The Dragon Games

Draco turned to Harry, grinning.

"So, what would make the great Boy-Who-Lived jealous?"

Oh boy, Harry thought wildly. This really isn't going to be good.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Harry warned him, reminded of the times when his imagination had caused him more trouble then it was worth.

"Why's that?" Draco asked, not taking his word for it.

"Because, you might be underestimating the power of my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you can certainly find out for yourself. I was just warning you," Harry said with a shrug.

Draco nodded before they both turned to the mirror. Harry held his breath as Draco spoke, dreading what was going to happen next.

"The scenario I wish to create is the thing that will make Harry Potter jealous the most," Draco said awkwardly.

The two boys watched the reflection, waiting for something to happen. The lights in the room flickered; first shutting off before quickly turning back on.

Harry's jaw dropped as he peered into the reflection. There, he saw the unmistakable scene of Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley, entangled in a rather passionate kiss. Harry turned from the reflection to look at the real Draco, and was surprised to see that Ginny was actually there.

Draco quickly pushed her off of him, sounding revolted as he sputtered, "What the bloody hell, Potter!? That's disgusting!"

Harry watched, slightly disgusted and slightly amused as Draco fought with Ginny who was trying to grope him.

"Get off, Weasel!" Draco demanded as he fought with her.

"But Draco, I love you!"

The blonde looked like he was going to be sick as he tried to shake her off. "Make her stop! What kind of bloody joke is this, Potter?"

"I didn't do it," he said in a monotone voice. "You brought it upon yourself."

"She keeps touching me!" Draco said, catching and holding both her hands together.

"Let's go somewhere else," Ginny said to Draco, her eyes batting suggestively.

Rolling his eyes, Harry addressed the redhead. "Ginny, let Draco go."

In a flash, he was faced with a Ginny who's face was as red as her hair. In anger, she yelled, "No! You have no right to be like this! If I want to date other people, then that's my business. After all, you broke up with me."

She was clearly under a spell from the room, but it still hurt Harry.

"Weasel, stop!" Draco ordered as she tried to kiss him.

"But Draco!" she whined.

"She's as bad as Pansy!" he groaned.

"Malfoy, look," Harry said as he noticed panels from the floor beginning to float. He looked up to see them form rows of eight across and eight down, and at the far end of the room, there was a door.

Draco was trying to see, but Ginny was distracting him by nibbling his ear.

A staircase formed in front of Harry from the silver panels, which led up to the rows in the air.

"We have to get to that door," Harry said. He glanced over at Draco and Ginny and saw her brushing his hair. The former Gryffindor seemed to be in awe, and the latter was looking very upset and disgusted. Harry rolled his eyes.

"You should do your hair like this," she said as she brushed his hair over. When it fell back into place, she frowned.

"Hey, why don't we pay attention to Potter?" Draco suggested loudly to her.

"I don't want to," Ginny said petulantly.

"Potter! I can't concentrate with her."

"Then just stay here," Harry said. "I'll see what these panels are about."

Draco agreed with a nod and smacked Ginny's hand away from his face.

Harry left the two struggling and stepped onto the first stair panel, which shifted from his weight. He cautiously made his way up to where the stairs met with the rows.

He started to put his foot down on the second panel, and it immediately crashed to the ground.

"What was that?" Draco called up to him. "Get off!"

"I think we have to find a safe passage across," Harry said. Testing out another panel, it didn't collapse, so he got onto it. It sank a bit, but didn't fall. Next, he tested another panel to the right. It was sturdy, so he got on, and the panel he was previously on smashed to the floor.

"Potter?" Draco called. "Weasel, stop it, damnit! Potter?"

"Malfoy! Get up here!" Harry urged, hurrying him while testing out more panels before the one he was on collapsed. He tested another and it fell to the ground. He released the breath he didn't know he was holding when he found a safe one.

"Jump over here!" Draco instructed Ginny.

Harry looked over to see Draco taking hold of Ginny's hand. The blonde looked very reluctant to be doing this kind gesture, but knew it was the only way to get her to the other side.

"Just hold my hand, okay?" he said to her. "We have to get across here."

"That panel's falling, Malfoy. Hurry up!"

Draco quickly jumped over to where Harry had just been, and then joined him on the same panel he was on. Ginny followed somewhat reluctantly behind him.

"Where now?" he asked.

They heard the panel behind them collapse.

"Draco," Ginny whined. "We're so far up. I'm scared! Get me down!"

Harry ignored them and continued to test the panels as the one they were on started to shake. Draco found the safe one this time, and as the three got on, the other panel dropped. The littlest Weasley was beginning to shake with fright.

"Get me down!" she cried, starting to tug on Draco's robes.

Harry immediately sensed danger and grabbed onto his companion as Ginny stepped onto a wrong panel. She began to fall, but Draco still had her hand. She was clinging to his arm for dear life, dangling in the air. Draco was only still on the platform because Harry moved him back.

"Pull her up!" Harry ordered.

"I'm trying!"

The panel they were on was starting to shake menacingly.

"Come on!" Harry urged him.

Draco gathered his strength and began to pull Ginny up, his teeth gritted in his effort. The panel was beginning to shake, and he could hardly maintain his balance. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and with a quick burst of strength, he was able to pull Ginny up to safety. Not wasting any time, for the panel was about to fall, Harry and Draco jumped onto another panel, Draco pulling Ginny along, and hoped it was a safe one. Thankfully, it was sturdy. They were safe. Draco's heart pounded as he heard the panel that he had been on moments before crash to the floor.

"That was close," Harry said, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh God!" Ginny breathed, looking up at her savior admiringly. "Draco, you saved me!"

Draco groaned. "Let's move. And don't do anything, Weasel."

"Just a few more panels," Harry encouraged.

As slowly as they could afford, they made their way safely across to the ledge that led to the doorway with only a few minor mishaps.

"We did it!" Ginny squealed in delight, and tried to kiss Draco.

"I said no!" he said firmly and moved her away. Ginny just grinned and then turned to Harry.

"Why did you call him up here? You could've gotten us both killed!"

Harry shook his head. She was acting strange because of the spell, and he didn't like it.

"Take care of her, Malfoy," Harry said, and went into the door.

Draco was about to protest, but Ginny kissed him.

Harry looked about the room he had just entered. It was the same as the room before, with the panels and everything.

"What in the world?" Harry wondered aloud.

Draco joined him, pushing a giggling Ginny away.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Draco groaned. "Why are we back here?"

"Beats me," Harry muttered.

"She's not going to go back up there without a fight," Draco said, eyeing her grotesquely.

"You'll carry her if you have to," Harry said simply. He didn't want to watch them; even if Draco was protesting, it was still disgusting.

"I will most certainly not carry her!" Draco spat. "She's your ex, Potter! You carry her."

Harry rolled his eyes and looked around for something different, but nothing was.

"I don't understand!" Harry sighed.

"Do you want to try and cross the panels again?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I don't see anything else we can do." With that said, he started up the stairs.

"Oh no!" Ginny cried. "I am not going back up there!"

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Draco asked, annoyed.

"I'm perfectly fine here!"

He sighed, and Harry heard him say, "I'll take you somewhere alone if you cooperate."

Harry groaned. Malfoy sure knew how to get his way.

"You promise?" Ginny asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Promise," Draco said in a very unconvincing tone. "Now come on."

The two joined him on the panels, and they made it across this time with a lot less difficulty, and with minimum whining from Ginny.

They then very cautiously went through the door, and were horrified to see they were back in the same place.

"This can't be happening!" Harry groaned.

"Why are we back here?" Ginny asked.

"I'm going to murder her, Potter," Draco mumbled.

Harry fought the desperate urge to say "I told you so".

"Go up and step on a panel. I'm going to have a closer look at them," Draco told him.

Harry nodded, happily taking the chance to be away from them. He progressed up the stairs and stepped on a panel that crashed to the floor.

"What's it look like?" he called down.

He saw Draco move Ginny out of the way and bend down to look at the panel.

"It's just a normal looking floor panel," Draco answered.

Harry sighed.

"Come on, you blasted thing!" Draco huffed, and probed it. "Do something!"

The panel made a clicking sound and shot back into the air, slamming into Draco's hand on its way.

"Ah shit!" Draco's shout of pain rang out.

The panel went back into place.

"You all right?" Harry asked.

"Oh Draco! You poor thing," the red-headed girl cooed.

"Get off!" Draco grumbled, shaking her hand off his shoulder. "Potter, try the panel now."

Harry gingerly put a foot on it, and it didn't move at all. He smiled, accomplished.

"It works, Malfoy!"

"Well hurry up, then!" Draco shouted. "Before she starts necking me again!"

Soon, they had created a safe pathway to the door, and Ginny and Draco joined him on the other side.

"Brilliant!" Harry said, giving Draco a smile. "Teamwork!"

"Yeah, yeah," Draco said, annoyed that Ginny was still fawning over him. "Let's get out of here already." He shouldered passed Harry.

The three stepped through the door and found themselves in the mirror room, but this time, instead of panels, there were two doors. One led to the white room, and one led back to the castle.

"Level two completed," the deep voice echoed across the room.

"Oh thank God!" Draco said, and he immediately went towards the golden door.

Harry followed him, and in a bright flashing light, they appeared back into the room. Ginny wasn't there.

---

"That was the most revolting, vile, disgusting thing I have ever had to put up with!" Draco said, wiping his mouth furiously. "I hate your mind, Potter."

Harry grinned. "I told you so."

Draco flashed him a glare. "So you did," he mumbled, upset that Harry was right. He sighed. "I don't think I can last another round of that."

"Well, you'll have to," Harry shrugged.

Draco nodded and looked at the time. "It's already seven. I have to get some stuff done."

"Wait," Harry said, nonplussed.

Draco turned to see that Harry looked a little perturbed. Oh no, he thought, he's not going to scream again, is he?

"You said that your father didn't know you're in the games," Harry said. "Why?"

He didn't want to go into his father with the former Gryffindor, but Harry was looking so confused that he felt obligated to answer.

"Because I haven't talked to him," he said. "I haven't heard from my dad since he got shipped off to Azkaban." The raven-haired boy looked disbelieving, and Draco continued, trying to prove it. "Really, if you don't believe me, you can ask the next time we're in the game. Need anything else?" he asked after Harry sighed, almost wishing the other boy wouldn't leave so he could stop thinking about everything that was supposed to be done.

"Yeah," Harry said. "You told me you'd give me the Mortuus Sermo when we started the games." His eyes were looking hopeful.

"Oh, right," Draco said and went to get it, reaching into a desk drawer and pulling it out of a cloth bag. "But you're not getting the spell until the game is over."

"I wouldn't back out on you now, Malfoy."

Since he had his back to Harry, he allowed himself to smile. Harry was obviously trying to talk his way into getting what he wanted - it was a very Slytherin thing to do. He schooled his face to be impassive before he turned and handed Harry the Mortuus Sermo, which was a golden spiky shaped circle no bigger then a golf ball.

"It's so tiny," Harry murmured.

"It's also really powerful," Draco said. "Be careful with it."

"Yeah," Harry said, dazed.

"Well, I have a lot of stuff to do, Potter."

"Right," Harry nodded. "Are we going to do a research thing sometime this week?"

"Yeah, Wednesday," Draco replied. "But we can't do the next level till the weekend because I can't miss class."

"Okay," Harry nodded. "See you later, then."

Harry took off and Draco frowned. It was nice having company, even if it was Potter - it got his troubles off his mind.

No time for a break, he told himself, snapping out of it and blowing out the candles.

---

-Early that Sunday morning-

Hermione awoke at eight thirty with a splitting headache. She groaned as she slowly sat up, and her head throbbed worse.

Maybe it was from the side effects from the protection spell she had done with Parvati last night, or maybe it was because it didn't work and it was the effects of whatever Pansy did. Either way, she knew she would have to figure it out quickly.

"Parvati?" she called, and immediately regretted it as she felt a sharp pain in her head. She heard her roommate roll over in her sleep.

Hermione was having trouble thinking at all because of the pain. The only thought that did come to her mind was, Oh my God! My head really hurts!

"You okay?" she heard her other roommate, Bridgett ask.

"N-no," Hermione said, putting her hand to her head and sitting down.

"What's the matter?" Bridgett questioned, her voice sounding too loud for Hermione.

"Head," was the only word Hermione could get out.

Bridgett was looking worriedly at her pained roommate. "Hold on," Hermione heard her mumble before she walked to Parvati and prodded her awake. "Parvati! Wake up! Hermione needs help."

"Huh?" Parvati asked sleepily, peeking through one eye.

"Something's wrong with Hermione!"

Her friend immediately jumped out of bed and went to her. "Hermione, what's wrong? What did they do to you?"

The bushy-haired female pointed to her head, which was still throbbing from every word they said.

"Hold on," Parvati said. "Go get a teacher, Bridgett."

"Right," Bridgett nodded and rushed out of the room.

"It's going to be okay, Hermione," Parvati said calmly, looking very concerned.

Hermione gave a tiny nod and tried to be as still as possible. If she didn't move, she found the pain wasn't as bad.

She heard the door open again, and barely made out Professor Snape heading towards her. Hermione was starting to black out; the pain was filling her head with loud buzzing. It was so loud that it even shut out the sounds of everyone else who seemed to be shouting at her. Suddenly, the ground rushed up to meet her. Then she felt herself hit the ground.

---

When Hermione opened her eyes, both the humming and the pain were gone. In fact, she was feeling oddly numb. She tried to move but found she couldn't. She heard- and saw- the feet of Ron, Parvati, and Bridgett sitting in chairs next to her.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed as he saw her eyes open. "You're awake."

Hermione's head slightly twitched in a nod, not able to open her mouth to speak.

"She can't speak; I put a numbing spell on her," Madam Pomfrey said, coming into sight.

"Why?" Ron asked.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "She was in a lot of pain."

"What happened?" Parvati asked. "Was it the spell?"

"Spell?" Ron asked. "What spell?"

"Let the girl rest for a while. I'll go over the details with her later," Madam Pomfrey said firmly.

Ron nodded reluctantly.

"If you'd like, one of you can help her drink this," she said, holding up a purple potion. "It'll counter the spell I used."

Ron said he would, and Madam Pomfrey rushed off to another room. Turning to Hermione, he smiled.

"You'll be fine," he assured her.

She attempted a smile back, but her face only twitched in response.

When Ron insisted to Parvati and Bridgett that he would take care of her, they left reluctantly. He helped her drink the potion, and soon she was able to move, but was still not making very coherent sentences.

"Tan oo," Hermione blubbered.

"No problem," he grinned. "Don't speak yet, I can't really understand you."

Hermione nodded and swallowed hard. Her throat was dry from the potion.

"You scared me!" he told her. "When Parvati told me you were in the hospital wing, I almost blacked out myself." He gave a little laugh.

Hermione gave a tiny smile back.

"But you're all right, right?" Ron asked, making sure.

Hermione nodded again.

"Good," he said.

Madam Pomfrey came in holding another potion. "You'll need to leave, Mister Weasley. This girl needs her rest for the potion to work."

"When can I see her again?"

"In about a half hour, she'll be able to have visitors again."

"Alright." Ron took Hermione's hand for a moment and gave it a squeeze. "I'll come back later," he promised before leaving.

"Drink this," Madam Pomfrey said, handing Hermione a goblet.

Hermione obliged, quickly swallowing the potion. Her mouth tingled, but she couldn't taste anything but oranges.

"Better?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Yeah," Hermione mumbled, regaining the use of her jaw as the feeling flooded back into her muscles. "Nothin' hurts anymore."

"Would you like to tell me why you had such a powerful protection spell on you?"

Hermione sighed, now finding she had enough control of her tongue and jaw to speak a bit easier. "I thin' some people in my common room are trying to hurt me. I put the protection spell on myself just in case they tried somethin'."

"I see," Madam Pomfrey said. "It was very nicely done, I have to say."

Hermione smiled.

"And it would have worked just fine if there wasn't a conflict of spells."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Whatever spell you were trying to protect yourself from was fighting with the protection spell to get to you. Normally, such a well cast spell would take care of such problems, but the spell used against you was particularly strong. That's why you were in so much pain."

"What spell did they have on me?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure, Ms. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said. "But I believe I've managed to take it off along with the protection spell."

"Oh," Hermione said. "Good."

"You're clearly in danger. Do you know any reason why these people would be harming you?"

"I don't know," Hermione responded, shaking her head.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I'm going to send you up sometime to speak with the Headmistress to sort this out."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Now get some rest," the nurse ordered. "Your friend will be back to see you later." She gave Hermione a reassuring smile and left.

Hermione rolled over. What was that spell supposed to have done to me? And how is the Headmistress going to help if I can't even help myself?

She lay there thinking for a very long time, until she heard a person approaching.

"Hermione?" Ron's voice called. "Are you awake?"

Hermione turned over and smiled at him, preparing to tell him everything that had happened to her.