Author's Note: Thanks to nightowlinlove88 for the reviews! You're totally right about Ash! I love hearing people's insights on my characters. :D
Content warning for brief descriptions of mild gore.
Draco stared at me for a long moment before he spoke.
"What do you mean?" he asked incredulously.
"You know," I said. "Go down to Hagrid's. Ask to see the dragon."
"Don't be stupid."
"Why is that stupid? You want to see the dragon, you go see the dragon. Seems fairly simple to me."
"Do you think I want to spend my day hanging around with that giant moron?" he demanded. I couldn't help myself from scoffing at this.
"You're willing to risk detention and house points for a glimpse of the dragon but not… what? A vaguely unpleasant afternoon?"
He didn't say anything to that, just storming off. I didn't bother following him. It was a rare moment where he left me to my own devices and I didn't have a particular aspect of my mission to follow up on or loads of homework to complete. I eventually made up my mind to go back to the common room and look again through the book of curses he had given me. If any of them would be useful in a duel, I thought it prudent that I be familiar with them.
It often struck me while reading through various spell books how few actual spells were in them. I hadn't really thought about it before the first time I read one. If a spell book was full of lists of spells and a description of what each did, you easily fit thousands of spells in a single book. All the ones I'd seen had fewer than two dozen. Each spell listing was accompanied with pages upon pages of explanations of how the spell worked in different environments and altitudes. Sometimes they included the history of the spell or some of the complex mathematics involved in understanding the spell's effect. Anyone worried that Hogwarts students weren't getting a proper secondary education can rest easy knowing that the description for the light spell contains a more thorough explanation of the physics of light then I ever got in the muggle high school I had attended before. I mention this to better impress upon you the true thoroughness of the descriptions of flies burrowing into skin and fingernails tearing away from their flesh and so on without having to repeat them here. I want you to really believe me when I tell you that my chosen task became tiring very quickly and I couldn't stand it for long before I had to push away from my desk and shove the book back into the trunk where it hid.
It was out of an overwhelming desire to be away from that book that I found myself climbing the steps towards the north tower. Again, the trap door swung open when I approached it. Again, I heard Professor Trelawney's voice beckon me inside. As I approached her table, I noticed that she already had my tea set out for me. I wondered if she had some kind of surveillance device outside her door so she could see who was approaching.
"You have questions about your gift?" she asked dreamily. I gave a tired laugh and sipped my tea. In truth, I wasn't entirely sure why I was there, but I fished around in my head for something to ask.
"How do you know if something is your fault?" I finally asked. She looked at me thoughtfully and then took a long drink of her own tea, clearly waiting for me to elaborate. "I mean, if you see two possible paths and one is worse than the other, do you have a responsibility to make the better path happen? And if you try and fail or if you make it worse…" I trailed off, feeling like I was just rambling.
"We can only be responsible for our own actions," Professor Trelawney responded, reminiscent of a fortune cookie. Maybe I had misjudged how profound her earlier advice had been. "We can warn others of the path they are walking, but we cannot force them off of it if they will not listen."
I took another gulp of my tea, creamy and sickly sweet – exactly how I liked it. I considered Professor Trelawney for a moment, thinking back to what I knew about her past. Married young to a Mister Higglebottom. Divorced quickly when she refused to change her name. Chronic difficulty finding employment – none of her options were suitable to her skills as a seer. It occurred to me then that I didn't know much else about who she really was, aside from what was in the books of course.
"With all due respect," I said carefully. "You're wrong. People get forced off paths all the time. Thank you for the tea."
Seemingly unsure of how to respond to this, Professor Trelawney said nothing as I stood from the table and left.
I marched toward the Slytherin common room, intent on finding Draco. I was done distracting myself and I was done being passive. I didn't have to search hard as I met him just outside the entrance to the Common room. There was something peculiar about his expression.
"If you really want to–" he said "- I suppose I'll go see the dragon with you."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but allowed a grin to spring onto my face.
x x x
We decided to go down to Hagrid's hut just after supper. With the warming weather, there was still plenty of light left in the day. I warned Draco that I wasn't sure if Hagrid would let us see the dragon, but he was unconcerned. I supposed he didn't have to be, seeing as he was fairly good at getting what he wanted. It had certainly worked on me enough times.
When we came upon the little house, Hagrid was bandaging up Fang's tail outside. Draco and I exchanged knowing looks. When Hagrid looked up and saw us, he became visibly worried.
"Er, how can I help you?" he asked in what was clearly meant to be a cheerful tone.
"We're here to see the dragon," Draco said confidently.
Hagrid seemed to have somewhat expected this.
"Don' got any dragon," he said casually.
"You did two weeks ago," Draco stated. "I saw it myself. And I know that it won't be gone until Saturday. Unless you want the Headmaster to hear about this, you'll let us in."
It seemed Draco wasn't as good at this as I thought. Even I could tell this was the wrong move. Hagrid was not the type to let himself be threatened by an eleven year old boy. What was visible of Hagrid's face had gone red and it was clear he was about to (rightfully) chew Draco out. I intervened before he could start.
"I'm sure what my friends means to say–" I said, feeling Draco glare daggers into me – "is that we are really very interested in seeing it. I'm sure you understand, don't you? I mean, if there were a dragon right on the grounds when you were in school, wouldn't you have wanted to see it?"
Hagrid's eyes softened and he seemed to consider it.
"Even so…" he said hesitantly. "Norbert's at a bit of a – er – difficult stage right now. No, wouldn't be safe."
"I thought that might be the case," Draco said. He seemed to have momentarily gotten over any embarrassment I had inflicted, but I was certain I'd be hearing about it later. "That's why I brought this."
Draco pulled what looked like a little perfume bottle from his pocket.
"Dragon's Lullaby," he explained. "One spritz will quickly soothe a young dragon."
Hagrid looked skeptical.
"That's rare stuff," he said. "Where did you get it?"
"I made it," Draco replied. When Hagrid looked even more skeptical, he added "I spent years learning how. It's one of my best potions."
"Really?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Yes, really," Draco sneered. I noticed his ears were tinged pink.
"Cool," I said, genuinely impressed. This seemed to ease the tension, for Draco at least.
"I s'pose I could try it," Hagrid said slowly. I thought he almost looked excited to show his dragon off. "But I won't let yeh in 'till I know it works."
Draco handed in the potion and Hagrid disappeared into his little house, emerging a few minutes later to tell us it was safe to go inside.
Hagrid watched with what appeared to be a mix of apprehension and pride as Draco and I cooed over the little dragon. "Little" might not have been the right word to describe it. It must have been about the size of a sofa, though it was still small for a dragon.
"He's an excellent specimen," Draco said, gently touching the dragon's scales. I wasn't sure if he was telling me or just talking to himself. "Whoever Hagrid got this from clearly knows their stuff. See this colouring in the wing? Perfectly up to breeding standards."
"He really is beautiful," I said, petting Norbert's head. In his drugged up state, he was perfectly relaxed and practically purring. Hagrid positively beamed.
"It's absolute rubbish that they're illegal," Draco sneered." But – of course – anything to protect muggles."
"Draco," I said hesitantly. It was time to start tactic number one of changing his mind on muggles. The particular strategy I cooked up also shared the double purpose of scratching a certain itch I'd acquired over the last several months. "Where do you think magic comes from? Like, why do some people have magic and others don't?"
There was a knock at the door and Hagrid went outside to answer it.
"Muggles and wizards are basically different species. That's why," Draco responded.
"Is that what you think or is that what your Dad told you?" I prompted. Draco just glared at me. "Look, all I'm saying is that that's not really an explanation, is it? It's basically just saying again that wizards and muggles are different, not why they're different."
If he had a response, I didn't find out. At that moment, the door opened again and in walked two thirds of the Golden Trio. What luck, I thought. The book had been non-specific about when they came down to visit Hagrid after Draco's visit to see Ron in the Hospital Wing, so I wasn't sure whether our paths would cross.
"What are you doing here?" Potter demanded, stopping short.
"No need to start a row, Harry," said Hagrid in a placating tone. "Malfoy and his friend here only wanted to see the dragon. So, there's nothing to worry about on their end, is there?"
Hagrid said this last sentence much more pointedly than I'd realized he was capable of. I considered in that moment how it was actually quite reasonable to be intimidated by him.
"Fine, yes," Draco said, though he didn't make eye contact. He was still focusing on Norbert, though his focus seemed somewhat less genuine than it had before.
"Well, with that sorted," Hagrid said happily, clapping his hands together. "Hows about I put on some tea?"
Harry and Hermione sat at the table, glaring at Malfoy and me. My hatred of awkward silence – combined with an ever increasing desire to rock the boat – overtook me and I committed myself to the lesser of two evils: small talk. I stood and took my place across from my story-given rivals.
"This is nice, isn't it?" I said, putting on a cheerful affect. "Y'know, I don't think we've ever hung out, the four of us. It's always me and you two or Draco and you two. And Weasley, I suppose- oh, thank you."
Hagrid handed me a cup of tea.
"You've had weeks to see the dragon," Harry said stubbornly. Hermione just looked awkward. "Why now?"
"I've been considering it for a while," I lied. "But when I heard he would be leaving Saturday, it gave me a much closer deadline, didn't it?"
"Saturday?" Hagrid asked, his voice taking on a sad tone that made my heart ache a bit. It was dangerous to students and I couldn't believe he had the resources to take proper care of it, but I always heavily sympathized with Hagrid's connection to Norbert. The dragon's current docile state served to strengthen this sympathy.
"That's what we came to tell you," said Hermione, voice small. "Ron's brother wrote. He can come to get the dragon at midnight on Saturday."
"Oh… right then," Hagrid said. He turned to me then. "How'd you two know then?"
"We found out from Ron," I responded carefully, to glares from both Hermione and Harry.
"That's one way to put it," said Harry with a scowl. I supposed his reaction was somewhat deserved, but I was beginning to feel that his hostility towards me was a little overblown. I sighed.
"I know I've been…" I started.
"Irritating?" Harry supplied.
"Provoking," I said. "But really, it's all in good fun. I don't see why we can't be-"
"Don't," said a voice from behind me. I'd nearly forgotten Draco was there. I hadn't realized he was capable of sitting quiet so long. He had stood from where he was kneeling beside the dragon and was now sneering at the three of us at the table.
I looked at Draco for what felt like a very long moment. I was more than a little aware that I was at a crossroads. If only I'd been a little more delicate, I thought. If only I'd planned a little better.
"Don't what?" I asked, hoping that playing ignorant would be a strong enough shield. "What's wrong with a little civility?"
"Is that a serious question?" Draco spat. "I thought you of all people would know that."
The room became very quiet and I took a long sip from the scalding tea. There were several seconds where the five of us shifted our gaze around at the other occupants of the little house. When I cast my own eyes over to Hagrid, I realized I'd chosen entirely the wrong moment to try airing things out. There was no way that Draco would speak completely freely in front of Hogwarts staff, even one he had so little regard for.
"Maybe this isn't the best place to have this conversation," I said, trying to walk back my mistake.
"No, go on, Mafloy," said Harry. "Tell your friend why we can't be civil. Seems like he doesn't know."
I could feel Malfoy's stare practically burning a hole in my head as I took another drink of my tea. Then – as if to prove how little I could anticipate his next move – he laughed. It was sharp and bitter.
"You really had me going there for a minute," he said. Then he addressed Potter directly for the first time since he entered. "Of course he knows. He's just taking the piss."
I didn't exactly deny it; I wasn't sure how to do so convincingly. In any case, it wasn't as though I didn't have ulterior motives.
"Ash, let's go," he said and I followed him out of Hagrid's home.
x x x
After we left, we walked for quite a while in silence until we had reached a secluded part of the school grounds.
"What is wrong with you?" he snapped at me finally. "Suddenly you want to be all chummy with Scarhead and his mudblood pal?"
"You said I was taking the piss," I said, feeling highly caught off guard. "Also, you should've said "mate" instead of "pal" just now. Alliteration makes it funnier."
"I don't care," he hissed. "And – obviously – I was just covering for you. Didn't you think at all about how embarrassing that would be for me?"
"Oh, you were embarrassed?" I retorted. "Here I was, thinking we were friends, when apparently you don't have the slightest bit of faith in me! You really think I'd be trying to talk with Harry Potter – who I have repetitively mentioned I don't give a toss about – if I didn't have a good reason?"
"Well, maybe next time you come up with a genius plan, you could let me in on it so I don't look like an absolute moron?" Draco was nearly shouting now.
I didn't have anything to say in retort to this. I had messed up.
"Noted," I grumbled. After a moment, once we'd both taken a couple breaths, I spoke again. "I know it was reckless. I didn't expect them to come in and – when they did – I saw an opportunity and I wanted to jump on it. I guess I jumped without looking."
"What were you even trying to do?"
It was time to pull out my backup plan: that one little piece of information that I had plausible deniability for knowing and that could theoretically put Draco Malfoy right into the heart of the story and on the road to redemption.
"A little while ago, just after you told me about the dragon, I talked to Potter about it." I explained. "He said something strange… when I mentioned the danger to Fang, he thought I was talking about some other dog. Said it was guarding something."
"Do you know what?" he asked pointedly.
"No." My reaction came far too quickly and Draco only had to give me an unimpressed stare before I broke. "You have to understand… most of the things I know like that are completely useless. I know that you're a gemini and Potter has an aunt who breeds bulldogs. And I know that the package that was removed from Gringotts before it was broken into is currently hidden inside the school. But put that together with the out of bounds corridor, the troll distraction, and now some dog standing guard? I don't think it's a coincidence."
Draco abruptly started walking back inside the castle and I followed.
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Draco asked as we walked.
"I wanted to make sure," I said. "I was hoping I could get Potter to confirm my suspicions."
"Next time, tell me immediately," he insisted. When we reached the dormitory he turned to me one last time. "I'll fix this mess you've made, as usual. Then we can really get to the bottom of this."
Author's note: We finally got some a little more interaction between Harry and Draco. How do we feel about it? Something about that scene felt off to me while I was writing it, but I couldn't quite figure out why. Tips appreciated!
On top of that, How do we feel about where the story is going? I'd love to get predictions because I literally only decided whether Branchus and Draco would be going under the trap door while I was writing this chapter. I'd be willing to bet there's something you know is going to happen that I don't even know yet and I'd love to hear it lmao.