk.

A melodious thrill suddenly came from a corner in the room, prompting Shimmer to turn his head toward it, expecting an attack. He got another surprise at seeing the most colourful bird he ever saw, but he soon found himself relaxing at the chant of the bird, almost entranced.

"Now, Fawkes. No need to be jealous. I was only bringing our new friend for a visit, I am not replacing you." Smiled Dumbledore as he sat down in his chair.

Fawkes, both curious and indeed slightly jealous at seeing another creature on his friend's shoulder, flew down from his perch to land on Dumbledore's other shoulder, effectively trapping the headmaster between the two. An almost purring dragon at the left and an intrigued phoenix on the right.

"Shimmer, may I present you Fawkes, my phoenix. Fawkes, this is Shimmer, the dragon I told you about." Introduced them Dumbledore.

Fawkes squawked in response, taking Shimmer out of his reverie. He shook his head for a second, before examining the bird before him. It was slightly old, that much was true with the dark feathers, a number of these a bit damaged, but there was still quite a lot of life in its eyes. Shimmer had never seen such a bird before, and wondered if the taste was different than other birds.

"Faaw?" He tried.

"Fawkes." Corrected Dumbledore.

"Fawks".

"Almost there."

"Fawkes."

Said phoenix sang in agreement.

"Well done, Shimmer. Now, would you be interested in this?" Asked Dumbledore, placing a Sickle on the desk.

His first coin since his long sleep! Shimmer quickly, and without care for how his claws dug into the old wizard's arms, went down on the desk, taking the Sickle and putting it away from the two who were watching him.

"Sickle. Shimmer." He stated, wanting to make his point clear.

"Yes, indeed. Feel free to look around, I believe Hermione should be free in fifteen minutes." Invited Dumbledore as he took a small stack of papers that he started to fill in with a long feather.

Understanding that Hermione was coming, not that he had any notion of minutes, Shimmer took the Sickle in his mouth and flew on a shelf filled with many instruments. Most were uninteresting to him, despite moving on their own and making small noises. What got his interest was something that he never saw before. It was gold, which was good, but he had no idea what the rest was. Shaped like a small tower, getting thinner at the top, was a bloc of pure gold with many veins of crystal mixed inside it, giving the object quite the original appearance.

"Ah, you found my old Tremoron. This used to detect tremors in the ground, mainly earthquakes, but it sadly stopped working a few decades ago. It's only a memory now, a souvenir from an old friend." Explained Dumbledore, watching from the corner of his eyes the little dragon.

Not having a clue what he just spoke about, Shimmer got closer, dropped his Sickle, and started sniffing the thing. The smell of gold, that he knew very well, but the other thing mixed in it, was eluding his senses and knowledge. But he faintly recognised the smell, similar to the one red headed human's wand, when he kept it alight.

"Magic?" Asked Shimmer, recalling the particular word Hermione used to describe how the sticks worked.

"Yes, but I'm afraid there isn't any left in it. Tremorons are quite rare today, and sadly no one knows how to recharge them. I believe there are only eleven left in the world, with maybe four still working." Replied Dumbledore.

What Shimmer got, was that there was magic in it.

He suddenly made a connection. Back on the train, another red headed human sent magic at him, and it tasted good. He hadn't thought about it since, but maybe wands and other magic objects were tasty too. Ready to prove his theory, he bit down on the tower, his teeth surrounding it as he started to feel some taste alongside the gold.

"Shimmer, no!" Sternly said Dumbledore, standing up as Fawkes flew back to his perch, coming to move Shimmer away from the Tremoron.

The taste was good, but very faint. Shimmer guessed that there must not have much magic left. He let go of the thing just as Dumbledore arrived next to him.

"Not magic." Explained Shimmer.

"As I said, it is empty." Grumbled a bit the old wizard, taking a look at the Tremoron, sighing in relief when he saw only some very small scratches where Shimmer bit it. "You are quite the handful, you know?"

"Not understand."

The next ten minutes were tough for the old Headmaster. He may be a very strong wizard, even considered the strongest alive by many, but his body wasn't made to keep watch on a curious little dragon that kept flying from one side of his office to the other.

Thankfully, nothing got permanently damaged, but he did had to use his wand to pick up a couple of things that fell down. And meanwhile, Fawkes kept laughing at his master, very amused to see him running around like that when the old man usually preferred the comfort of his chair.

"No Shimmer, you can't have it." Repeated Dumbledore for the sixth time, looking at a Galleon that he stuck to the table with a charm, with Shimmer standing right above it and trying to move the coin with his claws and teeth.

"Shimmer. Galleon." Stubbornly repeated the golden dragon.

"Would you want me to take the Sickle back?" Warned the Headmaster.

Shimmer's reply was a furious hiss as he moved back to his Sickle, standing on it to make sure that it wouldn't be stolen.

"As I thought. I believe that Hermione's should be over now, why don't you go see her?" Suggested Dumbledore, now wishing to get rid of the little dragon. He liked Shimmer, don't get him wrong, but he was too old for this.

"Hermione?" Asked Shimmer.

"Yes. Come with me, it is time for lunch." Invited Dumbledore, patting his shoulder.

Recognising the gesture, Shimmer took his Sickle in his mouth and flew on his shoulder, digging his claws slightly in the thick robe of the wizard and using his long tail to wrap it around his arm for more stability. Satisfied with his grasp, he looked at Dumbledore who nodded before starting his descent toward the Great Hall.

Many students were now starting to fill the corridors, all eager to go for lunch, and all those who caught sight of their Headmaster walking around with the little dragon on his shoulder were either shocked, in awe, or trying to avoid the little dragon who was trying to look at every faces passing by. Dumbledore, who was smiling brightly, nodding at the students as he took the last stairs toward the ground floor.

They soon reached the Great Hall among the other students, and Dumbledore instantly noticed Hermione sitting with Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, all three looking to be in some kind of conversation. Making his way there, not seen by Ron and Hermione who had their back toward him, only Neville saw him and didn't dare speak up.

"My apologies, Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, but I believe there is someone that wish to see you." Grinned Dumbledore behind his thick beard, knowingly waiting a reaction.

Both pupils instantly turned around at the Headmaster's voice, and he wasn't surprised to see Hermione's eyes widening comically, as if a dying spark had been reignited.

"Shimmer!" Exclaimed Hermione, standing up on the second and reaching for him, not aware of how everyone's attention was on one. "You came back!"

Not wanting to interfere any longer, Dumbledore lowered himself a bit and let Shimmer jump from his shoulder to the table, before quickly making his way toward the teacher's table.

"Hello." Greeted Shimmer, placing his Sickle on the table, happy to see Hermione too. Even if he didn't know why she was that excited.

"I missed you so much! I thought that you left." She said, a bright smile on her face as she started petting him extensively. "You've grown! Not a lot, but I can tell. Maybe ten centimeters longer?"

"Shimmer not understand. Shimmer okay. Hermione okay?" He asked as he purred, enjoying the hand stroking his neck, saying one of the longest sentence he ever said yet.

"I am okay. And I'm happy that you're not mad at me." She continued her smile dimming just a little.

"Mad?" He questioned.

"Angry at me." She tried, even if Shimmer's face showed that it didn't helped. She started to frown exaggeratedly, glaring at him as she pointed her face. "Angry. When you don't like something or someone."

Oh, so that was the word to describe how she was when he left, he realised. Was she still angry?

"Hermione angry?"

"No, no. I'm sorry Shimmer, I was too harsh on you. I don't think you can understand yet, but I missed you a lot. I thought that you didn't want to see me again. I was very sad." Hermione explained, even if she was aware that it was a bit too much for Shimmer, as she wanted to let it all out.

"Hermione sorry?" Asked Shimmer, surprised that she apologised. He hadn't thought about that.

"I was bad to you. I am sorry." She simplified.

"Hermione not bad. Good human. Not bad human." He replied, not thinking that she was bad. Wrong, perhaps, but he didn't know how to say that. "Shimmer not sorry."

"I... thank you Shimmer. You don't know what this means for me." She said, bringing him in a hug as he screeched slightly in surprise, before trying to squirm out of her arms. Laughing a bit, she let him go and focused on the last thing he said. "But why are you not sorry?"

Looking at the bad human she was mentioning, he growled at the death-smelling human sitting at the teachers table, not understanding how they could stand being near something with such a horrible smell. Yes, it smelled like a human but there was something more, another scent of death that shouldn't belong with anyone.

"Bad human." He added, growling even harder, making Hermione, Ron and Neville look at where the professors were eating, with only Neville not knowing who Shimmer was talking about.

"I know. I read that dragons have such good instincts, that they can see and smell things a wizard never could. I'll never doubt your instincts again." She assured, going back to petting him, enjoying his presence as much as she could. She needed this.

"We don't even know why he dislikes Quirrell so much." Commented Ron, breaking the moment between the two.

"Quirrell? Why? He don't really look that bad." Said Neville a bit surprised.

"Yes. I don't know why Shimmers reacted like he did, but I'm certain that its because he must see Quirrell as a danger. Don't you find it strange how, out of all the other teachers who are scarier like professor Snape or powerful like professor Dumbledore, Shimmer is wary of Quirrell?" Pushed Hermione, who spent a lot of time to research Shimmer's reaction.

"Well, yeah. Snape is way scarier." Agreed Ron. "Plus, I know that he is scared of his own shadow, but some students swear they heard him talking to himself a few times. When he thought he was alone."

"Dean also said that he spends a lot of time on the third-floor corridor." Added Neville.

"I think he's completely barmy." Said Ron just as his meal appeared.

"The third-floor? Isn't that where the headmaster said it was out of bounds?" Suddenly realised Hermione.

"Yes?" Tentatively said Neville.

"Maybe he was just looking for students." Shrugged Ron.

"That's Filch's job. You're right Neville, there's something wrong with that corridor."

"Thank you?" Agreed Neville even if he didn't know why.

"Dumbledore did say that we'd die if we go there. Looks quite wrong to me." Said Ron as he attacked, not ate, attacked his lunch.

Shimmer, who had spent the last minute turning his head toward each speaking human, let out a small whine at the sight of Ron eating, still having some place for more even with his heavier than usual breakfast.

"Oh, there you go Shimmer." Corrected Hermione, putting a small prime rib in a plate for him. "And I know what Dumbledore said. But then, why would Quirrell be there catching students if he is so easy to scare? Anybody could just scare him off and enter the room. It doesn't' make sense."

Shimmer started to tear into the rib, and to the slight disgust of some of the surrounding students, started loudly crunching the bones. But one look at Ron and they decided that somehow, the dragon was the less messy eater between the two.

"Do you want to go see what's in that room?" Asked Ron surprised by Hermione's dedication to break a rule.

"I- well- it is forbidden." She denied quite weakly.

"But what if what's inside is the reason why Shimmer don't like Quirrell?" Suggested the boy with red hair, really wanting to know what was in that room.

"I don't know. Its not a good idea."

"What if be bring Shimmer in front of it?" Said Neville.

The two turned toward him in slight surprise, having almost forgotten about it.

"What?" The two asked.

"Well, if Shimmer smells what's in that room, maybe he'll know if what's inside is the reason why he doesn't like Quirrell." Explained Neville.

Knowing they were talking about him, Shimmer looked up at them, wondering what they were talking about.

"If, and I mean it, if we do this, we must do it at night, when no one can see us." Started to plan Hermione.

"How?" Bluntly said Hermione. "We're not invisible and the fat lady will see us leave. She'll either refuse to open or she'll tell a prefect."

"I... give-me some time, I'll think of something."

They started to eat their own plates in silence, except for Ron and Shimmer, who had no notions of manners. It took longer than usual for Shimmer to finish, starting to feel quite full, but they all finished around the same time.

"Should we warn Dumbledore, about Quirrell?" Asked Neville.

That was a good question, thought Hermione. But should they warn the old professor? Would he deny their claims? Tell them that it was perfectly normal for Quirrell to anger dragons? Sharing their concerns was maybe taking a risk, but having the Headmaster's confirmation, or warning him of something he wasn't aware of, wasn't a bad idea.

"He's going to think we're as barmy as Quirrell." Quickly replied Ron.

"Its not a bad idea. At worst, he'll think we're exaggerating, but he wouldn't punish us for so little." Pushed Hermione.

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but its improbable." She replied.

"Sure." Mumbled Ron.

"Then let's wait for the end of lunch, we'll tell him once Quirrell is gone."

Patiently, the saw that their suspect was actually trying to eat as fast as possible, even though he was stuck next to the very talkative Flitwick. Thus, they didn't had to wait long before the DADA professor stood up, leaving the table first. Hermione then tried to go immediately, but was stopped by Ron who wanted to wait for Snape to leave too. And only once the extremely strict teacher left, did Hermione, Ron, Neville and a flying Shimmer went to the table.

"Excuse-me Minerva." Politely said Dumbledore before turning to the four. "Yes?"

"Professor, could we speak with you in private? Its very important." Asked Hermione.

"Is it now? Does this have anything to do with Shimmer?"

"Partially." Agreed Hermione.

"Very well. I won't be long." Dumbledore said to Minerva before standing up, taking the four away from the racket that was the Great Hall.

Once in a smaller corridor, empty of all presence but their own, did they shared their concerns. Shimmer, not wanting to fly on the spot, landed on the ground, barely reaching the student's midsection.

"We have reasons to believe that professor Quirrell is either doing something bad, or is a bad person." She started, well aware how bad it sounded.

"That is quite the serious accusation, Miss Granger." Dumbledore replied, all traces of his cherry attitude replaced with a strict and serious face.

"Shimmer is the one who told me."

"Really?" Wondered Dumbledore with a new look for the dragon, eyes filled with curiosity.

"Shimmer? What was it about the DADA teacher?" Asked Hermione, looking down at Shimmer.

"Bad human." He growled.

The headmaster looked at Shimmer for a few seconds before asking a new question.

"Tell me, young Shimmer. Why is he a bad human?"

Not knowing how to say this, Shimmer sniffed the air several times.

"He smells?" Guessed Hermione, mimicking the gesture. "Smelling."

"Yes! Human smell bad. Not okay." Agreed Shimmer, his tail wagging a bit, happy that he got understood.

"Hmm." Hummed Dumbledore, looking down at the little dragon.

"Professor?" Asked Hermione.

"As much as I trust Shimmer, this is a rather poor evidence. He is a professor of Dark Arts, which sometimes cling to the wizard who uses them. I don't really see how this would make professor Quirrell a bad person." Replied Dumbledore, turning his gaze on the three students.

"Could it be because of the third corridor?" Asked Ron before he could stop himself.

"What do you mean, Mister Weasley?"

"Well, many students say that he spends a lot of time around the third floor." Said Ron even if he was slightly uncomfortable.

"Ah. That is indeed concerning, but not in the way you believe. May I take the opportunity to remind you that the right room on the third corridor is out of bounds under risk of a most painful death?" Reminded Dumbledore.

Feeling that his point wasn't being clear, or not really knowing if he wasn't understood correctly, Shimmer came right to the foot of Dumbledore's robe, looking up at him.

"Bad smell. Bad. Not Human." Tried to explain Shimmer, suddenly knowing what to say. "Not human! Not human!"

"Not human? Now that is more interesting. What was this smell like?" Asked Dumbledore, lowering himself to Shimmer's level.

Shimmer looked at Hermione, not knowing what word to use to answer.

"The smell, Shimmer. What smell?" She tried to help him.

Relying on mimicking, since it worked quite well up until now, Shimmer suddenly fell down on the ground, completely limp and immobile.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed Ron, taking a step back.

"If I'm correct, Mister Weasley, there is nothing to worry about. Shimmer?" Assured the Headmaster.

Moving his eyes again, Shimmer moved his head toward the old human, still on the ground.

"Does professor Quirrell smells like death?" He asked the little dragon.

"More like garlic." Whispered Ron to Neville.

"Human bad smell." Said Shimmer.

"Hmm, a moment please." Replied Dumbledore as he took out his wand. "Accio, painting 'The old hunter.'"

A small gust of air blew out in the corridor and in seconds a painting came flying at great speed, much to the surprise of the children and Shimmer who jumped away, sending a blast of fire that missed the painting by only a few seconds.

"No fire in the school! Bad Shimmer!" Shot out Hermione by reflex, her and everyone else taking a step back in fear of the long spear of flame.

There was no reply from Shimmer, who was glaring at the painting in Dumbledore's hands.

"He is quite the handful, isn't he?" Smiled Dumbledore, much to Hermione's nerves, happy to see the Headmaster not taking it too badly. "But, is this what you meant, Shimmer?"

Dumbledore moved the painting before Shimmer, who growled at it before realising that it was one of those things were creatures and people not alive but alive were moving in. In this one, a burly man with a large riffle on the should, was crying over a large dead dog, a long gash in the animal's side. What made the image more striking, was that everything but the dog was moving. And Dumbledore was placing a finger right on the dog.

"Yes. Smell bad." Agreed Shimmer.

"Death, young Shimmer. You smelled death, on professor Quirrell." Concluded Dumbledore.

"How could he smell that? We'd know if he smelled like a dead animal." Wondered Ron.

"Maybe that's why he wears garlic?" Suggested Neville with a shrug.

"You understand Shimmer? That's a dead dog. Dead." Pointed Hermione, taking the opportunity to teach him. She had missed that.

"Shimmer understand. Bad human smell dead." Confirmed Shimmer.

"I must thank you for bringing this to my attention." Said Dumbledore as he waved his wand at the painting, sending it back where it was. "However, there are still reasons that explain why professor Quirrell may have such a unique scent. I'm going to ask you to not speak of any of these to your classmates and to not mention any of this to professor Quirrell. I will do an investigation on my side, but I insist for your to not take any further action."

"Yes professor." Nodded Hermione.

"Yes sir." Added Ron and then Neville.

"Good. Now, go along. I'm sure you have classes to attend to." Smiled the Headmaster.

With that said, Dumbledore made his way back to the Great Hall, leaving the three students and one dragon to go in the other way, toward the classrooms.

"Do you think he believed us?" Asked Neville.

"I think he did. Thanks to Shimmer."

"But how can Shimmer smell death on professor Quirrell? He reeks of garlic!" Exclaimed Ron, looking at Shimmer who flew before them, arriving at an intersection and scaring a few unsuspecting students.

"Like dogs. They have a much better sense of smell than humans. It's the same for Shimmer." Explained Hermione, laughing at Shimmer and the fleeing student, even if the dragon was waiting for their little group to arrive.

"Oh. What class do we have now?"

"Potions with the Slytherins." Replied Ron.

"Bloody hell." He grumbled.

"Ron! Language!"

The end of the day came after two more classes, but finally Hermione was able to return to her room with Shimmer. She asked Parvati and Lavender if she could be alone with Shimmer for a bit, and with only a little bit of teasing from the other girls, was she allowed her private time.

Shimmer, for once, didn't really want to be here anymore. He was still a bit tired, and the afternoon had been exceptionally boring. More than once he tried to leave, but Hermione told him to wait, saying that she had a surprise for him. Whatever a surprise was.

"Shimmer?" Called Hermione to get his attention. "I wanted to apologise again. I refused to listen to you when you were only trying to protect me, and that was wrong."

"Hermione sorry?" He asked.

"Yes. I shouldn't have slapped you, and I shouldn't have called you a bad dragon." She explained.

Shimmer's brain was starting to overheat with all the foreign words and simply not getting what she meant. She was sorry, that he understood, he knew why, but didn't understand why she had to justify herself and say it again.

"Shimmer not bad. Hermione not bad. Bad human bad." He replied.

"I know. But I don't want to talk about professor Quirrell. My parents told me, that you may not understand what this is, but I'll try to explain as best as I can." She wanted to apologise a bit more, but felt like Shimmer simply wasn't like humans and didn't know about grudges. Not that she didn't like it, she preferred him to think of her as a good person.

Hermione turned around and caught a small cubic shape, wrapped in a bright red paper, putting it before Shimmer who could only stare at it confused.

"This is my surprise. It's a gift. Gift." She repeated.

"Gift?" He asked.

"Yes. A gift, is what a friend give to another. This one is both a Christmas and an apology gift. You're my friend Shimmer, and I want you to know that."

"Gift? Friend?"

"Right. A friend. A good human and a good human are friends. A good human and a good dragon are friends." She said pointing at a picture of her parents that served as good illustration, before pointing both at herself and at him.

"Shimmer Hermione friend?" He started to understand.

"Yes." She eagerly nodded. "And friends share gifts. Come on, open it."

He simply started at it, even when Hermione pointed at the gift and pushed it toward him. It took a little bit more before he obliged her, getting closer to the box and taking a sniff at it. His pupils and nostrils opened wide at the very, very recognisable smell of gold. Looking up, he looked at Hermione with a questioning look.

"Go on." She invited him with an excited smile, pushing the gift toward him again.

Not waiting any longer, he tore appart the paper, exposing the Galleon within. His eyes remained stuck on it for a few seconds, before looking up at Hermione.

"Hermione good friend." He said, getting closer and giving her a small nuzzle on the leg. For the first time, he was starting to understand that coins may not only be obtainable as rewards or from stealing,

"Thank you Shimmer, you're a good friend too." She whispered, delighted for so many reasons that she found it hard to speak.

Shimmer was back. He wasn't angry at her. He was still her friend. What more could she ask?

She would do her best to work on his speech though, that was quickly becoming an issue as it looked like Shimmer would need to speak more in the future. But, she had to be realistic and knew that it would take a long, long time before Shimmer would be able to perfectly speak English. And at that thought, she wondered how he would take the news that not all humans spoke the same language. She'd tell him later.

These were thoughts for later indeed. For now, she would enjoy his dearly missed presence until he left, knowing that he would return tomorrow.

AN:

Hi! Valexto at the Keyboard!

Whoo! I'm on a rush! I didn't thought I'd have this chapter finished before the week-end, but I did it.

First, a huge, huge thanks to your many positive reviews and all the great ideas that have been shared. I've read them all, and can definitely said that I'll be implementing some of them with a few modifications to fit the story.

I was asked in PM if the story would be as long as the Harry Potter books. I hope not. Don't get me wrong, I like writing, but I don't think the story will be that long. Year 2, year 3, and year 4 are a must, I want to have them.

But for the latter two to work, if I'm correct (and correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't read these books in ten years, even if I keep looking up on the internet to not make mistakes in the lore), Harry Potter has to be known to work. Sirius Black would probably still come to Hogwarts, expecting his godson to be there, but what will happen when he will learn that Harry has been missing for thirteen years?

And for year 4, with the goblet of fire, where Barty Crouch Junior takes the opportunity to slip Harry's name in the goblet, which requires him to know of Harry, cannot happen right now. I'm mainly saying that, because I want to do a Shimmer against Hungarian Horntail fight scene. If the story ends, it's probably going to be in year 4.

In these two years, Shimmer will either remain a dragon and no one will ever suspect anything else until the end, or he his found out earlier with one way or another. In that case, it would probably be kept secret. After all, who would believe that the Boy-who-lived spent his entire life as a dragon?

I think year 3 can happen with Shimmer being Shimmer and not Harry Potter, but year 4 somewhat requires him to be known as Harry to work. Or I could just not care about that, and have Shimmer be himself at the tournament, maybe not liking the presence of other dragons, maybe one of said dragons could see him as a hatchling if he doesn't grow too much.

Also need to consider the horcruxes, can't forget about those. Can they be destroyed with dragon fire?

As you can see, there's much to consider.

Sadly, don't expect anything more this week, I have a train tomorrow afternoon and won't have access to my computer before Monday, so the next chapter will come after that.

See you soon!