The Dragon of Hogwarts

The Dragon of Hogwarts

Chapter Two: Friends?

When Hermione emerged from her room the next morning, Blaise was stretched out on the window seat in the common room. His dark eyes stared longingly at the clear blue sky, and he was sipping from a mug of coffee.

"Good morning," Hermione said, sitting in a nearby chair to put on her shoes.

Her arm didn't hurt her anymore, but it was really weak. It had taken twice as long to get ready this morning. Thank Merlin she could use magic; if she'd had to get ready the Muggle way she'd have been in the bathroom all day.

"Morning," Blaise said, turning to watch her struggle into her shoes.

Once she'd gotten them on her feet, she sat back to rest a minute, before leaning over to tie them.

She quickly got frustrated, and was about to take her arm out of the sling when he stopped her.

He knelt down in front of her and began tying the shoes.

"You can ask me for help, you know," he commented.

"Why? Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked him.

He shrugged and stood up.

"I guess I feel responsible for what happened. Do you not want me to be nice to you?" he asked, only half-teasing.

She blushed.

"It's just strange, accepting help from someone who isn't my friend," she admitted.

He stared at her considering for a minute.

"Then, let's be friends," he said, finally.

"Well, I... Do you mean that?" she asked.

"Sure, why not? I mean were practically living together, we might as well try to get along."

Now it was her turn to study him.

"And, you're not worried about what your Slytherin friends will think?"

He frowned.

"I don't think I really have any Slytherin friends, and if I did, I probably don't after yesterday."

"What exactly did you do yesterday?"

He walked back into his room, and came back with his school bag.

"We'd better leave now if you want any breakfast," he said.

"Blaise..."

"Not yet, Hermione. I'll tell you some other time," he said, pulling her to her feet by her good arm.

She felt a small flash of fear at the strength in the fingers that were wrapped around her arm, but quickly pushed it aside.

Blaise wouldn't hurt her; McGonagall had said so. He seemed sincere about wanting to be friends, so Hermione decided to give him a chance. She gave him a small smile, and he took her bag from her, throwing it over his shoulder.

He walked beside her all the way to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She could feel several eyes on her and Blaise as she carefully sat on the bench.

She glanced up at him, and saw that he looked just as relaxed and nonchalant as ever. He handed her her bag.

"See you in Potions," he said, and walked off to the Slytherin table.

Hermione watched as he sat down, knowing that his housemates would tease him. But no one said a thing to him. No one even looked at him.

"Earth to Hermione," Ron said, waving a hand in front of her face.

"What?" she blinked.

"Why are you staring at Zabini?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, I was worried that the Slytherins would give him a hard time for walking me here, but they seem to be ignoring him."

The two boys followed her gaze across the room.

The students that Blaise had sat down between had quickly finished their breakfast and fled, so that he was alone.

He pulled out a book and flipped through it absently as he sipped coffee and took bites of his food.

He didn't seem to be aware that he was being ignored by everyone.

"Look at Malfoy," Harry said, pointing to the other end of the table.

Hermione looked over at him, and was surprised to see the fearful looks that Draco and his friends were giving Blaise.

"Hermione, what did Blaise do to them?" Ron demanded.

She shook her head.

"He said he wasn't ready to tell me yet."

"Did you go to McGonagall?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded.

"She said Blaise told her what had happened, and that I shouldn't worry about it. She also said that he wouldn't hurt me."

Harry glanced at her sharply.

"Do you think he'd try to hurt you?"

"No, but he's strong. A lot stronger than anyone I've ever met."

"Maybe we can get him to arm wrestle Hagrid," Ron said, grinning.

Harry and Hermione looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"What? Malfoy's so scared of him; he's nearly wetting himself. That makes him my new hero," the redhead explained, then resumed eating.

Harry snickered and Hermione rolled her eyes.

Maybe she was making too big a deal out of this.

She glanced at Blaise again, and he winked at her. She gave him a strained smile, and then turned to her plate.

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The day went by rather quickly, and Hermione was surprised with all of the homework she had, even though it was only the first day of school. It was NEWT year, though, so she should have expected it.

Her last class of the day was NEWT Potions.

Blaise was waiting for her in the hall outside of her Charms class when it let out.

"Hi," he said, in his carefree manner as he took her heavy bag from her and threw it over his shoulder.

She blushed at the looks they were getting, and murmured a thank you.

As they walked to the dungeons together, Hermione noticed that he smelled like smoke again. She inhaled deeply through her nose, and realized that it didn't smell like cigarette smoke. It was more like the smoke from an outside fire. After contemplating it for a few minutes, she decided that she liked it.

They entered the Potion's classroom, and she saw Harry, the only other Gryffindor in the class, was already sitting with Susan Bones.

Harry had shocked everyone, including himself by scoring an Outstanding in Potions on his OWLs. Professor McGonagall had all but forced him to take Potions, determined to turn him into an Auror.

Snape had given Harry a hard time at first, but it was rumored that McGonagall had 'spoken' with him, and the deliberate antagonizing stopped. Now, Snape basically ignored Harry. He had ignored Hermione too, but she knew that he kept all of the potions she made. There had been several times last year when he assigned her extra healing potions. Hermione knew that he was giving her potions to Poppy, and simply didn't want to make them himself, but she didn't mind. (That would be the closest to a compliment that Hermione would ever get from him.)

Blaise noticed Harry with Susan, and led Hermione to an empty station.

"Do you mind being partners? Or is there someone else you'd rather work with?" Blaise asked, as if he could care less what she decided.

"This is fine," she said, sliding onto a stool.

The smile he gave her was disarming, and she felt herself returning it.

Snape came in then, in his usual flurry of swirling black robes and the lesson began.

When the Professor noticed Blaise sitting next to Hermione, his eyes widened ever so slightly.

"The person sitting beside you will be your partner for the year; if you wish to change, do so now," he said, looking pointedly at Blaise.

The Head Boy simply smiled absently at Snape and then turned his attention to the other side of the room where a few Ravenclaws were switching seats with each other.

Professor Snape gave her a confused frown, but then launched into his lesson.

As soon as the class was over, Blaise once again picked up her bag.

"Mr. Zabini? Don't forget to come by and get your potion tonight," Snape said, giving Hermione an odd look.

"Yes sir," he answered, but he looked a little annoyed.

He told Hermione a little about the new DADA teacher as they walked back to their dorm.

"I won't have her 'till Wednesday," she said.

"Want to start on some homework?" he asked when they walked in.

Hermione started laughing.

"What?"

"I'm sorry; it's just that no one has ever asked me that before. It's always me making the guys do their homework," she explained.

He smiled.

"Well?"

Hermione considered it then shook her head.

"No, I'm really tired. I think I'll take a quick nap before dinner," she told him.

"Okay, I'll see you later," she heard him say as she walked into her room and shut the door.

Was it just her, or did he actually sound disappointed?

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Hermione was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

She was flying. The night sky shone with thousands of sparkling stars. It was amazing, and that surprised her. She'd flown on broomsticks, and a few different kinds of flying animals, but she'd always been scared out of her mind.

She looked down and noticed that she wasn't flying herself; she was actually riding on something. It was a huge beast with gray leathery skin.

Hermione gasped and sat up in bed.

"A dragon?" she whispered, and looked into the startled eyes on Ginny Weasley.

"Dragon?" Ginny asked alarmed, looking behind her.

Hermione shook her head and yawned.

"No, it was a dream. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just came to see how you were doing. You missed dinner, you know."

Hermione's stomach growled and she looked at the clock. It was half past eight; she'd been asleep for four hours.

Ginny giggled.

"Don't worry, Blaise just went down to the kitchens to get some food."

"So, you came to check on me? Where are Harry and Ron?"

"I don't think they're comfortable with Blaise here, but don't worry, they'll come around. He's really a nice guy, and it's obvious that he cares about you," Ginny said, giving her a sly look.

"He's only helping me because he feels guilty about what happened on the train," Hermione protested with a frown.

"I think you're wrong about that. Anyway, I came to warn you that there are several rumors going around about the two of you."

"What rumors?"

"Well, I overheard Pansy telling Terry that Blaise told her that he jumped you in bed this morning," Ginny said, grinning.

Hermione's jaw dropped, again.

"That's not what I said," Blaise announced coming into the room carrying two covered plates.

Hermione turned her shocked gaze to him, and Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"I said I jumped on her bed this morning, and I wasn't talking to Pansy, I was talking to Professor Snape," he said, setting the plates on her bed.

"Why would you tell Snape that?" Hermione asked.

"I was worried about you. It was very difficult to wake you up this morning, and I was just asking him if that could be a side effect of the potion you took on the train yesterday," he explained.

"It's close to curfew, so I better get back," Ginny said and left.

Blaise climbed up on her bed and sat cross-legged facing her.

"Hungry?" he asked, handing her a plate.

She nodded wordlessly and watched him dig into his own food.

Finally, she sighed.

"What are we going to do?" she asked him.

He looked up at her confused.

"About what?"

"About the rumor! Blaise, people think we're sleeping together!"

"So?"

"So? That's all you have to say?" she demanded.

He gave an exasperated sigh and put down his plate.

"We're not sleeping together," he said, as if speaking to a three-year-old.

"I know!" she yelled.

"We could if you wanted to though," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Her eyes widened and she absently tried to smooth down her bed-tousled curls.

He laughed.

"You're fighting a losing battle there."

Hermione glared at him and opened her mouth to tell him off, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but you really are a lot of fun to tease."

He gave her a smile that instantly melted her anger, and she actually laughed at herself a little.

"My friends always tell me that I over-think things," she admitted, picking up the other plate of food.

He nodded slightly, and they ate in silence for a few minutes.

"But what if someone says something to us about it?" she asked, suddenly anxious again.

Blaise shrugged.

"Say whatever you want. Deny it, ignore them, or tell them we went at like rabbits all night. I don't care," he answered.

Hermione was stunned again, and he sighed.

"Look, you really need to stop worrying about what other people think--life becomes a lot more fun. Who cares if they think we're together? I've heard some very naughty rumors about you, Potter, and Weasley since we were first years."

"Did you believe them?"

"Does it matter if I did?"

She thought about that.

"No, I guess it really doesn't," she finally admitted.

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The next couple of months flew by for Hermione, as she was so busy. From NEWT homework to Prefect meetings and nightly rounds, she barely had time to stop and think.

Thank Merlin for Blaise. She almost always did her homework in their dorm because it was so much quieter than the Gryffindor common room. He was always there, studying, reviewing with her, and playing around with her. He said it was his job as her friend to make sure she laughed at least once a day.

Of course their friendship caused several rumors to blossom, but she refused to let it bother her. In fact when she and Blaise had been approached by Pansy about their 'relationship', she simply told the female Slytherin that Blaise was very enthusiastic in her bed.

Blaise had snickered all the way back to their dorm.

For the past few days, he'd been moody. The same thing had happened last month and she teased him saying it was his time of the month. He'd gotten a faraway look in his eyes at that.

She was now heading back to their dorm from the kitchen carrying a bowl of soup.

He had missed class yesterday, and today, because he wasn't feeling well. In fact, she hadn't seen him in two days, and had missed his company. Her brow furrowed as it suddenly occurred to her that the last time she had gone a few days without seeing him was this same time the month before. The same thing had happened then, and he'd missed three days of classes.

She hesitantly knocked on his door.

"Blaise? I brought you something to eat. Blaise?"

She got no answer.

Slowly, she pushed open the door feeling guilty, but that was ludicrous as Blaise always barged in on her.

The dark room was empty and Hermione could see the curtains blowing in the wind from the open window. She shivered and went to shut it when she saw something the made her drop the bowl of soup.

She gasped at the sound of a lonely howl as the clouds moved aside to reveal the full moon.

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"I think Zabini might be a werewolf," Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron the next night during dinner.

They looked at her curiously.

"Really? What makes you think that?" Harry asked.

Ron glanced over his shoulder to the Slytherin table, trying to catch a glimpse of the Head Boy, but he wasn't there.

"He disappears for the three nights of the full moon every month. And he sits out of classes during the day saying he's sick," she said.

"Hey, how do you know he's gone at night? You're not allowed in his room!" Ron demanded.

She gave him a look.

"I was curious about him missing classes, and I thought he was really sick, so I brought him some soup last night. His room was empty. I went and told Professor McGonagall, and she said not to worry about it. I also overheard Snape reminding Blaise to take his potion. "

Harry nodded slowly.

"Yeah that sounds like lycanthropy to me," he said.

"Poor bloke," Ron commented, and then went back to his food.

"I'd really like to talk to him about it. He doesn't seem to really have any friends besides me and with a secret like that it might be nice to confide in someone," she said thoughtfully.

"Maybe you should owl Lupin," Harry suggested.

"No, I don't want to tell anyone. I mean it's not really any of my business is it?"

"You told us," Ron said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Ew, Ron! Swallow first. I tell you two everything, and I know that you won't tell anyone else," Hermione said, giving them a significant look.

"Of course we won't," Harry promised.

End Chapter 2