A scream echoed throughout the entire castle. It was bloodcurdling and so familiar that she found herself back in the forest with Harry and Ron—running, hiding…starving.
Her body cooled to the negatives as small hairs on her arms stood erect. Instinctively, she grabbed her wand off the desk and ran to the door, shoving past her sea of classmates who stood in equal alert. But unlike them, her senses screamed to protect. To save. Immediately.
"Miss Granger!" She heard her professor call, but her legs ran. They led her down, down, down until she met with a distressed female student near the exit leading to the green fields of the school. She was young—a third-year, presumably—and messed up from head to toe.
Said pupil flailed in her robes of black and yellow once she caught sight of rescue in the form of 1998's Head Girl. Tears leaked out her eyes, either from sheer panic or relief, Hermione wasn't sure. Her jaw trembled vigorously as she ran in her superior's arms, helplessly trying to give a coherent explanation for disturbing the entirety of Hogwarts mid-lesson.
"I-I-I—The-there-there—" she stammered, looking back and forth between Hermione and the forest beyond.
"What is it?!" The brunette demanded. By now, teachers, too, have come to aid, including the headmistress.
"D-D-DRAGON!"
Gasps rang in the hall. The dominating taps of heels Hermione recognized as Minerva McGonagall's came closer.
"Come now, child, what is going on?" Her stern voice asked. The girl parted from Hermione's clutches and into the crone's, still hysterical but otherwise comforted.
"T-There's a dragon out—" Before she could finish, a strong gust of wind invaded their post at the hall. Hermione, although unprepared, planted her feet firmly on the floor and shielded her face with crossed forearms. Seconds of mixed yelps and grunts later, she found herself to be the only one standing. McGonagall and the Hufflepuff were no longer beside her, having been blown to the farthest corridor.
A roar then emerged from outside. The ground shook for the briefest of moments under her; it was a wonder the building hadn't collapsed. Something had surely fallen. Something large. There were heavy cracks and thumps and as her vision adjusted, Hermione saw a silver barricade replace her view of the trees.
No. Not a barricade. Without even squinting, she could make out the patterns of white scales glinting like diamonds on leathery pale skin. She watched them glide, decreasing in size as the large body turned into a long, pointed tail.
"Merlin!" Someone exclaimed from behind. It did well to snap her out of her trance and she charged.
Her surroundings brightened with each stride she took in approaching the field, her heart pounded like it did that day in the woods against Greyback and his goons. Fear and determination powered her mind more than rationality. Which was wrong. It wasn't her, but all she really knew in that moment was that there was a threat and she was the exterminator. There was no Harry, there was no Ron. Just her.
'You ridiculously stupid moron,' she scolded herself for the thought. There was a reason she planned ahead before she acted. It kept her—and her boys—alive throughout the world's worst bullshit, so why didn't she this time? Maybe the war had taken more from her than just the people she cared about.
That was going to be a shitty baggage to unpack, if she'll ever get the chance—because looking at the hulking figure near the face of the forest, she was sure she was going to die. Yes, it was a dragon, and no, she wouldn't be able to defeat it.
It was way bigger than what she had anticipated—bigger than the ones she'd seen during the Triwizard Tournament combined, ergo, the biggest she had ever seen. It stood on four limbs, glaring back at her with icy-grey eyes. Its teeth were sharp, poking out of the lips; horns of varying sizes rounded its jaw to its head. Its chest bared long, healed wounds as its wings flinched back at the sight of her.
There was a soft yet threatening rumble originating deep within its throat and she froze for the second time, unsure of what to do next.
It seemed the dragon thought similarly. 'Why wasn't it attacking?'
"Call the Aurors!" Hermione heard McGonagall command. "Miss Granger, stand back!"
The Headmistress' appearance did something to agitate the creature, and only worsened when she casted an advanced form of Incarcerous. The dragon was quick, however, craning its head backwards. Its mouth morphed into a sneer as it flapped its wings in their direction, successfully deflecting the spell.
This time, Hermione did not stand a chance. She was promptly knocked off her feet, rolling face first on the wet grass. Her surroundings quaked once more as she lay on her chest. She felt someone tower over her soon after. It didn't register who until she heard it breathe.
There was low purring whilst she tried not to move a muscle. From her periphery, she could make out curved talons as the dragon proceeded to sniff her hair—yes, her hair! She can fucking feel its muzzle on her, for Merlin's sake! It travelled lower to the planes of her back and to her arse and thighs. That made her purse her lips in an effort to stay silent.
As it pulled away, it emitted what sounded to be a satisfied huff.
'WHAT THE FUCK!' Hermione rarely cursed. She'd ingrained it in her code of conduct during her youth. Although she figured this scene warranted as a good excuse.
She was going to skin the perverted lizard alive. Her fists clenched around her wand only to grasp at her own flesh.
'Uh-oh,' Where the hell was her wand?
Her panic began to rise. Fortunately, there were footsteps fast approaching. She stayed still even as the dragon's attention diverted to the newcomers. Following, she slowly tilted her head and saw the familiar uniforms belonging to high-ranked Aurors. They had their wands drawn at the monster, but before any of them could utter a single word, Hermione was lifted up by the back of her robes and into the sky.
She watched as people became smaller, yelling obscenities at the beast. McGonagall's worried expression was the last thing she caught as she let out a shriek of her own.
"PUT ME DOWN!" She shouted. She no longer had a clue where the castle lay—just lumps upon lumps of clouds. And then a horrible thought crossed her: What if this was it? What if the dragon was out looking for food and chose her?
"I said, 'Put. Me. Do—" Suddenly the dragon's jaws opened and she had, as requested, been let go.
Another scream tore at Hermione's throat as she began descending. She closed her eyes for the inevitable but got the wind knocked out of her the moment her body smashed on a hard surface. Still depriving herself of sight, she desperately felt around for something. Her bent legs bracketed whatever she had landed on and her shaking hands traced the outlines of slanted spikes. Her cheeks and front pressed on cold shells as she gripped them for dear life.
The air hit her face for what seemed like forever. She hadn't realised she was back on land when the songs of frightened birds allured her ears. Opening one eye, she spotted hints of green and brown.
She was now in a forest but her heart was not. Did she die?
"Grrr." Hermione's head whipped forward, coming face to face with the same white, scaly wall from how-long ago, just with more horns which she kept a hold of when dread filled her stomach.
She was on the dragon. She had rode a dragon—for the second time in her life—and its grumble shook her bones. She felt it walk, taking her deeper in the forest where the trees grew thicker and darker.
Did it know she was there? She wasn't sure, but she also couldn't risk startling it. Couldn't risk a repeat of what had happened at Hogwarts.
She needn't wait long, seeing as no sooner than arriving, they had entered a cave.
Hermione grew nervous, reminding herself to keep quiet especially now that noise was delicate. Her face almost smacked against the dragon's nape as it dove into a section she couldn't see.
'Ow!' she went to nurse her nose when the walls twinkled, and breath hitched at the picture.
Different shades of crystals littered everywhere—up, down, left, right. There was not a spot empty of the precious jewels. Below, she heard running water. Water that helped with illuminating the place. Within were fishes she had never seen before, even in the books of Newt Scamander.
It was funny. She'd been surrounded by magic since she was eleven, possessed it, too. But being in the cave felt much more magical than anything she'd experienced.
"Wah!" Hermione yelped when she was forcibly thrown off of the dragon as it plopped on its side. She tumbled on a bed of gold coins and neverending treasure, noticing them for the first time. The dragon shifted back up to look at her then and her heart raced.
There she was, sauced by money, practically served on a silver platter for the overgrown reptile—so would be said in her obituary.
"U-um…nice dragon." She raised cautious hands. The dragon simply continued to ogle at her while settled on its belly, blinking once, twice, before thrusting its head forward as if to bite her head clean.
Hermione bellowed a short squeal and shut eyes, ducking into her shoulders. She waited, and waited, but there was no pain—or any teeth on her being for that matter. There was just the shuffle of metal moving closer to her feet.
To her utter surprise, the dragon was sweeping more loot in her direction using its pointed snout. She stared, and it stared back, tongue swiping on rows of its teeth once as its tail twitched occasionally.
Was it toying with her before the inevitable?
More seconds passed and the dragon decided to grab a nearby treasure chest using its mouth just to dump it in front of her. Hermione flinched at the sound. The dragon scooted an inch closer. If she was going barmy, she'd say it looked excited and quite playful rather than a bloodthirsty beast.
It was odd behaviour. From what she had read on dragons, the things were not playful with their prey in the slightest. Well, they did actually play with food, but only after it was dead!
Racking her brain for an explanation, Hermione remembered her and Charlie Weasley's conversation years prior. With a swift scan, she then listed every trait he'd mentioned as important.
Dragons were intelligent, but limited to the likes of any other 'intelligent animal' known to man.
Dragons were extremely possessive and territorial.
Dragons hoard shiny objects and live in diverse habitats.
Some dragons mate for life and others not. Those that do are males, and have many more things in their nest to attract and gift to a partner.
Dragons— 'Wait! That's it!'
It was a far reach, but Hermione hoped the one keeping her captive wasn't smart enough to fall for a trick. If she could just find the shiniest gem—there!
Resting on one of the infinite piles of gold was a gigantic, glinting ruby. Although she mistakenly glanced at it without a hint of guile and back at the dragon, who immediately retrieved it like it did the box of coins.
'No!' she cried, but her troubles melted just as quick when the dragon gently put the red stone directly on her lap. This time she caught the tail wag.
It was weird. She didn't know what was happening or why she hadn't been eaten yet. Why couldn't it have been Charlie who was kidnapped?
"I…" Hermione stammered. "I don't understand. Y-you're giving this to me?"
As if her voice was everything it desired, the dragon performed a full-body shiver, its wings fluttering, shaking the air around them. It grunted and enthusiastically advanced to give her more rubies.
'What…the fuck.' Hermione still had a hard time believing it. A dragon, who was supposed to be incredibly possessive of its belongings enough to kill a mere stranger for looking, was willingly gifting her more minerals than she was worth. And then it dawned on her.
The dragon was male, and the only reason he would be generous to another soul—much less hers—was because he thought she was his mate.
"Well," Hermione said quietly as the dragon busied himself in retrieving more red presents. "This is awkward."
Her fear of the giant was subsequently replaced by pity. It was either he was blind, or had some kind of mental deficiency to think she was a fellow dragon. Watching him scramble for more gifts called for the more empathic side of her that advocated for the disadvantaged.
Finally, when all she could see was rubies, the dragon sat back down in front of her with pride, awaiting her response.
"Uh," she said, contemplating what to say as a possibility stopped her. Would he kill her if she rejected? Definitely not. Creatures that mate for life are not capable of harming their chosen mates voluntarily, but as a precaution, she gave him a tight smile. How did dragons express their replies? "Thank you?"
Did it even understand her? Crookshanks undoubtedly did, but what's to say her new scaly friend was the same.
She got her answer in the form of a small, energetic dance that shook the cave. She would have laughed. He looked like a lovestruck teenager who's invitation to a date had been accepted. But now comes the hard part. She felt bad, of course, but he needed a real mate, and she had to go back to school.
"Yes, I'm really…uh…grateful, for the rubies." Hermione stood up at a snail's pace. Without her wand she had nothing to defend herself with. "But I can't-um-be your mate?"
The dragon froze, crestfallen. Merlin, it actually understood.
"Look! Human—" she gestured to herself before pointing at him. "—dragon. I'm not like you."
God, was she actually rejecting romantic advances from a lizard? Ginny was going to have a laugh at this, if she ever made it back.
The dragon let out an offended snort. The next she saw were teeth and the forked tongue that licked the side of her face.
Ok, so she just got molested by a behemoth. No biggie. She was out of here, and this delusional dragon was going to have to search for another mate while she washes the saliva—which surprisingly smelled nice—off of her hair.
"Ok, then! If that's all—" Hermione pushed his head away. His skin felt colder at that moment. "Bye!"
The dragon growled and bit her robes, pulling her close to him as he curled into a ball. She was trapped between his head and legs.
'Why me?' she whined, ruffling her hair. She had to wait until he was fast asleep when she began climbing him, stopping only as his breathing became irregular. The spikes rounding his face were great assistance, and she soon found herself on his back. From there she could see a lot—more than just gold and crystals.
A few ways near where the water met rock was a chain. A big one, and out of place—purposefully distanced from the gold. It was not shiny, nor was it precious like the treasures beyond. Maybe the dragon really did have trouble differentiating things.
Hermione carefully slipped away as her captor continued to snore softly, steam puffing out of his nostrils. Her escape was there, though the chain had somehow piqued her interest enough to stray. She couldn't not find out.
So she neared, and discovered that the chains thicker than her own arm was connected to a rusty, broken collar hidden behind a stalagmite. She couldn't help but think it was familiar.
Her gut even told her she'd seen it somewhere. She just wasn't sure how.
The round object's chipped circumference could evidently encase—
'A dragon,' she concluded.
Hermione's attention returned to the dragon. He still slept soundly. She figured even with the collar's size, it wasn't big enough for him but when she focused, she could identify faint marks on his neck, similar to a healed gash.
She examined the contraption further, caressing every indent with her fingers until she reached a figure—a crest. Using the light of the water, she traced the contours of two L's standing back to back, forming the shape of a regal anchor. Above them was a bird. This, too, was frustratingly familiar, but her gasp was a result of the carvings beneath the design: Gringotts. It was written in bold letters and was etched deeper into the material than anything else.
The dragon that had taken her was the same one they had freed at Gringotts. Everything started to make sense. How could she have forgotten? The silvery scales, the grey eyes. Perhaps he didn't take her as a possible wife, but because he recognized her!
Hermione's enlightened bubble popped when the dragon jolted awake, probing in every direction for what she assumed was her. His panicked gruffs softened once he caught sight of her by the pond.
"Um. Hi." She always thought animals were incapable of facial expressions—aside from Crookshanks's permanent scowl—but the look of relief on the dragon was palpable.
He approached her in two steps, once again picking her up by the scruff and placed her on a tiny valley of old currency. They were more or less not nice to her arse.
The dragon left her there if only to dip his head into the glowing water briskly. When he pulled back, dozens of live fish squirmed in his mouth—some successful in breaking out, albeit dropping to the floor instead of home. The unfortunate ones were discarded before Hermione as an offering.
'Here we go again,' she sighed, but now with the knowledge of what he was trying to achieve, i.e repaying her, she found it virtually sweet.
Releasing an awkward laugh, she asked, "Y-you want me to eat these?"
The dragon happily nudged the flopping critters closer to her post. Their bulging eyes and gaping mouths pleaded for mercy. She winced.
"I don't—I can't really eat raw fish," she chuckled anew. "Why don't we just put them ba—OH MY GOD!"
Hermione screamed as blue fire sprayed from the dragon's mouth, frying the poor animals to a crisp on the spot. She had to pull her legs up to her chest so as to not get burned. He stared at her expectantly while she just hung her jaw. Those poor, beautiful fish. She wasn't even hungry.
Despite her thinking so, her stomach growled. She made no move to quench it. The dragon growled, and she did.
'Oh, bugger.' She apologised to whatever fish god for repentance as she bent to grab one. The minute she did, she was lifted for the umpteenth time that day and propped to rest at the dragon's side, his tail serving as a fence as he ate his fill.
Contrary to hours ago, he was being more aggressive with his demands. She should've ran when she had the chance. But where would she go? She didn't have her wand, she had no idea where she was, least of all how to get out of the cave and what dangers it held other than the bloody beast. More and more her situation turned out to be dire.
Will the dragon let her go eventually? Will her friends and family manage to track her down? If not, she might as well go without seeing them ever again. She wasn't going to be able to talk to Ginny, or Harry, or Ron. She wouldn't be able to find her parents and fix what she had done. She wasn't going to find a way to get rid of the stupid mark of her arm.
Before she knew it, she was crying, staring at the letters carved into her creamy skin. It didn't register that the dragon was trying to console her until the slant of his nose poked at the cheek. His tongue came out then, lapping at the cursed wound.
The slime of his spit coated her arm. It didn't bother her as the scent smelled of fresh pine and green apples.
Seeing as he was her only companion and she was high on misery, she hugged his muzzle like she would a trusted friend. She should be mad at him for kidnapping her in the first place, but he was a dragon. What did he know other than wanting to repay her.
His purrs vibrated into her chest. It was oddly comforting.
As they separated, she turned to cover her scar when her world paused. There was no scar. Not a single letter of the word that taunted her was present, only goo from the dragon's lick.
Hermione choked on a joyous sob, rubbing her arm like it was a joke and it was just hidden somewhere, but it was really gone.
"Oh my god." She stood abruptly and turned to the dragon. "Oh my god!" She took whatever she could of him in a tight embrace, which wasn't nearly enough, practically plopping fully on his face.
"Thank you!" Letting her body decide, she shifted her head to give him a kiss on the nose. The next thing she knew, she was being gripped on the waist by human hands as she stared deep into the eyes of someone rumoured to have been another casualty during the war.
"My mate," claimed the voice of Draco Malfoy.
Dragon Draco is legit. Happy Year of the dragon, everyone! Thanks for reading.