Back to Dragons
Chapter 20
It has been two days since Draco has talked to Potter which turned into him only really speaking with Neville, Blaise, Theo, and Pansy. Draco was still trying to make sense of what had happened and didn’t feel like making up with Potter at the moment.
Blaise, Theo, Pansy, and him had spent yesterday devising a plan to get back at Potter with the stuff he had gotten from the Weasley Twins. Part of Draco knew Potter didn’t mean much with what he did, but a bigger part of him wasn’t happy Potter shoved it into his face. He also knew he was most upset with Severus and this was a way to distract him. Besides, he was just having a little bit of fun.
Draco headed to the Great Hall with Neville that morning, replaying the plan in his head one last time. When they entered, Draco led them to sit with the group of Gryffindors with Potter sitting next to him. He placed a piece of toast and a couple of pieces of fruit on his plate and began to eat.
“Good morning Draco,” Potter said softly. Draco just looked over and smiled knowing he would talk to him at some point, “Morning Potter.” Draco made sure he had the potions set up and grabbed the pitcher of pumpkin juice. He first filled his own glass and then asked if anyone else wanted some.
“I’ll have some,” Potter said. Draco grabbed his glass and poured the juice while also secretly filling his glass with the potion. “Here you go,” Draco smiled and handed the glass back to Potter. “Thanks,” Potter said as he grabbed the drink.
Draco watched as Potter took his first sip. He knew it would take a moment for the potion to kick in, so he waited. By the time Potter was going to take another sip, Draco could see the potion starting to work. Potter’s hair started to turn a bright green color and zits started to cover his face and arms.
“Bloody hell!” Weasley shouted, “What’s happened to you?”
Potter watched in horror as he saw the zits all over himself. The whole Great Hall was now watching. Laughter broke out, and Potter looked over to Draco. “Did you do this?” he asked with anger in his eyes.
Draco stared at him and gave him a small smile, “The green really brings out your eyes don’t you think?”
Potter got up and dragged Draco out into the hallway away from all the people. “Why would you do this?” Potter shouted.
Draco sighed, “It's just a little prank. The color and zits will fade by the end of the day.”
“I can’t go to class like this! Can’t you fix this now?” Potter asked.
“Why should I?” Draco questioned.
“Is this about what happened on Saturday? I’m sorry, okay. I know what I said upset you and I wish I would've seen that sooner, but can you please fix this?” Potter pleaded.
Draco stayed silent for a moment. He knew Potter had already been put through enough, but he was still angry. He finally realized though Potter wasn’t the person he was really angry at. He was just taking it out on him.
“Yeah the antidote is up in our dorm,” Draco said and started to walk towards the dorm. Potter followed behind him and they walked in silence. Once they were in their dorm Draco walked over to his bed and grabbed the bottle he had stored away. "Here," Draco handed the bottle to Potter, "The zits should go away instantly, but your hair might take a bit to fade back to black." Potter took the bottle and said, "Thanks" before drinking the potion.
"I guess we should head back down to class," Potter said and turned to walk out of the dorm. Draco sighed knowing he needed to apologize, "Potter wait. I'm sorry for giving you a potion that gave you zits all over and turned your hair green. I'm just mad at someone else and I took it out on you."
Potter turned around and looked over at Draco. "Is it Snape you're mad at?" Potter asked quietly. Draco nodded slowly and looked down at the ground. "Why do you care so much anyways? He's just a grumpy old potions teacher. Who cares what he does as long as we stop him?" Potter questioned again. Draco looked back up at Potter and said, "It's more complicated than that."
"Draco I know we aren't that close, but I do like to think of you as my friend. You can talk to me if you want to." Potter told him. Draco looked back down at the ground not knowing if he wanted to talk to Potter. He didn't like to open up to many people. It made him vulnerable and with how his and Potter's relationship was in his past life he didn't know if he wanted to give Potter that much knowledge about him. He finally decided that he didn't have to tell him a lot and it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone he could be fully honest with.
"Snape is my godfather. That is why I'm so upset," Draco explained. "Wait a second," Potter exclaimed, "Snape is your godfather?" Draco nodded his head, "Yeah, I didn't think he would do something like this," Potter started to walk around the dorm, "This makes so much sense. This is why you're the only Gryffindor he likes."
"Or I'm the only Gryffindor that takes his class seriously," Draco offered. "Wait, you can help us stop him from taking the stone," Potter exclaimed. Draco quickly shook his head, "No, I'm doing that. I'm not talking to him now and I'm not planning on doing it anytime soon. We can find another way to stop him" Potter sighed but agreed, "Come on let's head back to class."
Draco followed Potter out of the dorm and asked, "Do you mind not telling anyone else that Snape is my godfather. I don't want anyone to treat me differently." Potter gave him a soft smile, "Yeah no problem."
❀ ❀ ❀
Weeks had started to pass and summer was becoming closer and closer. While Potter and Weasley have had most of their time occupied with figuring out a way to stop Snape, Granger had more on her mind. "Come on guys if you don't start studying you're going to fail all your exams!" Granger tried to explain to the other three Gryffindors. "But Mione, if we don't figure out a way to stop Snape, there might not even be any exams," Weasley complained. "Look, even Draco hasn't been studying as much as you," Potter pointed out.
"Well at least he has studied. I haven't seen either of you pick up a book in weeks," Granger exclaimed. "Come on guys. Granger's right. We should probably start to study if we want to make it to second year, and we haven't made any progress with the stone in days," Draco said, backing her up. Weasley gave Draco a look, but they all agreed to head to the library. Draco and Granger led the other two to their usual table, and she laid out the books she brought down with her. "I'm going to look for some more books. You two need to start work on the homework you're behind on. And don't try and say you don't have any either." Granger told Weasley and Potter before walking off to one of the shelves.
"Bloody hell, I swear sometimes she acts just like my mother," Weasley sighed as he grabbed a scroll of paper out. "Well someone needs to," Draco murmured. Weasley scoffed, "I would be just fine without her." Draco looked over and gave Weasley a look, "You would still be working on homework from the start of the term if Granger wasn't here." Weasley sighed, "I guess you're right" and started on his transfiguration homework.
"Hey Draco, can you help me with my potions homework?" Potter asked. "Sure what do you need help with?" Draco answered. "Well I'm just trying to figure out which use of dragon's blood I should write about for my paper," Potter explained. Draco nodded then asked, "Do you have it narrowed down to any yet?" Harry handed him his paper to look at. Draco thought for a moment before saying, "I would go with the cure for stomach ulcers. You could go into depth on how it has evolved into modern medicine and then give examples of times it has saved the lives of wizards."
"Thanks Draco," Potter smiled and started to write. "There's a book I think could help you give good examples and has good information for your topic," Draco told Potter. Potter looked up from his paper, "Really? Can you help me find it?" Draco nodded and the two stood up, "Weasley keep working or you're going to be here all night." Weasley gave him an annoyed look, but picked his quill back up and began to write again.
Draco lead Potter over to one of the shelves and looked for the book he wanted. "Here it is," Draco said and grabbed the book from the shelf. He handed the book to Potter when they heard Weasley shout, "Hagrid what are you doing here?" Draco and Potter walked back to their table and saw Hagrid standing next to Weasley. "I'm jus lookin 'round. What are you doing here? Not lookin' for Nicholas Flamel are yer?" Hagrid questioned. Weasley looked up at him and answered, "Oh no, we figured out who he was ages ago! We even know Fluffy's guarding the sorcer-" "Yer not to be talkin' about that!" Hagrid interrupted.
"Actually," Harry joined in, "We had a couple of questions for you. You know, about what else is guarding the stone. I mean Fluf-" "Shhhhh!" Hagrid interrupted again, "Yer can't be takin' about that here. Yer aren' supposed to know. Come see me later. Though I'm not promisin' I'll say anythin'," Hagrid told them then walked out of the library to stop the conversation from going any further.
"Did you guys see what he had behind his back?" Granger questioned. The other three Gryffindors shook their heads not even noticing. "I'll go look to see what section he was looking at," Weasley said and walked over to the part of the library Hagrid was in. "Do you think it has anything to do with what is guarding the stone?" Potter asked. Draco just shrugged not knowing the answer. Weasley came back holding a couple books, "Dragons! He was looking at books about dragons." Draco grabbed one of the books from Weasley which read 'A Dragon Keeper's Guide'. He grabbed the other books and saw their titles, 'From Egg to Inferno' 'Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland'. "Do you think Hagrid has a Dragon?" Draco asked the others. "I mean it wouldn't be the craziest thing I know about him," Weasley answered. "Is it another protection for the stone?" Granger asked. "I guess we'll find out tonight," Potter said and sat back down to work on his paper.
A couple of hours passed by and Granger made sure they stayed in the library for the whole time. Draco didn't mind, but he became a bit bored when reviewing stuff for his exams. It was all stuff he had memorized years ago and he knew he would do just fine on the exams. So instead he spent most of the time helping Weasley and Potter finish their homework and quizzed Granger on Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Soon it was time for them to go to Hagrid's Hut, and they packed up their stuff before heading outside. It was already dark out, and Draco knew they should be in bed. Potter walked up the steps to Hagrid's door and knocked a couple of times. They waited a second and Hagrid opened the door and ushered them inside making sure to check that no one had followed them. Inside Hagrid has tea on the stove and rock cakes sat on the table.
Draco looked around the hut and saw it was bigger than he had imagined for all these years. "So," Hagrid started, "Yeh wanted to ask me somthin'?" "We want to know what else is guarding the Stone," Potter said bluntly. "Yeh know I can't tell yeh that even if I knew." Hagrid tried to explain as he offered them each rock cake. "Come on Hagrid, you know everything that happens around here. We just want to know who else Dumbledore trusted." Hermione said in a comforting voice.
"O' I guess I could tell yeh," Hagrid sighed, "Well there was Professor McGongall and Professor Flitwick. Err Professor Quirell was one. O' Professor Sprout also helped. Ther' was one more," Hagrid thought for a moment, "O' it was Professor Snape of cours'."
"Snape?" Draco questioned. "Yeh. I told yeh before Snape is helpin' protect the stone, not steal it," Hagrid said. Potter sighed, "Anyways, Why were you looking in the Dragon section of the library?" Hagrid looked around the hut like he expected someone to be listening in on the conversation, "Yeh can' tell anyone this yeh hear me?" Draco nodded along with the rest of the Gryffindors and waited for Hagrid to go on. "I was down at the pub and won a dragon egg. Now I'm tryin' to hatch it," Hagrid said as he looked back at the egg sitting in the fire. "Actually I thin' it migh' be ready," Hagrid stood up and went over to the fire and pulled the egg out. He walked back over and set the egg down in front of them.
Suddenly the silence that was in the room was broke by the kettle whistling. "O' Draco could yeh go get the tea for everyon'?" Hagrid asked keeping his eye on the egg. Draco nodded and walked into the kitchen to take the kettle off the stove. He decided to pour some tea in a cup for everyone while he was there. "Woah!" Draco heard Weasley say and looked back to the table to see a Dragon hatch from the egg. He went back to focusing on the tea and was almost done when he heard Hagrid shout, "Someone was lookin' through the curtains. Some kid. Look he's runnin' back towards the castle."
Draco ran back out to the others and saw them peering out the window. "Zabini," Potter sighed, "Of course it was a Slytherin." Draco knew he must have gotten the same tip off he got in the past and went to go see if it was true. Maybe he won't go to McGonagall like I did, Draco hoped. "Hagrid, we should probably head back to the dorms. We shouldn't be out this late." Granger said. Hagrid nodded, "Be careful on yer way back."
Granger led them all out of the hut. and they started their trek back towards the castle, "Come on we need to hurry before someone sees we're out here," Granger stated. "Why did it have to be Zabini to see us," Potter complained. "You don't know that he's going to do anything," Draco said, trying to defend his friend. "Really Draco? I'm just waiting for Flinch or Snape to pop out to give us a detention," Weasley exclaimed.
As they got closer to the castle, Draco tried to look for signs of anyone else around, but he couldn't see anything. Right as they got to the entrance to it, McGonagall stood in front of them, and Blaise appeared by her side. Draco looked over at his friend and watched as his eyes grew wide when he realized what he had done. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, and Miss Granger please follow me," McGonagall said sternly as she stared down at the four Gryffindors.
The four Gryffindors followed behind their Head of House as she led them to her office. They all gave each other silent looks and knew they were in a lot of trouble. Blaise walked behind but soon found himself walking next to Draco. "Draco, I am so sorry," Blaise whispered to his friend, "I didn't know you were with them. You know I wouldn't do this to you right?" Draco looked over at Blaise and saw the regret on his face and whispered back, "Blaise it's ok. I don't hate you or anything. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?" Blaise nodded in agreement, and they all entered McGonagall's office.
Once they were inside, the four Gryffindors stood beside each other and faced their professor. Blaise stood off to the side waiting to see what he got his friend into. McGonagall cleared her throat, "I have never seen this amount of rule breaking from first years in all of my time here. Not only have you been with a bread dragon, which have been outlawed since 1709, you all have been out of bed past hours."
She gave all of them a stern look and spoke again, "Now it is not my responsibility to have Hagrid remove his Chinese Fireball from the school's premises -" Weasley cut her off feeling what he had to say was important, "Norwegian Ridgeback, actually," Draco looked over at him, giving him a look that said shut your big mouth as McGonagall turned all of her attention to the red head, "Excuse me, Mr. Weasley?" Weasley looked sheepishly at her, now realizing it wasn't the time for technicalities, "Well Hagrid actually has a Norwegian Ridgeback, not a Chinese Fireball. They are very different dragons."
"I don't care if Hagrid had the only dragon in existence in his hut. That still wouldn't explain why you four felt the rules didn't apply to you. Since it is my responsibility to keep you all in line during your time at this school, I will be taking fifty points as punishment," McGonagall said sternly. "Fifty!?" Potter said, outraged. The professor looked straight at him and added, "Each. And to make sure you will never even think about doing something like this again, all five of you will be serving detention."
Blaise perked up at that information. "Five of us?" he questioned. "Yes, Mr. Zabini. Though your actions were noble, you too were out of bed after hours," McGonagall told him. Blaise sighed, but didn't say anything else on the matter. "Now, Do I have to escort you all back to your dorms, or are you capable of making your way back yourselves?" McGonagall asked.
"We'll be leaving now Professor," Granger spoke up, "Goodnight." The five students made their way out of their professor's office and headed back to their dormitories. "I knew Zabini was no good!" Weasley exclaimed once they were alone. "If it was the other way around you all would have jumped at the opportunity to get any of the Slytherins in trouble," Draco said. There was no way he was going to let them bad mouth his friend right in front of him. "Guys don't fight about this," Granger intervened, "Let's just get to bed and rest. We have class tomorrow and we all need to keep studying for the end of year exams."
They all listened to Granger and made the short walk back to the dorms. The whole castle was dead this time of night. They were the only ones up. There wasn't even anyone left in the common room when they entered. When Draco got to the dorm, he quickly got ready for bed. He didn't realize how tired he was until he was laying under his covers. It only took seconds for Draco to fall into a deep sleep.