Summary:After nearly a week of preparing, Hermione is finally ready to find Bolt in an attempt to repay him for saving her life, not realizing that fate has bigger plans for them both.
Notes:Hope you enjoy this chapter. Feel free to give feedback. Let me know what you liked, and what you didn't. I'm also looking for someone I can run ideas by and have read chapters before I post them to make sure there aren't any mistakes, so let me know if anyone is interested. I'm also unsure what I want to do about Voldemort as most of what I have planned revolves around Harry and Hermione's relationship, so please comment any ideas you have.
Chapter TextHogwarts November 18th
Hermione woke up at 4am and quickly headed for the shower. Today was the day. She knew she didn't have much time left if she wanted to save Bolt. It had been 9 days since the dragon incident, as she'd taken to calling it in her head, but she was finally ready.
She would have gone sooner, but it had taken nearly 3 days for Hermione to find the large leather tome on dragon breeding and veterinary care in the restricted section, and nearly 3 more to brew the potion that would mend the dragon's wingbone.
It had been terribly complicated, involving the use of giant purple toad warts which had been ridiculously overpriced, and would have taken even longer if she hadn't had the help of Madam Pomfrey, even if the matron had been reluctant to assist her when McGonagall had initially told her what Hermione trying to do. She'd quickly come around though and had been instrumental in brewing the sedative that would hopefully be strong enough to calm the dragon enough for her to set the bone without being flame broiled.
She just hoped she could find him before he succumbed to the elements.
She'd spent the last 3 days narrowing down the location of where the dragon could be by studying pensieve memories of her dreams and gathering supplies. It had taken her only a few nights to realize that the dreams she had of the dragon were really live visions of him.
She'd grown more and more anxious as the days went by as she watched helplessly as Bolt's condition deteriorated before her eyes but yesterday she'd finally found it using a decade-old map of Hogwarts and its surrounding forest. She was certain she'd found the area where the dragon had been in her dreams, as it was the only place on the map that had a waterfall.
She gathered her things in her backpack that she'd enchanted to be weightless and bottomless and headed down to the kitchens to begin stuffing over twice her body weight in shrunken meat into her bag. She felt slightly guilty for the extra work she'd heaped on the house elves, but she brushed it aside. A life was at stake here and there would be time to worry about the house elves later.
After briefly informing the headmistress that she was leaving to find the dragon, she raced out onto the grounds and nervously mounted the broom she'd brought with her. She'd been reluctant to agree to search by broom, mainly due to her fear of heights. She knew she wasn't horrible on a broom, but she had still originally planned to walk until McGonagall had correctly pointed out that it would take over 13 hours of nonstop walking to reach the area where she knew the dragon to be, but only around 45 minutes by broom, and that it would be safer for her to fly.
After a few minutes of sitting on the broom and gathering her courage, she gently lifted off the ground and began to move forward, slowly speeding up as she became more comfortable until she got a steady speed. She didn't go all that high, mostly staying just above the tops of the trees as she glided through the air.
She flew deeper into the forest, occasionally stopping to pull out the tattered map she'd borrowed/stolen from the restricted section of the library. Around 30 minutes in, her bum was quite sore, and she almost decided to stop and take a break before remembering that she'd read there were acromantula in this part of the forest and thought better of it.
She had been flying nearly an hour and a half when she finally reached the small cove with the waterfall. She supposed it must have taken longer than she'd planned due to the fact that when she'd made the original estimate she'd accounted for the broom to be flying full speed. She landed her broom carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible, in case the dragon was nearby.
She was glad to see that the area looked exactly like it had from her dream, which meant the dragon had to be nearby.
She scanned the area cautiously before climbing up onto a large rock on the outside of the clearing, immediately spotting the large black body of the dragon lying on the bank of the large pool of water with its back to her. She approached it carefully, trying not to startle the huge reptile as she skirted around it.
It wasn't until she'd made it to the other side of the dragon and could see its face that she noticed it was completely still. Was it dead? Her heart leapt into her throat at the thought.
Please don't be dead, she pleaded internally as she approached the still form of the dragon that she owed her life too.
The closer she got, the more likely it seemed that it was dead. By the time she had made it all the way over to him she was almost positive he was gone.
She sighed, tears running down her face. She cursed herself for not getting here faster. Maybe if she'd worked harder, or brewed faster she'd have been able to save him.
"I'm sorry" she whispered as she almost reverently reached out and rested her hand on the seemingly deceased dragon's scaly snout when all of a sudden his eyes opened and she almost peed herself with fright. She quickly backed away as the dragon stared at her with emerald green eyes that seemed much dimmer than the last time she'd seen them.
Bolt had been feeling weak since he was injured, and had been too weak to stand for over 2 days. He was no stranger to starvation, his time with his relatives has made sure of that, but he'd never felt this hungry before. He knew he wouldn't survive much longer.
At least this time he'd been able to do something good though, as opposed to all the other times he'd nearly died from being beaten and starved by his relatives. Just a little longer and he'd be able to be at peace. His only regret was he'd never discovered why he keeps seeing the bushy haired girl from the forest in his dreams every night.
He was thinking to himself that at least no one would miss him when a heavenly floral scent filled his nose and he felt something touch his head. He reluctantly pried open his eyes and saw… her ? Maybe she's an angel he thought, come to take him to wherever she came from but immediately dismissed the thought when she proceeded to fall on her bum in her hurry to back away from him. He knew an angel couldn't possibly be thatclumsy.
He tried to lift his head, to look at her but he was too weak, so he settled for just watching her. She seemed to be staring at him with a mixture of relief and a small amount of fear. He wondered how she'd found him. He'd thought his cove was quite secluded.
Calming down from the unexpected fright, Hermione approached him hesitantly, though it was quite obvious the dragon wasn't in any state to try and attack her.
"Are you hungry?" she asked softly as she began pulling packages of meat from her backpack and unshrinking them before laying them in front of his face.
"I'm sorry if you don't like chicken and beef. This is all I could get."
She knew Hebridean blacks usually ate sheep, but Hogwarts didn't have any sheep.
Bolt didn't seem to mind too much though because as soon as the smell of fresh meat reached him he eagerly attempted to raise his head again so he could eat the offered meal, only making it halfway up before falling back to the ground.
Hermione noticed this, and after a brief moment of indecision decided to help him.
"It's okay", she replied, "Can you open your mouth for me and I'll feed it to you?" she asked him, opening her mouth and pointing to it in an attempt to convey what she was trying to say.
Bolt just studied her for a moment, and deciding to trust her, obediently opened his mouth.
Please don't bite my arm off she silently prayed as she began to unwrap the meat and place it in his open mouth.
Bolt snapped his jaws shut as soon as she'd dropped the meat into his mouth and swallowed, immediately opening his mouth for more. He was so hungry he didn't even mind that the meat hadn't been cooked as he hadn't eaten in nearly a week and a half.
By the time Hermione had fed him all the meat from her bag he was already beginning to feel his strength return. Hermione's nervousness returned as Bolt finally found the energy he needed to stand up.
She just hoped she had proven herself not to be an enemy by this point and that since he'd just eaten over 300 pounds of meat he wouldn't see her as food, but she knew dragons could be unpredictable. They were still wild animals after all, no matter how intelligent they were.
She hesitantly held out her hand palm facing him and closed her eyes in an useless attempt to hold him off. Part of her was screaming at her to run, but something deep down told her that she didn't need to be afraid. Not of him.
Her eyes opened in surprise as the dragon pressed his forehead into the palm of her hand.
"Bloody hell" she whispered, in awe of the fact that she was petting a dragon, which is widely known as the most dangerous magical beast in the world.
"Bolt's your name right?" she asked, not expecting an answer, but was pleasantly surprised when he gave her a nod.
"You're so handsome" she cooed.
"Would you like me to help you with your wing? I know it must be hurting you." she asked gently, gesturing to his broken wing which was bent at an unnatural angle.
Bolt wasn't sure what it was about this girl that made him trust her, but he did. Maybe it was the way her scent made him feel warm inside, or that when she touched him he felt as if he could fly, broken wing or not. All he knew was that even though he didn't understand how or why she was here, he already trusted her more than he'd trusted anyone in his entire life thus far.
Bolt turned around and presented his back to her, obviously giving her the go ahead to look at his injury.
She was slightly surprised that the dragon was so trusting of her, but she wasn't going to complain as it would make healing him much easier. She reached out and touched his injured wing.
The break was obvious, but luckily it hadn't broken the skin, which would have taken even longer to heal and risked infection. She winced as she realized it had already partially healed, only not in the right position. She would have to rebreak it if he ever wanted to fly again.
"Listen to me boy. To heal you I'm going to have to rebreak the bone, and then set the bone into right position giving you the special potion I made that will fix your wing. This potion here will help you stay calm and numb the pain, so I need you to open up okay?" she told him, holding out what looked like a bottle of thick green liquid.
Bolt wasn't sure what a potion was, but the way she described it made it sound like medicine, not that he'd ever gotten any from his relatives but he still knew what it was. Bolt gave the bottle a sniff, recoiling slightly when the stench hit him, causing Hermione to smile slightly at the look on his face. It looked horrible, but his wing was in agony and this girl hadn't done anything to hurt him so far.
"It's perfectly safe Bolt, and it will help you to fly again, so open up" she assured, smiling when he let his jaw drop and allowed her to pour the putrid concoction into his mouth.
He couldn't keep the grimace off his face as he swallowed. The liquid was truly disgusting, reminding him of the taste of the giant spider he'd eaten when he'd first broken his wing, which unbeknownst to him was actually an ingredient in the potion he'd just swallowed.
He immediately felt the liquid's effect though, relaxing as his mind became hazy and the throbbing of his broken wing was replaced by a tingling sensation, reminding him of the way his tail would sometimes fall asleep when he was curled up in his cave at the reserve.
"Good job, you gorgeous boy" she praised, running a hand over his snout and caressing the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, causing Bolt to emit a deep rumbling sound, similar to the way a cat would purr as he reveled in her attention, causing Hermione to give him a wide smile.
"That feels a lot better doesn't it boy? Now, I just need to set the bone and then I can give you the bone mending potion. Lay down."
Bolt compliantly lowered himself to the ground, and was surprised when she boldly began to climb up on his back, causing him to freeze and let out a low growl. He wasn't a horse.
"Oh calm down you big baby. Do you want to be able to fly again or not?" she chastised, hesitating for only a moment before continuing until she sat firmly in between his 2 wings, straddling his back, determinedly ignoring the moisture that gathered between her legs at the feeling of the dragon's warm body between her thighs.
"I'm sorry for this big guy, but it's necessary" she apologized, not giving him any time to react before firmly gripping his broken wing in both hands and expertly rebreaking the partially healed bone with a snap.
Bolt jerked slightly at the sound of the bone breaking, but he felt no pain thanks to the sedative.
"That was great Bolt, you did so well" she praised, climbing down off his back.
Bolt hadn't liked the idea of having a human climbing on him to begin with, but was surprised to realize that he missed the warm weight of her on his back, as it had been very soothing.
She continued to praise him as she worked, attempting to keep his mind on her and not the way she was wrapping used thick leather straps to brace the bone against the side of his body so that it would heal in the correct position.
She'd had the straps made from her stores of basilisk hide for this very purpose, as it was the only thing she'd been able to find that would be strong enough to withstand a dragon's strength and light enough not to hinder his movement other than dragonhide, which she wasn't willing to use in case it offended him.
By the time she was finished she could tell Bolt was becoming restless. The sedative was clearly beginning to wear off, so she quickly finished with the straps. It had taken her a good while to make sure the straps were secure, and that they would hold the bone in the proper position.
"That's a good dragon. Now you just need to take this one last potion and then I have to head back to the castle" she told him as she pulled one last bottle from her bag, this one a deep red color.
He opened his mouth automatically, swallowing as soon as she poured it into his mouth in an attempt to avoid tasting it.
She walked around to where he could see her again and told him to try and stand up.
Bolt stood up gently, and immediately noticed that his wing felt much better, though he hated how restrictive the straps felt, not allowing him to spread his wing. They reminded him of the way he'd been chained in the dragon handler's cage and he immediately once he stood up tried to shake them off, thinking he was in restraints.
"Wait, stop Bolt, bad dragon!" Hermione cried, but he wasn't listening, too busy trying to get rid of the straps that were keeping his wing tucked against his body. Hermione worried that if he didn't stop he would hurt himself, so she marched up to him and grabbed him by one of his horns, pulling his head down and forcing him to look at her.
"STOP." she commanded, reaching out with her other hand and stroking the top of his head and watching as calmed at her touch. Once he was settled, she continued.
"Those straps are there to help your wing heal. You can't take them off until your wing is better. I promise if you keep them on, you'll be able to fly again soon, okay?" Hermione promised, gently stroking the white lightning shaped scar on his forehead, causing him to lean into her touch.
Bolt was disappointed, but he was willing to deal with the discomfort if it meant he'd be able to fly again, so he gave her a nod to show that he understood.
Then, with one last rub along his scaly head, giggling when he licked her face, staining her blouse with dragon slobber, Hermione reluctantly told him that she had to leave.
Bolt didn't want her to leave, but he knew she wouldn't be able to live in the forest like he did. It had been a hard enough adjustment for him, and he'd had the good fortune to have been turned into a dragon.
Hermione could tell he was reluctant for her to leave, and she understood. She really didn't really want to leave him any more than he wanted to leave her.
After all, she had a better connection with this dragon than any of the other students at Hogwarts, but it wouldn't do for McGonagall to have to send a search party to find her when she didn't return to the castle. That would be a disaster.
So, after reassuring Bolt that she'd return the next day, which he seemed to accept, Hermione picked up the broom she'd left lying on the ground that morning and headed back towards the castle, leaving behind an astonished Bold wondering how the hell his new friend could fly using nothing but a broom.