Severus had learned to wake at the slightest noise, and Harry's scream was like a siren in his ears. He was on his feet, wand at the ready, and striding across the den before the haze of sleep had fully cleared from his brain. But fast as he was, Skullduggery was faster.

The raven launched himself into the air and streaked towards Harry's room at lightning speed, arriving there scant seconds before the Potions Master. "Bran-boy, are you well?" cawed Skull, his voice that of a concerned woman he had heard at the Tower of London one day.

The raven hovered in the air above Harry's bed, eyes darting left and right. But there was nothing in Harry's room that Skullduggery could see or sense with his otherworldly instincts. No boggart lurking in the wardrobe, or zombie in the closet. Not that Skull had expected anything to be there, Severus' wards would have kept out the High Lord of Hell, they were that powerful.

No, the cause of Harry's scream was not from an outside source. It had come from within, the raven observed, as Harry jerked upright, his hair sticking in all directions, green eyes wide with a fascinated kind of horror, as if he had witnessed an atrocity committed and been unable to look away in spite of himself. He wrapped his arms about himself and shivered.

"Easy, bran-boy. It was just a nightmare," Skull crooned, flying down to land on Harry's blanket covered knee. The raven made his head feathers stand up and then flatten repeatedly and made a soothing purring noise.

Severus appeared at the bedroom door a moment afterwards. "Harry? What's the matter?" he asked, looking about in alarm.

Harry was too upset to answer his guardian at first, so he kept silent, fixing his eyes upon an unraveled thread in his comforter. His heart was pounding like a runaway train, and the terrible image that had caused him to scream in terror still hung before his eyes.

"I think he had a nightmare, Sev," Skull told the other wizard helpfully.

"Obviously," the other rolled his eyes. Then he approached his ward, moving slowly so as not to startle the boy further. He reached out and laid a hand upon Harry's shoulder lightly, not gripping, but almost patting after a fashion. "It's all right, child. You're awake, in your own room, and there is nothing here to harm you. Skull and I would never let anything happen to you."

Severus kept his voice low, his tone soothing, like rich dark velvet it flowed about the frightened boy, until Harry shifted his eyes a quarter of an inch upward and looked at Severus.

"I know, Uncle Severus. It's just . . ." Harry reached out a hand and began to stroke Skull, the touch of the raven's sleek obsidian feathers against his hand calming him better than any potion.

For long moments he stroked the raven, and Severus waited patiently for Harry to reveal what he had dreamed that had frightened him so.

The Potions Master seated himself upon the bed, still resting one long-fingered hand upon Harry's shoulder. He did not ask any more probing questions, wishing the boy to tell him about the nightmare of his own volition. The professor was relieved that a nightmare was all it had been, for a moment he had feared Harry had been attacked by the same something that had gone after Irma, despite his wards. But his fears were now groundless, and he exhaled softly.

Harry worried his bottom lip, considering whether or not to speak of his dream with his guardian. He didn't think Snape would sneer at him for reacting the way he had to the nightmare. But he wasn't sure he could speak of the awful thing without breaking down, this nightmare was almost as bad as the one he used to have of his mother dying.

Absently, he reached up and rubbed his scar, it was throbbing.

"Your scar is hurting?" the sharp-eyed wizard asked.

Harry nodded. "A little bit. I don't know why."

Severus gently tilted his ward's chin up so he could better examine the scar. It looked red and irritated. Waving his wand, Severus Summoned some Essence of Dittany salve and applied it to the scar. The redness vanished immediately. "How do you feel now?"

"Better, sir. Thank you."

Severus banished the salve back to his cabinet. "When did your scar begin hurting?"

"Right after I woke up." Harry admitted.

"Hmm . . ." Severus looked thoughtful. Could there be a connection to the nightmare? Had Harry been sent a vision or perhaps shared a memory with the one who had given him the scar? Severus knew that most of the wizarding world assumed Voldemort had perished, but he knew that the Dark Lord had practiced many old spells to preserve his existence, and might have had a part of his spirit survive.

"What do you think it means?"

"I am not sure," Severus replied. "It could mean nothing or anything."

"What did you dream of?" queried Skullduggery, curious.

"Do you really want to know? Because I . . . really don't want to talk about it."

"Then you do not have to," Severus said simply, and leveled a warning look at his familiar.

"True, but speaking of it might help," Skull told Harry. "It would help you clear your mind."

Harry heaved a sigh. He knew the raven was correct. Speaking of his nightmares about Lily had helped him resolve the night terrors. One thing he was certain of, and that was he never wanted to have this particular dream again. "All right. I'll give it a go. But it was weird. I don't understand why I even dreamed it, Uncle Severus." He coughed slightly, as his throat was dry.

Severus snapped his fingers and a cup of cool water appeared on the night stand. "Here. This will soothe your throat. You sound as if you are catching a cold."

Harry drank the water, it cooled his throat, and then he began. "In the dream . . . I was walking through a huge forest. The trees were so big I couldn't see the tops of them and the ground was wreathed in mist. I felt like I was walking forever, the forest was so quiet, there weren't any birds or insects making noise. It was eerie. Then I heard it . . . the scream of . . . something in pain. I didn't want to keep on, but I had to. It was like something was tugging at me and I had to keep walking.

"Finally, I came into a clearing and I saw . . . I saw it. A unicorn, just lying on the ground, its eyes were blank and still. It was dead, I could see the wound in its chest. Like . . like something had ripped open its chest. There were pools of blood all over the ground. But that wasn't the worst. There was a . . . thing hovering over the body . . . it was dark and cloaked and it . . . was feeding off the unicorn . . . like a vampire. It was drinking the unicorn blood and I could feel . . . it enjoying it . . . It had glowing red eyes, like a beast . . . and it tore the unicorn apart in the end . . . Then it laughed and laughed . . . I was so scared it would find me . . . Then it looked at me and I knew I was going to die . . . only I woke up instead." He looked faintly ashamed. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"You have no need to apologize," the professor brushed off the boy's shame and guilt. "Remember, I told you before that you may always come to me with a problem, Harry. That nightmare sounds very vivid, almost like a vision rather than a dream . . . perhaps someday we should test you to see if you bear the talent of the Sight, though that talent usually runs in families and the Potters never possessed it."

"What about my mum's family?"

"The Evans were Muggles, and as far as I know, your mother was the only witch of her line. Still . . . it's possible, Muggles do possess some strains of magic. But we can explore that possibility another time."

"Those with the Old Magic often see things from afar," Skull croaked abruptly.

"Then you think it was real . . . not just a dream?" asked Harry.

The raven fluffed his feathers. "Sometimes a dream is merely a dream, other times it is not. And even if it wasn't, who is to say whether what you saw was a vision that may be, or could be, or will be? Only a trained Seer could determine that, and sometimes not even then."

"A fine thing to set the boy's mind at ease, Skullduggery," scolded Severus.

"Hey, I tell it like it is, Snape." The raven hissed.

"For now, we shall assume it was not a foretelling," Severus quickly asserted, for he didn't wish to be up all night. But the scar hurting bothered him profoundly, as it suggested a link to something dark and dangerous. He did not want to alarm Harry, and so he spoke nothing of his theory. Instead, he said, "If you would like, I can help you Occlude your mind for tonight."

"How do you do that?"

"You must let me enter your memories for a brief time, so I can place mind shields inside your head. It will not hurt, but do you trust me enough to allow me to see those memories again?"

"Will it keep the nightmare from returning?"

"Yes", Snape replied. It would also prevent anything from gaining access to Harry's mind.

"Go ahead," Harry acquiesced.

Severus placed the tip of his wand against Harry's forehead and said, "Legilimens."

He quickly found the memory of the nightmare, as it was fresh in the boy's mind, corralled it and fenced it with a thick layer of nothing in particular, a blank wall that was impossible to see through. Then he set certain mind shields inside Harry's head, triple-layered so no psychic intrusion was possible. It took about three minutes to do so and then Severus withdrew.

"There! It is done."

Harry smiled. "Thanks, Uncle Severus. But there's just one problem."

"Oh?"

"Now I'm wide awake and not sleepy."

"Perhaps some warm milk with honey might help?" the professor suggested, as that was his mother's remedy whenever he couldn't fall asleep as a child.

"All right."

Snape requested a glass from one of the school elves, and it soon popped up on the nightstand.

But even after drinking it and snuggling down beneath the covers, Harry was still not sleepy.

Skull crooned a lullaby, but even the raven failed to coax the boy back to sleep. "Perhaps a story, Sev? A good story always makes me sleep. You told me once that when you were a boy, you used to read before bed."

"I still do, you meddling featherduster," the Potions Master grumbled. But the raven's suggestion caused him to remember a favorite book he had read over and over as a child. In fact, he still owned the copy. "Accio The Jungle Book stories."

Mere moments later a rather worn copy of said book, with a dust jacket of a boy and a panther on the cover flew into Snape's hand. The pages were still crisp and tight, if a bit yellowed with age. He turned to Harry, who was peering at the book curiously. "The Jungle Bookby Rudyard Kipling. Have you read this before?"

"No. I saw it in the library back in Surrey, and always meant to take it out, but I never had the chance. Aunt Petunia would never let me have a library card, and it was too long to read it one sitting, while I was hiding from Dudley."

Severus muttered something under his breath that was very uncomplimentary about Harry's relatives. "Well, this was mine when I was ten, I shall loan it to you if you'd like."

"Please!" the green eyes were alight with joy. "I'll be very careful with it."

"I know you shall." Severus started to hand the book to him.

Harry abruptly asked, "Maybe you could . . . read it to me? It's not that I can't read it myself . . . but sometimes Uncle Vernon used to read to Dudley . . . and I've always . . . Never mind, I guess I'm too old for it now."

In answer, Severus opened the book to the first chapter, and began to read the story of Mowgli. His deep rich voice filled the room, and Harry found himself transported to the jungles of India, at a time when the animals ruled in their own world, and men hardly ventured. Severus read of how a baby had wandered away and found the cave of a mother wolf by night, and she raised him as her own, calling him Mowgli-which meant frog—for he was hairless as one, and protected him from Shere Khan, the lame tiger, who wished to eat him. And so Mowgli became a boy raised by wolves.

By the time Severus had reached the end of the first chapter, Harry found his eyes starting to close. He yawned and murmured, "It's a really good story, but I'm falling asleep."

"We shall read some more tomorrow night," the professor said, marking the page with a scrap of blue ribbon, an old hair ribbon of Eileen's, as he had done as a boy. He rose to his feet and before he could Nox the light, Harry was asleep.

Skull flew to Severus' shoulder. "Good job, Dad," the raven hissed in his ear. "And now, to bed, for I am weary."

"You're not the only one," snorted the Potions Master, and glided from the room, leaving the door ajar.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

The next evening, Severus read some more about Mowgli, and his animal teachers, Baloo the Bear, who taught all the cubs the Jungle Law, and the clever Bagheera, the black Panther, who had been born in captivity but had freed himself and became wild. Harry came to look forward to his evenings with Severus after a long day of classes. It was pleasant to be read to after studying and practicing magic, especially since Hermione kept pushing Ron, Draco, Neville, and him to study more, since exams were coming up in a little over a month. Sometimes Skull would chime in, doing impressions of different voices, like Akela the wise pack leader, or Shere Khan the tiger, and Severus had the hissing soft voice of Kaa the Rock Python down cold.

Irma was still at St. Mungos, still in a coma, and Lena stayed with her as much as she could, nearly a week had passed since Irma had been struck down by her mysterious assailant. Severus visited the two librarians one night after supper. Several students had sent owls of cards and baskets of fruit and candy, even a plant and some books. Lena had them all lined up on a table, with preserving spells set on the fruit, waiting for Irma to wake and enjoy the bounty of gifts.

Lena sat in a comfortable wingback chair, quietly talking to Irma, telling her what had happened since she had been sent to St. Mungos. She looked up when Severus entered, saying to him, "Hello, Severus. Aunt Irma, Severus has come to visit. It's too bad you can't open your eyes and say hello to him." To Severus, she said, "It's been studied that patients in comas can sometimes respond to stimuli. So I talk to her every day and let her know that there's still someone here for her."

"I have heard that also," Severus said, noting that Lena looked drawn, as if she hadn't been sleeping much, there were dark circles under her eyes. She seemed wan and depressed. "How long have you been here, Lena?"

"I came as soon as I woke up, right after I had breakfast."

"You've been in this room all day long?"

"Mostly. I . . . I'm afraid to leave her for long, Severus. What if she wakes and I'm not there?"

"That is a possibility, but Lena, you must also think about yourself. It's not healthy to sit and brood on what might be. You need to get out for awhile. How about coming out for some supper with me?" Severus invited. "Or have you eaten already?"

"No . . . I . . . I haven't had much of an appetite lately. I usually grab a bite to eat from the hospital café."

"Some fresh air will do you good. The staff here will monitor Irma and alert you if there's any change." He persuaded. He did not like the way she had become so withdrawn, so changed from the lively young woman she had been.

Lena hesitated. She did long to see something besides the four walls of the hospital room and Severus's offer was tempting. But she felt disloyal to Irma, going out and leaving her aunt alone.

Severus sensed her indecision and said, "Lena, Irma would not want you to remain cloistered in this room for days on end. Come, it's only for an hour or so, then you can return here."

"I . . . all right, Severus. Thank you for inviting me."

"What are friends for?"

They went to a local restaurant, which served generous portions of shepherd's pie and fish and chips. Lena discovered she was ravenous, and devoured everything on the plate, much to her shock. "Merlin! I must have been hungrier than I thought! I don't think I've ever eaten so much in one sitting."

Severus gave a quiet smile and remarked, "It's true what they say, fresh air stimulates the appetite." He himself had finished his own portion of fish and chips.

After dinner, they went for a walk, enjoying the fresh air and each other's company. When at last they returned to the hospital, Lena remained staring down at her aunt, and suddenly a sense of futility and hopelessness overwhelmed her. "Sometimes, Severus . . . I look at her lying there and I almost wish . . . that she had died instead of being trapped forever this way . . . Am I a terrible person to wish that?"

Severus gently tugged her about so she was facing him. "Is it terrible to wish for mercy for a relative? No. I can see where you're coming from."

"I'm glad she survived, but to see her like this, day after day . . . when she was never sick or . . . anything a day in her life. She was always awake with the dawn, always busy reading or researching, learning new spells was her life, it's why she was the Society's archivist . . . Sometimes I wish I had the courage to ask for Ceridwen's Cauldron . . ."

"Even that powerful item would not work on her, Lena, because she's not dead." Severus reminded her sadly. "If there is anything I can do for you . . ."

Sudden tears spilled from her eyes at his tone. Embarrassed, she turned away, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

Severus put an arm about her, and all at once she turned and put her head on his shoulder, crying softly. He held her for a long while, allowing her time to come to grips with her grief. Spent, she leaned into him for a long moment, then said, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to become a waterfall."

"My robe is waterproof," chuckled the Potions Master. "And my shoulder is always available."

She gazed at him through moist eyes, and thought how he was so adept at hiding his gentle side, hedging himself about with sarcasm and prickliness, that no one dared to look beyond the wall of thorns to see his true self. She wondered what had caused him to hide himself away like that, but doubted she would ever have the courage to ask. But she was very grateful to him for helping her. "Thank you, Severus. I'll remember that."

"Please do. Unfortunately, I must get on back to school. Skull is keeping an eye on Harry for me, but I would prefer to oversee him myself, there's no telling what mischief that boy will get into. I shall try and come back on the weekend."

"Again, thank you. I know that eventually I must return to school, I just wish things were more positive with regards to Aunt Irma. Still, one can hope." She gave a small determined smile.

"Irma is a strong witch. If anyone can recover from this, it would be her." Severus said, trying to boost Lena's spirits. That small smile tugged at his heartstrings in a way nothing had since Lily when he was young and innocent. "Good night, Lena."

She waved as he departed, Apparating back to the gates of the school. He returned to his quarters to find Harry just finishing his Transfiguration homework, and ready for another chapter of The Jungle Books.

"Is Madam Pince any better?"

"No, there is no change yet." Severus said. "But there is always a chance that she may recover. We must simply hope it is sooner rather than later."

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

The weekend arrived, and Severus was brewing batches of potions for the Hospital Wing, restocking certain healing cures that had run low due to the winter spate of colds and such. Harry, Neville, and Draco had volunteered to help out by gathering several magical herbs. Ron caught sight of them leaving the castle with gathering baskets over their arms and tagged along.

"Where are you lot going?"

"Nev and I volunteered to help Professor Snape and he told us to go out and gather some herbs for his potions," Harry answered, showing Ron a diagram of the plants they were supposed to harvest.

"How come you're out here so early, Malfoy?" queried the redhead. "Thought you toffs liked to sleep late on Sundays."

Draco gave Ron a look. "Shows how much you know. I'm here to make sure those two come back with the right plants, because I know what they look like. The professor knows better than to trust Longbottom completely. Or Potter either, even if he knows potions recipes."

"Brag much, Malfoy?"

"Draco's right, Ron," Neville spoke up. He'd become a lot more assertive since taking Remedial Potions. "Harry and I have never harvested these ingredients before, and a lot of plants look alike until you've seen a lot of them. I'm pretty good at Herbology, but I've never seen these particular plants before, have you?"

Ron shook his head.

"Then it's a good thing Draco's with us," Neville repeated.

The four boys quickly walked up behind Hagrid's hut, to the meadow above the castle proper, hard by the Forbidden Forest. There they found plenty of the ingredients Snape had requested. Draco showed them how to tell the difference between the magical gold heartsease plant and the common dandelion by the shape of the leaves and color of the flowers.

Harry had moved away from the others, where there were patches of tall grass in the meadow, which was what the gold heartsease liked to grow next to. He spotted a thick tussock close to the border of the forest, but far enough away that it wasn't over the boundary. As he knelt in the grass to gather a likely specimen, he spotted a flash of gold.

Parting the grass, he saw a large golden egg with fiery tongues of flame etched across it. Harry's eyes widened. He had never seen such a huge egg in his life. It seemed to sparkle from within. "Hey, Draco! Neville, Ron! Come and look at this! I found an egg!"

Neville reached him first. "Merlin, Harry! That egg, it's huge! Do you think it's a roc egg? I've heard they can grow as big as that."

"Roc egg?" Draco sneered. "I don't think so, Longbottom. Looks more like a dragon egg to me."

"It isa dragon egg," Ron confirmed, his eyes wide. "My brother Charlie is a dragon tamer in Romania, and I've seen lots of eggs before. I think . . . I think this one might be a Chinese Fireball."

"How'd it get here?" asked Neville.

"I don't know. I just found it there." Harry said.

Ron glanced about. "Dragon eggs don't just show up anywhere. Maybe the mum's around somewhere. Or it was left here by poachers. I heard Hagrid say once that there was trouble with poachers in the forest."

Draco shrugged. "Could be. My father said that once there was a decent trade of dragon eggs on the black market."

Harry sighed. "Look, we could stand here all day and try and figure how the egg got here. What I want to know is what we're going to do with it?"

"We can't keep it," Ron said.

"Whyever not?" Neville asked. "Harry found it."

"Because of the law. It's illegal to have a dragon as a pet, has been since the Warlock's Council of 1706." Ron pointed out. "It's too hard for wizards to hide a dragon from Muggles. Plus, most dragons can't be tamed. They can bite or flame you something awful. You ought to see the scars my brother has from the wild ones at the reserve." Ron said, sounding proud.

"Well, illegal or not, we can't just leave it here," Draco argued. "Something, like a wyvern, is sure to find it and eat it before sundown."

Harry nodded. He felt the same way about the egg, and was glad Skull was not here to report back to Severus today. He had told the raven to take the afternoon off, because Draco and Neville would be with him on his potion ingredient expedition. He stared at the egg again, feeling as if he had found a priceless treasure.

"We need to find out how to take care of it till it hatches," he said. Then he looked at the plant in his hand, its flower drooping. "But first we have to take these ingredients back to Professor Snape."

"Right. Weasley, you stay here with the egg while we go to the dungeons," Draco ordered. "Once we give Professor Snape the ingredients, we're free for the afternoon and we can figure out what to do with egg then."

"Harry, maybe you can find a book in the library about dragons," Neville suggested. "Are you sure we should keep the egg? I've never . . . done anything illegal before. Won't we get in trouble?"

"Only if we're not careful and we get caught," Draco said easily. "Quit worrying, Longbottom. No one else knows about the egg but us, and I hope you have brains enough to keep your mouth shut about it."

"I won't tell anyone, Malfoy. I'm not stupid," Neville said defensively.

"Come on, you two. Let's hurry and bring these ingredient back to Uncle Severus, before he sends Skull out here to see what kept us," Harry said, picking up his basket.

"Uncle Severus?" Ron gaped. "You're . . . calling Snape Uncle Severusnow?"

"Yes. He's my guardian, remember? And I wasn't raised to call adults by their first names, so I call him Uncle Severus." Harry retorted. "Just watch the egg, Ron."

"And keep out of sight," Draco called over his shoulder. "I just hope nobody flies over there today."

"Why would they? There's nothing there for anybody to see," Harry said logically. Even so, he began to walk faster.

Once they had delivered the ingredients, Severus told them to go and amuse themselves until supper, he could finish up the brewing himself. He could tell the three boys were itching to be elsewhere, and suspected they would rather be flying or reading instead of in the lab. Little did he know what they were really up to.

Harry told Draco and Neville to go back to the meadow. "I'll catch up in a bit. I want to see if there's any book in the library I can find."

Harry took the stairs to the library rapidly, hoping that books on dragons weren't in short supply. He suddenly wished Lena and Irma were there to help him find what he needed. Then again, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that they weren't there, for surely they would be asking him why he needed a book about dragons.

He nearly bumped into Hermione as he was going into the library. "Oh, hi, Hermione. Read any good books lately?"

"I just checked out one on Numerology. Why?"

Harry made quick decision. He was going to need Hermione's help to do research. "Come in here, I have something to tell you." He dragged Hermione inside the library, to the corner where he used to study.

"You found a dragonegg?" she cried.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Harry scowled. "We have to keep this a secret. If any of the professors found out, they'd take the egg away. Now, I need to find some books on dragons, how to raise them and train them. Will you help me?"

"All right. Just remember, this was your idea, Harry." Hermione sighed. "I don't know how I get involved in these things."

They separated, going to different corners of the library. Harry went to see if the Society of Ravens had any books about dragons, and Hermione went to scope out the Magical Beasts section.

Harry found a book called Dragon Lore: Legends and Facts. Hermione found several books, one titled Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit, Dragon Species and How to Recognize Them and one called From Egg to Inferno: a Dragon Keeper's Guide. "I think these should be useful. At least we'll be able to identify what breed it is."

"Come on, let's get back to the meadow." Harry said, and after they had checked out the books, hurried outside.

Back at the meadow, Draco and Ron were arguing over whether or not the egg was from a Chinese Fireball. Ron kept insisting it was, and Draco argued it wasn't because the egg was not bright crimson with gold spots.

"You don't argue facts, Weasley."

"Well, what else could it be? No other dragon I know of has eggs that color." Ron snapped, not wanting to admit Draco was correct.

"Maybe it's a new species," Neville said.

"I doubt it. If there was a new species discovered, the papers would be full of it," Draco disagreed.

"But Draco . . . what if we're the first ones to find it?"

"Then we'd all be famous like Potter. But I doubt it. It's probably a variation or a rare species."

Harry returned with Hermione, much to Draco's dismay.

"Potter, I thought we agreed—"

"I needed Hermione's help to do research," Harry interrupted. "She can keep her mouth closed."

"Why don't we all swear an oath?" Ron suggested.

"Like an Unbreakable Vow?" squeaked Neville.

"Of course not like that! I mean a promise made on our wizard's honor to never tell anyone at school—except Hagrid—about the egg or the dragon when it hatches." Ron snorted. "All right, who's in? Put your hand atop mine and swear the most excellent promise you can make."

First Harry, then Draco, then Neville, and finally Hermione placed their hands atop each other's and swore never to reveal the dragon to anyone at school, except for Hagrid.

That done, Hermione began reading the chapter on dragon eggs in the dragon keeper's guide. "It says here that you must keep the egg warm, since a mother dragon bathes her egg daily in her flames to keep her baby from getting chilled. Also, when the dragon hatches, you should have plenty of chicken blood mixed with brandy to feed it. Yuck! That's disgusting!" she made a face. "Where are we going to get that? We'd have to . . . kill chickens or something."

"And raid Dumbledore's liquor cabinet," Draco smirked. "My father told me once that the old man likes his brandy at night, and always keeps a bottle on hand in the cabinet behind his desk."

Neville looked horrified. "We can't just . . . break into the Headmaster's office and steal from him!"

"Why don't we just ask Hagrid?" Harry said. "I'm sure he can help, he's always wanted a dragon and he drinks brandy too. And he keeps chickens too. I've helped him gather their eggs over the holiday."

"Great idea, Harry! Anybody got a cloak to cover the egg?" Ron asked.

Neville gave up his cloak so they could wrap the egg in it. "Hagrid also has a giant fireplace."

Together they took turns carrying the egg, as it was heavy and awkward. When they reached Hagrid's hut, Harry knocked on the door.

He heard Fang bark, then Hagrid opened the door.

"Hiya, Harry! Come in, it's been a long time since I've seen you." His eyes widened when he caught sight of the rest of them. "What's this, a party?"

"No, it's a conspiracy," Harry muttered. "Quick, Hagrid, let us in and we'll show you something you've always wanted."

"But first you have to swear wizard's oath not to reveal anything to anyone . . . on pain of death!" Draco said sternly.

"Now what're you kids up to?" Hagrid asked. But he swore the oath, as Harry had hoped he would.

Only then did Harry unwrap the egg in Draco's arms and show the gamekeeper their unexpected windfall.

"Crikey, Harry! That's a dragon egg! Where'd yeh get it? I've been after getting' myself a dragon egg fer years!"

"I found it in the meadow while I was gathering potion ingredients," Harry said.

"We don't know how it got there, but we had to save it," Draco added.

"We're going to need the use of your fireplace and also a mixture of brandy and chicken's blood to feed it once it hatches," Hermione told Hagrid.

"I'll help yeh any way I can," the gamekeeper said eagerly. He began clearing out a space to put the egg in the fireplace, making a mound of ashes and soot to place the egg in, then surrounding it with wood and igniting the fire to keep it warm and toasty. "There we go! Nice an' warm, jus' like its mama would do."

"Looks great, Hagrid!" Neville said, grinning.

"Now we need to find out what kind it is," Ron muttered. "Hermione, what's the book say about identifying dragon eggs?"

"Let me see . . ." she began paging through Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit.She looked at the egg, then back in the book, a perplexed frown stealing over her features.

"Well? Was I right? It's not a Chinese Fireball, is it?" demanded Draco.

"No . . . but the egg doesn't match any other description of a dragon's egg in here either. Wait . . . here's a chapter at the end on very rare breeds that are nearly extinct." She turned to the back of the book. "It says here that there once was a very rare species in Great Britain and Wales called the Pendragon species. It says that they were hunted nearly to extinction during the time of King Arthur and afterwards because bold knights wanted to slay dragons to prove their courage. And they bred but rarely, always raising their young in secluded lonely mountain tops. The inspiration for Muggle fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien's dragon Smaug in The Hobbitwas based upon the various descriptions and paintings of early medieval artists who used the Pendragon breed as their models."

"That's really cool! What else does it say?" asked Harry.

"Well, it says that the Pendragon kind are the most intelligent of all dragon species. Sometimes they can learn human tongues if they live long enough and can even be bargained with. They prefer, however, to avoid all contact with wizards, if possible, and be left alone. They can grow to great height and length, though no one had ever captured one. The biggest Pendragon on record was the size of a castle! They are generally a deep crimson with golden underbellies, long sail-like wings and sometimes have flame patterns upon their hides. They have been known to spit fireballs and collect treasure. They eat gold to keep their scales hard and shiny, but also enjoy venison and mutton. Their claws are venomous and that's how they bring down prey. There has never been a Pendragon baby raised in captivity. See also the legend of Merlin for more on how the Pendragon came to be."

"The legend of Merlin? What's that mean?" Ron wondered.

"Search me. I was never much good at remembrin' stories," Hagrid admitted, scratching his head.

"It could tell us more in this book," Harry said. He pulled out Dragon Lore: Legends and Facts. After he found the section on Merlin, he read aloud, "And so it came to pass that young Merlin went to work for King Vortigern of the Saxons. Vortigern hired him to figure out a problem he had been having. He was trying to build a tower onto his keep, but every time the tower reached a certain height, it crumbled and fell. The stone and mortar was first rate and so were the masons. It was a mystery no one could solve. Except Merlin. Merlin had a vision, and told Vortigern to have his workers excavate beneath the tower and there they would find the cause of the collapse. So Vortigern did, and found a deep cave with water in which two young dragons, white and red, were fighting.

"As they watched, the red dragon slew the white one, and Merlin knew it was an omen. Vortigern's symbol was a white dragon, and the symbol of his foe, Uther Pendragon was the red dragon. The next month Vortigern met Uther's forces in battle, and was defeated, just as the red dragon defeated the white. Uther allowed the red dragon to live, and ever after those descended from it were called Pendragons. Merlin eventually became court wizard to Arthur, the greates wizard in all of Britain."

Ron whistled. "I had forgotten about that story. So this is Merlin's dragon, the greatest dragon in all of Britain."

"And Harry found it," Neville said proudly.

"Harry might have found it, but we're all going to raise it," Draco stated firmly.

"One o' the rarest species, how about that? That's something, that is. How much longer before it hatches, Hermione?" asked Hagrid.

Hermione read through the section on Pendragons again. "It says that if the egg has the characteristic swirls of flame surrounding it that it only has a week or so more before hatching, as the flames are a sign of maturity. A young Pendragon doesn't have the flame pattern on its scales until it's fully grown. It takes fifty years for it to be fully grown."

"Fifty years!" Ron exclaimed in dismay. "We'll all be old geezers by then! Except you, Hermione. You'll be an old hag."

"Hey!" Hermione glared at him. "Don't call me a hag."

"It's just a name."

"Well, I don't like it."

"At least by then we'll be able to hide it better, as we'll all be out of school," Draco mused.

"I'll be sure an' tell yeh when it's close t'hatching." Hagrid said. "Hermione, can yeh leave me one o' yer books?"

"Sure. You can have them all. They're due back in three weeks." She promptly put the books on Hagrid's table. "I can't wait to see the baby when it's born. What are baby dragons called, do you know?"

Ron shook his head. "No, I never asked Charlie that question."

"They're called dragonets," Draco said authoritatively.

"Dragonets. I like that," Harry said. "Thanks, Hagrid."

"Aw, 'twas nothing, lad." Hagrid blushed. "But yer better never let Professor Snape find out. He'd be mighty angry t'know yeh've been keepin' a baby dragon in secret."

"So would Professor McGonagall," Neville shivered.

Harry quietly vowed that Severus would never find out, though he hated going behind his guardian's back like that. But what other choice did he have?

"Don't forget to turn the egg every twelve hours," Hermione reminded Hagrid, just before they all left to have supper in the hall.

That night, Severus read Harry the story of Kotek, the White Seal, and he had a strange dream about knights with bloody clubs hunting down the baby Pendragon, until he swooped down on his broom and rescued it and hid it on an island far away, where men never came. Since it wasn't a real nightmare and hadn't scared him out of his wits, he didn't bother telling Severus or Skull about it.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Over the next two weeks, all of the young dragon keepers walked down the path to Hagrid's hut every day, sometimes in pairs, other times alone. They tried to visit at different times, so no one would see a pattern and grow suspicious. Each time, it was the same. The egg was still in the fire, and Hagrid turned it every twelve hours. It was hardening nicely, though Hagrid's hut now felt like a million degrees due to the fire constantly burning on the hearth. Luckily Hagrid didn't mind.

Finally their patience was rewarded. Hagrid sent a note with Draco's eagle owl, Frost Reaver, that contained only two words. It's hatching.He folded the note into an Inter Office Memo, which looked like a paper airplane, and sent it on over to the Gryffindor table when no one was looking.

Harry intercepted it with blinding speed, then read the note. He pumped his fist in the air.

"What are you doing, Potter?" asked Wood curiously.

"Uh . . exercises," Harry improvised. "To make my arms stronger." He quickly tucked the note in his fist and passed it to Ron under the table.

Ron read it and he almost choked on his scrambled eggs. He handed the note to Hermione and she smiled quietly and passed it to Neville, who cried, "Oh, Merlin!" Then he blushed and muttered, "I stubbed my toe."

Ron was all for skipping Herbology and racing down to the hut right then, but Harry, Hermione, and Neville dissuaded him.

"I won't skip class, we'll get in terrible trouble and not be able to see Hagrid at all," argued Hermione.

"And I love Herbology, it's my favorite class," Neville objected.

"If I ever skipped class, Uncle Severus would skin the hide off me," Harry predicted.

"Come on, how many times in our lives will we get to see a dragon hatching?" Ron protested.

"Never, if you don't lower your voice, Weasley," Draco hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

Reluctantly, Ron gave in, and went to Herbology with the rest of them. After their lesson, they had a morning break, and they all rushed down to Hagrid's.

Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited. "Hurry! It's almost out."

The egg was no longer in the fire, but lying upon a bed of straw on the table. It was rocking back and forth violently and a sharp tapping sound came from it. Huge cracks spiderwebbed the shell.

Everyone drew chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath as the egg almost flipped over. Suddenly there was a loud scraping noise and the egg split open.

The dragonet tumbled out onto the table, its wings wet from the egg fluids. It was a rusty red color and its underbelly and chest was a pale gold. It had small gold nubs on its head that would later grow into golden horns, and a long narrow snout with a tiny golden tooth on the end—an egg tooth that would later fall off as the dragon didn't need it once it had broken through the egg. It had small ridges along its back and neck and needle-sharp claws that were blunted by a strong clear membrane, so it could not inadvertently scratch itself and poison itself. The venom sacs in its claws weren't at full potency, but even so a scratch could make a person very ill. And the Pendragon young were not immune to their own venom, such only came later. It was about the size of a five-month-old collie puppy.

The dragonet slowly uncurled itself from its ball, its tail waving wildly, and large amber eyes staring round curiously. It opened its mouth and gave a sharp cry, and then burped. A tiny gout of flame shot out.

"Uh oh! It breathes fire already?" Hermione cried.

"Only a little. They don't do more than that for a long while yet," Hagrid reassured her. "Isn't he beautiful?"

"Hagrid, he's a she," Harry corrected. "My book said you can tell female from male by the frills on either side of the head—a female has them and a male doesn't. The dragonet does," He pointed to two crumpled leathery looking things on either side of the baby's head.

"Aww, it's a baby girl! How sweet!" Hermione crooned, gazing at the dragonet with misty eyes.

The dragonet lifted her eyes to Hermione and gave a soft cry. "Meep! Meep!"

"I'd say she's hungry," Draco said. "Where's her food, Hagrid?"

Hagrid indicated the steaming pail of chicken's blood and brandy beside the hearth. Draco got a ladle from Hagrid's cooking pot, where some kind of stew was simmering, and scooped some of the dragonet formula into a bowl.

He brought it to the table and set it in front of the baby dragon. "Here, little thing. Supper!"

The dragonet meeped again, the n stuck her head into the bowl, slurping greedily. In a matter of minutes she had finished the bowl, burped, and looked for more. Draco obligingly got her another bowl, and then another.

"How much can she eat?" Ron wondered. The dragonet's belly was starting to look like a bowling ball.

"Looks like as much as you, Ron,' Neville snickered. "Maybe we ought to call her Greedy Guts?"

The dragonet consumed a fourth bowl while they all discussed what to name her.

"How about Fiery Queen?" suggested Ron. "Her scales look like fire and she's like a queen of dragons."

"Not bad, but . . . what about something more . . . regal sounding?" Draco looked thoughtful. "Like Aurae Regina?"

"Huh? What's that mean in English?" asked Ron.

"Golden Queen," replied Harry.

Draco looked impressed. "Where'd you learn Latin, Potter?"

"Uncle Severus' been teaching me some on the weekends. He said it's important to know Latin in order to cast spells correctly." Harry replied. He reached out a hand cautiously to scratch the baby dragon behind the horn nubs.

The little dragon made soft contented noise and leaned into his hand. Draco and Ron's names for her weren't bad, but Harry felt they lacked a certain sense of historical significance. "What about calling her Guinevere, after King Arthur's wife? Or Nimue, after Merlin's apprentice?"

"That's a good idea, Harry, but Guinevere betrayed Arthur in some of the legends, and so did Nimue," Hermione reminded him. "We don't really want that kind of reputation for her, now do we? What about Viviane? She was the Lady of the Lake, an enchantress who forged Excalibur and later gifted it to Arthur along with a magical scabbard that healed all wounds. We could call her Viv for short."

"Viv." Ron said, trying it out. "Sounds good to me."

"Yes, that's a name fit for a queen," agreed Draco.

"It sounds pretty and regal," Neville nodded.

"What do you think, pretty girl?" asked Harry. "Do you like being called Viviane?"

The dragonet raised her head and looked at him. Then she hiccupped.

Everyone giggled at the comical expression on the dragonet's face.

Then she waddled over to Harry and swiped his cheek with her long green tongue.

"Ugh! Dragon breath!" Harry grimaced. Hagrid handed him a cloth to wipe his face. "I guess she agrees. Viviane it is."

The dragonet abruptly sat down, groomed her front feet with her tongue, which had tiny little barbs like a cat's tongue, then walked over to the fragments of her shell, pawed them off the straw, and curled up in it, wrapping her tail about her snout. Within moments, she was snoring softly.

"Rock-a-bye baby!" hummed Hermione, and stroked the soft hide. "Poor thing's all tired out."

"Well, sure. It's tough being born," Neville said.

"Her scales are soft like butter," Hermione observed.

"They'll harden as she grows older," predicted Hagrid. "Till then I'll need to oil them to keep 'em soft and prevent 'em from cracking."

"She's the most incredible dragonet ever!" Ron stated proudly.

"And she's all ours," said Harry.

All five children looked at one another, bound by the common interests of adoration, pride, and a secret shared.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

By the time a week had passed, Viviane had nearly doubled in length and weight. She was drinking a full bucket of dragon formula every day and had begun to stay up longer than a few hours. She followed Hagrid about like a puppy, making odd little meeping and half-growling noises. Smoke was trickling from her nostrils and she regularly left holes in the wall of the hut, because she and Fang played tag across the kitchen and Viv tended to trip over her wings, which dragged on the floor, or her tail, and crash land into the wall. Her claws left scratches all over the floor as well.

Once she got a claw caught in her wing membrane and tore it. She screamed so loud that some students thought there was a banshee in the castle. Hagrid sent Draco a note asking for some of Snape's Dittany Salve using a school owl. Not long after, Draco came knocking on the door of Severus' quarters. Luckily Harry was there and Severus was not, having gone to visit Irma at St. Mungos. Harry quickly retrieved the jar and followed Draco down to the hut, where the three performed minor surgery on the dragonet.

Hagrid had gotten the dragonet very drunk on Firkin's Firewhiskey. Hagrid held her still, the torn wing outstretched on the table, while Draco smeared the membrane with a bit of ointment. Then Harry picked up a sharp steel needle and some fine cotton thread, Hagrid did most of his own mending, and sewed the tear together. Viv was so drunk she barely felt it, and then Harry rubbed on more Dittany Salve and bound the wing with strips of linen so she couldn't damage it while it healed.

Viv slept all the next day, then woke her usual rambunctious curious self.

They soon discovered that the baby Pendragon was very smart and into everything. Hagrid couldn't leave her alone for a moment. She tore apart his socks and boots, ate the legs off his kitchen table, and dug a hole in his mattress.

Draco was appalled. "Hagrid, you can't let her get away with that! She needs to be taught manners."

"Aw, she's a baby. She don' know any better," Hagrid said with a sheepish grin. " 'Sides, I needed some new furniture."

"That's not the point. If you don't teach her now, she'll be a menace." He jerked his shoe away from Viv's questing nose. "No! Bad dragon!" He shook his finger at her. "No chewing shoes!"

Viviane looked up at him. "Meep?"

"That's right. No shoes! Shoes . . . bad!" Draco picked up a rubber chicken and handed it to her. "Toys . . . good!" He patted her.

Viv shook the toy chicken, growling. Then she dropped it to pounce on Fang. "Meep!"

Fang barked and bolted across the room, Viv in hot pursuit. The whole hut shook as the dragonet chased the boarhound.

Draco gulped in alarm. "Hagrid, what if somebody hears her?"

"Ah, well, I tol' Professor Sprout n'Dumbledore I was teachin' Fang to fetch and I'm clumsy sometimes, t jus' ignore any loud bangs."

Draco eyed Viv uneasily. "How much more is she going to grow? You're running out of room in here."

Hagrid shrugged. "I dunno. Guess we'll find out."

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Two weeks later, Viviane was the half the size of Fang, almost, and eating a gallon of formula a day. Her wing had healed and she was starting to try and flap them.

Hermione asked, "Will she try and fly soon?"

"Naw. They gotta be taught that by their mama," Hagrid said.

"But Hagrid, we're like her mama," objected Neville.

"Then I guess it's up to Harry and Draco to teach her how to fly once she's big enough," Hermione pointed out. "It's a good thing we have brooms."

Hermione discovered that Viv was very smart, she learned faster than a German shepherd, and Hermione had taught her several commands, such as, "Come, stay, go to sleep, up, and no biting!"

The dragonet loved being oiled and Hermione was usually around to assist Hagrid, she had bought a large bottle of rosewood oil and took great pride in rubbing Viv's scales till they shone glittering gold and bright crimson. The dragonet had already shed her scales twice since hatching, and Hagrid saved them in a jar, for dragon scales were valuable potion ingredient, and he needed more money to feed Viviane, since she ate like ten horses.

By the third week, Viviane was eating more solid food. Hagrid fed her a mash of chicken blood, brandy, and ground venison. The dragonet would gorge herself until sated, then fall over in a heap on the floor. Fang often slept beside her, and Neville enjoyed giving her tummy a rub. Viv loved that, and would make crooning noises while he scratched her belly, her wings flopped to either side like a drunken angel's.

She was naturally a clean animal, and Harry and his friends helped to housebreak her. But soon Viv grew bold enough to explore the backyard, and one evening she ran away, and spent hours eluding Hagrid, Fang, and the team of young keepers. When they finally caught her, Harry and Draco scolded her sternly and put an iron collar and chain on her, fastening it to a ring inside the hut.

Viv screeched and fought the restraint, furious. Jets of flame spat from her mouth, nearly setting the floor on fire.

Ron stared at her and whispered, "She can't keep doing this. Someone's gonna see her and then what? We have to . . . bring her somewhere she has room to grown and run about."

"She can't stay locked up here forever," Hermione agreed sadly. "She's miserable, and soon she'll outgrow the collar and chain and pull the walls of the hut down around your ears, Hagrid."

"But we can't just abandon her, Hermione!" protested Harry. "She's too little to put in the forest. She'll die."

"She can't hunt for herself yet," Draco pointed out. "She's still dependant on us. She's our responsibility, how can we just give her up? I won't do it."

"Me neither," agreed Neville. "We'll just have to figure out a way for her to get some exercise at night."

But though they tried, it was fast becoming apparent that Viviane would soon outgrow her home and they had no safe place to put her where she wouldn't be prey for bigger magical creatures or be seen by those at Hogwarts. The night she tore the chain out of the wall and busted through Hagrid's front door was the last straw.

It took all five of them to catch her and repair the hole in the wall and Hagrid's door before curfew, and they all sported teeth marks and strained muscles before they were done.

In contrast, the dragonet regarded it as a fun game, and looked fresh as a daisy when they finally coaxed her back into the hut with a deer carcass to gnaw on.

The next morning Justin Finch Fletchley startled them all by announcing he had seen a strange beast roaming about near Hagrid's hut, and Dumbledore said he would ask Hagrid to make sure it was gone before allowing any students near his home.

"That does it!" Ron hissed to Harry and Neville. "She has to go. We can't control her anymore, and sooner or later someone other than that dolt Justin's going to see her for what she is and there goes Hagrid."

"But where can she go where she'll be safe?" Harry grumbled irritably. "We can't just dump her somewhere like a stray dog, Ron!" His heart was aching at the thought of losing the dragonet, for when she wasn't being destructive, Viv could be very sweet and funny. Harry loved her and didn't want to let her go.

Neither did Draco, but he too could see the wisdom in Ron's decision. Still, he wanted to try some Concealment Charms first.

That was when they discovered that Pendragons were magic resistant. Ron finally managed to convince Draco to let him contact Charlie in Romania. Harry fought to the bitter end, but gave in when Skull flew over the hut one afternoon and asked why there was so much smoke coming from the chimney and what sort of creature did Hagrid keep inside there.

Harry knew that Skullduggery would soon discover the truth, for there was nothing like a raven for ferreting out secrets. Reluctantly, he agreed to let Ron write Charlie.

Charlie sent a reply back a few days later, asking that they meet his friends at the top of the Astronomy Tower at midnight. His friends would take the rare dragonet with them and raise it on the reserve, she would be like a dragon celebrity and receive the best of care. The pick-up was scheduled for the following night, when there would be a full moon.

Hermione wept as she oiled the dragonet for the last time, and Viv made sad meeping noises and licked the tears from her cheeks. "I'll miss you, baby. So much. But you have to go, so you'll grow up safe. I'll never forget you!" She kissed Viv atop her scaly head, inbetween her nubs of horns.

Hagrid too shed tears when it came time for Viviane to leave, he fed her his special lamb stew with Firkin's and gave the dragonet her favorite stuffed boar to chew on, as well as his old leather boot. She had never managed to stop chewing on boots. He wrapped her in a large baby sling, and all four boys took turns carrying her in it. They all would miss Viv dreadfully, but tried not to let it show.

Fang howled mournfully when they left, which made Viv wail rather like a baby.

"Shhh!" Draco clamped a hand over her snout. "Quiet!"

"Draco, you're hurting her," cried Neville, as Viv made little muffled yelps.

"Longbottom, if she gives us away, we're finished. My Notice Me Not charm won't hold up with her sobbing like a baby."

Harry suddenly wished for his invisibility cloak. But Severus had locked it away and Harry knew he'd be in deep trouble if he ever took back the cloak and used it to sneak out of bed, which was just the sort of thing Severus had forbidden him to do with it. No, better that it stayed where it was, Harry didn't want to die before he was seventeen.

They crept soundlessly up the stairs to the top of the Astronomy Tower, leaving Hermione at the bottom to be the lookout. She said she couldn't bear to see Viv taken away, even if it was for the best. So Neville, Draco, Harry, and Ron waited atop the Astronomy Tower for Charlie's friends to appear.

Minutes crept by. Ron checked his watch.

"Do you think they forgot the time?" whispered Harry.

"No. How could they?"

"Because they're late. It's ten past midnight," Draco muttered.

They waited and waited. Viv grew restless and gnawed on her boot, then grew bored and gnawed on Ron's knuckle.

"Oww!" he yelped. "Stupid dragon! Here, Nev, you take her." he handed the sling wrapped dragonet to Neville, then sucked on his bleeding hand.

Still no sign of the dragon keepers.

Draco peered across the sky, the moon was bright so he could see clearly. "Hey, Weasley, I think I see them. Look! See that big shadow coming towards us?"

Harry squinted, even with his eyesight he could see the dragon-shaped shadow approaching. "That's odd. What were they supposed to show up in again?"

"Some kind of chariot, I think," answered Ron.

"A dragon shaped one?" guessed Draco. "That was clever of them."

Ron peered hard at the huge shadow cruising towards them. "Err . . . Malfoy, I don't think that's a chariot. It looks more like a . . .dragon!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley. No dragon could be that big, and they wouldn't risk riding one here tonight. They're trying to keep a low profile."

"Oh, yeah? Then what do you call that?" Ron screamed.

Suddenly a humungous shape swooped down upon them from the sky.

It wasn't just a dragon, but a giant enraged Pendragon female.

Viv's mother had finally found her stolen baby and come to get her back from the thieves who had taken her away.

She descended upon the four petrified boys like a hurricane, her wings churning up great clouds of dust, her head was the size of Hagrid's entire hut, and she roared in rage upon seeing her baby in the hands of humans. There was a great distrust of humans by Pendragons, considering the harm human knights had done to them in the past. The great mother dragon had been searching for her missing egg for weeks, and had finally tracked the thief, or thieves, to Hogwarts. Now she could be reunited with her baby . . . after she punished those who had stolen her precious dragonet.

Harry backed away, screaming in terror. The mama Pendragon was even bigger than he thought, the size of a jet, and her scales were brilliant crimson and gold, with fiery swirls about her haunches and sides that glistened in the pale moonlight. Her green eyes were the size of flying saucers and her teeth were like swords, bared and ready to tear him to shreds.

Oh, shit! Severus, help!He thought frantically, while backing away.

Ron was screaming, "Merlin's bloody arse! Run!"

Draco was staring at the huge dragon, mesmerized. "So beautiful . . . and so deadly."

"Malfoy, move your arse!" Ron shrieked. "Before she eats you!"

Neville screamed as Viv dug her talons into his thigh as she sprang forward, lurching out of the sling. She was howling loudly as she caught sight of her mother. "No! Come back!" Neville cried, grabbing the struggling dragonet by the tail and pulling her backwards. He had to throw himself on the baby dragon to keep her from running off the edge of the tower.

Viv fought, scrabbling her claws on the stone and wailing, trying to flap her wings. She nipped Neville's fingers, which were clutching her about the neck.

"Ahh!" Neville yelled, but refused to let go.

Mama Pendragon let out another terrible roar and her head dove down towards Draco, fangs gleaming in the moonlight.

Harry tackled the other boy, sending them skidding across the top of the tower.

The mother dragon's teeth cracked the stone where Draco had stood moments before, ripping out several chunks. The stone crumbled under the assault and fell over forty feet to land on the ground.

Ron was shaking and crying. "I don't wanna die! Harry, what do we do?"

Harry sprang to his feet, his mind working frantically. He was terrified too, of all the possible outcomes of this night, he never would have expected this. He kept wishing that Severus or Skull was there, for they would know how to handle the enraged mother dragon.

"Ron, get to the stairs! We need help!"

The mama dragon was now hovering in the air, above the tower, her eyes glittering, her wings blotting out the stars.

Harry had his wand out, and was casting a Summoning Charm.

Behind him, Draco was praying.

Neville had almost squashed Viv flat, and the dragonet was squeaking indignantly.

A black streak darted in, and Skullduggery screeched, "Yo, Mama! Leave those kids alone!"

The Pendragon female turned her gaze to the annoying ball of feathers and gave a low rumble of warning.

Skullduggery puffed up his feathers, his head crest rising. "I don't know who stole your baby, Mama, but you aren't going to kill anybody on my watch."

"Skull! Get Uncle Severus!" Harry yelled.

"On my way, bran-boy! Get off the tower! Leave the damn baby and run!"

The raven made several darting sorties at the great dragon's eyes, making the behemoth lower her head and fly a little bit away from the tower, for the raven's beak was super sharp and could hurt very badly if it landed a blow in her eyes. Skullduggery dodged her return snap, flying around her and through the stairway, a midnight streak heading to the dungeons to fetch Snape.

Hermione, shivering in the stairwell, saw Skull speed past and yelled, "Skull, what's going on up there?"

"Trouble!" the raven cawed, and kept right on flying.

Hermione looked back up the stairs, biting her lip. She was trying to make up her mind whether or not to go and help her friends when a claw-like hand closed over her shoulder.

"Trouble indeed, missy!" cackled Filch. "And you're out of bed!"

"Please, sir!" Hermione cried, terrified both for her friends and because she was sure to get detention now.

"Come along, girl. You're going straight to McGonagall's office and we'll see what she has to say about you wandering about in the dead of night!" He began to drag Hermione away.

"Please, Mr. Filch! You can't leave, my friends are in terrible danger . . ."

"Oh, they're gonna be in danger all right, when McGonagall gets through with them," Filch sneered, and ignored Hermione's protests and hauled her off down the corridor.

The tower shook as Mama Pendragon stamped her huge foot atop the stone crenellations, crumbling them into dust. She was determined to make the thieves pay for their audacity and no annoying raven was going to convince her otherwise.

Harry's broom smacked into his palm, and he mounted it faster than he ever had before. Using every bit of speed the Nimbus possessed, he shot into the sky, hovering just in front of the mother dragon's eyes, above the gaping snout with the sword-like teeth and five foot long purple tongue. He didn't understand why she hadn't breathed on them yet, for surely she was furious enough to do so.

Then he looked down at his friends and the struggling Neville atop the tower and realized that she had held back her flame so as not to injure her baby. And then Harry knew that they had to hang on to Viviane at all costs. "Keep hold of her, Nev!" he called to his friend, then he slingshot about Mama's head, whooping like Mowgli.

"Is he CRAZY?"Ron cried.

"He's a Gryffindor, what do you expect?" Draco answered, picking himself up and backing away. "You're all insane!"

"What the bloody hell is he doing?"Ron gasped as Harry made several strafing runs at the great dragon, trying to draw the beast away from the tower.

"Committing suicide?" Draco snarled. "Do I look like a Seer, Weasley?"

Mama dragon swung her head about, missing Harry's Nimbus by mere inches. She roared in frustration.

Harry fired off a Stinging Hex and it landed in her nostrils causing her to shake her head irritably. Then he soared across the sky, taunting her.

She spun and went after him.

"The bloody idiot! He's going to get killed!" Draco swore.

"We have to help him," Ron panted.

"You're seven kinds of a retard, Weasley, you know that?" the Slytherin snarled. Then he added, "And so am I." He waved his wand and Summoned his own broom.

Ron did also, and then the two were airborne and streaking towards the red dragon. "I must be losing my mind! I don't know how to fight a dragon!"

"Just play Quidditch, Weasley," Draco yelled, and shot some fiery projectiles at the Pendragon. They fizzled and bounced off of her hide, but annoyed her so she quit chasing Harry and brought her head about to snap at him instead.

"Play Quidditch? Has he gone round the bend?" Ron moaned. "I feel like a pesky fly and she's the fly swatter. Oh, Merlin! Where the hell are you, Charlie?" He brought his broom up in a tight turn.

Draco pulled up sharply, avoiding the chomping fangs by a millimeter. "Weasley! A distraction would be good right now!" he cut to the right, and was nearly blown off his broom by the sweep of one great wing.

Ron arced up inbetween the huge forefeet, each talon glistening with green fluid. A distraction? Ron could hardly think straight.

"Booga! Booga! Booga!" He yelled as loud as he could, then he cast a Sneezing Hex at the dragon, it being the only hex he could recall from Defense lessons with Snape.

For an instant nothing happened.

Then Mama's nose began to twitch.

She inhaled, huffing and gasping, shaking her head frantically.

Ron backed up, trying to get out of the way.

But he wasn't quite fast enough.

Mama sneezed, and the resultant blast of air mixed with green snot cascaded over Ron, sending him head over heels, five feet backwards to crash into the top of the tower.

Ron landed spread-eagled on the ground, almost hitting Neville. He groaned and lay still for a long moment.

"Ron? Are you . . . dead?" Neville sniffled.

"Yuck! Dragon bogies!" Ron sat up, gazing at himself in dismay, for he was covered in noxious green slime as well as being bruised and scraped. "Why me?"

Meanwhile, students were crying and screaming in a panic in Ravenclaw Tower and Gryffindor Tower, as they could feel the awful aftershocks of the battle atop the tower. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Dumbledore had their hands full trying to stave off a panic, and so Filch was largely ignored when he dragged Hermione in through the portrait hole.

Skullduggery was flying like a bat out of hell, and in his wake came the Potions Master, wand out and running like the Grim Reaper up the stairs to the seventh floor and then to the Astronomy Tower, cursing Dumbledore's Anti-Apparition wards with each footfall.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Harry flew right into the red dragon's face, throwing a handful of crumbled biscuit crumbs into her eyes, they were what he had in his pocket when he reached in to try and find something that might help him avoid becoming dragon chow. Biscuit crumbs weren't much of a weapon, but they were all he had.

Mama shook her head, trying to get the grit out her eyes.

"Here, you great lump of lard!" taunted Harry. "Come and get me you dumb piece of crap! Dragons are superior to wizards my ass!"

He then turned and accelerated, flying in a great loop across the grounds.

Mama snarled and turned, seeking her tormentor.

Then she felt something sting her flank as Draco tried to use a Bone Break Curse on her. But the spell was absorbed by her innate magic resistance, which recognized it as a threat. As she turned, her tail lashed out, striking Draco's broom with the tip.

Draco found himself tumbling across the sky, his broom flipping end over end uncontrollably.

Harry saw Draco falling and his heart leaped into his throat. Without stopping to think, he shot diagonally across the sky, passing by the dragon in a blur, diving as fast as he could.

He managed, through sheer nerve and inborn skill, to pull up just beneath the Slytherin, catching the back of Draco's robe and part of his arm as he fell.

The recoil nearly yanked him off his broom. But he managed to speak the one word of a Featherlight Charm before losing his grip on the other boy, touching Draco with his wand tip as he did so.

Draco drifted through the air, screaming, before Harry maneuvered his broom beneath him and caught him. "Potter, flaming hells!"

"Relax, Draco. I've got you," Harry said, grabbing Draco and pulling him onto the Nimbus. "You're easier to catch than the Snitch."

"Potter, you're insane!" Draco gasped. "But you just saved my life, so I'll forgive you. Where the hell did you learn to fly like that?"

"I just did what came naturally, Malfoy. That's why I'm the youngest Seeker in a century," Harry replied with a touch of insolence. Actually his heart was pounding just as much as Malfoy's.

"Uh oh, she's coming about for another pass," Draco muttered.

"You all right?" Harry panted.

"Yeah, I just have whiplash from her tail," answered the Slytherin. "And my nose is bleeding. I think I hit it on my broom." He held the sleeve of his robe to it.

"Great! Look, I'm going to try and set you back on the tower as quick as I can. You get Ron and Neville and tell them to get their arses out of here."

"What about you?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about me." He soared up towards the Astronomy Tower, trying to get there before the red dragon. "It's a good day to die."

He grabbed Draco by the back of his robe and set him on the tower then streaked off.

"Bloody mad Gryffindor! No wonder the good die young!" Draco shook his head, then staggered towards the stairwell, just as Skullduggery emerged from it, followed by Severus.

Severus took everything in at a glance, his battle-honed reflexes notcing everything, including the apparent death wish his ward had, playing cat and mouse with an enraged red dragon out of legend. In a flash he had grabbed Neville by the back of his collar, pulling him off the shrieking dragonet. "Longbottom! Get inside, hurry! You too, Weasley! Get to the bottom of the stairs and wait for me. Move!"

Neville, scratched and bleeding, obeyed without argument. He didn't know what he was more afraid of—the dragon or his potions professor.

Ron obeyed as well, though he did yell, "Professor, you have to help Harry!" before he went down the stairs.

"Tell me something I don't know, Weasley," the other scowled. "Malfoy! What are you waiting for, a personal invitation in gold script. Follow them and wait for me!"

Draco too ran as fast as he could across the tower, wishing he could see the outcome of the fight.

Viv scurried across the stones, crying pitifully for the mother she hardly remembered. Severus reached out and grabbed the trailing end of the sling, and hauled her back from throwing herself off the tower. "No, you don't! You're staying right here." he wrestled the dragonet back by brute force, grunting with the effort. "Stay, dammit!" Viv obeyed, crouching down by his boots, whimpering. "Skullduggery, it's time to open negotiations! Tell her I'll call a truce if she stops trying to roast Harry."

For the mama Pendragon was now breathing fire, in bright balls of fire, that scorched across Harry's path, forcing him to climb rapidly, his hands seared by the fire's radiating heat, though he dodged the full force of the flame.

"Oi, Mrs. Hot and Toasty!" Skullduggery cried in Ravenspeak. "My master has your baby, and wants to cut a deal with you. Are you willing to listen, or do you want your darling to become potion ingredients?"

The dragon halted, and snarled, "What are you yammering on about, you black crow?"

"That's raven, Fire Queen! We'll trade you—your dragonet, unharmed, for my wizard's crazy ward. He's rather fond of the lad and wants him back without being barbecued."

"He stole my egg!"

"What do you care, as long as you get your baby back?"

"He deserves to be punished!" snarled the dragon.

"Don't worry, Big Mama. Sev's going to light a fire under his ass, sure enough. Leave the punishment to him, he's the best at it in the school." Skullduggery persuaded. "Besides, your baby doesn't look any worse for wear to me. And that's the important thing, right?"

The dragon was silent for a long moment. Finally she tossed her massive head and sighed. "Oh, very well. Take the pesky little gnat and beat some manners into him."

"Do you swear not to take revenge on him or his friends, O Mistress of Fire and Poison?"

"Yes, I so swear! Now give me my dragonet."

"Sev! Let her go, Red's agreed to the terms!" Skull cawed. "Harry! Get off your broom and onto the tower, double quick!"

Harry did as he was told, he couldn't understand the dragon's replies to Skull, but guessed enough that the raven had called a truce.

As his ward landed atop the tower, Severus released Viviane.

The dragonet ran across the floor, meeping hysterically, and was swept up in one large forefoot. Mama nuzzled her baby lovingly, reunited at last with her daughter. She bowed her head respectfully to Severus and glared warningly at Harry before turning and flying away, Viv cradled close to her chest.

Harry watched until the red dragon was out of sight, muttering a thank you to whatever guardian angel had been watching over him. Then he turned slowly, met the furious gaze of Severus Snape, and prayed he survived the Potion Master's wrath. He thought he might have had better luck with the dragon.