Before Hermione knew it, exam season and therefore review season was upon them. She devised a review schedule that wasn't too strenuous. The last thing she needed, or that anyone for that matter needed, was to lose sleep.
They were in the library studying one afternoon right after the Easter holiday.
"I swear I'm never going to remember all this," James moaned.
"Of course you will," Draco reassured him. "The Weasley twins managed to pass their first year exams."
"Besides, you have us," Hermione added. "And with the two best students in the year on your side, how could you fail?"
James gave a crooked smile. "I'm not worried about failing. I'm worried about not keeping up with you two."
The two of them shared a look. "You and the rest of our house," they said almost simultaneously.
"Daphne's been trying to keep up," James admitted. "Theo too. But I don't know that they have a reason to worry about it."
"It's not like they're on the quidditch team," Hermione admitted.
James exhaled. "Exactly. I don't think they'll do badly. They'll probably have better grades than me." He slumped over on the table.
"And this is why they want first years to not have extra curricular activities," Hermione hissed at Draco.
"Shhh," Draco responded.
She glanced at what he was looking at and was surprised to find Hagrid in the library. She didn't think she'd ever seen him there before.
"What's he looking for?" she mused under her breath.
Draco was already out of his chair and back before she could react. His skulking skills were certainly getting better. She'd have to keep that in mind.
"Dragons," he said.
"What?" James asked, finally looking up.
"Hagrid's looking up books on dragons," Hermione filled in.
"Well Hagrid's always wanted a dragon," James said. "He mentioned it the first day we met."
"Dragon breeding's been outlawed since 1709," Draco said.
"And even if it wasn't, it still wouldn't be a good idea," Hermione added. "Even the few domesticated species are known to be incredibly violent and do best on a dragon reserve. I'd hate to have one here."
"Maybe we should tell Snape," Jame suggested.
"Agreed," Draco said.
Hermione just nodded, her brain firing off at the worst possible scenario.
"And you're sure Hagrid has a dragon?" Snape asked.
"Well, no," they admitted.
"It seems unlike him to be looking into it without something," James said. "I've never known him to read. At least, not for fun."
Draco rolled his eyes. "You've only known him since August. Still, he does seem the kind of person who would put action before reading. And we checked his hut. Smoke's blowing and all the windows are closed and covered."
"We're not asking you to discipline him," Hermione added. "We just figured that since you're our head of house, if anything seems strange, we should ask you to look into it."
"Besides, what would mother say?" Draco asked.
"If you breathe a word of this to your mother before either of us has evidence, it will spell disaster. I don't need Dumbledore doing anything more stupid," Snape said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll look into it. Don't do anything suspicious."
He left the three children to process.
"I think he does," Hermione said. "Unfortunate."
"How do you mean?" James asked.
"Hagrid lives in a wooden house," Hermione answered. "I don't want to be around when that dragon hatches."
"Me either," Draco said.