Hermione stood in the shop with Harry and Ron. "When will you two be done? I want to eat." She placed her hands on her hips as she watched the two boys drool over the newest broomstick models.
"Whatever. I'm not waiting on you two." Hermione walked out of the store and onto the surprisingly not very busy street. She kept on walking, muttering to herself. She just couldn't figure out why she liked Ron when he barely paid any attention to her. He treated her more like a sister than a friend let alone anything more.
"Watch out!"
Hermione was too busy being mad at Ron and herself that she didn't hear the warning. A green light hit her, surrounding her body. Now, what was going on?
A tingling sensation filled her skin wherever the light touched it. She felt the popping and cracking of bones. Looking down at her hands, she saw that they were now covered in brownish-orange scales. Scales? Her hands began to retract in on their selves, becoming smaller and more animal like. Her nails extended and sharpened into pearl-white claws.
The green light left her body just as quickly as it had come. What just happened to her?
"Oh, no! Hermione?" A familiar voice asked, concern in its ruff tones.
A shadow fell over her. Looking up, she found the tall form of Hagrid. Was he always that tall? No. Somehow, Hermione had shrunk. She now barely stood at his knees.
She tried to ask him what happened but the only sound that came out of her mouth was a weird squawk.
"Oh, Hermione." Hagrid gently picked her up in his hands. "I'm so sorry." He sniffled, trying to hold back his tears. He turned around while keeping a gentle but firm hold on her. "What am I to do?"
"I may be able to help." A shaky and hoarse voice said. Hermione saw that the voice belonged to a frail, scruffy looking wizard. "There is another way to break the curse. The witch who cursed me said that only one who I truly loved and who truly loves me can break the curse."
True loves kiss? Wait, what curse?
"True loves kiss? How am I supposed to find that!" Hagrid was starting to shake with anger.
The frail wizard shook his head in sympathy. "It is a tricky thing to find but hopefully easier to find for someone her age then remaking that potion."
Hagrid curled his fists in anger. "If you think it is that easy then why haven't you done it!"
"It is quite simple. I find love in beauty not in the person themselves. I have never taken the time to get to know any of my lovers," admitted the formerly cursed wizard.
"Hermione!"
Harry and Ron turned onto their street. They smiled when they saw Hagrid. "Another dragon, Hagrid?" Ron looked nervously at Hermione. Wait, did he say dragon?
"Yes...well...no. You see, it's actually Hermione. I used a potion, a very rare and hard to make potion, to lift this man's curse," Hagrid pointed his chin toward the frail looking wizard. "Instead of going into the locket, the curse went into Hermione instead and she's now, well...you see...a dragon."
"What!" Ron shrieked and his blue eyes widened.
"That's Hermione?" Harry pointed at her. She huffed then stared pointedly at them. "Yep, that's Hermione."
"How do we fix her?"
"True loves kiss but I don't know how I'll..." Hagrid stared wide eyed at Ron. "Give her a kiss." He swung Hermione up close to Ron's face.
"You want me to kiss that...I mean her?" Ron looked questionably at Hagrid before flicking nervous eyes to her. Chicken. Hermione huffed then looked away. If her true love was Ron then she would be stuck as a dragon for the rest of her life.
"...Okay then..." Hermione looked in shock at Ron. The redhead slowly leaned toward her, placing quivering lips onto her snout. Hermione closed her eyes, mentally crossing her fingers.
Nothing happened.
"Maybe I should try?" Harry shrugged before giving her snout a quick kiss. Again, nothing happened.
"I don't understand." Hagrid's voice sounded on the brink of tears. He brought Hermione up to his face. "Who do you love, Hermione?"
Hermione's wavering brown eyes flicked toward Ron's for a second. She loved Ron but it was obvious that he didn't love her back. Just then, something sweet wafted to her nose. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she was starving before all of this.
Her wings stretched on reflex and before she could process what she was doing, she took off flying.
"Hermione!" shouted Harry.
"Where are you going!"
She ignored the voices behind her. The only thing on her mind was getting to that sweet smelling thing.
. . . . .
Draco rubbed the freshly bought apple against his robes. The green surface shined yellow in the sunlight. He brought it to his lips and smiled in satisfaction.
Something landed on Draco's shoulders. Whatever it was had claws.
He looked over and saw a baby dragon perched on his shoulder. He yelled out in surprise right when the dragon took a bite if his apple. Why, that mangy beast!
The dragon then looked around and started crying out. Draco flinched at hearing the sadness in the little guy's voice. He looked at the little brown guy and decided that baby dragons were much cuter than their adult counterparts. Maybe Hagrid was finally onto something. Nah, that guy thought every magical beast was cute.
Draco tapped a nervous hand to the baby dragon's head, avoiding the snout. "Are you lost, little guy?" The dragon turned big, brown eyes onto him. For some reason, they reminded him of a certain bookworm. "Let's see if we can find your owner."
He walked around while keeping a tentative hand on the little guy. He didn't want to risk the little guy falling off, though if anyone pointed this out, he would firmly deny it.
The streets were surprisingly empty and no-one was looking for a baby dragon. "I guess you'll have to come back with me." The dragon huffed then turned its head acting as if it didn't like the idea. Draco rolled his eyes then apparated the two of them back to Hogsmead. He was going to have to figure out how to sneak the little guy into Hogwarts. An idea came to him.
He magicked a bag out of thin air. "I'm going to need you to stay in here for a little while." He stuffed the wriggling dragon into the bag. "Sorry." He walked back to Hogwarts without running into anyone and quickly made his way back to the common room.
"What's in the bag?" Greengrass asked from her hidden seat.
Draco hid the bag behind his back. "It's none of your concern, Greengrass," he hissed. He could feel the dragon moving around inside the bag. Greengrass lifted an eyebrow. He ignored it and practically ran to his room.
"You blasted dragon! You almost got us caught!" The dragon hesitantly crawled out of the bag and just stared at him. Draco threw his arms into the air. "Great! Now I'm talking to a dragon."
He magicked a cage and sat it on his nightstand. "You'll need to stay in here until I return. We won't have to worry about the other's turning you in." He didn't trust his dormmates but he knew they would never go against him. He changed into his school uniform before putting the reluctant dragon inside the cage. He then hurried out. It was almost dinner time.
He arrived at the dining hall pretty early. Not wanting to be gone for too long, he shoveled the food into his mouth. When he finished, he fastened a quick dinner for the baby dragon. Not knowing what dragons ate, he mainly grabbed meat.
When he returned to his room, the baby dragon growled as soon as it seen him.
Draco walked toward the cage and tentatively opened the gate. The dragon burst out. Its little wings flapped awkwardly as it wobbled in the air. Draco glanced toward the door and saw that it was shut.
The baby dragon darted forward before crashing into the wall beside the door. It fell to the ground with a plop.
Draco rushed forward and picked up the dazed creature. He gently lifted each wing and paw as he checked it for injuries. Not finding any, he sat it down on his bed. The dragon looked up at him with large brown eyes. It almost looked as if it were shocked by Draco's actions.
He sighed and shook his head in disbelief. He must have imagined the expression because he was pretty sure dragons were just big, dumb creatures. "I promise, I'll find your owner, but first you need to eat." Draco took out the carefully wrapped food from the pocket of his robes and laid it down in front of the dragon. It didn't even bother to sniff the food before it tore in to it. As it ate, Draco slowly rose a hand before laying it on the creature's back. When it did not protest, he slowly started to pet it.
The door to his room opened and his roommates piled in. "Is that a dragon?" asked Theo. He, along with Crabbe and Goyle moved closer.
"Where did you find a baby dragon?" asked Blaise.
"What's its name?" Crabbe asked around a mouthful of pastries.
"That's disgusting. Chew before you speak," Draco told Crabbe. "I found it when I was out and no, it doesn't have a name. I don't even know what gender it is."
Theo reached out a hand rather quickly toward the dragon. "I'll check." The dragon glanced up in time to see Theo and snapped at him.
Draco chuckled at the creature's reaction. "Maybe you should keep your ugly mitts off of it for now." He watched as the dragon slinked around behind him on the bed before making it's way toward the cage. It jumped in and used its tail to shut the gate.
"That's one smart beast," commented Blaise. Draco nodded in agreement. He had never heard of a dragon doing that before though he never really paid much attention to dragons. Who knows, that little trick might be a common occurrence among them.
"What's its name?" repeated Crabbe.
"I don't know. I'm not planning on keeping it. I'm much too busy to be taking care of a dumb beast," snarled Draco. The dragon snorted from inside of its cage in indignation.
"It didn't like that comment," concluded Goyle.
"Oh, whatever," huffed Draco. He decided to ignore them and the apparently offended dragon by getting ready for bed. First thing in the morning he would begin searching for the dragon's owner.