Spring 1992
Ronald Weasley
They had waited until nearly curfew before leaving the Room of Requirement. Ron had done his best to explain himself, tripping over his words as he recounted the events of the last year and a half with painful honesty. Daphne had sat through it all, mostly silent, her gaze locked on his eyes as if she might sense when he was lying. Occasionally she would ask another question; questions that Ron stumbled through with Sal's help. The whole thing left him feeling raw, like he'd torn himself open and spilt everything onto the floor. There was a strange relief in it, but also a mounting dread. The room had figuratively come crashing down around him only for new walls to be built a little further away. Walls that only slightly lessened the feeling of drowning. No matter how many times he assured Daphne he had things handled, she would just narrow her eyes at him and ask another question. By the time their conversation had ended, she had wrung out another promise which came in the form of a demand. Her steely expression seemed to soften when he promised to accept her help. The walls around him weren't his any longer, they were just as much hers; the realization sent a shiver down his back.
I'm responsible if she dies.
Somewhere between the seventh floor and the dungeon, he walked a few paces behind Daphne, a strange silence stretching between them like mist. Ron felt as if he should say something, anything to bridge the gap, but he wasn't sure what was right. He wanted to explain himself more even after hours of doing so, raw guilt gnawing at his stomach. Despite his fear of losing whatever fragile friendship they'd forged, he couldn't ignore the strange weight that had also lifted off his chest. For the first time in months, someone other than Salazar knew. He wasn't carrying everything alone anymore. It wasn't much, but it was… something… something guilty.
Ron's spiralling thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Daphne rounded a corner and nearly collided with someone.
Ron instinctively clutched his wand and nearly pulled it from its holster before he recognized the messy black hair and round glasses of Harry Potter. Harry stumbled back a step, his hand bracing against the wall as he panted heavily.
"Finally," Harry gasped through quick breaths.
Daphne raised an eyebrow but kept quiet, her eyes scanning Harry in a way that made Ron feel slightly uncomfortable. Almost as if she expected Harry to try and hex her.
"Are you alright?" Ron asked.
Harry nodded, his green eyes darting between Ron and Daphne with a mixture of relief and urgency. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Ron."
Fuck, at this rate everyone's going to find out about 's stomach churned tightly. He noticed Daphne narrow her eyes.
"Why?" Daphne asked sharply.
Harry frowned and steadily regained his breath. "It's kind of… private."
"Oh, I'm sure it is."
Ron shook his head. "Stop, don't do that."
Daphne shifted her gaze to him and offered him a slight is your problem?
Ron sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair. "Look, Harry, whatever it is, you can just say it in front of Daphne."
Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, her lips curving upwards into a faint smirk.
Harry hesitated, his eyes lingering on Daphne before returning to Ron. "Are you sure?"
Ron 's not like she could possibly know anything worse.
Harry looked unsure for a second before finally relenting. "Alright, well, you're not going to believe this." He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was behind him. "It's about Hagrid… he's got a dragon egg."
Ron blinked. "What?"
Daphne's face darkened. "A dragon egg? Is that oaf actually that stupid? Do you know how illegal those things are?"
"I know," Harry said quickly. "That's why I was trying to find Ron. He showed me the egg earlier, it's hidden in his hut. Hagrid thinks it's going to hatch soon and he thinks he can raise it. He says that he always wanted to take care of a dragon."
"Always wanted to burn down half of Hogwarts," Daphne huffed.
Ron groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course, it's Hagrid. Why wouldn't it be? Bloody hell."
"How did he even get one of those?" Daphne asked. "It's not like you can just buy one."
"He said he won it in a card game in Hogsmeade," Harry answered. He once again glanced over his shoulder.
"A card game," Daphne repeated flatly.
"Well, why were you looking for me?" Ron asked. "I mean, I'm not exactly a part of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol."
Harry's eyes widened. "What? No, I don't want to turn Hagrid in. I want to help him get out of this mess before he gets in serious trouble."
"It's only a matter of time before he kills someone," Daphne added.
Harry stared at her for a moment and frowned. "Hagrid's one of the best wizards I know."
"How unfortunate for you."
"Stop it!" Ron shook his head. "Alright, what do you need from me?"
"Your brother is a dragon tamer, isn't he? Do you think he could help Hagrid?"
Ron bit the inside of his cheek. The last thing he wanted was for Charlie to return to England. He didn't really see how Charlie could help… unless…
"Maybe," Ron nodded. "I could ask him to send someone to collect the dragon egg, to take it somewhere safe and away from Hagrid."
"Sensible," Daphne commended.
A small look of relief spread across Harry's face. "That sounds perfect, especially if no one else ever knows."
"Why were you hanging around with Hagrid anyway?" Daphne asked a small tinge of accusation in her voice.
"He's my friend, he took me away from the muggle world," Harry said. "Like I said, he's one of the best wizards I know. Even the headmaster trusts him."
"I would be careful," Daphne added, "there's a reason he isn't allowed to do magic."
Harry frowned at her and then cleared his throat. "So, you'll write to your brother?"
Ron nodded, it seemed like the least he could do. He would just have to make sure he made it clear that he wanted Charlie to take the egg away and not the other way around.
Harry let out a small breath. "Thanks, Ron. I owe you one."
Ron shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just make sure Hagrid keeps that thing hidden. And, Merlin, Harry, try not to let him hatch it."
"I'll try," Harry said uncertainly. A small amount of awkward silence spread between all three of them. "Er, I guess I should be going, almost Curfew and I don't want Filch to catch me out of bed."
Ron offered a brief nod which Harry returned. Harry stepped away and turned on his heel, disappearing down the nearby corridor.
For a moment neither Ron nor Daphne spoke, the same uncomfortable quietness spread around them. Daphne started back towards the stairs and Ron followed behind her.
"What did you mean about Hagrid?" he asked, his tone cautious.
Daphne crossed her arms as she walked. "You've met him, haven't you?"
"Yeah," Ron replied. "So what?"
"So, that man has no business raising a dragon. He has barely any business being at this school."
"You said he wasn't allowed to do magic?" Ron asked. "I thought he was a squib."
Daphne stopped for a minute and turned around to face him. "No, Ron. He had his wand snapped, he was expelled from Hogwarts."
"Expelled!?" Ron's breath caught in his throat. "You mean, he did something that bad?"
Daphne nodded.
"Do you think…"
"The thought crossed my mind, yes. He might have let the troll into the school." Daphne said. "He might be trying to steal whatever it is that you and Potter are convinced is being hidden here."
"Shit," Ron ran his hands across his breathe."Well, what am I supposed to do?"
Daphne just shrugged. "I don't know, maybe not agree to get involved with Potter's schemes?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, you just promised to help Potter help Hagrid skirt the law just because he's an idiot. Do you understand how wreckless that is?"
"You didn't stop me!"
"Oh, is that my job, Ron?"
Ron took a deep , it isn't."I fucked up."
Daphne narrowed her eyes at him. "This is what I meant earlier about putting yourself in danger. God, you're infuriating. At this rate, I may as well be working with a Gryffindor. Anyway, if you're not interested in informing the DMLE then you might as well just do what Potter asked. Just don't get involved any more than that. Understand? Don't help him with anything else."
"He's the one who told me about the thief," Ron added. "Without him, we wouldn't even know where to begin."
Daphne sighed. "That's not what I mean, Ron. Use Potter as much as you can, just… be careful."
"You don't like him for some reason."
Daphne bit her lip. "It's not that I don't like him… it's complicated. Do you know what some people think of him? Do you know why Malfoy is so hellbent on trying to ruin Potter?"
"Because he killed Voldemort," Ron hissed. "You seriously can't blame him for that?"
"No! Of course not!" Daphne defended. "But that's not what I meant. What I meant was that there's a thought in some circles that Potter is going to be thenext one."
"The next one?"
"The next dark lord," Daphne whispered.
Ron stared at her blankly.
"Malfoy tried to befriend Potter before he started trying to ruin his life. It's because his father probably told him to. Nobody knows how Potter managed to defeat you-know-who. Even with what we witnessed it isn't really that clear. There are some people that think Potter is going to be the next Dark Lord, that he will be even more powerful than you-know-who was. So, just be cautious."
Ron frowned. "Harry isn't anything like Voldemort."
"Yeah," Daphne said. "But people change, Ron. And we don't know how many bad days away he is. Imagine if Malfoy gets Crabbe to attack him and instead of punching Malfoy like you did, he casts the exploding charm."
I— Harry wouldn't."You're paranoid."
"Yes, and I'm scared," Daphne hissed. "You should show me the day the dark lord died and told me that Hogwarts is in immediate danger. I'd be stupid not to be paranoid. Especially, as I said, when Potter is hanging around with Hagrid of all people. Hagrid, who had his wand snapped when he was a student. He's lucky he didn't go to Azkaban."
"Do you even know what Hagrid did?" Ron asked.
Daphne shook her head. "No, but it wasn't something light. I'm sure I could find out, I could ask my father, but I don't want him to get suspicious."
"So you don't have any proof that either of them is doing anything wrong." Ron rubbed the back of his neck, " I mean aside from the dragon egg."
"Yes, aside from the highly illegal thing they are doing."
"Well, I'm sorry, Daphne, but I can't believe that Harry is as evil as you say he might be. I mean, he was my first friend here and I've seen his parents die to save his life. I can't see him as the enemy."
Daphne pursed her lips. "You don't have to see him as the enemy, you just have to be careful."
"I will be."
"I swear to God, Ron, if anything happens to my sister that has anything to do with Potter, I'm going to kill him. And then after I'm done killing him, I'm going to kill you."
"I won't let that happen," Ron said with a nod. "Nobody is going to get hurt, and definitely not Astoria."
Daphne narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Let's go, it's almost curfew."
