Summary:Hermione and Bolt grow closer as Hermione struggles to accept that she's having inappropriate feelings for what, to her at least, is an animal.
Notes:Shoutout to my beta Evelynn Arleas for her assistance.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextDecember 3rd, 1994, Hogwarts School
Ronald fucking Weasley she thought angrily, gritting her teeth in frustration as she stormed out of the great hall, pulling out her broom and shooting off into the forest.
It had been 2 weeks since she had first found Bolt in the forest, and in that time they had grown extremely close. She visited every morning to feed him, and then she spent the rest of the day keeping him company in the forest, sometimes bringing her school books and reading out loud to him. Watching him excitedly greet her every morning with his tail wagging like an excited puppy never failed to make her smile.
Some days she'd lie with her back against him and just spend the entire day talking, telling him about her classes at Hogwarts and how lonely she felt during the school year as she absentmindedly stroked the top of his head, which he loved. He was a great listener, and it was nice to have someone to vent to about her troubles who she knew she could trust with all of her secrets.
He was her best and only friend, and whenever she was in his presence she felt safer and more at home than she did even when she was at home with her parents.
He felt different to her than other dragons did and it was puzzling. Sometimes she got the feeling that he could actually understand what she was saying, which wasn't normal for any dragon species she'd ever read about.
The fact that Bolt couldn't speak wasn't even a true barrier for them, as she could often just feel what he was thinking, whether he was asking for more cuddles or just wanting to know if his wing straps could come off yet, to which she'd affectionately remind him to be patient, and that he'd be flying soon enough.
Then there was the way he seemed to prefer to cook his food using his fire, which was odd as everything she'd read had stated that dragon's preferred live prey, which would obviously be raw, but ultimately, she chalked it up to him just being an oddball, until she visited McGonagall a week ago for her weekly check in.
When she'd visited McGonagall the day after finding Bolt and had explained to her what she'd accomplished McGonagall had been shocked, especially when she'd found out that the dragon had allowed her to hand feed him and touch him before she'd even given him the sedative potion.
The professor told her that she had never heard of such a thing happening before as male dragons, even ones raised in captivity, were known to be extremely hostile towards humans, even if they were the ones who had raised them since birth. She tried to convince Hermione to stop visiting him until it was time to take the straps off but she refused. Bolt was hers, and though she hated herself for it, she was in love with him.
She'd spent weeks denying it, telling herself that it was wrong and disgusting, but the fact remained that everyday she spent with Bolt she returned to the castle with her knickers soaked and couldn't sleep until she'd brought herself to orgasm. Just a look from Bolt's emerald green eyes caused her to start to heat up.
She didn't understand it, and it scared her. Hermione was no stranger to having a crush, such as the small crush she'd had on Lockhart before she'd realized he was a fraud and had quit attending his class in protest. That had been embarrassing enough, but at least he'd been a human.
Hermione had seen other dragons, even other Hebridean blacks in her books, but it was only Bolt that she felt attracted too. It wasn't even the fact that Bolt was physically a dragon that attracted her, but his magic itself. Whenever she was close to him, she could feel his magic interact with hers. His magic was powerful and strong, yet at the same time warm and comforting and when it touched hers every cell in her body screamed at her that this was her ideal mate.
It was unsettling the way he affected her, but at the same time whenever she wasn't with him she felt like she was missing part of herself.
She knew the best thing for her to do at this point would to be to stop visiting him until his wing was healed and he could leave the forest, but she was drawn to Bolt like a kneazle was to yarn, and she wasn't about to give up the bond she had with her dragon for anything even if it did cause her to be further shunned by the other students.
When McGonagall had first announced to the school that Hermione would no longer be attending classes around 3 weeks ago and that she would instead be doing independent study and working on a special assignment from her, most of Hogwarts had continued to ignore her as usual with only a few jealous Ravenclaws bothering to comment, with the one exception being Ronald Bilius Weasley.
He'd loudly complained that if Hermione didn't have to attend classes, neither should he. McGonagall had quickly pointed out that he was barely passing his classes as it was, and that Hermione was the top student at the school, and even she would still be doing her essays and assigned reading, just on her own time.
He'd continued to complain to anyone who would listen however, claiming that Hermione couldn't be that smart since she was muggleborn, and that she was likely sleeping with the professors in exchange for good grades.
She refused to let his comments bother her, rightly assuming he was just an entitled prick with an inferiority complex. Until today that is.
Apparently she hadn't been quite as discreet as she thought she'd been coming out of the forbidden forest after visiting Bolt and 2 days ago she'd been noticed by some students who had alerted professor Snape.
Snape had accosted her in the great hall yesterday, attempting to take over 100 points from Gryffindor for her "blatant disregard for school rules", and in the process prompting headmistress McGonagall to tell the other students and professors that it was part of the research project on magical creatures she'd been assigned, and that she had permission to be there.
Ronald had seen this as the perfect opportunity to hurt her reputation, and had cornered her in the great hall this morning at breakfast, loudly accusing Hermione of being a creature loving whore and claiming to have seen her going into the forest to suck off the centaur herd as part of her project.
She was used to Weasley saying cruel and disgusting things to her, but that had cut straight through all of her defenses, and she'd immediately burst into tears and ran out of the great hall after grabbing her bag, not noticing McGonagall's furious look at the boy.
It wasn't so much what he said that hurt her, but the fact that he might be right about her that hurt her so much.
What kind of person was attracted to a dragon of all things? she thought miserably, now flying through the forest, tears dripping down her cheeks as she cut through the sky, heading toward the cove Bolt had turned into his home.
As soon as she landed, Bolt was bounding toward her, knocking her down in his excitement to see her and licking the salty tears from her face, causing her to let out a small giggle.
Bolt was excited to see his adopted pet girl again. He'd come to adore the girl over the past 2 weeks, and was happier now than he'd ever been in his entire life. He finally had a friend. His instincts demanded he keep her close to him, but he knew it would be cruel to make her live in the forest, so he settled for having her visit him every day.
He knew other dragons from the reserve liked to hoard valuable and shiny things that they considered treasure, but he'd never understood the urge until now, as he'd never really had anything worth keeping before. Now all he wants to do is hide this girl away in his cave and keep her all to himself. She was his. His treasure.
"How's my handsome dragon?" she cooed, rubbing him affectionately, laughing as he rumbled affectionately, butting his head against her similar to the way Crookshanks did.
"Calm down boy, we'll play later. I need to check your injury." she told him, smiling as she got off the ground. She hadn't been here for 2 minutes and Bolt was already making her feel better.
Hermione walked around to his side, examining his wing, and frowned. His injury was completely healed. She'd hope she'd have at least a few more weeks with him before he was healed enough to leave.
She knew she should be happy with his quick recovery, but she couldn't help but feel a deep sadness at the realization that this would likely be the last time she saw him. Surely he wouldn't want to live in the forest when he could fly wherever he wanted to go. She teared up at the thought of never seeing him again.
For a moment she considered just telling him it wasn't healed enough to remove the bindings yet, and while it would give her more time with him, she knew it wouldn't be fair to him. He'd been eagerly waiting for weeks to fly again.
"Bolt, I think you're healed enough to fly again." she told him, her voice filled with fake excitement as she watched his eyes light up at her words.
"Come on big guy, let's take those straps off your wing and then you'll be free and you can leave." she told him, giving him an obviously forced smile before climbing onto his back and beginning to magically untie the straps keeping his wing strapped against his body.
Bolt was confused, wondering what the silly girl was talking about. Leave? Did she really think he was just going to leave her? he thought incredulously. He wanted to stay with her. This girl was the first person to ever show him any type of affection, at least that he remembered, and he wasn't about to just up and fly away. Besides, he could tell she needed him just as much as she needed her. He needed to find a way to tell her that she was his , and that he wasn't going anywhere without her.
He waited for her to climb down so that he could see her, and he noticed she looked miserable, though she was obviously trying to hide it. He approached her, gently nudging her affectionately at her with his head, trying to let her know that he wasn't going to leave her. She smiled slightly, running her hand over the scar on his forehead.
Seeing she wasn't getting the message, he decided to do something he hadn't done since he was a human boy. He was going to draw, or at least try to.
Running over to the edge of the clearing, momentarily causing Hermione to think he was going to fly away, and grabbing a branch in his jaws, he dragged it to the bank of the stream and began carefully dragging it through the mud.
Hermione, relaxing once she saw that he wasn't leaving, just sat down on a rock and watched him with a mix of amusement and confusion as he moved the log between his teeth in circles, dragging it along the ground. She wasn't going to question it though, as the longer he spent doing that the more time she'd have before he realized he could fly and would leave her.
After a few minutes Bolt turned around and frowned at the ground.
That isn't right, he thought, looking at the mass of squiggles he'd made in the mud. He swept his tail over it to erase it. Drawing was difficult without hands, but he had to keep trying until she understood he wanted to stay here with her.
After 20 minutes of this Bolt dropped the stick and went back to where Hermione was watching him and gently nudged her with his head, forcing her to stand up to stand, and began gently prodding her in the direction he'd of his masterpiece. He hoped this would show her that she was his, and that he wasn't planning to leave her anytime soon.
Hermione followed him, realizing he wanted to show her something, and when finally noticed it she dropped to her knees in shock at her dragon's intelligence.
There, carved into the mud inside of a 5 yard wide heart on the ground, was a crude, childlike stick drawing of what was clearly meant to be her and the barely legible words "mine" and "home" written on each side.
Hermione burst into tears at the realization that he'd done this for her to show her that he wasn't going to leave her, running up to him and throwing her arms around his thick neck, clinging to him like a leech, unwilling to let go. Unfortunately for her, she didn't realize that what Bolt really meant was that she was literally his now, and that she had to stay in his home from now on.
"Thank you Bolt. You're right, I'm yours boy." she cried into his neck, tears of relief rolling down her face. Bolt just sighed, relieved that she seemed to understand that was his now and that she couldn't leave him anymore.
Hermione took a moment to collect herself before letting him go and looking him in the eye.
"So you're going to stay here?" she asked.
Bolt just gave her a nod, thinking that she was agreeing to live with him. He would stay here as long as she was still around. He wanted her with him as much as possible, even though he knew she would still need to go to the human world sometimes without him, she was human after all and he didn't want to go back there even if he could.
"Thank you for that boy." she said, smiling widely. "Now go on and see if you're able to fly."
Bolt nodded, and flapped his wings, lifting up off the ground and flying a short circle around the clearing before softly landing back in front of her again. His wing felt as good as new.
Bolt could tell Hermione was feeling better, so he decided to do something that it was time for Hermione to go for a fly. It was something he'd been wanting to do for weeks, and he knew she'd love it as much as he did. He came to Hermione and gestured his head towards his back, indicating for her to climb on. It took Hermione a few minutes to realize what he was asking her to do. He wanted her to go for a ride.
"Oh no Bolt. I don't like to fly" she told him, eyeing him warily.
Bolt didn't understand. He'd watched her miraculously ride a broom every day since he'd met her, how could she claim to not like flying?
He just stared at her with wide pleading eyes, reminding her of the way a puppy would beg for treats.
"Okay fine," she sighed, admitting defeat as she looked into those eyes that melted her heart and reluctantly she climbed onto his back and grabbed onto his horns with a death grip.
"Okay I'm ready" she told him as she got settled, "But you better go SLOWWW" screamed as she was suddenly rocketed into the air and her heart lurched inside her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut in terror, clinging to Bolt's scaly back, her knuckles white against the thick black horns that sat on top of his head.
The wind howled around her, tugging at her hair and threatening to lift her off his back. She could feel every beat of his wings as they rose higher into the sky. She'd never been anywhere near this high on a broom before, and though she was terrified of falling, she knew deep down Bolt would never intentionally put her in harm's way.
Bolt's excitement to be in the air again quickly vanished as he realized that his human companion didn't seem to enjoy the high speed stunts that he usually practiced, so he slowed down and began gently soaring high above the forest, which was greatly appreciated by Hermione.
Now feeling safe enough to open her eyes, she was hit with one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. The ground below seemed impossibly distant, the forest below her stretching on for miles in a blanket of deep green. Looking to the south she could barely make out the sight of Hogwarts in the distance.
It brought home to her just how small she really was in comparison to the world around her, and in that moment she understood why Bolt loved to fly. She let out a loud yell, feeling lighter than she'd felt in years, almost as if she'd left all her problems back in the cove. Up here she didn't have to worry about schoolwork, or the way her classmates called her dark when they thought she couldn't hear. It was just her and her dragon. It was exhilarating, feeling the power of the beast beneath her thighs.
It was making her wet, she realized, suddenly noticing the heat that was building between her legs.
She hadn't noticed at first through the fear and adrenaline, but her knickers were soaked with arousal as they pressed into the dragon's hide beneath her skirt.
She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way about an animal even if he was abnormally intelligent, but she couldn't help but moan softly at the feeling. Normally she was able to use her amateur occlumency skills to ignore the unwanted feelings but up here with the vibrations from Bolt's wings as they flapped rhythmically and the small ridge that ran along his spine that was currently pressing into her core it was almost impossible, and she began to gently rock back and forth on his back, enjoying the sensations.
By the time Bolt landed back at the cove nearly 20 minutes after they first left, the only thing left on her mind was the urge to cum. All her reservations had vanished, and she was hornier than she'd ever felt in her life.
As he landed, she scrambled off his back, stopping momentarily to pull off her knickers, throwing them carelessly into a bush, and pulled herself up onto the large rock she usually liked to sit on. She flipped up her skirt and reached between her legs, moaning softly, the fact that Bolt was watching only turning her on more.
Bolt didn't understand what was happening. Was she hurt? he wondered. Maybe her private area was itchy? That must be what it is, he decided, as she seemed to really enjoy scratching it.
He felt like this was something he shouldn't be watching, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the half naked girl in front of him. Over the past few weeks, he'd noticed the strangely pleasant scent coming from his girl over the past few weeks, and it always caused his heart rate to skyrocket when he smelled it, but he wasn't sure what it meant until now. Apparently it meant that she was itchy.
He'd never seen a girl's privates before, and it was causing him to feel things he'd never felt before, especially in his lower region. His instincts were urging him to do…. something , but he didn't understand what he was supposed to do so he just settled for just watching her intently as she continued scratching her itch, occasionally emitting small groans.
Hermione was in heaven.Of all the times she had done this, it had never felt like this. Just as she was getting close she looked up to find Bolt staring straight at her. His emerald green eyes seemed to burn into her, and she came hard, groaning as her juices formed a small puddle on the rock she was lying on.
As she calmed down, the post-orgasmic clarity hit her like a train, and she immediately stood up and began straightening herself out and looking for her , stamping out the rush of arousal that shot through her when she turned back around to find Bolt fervently licking the wet spot she'd left on the rock.
She couldn't help the cringe she felt as she realized what she'd done. As smart as she knew he was, a dragon couldn't give consent, and therefore what she'd just done had been taking advantage of him. It was creature abuse , she realized, horrified that she had done something that she'd been fighting against since she entered Hogwarts and found out about the house elves.
She consoled her guilty conscience by telling herself that Bolt clearly didn't mind, and that she hadn't touched him or let him touch her, so it was okay. She'd only let him watch, after all. She knew she needed to leave before she made things worse, and it was getting late anyway.
"Bolt, I have to go boy. I'll see you tomorrow." she told him, giving up on finding her missing underwear and pulling on her winter cloak, stopping to give Bolt a quick cuddle before going to get the broom she'd left lying on the ground.
Bolt wasn't happy hearing this. She couldn't just leave him again, she was his . She'd agreed to live here, or so he thought. As she walked away, he lept, jumping in front of her and blocking her path, gently pushing her towards the cave he'd been using to sleep in.
"Bolt no, I have to go." she told him firmly, realizing he didn't want her to leave.
"I don't want to leave you either, but I can't stay in the forest or Professor McGonagall won't let me come back anymore." she tried to explain, but Bolt wasn't having it, deciding he'd take care of this McGonagall character later if he had too.
To Hermione's frustration, he continued to block her attempts to reach her broom. It was becoming annoying. Why didn't he understand? It was starting to get dark, and she needed to leave now if she wanted to be allowed to come back in the morning.
After 20 minutes of being physically blocked from leaving, Hermione was beginning to get angry. It wasn't until he lifted her by the hood of her cloak and physically carried her to his cave that she snapped. Hermione Granger wasn't going to allow herself to be pushed around by anyone, dragon or not.
"LET ME GO YOU STUPID DRAGON OR I SWEAR YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN!" she screamed at him, flailing her arms around in an attempt to get free and accidentally hitting him in the nose with her fist causing him to drop her, but she instantly regretted it as he flinched back in fear, thinking she had hit him on purpose.
Bolt was deeply hurt, not understanding that she hadn't meant to hit him. Instead all the pain from his life with the Dursleys came rushing back as he experienced flashbacks from when he'd been beaten by his uncle and cousin.
This, combined with the panic and fear he felt at her threat to leave him forever, overwhelmed him and caused him to do what he'd automatically done ever since he was just a child from a cupboard. Run.
So with one look at her, in which she could see the shock and betrayal in his eyes, he fled into his cave, all the while hating himself for causing the best thing to ever happen to him to hate him, but at the same time not really understanding what he'd done wrong either.
Hermione knew that she'd just messed up big time, so she shot after him, knowing that if she went back to Hogwarts now, he'd likely be gone by morning.
It took Hermione 20 minutes of searching the dark cave tunnel, which seemed much deeper than she'd originally thought, to find him. It probably wasn't really as deep as it seemed but with only her wand for light it seemed longer.
She found Bolt at the very end of the cave, where the narrow tunnel opened up into a modest cavern, just big enough for him to sleep comfortably.
He was curled into a tight ball, and was shivering violently. Her heart shattered at the realization that she, a teenage schoolgirl, had scared him this badly when less than a month ago he'd fought off a dragon twice his size to protect her without even hesitating.
She approached him carefully, purposefully making noise so as to not startle him, though he still didn't seem to notice her arrival until she gently touched his head, at which point he seemed to curl into himself even further, refusing to look at her.
"I am so sorry I scared you, Bolt. Please forgive me. You have to know by now that I'd never hurt you. I swear I wasn't trying to hit you, it was an accident. You're my best friend, and I'll never leave you." she pleaded, gently reaching out and running her hand along his spine. To her relief he seemed to relax at her touch.
Waiting for him to settle enough to look at her, Hermione took stock of the cavern she was in and was surprised to find he'd made a sort of nest down here using things he'd found in the cove, mostly grass and twigs, but she also noted that he'd included one of her sweaters she must left in the cove and a few other things he'd managed to take without her noticing, including a lost potions textbook and, much to her embarrassment, the dirty knickers she'd thrown into the bushes earlier.
She absently wondered how he'd gotten them down here without her noticing, before realizing Bolt looking at her, so she asked him a question.
"Am I forgiven?"
Bolt, having realized that it was an accident, and now just wanting her to be his again, quickly nodded.
"Listen, I'm really sorry about earlier, but you can't force me to live with you. As much as I'd love to be with you all the time, I can't live in a cave. I'll visit you as often as I can, but that will have to be enough, okay?" she told him gently, though she didn't like it any more than he did. To be honest, if she wasn't still in school, and if Bolt lived anywhere other than a cave she wouldn't mind staying, but McGonagall would have a fit if she tried to tell the professor she was moving into the Forbidden Forest.
Bolt reluctantly nodded, realizing that he'd made a mistake in expecting to keep her in the forest, and licked her face in an apology for his earlier actions.
"However," she added with a smirk, "since it is dark out, and the forest is dangerous at night I will sleep here with you tonight, okay boy?" she asked, watching as he perked up upon hearing her, and he quickly stood up to make room for her, allowing her to crawl onto his nest which was surprisingly comfortable on its own, though she didn't let it stop her from casting a cushioning charm and a warming charm on herself. By the time she was finished, Bolt was already asleep.
She laid down, resting her back against the sleeping form of the dragon that had quickly become her best and only friend, his large body wrapped around her with one batlike wing covering her like a blanket. She sleepily pressed a kiss to his leathery skin with a whispered "I love you" as she fell asleep, not noticing the golden glow that surrounded them, or the fact that her living pillow began to shrink until it gained the form of a sleeping, and very naked, teenage boy.