The Dragon Keeper and the Secret Keeper

THE DRAGON KEEPER

and

THE SECRET KEEPER

~CHAPTER TWO~

~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~

Hagrid handed Fang's leash to Charlie, and pointed his crossbow through the downpour in the direction of the Dark Forest. "Who's there? Show yerself!"

A rather short girl with a mess of tangled, wet hair stepped into the circle of lantern light. "Hiya Hagrid, sorry, didn' mean teh scare yeh." She smiled crookedly.

Hagrid lowered the crossbow with a sigh of relief. "Ah, Lizzie. What're yeh doin out here this time o' night?"

"I was jus' lettin Audrey out teh hunt," she replied. Audrey was an Augurey - a strange type of greenish-black bird that was sometimes known as the Irish Phoenix. "She can only fly in the rain, yeh know."

"Ah yes, I remember," Hagrid replied. "But yeh shouldn' be runnin around the grounds at night, Lizzie. 'Specially the Dark Forest."

"Where else is she goin teh catch anything?" Lizzie asked, as Audrey swooped down to land on her shoulder.

"All the same. Next time, why don' yeh come an get me teh go with yeh?" Hagrid suggested.

"Alrigh'. I can take care of meself though yeh know," she said stubbornly, putting her hand up next to her shoulder so that Audrey could step onto it.

"Well, since yeh're here, why don' yeh help me an' Charlie. We're lookin fer his Crup. It ran off earlier today an hasn' come back yet."

"Chudley's run off?" Lizzie looked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Charlie said, letting Fang lick his hand. "He probably chased after something."

Charlie had found the Crup scrounging for gnomes at the Burrow last summer. He looked something like a Jack Russell terrier, only he had a forked tail. When Charlie had taken him in he had been required to get it removed. Chudley was the most unusual pet at Hogwarts - next to Audrey.

"Ah, here he is!" Hagrid pointed. "Diggin' in me punkin patch."

"Chudley!" Charlie lit up. "You silly mutt, get over here!"

Chudley kept digging.

"Wha's he got?" Lizzie asked, squinting.

The three of them walked over to where Chudley was. He had dug a hole a couple of feet deep already.

"What you got there Chud?" Charlie leaned in. "Chud! Those are my dragon hide gloves! I need those!" He tried to pull them away from the creature, who resisted adimantly. When Charlie finally managed to get them, one of the fingers was missing. "That's no good! They're useless now! Oh, Mum's going to kill me!" He slumped over, glaring at Chudley, who whined and backed away.

"Let me see 'em," Lizzie reached out with an intent look. Charlie handed them to her - she couldn't make it worse, he figured.

"Me dad taught me this spell," she said. "Presto change-o!" She held a hand over the gloves, then quickly shoved them in her pocket and pulled out another pair. "See? They're all fixed!"

Charlie mustered a little laugh. "Those are yours," he shook his head as she handed them to him.

"No they're not. Mine're ripped - see?" She pulled out the pair with the missing finger. "Me dad'll have teh get another pair." She made a guilty face.

Charlie shook his head again, though he couldn't help but smile.

"Go on an take 'em, Charlie. I'll prob'ly get new ones over the summer anyway." She held them out insistantly.

Charlie looked from the gloves to Lizzie, and saw her stubbornly raised eyebrow. He took them and put them in his pocket. "Thanks."

Hagrid had watched all this with an amused crinkle around his eyes. "Why're we all standin' out 'ere soakin? You two come on in an 'ave some tea." He led them into his small cabin. Fang took to licking Lizzie's hands, and Charlie gave up and let go of the leash. When Lizzie sat down, Fang tried to jump up on her lap.

"Fang! Get down! What d'ya think yer doin?" Hagrid pulled the slobbering dog away from Lizzie, who was laughing and trying to cover her face. Audrey had flewn up onto a shelf and out of the way. Hagrid tied Fang's leash to the wall and turned back to Lizzie. She was trying to wipe the dog drool off her face with her sleeves. Hagrid handed her a spotted old handkerchief, and after a minute or so she was at last dry again.

"So Charlie, think yer brother'll be a Prefect nex' year?" Hagrid asked, pouring their tea.

Charlie shrugged. "Probably."

"An' what about Megan? Quidditch Cap'n?"

"Yeah. McGonagall's already told her." Charlie sipped his tea with an odd grimace.

"Who d'yeh think she'll pick fer the empty spots?" Hagrid asked, knowing exactly what the grimace was about.

"She says she is considering everyone first." Charlie scowled at his cup a moment. "She knows I'm good. She taught me. But she won't tell me I'm on yet."

"She wants teh be fair," Lizzie put in now, matching Charlie's scowl.

"Of course you'd stick up for her," Charlie squinted.

"Yes, of course I would. I'm not a bad Chaser yeh know. Wha's crawled down yer pants?"

Charlie gave an indignant grunt and went back to his tea. Stupid girls.

"Any plans fer the summer?" Hagrid asked, still perfectly cheerful.

"Goin' teh Scotland teh visit me cousins fer a week," Lizzie said. "But mostly I'll prob'ly jus' practice."

Charlie gave her another sour look. "I suppose you'll be coming over to the Burrow for that, nowhere else to practice Quidditch around Ottery St. Catchpole."

"Megan told me I could come practice," Lizzie said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I'll be practicing all day, every day, the whole summer," Charlie crossed his arms. "I've got a new Shooting Star."

Lizzie let out a snort and covered her mouth to stifle giggles.

"What?" Charlie demanded.

Lizzie shook her head, forcing herself to stop laughing.

Hagrid cleared his throat. "Well, its getting right late. I s'pose I better get yeh back up teh the castle soon."

Lizzie tucked her tangled mane behind her ears, looking down at her tea. She looked suddenly unnerved. She picked up the teacup, examining the leaves that remained at the bottom.

"Oh no, you've actually been listening to Trelawney?" Charlie rolled his eyes. "That old crackpot?"

"No no, me oldest cousin's a tea-leaf reader. She taught me. An' look, a cross, clear as day." Lizzie held the cup out for him to look.

"So what? Looks like a plus sign. Maybe it means you'll learn how to do add. Then you'll know how badly you're losing at Quidditch this summer."

"Fer yer information," Lizzie continued, "its a cross. A clear sign of toil an' danger." She set it down and picked up Charlie's. "Oh, a key! D'yeh have any secrets? Cause someone's tryin teh find 'em out."

Charlie rolled his eyes again. "Come on, let's go Hagrid. Are you coming, Mystical Lizzie?"

Lizzie gave him a dirty look, but followed them out.

"Chud, come on, no more burying my things," Charlie picked the doglike creature up and held him under one arm like an American football.

Audrey chose to fly just above them rather than rest on Lizzie's shoulder. She looked rather like a vulture circling a cadaver.

"If I get bird droppings on me from that thing, I swear..." Charlie grumbled.

"Oh, shut up already! What is wrong with yeh?" Lizzie punched him in the arm. "I gave yeh me gloves. Yeh've got yer Crup back. What're yeh so sour about?"

Charlie gave her a glare for the punch and sulked silently all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. He wished she wasn't right, but she was. Why was he being so grouchy?

"Good night," she said when they were in the Common Room. She waited for a reply, and when she didn't get one she shoved past him and went up the girls' stairs. Charlie made a face at her back and started up the boys'.

He couldn't sleep. He knew he had been uncharacteristically mean, and he was starting to feel guilty. She had given him her gloves. I'm no charity case, he thought stubbornly. Her and her stupid bird, wandering around the Dark Forest at night ... who does she think she is? But he had been out there at night too. With Hagrid yes, but still...

He turned over. Gus was snoring now. Marty was hanging halfway off his bed, and looked about to fall out. Chud had curled up next to Charlie's four-poster. Charlie was the only one awake, and why? Because he had said something mean to a stupid girl?

Chudley's run off? echoed suddenly in his head. She had sounded really concerned. Presto change-o! He smiled involuntarily... Megan told me I could come practice. He would be seeing her almost every day over the summer then...

Marty hit the floor with a solid thud. He jerked up and looked around.

"Fall out of bed again Marty?" Charlie asked amusedly.

"Ah." Marty looked as if he'd had no idea what had happened before Charlie said it. "Yes, I s'pose I did." He climbed back under the sheets. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was awake already."

"What time is it?"

"Near two I think."

"What're you doing still awake?"

"Just can't sleep."

"Find Chud?"

Charlie pointed to the creature on the floor.

"Ah. Good. Well, night then."

"Night."

Marty closed his eyes, and was soon sliding dangerously close to the edge of the bed again.

Somehow this interruption of his thoughts made Charlie's eyes heavy at last.

His dreams were vague and disconcerting. He could just make out the image of Lizzie, and she was curled up on a wood floor. I don't know! She screamed in agony. I don't know any secret!

He didn't know how many times the dream played over, but at last he was torn out of it by Chud's whining for breakfast. He pulled himself up and got dressed, and tried to shake the foreboding feeling that was creeping up. He managed to avoid Lizzie most of the day by sticking with Gus, Marty, Tristan and Patrick. But when they were all finished with their exams, and sitting in the Common Room for the last time before the summer holidays, there was no avoiding her.

Gus called over to her, "Lizzie, think you'll be a Chaser?"

"Oh, I don' know... I'd sure like teh be one." She sat down nearby.

"Charlie's gonna be Seeker for sure," Marty nodded, arms crossed. "We'll have a young team this year, but we're still gonna win the cup."

"Are yeh all tryin fer the team?" Lizzie raised an eyebrow and looked around.

"Yeah. Me and Marty wanna be Beaters." Gus grinned.

Lizzie smiled. "Yeh'd be gooduns, I'd bet."

"Tristan and Patrick are trying for Chasers, but I don't think they're serious enough about it," Marty said thoughtfully. Patrick and Tristan didn't object - they were busy trading Famous Witches and Wizards cards. "I think it will be Charlie for Seeker, me and Gus for Beaters, and you and Jane for Chasers."

"Jane's trying out?" Charlie asked absent-mindedly.

"Yeah, she's pretty good," Lizzie said, seeming as hesitant to talk to him as he was to her.

"Remember that first-year flying lesson? She was probably the most natural flier of all of us," Gus looked over at a mousy-haired girl across the room.

"She's real clever, too," Lizzie nodded.

"And then we'll have Megan and Michael," Marty nodded. "Michael got anything up his sleeve for next year I wonder?"

Lizzie attempted to push her hair out of her face. "Told me an' Jane he wants teh get new brooms fer the team."

"Excellent. Those ancient ones we've got now... we may as well be flapping our arms."

Tristan and Patrick appeared to have grown tired of their cards and were now arm wrestling.

"There're Muggles who appreciate magic better'n you two," Lizzie said with a smirk. They didn't even look up.

"Squibs," Marty shook his head and snickered.

Patrick looked at him and hollared "Hey!", and Tristan saw his chance and pushed Patrick's arm to the

table. Patrick was not very happy to say the least. The two of them began to shove each other, and Marty and Gus had to break it up.

Lizzie and Charlie were left sitting by themselves at the table, as the boys argued.

"Yeh're in a better mood, I see," Lizzie said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah." He looked at the floor. "I was just... I don't know really."

"Those tea leaves... I was serious. I saw somethin' again today in Trelawney's class."

"Bet the old coot loved that."

"I didn' tell 'er."

Charlie looked up.

"So why have yeh been avoiding me all day?"

"I haven't -" he began. Should he tell her about the dream?

"Yeh have."

He gave her a searching look. "I had this weird dream last night."

"About me?"

"Yeah. It was... well, it was pretty awful actually."

She swallowed and looked at her hands. "Was I... was I screamin somethin? About not knowin somethin?"

"Yeah! How -?"

"I dreamt it too."

"Oh." Charlie couldn't think what else to say. Finally he asked, "Do you know what it means?"

She just shook her head and started biting her thumbnail, her eyes out of focus.

"What's with the serious faces?" asked Marty, sitting back down.

They both mustered slight smiles. Charlie forced himself to talk about Quidditch again, but Lizzie was quiet

the rest of the evening, until finally she got up and went up the girls' stairs without a word.

* * *

"'Bye Hagrid!" Charlie called, waving with his free arm as he stepped toward the train.

"Bye Charlie, send me an owl will yeh?" Hagrid beamed. Then the enourmous man turned to Lizzie, who

gave him the biggest hug her small body could muster.

Charlie grabbed the railing with his free hand so he could pull himself and Chud up the steep steps. "What've you been eating Chudley?"

"Move along then Weasley," Marty gave him a shove. "The rest of us have to board too you know."

"Its Chudley, he's gotten so fat." Charlie adjusted his grip on the Crup and started down the aisle, looking for an empty compartment.

"Maybe yeh should switch his food," Lizzie commented, coming up the aisle from the other direction.

"You again," Charlie shook his head in mock-annoyance. "Stop following me."

"I'm not!" Lizzie pouted. She looked behind him at the group of boys. "Yeh're not all goin teh fit in one compartment, yeh know."

"Wow, been taking Arithmancy have you? We were trying to find two compartments across from each other."

"Oh, well I think I saw some back there," she gestured behind her. "Have yeh seen Jane or Megan?"

"Ah, my sister's new best friend, Lizzie Adelwood. Yeah, she's up near the front I think."

"Thanks." Lizzie ignored his tone and smiled at all of them as she pushed past.

Charlie watched her walking away with that hideous bird of hers .

"Are we going to move anytime soon or do you have a thing for vulture-girl's bum?" Gus pushed past him and took the lead.

"No Gus, I think its the vulture's bum he's admiring," Marty followed Gus.

"It's an Augurey, not a vulture, and no!" Charlie grumbled. Stupid stupid girls.

They found two compartments, and Charlie sat with Patrick and Tristan, as to avoid any more remarks about Lizzie from Gus and Marty. The two of them proved to be poor company, however, as they were more interested in their trading cards than conversation with Charlie. He looked out the window for a time, and finally fell into an uneasy sleep.

I don't know!

He woke with a start. That same dream again.

He looked around, Patrick and Tristan were gone. Lizzie was leaning in the compartment.

"Are yeh alright?" She scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Yeah, are we there already?"

"Not yet. The other boys are all in there talking 'bout Quidditch," she nodded toward the other compartment, and then sat down across from him.

He stretched and rubbed his eyes.

"Megan's comin around tellin people who made the team."

Charlie sat up straight. "Do you know who it is?"

Lizzie grinned and nodded.

"Well?"

Lizzie looked to the doorway just as Charlie's sister stepped into it.

"Hey Charlie, you're on the team," she nodded with a little smile. "I'm telling everyone so we can possibly practice over the summer."

Charlie grinned wide. "Awesome."

"Yep, you're Seeker, and then Marty and Gus are Beaters, and Lizzie and Jane are Chasers."

"So its two seventh years and five third years." Lizzie was smiling at Charlie. "And just like Marty said."

Charlie shook his head and chuckled. "Thanks Meg."

"You earned it. Well, I have to go talk to Jane. See you when we get to the station." The tall redhead left.

Lizzie looked quite smug. "Suppose we'll have the best team in years."

Charlie couldn't argue that. He leaned back and sighed. A few minutes later, the train lurched into King's Cross Station.

Ronald Adelwood was talking to Molly Weasley on the platform. Charlie greeted his mum, four-month-old Ron (named after Ronald, who was his godfather), twin toddlers Fred and George, looking like they had gotten into a pack of Fizzing Whizbees, and four-year-old Percy, who was trying his very best to keep the two year olds from floating off around the platform.

"We'll be seeing you then, Molly, boys," Ronald nodded after Lizzie had hugged him.

"Bye," Lizzie waved to Charlie in particular, and took her father's hand as he pushed her trunk down to the barrier.

Megan finally got off the train, followed by Jane, whose usual shyness seemed to have collapsed under her glee at being made Chaser. "Bye Megan! See ya Charlie!" she called cheerily as she skipped over to her own parents.

"Its going to be quite a summer, I think," Megan grinned as she greeted her mother.

"Just don't get into too much trouble," Mrs. Weasley pleaded, pulling Ron's pacifier away from Fred.

Quite a summer, Charlie thought, following his family out through the barrier. Somehow he knew that would turn out to be an understatement.